Reading a pension application.

[Popman]

Thoughts or opinions needed!
I am researching this soldier on behalf of SUVCW. This record shows him in 3 different regiments, and with two slightly different last names. The kicker is that he is listed as a deserter from his 1st regiment. (11th michigan). Could he reenlist with that on his record? Does the certificate # indicate a pension that was granted?

 

[John Winn]

If he somehow managed to get an honorable discharge then, yes, he could have got a pension. The application doesn't say if he got it; you'd have to get the file to see. The rules changed over the years (got looser later) so some might have been originally denied but later approved (i.e. re-applying under newer rules).

As one who's researched many a CW vet I can testify that pension files are often gold mines of information. They contain a lot of info not in the service record. I can recommend Gopher Records regarding retrieving the file:

National Archives Digitizing, Civil War Ancestors, Civil War Records - GopherRecords.com

We specialize in the retrieval and duplication of Civil War and other 19th-century military records from the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), including service records, pension files, medical records, Court Martial records, Bounty Land records, and others.

gopherrecords.com

 

[13 IL Cav & 64 GA Inf]

I have transcribed dozens of Revolutionary War pension applications. Now, THAT was challenging. I've done only about 4 or 5 Civil War applications.

 

[TnFed]

It would be possible to desert and then join another regiment. Captain Timothy Lyons and two other men deserted from a Wisconsin Cavalry Unit as privates and became officers in the 3rd TN Mounted Infantry USA. Lyons was an efficient partisan fighter. Lyons got a pension, the thanks of Congress and his former record expunged.

Joining a unit from the same state? I don't know about that.