Documenting a civilian

[Pvt Schnapps]

Re: Documenting a civilian

Excellent site, Joe; great stuff there. That loyalty oath looks a lot like the one Sullivan Press provides. There are a variety of passes out there -- even when printed they seemed to have varied from place to place.

Anyway, for a southern citizen, something of this sort might prove helpful:

http://www.csawardept.com/history/armies/index.html

This site gives an apparently complete breakdown of the geographic division, district, and department organizations of the South, noting the changes over time. If you know where you are, and when the event is, you can look at this document and figure out where you are bureaucratically.

From there you can go to the ORs and maybe find who the provost marshall was at the time. I found it when researching an event for the Department of Fredericksburg/Aquia District. The event got cancelled, but finding this site was a paper-collar's dream :)

[Outrider]

Re: Documenting a civilian

Good stuff gentlemen! Very useful.

[Annette Bethke]

Re: Documenting a civilian

If I am traveling with my husband, would I have a separate pass? Or would the husband's just say something like "and wife"?

[Pvt Schnapps]

Re: Documenting a civilian

If I am traveling with my husband, would I have a separate pass? Or would the husband's just say something like "and wife"?

Annette, I suspect the answer would be it depends, but my first instinct would be to say you'd be covered under your husband's pass.

There's an example of a family pass here:

http://cache.tias.com/stores/war/pictures/auto1960a.jpg

In this case, Secretary Stanton asks Secretary Welles to get a pass "for my family to the Navy Yard to see the Passaic" -- a monitor then in town.

Here's another from a site I just stumbled on of Union provost files:

http://freepages.military.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~bldr/civilwar8.html

"Adam Taylor, May 11, 1865, Refugee from Texas in St. Louis, Missouri. "Adam Taylor, wife, and four children. Union refugees from Texas. Issue of pass to travel from St. Louis, Missouri to Naples, Illinois, where relatives live."

Soldiers often had single passes to cover groups going out on town. Somewhere among the journals I have is a soldier's complaint of being delayed in his return to camp by the escapades of his comrades on the same pass. I'd dig it up, but I suspect most folks have seen something similar.

Covering several individuals with a single pass saves paper, time, and effort. It especially makes sense when they constitute a family unit (or a mess, which sort of counts) and can reasonably be expected to stick together.

[Mudslinger]

Re: Documenting a civilian

Excellent post Linda! I cannot help but wonder, would the same papers be carried by journalists of that period also, including the newspaper credentials? They seemed to pass through the lines quite frequently also.

[Annette Bethke]

Re: Documenting a civilian

Annette, I suspect the answer would be it depends, but my first instinct would be to say you'd be covered under your husband's pass.

Here's another from a site I just stumbled on of Union provost files:

http://freepages.military.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~bldr/civilwar8.html

"Adam Taylor, May 11, 1865, Refugee from Texas in St. Louis, Missouri. "Adam Taylor, wife, and four children. Union refugees from Texas. Issue of pass to travel from St. Louis, Missouri to Naples, Illinois, where relatives live."

Thank you very much...and one from Texas, even better :).

[PogueMahone]

Re: Documenting a civilian

Excellent post Linda! I cannot help but wonder, would the same papers be carried by journalists of that period also, including the newspaper credentials? They seemed to pass through the lines quite frequently also.

I've actually been researching newspaper correspondents for the past several months. What I'm finding is that many were also army officers on staff with a general using anonymous nom-de-plums to submit articles. Most articles in newspapers don't have actual bylines anyway!

I've found reference to a few correspondents that crossed the lines and applied for permission to be in the southern states from the CS government, but only after swearing that they were working for papers in neutral nations. Davis comes to mind as an example. He was sent south by Harper's, but travelled with an Englishman from the London Illustrated News and claimed to be working for the same publication. After Harper's published an account of his work and included his name, he had to get them to publish his denial of his employment, which they in turn publicly disagreed with!

I've also found several references to reporters being exchanged in the same process as the POWs, including a list of names of reporters that were exchanged in Delaware. So, perhaps they were travelling without passes, getting caught and imprisoned. Some were tried as spies when caught. In one story, some reporters were captured by CS cavalry, but were able to convince the soldiers they were only reporters and not spies, so the cavalry stripped them of their notebooks, pens and paper and sent them on their way.

Sorry, didn't mean to digress with stories ...

George A. Townsend describes in his book of carrying letters of introduction on is person and obtaining a pass from the War Department to be with the army AND encouraging all officers, soldiers and government agents to give him all the information they could for publication! He also had to sign a special oath of allegiance that specifically stated his reporting was not for publication in southern papers.

There is a copy of a pass A. Waud got that allowed him to ride the B & O RR for 2 days on this website Bohemian Brigade .

I am preparing a newsman impression for Bummers and will carry letters of introduction, various expired railroad passes or tickets, a copy of my oath of allegiance and a pass signed by the adjutant of the corps commander that allows me to travel with the corps. Oh, and my arms permit for my pistol!

[Pvt Schnapps]

Re: Documenting a civilian

I've attached some press and other passes from the Scriveners Mess group, collected by Bob Mosher and, I believe, Art Stone. Just these show a pretty good variety of printed and hand-written formats, changing from place to place and from time to time.

My favorite detail, for no good reason, is the line of fine print on the 1863 press pass noting that it was run off by Philips and Solomon, "Army Stationers." In 1864 the headquarters contract went to Blanchard and Mohun; in 1870 it was Brown and Sims.

There seems to have been an obscure War Department policy requiring all DC area stationery suppliers to have two names in the title.

It also tells us that we may have some flexibility in getting papers together for events. In the absence of an exactly correct artifact, we have at least some models to work with.

[Mudslinger]

Re: Documenting a civilian

Joe,

Thanks for the info and stories. They will greatly help me out at future events dealing with numerous impressions concerning passes.


Linda,

Once again an excellent topic to discuss! I've always enjoyed your topics. This will give some forethought as the Provost Marshal hands out passes.

[Elaine Kessinger]

Re: Documenting a civilian

I'm looking to find the apropriate documentation for the following somewhat specialized impression. A ward matron at a depot hospital in Harper's Ferry, December 1864, who needs to spend most of her time in the liason office in town rather than the hospital in Bolivar Heights. So far my research is saying that such women were hired by the military hospital system from all over and assigned where they were needed, thus she's not nesseccarily local. I'm thinking a loyalty oath is needed, a pass from the provost for the town area, a letter of employment vouched by a Surgeon, ??? a friend suggested a letter of credit to buy food/supplies from local stores for the hospital... perhaps a paper to draw her daily ration and voucher of her character so the landlady will rent to her... where do I find this info? where can I find further info? any other thoughts or suggestions? thanks.

[PogueMahone]

Re: Documenting a civilian

An army run hospital probably isn't using a letter of credit to purchase supplies. Most likely supplies came through military channels and the sanitation commission.

[PogueMahone]

Re: Documenting a civilian

Mrs. Kessinger,

I refer you to this site: State of Tennessee CW "sourcebook"

and suggest you search "hospital". There are dozens of articles to read about the hospitals and how they were run. Some interesting reading for anyone.

[Pvt Schnapps]

Re: Documenting a civilian

Women in Federal hospitals had to receive clearance through Miss Dix, a stipulation enshrined in General Orders:

GENERAL ORDERS NO. 861.

War Department, Adjutant-General's Office,
Washington, October 29, 1863


The employment of women nurses in the U. S. General Hospitals will in future be strictly governed by the following rules :

1. Persons approved by Miss Dix, or her authorized agents, -will receive from her, or them, "certificates of approval," which must be countersigned by Medical Directors upon their assignment to duty as nurses within their Departments.

2. Assignments of "women nurses" to duty in General Hospitals will only be made upon application by the Surgeons in charge, through Medical Directors, to Miss Dix or her agents, for the number they require, not exceeding one to every thirty beds.

3. No females, except Hospital Matrons, will be employed in General Hospitals, or, after December 31, 1863, borne upon the Muster and Pay Rolls, without such certificate of approval and regular assignment, unless specially appointed by the Surgeon- General.

4. Women nurses, while on duty in General Hospitals, are under the exclusive control of the senior medical officer, who will direct their several duties, and may be discharged by him when considered supernumerary, or for incompetency, insubordination, or violation of his orders. Such discharge, with the reasons therefor, being endorsed upon the certificate, will be at once returned to Miss Dix.
The above comes from William Grace's Army Surgeon's Manual, 1864:

http://books.google.com/books?lr=&output=text&as_brr=1&as_drrb_is=b&as_minm_is=1&as_miny_is=1861&as_maxm_is=1&as_maxy_is=1867&id=-IWM1K6I5Z0C&jtp=86

Now all you have to do is find a copy of one of those certificates. If you do, please post it here because I'd love to see one. Thanks!

[PetePaolillo]

Re: Documenting a civilian

Well, Patrick, I'm mostly needing an alternative approach to the hobby before I completely burn out. I'm tired of scenarios gone bad and lousy officers screwing the rank and file. I'm attending the Atlanta LH and Bummers as a civilian and will be at Westville, as well.

I'm working up a role as a news correspondent for Bummers and have just finished a book written by G. A. Townsend about his adventures in the field. He gives some detailed information about the documents he receives from the government that allows him to be with the army. He signed an Oath of Allegiance at the War Department in D.C. that included additional language aimed at his profession and they gave him a pass of indefinite time to pass in and out of all camps and authorizing officers and government staff to provide him with information. No censorship here!! He also carried letters of introduction from his editor at the NY Times.

I've been able to reproduce a pass that was once issued to Alfred Waud, the artist, to ride the B & O railroad for a couple of days. I think this meant he did not have to purchase a ticket. I've changed it around to be a pass for a western railroad and have more research to do about the stops along the line from Nashville to Atlanta.

I've identified the adjutant for O. O. Howard, commander of the 15th Corps, so I can forge the adjutant's name to my pass to be in the field with the 15th Corps. I'd really like to find an example of his signature so I can get closer to the real thing.

I'm working on a letter of introduction now.

Also, among my paperwork, I plan to have a partially written story for the NYT covering the few days prior to the event date, but not yet printed in the paper.

If nothing else, my ink-stained hands should prove me to be a writer or an army clerk on french leave!

For more general information, I'm thinking the book "With Blood & Fire" has several references to citizens presenting soldiers with various pieces of paper, including loyalty oaths, paroles, and documents allowing them to purchase goods from local stores. I'd have to take the time to dig through it for some direct quotes, though.

Joe,

I am very interested in that impression also. I considered it for Westville next year. I figured a Northern Newsman would not be recieved well in 1863 Westville GA. I was considering a news correspondent from Charleston or another larger Southern City. Are you portraying a newsman as well for that event. If so maybe I could be your assistant or something? I am going to the September workday and it will be my first run at any civillian impression. I need all of the help I can get. As far as Bummers goes, In your research, what was the attitude from the troops towards a Newsman traveling along with them? Were they agreeable and easy to speak with or forbidden from doing so?
Thanks for any info. If I hijacked this thread I apologize maybe you can PM me Joe.

[PogueMahone]

Re: Documenting a civilian

Pete,

In Townsend's book, he seems to mostly be around officers, eating and sleeping with them in the field. They are generally eager to provide stories of daring and escapades of heroism to get their names printed. Soldiers seemed to think he was an aide-de-camp or a civilian spy for the Union.

No, I'm the postman at Westville. I wear my legs to nubs running around town trying to find people when they have moved from their assigned housing to some other random location.

I would expect a Northern newspaper correspondent would be a great curiosity in south Georgia in 1863. Folks would come from miles around to see him, dangling there by his neck from a tall tree.