IN THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS OF THE GOVERNMENT UNDER THE PENSION, BOUNTY, AND PRIZE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. WITH FORMS AND INSTRUCTIONS FOR COLLECTING ARREARS OF PAY, BY ROBERT SEWELL, COUNSELLOR-AT-LAW NEW YORK: D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, 443 & 445 BROADWAY. LONDON: 16 LITTLE BRITAIN. 1865. 851.54 Se p ENTERED, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1864, by D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York. THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE PREFACE. SERVING on the staff of the Governor of New Jersey, in 1862, it was my duty to visit the transports which arrived at this port with wounded soldiers on board, and transfer to hospitals in New Jersey the men belonging to the regiments from that State. I was frequently asked questions by these men relating to their pay, bounty, and pensions, and, as I knew about as little concerning the matter as they did, those questions remained, for some time, unanswered. Afterward, the friends of deceased soldiers requested me to obtain their bounty and pensions for them. On attempting to do so, I found that the task was harder than I expected; and I sought in vain for any book containing the information I desired. Indeed, the entire legislation on the subject had then been so recent as to preclude the possibility of learning much from published books. I had to do as well as I could under the instructions of the Second Auditor and the Commissioner of Pensions. I adopted the plan of retaining a copy of the papers in each class of cases, and of altering them in those particulars wherein they proved defective. These copies comprise the principal portion of the forms in this book. As the matter grew, and new cases multiplied, I conceived the idea of putting them into the form of a book, judging, from my own experience, that such a work had become a necessity. The Government prefers that claimants be their own attorneys; but, under the instructions issued by the Departments, this is, to a great degree, impossible. The mass of claimants are not sufficiently expert to pre |