Revolutionary War Pensions

Historians estimate that between 200,000 and 250,000 men served in the Revolutionary War in all branches of military service. In the years following the war, however, men who had been soldiers or noncommissioned officers received little public recognition of their service. Most Americans believed that everyone, citizens and soldiers alike, had endured the hardships of the war years and done their part to achieve independence. Veterans did not begin to receive sympathetic public attention until more than 20 years after the Revolution, when the nation enjoyed a period of prosperity and growing nationalism following the War of 1812. The country found renewed interest in the experiences of the men of the Revolution and some veterans published memoirs about their experiences. Americans overcame their fear that men who received government pensions would become pawns of the government, and, in 1818, Congress granted pensions to veterans who served in the Revolutionary War based on financial need. As the veterans reached old age, they finally received public acknowledgment, social and financial, for their service.

In contrast to soldiers and noncommissioned officers, Continental Army officers had received public recognition for their service ever since the Revolution. As the war ended in 1783, some officers formed the Society of the Cincinnati, an organization that only admitted officers who had served at least three years in the Continental Army. The [Page 739]society celebrated the accomplishments of officers and fought for the military pensions Congress had promised them—five years of full pay after their service ended.

Ordinary soldiers had received some rewards for service. During the war, in an effort to get men to enlist, state and national governments had offered inducements such as land warrants, a gratuity to be paid at the time of discharge, and pensions to dependents in the event of wartime death or permanent disability. However, some soldiers sold their land warrants to speculators for needed cash. Others were not financially able to hold on to the land they had settled, and many quickly spent their gratuity payments.

Unlike officers, soldiers did not form any veterans’ organizations. Not until later in the 19th century did poor working men begin to form associations and clubs. So, Revolutionary soldiers drifted back into civilian life without an organization to connect them to each other or to advocate for their welfare. For decades after the end of the fighting, they were largely absent from annual public celebrations, such as the Fourth of July and the anniversaries of battles of the war.

After Congress's decision to grant pensions in 1818, pension legislation steadily offered benefits to more and more veterans. The first pension acts provided pensions for those in financial need who had served at least nine months in the Continental Army. In 1820, the legislation was amended to require veterans to pass a means test to qualify. The means testing did little to reduce the number of applicants; about 30,000 veterans applied under these need-based acts. In 1828, the pension laws became more generous. Veterans no longer had to be poor to qualify because service alone made them eligible. Further legislation expanded eligibility requirements to allow widows to apply. The final piece of Revolutionary pension legislation was passed in 1878, offering pensions to the widows of veterans who had served for only 14 days.

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