A Guide to the Lt. Col. A. P. Porter Copybook, 1862-1863
A Collection in
Special Collections
Collection Number
Ms2001-001
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Special Collections, Virginia Tech
© 2013 By Virginia Tech. All rights reserved.
Processed by: Cort Rushton, Student Assistant and Kira A. Dietz, Archivist, Special Collections
Administrative Information
Access Restrictions
Collection is open for research.
Use Restrictions
Permission to publish material from Lt. Col. A. P. Porter Copybook must be obtained from Special Collections, Virginia Tech.
Preferred Citation
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Lt. Col. A. P. Porter Copybook, Ms2001-001, Special Collections, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.
Acquisition Information
The Lt. Col. A. P. Porter Copybook was acquired by Special Collections in 2001.
Processing Information
Some initial description was completed in 2011. Additional processing, arrangement, and description of the Lt. Col. A. P. Porter Copybook was completed in November 2013.
Biographical Note
Lieutenant Colonel A. P. Porter was the chief commissary of subsistence of the Fifth Army Corps, a member of the Army of the Potomac. He was promoted from Captain to Lieutenant Colonel sometime between the 18th and 21st of August, 1862. Acting with Captain George Bell and other prominent figures in the Union Army, Porter aided in the rationing of goods, establishment of depot sites, discharge of vessels, and construction of temporary wharves. He communicated via letters with other commissaries and army divisions in the region to send rations to such areas as Yorktown, Rockville, and other stations across the states of Virginia and Maryland.
Scope and Content
This collection consists of a copybook containing about 280 letters written by Lieutenant Colonel A. P. Porter of the Union Army's Commissary of Subsistence. The letters include documentation about the shipping, maintenance, and distribution of large quantities of food and supply rations among the Union Army. Along with the transport and distribution of supplies, Porter also documented inventories of many resources including cattle, livestock, and other food supplies. Many of these letters are written to other Union officers including Col. A. Beckwith and Col. H. Clarke while Lieutenant Colonel Porter was stationed at General McClellan's Headquarters.
Arrangement
Copybook contains letters written in chronological order from 1862-1863.
The succeeding folders contain outstanding letters that have been torn from the copybook, also in chronological order.
Index Terms
- Civil War
- History of Food and Drink
- United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865