Late War Union Soldiers
High-Bounty Men in the Army of the Potomac
HIBO

Military

Composite

Individual

17th VT

Economic

Census 1860

Tables

Methodology

Military Compensation (Summer 1862)
Advance Bounty Payment   Monthly Pay Federal          
        One Year Total Bounty   Imputed   Family  
Federal State Local   Federal State Balance   Board   Support Total
              Cash   Plus Board  
CONNECTICUT1
27 50 100 177 156 30 75 438 162 600 up to 120 720
DELAWARE2
27 - 50  77  156 - 75 308 127 435 - 435
MAINE3
27 55 100 182 156 - 75 413 127 540 up to 144 684
MASSACHUSETTS4
27 - 100 127 156 - 75 358 156 514 up to 144 658
NEW HAMPSHIRE5
27 50 100 177 156 - 75 408 129 537 up to 144 681
NEW JERSEY
27 - 100 127 156 72 75 430 176 606 48 to 72 678
NEW YORK
27 50 50 127 156 - 75 358 138 496 up to 144 640
PENNSYLVANIA6
27 - 50  77  156 - 75 308 136 444 78 522
RHODE ISLAND
27 15 300 342 156 - 75 573 152 725 up to 144 869
VERMONT
27 - 50  77  156 84 75 392 124 516 - 516
Notes
Imputed board for each state is calculated by taking the weekly value of board from the 1850 Census (Statistics of the United States in 1860 at 512), multiplying it by 52 to get an annual number and then adjusting it by 1.19 to account for inflation in the price of food from 1860 to 1862 (see Lebergott at 549).

The potential for family support is included because they could have been part of a man's financial analysis. I have listed the maximum amount allowed by state law for local governments to provide per family. (Family aid provided by private sources is an unknown factor.) The numbers should be viewed as approximate because the actual practice at the local government level varied significantly. I have not included family assistance in calculating ratios of military to civilian compensation because of the variations in local practice, variations in family size and the fact that only about one-quarter of Union soldiers were married.

(1) Connecticut The History of Wages treats carpenters and joiners as a single occupation. The 1860 Census treats them as separate occupations. The History of Wages reports Carpenters' and Joiners' wages for four of the Eastern States for 1862-- Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and Pennsylvania--and five for 1864 and 1865--the same four plus New Jersey. (At 160) For these states, the workforce percentage includes both Carpenters and Joiners.

(2) Delaware The 1860 Census reports carpenters' wages for all ten of the Eastern States. For the six states not covered in the History of Wages for 1862 --Delaware, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Vermont-- the number reported in the 1860 Census was used as a base and adjusted for 1862 by four percent--the average for the four states covered in the History of Wages for 1862 and 1860 (which treated Carpenters and Joiners as a single occupation). The increase for the building trades in general from 1860 to 1862 was 6.3%. (Historical Statistics of the United States at 66) For these six states, the workforce percentage is for carpenters only.
(3) Maine The 1860 Census reports carpenters' wages for all ten of the Eastern States. For the six states not covered in the History of Wages for 1862 --Delaware, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Vermont-- the number reported in the 1860 Census was used as a base and adjusted for 1862 by four percent--the average for the four states covered in the History of Wages for 1862 and 1860 (which treated Carpenters and Joiners as a single occupation). The increase for the building trades in general from 1860 to 1862 was 6.3%. (Historical Statistics of the United States at 66) For these six states, the workforce percentage is for carpenters only.
(4) Massachusetts Nearly ninety percent of Massachusetts towns offered a local bounty. Within that group, nearly ninety percent offered $100 or more; roughly a third offered $150 or more; and nearly twenty percent offered $200 or more. Accordingly three different local bounty amounts are shown to allow more refined analysis.
(5) New Hampshire For the towns for which data is available, over ninety percent offered a bounty of $100 or more for three years service. Nearly half offered $200 or more. Both scenarios are shown.

At some point after early 1863, the War Department gave New Hampshire special permission to use the state treasury to pay out the complete federal bounty in advance rather than in installments with the federal government reimbursing New Hampshire as the federal installments would have become due. (Marvel, Lincoln's Mercenaries, 207) Because I do not know the precise timing of this change or the consistency with which it was applied, I have left the usual structure for the federal bounty in place for New Hampshire.

(6) Pennsylvania Because Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and a number of other cities and towns offered an additional local bounty, typically $50, on top of the county bounty, I have added that scenario.

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