I can understand Mr. Dawson's frustration over the trouble his Grand Uncle had collecting his pension for his Civil War service. My GGrand Uncle Solomon Fryerson/Geddis served in the Civil War with the 104th USCT Regiment. The file documenting his application for a pension was 190 pages long. His application was eventually approved. After his death his wife Anna Geddis received the pension until her death in 1940.
Ed