Looking For Order Books and Such

[106th PVI]

Does anyone know what was used to write orders on? What an order book looked like? I am looking for something I can use for my staff officer impression.

Thanks,

[GrumpyDave]

Re: Looking For Order Books and Such

Try Here:

http://www.sullivanpress.com/

There's some "Clerk" types 'round that will chime in shortly, I'm sure.:D

[Pvt Schnapps]

Re: Looking For Order Books and Such

Well, I wasn't, but since you asked... :)

Order books issued by the Army came in different sizes and quality. G.O. 95 of November 6, 1861, for example, gives the cost of company order books as 66 cents; those at regiment are $1.56.

An original letter and order book that I examined in the Archives was 10.5" by 16" with heavy, glossy paper. It was hardbound, but since it matched the descriptive and morning report book I assumed the binding had been done sometime after the documents were combined and archived.

Because the Army's table of camp and garrison equipage only covers books through regimental level, standardization may have fallen off as you got up to division and corps. I think I've seen an abstract of contracts that referred to brigade books, but no further. The quartermaster's department contracted with various private firms to provide stationery on requisition, so there appears to be no comprehensive list of exactly what went out to whom.

In Washington City the War Department bureaux contracted with Philips and Solomon, then Blanchard and Mohun for stationery. These central offices purchased a wide variety of sizes, shapes, and qualities of blank books, from the simple pocket memorandum book of 25 cents, up to the three or four-quire blank book of $1.25 or $1.50, to the full bound record book of $5, the “medium blank book to pattern, half-Russia” of $14, and a “10 quire full bound medium blank book” of $20.

Other blank books served a variety of purposes, from correspondence tracking, suspense or “tickler” files, to records of various transactions and accounts. In the days before PCs, such books served the same functional purpose as desktop applications for case tracking and workload management. Every office had its idiosyncratic set of logs, just as most offices today have Excel and Lotus spreadsheets, or Access databases for tracking and ad hoc reporting.

I recall the continued heavy usage of blank books early in my own government career, including a plate register at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, begun in the first years of the 20th century and still in use in 1980, the initial entries in elegant Spencerian script having been supplanted over the years by the Parker method in fountain pen then, gradually and sadly, by crude printing in ball point and felt tip (o tempora! o mores!).

What all this means for reenactors is that we can use some discretion in selecting books for office purposes, but should aim for higher quality (e.g., hard bound with marbled cover, contemporary brand names erased, high rag content paper).

For further information, I've attached the entry in Scott's Military Dictionary for Books, as well as a series of sample orders from Building the Victory, The Order Book of the Volunteer Engineer Brigade, Army of the Potomac October 1863-May 1865, Ed. By Philip Katcher, White Mane Books, 1998.

Hope this helps. Enjoy!

[Pvt Schnapps]

Re: Looking For Order Books and Such

I neglected to point out that the regimental order book I described is also described in para. 88 of the Regulations as being of those dimensions (16 by 10 1/2 inches) and of "three quires." A quire is a sheaf of 24 sheets, which at that size would give you 48 leafs of two sides, or 96 pages. An order book of three quires would then be 288 pages of 8 by 10 1/2 inch paper.

Sorry about leaving that out :)