The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1890-10-22
STRANGE PENSION CASES.
PATHETIC INCIDENTS RELATED BY
SEEKERS FOR NATIONAL AID.
A Cavalryman Whose Fate Was Like
Enoch Arden's-Soldiers Wrong
fully Branded rs Desertcrs.

6uOcu ruen's-SOlOtcrs wrong
fully Branded as Deserters.
A Pension Office clerk recently CAV
to a correspondent Of the Milwaukee Su,
some incidents out of many which cam,
to his notice IN that department. II
said;
GA Michigan cavalry man has recent,
secured pension after a great deal o
trouble. He was reported as having beer
killed in action, but turned up few
years ago at a reunion of his regiment
like ghost among his comrades, wht
had never heard a word about him since
the memorable battle when he was shot
He rode in tho front ranks during the
cavalry charge in the second battle o
Bull Run, was shot from his horse at the
beginning of the charge, and the whole
regiment passed over him. There was no
doubt about his death and no surprise
that his body was not found after the
battle was over, because it was presumed
that it could not be identified if found.
There was no doubt in the minds of his
comrades that he had been trampled to
pieces. Well, he turned up among his
and told the story that he knew nothing
until two or three months after the
battle, when he found himself out in
Michigan, being cared for by some stran-
gers who had taken him in. He was a
complete physical wreck who had been
twisted and torn out of all shape, as if he
had been blown up by boiler explosion
and patched up afterward. He wandered
about for several years, and finally visit
ing his former home found that his wife,
believing him dead, had married again.
He didn't trouble her at all, but oontin-
ued travelling about until he finally
gained the friendship of well to do
man, aud with him he made his home,
finally marrying one of his daughters.
After his appearance at the reunion of
his regiment he brought his case before
the department, had his military record
corrected, and ultimately secured pen
sion.
'One of the strangest incidents, how
ever" continued the official, "was the
claim of the widow and mother of a col
ored soldier for a pension. The widow
swore that her husband died in Tennes-
see in 1852 of smallpoll, and that his
mother was not living at the time of his
death. The mother claimed that the
man died in 1854 of smallpox in Ten
nessee, and that she had repeatedly seen
him between '62 and Ca, but that her
son had never married. Both of the
women were evidently swearing to the
truth, so far as they understood it. The
military record in the Adjutant- Generals
office showed that the man in question en-
listed in that regiment and company, and
died in Tennessee of smallpox in 1864.
There was great deal of strong collat-
eral evidence to show that he had died
in 1852 of smallpox. 1t was finally as
certained that the man did die in 1862
as claimed by his widow. In those times
vacancies i'll colored regiments were
speedily filled by Sergeants, who expe-
rienced little difficulty in filling the
ranks with ignorant colored men who
would take the name of the deceased, no
matter what it was. In this case the
soldier who was originally enlisted died
in 1862; new man was put in his place
under the same name, and he died OF the
smallpox two years later. There were
really two colored soldiers, one of whom
was mustered in and died in 1862, while
the other was not mustered in, but
served two years and died in 1864. I'm
der the circumstances, of course, the
widow of the man who died in 1862 got
a pension. The mother of the man who
died in 1864 got no pension, because her
son was never really mustered into the
service.
"There have been thousands of cases
where men were not deserters, who never
did desert, nor never left the army. Thou
sands of fellows fell by the roadside,
were taken into field hospitals, sent
North, recovered, returned to their
regiments and served through the re.
mainder of the war, who are reported as
deserters. The Sergeant of the COM
pany failing to account for a man who
struggled from the ranks found it easier
to put 'desorter' opposite his name than
to look for him. At the end of the
month his name would be taken from
the rolls, new Sergeant might be in
charge of the company when he re-
turned, and then the mark of desertion
would never be corrected until years
after the war, when he would apply for
a pension and find this record staring
him in the face, greatly to his discredit
and discontinue.
"There was young man in to see, me
this morning-he is yet comparatively
young man-who was taken sick in
front of Vicksburg, in 1868, while on
the march from Champion Hills. He
was in hospitals for several months and
was in lunatic asylum for over three
years. When he recovered his reason
the war had closed, and he gave no at
tentlon to his military record until few
weeks ago, when he made application for
pension and found himself marked as
deserter. The poor fellow had fallen in
line of duty, just as truly and heroically
as though he had been in line of battle
stricken down with a bullet He is now
engaged in procuring evidence to prove
the truth of his story, the result of
which will be that his military record
will be corrected and he will get the
Dcnsion which is dine him