Civil War Contracting: Claims Process Little Changed

I was hiking and touring the Manassas, VA battlefield recently, and came across something interesting.

The congressional act of July 4, 1864 (13 Stat. 381-82), recognized the debt the Federal Government owed loyal citizens for property losses suffered during the Civil War. This act, like all such Government legislation until 1871, applied only to citizens of states not in rebellion. During the last half of the 1860s, the Government was besieged with claims from people in southern states who had been unquestionably loyal to the Union cause during the war.

Elizabeth Van Pelt filed such a claim, on behalf of her father. The property was mostly destroyed during the First Battle of Bull Run. Of the $2750 claimed, she was reimbursed $320.

The sacrifices of war.

See the photo here: Van Pelt Claim