"Western" Troops supplied from Richmond Depot

[Mississippian]

Found something interesting last night while going through some ordnance records, this letter is addressed to the Military Store Keeper in Dalton GA, and seems to have been misfiled into the file I was looking at. The letter was found in the file of a officer at the Richmond Depot.

Ordnance Bureau, Richmond
Dec. 23rd 1862

W.H. McClain
Military Store Keeper,
Dalton Ga,

Sir: Your letter of the the 19th inst has been read. Do not send stores to Knoxville, the troops there can be supplied from here. Your depot will probably still be useful, though it's nearness to Atlanta and a different distribution of troops no doubt makes it less necessary than when Gen. Bragg established it. You will of course obey all requisitions made upon you but it will not be proper to move your depot except on emergency without consultation with this office.

By order of Col Gorgas

Very Respectfully,
T. Bayne, Capt.

This letter and the large amounts of stores being sent to Knoxville from Richmond in 1862-63 (found in my thread about O. Edwards) makes me wonder just how much of the gear in East Tennessee was "western" and how much was "eastern". I seem to recall a thread about western troops wearing Richmond Depot jackets but I haven't been able to find it. Perhaps if we could i.d. those solders wearing RD Jackets to units stationed in East Tennessee in 1862-63 we might have a better understanding of what those units were wearing when they eventually ended up in the AOT....

Will MacDonald

[Mississippian]

Re: "Western" Troops supplied from Richmond Depot

Here are some of the issues of gear sent to Knoxville from Richmond I mentioned, from the CSR of Capt. O. Edwards

Ordnance Stores sent to Ordnance Officer at Knoxville TN, March 1st 1862

2000 Musket Flints
4983 Haversacks
5000 Canteen Straps


Ordnance Stores sent to Gen. K. Smith, Knoxville TN, June 8th 1862

1300 Percussion Muskets
1137 Musket Bayonets

Ordnance Stores sent to Knoxville TN for Gen. K. Smith, Sept, 17th 1862

115 Long Enfield Rifles
1525 Muskets
78 Short Enfield Rifles
460 Belgian Rifles
100 Miss. Rifles
100 Fayetteville Rifles
720 Richmond Rifle Muskets, Model 1855
75 Derringer Rifles
60 British Muskets
100 Rifles
175 Saber Bayonets and Frogs
75 Saber Bayonet Scabbards
6 Spring Vices
30 Wipers
30 Cones

Ordnance Stores sent to Ordnance Officer at Knoxville TN, Sept 20th 1862

3000 Cartridge Boxes
1750 Cartridge Box Belts
3000 Cap Pouches
3000 Bayonet Scabbards
3000 Knapsacks
3000 Haversack
3000 Canteens and Straps

Ordnance Stores sent to Ordnance Officer, Knoxville TN, Oct. 17th 1862

500 Knapsacks
500 Haversacks
500 Canteens and Straps

Ordnance Stores sent to Gen. Buckner, Knoxville TN, June 6th 1863

800 Muskets, cal .69
600 Cartridge Boxes
600 Cartridge Box Belts
600 Waist Belts
600 Cap Pouches
600 Bayonet Scabbards

Will MacDonald

[FloridaConscript]

Re: "Western" Troops supplied from Richmond Depot

http://oldsouthantiques.com/os1581p1.htm

might explain the above.

[CSchneider]

Re: "Western" Troops supplied from Richmond Depot

I think we're talking about two entirely different entities here. The letter from Gorgas (Chief of Ordnance) is referencing stores from the Ordnance Bureau (weapons, ammo, tools, accoutrements, canteens, haversacks), not stores from the "Richmond Depot"/Richmond Clothing Bureau (clothing, etc.) that fell under the jurisdiction of the Quartermaster's Department. Certainly, as surviving records and relic hunters' finds can attest, weapons and ammo made their way from East to West and vica versa quite readily. Documentation on quartermaster's stores doing similarly, while not unheard of, is a bit more sparse.

-Craig Schneider