ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the genesis and growth of soldiers' pensions throughout the nineteenth century, especially in the aftermath of the Civil War. Differential pension rates for officers and privates attracted some criticism as a violation of the equalitarian principles of 1776. The bill that became the Arrears of Pension Act of 1879 was introduced on April 2, 1878, by Rep. Henry Johnson Brodhead Cummings (R-IA), who had served during the war as a colonel of the thirty-ninth Regiment, Iowa Volunteer Infantry. The flood of pension claims beginning in 1879 leads American people to the two most puissant players in the dramatic escalation of veterans' benefits in the 1880s and 1890s: the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), enhaloed heroes of the nation, and the pension attorneys and claim agents whose reptilian reputation did not prevent veterans and their widows from employing them. The GAR, founded on April 6, 1866, began life with twelve members.
