Confederate Pension Applications Index

The Confederate Pension Applications Collection consists of alphabetically arranged pension applications for pensions that were granted to veterans and widows beginning in 1898, and are recorded on 152 reels of microfilm. This index contains over 49,000 names that were included in the applications submitted to the Board of Pension Commissioners. The records were later transferred to the Archives after the last pension was paid in the 1950s. More than 18,000 applications were microfilmed and are available to researchers at the Archives Research Library. An index to the microfilm was compiled by volunteers and staff.

The pension applications may include service information, occupation, place of residence, and number of children. Other materials that may have been included with applications are letters, notes, copies of checks, newspaper clippings, court papers of various types, obituaries, and other miscellaneous papers. The collection also contains a few applications for individuals other than veterans or widows that were not granted.

The index was compiled in the following format that corresponds to our Confederate Pension Application Request Form. Use this form to request printouts from the applications microfilm files on file at the Archives.

• Line 1 -- INDEX NAME - The soldier or applicant name variation that appears in the file.
• Line 2 -- REEL - The microfilm reel number the where the file is located.
• Line 3 -- MICRODEX - A marker on the film that divides it into four (4) sections.
• Line 4 -- SEQUENCE - The relative position of the file from the microdex section marker. This number is not on the film but is given to assist in locating the file.
• Line 5 -- PAGES - The number of pages within the file.
• Line 6 -- TARGET CARD - The name given on the film used to locate the beginning of the file. This name is sometimes misspelled and does not always reflect a name in the application.