On February 10, 1863, the North Carolina General Assembly passed “An Act for the Relief of the Wives and Families of Soldiers in the Army.” The law allocated $1,000,000 of state funds for aiding soldiers’ needy families. The act was extended at the end of 1864 with an additional $3,000,000 set aside for the aid, plus $10,000 for Cherokee serving in North Carolina’s military.
According to the American Battlefield Trust, North Carolina was one of only two Confederate states to provide assistance for families.
The voucher below was issued to the wife and two children of Private Aaron M. Colvin, Company B, 1st Battalion North Carolina Heavy Artillery. Colvin, a New Hanover County farmer, enlisted for the war on August 15, 1863, at age 36. He was hospitalized with a wound on February 15, 1865, and sent home on a 60-day furlough the same day. The voucher was issued after Wilmington fell to the Yankee horde and after Colvin returned home.
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