Administrative Information

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Use Restrictions

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Preferred Citation

Virginia Quartermaster's Dept., Records, 1861-1864. Accession 39376, State Records Collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Acquisition Information

Acquired prior to 1905 (no other acquisition information available).

Biographical/Historical Information

An ordinance to provide for the organization of Staff Departments for the Military Forces of the State was passed by the Virginia Convention on 21 April 1861 and amended and re-enacted on 24 April 1861. This ordinance organized the Adjutant General's Department, Quartermaster's Department, Subsistence Department, Medical Department, Pay Department, and Engineer Corps. The Quartermaster's Department was to consist of a quartermaster general with the rank of colonel, an assistant quartermaster general with the rank of lieutenant colonel, two quartermasters of the rank of major, and four assistant quartermasters with the rank of captain. On April 21, the Advisory Council ordered that the governor immediately organize the subsistence and quarter-master's departments, placing at the head of each, temporarily, one person with the rank of major, with authority to employ the necessary clerks and assistants. The Board recommended Benjamin Franklin Ficklin for this task.

A second ordinance was passed on 27 April 1861 concerning the Quartermaster's Department, but subsequently repealed on 30 April. This ordinance was replaced by an ordinance "for the better regulation of the Departments of the Army and Navy of Virginia, and for the audit and settlement of Accounts and Claims arising in the present emergency for the defence of the Commonwealth." An ordinance passed by the Convention on 30 April 1861 created a board of commissioners consisting of George W. Munford, J.R. Tucker, and J. M. Bennett, to better regulate the accounts of the Army and Navy and for the audit and settlement of accounts and claims. Edward H. Fitzhugh served as Examining Clerk of the accounts. This Auditing Board continued to pay some officers and settle claims after Governor Letcher issued a proclamation on 6 June 1861 stating that "all Quarter Master, commissary, and medical stores belonging to the State and in charge of said officers be turned over for the use of the Confederate States upon proper receipts for the articles turned over, to be forwarded to the accounting officer for settlement."

The Quartermaster's Dept. remained an important institution during the war as a result of the act passed by the General Assembly on 15 May 1862 creating the Virginia State Line under Maj. Gen. John B. Floyd. The Virginia State Line consisted of approximately 2000 men and was established to recover the western part of the state and protect the salt mines in that region. On 20 May 1862, the Quartermaster's office was moved from Richmond to Lynchburg with a quartermaster depot in Wytheville to assist the supplying of these new forces. The office was later ordered by Governor Letcher to be moved back to Richmond on 7 May 1863. The Virginia State Line forces were short-lived, however, and an act was passed on 28 February 1863 transferring the State Troops and Rangers to the Confederate Government. The Quartermaster's Dept., however, continued to settle the claims of the Virginia State Line, etc., into 1864.

Scope and Content Information

These records relate to expenses incurred by the Quartermaster's Department between 1861 and 1864, but predominantly between 1861 and 1863, for the defense of the Commonwealth. The records are arranged in alphabetical order by the name of the quartermaster officer who submitted these accounts to the Auditing Board for examination and approval. Within each quartermaster, the accounts are arranged in chronological order by year then by quarter. Included are abstracts of expenses, accounts current, correspondence, payrolls, property returns, abstracts of provisions, receipts, vouchers, and other sundry items. Oversized items can be found at the rear of the collection. The abstracts are usually lettered A through N in each quarter and record each voucher by number. The abstracts summarize the information on each voucher including the name of the company or individual selling the items, the date of purchase, the quantity and cost, and a total amount. Most of the quartermaster accounts relate to clothing, transportation, military stores, and camp equipage. In addition, there are payrolls for persons employed in the Quartermaster's Office. These can be found with L.R. Smoot's accounts. Noteworthy items include some of the early vouchers signed by prominent figures during the Civil War including J.E.B. Stuart, Stonewall Jackson, John B. Floyd, Turner Ashby, Joseph E. Johnston, and others.

There is a small amount of correspondence in this collection. Some of the correspondence accompanies the accounts of the quartermaster. This correspondence usually transmits the accounts from the quartermaster officer to Edward H. Fitzhugh, P.F. Howard, or J. Bell Bigger of the Auditing Board. Other correspondence provides a report to the Auditing Board from the quartermasters. In addition, there is a separate file for correspondence arranged in chronological order between 1862 and 1863. Correspondents include L.R. Smoot, Quartermaster General; William H. Richardson, Adjutant General; Edward H. Fitzhugh, Examining Clerk; J.B. Goodloe, Assistant Quartermaster of the Virginia State Line; George W. Munford, Secretary of the Commonwealth; Governor John Letcher; Henry Hill, Paymaster General; and others. This later correspondence is similar to that mentioned above, but also encloses bonds and oaths of office for assistant quartermasters, receipts and invoices, and claims for pay.

Miscellaneous items include a list of quartermaster officers appointed by Acting Quartermaster General, Henry Heth, in 1861. There are also transportation vouchers from the Richmond & Danville Railroad in 1862. Finally, there are miscellaneous accounts that do not appear to belong to a particular quartermaster between 1862 and 1863.

Arrangement

Arranged alphabetically.