Ordnance Returns and the like

[Rockbridge]

So, when I ask people about uniforms and equipment, they often say ''well, look at the ordnance returns'' or ''check the supply forms''........ummmm where do you find these things? Are they in state archives? Federal Archives? Just curious. People often tell you where the information is, just not how to get there. Thanks in advance...

[Pvt Schnapps]

Re: Ordnance Returns and the like

There are several sources of records and they're often tantalizingly incomplete, as well as spread around a bit. So far as I know, there is no one source for everything, and for many units there may be nothing.

The National Archives has a collection of original letter and order books for most Federal regiments. Within these you'll often find references to ordnance and clothing, though that's not their main purpose. The Archives also has quarterly returns of ordnance on microfilm for nearly all Federal regiments starting from the end of '62.

Other document collections exist with material specific to a particular unit, like the Roy Bird Cook archives in West Virginia, which has a lot of original stuff for the 31st Virginia: http://www.libraries.wvu.edu/Roy_Cook_JPG/

A lot just doesn't exist anymore. Officers generally had to keep a personal copy of every return they made in order to settle their own accounts. These could have been tossed after their accounts were settled or simply lost. The Federal government ceased processing civil war accounts early in the 20th century, if I remember correctly, so there's a lot of data that they no longer retained.

Still, there's stuff in libraries, state archives, and private collections. Probably the best place to start for a particular unit would be the bibliography and notes section of a modern regimental history, if you can find one.

One thing I've noticed is that the official returns were often less specific than we might like. I would be very surprised to find a contemporary return that, for example, distinguished between corrugated and smoothside canteens, or two- and seven-rivet bayonet scabbards. Reenactors care about that; the army didn't. Along the same lines, a volunteer's clothing book was supposed to record the money value of what he drew, not necessarily the specific items.

Hope this helps.

[PenPusher]

Re: Ordnance Returns and the like

footnote.com might be an easy place to start, I found the following ordnance issue for the 11th Texas Infantry, 9 September 1862:-

[Rockbridge]

Re: Ordnance Returns and the like

Thanks for the information. I will give that site a good look over the next few days. Thanks again