Administrative Information

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Preferred Citation

Virginia Board of Commissioners. Journal, 1860. Accession 36763, State government records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Acquisition Information

Acquired prior to 1905.

Historical Information

Following John Brown's Raid on Harper's Ferry, the General Assembly passed "an act making an appropriation for the purchase and manufacture of arms and munitions of war" on January 1, 1860. A Board of Commissioners, to consist of three members appointed by the governor, was formed to carry out this undertaking. The three men appointed by Governor Letcher were Colonel Philip St. George Cocke, Colonel Francis H. Smith, and Captain George W. Randolph.

The purpose of the Board was to propose a plan to make the buildings of the public armory in Richmond fit for the manufacture and repair of arms and munitions for the use of the militia. The governor was authorized to employ a Master Armourer to direct the operations. The commissioners visited armories and weapon factories to research arms manufacture. In Washington, the commissioners met with Col. H.K. Craig, Chief of the Ordinance Department of the U.S. Army as well as Captain J.A. Dahlgren of the U.S. Navy. Governor Letcher accompanied the commissioners on another trip to Springfield, Mass., and West Point, New York. The commissioners purchased a variety of arms and sent them to the Virginia Military Institute in order to conduct tests on the weapons. The commissioners negotiated a contract with both James T. Ames of the Chicopee Manufacturing Company and Joseph R. Anderson of the Tredegar Iron Works to retool the public armory to produce arms at an output of 5,000 rifled muskets per annum. The Board eventually decided to contract with Anderson.

Scope and Content Information

The Board of Commissioners' journal records the activities of the commissioners from February 10 to December 7, 1860. Entries were made in the journal detailing the commissioners' travels to Washington, Harper's Ferry, Massachusetts, and New York in order to consult with government officials and weapon makers regarding arms and arms manufacture. The journal also contains transcribed correspondence regarding the purchase of arms. Transcribed reports to Governor Letcher provide the Board's recommendations for the armory. There are also proceedings of the negotiations with Joseph R. Anderson and James T. Ames regarding a contract to outfit and produce the arms in the armory. Proposed contracts with both Anderson and Ames provide estimates for the machinery. An extensive report by Major R.E. Colston of the Virginia Military Institute concerns comparison tests conducted on small arms including Burnside's Carbine, Smith & Pultneys Carbine, the Maynard Rifle, and the U.S. Harper's Ferry Rifle. Colston rated each for accuracy, solidity and strength, simplicity of construction, cost, facility of loading, and rapidity of fire. Colston includes diagrams showing the "spread" for each weapon fired at 500 yards.

Arrangement

Journal entries are arranged chronologically.