I once visited the Archives to lookup my ancestor's Civil War pension file and was given a large manila folder containing the original documents including the application (with a diagram showing his bullet wounds!), renewal correspondence, and finally the check returned notification indicating the pensioner had died. I was able to copy the documents although the rules were that they must be submitted to the desk for a determination of their fragility. I don't know if it is still possible to review the pension file itself. Jim Carlson