13. Southern soldiers were paid infrequently and inflation meant their purchasing power decreased
At the beginning of the war, Southern troops were paid at about the same rate as their Northern counterpart’s, though Union enlistees received bonuses which the Confederates did not. Both sides paid their lowest ranks about $11 per month. In 1864 the lowest ranking privates of the Confederate Army were given a raise to $18 per month, but payrolls were infrequently met, and the inflation which affected the Confederate dollar throughout the war made it of little value. Confederate troops also had less to spend their money on even on the infrequent occasions on which they were paid. The same inflation affected the civilian population and by 1864 prices in the South had risen more than 9,000%.