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Confederate Disability Applications

Applications for artificial limbs and other disability benefits for Virginia veterans of the Civil War

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Confederate Disability Applications

Overview

This collection consists of certificates submitted by injured veterans to the Virginia Board of Commissioners on Artificial Limbs. Injured soldiers submitted certificates from their county court stating that they were Virginia citizens, that they had been disabled in the war, and what assistance they required. Veterans listed the command in which they served, included information on when, where, and how they were wounded, and provided details about their medical history. Entries also contain the year of the Virginia General Assembly act under which the application was filed and a link to the digitized images of the applications, including supporting affidavits and receipts for payments issued.

Search Tips

  • The disability applications are searchable by the name of the veteran, the veteran's place of residence (city, county, or state), and the year of the act. Possible years are 1882, 1883, 1884, and 1886–87.
  • Abbreviations may have been used for some names (e.g. Jno for John, Wm. for William).
  • The applications cover veterans who served in Virginia, including those who moved out of state after the war. 
  • The term "Disallowed" appears in records when a veteran's application was disallowed. 
  • If an application was filed with another veteran's, that veteran's name is indicated by the term "Filed with."
  • Using quotes around phrases may return fewer, more relevant results.
  • Boolean operators OR, NOT and AND written in ALL CAPS may be used.  By default, all search terms will be combined with the AND operator. To exclude terms, use the NOT operator before a term.
  • Wildcards can be used to find variant spellings or words. The question mark (?) will match any one character. For instance, "Ols?n" will match "Olsen" or "Olson". The asterisk (*) will match any number of characters (including zero). "Ch*ter" will match "Charter", "Character", and "Chapter", and "Temp*" will match "Temptation", "Temple", and "Temporary".

Related Resources

  • Auditor of Public Accounts. Biennial Report of the Auditor of Public Accounts. Richmond: Auditor's Office, 18??–1890. HJ11.V83
  • Gillett, Mary C. The Army Medical Department, 1818–1865. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Army Center of Military History, 1987. 
  • McDaid, Jennifer Davis. "With Lame Legs and No Money: Virginia's Disabled Confederate Veterans." Virginia Cavalcade 47 (Winter 1998): 14–25. F221.V73
  • Salmon, John S., and J. Christian Kolbe, comp. Auditor of Public Accounts Inventory. Richmond: Virginia State Library and Archives, 1992. CD3566.A8 V78 1992.

Revised February 2021