Tag Archives: military pay

Death of an Irish woman

I’m not sure how much of a mystery the death turned out to be, but this story would seem to indicate that Union troops were finally getting paid and sending remittances back to their loved ones. From a Seneca County, … Continue reading

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Fiat: we’ll pay the troops

President Lincoln agreed with Congress that Union soldiers and sailors had to be paid, even if that required printing up to $100 million in new currency. From THE PAPERS AND WRITINGS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN (VOLUME SIX) : PRINTING MONEY MESSAGE … Continue reading

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Debt for our debts

Apparently the strongly pro-Democrat newspaper in Seneca County wasn’t exaggerating too much when it complained that troops and their families were suffering because the federal government was way behind in paying its soldiers. From The New-York Times January 13, 1863: … Continue reading

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“destitution, insult and wrong”

From a Seneca County, New York newspaper in January 1863: Our Suffering Soldiers. It is a fact that can no longer be denied, that suffering of the most aggravated character exists among the soldiers, from the neglect of Government. In … Continue reading

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the greenbacks are in the mail

What do you tell the “butcher and baker, and kerosene seller”? It is said that pay in the Union army was usually behind schedule. Here a soldier’s wife explains the issue on the home-front and shows that the army would … Continue reading

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Graft in the Union Army?

The GROWLER takes issue with the practice of Union officers increasing their pay by claiming army privates as servants (wink-wink). From The New-York Times February 9, 1862: The Pay and Overpay of Army Officers. To the Editor of the New-York … Continue reading

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