The St. Louis County Library Special Collections Department has posted an index to 300 slave compensation claims from the records of soldiers in the U.S. Colored Troops. The following is from their website:
During the Civil War, two acts of Congress allowed loyal slave owners whose slaves enlisted or were drafted into the U.S. military to file a claim against the Federal government for loss of the slave’s services. for more information…
Since each slave compensation claim was based on the service of a specific soldier, a copy of the claim’s paperwork was placed in that soldier’s compiled military service record. The regiments of U.S. Colored Troops that have a large number of these claims are the regiments formed in the border-states (Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, and Missouri) or in neighboring states.
Filed under: RESOURCES
