"...devoted to his country when her soil was everywhere pressed by the foot of her enemy and peril environed her on every side...": How Revolutionary War Veterans and Heirs Petitioned Congress for Pensions
On June 14, 1775, the Second Continental Congress established the Continental Army, which was led by George Washington throughout the Revolution. In October, they established the Continental Navy, and in November, the Continental Marines. The Marines were the infantry of the Navy. They were disbanded in 1783 at the victorious conclusion of the war, but in 1798 the U.S. Congress established the United States Marine Corps.
Likewise, Congress disbanded the Continental Navy in 1783. This decision was controversial, and the threat of pirates from North Africa to American trade prompted Congress to establish the U.S. Navy in 1794.
The recent Quarter Millennial (Semiquincentennial) celebration of the Continental Army is an opportunity to learn more about the role of the military in America at war and peace.
Readex's U.S. Congressional Serial Set, 1817-1994, provides a unique opportunity to explore this history. The Serial Set contains reports, documents, and journals of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. In addition, American State Papers, 1789-1838, provides legislative and executive documents, many originating in the period before Congress initiated the Serial Set in 1817.
A broad approach to this research is to enter the term "military" in the simple search on the Serial Set's home page. The result will be an overwhelming 159,714 results. To refine the search, examine the Related Topics on the right of the page. These topics are further refined as Subjects, Geographic Names, Organizations etc., Court Cases, Treaties, and Act Names.
There are myriad topics in each category, especially Subjects. You can explore any topic that piques your interest. We continue to encourage everyone to do their research with the proviso to start it here. The source documents will provide you with objective, if somewhat dry, information.
If you choose the Subject "Military Pensions" and restrict the date range to 1870-1901, 28,192 results will be found. Among these results, you will discover stories of valor, suffering, imprisonment, disease, amputation, and privation. Keep in mind the following: $100 in 1868 equals $2,264 in 2025 and $1 equals $22.65.
The Senate Committee on Revolutionary Claims addressed one such petition in 1872 from the heirs of Joseph Wheaton, veteran of the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. The petition reveals:
...the energies of the said Joseph Wheaton were devoted to his country when her soil was everywhere pressed by the foot of her enemy and peril environed her on every side; that his health was ruined by service in camp and field during two wars to such an extent as to render his after-life useless to his family; that he was disinherited by his father, (who was a colonel in the British army, having eleven sons, all commissioned officers in that army,) and "cut off with a shilling."
At the age of nineteen he left his father's family to join the American Army; fought for many years as a volunteer; he took the first flag that ever was taken from the British, and it was in this glorious act that he received the wound which ultimately produced insanity and death. For all these services the Government has never remunerated him according to its solemn promises, but, on the contrary, has defrauded him and the people he so faithfully served out of the stipulated pay he was to receive according to positive law.
The U.S. Congressional Serial Set contains petitions from not only the Revolutionary War but also the Civil War, uncovering details of American family and social life, the position of women in society, medical and psychological history, and military history.
