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Article: Some low-paid frontier soldiers proved particularly enterprising: they found various ways to augment their salaries.(WESTERN ENTERPRISE)(tailoring)
- Article from:
- Wild West
- Article date:
- December 1, 2009
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2009 Weider History Group. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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On his last trip to Washington, D.C., before his June 1876 trouble at the Little Bighorn River, Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer buttonholed U.S. Representative Heister Clymer with a request to raise sergeants' pay above $40 a month. Custer had earlier secured ammunition allotments so his soldiers could actually afford target practice, as it became obvious many of his immigrant and urban recruits couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. His request for pay raises died with him at Custer's Last Stand.
After the Civil War, the Army reduced many officers' wartime ranks and slashed salaries across the board. In 1872, for instance, a private's monthly pay dropped from ...