Administrative Information

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Preferred Citation

Virginia Adjutant General, John Brown's Raid Quartermaster accounts, 1859. Accession 39026, State Records Collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

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Biographical/Historical Information

On the night of 16 October 1859, John Brown led a group of radical abolitionists against the U.S. Arsenal at Harpers Ferry in Jefferson County, Virginia, with the purpose of arming and inciting a slave rebellion. Brown and many of his conspirators were captured and some killed when U.S. Marines under Col. Robert E. Lee surrounded and stormed the engine house where Brown's men had been trapped. John Brown and his men were taken to Charlestown where they were tried and later hanged on 2 December 1859. In order to guard against threats of invasion, Governor Wise called up a number of militia units to protect Charlestown before and after the execution. General William Booth Taliaferro commanded the 4th Division Virginia Militia stationed in Charlestown, Virginia. Taliaferro named J. Lucius Davis Assistant Adjutant General and Assistant Quartermaster General by General Order No. 1 on November 24, 1859.

Scope and Content Information

Contains accounts, bonds, correspondence, receipts, requisitions, and vouchers submitted by militia units to Col. J. Lucius Davis, Assistant Quartermaster General, and F.A. Briscoe, Acting Assistant Quartermaster. The accounts are arranged alphabetically by the captain of each militia company. There are separate accounts for the guard house, medical department, and quartermaster department. Lastly, there are separate bonds & receipts for overcoats.