Daily AncestorConfederate pension
A Confederate pension was paid by a Southern state, not the federal government, to a needy or disabled Confederate veteran or his widow living in that state.
The federal government never pensioned Confederate service, so these files are in state archives. Fourteen states granted them, and a veteran applied to the state where he lived after the war, even if he had served in another state's unit. Most required the applicant to be poor or disabled.
Start dates varied. Alabama paid men who had lost limbs from 1867 and Georgia men with artificial limbs from 1870, while Florida began in 1885, Mississippi in 1888 and Kentucky in 1912, with widows usually added later.
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Daily Ancestor. "Confederate pension." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/military/confederate-pension. Last checked 2026-10-03.