Two Months To A Civil War Pension, But Who Is The Soldier?

This is an interesting 1866 correspondence from an attorney to Lt. Henry D. Trask regarding the granting of a Civil War pension. I can find 2 references online to Henry D. Trask.

One served in the 2nd Regiment, United States Colored Cavalry:

http://www.nps.gov/civilwar/search-...b8ac6f5d926a

The other served in the 4th Regiment, Massachusetts Cavalry, but is listed with a different rank. One of the pension letters is addressed to Lt. Trask in West Cambridge, MA, so I'm leaning towards this one, but it appears as though the National Parks records are mixed up?

http://www.nps.gov/civilwar/search-...b8ac6f5d926a

Photo of Lt. Trask:



The first letter dated March 1866 requests Lt. Trask's discharge papers.



The second letter dated April 1866 directs Lt. Trask to a medical examination.



And Lt. Trask's pension of a "pleasant" $15 a month is quickly approved in May 1866.



The only cover I have with the correspondence:

Henry Dagett Trask

Originally a farmer from West Cambridge, MA.
Enlisted in Company L, Massachusetts 1st Cavalry Regiment, for a term of 3 years, on 23 Sep 1861 at the age of 19.
Promoted to Corporal on 1 Nov 1862.
Mustered out of Company L, 1st Mass Cav, on 12 Feb 1864, and transferred to Company L, Massachusetts 4th Cavalry Regiment, effective 21 Apr 1864.
Promoted to Sergeant on 1 Jul 1864.
Mustered out of Company L, 4th Mass Cav, on 29 Nov 1864, due to receipt of commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Colored Troops 2nd Cavalry Regiment.
Promoted to Brevet Captain on 13 Mar 1865.
Promoted to Full 1st Lieutenant on 10 Oct 1865.
Mustered out on 12 Feb 1866.

Died 18 Aug 1902 in Maplewood, MA. On 20 Feb 1908, his widow, Susan S. Trask, applied for his pension.

Thank you so much PostmasterGS! Mystery quickly solved - both links refer to the same person.

That's a really nice piece

An additional piece of information on Henry D. Trask.



Also note there is technically no "Maplewood, MA", it is merely a section of the City of Malden (Middlesex County), Massachusetts.

Very interesting obituary wt1. But I wonder why no mention at all of his civil war activities?

Some veterans wear these things lightly.

Easy to forget these days, when the word 'hero' gets thrown around

Thanks Mike33 (:

ikeyPikey - that makes sense.

So my next question is why he would be referred to as Captain in his obituary when he was a 1st Lieutenant since 1865?

Because prior to his promotion to a Full 1st Lieutenant, he was conferred with the title "Brevet Captain" for his "highly meritorious service". According to Wiki:




Here's Senate documentation of his promotion to Brevet Captain ... now you'd want to find out next what the "highly meritorious service" was that conferred the title to him.

You are just amazing at finding information wt1! I know zero about military rankings and wrongly assumed a lieutenant was higher than a captain LOL. How interesting though that his captain rank was honorary - that certainly would explain his using it throughout his life.

What a fabulous resource this forum is - a few hours ago I knew literally nothing about Capt. Trask and I now have a complete summary of his life - thanks to all.

Here's another interesting wrinkle. It seems that following the Civil War (1866), Henry D. Trask was still in the Army but with a lowered rank of Second Lieutenant and now transferred to the Ninth Cavalry.



I don't know how this worked back in the Civil War Days, but I wonder if it could have been like a "reserve" status after his active service?

More research needed, I guess.

His obituary indirectly mentions his Civil War veteran status in stating that he was a member of the "Brookfield Post, G.A.R."



Cheers, Robert

Does this help at all:

Definition of BREVET
: a commission giving a military officer higher nominal rank than that for which pay is received.

I agree with IkeyPikey's statement about the "hero" word being thrown around these days. That reminds me of kids sports programs these days where everyone on the team has to get a trophy!

The previously posted obituary for Henry D. Trask refers to him as a member of the "Loyal Legion". Here's confirmation of that:



It also refers to him as being "a well-known" furnace dealer (in civilian life) and here are a couple of newspaper ads confirming that, whereby his company went by the name of H.D. Trask & Co.:

Just as a follow up to my earlier comment about Henry D. Trask being part of the Ninth Cavalry, here's the listing where I found the initial reference:



And I did find this subsequent data on the formation of the Ninth Cavalry:



However, that same reference goes on to suggest that among the Officers of the original Ninth Cavalry included a Lt. I.W. Trask (which another reference suggests was Ira W. Trask, not Henry D. Trask) ... so I believe that somewhere along the line someone made a mistake with the listing.

Since it's quite difficult to find multiple references to confirm such things, I now tend to believe that the original post of Henry D. Trask being part of the Ninth Cavalry is wrong as if he were part of that Unit his discharge date would have been different and his pension data would have referenced service in that unit (which it does not) as shown below:

Wow wt1! Thank you so much for the additional information - it's much appreciated.