Civil War Pension

My paternal third great-grandfather was one of the fortunate soldiers that survived his time in the Civil War, and he applied for a pension from the U.S. government for his service.  In general, a veteran filed an application due to loss of limb or eye, or disability from wounds or disease that occurred during his time of service.  The laws changed over time, and eventually a veteran could receive a pension based on old age, if he was lucky enough to live that long.

Even though this paper has very little written on it, it is filled with a lot of information, enough to start digging into the lives of my three times great-grandparents.  It looks like my third great-grandfather qualified for pension support from the United States Government and my third great-grandmother was filing for an increase in the monthly rate, citing an Act of April 19, 1908.  Each amendment after the original 1862 legislation extended the benefits by more liberal terms.  On 22 September 1909 she qualified to receive $12 a month, $331.30 today.  At the time of this filing, she was 74 years old and my three-times great-grandfather had been dead for over five years.

This form states that my third great-grandfather was a private during the Civil War and served in Company I of the 215 Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. According to papers I have, he was promoted to sergeant, and in doing a little online research I found more evidence that this was true.  The promotion occurred eight days before the end of the war.  This paper leaves me with some questions. Like, why was his promotion not recognized on this document?  Was it because for most of his time in the Union Army, he was a private?  Why exactly was he promoted to sergeant eight days before the end of the war?  I guess this is going to require a little more research.