The Pension Laws Of The United States-1792-1813.

Years ago when I first started I would get into some arguments over the pension laws I would say one thing and another would say something else and still another would say that was wrong too. Who was right?, well we all were right in as far as the year the pension bill passed. In other words you can’t quote a pension law of the 1790’s for a person who is fighting in 1812, or the pension law’s of 1812 to those who’s fighting in the civil war. The pension laws were changing all the time, they would change from year to year and in some cases month to month. When one is trying to find out how and what a ancestor was to get or what he had to do to get his pension is hard to find out and there are so many pension laws to hunt and research. I decided it was time that someone should do something about it.

I will place all the pension laws I can find here so no one will have to hunt all over the web for them. This information many only take one page then it many take two or three or more.
I will list the Laws by year, to help cut down on your search. When looking for a pension law look for the year your ancestor was trying to get his pension, this law will tell what he would get and what he had to do to get. I hope this page will help all those who have question about a ancestors pension.

Note. This information will come from the many departments of the Library of Congress.
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Chap. XL—.An act to provide for the settlement of the Claims of Widows and
Orphans barred by the limitations heretofore established, and to regulate the Claims
to Invalid Pensions.

March 23, 1792.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the operation of the resolutions of the late Congress of the United States, passed on the second day of November, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-five, and the twenty-third day of July, one thousand seven
hundred and eighty-seven, so far as they have barred, or may be construed to bar the claims of the widow or orphans of any officer of the late army, to the seven years half pay of such officer, shall, from and after the passing this act, be suspended for and during the term of two years.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That any commissioned officer, not having received the commutation of half pay, and any non-corn-missioned officer, soldier or seaman, disabled in the actual service the United States, during the late war, by wounds or other known cause, who did not desert from the said service, shall be entitled to be placed on the pension list of the United States, during life or the continuance of such disability, and shall also be allowed such farther sum for arrears of pension, from the time of such disability, not exceeding rate of the annual allowance, in consequence of his disability, as
circuit court of the district, in which they respectively reside, may think just. Provided, That in every such case, the rules and regulations shall be complied with; that is to say First. Every applicant shall attend the court in person, except where it shall be certified
two magistrates that he is unable to do so, and shall produce to circuit court, the following proofs, to wit :—A certificate from the cornmanding officer of the ship, regiment, corps or company, in which served, setting forth his disability, and that he was thus disabled while in the service of the United States; or the affidavits of two credible witnesses to the same effect. The affidavits of three reputable freeholders of the city, town, or county, in which he resides, ascertaining their own knowledge, the mode of life, employment, labour, or means support of. such applicant, for the last twelve months. Secondly.
circuit court, upon receipt of the proofs aforesaid, shall forthwith to examine into the nature of the wound, or other cause of disability of such applicant, and having ascertained the degree thereof, certify the same, and transmit the result of their inquiry, in case, in their opinion, the applicant should be put on the pension list, to the Secretary at War, together with their opinion in writing, what proportion of monthly pay of such applicant will be equivalent to the degree of ascertained in manner aforesaid.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the clerk of the district court, in each district, shall publish this act in such manner as the judge of the district court shall think effectual to give general information there of to the people of the district, and shall give like information of the times and places of holding the circuit courts in such district. And in districts wherein a circuit court is not directed by law to be holden, the judge of the district court shall be, and he hereby is authorized to exercise all the powers given by this act to the respective circuit courts. And it shall be the duty of the judges of the circuit courts respectively, during the term of two years from the passing of this act, to remain at
the places where the said courts shall be holden, five days at the least from the time of opening the sessions thereof, that persons disabled as aforesaid, may have full opportunity to make their application for the relief proposed by this act.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the Secretary at War, upon receipt of the proofs, certificate and opinion aforesaid, shall cause the same to be duly filed in his office, and place the name of such applicant on the pension list of the United States, in conformity thereto: Pro. vided always, That in any case, where the said Secretary shall have cause to suspect imposition or mistake, he shall have power to withhold the name of such applicant from the pension list, and make report of the same to Congress, at their next session.

SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That all non-commissioned officers, soldiers and seamen, disabled in the actual service of the United States, during the late war, whose disability and rate of allowance have been ascertained, pursuant to the regulations prescribed by the late Congress, and have not applied to be placed on the pension list, until after the time, limited by the act of Congress for that purpose, was expired, shall now be placed on the pension list, and be entitled to demand and receive their respective pensions, according to the allowances ascertained as aforesaid, any thing in this act, or any act of the late Congress, to the contrary, notwithstanding.

SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That from and after the passing of this act, no sale, transfer or mortgage of the whole or any part of the pension or arrearages of pension, payable to any non-commissioned officer, soldier or seaman, before the same shall become due, shall be valid. And every person, claiming such pension or arrears of pension, or any part thereof, under power of attorney or substitution, shall, before the same is paid, make oath or affirmation before some justice of the peace of the place where the same is payable, that such power or substitution is not given by reason of any transfer of such pension, or arrears of pension, and any person, who shall swear or affirm falsely in the premises, and be thereof convicted shall suffer, as for willful and corrupt perjury.
APPROVED, March 23, 1792.
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February 28. 1793.

Chap. XVII.—.An .Act to regulate the Claims to Invalid Pensions.

WHEREAS the act, passed at the last session of Congress, in titled “An
act to provide for the settlement of the claims of widows and orphans barred by the limitations heretofore established, and to regulate the claims to invalid pensions,” is found by experience inadequate to prevent the admission of improper claims to invalid pensions, and not to contain a sufficient facility for the allowance of such as may be well founded: Therefore.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in congress assembled, That the second, third and fourth sections of the said act, be repealed, and that in future, all claims to such pensions shall be regulated in the manner following, to wit:

First.—All evidence relative to Invalids shall be taken upon oath or affirmation, before the judge of the district, in which such invalids reside, or before any three persons specially authorized by commission from the said judge.

Secondly.—The evidence relative to any claimant must prove decisive disability to have been the effect of known wounds, received while in the actual line of his duty, in the service of the United States, during the late war. That this evidence must be the affidavits of the commanding officer or surgeon of the ship, regiment, corps or company, in which such claimant served, or two other credible witnesses, to the same effect, setting forth the time and place of such known wound.

Thirdly.—Every claimant shall be examined upon oath or affirmation, by two physicians or surgeons, to be authorized by commission from the said judge, who shall report, in writing, their opinion, upon oath or affirmation, of the nature of the said disability, and, in what degree, it prevents the claimant from obtaining his livelihood, by labor.

Fourthly.—Every claimant shall produce evidence of the time of his leaving the service of the United States. He must also produce evidence of three reputable freeholders of the city, town or county, in which he usually resided for the two years immediately after he left the service, as aforesaid, of the existence of his disability, during that period; and ascertaining, of their own knowledge, the mode of life, employment, labour or means of support of the claimant.

Fifthly.—And the said claimant must produce the evidence of two credible witnesses, of the continuance of his disability, from the expiration of the said two years, to the time of his application.

Sixthly.—Each claimant must show a good and sufficient cause why he did not apply for a pension to the person or persons authorized to examine his claim, on or before the eleventh of December, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-eight, the time limited for applications of this nature.

Seventhly.—No evidence of any claimant shall be admitted whose claim has been examined and rejected, on or before the aforesaid eleventh of December, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-eight.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the judge of the district shall transmit a list of such claims, accompanied by the evidence herein directed, to the Secretary for the department of War, in order that the same may be compared with the muster-rolls, and other documents in his office; and the said Secretary shall make a statement of the cases of the said claimants to Congress, with such circumstances and remarks, as may be necessary, in order to enable them to take such order thereon, as they may judge proper.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That no person not on the pension list, before the twenty-third day of March, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-two, shall be entitled to a pension, who shall not have cornplied with the rules and regulations herein prescribed; saving however to all persons, all and singular their rights founded upon legal adjudications under the act, intituled “An act to provide for the settlement of the claims of widows and orphans, barred by the limitations heretofore established, and to regulate the claims to invalid pensions :“ But it shall be the duty of the Secretary at War, in conjunction with the Attorney General, to take such measures as may be necessary to obtain an adjudication of the Supreme Court of the United States, on the validity of
any such rights claimed under the act aforesaid, by the determination of certain persons styling themselves commissioners.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That no claim to a pension shall
be allowed under this act, which shall not be presented within two years
from the passing the same.
APPROVED, February 28, 1793.
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March 23, 1796.

Chap. VIII.—.An .Act for the relief certain officers and soldiers who have been wounded or disabled in the actual service of the United States.

Be it enacted by the Senate and house of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled, That every commissioned, non-commissioned officer, private or musician, who has been wounded or disabled, while in the line of his duty, in actual service, called out by authority of any law of the United States, while he be longed to the militia; or any volunteer not belonging to the militia, who has been wounded or disabled, while in the line of his duty, in actual service, as aforesaid, shall be placed on the list of invalids of the United States, at such rate of pay, and under such regulations, as shall be directed by the President of the entitled States for the time being: Provided, the rate of compensation for such wounds and disabilities shall
never exceed for the highest disabilities, half the monthly pay received by any commissioned officer, at the time of being so wounded or disabled; and that the rate of compensation to non-commissioned officers, privates and musicians, shall never exceed five dollars per month; and that all inferior disabilities shall entitle the person so disabled, to receive only a sum in proportion to the highest disability: And provided, that these provisions shall not be construed to extend to any person wounded or disabled, before the fourth of March, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine, nor to any person wounded or disabled since that time, who has made application for a pension, under any existing law of the United States, and has been denied, or admitted on the pension list: And provided, that all applications herein shall be made within one year after the end of the present session of Congress.
APPROVED, March 23, 1796.
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June 7. 1794

CHAP. LII.—An Act in addition to the “.Act for making further and more effectual provision for the protection of the frontiers of the United States.”

SEC. 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That if any commissioned officer in the troops of the United States shall, while the service of the United States, die by reason of wounds received actual service of the United States, and shall leave a widow, or if no widow, shall leave a child or children, under age, such widow, or if no widow, such child or children, shall be entitled to, and receive the half of the monthly pay, to which the deceased was entitled at the time of his death, for and during the term of five years: And in case of the death or intermarriage of such widow, before the expiration of the said term of five years, the half pay, for the remainder of the term, shall go to the child or children of such deceased officer, while under the age of sixteen years, and, in like manner, the allowance to the child or children of such deceased, where there is no widow, shall be paid no longer than while there is a child or children under the age aforesaid. Provided, That no greater sum shall be allowed in any case, to the widow or to the child or children of any officer, than the half pay of a lieutenant colonel.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the army be in future paid
in such manner that the arrears shall at no time exceed two months.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That to such of the troops as are or may be employed on the frontiers, and under such special circumstances as in the opinion of the President of the United States, may require an augmentation of some parts of their rations, the President be authorized to direct such augmentation as he may judge necessary, not exceeding four ounces of beef, two ounces of flour and half a gill of rum or whiskey in addition to each ration, and half a pint of salt to one hundred rations.
APPROVED, June 7, 1794.
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March 14, 1798.

CHAP. XV.—.An .Act to provide for the Widows and Orphans of certain deceased Officers.

Be it enacted by the Senate and house of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the provisions for widows and orphans of commissioned officers of troops of the United States, contained in the first section of the law passed on the seventh day of June, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-four, intituled “An act in addition to the act making further and more effectual provision for the protection of the frontiers of the United States,” be and, the same are hereby extended to the widows and orphan children of commissioned officers of the troops of the United States, and of the militia, who have died by reason of wounds received since the fourth day of March, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine, in the actual service of the United States: Provided, application shall be made within two years after the end of the present session of Congress.
APPROVED, March 14, 1798.
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March 3, 1803.

CHAP. XXX VII.—An Act to make provision for persons that have been disabled by known wounds received in the actual service of the United States, during the Revolutionary war.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That any commissioned officer, non-commissioned officer, soldier, or seaman, disabled in the actual service of the United States, by wounds received during the revolutionary war, and who did not desert the said service, shall be entitled to be placed on the pension list of the United States during life: Provided, that, in substantiating the claims thereto, the rules and regulations following, shall be complied with:

First. All evidence shall be taken on oath or affirmation before the judge of the district in which such invalid resides, or before some person specially authorized by commission from the said judge.

Secondly. The evidence relative to any claimant, must prove decisive disability to have been the effect of known wounds received while in the actual line of his duty, in the service of the United States, during the revolutionary war: that this evidence must be the affidavits of the commanding officer or surgeon of the ship, regiment, corps, or company in which such claimant served, or two other credible witnesses to the effect, setting forth the time and place of such known wound.

Thirdly. Every claimant shall be examined on oath or affirmation, by some respectable physician or surgeon, to be authorized by commission from the said judge, who shall report in writing his opinion, upon oath or affirmation, of the nature of said disability, and in what degree it prevents the claimant from obtaining his livelihood.

Fourthly. Every claimant must produce evidence of his having continued in the service of the United States, to the conclusion of the war in seventeen hundred and eighty-three, or being left out of the service in consequence of his disability, or in consequence of some derangement of the army, and of the mode of life or employment he has since followed, and of the original existence and continuance of his disability.

Fifthly. Every claimant must show satisfactory cause to the said the district, why he did not apply for a pension in conformity heretofore passed, before the expiration of the limitation thereof.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the said judge of the district or person by him commissioned as aforesaid, shall give to each claimant a transcript of the evidence and proceedings had, respecting his claim and shall also transmit a list of such claims, accompanied by the evidence herein directed, to the secretary of the department of war, in order that the same may be examined, and if correct, agreeably to the intent and meaning of this act, the said applicants are thenceforth to be placed on the pension list of the United States: Provided, that in no case a pension shall commence before the first day of January, eighteen hundred and three, except so far as to offset the commutation of half pay received by such officer, in which case the proper officer is to calculate the pension from the first day of January, seventeen hundred and eighty-four.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the pensions allowed by this act shall be estimated in the manner following, that is to say: a full pension to a commissioned officer shall be considered the one half of his monthly pay as by law established, and the proportions less than a full pension shall be the like proportions of half pay. And a full pension to a non-commissioned officer, private soldier, or seaman, shall be five dollars per month, and the proportions less than a full pension, shall be the like proportions of five dollars per month, but no pension of a commissioned officer shall be calculated at a higher rate than the half pay of a lieutenant-colonel.

Sac. 4. And be it further enacted, That the pensioners becoming such in virtue of this act, shall be paid in the same manner as invalid pensioners are paid, who have heretofore been placed on the pension list of the United States, under such restrictions and regulations, in all respects, as are prescribed by the laws of the United States, in such cases provided.
APPROVED, March 3, 1803.
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April 10, 1806.

CHAP. XXV.—An act to provide for persons who were disabled by known
wounds received in the Revolutionary war.

Be it enacted by the Senate and house of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled, That any commissioned or non-commissioned officer, musician, soldier, marine or seaman, disabled in the actual service of the United States, while in the line of his duty, by known wounds received during the revolutionary war, and who did not desert the service; or who, in consequence of disability as aforesaid, resigned his commission or took a discharge; or who, after incurring disability as aforesaid, was taken captive by the enemy, and remained either in captivity or on parole, until the close of said revolutionary war; or who, in consequence of known wounds received as aforesaid, has at any period since, become and continued disabled in such manner as to render him unable to procure a subsistence by manual labour; whether such officer, musician, soldier, marine or seaman, served as a volunteer, in any proper service against the common enemy, or belong ed to a detachment of the militia, which served against the common enemy, or to the regular forces of the United States, or of any particular state, lie shall, upon substantiating his claim, in the manner herein after described, be placed on the pension list of the United States, during life, or the continuance of such disability, and be entitled, under the regulations herein after mentioned, to receive such sum as shall be found just and proper, by the testimony adduced.

SEC. 2. And be it farther enacted, That in substantiating such claim, the following rules and regulations shall be complied with, that is to say: All evidence shall be taken on oath or affirmation, before the judge of the district, or one of the judges of the territory in which such claimant resides, or before some person specially authorized by commission from said judge.

Decisive disability, the effect of a known wound or wounds, received while in the actual service and line of duty against the common enemy, during the revolutionary war, must be proved by the affidavit of the commanding officer of the regiment, corps, company, ship, vessel, or craft, in which such claimant served; or of two other credible witnesses to the same effect, setting forth the time when, and place where, such known wound or wounds were received; and particularly describing the same.

The nature of such disability, and in what degree it prevents the claimant from obtaining his subsistence, must be proved by the affidavit some reputable physician or surgeon, stating his opinion either from his own knowledge and acquaintance with the claimant, or from an examination of such claimant on oath or affirmation; which when necessary for that purpose, shall be administered to said claimant by said judge or commissioner. And the said physician or surgeon, in his affidavit, shall particularly describe the wound or wounds from whence the disability appears to be derived.

Every claimant must ?rove, by at least one credible witness, that he continued in service during the whole time for which he was detached, or for which he engaged, unless he was discharged, or left the service in consequence of some derangement of the army, or in consequence of his disability resigned his commission; or was after his disability in captivity or on parole, until the close of the revolutionary war. And in the same manner must prove his mode of life and employment since he left the service, and the place or places where he has since resided, and his place of residence, at the time of taking such testimony.

Every claimant shall, by his affidavit, give satisfactory reasons why he did not make application for a pension before, and that he is not on the pension list of any state; and the judge or commissioner shall certify in writing, his opinion of the credibility of the witnesses, whose affidavits he shall take, in all those eases, where by this act it is said the proof shall be made by a credible witness or witnesses. And also, that the examining physician or surgeon is reputable in his profession.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the said judge of the district, or person by him commissioned as aforesaid, shall transmit a list of such claims, accompanied by the evidence, affidavits, certificates, and proceedings had thereon in pursuance of this act, noting particularly the day on which the testimony was closed before him, to the secretary for the department of war, that the same may be compared with muster rolls, or other documents in his office: and the said secretary shall make a statement of all such cases, which, together with all the testimony, he
shall from time to time transmit to Congress, with such remarks as he may think proper, that Congress may be enabled to place such claimants on the pension list as shall be found entitled to the privilege. And it shall be the duty of the judge, or commissioner aforesaid, to permit each claimant to take a transcript of the evidence and proceedings had respecting his claim, if he shall desire it, and to certify the same to be correct.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That every pension, or increase thereof, by virtue of this act, shall commence on the day when the claimant shall have completed his testimony, before the authority proper to take the same.

SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That an increase of pension may be allowed to persons, already placed upon the pension list of the United States, for disabilities caused by known wounds received during revolutionary war, in all eases where justice shall require the same: Provided, that the increase, when added to the pension formerly received, shall in no case exceed a full pension.

Every invalid making application for this purpose, shall be examined by two reputable physicians or surgeons, to be authorized by commission from the judge of the district, where such invalid resides; who shall report in writing, on oath or affirmation, their opinion of the nature of the applicant’s disability, and in what degree it prevents him from obtaining a subsistence by manual labour, which report shall be transrnitted by said physicians or surgeons, to the secretary for the department of war; who shall compare the same with the documents in his office,
and shall make a statement of all such eases, which, together with the original report, he shall from time to time transmit to Congress, with such remarks as he may think proper, that they may be enabled to do justice to such pensioners.

SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That a full pension given by this act to a commissioned officer, shall be one half of the monthly pay legally allowed, at the time of incurring said disability, to his grade in the forces raised by the United States; and the proportions, less than a full pension, shall be the correspondent proportions of said half pay; and a full pension to a non-commissioned officer, musician, soldier, marine, or seaman, shall be five dollars a month, and the proportions less than a full pension, shall be the like proportions of five dollars a month ; but no pension of a commissioned officer shall be calculated at a higher rate than the half pay of a lieutenant colonel.

SEC. 7, And be it further enacted, That the pensions, or increase thereof, which may be allowed by this act, shall be paid in the same manner as pensions to invalids, who have been heretofore placed on the pension list, are now paid, and under such restrictions and regulations, in all respects, as are prescribed by law.

SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That from and after the passage of this act, no sale transfer or mortgage of the whole or any part of the pension, payable to any non-commissioned officer, musician, soldier, marine, or seaman, before the same becomes due, shall he valid. And every person claiming such pension or any part thereof, under power of attorney or substitution, shall, before the same is paid, make oath or affirmation, before some magistrate, legally authorized to take the same, a copy of which, attested by said magistrate, shall be lodged with the
person who pays said pension; that such power or substitution is not given by reason of any transfer of such pension, or part thereof. And any person who shall swear or affirm falsely in the premises, and be thereof convicted, shall suffer as for willful and corrupt perjury.

SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That all laws of the United States heretofore passed, so far as they authorize persons to be placed on the pension list of the United States, for, and in consequence of, disabilities derived from known wounds received in the revolutionary war, shall be, and they are hereby repealed: Provided, that nothing in this repealing clause shall injure, or in any way affect those persons already upon the pension list of the United States; and that the Secretary for the department of war shall proceed upon the testimony which has been transmitted to him by any claimant, before the passage of this act, in the same manner as though this act had never passed.

SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That this act, so far as it authorizes the admission of persons upon the pension list of the United States, shall remain in force for and during the space of six years from the passage Proviso, sage thereof, and no longer: Provided, that this limitation shall not affect or impair the right of any invalid who may have completed his testimony in the manner prescribed by this act before this limitation commences its operation, but which has not been transmitted to the secretary for the department of war.
APPROVED, April 10, 1806.
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April 10, 1812

CHAP. LIV.—.An .,act for the relief of the officers and soldiers who served in the late campaign on the Wabash.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the officers, according to the rank assigned them by Governor Harrison, and which they held on the seventh day of November, one thousand eight hundred and eleven, the non-commissioned officers and soldiers of the volunteers and militia, and the legal representatives of those who were killed or died of their wounds, composing the army that served in the late campaign on the Wabash against the hostile Indians, shall receive the same compensation which is allowed by law to the militia of the United States when called into the actual service of the United States.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the officers, according to the rank which they held as aforesaid, the non-commissioned officers and soldiers, of the volunteers or militia, who served in the said campaign, and who were killed or died of wounds received in said service, leaving a widow, or if no widow, shall have left a child or children, under the age of sixteen years, such widow, or if no widow, such child or children, shall be entitled to, and receive the half of the monthly pay to which the deceased was entitled at the time of his death, or receiving the wound of which he died, for and during the term of five years; and in case of the death or intermarriage of such widow, before the expiration of the term of five years, the half pay, for the remainder of the term, shall go to the child or children of such deceased officer or soldier, whilst under the age of sixteen years; and in like manner the allowance to the child or children of such deceased, where there is no widow, shall be paid no longer than while there is a child or children under the age aforesaid: Provided, that no greater sum shall be allowed in any case to the widow or to the child or children of any officer than the half pay of a lieutenant colonel.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That every officer, according to the rank which he held as aforesaid, non-commissioned officer and private, of the volunteers and militia, who served in the said campaign, and who have been disabled by known wounds received in said service, shall be placed on the list of invalids of the United States, at such rate of pension as shall be directed by the President of the United States, upon satisfactory proof of such wound and disability being produced to the Secretary of War, agreeably to such rules as he may prescribe: Provided, that the rate of compensation for such wounds and disabilities shall never, for the highest disability, exceed half the monthly pay of such officer, at the time of being so wounded or disabled, and that the rate of compensation to a non-commissioned officer and private, shall never exceed five dollars per month; and all inferior disabilities shall entitle the person so disabled, to receive a sum in proportion to the highest disability; but no pension of a commissioned officer shall be calculated at a higher rate than the half pay of a lieutenant colonel.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That any person or persons belonging to the said army, who may have had a horse or horses killed or lost during the late battle on the Wabash, shall be entitled to, and receive the value thereof: Provided, that the proof of the value of such horse or horses shall be by affidavit of the quartermaster of the corps to which the owner may have belonged, or of two other credible witnesses.

SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That to the heirs or legal representatives of every person who was killed, and to every person who was wounded in the said campaign, who were purchasers of public lands of the United States, and whose lands had not, before the seventh of November, one thousand eight hundred and eleven, been actually sold
or reverted to the United States, for the non-payment of part of the purchase money, a further time of three years shall be allowed, in addition to the time allowed by former laws, to complete their payments; which further time of three years shall commence from the respective times when their payments should have been completed according to former laws.
APPROVED, April 10, 1812.
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April 25, 1812

CHAP. LXIX,—.An .,act to revive and continue in force an act to provide for persons who were disabled by known wounds received in the Revolutionary War,” and for other purposes. (a)

Be it enacted by tine Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the act, entituled “An act to provide for persons who were disabled by known wounds received in the revolutionary war,” passed on the tenth of April, one thousand eight hundred and six, shall be, and the same is hereby revived and continued in force for and during the space of six years from the passage
of this act, and from thence to the end of the next session of Congress thereafter, and no longer.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the agents for the payment
of invalid pensioners of the United States, shall in future be required
give bond with two or more sureties, to be approved by the Secretary for
the department of War, in a sum not exceeding five thousand dollars for
the faithful discharge of the duties confided to them respectively.
APPROVED, April 25, 1812.
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February 13, 1813

CHAP, XXII.—.,An act regulating pensions to persons on board private armed ships.

Be it enacted by the Senate and house of Representatives of the United States of America in congress assembled, That the two per centum reserved in the hands of the collectors and consuls by the act of June, eighteen hundred and twelve, entitled “An act concerning letters of marque, prizes, and prize goods,” shall be paid to the treasury, under the like regulations provided for other public money, and shall constitute a fund for the purposes provided for by the seventeenth section of the before mentioned act.

SEC. . And be it further enacted, That the Secretary of the Navy be authorized and required to place on the pension list, under the like regulations and restrictions, as are used in relation to the navy of the United States, any officer, seaman or marine, who, on board of any private armed ship or vessel bearing a commission of letter of marque, shall
have been wounded or otherwise disabled in any engagement with the enemy; allowing to the captain a sum not exceeding twenty dollars per month; to lieutenants and sailing master a sum not exceeding twelve dollars each per month ; to marine officer, boatswain, gunner, carpenter, master’s mate and prize masters, a sum not exceeding ten dollars each
per month; to all other officers a sum not exceeding eight dollars each per month, for the highest rate of disability, and so in proportion; and to a seaman, or acting as a marine, the sum of six dollars per month, for the highest rate of disability, and so in proportion; which several pensions shall be paid, by direction of the Secretary of the Navy, out of the fund above provided, and from no other.

SEC. 3. And he it further enacted, That the commanding officer of every vessel having a commission, or letters of marque and reprisal, shall enter in his journal the name and rank of any officer, and the name of any seaman, who, during his cruise, shall have been wounded or disabled as aforesaid, describing the manner and extent, as far as practicable, of such wound or disability.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That every collector shall transmit quarterly to the Secretary of the Navy, a transcript of such journals as may have been reported to him, so far as it gives a list of the officers and crew, and the description of wounds and disabilities, the better to enable the secretary to decide on claims for pensions.
APPROVED, February 13, 1813.