African American Civil War Veterans Pension Petitions Congressional Reports 1873 to 1904

Black Troops Injured in the Civil War

Pamphlet

United States Congress, pension reports concerning Private Daniel Wooden, Abram Colley, and Sarah E. Wheeler, 1873 to 1904, documenting federal pension advocacy for African American Civil War veterans and their families. The material documents federal pension administration and legislative intervention through committee reports submitted to Congress, revealing how disability claims for formerly enslaved soldiers and their dependents were reviewed, contested, and advanced, and providing primary-source evidence for the study of postwar veteran welfare, racialized access to federal benefits, and the long-term consequences of military service in the American Civil War.

Three printed congressional reports submitted by the Committee on Pensions and the Committee on Invalid Pensions concerning Private Daniel Wooden of the 64th United States Colored Troops (1873), Abram Colley of the Sixth United States Colored Troops (1882), and Sarah E. Wheeler, widow of Elijah Wheeler (1904). The reports detail service-related injuries and subsequent disability claims, including Colley’s documented wound described as “gunshot, comminuting tibia and fibula of right leg, and implicating knee-joint, received in battle at Dutch Gap, VA., August 17, 1864,” resulting in his discharge on a surgeon’s certificate in 1865. The documents outline the petitions for increased pension support based on worsening physical conditions that rendered sustained labor difficult or impossible, and they reflect the evidentiary standards and narrative frameworks used to justify federal compensation. The 1873 report is printed single-sided, while the 1882 and 1904 reports are printed double-sided, all in pamphlet-style formats measuring approximately 8.75 x 5.5 inches.

These reports emerge from the broader postwar pension system, one of the largest federal expenditures of the late nineteenth century, through which Union veterans and their families sought financial support for service-related disabilities. African American soldiers, many of whom served in the United States Colored Troops, frequently faced additional scrutiny and bureaucratic barriers in securing equitable compensation. The inclusion of both veteran and widow claims illustrates the extension of pension advocacy across generations, particularly in cases where injuries produced long-term incapacity or death. Minor edge wear along the left margins, paper stable and legible; overall very good condition. A focused group of congressional documents illuminating the intersection of race, military service, and federal welfare policy in the post–Civil War United States.

Item #17524

Price: $450.00