PENSION, a regular allowance of money paid to an individual by a sovereign or government, in consideration of services rendered or in recognition of merit, civil or military. Most foreign countries have both civil and military pension lists, but in the United States pensions are granted, with a few exceptions, in consideration of military service alone. Military pensions are divisible into two general classes, invalid and gratuitous. Invalid pensions are granted to persons who have become disabled in the military or naval service, in consequence of wounds or sickness, so as to be in whole or in part incapable of supporting themselves and those dependent on them. Gratuitous pensions are given as rewards for eminent services, and are usually granted at the close of a war or of a term of service. In this class is properly included the half pay drawn by the families of those who have died of wounds or of sickness contracted in the service.—In the United States all matters relating to pensions are in charge of the commissioner of pensions, who is the head of a bureau in the department of the secretary of the interior. Payments are made quarterly at 58 agencies, established in different parts of the country. At each of these agencies a permanent roll is kept of all pensioners residing within its limits, arranged alphabetically by classes, sexes, &c. On this roll are entered all new pensions, new allowances to pensioners, reductions, suspensions, deaths, remarriages, transfers, variations of rates, and the post-office address of each pensioner. The disbursements at the various agencies range from $5,000 to $1,500,000 annually. Of the 278,021 soldiers who served in the revolutionary war, 57,623 received pensions for service, and the aggregate amount paid to them was $46,082,175 97. At the close of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1859, there were 165 soldiers of the revolution on the rolls, 102 of whom died during the two succeeding years. The last survivor pensioned under the general laws was Lemuel Cook of Clarendon, N. Y., who died May 20, 1866, aged 104 years. Of two pensioned under a special act of congress ($500 per annum), one, John Gray of Brookfield, Ohio, died March 28, 1869, aged 105 years, and the other, Daniel F. Bakeman of Freedom, N. Y., on April 5, 1869, aged 109 years. At the outbreak of the civil war all pensioners in the insurgent states were cut off from the benefit of the pension laws, and the names of those known to be disloyal were subsequently stricken from the rolls. In 1867 the names of widows who could prove their loyalty during the war were restored. This increased the number on the roll during that year, but they have since been gradually decreasing, and in the year ending June 30, 1874, only 326 applied for payment of pensions. The pensioners of the war of 1812-'14 were included among the invalids, widows, &c., on the general roll until the act of Feb. 14, 1871, by the terms of which a pension is awarded for 60 days' service to all survivors and widows of that war. The total number of enlistments of all kinds in the war of 1812 was 527,654, of whom 296,916 served 60 days or more; of this last number, 21,451 have been pensioned, and in 1874 17,620 were on the rolls as alive. Of the widows, 6,200 who were married prior to Feb. 17, 1815, have been pensioned. The total number of enlistments in the war with Mexico was 73,260, of whom 11,308 were pensioned as invalids. Of the 2,688,523 men enlisted in the civil war of 1861-'5, 119,589 had been pensioned as invalids up to 1874. The following table shows the number of pensioners enrolled in the various classes during each year from 1861 to 1874:
| YEARS. | Revolutionary soldiers. |
Widows of revolutionary soldiers. |
Army invalids. |
Widows, &c. (army). |
Navy invalids. |
Widows, &c. (navy). |
Survivors of war of 1812. |
Widows of war of 1812. |
Total. |
| 1861 | 63 | 2,728 | 4,725 | 2,236 | 427 | 530 | ...... | ...... | 10,709 |
| 1862 | 30 | 1,850 | 3,878 | 1,485 | 433 | 483 | ...... | ...... | 8,159 |
| 1863 | 18 | 1,573 | 7,248 | 4,820 | 555 | 577 | ...... | ...... | 14,791 |
| 1864 | 12 | 1,418 | 22,767 | 25,433 | 712 | 793 | ...... | ...... | 51,135 |
| 1865 | 3 | 1,114 | 35,041 | 47,972 | 839 | 1,017 | ...... | ...... | 85,986 |
| 1866 | 1 | 931 | 54,620 | 68,957 | 1,032 | 1,181 | ...... | ...... | 126,722 |
| 1867 | .. | 997 | 68,511 | 81,294 | 1,054 | 1,327 | ...... | ...... | 153,183 |
| 1868 | 1 | 888 | 74,782 | 91,354 | 1,175 | 1,443 | ...... | ...... | 169,643 |
| 1869 | .. | 887 | 81,579 | 102,659 | 1,280 | 1,558 | ...... | ...... | 187,968 |
| 1870 | .. | 727 | 86,187 | 108,825 | 1,334 | 1,613 | ...... | ...... | 198,686 |
| 1871 | .. | 634 | 91,290 | 111,794 | 1,377 | 1,673 | 727 | ...... | 207,495 |
| 1872 | .. | 471 | 95,405 | 113,047 | 1,449 | 1,730 | 17,100 | 3,027 | 232,229 |
| 1873 | .. | 445 | 99,804 | 111,643 | 1,430 | 1,770 | 18,266 | 5,053 | 238,411 |
| 1874 | .. | 410 | 102,457 | 107,106 | 1,551 | 1,785 | 17,620 | 5,312 | 236,241 |
The several sums allowed per month to invalids of the various classes are as follows: lieutenant colonels and officers of higher rank in the army, and officers in the navy and marine corps ranking with them, $30; majors and other officers ranking with them, $25; captains and other officers ranking with them, $20; first lieutenants and those ranking with them, $17; second lieutenants and those ranking with them, $15; midshipmen and those ranking with them, $10; and privates and seamen, $8. The total amount paid in pensions from the foundation of the government to June 30, 1861, was $89,886,359 65. The following table exhibits the annual rate of all pensions paid by the United States from 1861 to 1874 inclusive, and the actual amount paid, the latter including arrears and expenses of disbursement:
