Rhode Island Cavalry Pension Files

John Hartwell

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I have three men I am researching who were in Co. G. First R.I. Cavalry. Looking at Fold3 for the Pension Index, I find the R.I. Cavalry almost wholly missing! The 1st R.I. has cards only for Co. A (2 men) and Co. C (1 man). There are 3 cards that are incomplete or illegible. And one card for Field and Staff (Maj Sullivan Ballou, whose name you might recognize -- his widow's Nov. 1861 pension application was No.27, certificate No.25!)

Now, I'm quite sure these fellows didn't all voluntarily forgo their pensions. Is it just the index cards that are missing? or the files themselves?

I shall be querying the NA about this.

jno
 
If you can give me their data I'll look at Ancestry.

The men in question are brothers Michael and Patrick Mullen (both sometimes Mullin, sometimes with an 's' at the end), both enlisted in Co. G, 1st R.I.C., 15 Nov 1861, and discharged Nov '64 and Aug '65 respectively. The third is John Neaylon jr (or Neyland, even Kneeland) said to be of Co. C or G, 3rd R.I. Cavalry, though I find no 'official' record. These are all recent Irish immigrants, neighbors from Auburn, Mass., who for some reason decided to become pony soldiers for Rhode Island.
Thanks,
jno
 
Don't the alternate spellings drive you crazy? They sure do me. :banghead:

The thing is that according to the census none of these guys could read or write -- so they didn't know or care how it was spelled (and, lets face it, neither did the paper-pushers who wrote it down for them).

Thanks a lot, ExNavyPilot, O really appreciate it.

Cheers!

jno
 
The thing is that according to the census none of these guys could read or write -- so they didn't know or care how it was spelled (and, lets face it, neither did the paper-pushers who wrote it down for them).

How true. I'll bet they never considered that their descendants would really care about tracking them down.
 
The card is available through Ancestry. Didn't find anything for the Mullens, but the common-ish name and alternate spellings mean I might have missed something. The other thing to consider is that (as I believe) pensions were not awarded solely for military service, but were also "means tested" -- one had to be disabled or fairly well indigent to qualify, so a great many former soldiers who were all right financially never applied or received them.
 
The card is available through Ancestry. Didn't find anything for the Mullens, but the common-ish name and alternate spellings mean I might have missed something. The other thing to consider is that (as I believe) pensions were not awarded solely for military service, but were also "means tested" -- one had to be disabled or fairly well indigent to qualify, so a great many former soldiers who were all right financially never applied or received them.

Thanks again. I also haven't found death dates on either Mullen -- they might have died before becoming eligible. I've traced Michael Mullen until about 1877 -- mainly through court records, he was in & out of trouble with the law (petty theft, drunkenness, brawling) both before the war and after. Patrick Mullen 'disappears' before 1870.

I still wonder why Fold3 doesn't have them ... they say they have 100% of the Pension Index copied. Oh, well.

Cheers!

jno
 
To answer my own question, I understand now that Ancestry digitized NA Microfilm Publication T-288; while Fold3 used the less thorough Publication T-289 (and the version available for free at familysearch.com is mirrored from Fold3). They say it's a good idea to check both versions, I guess some numbers were changed at some time ( don't ask me why).

jno
 
Have you checked Google Books? I found this book there but at the moment the pages are slow to load. Maybe it is available for free download.

Sabres and Spurs: The First Regiment Rhode Island Cavalry in the Civil War 1861-1865 -- Published 1876
Chapter LXV - Roll of the Regiment Page 478 - 597

Roster for Troop C begins on Page 496.
Troop G starts on Page 526-- Patrick and Michael are listed on Page 531.
I did not find Neaylon. He could be in a different company or listed as a Corporal or a Saddler.

Patrick was listed as Deserted and then Taken Prisoner. Then he re-enlisted and was transferred to Troop A.

I found the book by searching "rhode island cavalry".
Here is the link:
http://books.google.com/books?id=BTlAAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=rhode island cavalry&hl=en&sa=X&ei=v1GzULCXCZLS8wTO5YCoDQ&sqi=2&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=rhode island cavalry&f=false
 
Usually, you can find a roster in Google Books by searching for "Adjutant Generals Report name of state" and it will bring up a history for that state and sometimes a brief unit history of each regiment and a roster.
I found one for Rhode Island but it only contained info on Volunteer Infantry regiments. I just realized that you say John Neyland was in 3rd Regiment. That is why I could not find him in the above book. Maybe there is another book on the 3rd RI Cavalry.

I searched for 3rd Rhode Island Cavalry and the only document I found, so far, is this one written during the war. It describes how the regiments were formed and gives some basic info on the size & number of soldiers in the unit.

General Assembly of the State of Rhode Island 1864

Link:
http://books.google.com/books?id=OL...nepage&q="third rhode island" cavalry&f=false
 
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