Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File
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NATIONAL ARCHIVES MICROFILM PUBLICATIONS

Microcopy No. 804

REVOLUTIONARY WAR PENSION
AND BOUNTY-LAND-WARRANT
APPLICATION FILES

Roll 1103

Gouldman, Francis -

Graaf, John

THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF THE UNITED STATE 1934
LITTERA
SCRIPTA
MANET
[stamp]

THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES
NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS SERVICE
GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION

WASHINGTON: 1969
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NATIONAL ARCHIVES MICROFILM PUBLICATIONS

INTRODUCTION

On the rolls of this microfilm publication are reproduced an estimated
80,000 pension and bounty-land-warrant application files based on the participation
of American military, naval, and marine officers and enlisted men in the
Revolutionary War. Most of the records in the files are dated between 1800 and
1900. The files are part of Record Group 15. Records of the Veterans Administration.

Pension and Bounty-Land-Warrant Legislation
and Administration Relating to
Participation in the Revolutionary War

Pension Legislation

On August 26, 1776, the first pension legislation for the American colonies
as a group was enacted. A resolution of the Continental Congress provided half
pay for officers and enlisted men, including those on warships and armed vessels,
who were disabled in the service of the United States and who were incapable of
earning a living. The half pay was to continue for the duration of the disability.

On May 15, 1778, another resolution provided half pay for 7 hears after
the conclusion of the war to all military officers who remained in the Continental
service to the end of the war. Enlisted men who continued to serve for the
duration of the conflict were each to receive a gratuity of $80 after the war under
the terms of the same enactment. The first national pension legislation for
widows was a Continental Congress resolution of August 24, 1780, which offered
the prospect of half pay for 7 years to widows and orphans of officers who met
the requirements included in the terms of the resolution of May 15, 1778. On
October 21, 1780, the Continental Congress resolution of May 15, 1778, was
amended to provide half pay for life to officers after the war, but on March 22,
1783, the half-pay-for-life provision was changed to 5 years' full pay.

Pension legislation during the Revolutionary War was designed to
encourage enlistment and acceptance of commissions and to prevent desertion
and resignation. After the war, pensions became a form of reward for services
rendered. Both during and after  the Revolution, the States as well as the U.S.
Government awarded pensions based on participation in the conflict. The records
reproduced in this microfilm publication pertain only to the pensions granted or paid
pursuant to public and private acts of the U.S. Government. public acts, under

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