Daily AncestorCertificate of disability
A certificate of disability was the army paper used to discharge a soldier early because wounds, injury or disease left him unfit for duty.
A discharge on a certificate of disability ended a man's service before his term ran out. NARA holds certificates of disability for 1812 to 1899 among the records of the Adjutant General's Office.
Such a discharge often led to an invalid pension claim, but not always. The Civil War pension office pointed out that being unfit for army life did not mean a man could not earn a living, so many more soldiers were discharged for disability than were later pensioned.
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Daily Ancestor. "Certificate of disability." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/military/certificate-of-disability. Last checked 2026-10-03.