Civil War Pay Voucher for Union Mounted Officer Lieutenant Terrence Reilley and his Black Servant

Union Officer's Black Servant

Ephemera and pamphlets

Autograph pay voucher for 1st Lieutenant Terrence Reilley, a white Union officer in the 4th U.S. Artillery Regiment, dated May 31, 1865, that allocates pay for his Black servant. Includes handwritten certification of service and expenses, during the final months of the Civil War. Two pages, partially printed with manuscript entries, 17" x 11" when unfolded.

Reilley certifies: "I hereby certify, on honor, that I am on serving with Battery H., 4th U.S Arty... which is a mounted Battery & that I am mounted & equipped at my own expense." The document specifies that from April 1 to May 31, 1865, Reilley received $69.33 in pay, $72.50 for subsistence, $6.50 for forage, and was reimbursed $5.17 for clothing, totaling $148.16. He was also compensated for the use of a private servant, not a soldier, for whom the voucher allocates just $16.00. The servant is listed only by the racial identifier "Black," with a physical description noted as "dark." This document starkly illustrates the sanctioned use of unpaid or poorly compensated Black labor within Union Army ranks, even as the war was ending in the name of emancipation. It was common for Union officers to employ contrabands—escaped or freed slaves—as personal servants or orderlies, often without formal enlistment or remuneration. Though not enslaved under federal law after the Emancipation Proclamation, such laborers occupied a gray legal status, and their presence in military camps reflected persistent racial hierarchies. While Black troops served in segregated U.S. Colored Troops regiments, Black servants like the one mentioned here were often unacknowledged in the military record apart from payroll forms such as this.

Battery H of the 4th U.S. Artillery, to which Reilley belonged, was a Regular Army unit involved in numerous engagements throughout the Civil War. Mounted batteries were often deployed for mobile operations, sometimes in support of cavalry actions or garrisoning contested areas Battery H of the 4th U.S. Artillery, was originally attached to 5th Division, Army of the Ohio,but in Feb 1965 it was Reorganized at Washington, D.C., in duty in the defenses of D.C until August 1865.. Folded, with light creasing and toning; minor offsetting from ink signatures. Very good condition overall.

Item #22380

Price: $345.00