Six years after the end of the war, on March 3, 1871, the U.S. Congress established the Southern Claims Commission. This organization provided the means through which southerners could apply for reimbursement for property taken during the war. To successfully make such an application, southerners had to file a formal petition which established their loyalty to the Union during the war. That petition was then reviewed by the commission, which considered additional testimony from neighbors before issuing a judgement on the application.
Most of the 162 claims filed by residents of Augusta County, including the 35 that were actually approved, will be accessible from this page. A searchable database will enable users to get a sense of the combined losses of Augusta County residents; browsable versions of the testimonies will reveal how residents remembered their war experiences several years after the war.
Until then, the following is a textual transcription and a sample of images from the disallowed application of William Bull, a 75-year-old resident of Augusta County:
Claim:
