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OverviewOriginal Civil War–era U.S. Army payment voucher documenting four months of labor performed by Jesse Drake during the Vicksburg Campaign.Drake was paid $10 per month for services as a laborer from March 1 through July 1, 1863, for a total of $40. The receipt was executed “In the Field near Vicksburg” on July 29, 1863, only weeks after the Confederate surrender of the city.Drake signed the document with “his X mark,” witnessed by Thomas A. Nutting. The voucher provides a tangible record of the civilian labor force supporting Union military operations in the Department of the Tennessee.The rate recorded on this voucher is particularly significant. Section 15 of the federal Militia Act of July 17, 1862, established compensation of $10 per month and one government ration for persons of African descent employed by the United States, with up to $3 of the monthly pay permitted to be issued in clothing. The law formalized the Union Army’s widespread employment of Black men—many of them formerly enslaved refugees—as laborers, teamsters, cooks, hospital workers, fortification builders, and in other essential support roles.Jesse Drake received exactly $10 per month for four months of labor. Although the voucher does not explicitly identify his race or former legal status, the federally prescribed wage, its execution near Vicksburg—where increasing numbers of formerly enslaved African Americans were working for Union forces—and Drake’s signature by mark combine to strongly suggest that he was an African American laborer employed under this wartime system.Document Details- Payee: Jesse Drake
- Services: Laborer
- Service period: March 1–July 1, 1863
- Term: Four months
- Rate of pay: $10 per month
- Total received: $40
- Place signed: “In the Field near Vicksburg”
- Date: July 29, 1863
- Signature: “Jesse Drake, his X mark”
- Witness: Thomas A. Nutting
- Certified by: C. R. Smith, Captain and Assistant Quartermaster
- Payment received from: A. J. Mackay, Lieutenant Colonel and Chief Quartermaster, Department of the Tennessee
- Printed military voucher completed in manuscript
- Marked “Duplicate”ConditionGood antique condition with original filing folds, age toning, scattered spotting, faint ink show-through, and minor edge wear. The document remains complete and intact. Please review all photographs carefully, as they form an important part of the condition description.
