Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Order Book for the 1st Brigade of Virginia Militia, 1814 Sept 11-1814 Oct 26, and Muster Rolls and Payrolls of Captain Allan Wilson's Company of Cumberland County Militia 1st and 17th Regiments, 1814 Aug 9-1815 May 24, use microfilm copies, Cumberland County (Va.) Reel 90. See "A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm."

Record Book of the Cumberland Troop of Dragoons, 1857 Jan 26-1862 Mar 28, and Record Book of the Cumberland Troop Association, 1889-1912, use microfilm copies, Cumberland County (Va.) Reel 91. See "A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm."

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Cumberland County (Va.) Military and Pension Records, 1757-1912. Local government records collection, Cumberland County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia, 23219.

Alternative Form Available

Order Book for the 1st Brigade of Virginia Militia, 1814 Sept 11-1814 Oct 26, and Muster Rolls and Payrolls of Captain Allan Wilson's Company of Cumberland County Militia 1st and 17th Regiments, 1814 Aug 9-1815 May 24, use microfilm copies, Cumberland County (Va.) Reel 90.

Record Book of the Cumberland Troop of Dragoons, 1857 Jan 26-1862 Mar 28, and Record Book of the Cumberland Troop Association, 1889-1912, use microfilm copies, Cumberland County (Va.) Reel 91.

Acquisition Information

Volumes came to the Library of Virginia in a 1960 transfer of court papers from Cumberland County under accession number 25085. Loose records came to the Library of Virginia in an undated transfer of court papers from Cumberland County.

Processing Information

Military and pension records, 1757-1912, were processed by Library of Virginia staff in 2011.

Conservation of the Muster Rolls and Payrolls of Captain Allan Wilson's Company of Cumberland County Militia 1st and 17th Regiments, 1814 Aug 9-1815 May 24, was funded by a donation to the Library of Virginia's Adopt Virginia's History program from Neil Hening, in memory of William Waller Hening, Deputy Adjutant General for Virginia during the War of 1812.

Conservation of the Order Book for the 1st Brigade of Virginia Militia, 1814 Sept 11-1814 Oct 26, was funded by a donation to the Library of Virginia's Adopt Virginia's History program from the Friends of the Virginia State Archives, June 2014, in honor of Peter Broadbent for his chairmanship of the Library of Virginia Board.

Encoded by S. Nerney: December 2011; updated by M. Long: May 2024.

Historical Information

Context for Record Type: Keeping large bodies of militia in the field required an elaborate system of support based on the purchase of goods and services from civilians, in addition to the usual pay and allowances to officers and soldiers. The result was the creation of a large number of records concerning the state's disbursements to both soldiers and civilians. Many claims for payment went unsatisfied until 1821. Locality military and pension records consist largely of pay and muster rolls, accounts and vouchers concerning supplies, claims for reimbursement for services rendered, and military pension applications. Pension applications summarize the applicant's service record and may include medical evaluations; information about income and property; and, in the case of widows, the date and place of marriages.

During the Revolutionary War, commissioners were appointed in each county to impress supplies and non-military services (such as driving cattle or wagons) for the war effort. Officials provided certificates or receipts so that individual suppliers could be reimbursed by the state government. Beginning in 1782, claims for reimbursement could be submitted to county courts. These "publick claims," known as court booklets and lists, exist for almost all Virginia counties. Between 1777 and 1785, the Virginia General Assembly passed several laws authorizing pensions for disabled soldiers and for widows of soldiers who died while on active duty.

Throughout the Civil War, the principal responsibility for Virginia's indigent soldiers' families lay with the locality. The Virginia State Convention in 1861 gave the responsibility entirely to counties and incorporated towns and authorized whatever actions had already been taken. Acts of Assembly in 1862 and 1863 expanded the localities' powers to provide for their needy, and in 1863 some minimal state assistance was added in. The Virginia General Assembly passed several Confederate pension acts beginning in 1888. The initial act provided pensions to Confederate soldiers, sailors, and marines disabled in action and to the widows of those killed in action. A 1900 act broadened the coverage to include veterans disabled by "infirmities of age" and widows whose husbands died after the war. African Americans who had served "faithfully" as servants, cooks, laborers, hostlers, or teamsters for the Confederate army were eligible for pensions beginning in 1924. District of Columbia residents became eligible in 1926; previously, all pension applicants were required to be residents of Virginia.

The Cumberland Troop of Light Dragoons, or the Cumberland Troop, was formed in Cumberland County as a militia cavalry unit. It was incorporated into the Confederate army in 1861 as Company G of the 3rd Virginia Cavalry. The unit disbanded at Lynchburg in 1865 following the Battle of Appomattox Court House and Lee's surrender.

Locality History: Cumberland County was named for William Augustus, duke of Cumberland, third son of King George II. It was formed from Goochland County in 1749.

Scope and Content

Cumberland County (Va.) Military and Pension Records, 1757-1912, consist of military service records, accounts and vouchers, and claims for reimbursement by civilians and service members. These include:

County militia papers, 1757-1857, include militia commissions, appointments and resignations, militia oaths, an enlistment order to the United States Army, orders to summon magistrates to fill vacancies in the militia and militia officers, and an 1857 list of all persons between the age of 18 and 45 liable to be enrolled in the militia by the laws of the United States.

Militia fines papers, 1852-1855, consist of lists of persons owing muster fines and slips detailing the fines for individual people. Some of the lists appear to be of persons owing muster fines who are insolvent.

Revolutionary War certificates of service, 1784-1854, include mostly pension certificates and claims for Revolutionary War federal pensions. Most certificates include regiment, commanding officer names, and other details about wartime service. Some certificates also contain details about property the applicant currently owns and debts owed as a way of proving current income. Several documents relate to the widows of soldiers. A 1853 order relates to bounty land, and an 1854 order concerns the widow of a soldier who was certified to have died in service in 1813.

Revolutionary War issues papers, 1780-1784, mostly consist of receipts and orders concerning clothing and provisions for the army. There are several documents dated 1781 detailing property lost to depredations by the British, including a list of slaves.

Civil War issues papers, 1861-1876 circa, include receipts for arming the county militia and other provisions provided including bacon and salt and lists of indigent soldiers and families which include names and amounts of provisions furnished. There are also various accounts of county bonds and amounts levied, a printed act of 1876 about artificial limbs, and a partial application of Stephen Huddleston for an artificial limb.

Order Book for the 1st Brigade of Virginia Militia, 1814 Sept 11-1814 Oct 26, is a volume that details brigade and general orders and includes information about patrols, drills, guard details, troop discharges, officer appointments and retirements, orders to furnish various reports usually on supplies, and orders for various persons to report to various people and places. Other information recorded includes details of regimental courts convened for court martials for various offenses including insubordination, cursing an officer, striking another soldier with a sword, taking men into battle unarmed, sleeping on watch, being absent without leave, and being drunk while in command. Sentences and punishments are recorded for the court martials.

Muster Rolls and Payrolls of Captain Allan Wilson's Company of Cumberland County Militia 1st and 17th Regiments, 1814 Aug 9-1815 May 24, is a volume that lists muster rolls, morning reports, weekly reports, provision returns, inspection returns, pay rolls, duty rosters, and supply reports. Muster rolls include name, rank, commission date, and notations as to substitutes provided, illness, discharge, desertion, and other remarks. Morning and weekly reports of troops include numbers of troops under arms, sick, on furlough, dead, deserted, absent without leave, absents accounted for, and totals. Pay rolls include name, rank, date of commencement of pay, date of end of pay, fines paid for, pay per month, amount received, signers name, witnesses, and other remarks such as not to be paid because of desertion, payment to be made to another, and so on. Reports of arms, accoutrements and ammunition provide numbers at hand for things such as swords, bayonets, muskets, steel rods, cartridge boxes, scabbards and belts, wires and brushes, drums, fifes, flints, cartridges, worms, tin buckets, tin pans, spades, tends, screw drivers, axes, tables, cots, seats, pots, and so on. Provision returns detail the number of rations given out to various ranks of soldier. Subsistence accounts include the length of time and number of rations of tobacco and and the price. Other pages note supplies received (such as arms, whiskey, and quires of paper and ink), certifications of substitutes, and requisitions of hay. The final six pages of the volume relate to estate settlements (1815-1816) and do not appear to be related to the militia returns preceding it.

Record Book of the Cumberland Troop of Dragoons, 1857 Jan 26-1862 Mar 28, is a volume that contains administrative information and a record of active service of the Cumberland Troop of Dragoons (also referred to as the Cumberland Troop, the Cumberland Light Dragoons, and the Cumberland Light Horse Cavalry) in the Civil War from May 1861 to March 1862. The administrative information includes the organizing constitution and bylaws, a revision of the constitution, list of organizing members, and minutes from January 1857-January 1861. Minutes concern appointment and election of officers, uniforms, fines for absences, resignations and substitutions of members, the motto of the troop, notes about drills and parades, and mention of a marksmanship competition and a picnic organized by the ladies. The meeting notes titled "Remarks" and dated January and February 1861 are a statement about the coming war. The record of active service provides details about troop movements and locations, actions of the enemy, commanding officers, orders received, patrols and watches, and election of officers and resignations.

Record Book of the Cumberland Troop Association, 1889-1912, is a volume containing rolls and minutes. The first part of the volume is a roll book that lists all members of the Troop from 1861 May 1-1865 Apr. 9, including list of the dead from 1861-1892 with some additional later deaths noted at the end of the list. Notations next to the roll of members mark later death dates. Page 10 contains a list of honorary members of the troop. Page 193 is a list of honorary members who are sons of members of the Troop. Pages 184-185 is a roster of daughters of Confederate veterans of Cumberland County. Pages 11-104 are minutes of annual reunions held by the Cumberland Troop Association and describe dinners and speeches held by the veterans as well as efforts to build a monument to their dead comrades. Deaths since the last meeting are usually noted. Lists are occasionally included giving names of subscribers to the monument committee, living members, and deceased members. Pages 150-153 are copies of letters dated 1897 to and from General Fitzhugh Lee on the subject of the activities of the New Kent and Cumberland Troop near Spotsylvania Courthouse in 1864. Several loose documents were inserted at the end of the volume including an undated list of the names and addresses of Cumberland troopers living outside of the county, a rough draft of the 1910 meeting minutes, a letter dated 1912 from T. M. Fowler expressing his regrets at not being able to attend the reunion that year, and some undated minutes or notes.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged into the following series:

Related Material

See also:

Cumberland County (Va.) Declarations for Revolutionary War Pensions, 1818-1827 at the Library of Virginia.

Cumberland County (Va.) Lists of Indigent Soldiers' Families, 1863 at the Library of Virginia.

Additional Cumberland County Court Records can be found on microfilm at The Library of Virginia. Consult "A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm."

Adjunct Descriptive Data