4-30-21 PayDay

[Trivia Master]

When the 37th Iowa or the "Greybeards " were mustered out on May 24, 1865 they were somewhat disappointed in their final paycheck. The War Department ruled that members were not eligible to receive the remaining $75.00 of the usual $100.00 enlistment bounty. In addition a mistaken advance payment was to be deducted from the final paycheck. Congress eventually voted them the remainder of the enrollment bounty in 1866 after a howl was raised but a certain amount for the "mistaken advance" was still deducted. How much was the amount deducted from the final paycheck?

credit: @Polloco

 

[bayouace]

I'm calling "uncle" on this one.

 

[DBF]

According to the State of Iowa's Resolution dated January 24, 1866:

"a portion of said regiment were discharged for disability, and were paid the full bounty promised them, whilst those remaining until the rebellion was crushed received no bounty, but instead the installment of $25, received as bounty money, when they were mustered into the service, was deducted from their pay;"

so I'll say $25.00 for that's the only number I can come up with although can't determine if it was a mistaken advance.

"Acts and Resolutions Passed at the . . . Session of the General Assembly of the State of Iowa, 1866." (Link)

 

[Quiet1]

Where do you get this stuff???
After too much digging, I found the congressional bill giving them their bounty back, but I have no notion of where to find the pay info.
Ya got me stumped for now.

 

[Pollaco]

Kredit

 

[stuart1861]

zero

 

[Brenal]

No idea. Guess $25.

 

[General John S. Bowen]

25 dollars

 

[WJC]

When the 37th Iowa or the "Greybeards " were mustered out on May 24, 1865 they were somewhat dsappointed in their final paycheck. The War Department ruled that members were not eligible to receive the remaining $75.00 of the usual $100.00 enlistment bounty. In addition a mistaken advance payment was to be deducted from the final paycheck. Congress eventually voted them the remainder of the enrollment bounty in 1866 after a howl was raised but a certain amount for the "mistaken advance" was still deducted. How much was the amount deducted from the final paycheck?

credit: @Polloco

$25.

Before they were mustered in... the War Department had decided that, because of the advanced age of the men, they would not receive the $100 bounty then promised to other enlistees. They had been given a $25 advance- mistakenly, as it turns out- in 1863, and now the War Department was asking for that amount to be returned. ​

​

On December 11, 1865, Iowa Representative James F. Wilson introduced HR 18, "A Bill for the Relief of Members of the 37th Regiment of Iowa Volunteer Infantry". The Act was approved on July 3, 1866, which finally allowed the Greybeards to receive the bounty money they deserved.​

​

Source: Lyman Allen, The Graybeards: The Letters of Major Lyman Allen, of the 37th Regiment Iowa Infantry.... (Iowa City, Iowa: Camp Pope Bookshop, 1998), pp. 95-96.

WHEREAS, the 37th Regiment Iowa Volunteer Infantry were in the military service nearly three years, and all that time doing arduous and useful duty for their country; and ​

Whereas, A portion of said regiment were discharged for disability, and were paid the full bounty promised them, whilst those remaining until the rebellion was crushed received no bounty, but instead the installment of $25, received as bounty money when they were mustered into the service, was deducted from their pay; ​

therefore, ​

Be it Resolved by the General Assembly of Iowa, That our Representatives in Congress be requested and our Senators instructed to use their utmost endeavors to procure the passage of an act giving those noble men bounties equal to any other volunteers.​

​

Source: Acts and Resolutions Passed at the Regular Session of the Eleventh General Assembly of the State of Iowa. (Des Moines, IA: F. W. Palmer, 1866), pp. 163-164.

 

[FarawayFriend]

My answer is: none. They were to be paid the same amount as all othersoldiers enlisted in US volunteer forces.

Source

If there is something else in doc. no 30, vol. 2 of the "Miscellaneous documents" quoted below, I cannot find out about that, as Google Books will not open it for me due to German copyright laws and archive.org only has vol. 3

The miscellaneous documents of the House of Representatives : printed during the first session of the Thirty-ninth Congress, 1865-66

View attachment 399489

So my answer above is the best I can do.

 

[FarawayFriend]

The attachment that does not open in my answer above is this:

Unfortunately I cannot access it.

 

[hughes]

$3

 

[sarladaise]

25,-- dollars

 

[streetwiseprof]

According to Frank Rybicki's "Lincoln's Senior Soldiers," the soldiers were owed $100.96 in bounty money, but even under the bill received $100. So maybe they were shorted 96 cents.

Soldiers who had left the service before the regiment was mustered out kept the $25 advance. However, those present at muster out had $25 deducted from their final pay.

Edit - The question asked about the amount deducted at the time they were mustered out, so I'm taking your answer to be $25 - which is the correct answer.

hoosier

 

[hoosier]

Can't find any reference to the mistaken advance. I suppose it must have been less than $75, or they wouldn't have received any final paycheck at all.

I have to guess. Twenty dollars.

 

[warbird43]

Couldn't find any reference anywhere of an exact amount that was deducted from the final paycheck of the Greybeards, so I'll have to wing it. The amount of the "mistaken advance" would, I think, vary according to the rank of the individual involved. The last pay raise for a Union Private occurred in June 1864 when the monthly pay for a Private went from $13 to $16; pay for Corporals, "buck" Sergeants, First Sergeants, etc. followed about the same ratio of pay raise.

Soldiers were supposed to be paid every two months in the field, but they were fortunate if they got their pay at four-month intervals (in the Union Army) and authentic instances are recorded where they went six and eight months. If the "mistaken advance" is related to the soldier's pay when he mustered out, this is a possible scenario, using the rank of Private as a yardstick:

Assuming the Private was paid every two months, his payday would be $32.00. Further assume he was paid in May 1865, which would include the monthly pay for June. Since the Greybeards were to be mustered out early in May, the June payment would have to be returned ($16), as well as for the 7 days in May he didn't serve because of the early discharge ($3.64), for a total of $19.64. The amount of deduction of the "mistaken advance" would be slightly higher for the ranks of corporals, sergeants, etc.

If the question is using the rank of Private for how much was deducted from the final paycheck, then my answer would be $19.64. This probably isn't the correct answer (won't be the first time), but it is the best I can offer; pass the Tylenol ...........

 

[JOHN42768]

Guessing $25.00

 

[ErnieMac]

Can't find any documentation on this one, but I will guess $25.

 

[ami]

$ 25.00

Biography of Col. George W. Kincaid of the 37th Iowa in "Who Was Who in the Civil War" by Stewart Sifakis.

Edit - This was a tough question. Only eight players answered correctly, and three of those admitted they were guessing.

Moral - if you can't find the correct answer, take a guess. You don't lose any credit for guessing wrong, and who knows - you might guess right.

hoosier