Microfilm Collections From the
National Archives
Rebel Archives
And
Confederate Vessel Papers

       Young-Sanders Center just acquired a considerable amount of microfilm from the National Archives. The Louisiana State Government Records of 1850-1888 commonly know as the “Rebel Archives” and the Confederate Vessel Papers are the most prized portion of the recent acquisition.

          The Louisiana State Government Records of 1850-1888 (Rebel Archives) are 24 rolls of microfilm of certain records of the Louisiana State Government for the period 1861-1865 with a few items dated in the 1850’s. Most of the records are for the first two or three years of the war. They were presumably included among State records surrendered at Shreveport, Louisiana, in June 1865.

          The Confederate Vessel Papers consist of 32 rolls of microfilm publication are papers pertaining to vessels of or involved with the Confederate States of America “Vessel Papers” from 1861-1865. Most of the original papers reproduced in this microfilm publication were created by the Confederate War and Treasury Departments. After the war the records were among those of the Confederacy that came into the U.S. War Department custody.

          Additional microfilm collections acquired are as follows:

    • Official Civil War Battle list of 1861-1865, 2 rolls
    • Confederates Captured at Vicksburg, Mississippi, July 4, 1863,
      1 roll
    • Confederate Naval and Marine personal records, 7 rolls
    • Register of Confederate soldiers, sailors, and citizens who died
      in Federal prisons and military hospitals in the north 1861-1865,
      1 roll.
    • Register of flags captured or recaptured by Union Troops 1861-  1865, 1 roll
    • Mathew B. Brady Collection of Civil War photographs 4 rolls
    • Robert E. Lee, selected military service records, 1 roll
    • Union Soldiers index to compiled service records of volunteers
      who served in organizations from the state of Louisiana 4 rolls

 

Civil War, Official Battle lists of 1861-1865. 2 Rolls. 16mm. National Archives RG 94. M823. YSC Location: Microfilm Cabinet 3, Drawer 6.  
On the two rolls of this microfilm publication are reproduced nine Civil War battle lists, hereafter designated (a) thought (i), which were compiled in the War Department between the years 1867 and 1907. Lists (a) through (e) were created in the Adjutant General’s Office (AGO) for administrative and historical purposes; lists (g) and (h) were created in the Surgeon General’s Office as indexes to casualty records that were subsequently transferred to the Record and Pension Office of the AGO along with other medical records useful in acting on Pension requests from Civil War veterans. Lists (a) through (e), (g), and (h) are now part of Records of the Adjutant General’s Office, 1780’s-1917, Record Group 94. List (f) is excerpted from the Volunteer Army Register and lists (i) is accepted from The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion.
       

The battle lists reproduced in this microfilm publication indicate which Union troops were engaged in particular Civil War Operations and often include additional data, such as casualties. All the battle lists in this microfilm publication are incomplete compilations and reflect the numerous inaccuracies found in the original and secondary sources from which they were compiled. Compiler’s misinterpretations of source data resulted in additional errors in the lists. Despite these shortcomings, the battle lists can serve as valuable tools in seeking out sources of data in Civil War related records.
       

Battle lists (a) through (d) were originally assigned letter symbols for ease of citation in the National Archives and Records Service (NARS) publication Military Operations of the Civil War: A Guide-Index to the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, 1861-1865 (5 vols., Washington, 1968). Battle lists (e) through (i) were not so designated in the Guide-Index, but they have been assigned letter symbols in sequence with the previous four lists for ease of citation in this microfilm publication.

Battle List (a)
        Battle list (a) presumably was prepared in 1867 in connection with the publication that year of the last two volumes of the
1. Official Army Register of the Volunteer Force of the United States Army for the Years 1861, ’62, ’63, ’64, ’65 (8 vols., Washington: Adjutant General’s Office, 1865-1867).
2. The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion, 1861-65 (2 parts of 3 vols. Each, Washington: Government Printing Office, 1870-88).
       

Volunteer Army Register for the Civil War. The battle list was prepared in two handwritten versions, one arranged chronologically and the other arranged alphabetically by geographic location. The two versions contain identical information derived from muster rolls, strength returns, and other kinds of original records. For each combat, battle list (a) shows which Volunteer troop units were involved. Occasional references are provided to Regular Army participation.
       

A number of penciled corrections in the chronological version apparently represent an early attempt to alter or eliminate entries thought to be erroneous, but an examination of these entries shows that some were in fact valid. As battle list (a) was later used by the compilers of the Official Records for designating some of the military operations that are mentioned in its headings, lists of events, and index entries, the inaccuracies in this battle list were carried over into that publication.

Battle List (b)
 From the raw data used in compiling battle list (a), a second handwritten battle list was compiled a few years later, probably in 1871. The value of battle list (b) lies in its different arrangement and inclusion of useful data that do not appear in battle list (a). However, list (b) does not include U. S. Colored Troops, as does list (a). List (b) is arranged by State and there under by arm of service, numerical designations of troop units, and dates of combats. The additional data often included casualty figures and indications of which companies or particular regiments were engaged. As States are not arranged alphabetically, it is necessary to consult the State index that precedes this battle list in this microfilm publication.

Battle List( c)
Battle list (c) was produced in connection with the preparation of an earlier, chronologically arranged version (known as the “preliminary prints”) of the Official Records. The list is in printed form and titled Chronological List of Battles, Engagements, Etc., During the Rebellion, 1861-1865, with the Designation of Troops Engaged. Although the imprint date is 1875, printing apparently was completed around 1877 or 1878, and, in spite of its title, the list covers only the years
3. U. S. War Department, the War of the Rebellion: A compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies ed. Lt. Col. Robert N. Scott et al. (70 vols. in 127 serial parts, plus general index volume and atlas, Washington: Government Printing Office, 1880-1901).

Battle List (d)
Battle list (d) records engagements of Regular Army troops by arm of service and there under by regiment from the time each regiment was organized through 1902. Participating companies are generally indicated for each engagement. Circumstantial evidence establishes that this typewritten list was prepared by Francis B. Heitman of the Adjutant General’s Office during the period 1891-1907. While it partly supplies the data for Regular Army troops not included in battle list (b), it does not provide casualty figures, and for this information it is necessary to consult battle list (e). Only parts of battle list (d) listing regiments for which Civil War action is shown have been filmed in this microfilm publication.

Battle List (e)
Battle List (e) is a typed excerpt from a draft that provided data for a Regular Army battle list published in volume 2 of Francis B. Heitman’s Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army from its Organization, September 29, 1789 to March 2, 1903 (2 vols., Washington: Government Printing Office, 1903). Like the Historical Register, battle list (e) is arranged chronologically and gives the geographic designation of each operation and the regiment and companies engaged. Unlike the Historical Register, it covers only the years 1861-65 and includes casualty figures and the names of officers killed, wounded, or taken prisoner.

Battle List (f)
Battle list (f) consists of selected pages from Volume 8 of the Volunteer Army Register, a War Department reference publication containing officer rosters, combat credits, and brief histories for each Civil War Volunteer regiment. The two sections of volume 8 reproduced in this microfilm publication as list (f) give for units of U. S. Colored Troops almost exactly the same data that lists (b) gives for other volunteer units. The data were presumably drawn from a now missing register of combat credits for U. S. Colored Troops apparently prepared at the same time as battle list (b). In volume 8, pages 141-319, combat designations and casualties for particular troop units are given in footnotes to rosters that are arranged by army of service and regiment. Dates of combat actions and indications of companies engaged are given in an “Index of Battles,” pages 331-342 of the volume.

Battle List (g)
Battle list (g) is actually a chronological index of Civil War casualty records that are part of Record Group 94. The handwritten list includes the geographic designations of military engagements and shows the participation of Volunteer Union troop units. Occasional references are supplied to Regular Army participation. The battle list notes corps and regiments but not individual companies involved. Names of individuals killed or wounded are often given as well. References are provided to file numbers of pertinent casualty reports, hospital registers, and other medical records.

Battle list (h)
Battle list (h) also refers to casualty data in Record Group 94. The handwritten list is contained in two volumes titles “Chronological list o Battles during the War of the Rebellion.” In addition to geographic designations and participating Volunteer Union troop units for each operation, it includes information concerning the disposition of the wounded—and often there is descriptive material about the engagement, such as its geographic location. Occasional references are also supplied to Regular Army participation. Entries cite the published sources or original records from which they were derived.

Battle list (i)
Battle list (i), excerpted from The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion, 1861-65, is titled “Chronological Summary of Engagements and Battles.” It notes volunteer troop participation and occasionally supplies references to Regular Army participation. While list (i) is similar to the engaged and Union losses, it is unique among them in its inclusion of Confederate casualty figures. A “Remarks and References” column in this battle list shows that the entries were derived primarily from published sources, including official reports of officers, State adjutant general office reports, newspaper accounts, and secondary works. Unpublished records, principally casualty lists, are also cited. An index to battles is at the end of the volume.

 

Confederates Captured at Vicksburg, Mississippi, July 4, 1863, list of 1 roll 16mm National Archives RG 109 M2072 Location: YSC Microfilm Cabinet 3, Drawer 2
On the single roll of this microfilm publication, M2072, are reproduced lists of Confederate soldiers captured at Vicksburg, Mississippi, July 4, 1863. These records are part of the War Department Collection of Confederate Records, Record Group (RG) 109, and are part of the series identified as Entry 212, Parole Rolls of Confederates, 1862-1865, in Elizabeth Bethel, Preliminary inventory of the War Department Collection of Confederate Records (Record Group 109) (National Archives, 1957; reprint, Iberian publishing Co., 1994).
       

The city of Vicksburg, located on the east bank of the Mississippi River midway between Memphis, TN, and New Orleans, LA, was the site of a key Confederate river defense and the focal point of Union Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant’s operations in the west from October 1862 to July 1863. The surrender of its fortifications and a garrison of 29,500 men on July 4, 1863, was a severe psychological blow to the Confederacy and, combined with the simultaneous defeat of the Army of Northern Virginia at Gettysburg, PA, represented a manpower loss the South could ill afford.
       

In 1861, Vicksburg was a commercial center and transportation hub for Mississippi and Louisiana. When the war began, Vicksburg took on an even greater significance as one of the key links between the eastern Confederacy and the Trans-Mississippi South, serving as a transit point for troops and as a port of entry fir Louisiana salt, sugar, and molasses, the latter two frequently exchanged for meat for the armies. Efforts to safeguard the city became crucial in the spring of 1862 when Memphis and New Orleans fell to Federal forces. Vicksburg then remained the only railhead on the east bank of the river and, as such, provided the last direct link between the eastern and western halves of the Confederacy. Its retention also effectively blocked Federal waterborne communications down the river.
       

Grant, eager to take Vicksburg and avoid a protracted siege, attacked the city’s defenses on May 19 and again three days later. Both assaults were repulsed with heavy casualties. He thus was forced to resort to a siege. Once complete, the 12-mile long Federal siege line paralleled the Confederate earthworks from an average distance of six hundred yards and was anchored at both ends on the Mississippi River. By mid-June, 77,000 men surrounded the city.
       

By the end of June, the situation within Vicksburg was rapidly deteriorating. Citizens sought shelter from daily bombardments by hiding in basements or digging caves into the hillsides. Walter became scarce and bread rations were reduced. As the meat supply dwindled, mule meat was substituted for bacon.
       

Only July 3, the Confederate commander, Maj. Gen. John C. Pemberton, met Grant between the lines and arranged to surrender the following day.

 

Confederate Naval and Marine personal records, 7 rolls. 16mm. National Archives RG 109 M260 Location: YSC Microfilm Cabinet 3, Drawer 5.

On the 7 rolls of this microfilm publication are reproduced records relating to persons serving in the Confederate Navy and Marine Corps. These records are in three series, as follows: (1) compiled hospital and prison records of naval and marine personnel, (2) reference cards and papers relating to naval personnel, and (3) reference cards and papers relating to marine personnel. The first series, arranged alphabetically by surname of sailor or marine, consists of cards containing abstracts of entries relating to the individual in original Union and Confederate hospital registers, prescription books, and Union prison and parole rolls; and the originals of papers, primarily from prison records, relating to the individual. The second and third series consist of reference cards and the originals of any papers relating solely to a particular sailor or marine, arranged alphabetically by surname. The reference cards indicate the rank of the sailor or marine and contain references to vessel papers, payrolls, muster rolls, and volumes in the War Department Collection of Confederate Records.
       

The hospital and prison records of naval and marine personnel were compiled during the period that the military service records of Confederate soldiers were being prepared. This compilation was begun in 1903 under the direction of Brig. Gen. Fred C. Ainsworth, head of the Record and Pension Office of the War Department. Abstracts were made from documents in the War Department Collection of Confederate Records and from documents borrowed by the War Department in an effort to obtain as nearly complete service records as possible. The abstracts made from the original records were verified by a separate operation of comparison, and every conceivable precaution was taken to ensure that the abstracts were accurate. The exact date that the compilation of the series of reference cards and papers relating to naval and marine personnel was begun is not known. The work was probably performed by the Archive Office of The Adjutant General’s Office in the latter part of the 19th century.
       

Some of the original documents relating to a particular individual were at some time removed from the second and third series; in some instances, however, the envelopes, which show the serviceman’s name and rank and form which the original documents were removed, were retained in the files. The documents so removed were transferred to the Navy Department before the War Department Collection of Confederate Records was accessioned by the National Archives and are now part of Record Group 45, Naval Records Collection of the Office and Naval Records and Library, in the National Archives.
       

The records reproduced in this microcopy are part of a body of records in the National Archives designated as Record Group 109, War Department Collection of Confederate Records.
       

Records relating to a Confederate sailor or marine may not appear in this microcopy for several reasons. First, the series containing reference cards and papers relating to naval and marine personnel are known to be incomplete. Second, the sailor or marine may not have served in a naval or marine unit. Third, he may have served under a different name or used a different spelling of his name. Fourth, proper records of his service may not have been made, or, if made, may have been lost or destroyed in the confusion that often attended the initial mobilization, subsequent military operation, or final surrender of Confederate forces. Fifth, the references to the individual in the original records may be so vague that it has not been practicable to determine his correct name or the unit in which he served.
       

The originals of naval and marine muster rolls, shipping articles, clothing receipts, descriptive rolls, and some payrolls are part of Record Group 45. There is no complete index to these rolls.
       

Sometimes presumed Confederate naval or marine service is shown by the records to have been service in a civilian capacity, as in the case of government employees. Evidence of such service or of having aided the Confederate cause as a civilian in some other way may sometimes be obtained from a series of records in the National Archives is known as the “Citizens file.” This series consists of Confederate documents each of which relates only to a particular civilian. They are arranged alphabetically by name of person and are not indexed. Other information about the activities of Confederate civilians is contained in a similar unindexed series of documents accumulated by Union provost marshals and known as the “Provost Marshal File.” The National Archives has still other Confederate relating to particular Confederate civilians or servicemen. The records described in this paragraph are available for examination in the National Archives by inquirers or their agents.

Confederate Soldiers, Register of, sailors, and citizens, who died in Federal prisons and military hospitals in the north, 1861-1865. 1 roll. 16mm. National Archives RG 92 M918 Location: Microfilm Cabinet 3, Drawer 2.
 On the single roll of this microfilm publication is reproduced a 665-page register of Confederate soldiers, sailors, and citizens who died in Federal prisons and military hospitals in the North, 1861-65. The register was compiled in 1912 in the Office of the Commissioner for Marking the Graves of Confederate Dead and is now a part of the Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, Record Group 92.
       

Because of a general breakdown in prisoner exchanges late in the Civil War, many Confederate soldiers, sailors, and Citizens ultimately died in Federal prisons or military hospitals. Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton reported in 1866 that according to the report of the Commissary General of Prisoners, over 26,000 deaths had occurred among rebel prisoners of war. Initially, little care was exercised in marking the graves of Confederate soldiers and sailors buried in cemeteries at or near the prisons or hospitals in which they died. Federal legislation from 1867 to 1873 provided for the burial of Union soldiers in national cemeteries and for the marking of their graves with durable headstones. There were no specific provisions in this early legislation for Confederate dead, but their graves were sometimes marked similarly to those of civilians; i.e., with a thin headstone containing the number of the grave and the name of the occupant. However, many of the non-Union graves had been marked with wooden headboards that ultimately disintegrated, although the names of the interred were often preserved in burial registers.
       

Interest in caring for the graves of Confederates in the North was stimulated by President William McKinley, who advocated Federal responsibility in an address delivered at Atlanta, GA., on December 14, 1898. On June 5, 1899, Dr. Samuel E. Lewis, commander of the Charles Broadway Rouss Camp No. 1191 (District of Columbia) of the United Confederate Veterans, petitioned President McKinley on behalf of his organization for the reinterment of 264 Confederate soldiers, then buried at the National Soldiers Home and Arlington with suitably marked graves. A Federal statute of March 6, 1900 (31 Stat. 630), appropriated $2,500 or as much of that sum as necessary for the purpose. A subsequent statue of February 7, 1903 (32 Stat. 804), provided for appropriations not to exceed $250 annually for the care and improvement of the Confederate Mound at the Oak Woods Cemetery at Chicago, Ill. The act of April 28, 1904 (33 Stat. 496), provided similarly for the Confederate cemetery at Camp Chase, Columbus, Ohio.
       

By 1901 Confederate veterans’ organizations were advocating a uniform system of Federal care for all Confederate graves in Northern cemeteries’. Dr. Samuel E. Lewis, in a report of April 25, 1901, to Gen. John B. Gordon, Commander in Chief of the United Confederate Veterans, called for Federal action in caring for the 28,000 graves of Confederate dead in the North. Subsequently, at the Memphis, Tenn., meeting of the national organization, May 28-30, 1901, a resolution was adopted requesting that “Congress take appropriate action looking to the care and preservation of the graves of the Confederate dead now in the various cemeteries in the Northern States.”
       

The bill first introduced in Congress on December 6, 1902, which subsequently became law on March 9, 1906 (34 Stat. 56), provided “for the appropriate marking of the graves of the soldiers and sailors of the Confederate Army and Navy who died in Northern prisons and were buried near the prisons where they died.” The sum of $200,000, or as much of that as needed, was appropriated to carry out the work. The legislation unauthorized and directed the Secretary of War to ascertain the location and condition of the Confederate graves, to acquire possession or control over the burial grounds, and to have prepared an accurate burial register showing the location and number of the grave and the name, company, regiment, or vessel, and State of each deceased Confederate soldier and sailor. White marble headstones inscribed with this information were to be placed at each grave. The Secretary of information was to be placed at each grave. The Secretary of War was also authorized and directed to appoint a commissioner to perform the necessary work preliminary to the actual marking of September 1910. James H. Berry was then Commissioner from October 1910 until October 1912, when the office was discontinued. Dr. Samuel E. Lewis subsequently served as Commissioner after the Office was reestablished in March 1914. The original 1906 legislation establishing the Office of the Commissioner was extended by Congressional joint resolutions approved February 26, 1908 (35 Stat. 567), February 25, 1910 (36 Stat. 875), December 23, 1910 (36 Stat. 1453), March 14, 1914 (38 Stat. 768), and April 17, 1916 (39 Stat. 52).
       

The typescript register herein reproduced was compiled in accordance with the 1906 statute; the work was completed by 1912. The burial lists are generally arranged alphabetically by name of prison camp or other location where the deaths occurred. The table of contents at the beginning of the volume is similarly arranged, although a few cemetery names are also listed; appropriate page numbers are cited in each instance. The individual burial lists are arranged alphabetically by name of deceased and generally give the name, rank, company, regiment, date of death, and number and location of grave for each individual interred. However, this information in its entirety is not available for all cases. Some cemeteries, for example, did not bury the dead in numbered graves, and in some instances, regimental and company designations or dates of death are not entered in the register. A few entries are for private Confederate citizens interred in the various cemeteries and some are for unknown graves. Other entries are for bodies no longer interred in the particular cemetery under which they are listed, and these entries contain such notations as “removed,” “sent home,” and “body taken home by friends.” All the pages for the Green Lawn Cemetery in Indianapolis, Ind., have been lined through and a notation added that “Remains of above removed to lot 285, Sec. 32, Crown Hill Cemetery, Indianapolis, Indiana and reinterred as unknowns on Oct. 27, 1931.” Some of the entries contain references to explanatory notes that are at the beginning or end of the burial list.

Flags captured or recaptured by Union Troops, Register of 1861-1865, 1 roll 1mm National Archives RG 94. M1836 Location: Microfilm Cabinet 3, Drawer 2.
Oh the one roll of this publication, M1836, is reproduced the register of Confederate flags captured by Union troops and Federal flags recaptured by union troops during the Civil War. This volume is part of the Records of the Adjutant General’s Office, 1780’s-1917, Record Group 94.
       

During the Civil War, flags captured from Confederate forces were presented to the War Department by Generals commanding in the field. There are many letters among the records of the Adjutant General’s Office (AGO) forwarding such flags to the War Department. In some cases, the captors of these flags were ordered to Washington where the individual received a short furlough and the Medal of Honor. The flags, approximately 750 in number, were stored in a vacant room of a building occupied by part of the clerical force of the AGO.
       

At the end of the war, the flags were moved to rooms occupied by the superintendent of the War Department buildings. Under the direction of Bvt. Lt. Col. Theodore A. Dodge, a list was prepared showing as much of the history of their capture as could be discerned from the information at hand. A copy of that list, with subsequent annotations, is the volume reproduced on this microfilm roll. The original list ahs not been located. In his report, Colonel Dodge remarked that “it is to be regretted that the history of a least two out of every three of these flags is very imperfect, in many cases, ‘Rebel Flag’ being the only inscription, and only a few can be identified” (H 928 AGO 1867).
       

Late in 1874, apparently upon the verbal orders of the Secretary of War, a number of the Confederate flags were placed on display at the Ordnance Museum. Early in 1875, additional flags were sent to the Ordnance Museum. In 1882, all the flags in the possession of the War Department, including those on display at the Ordnance Museum, were boxed and stored in the basement of the new State, War and Navy Department Building. Later, in 1887, due to problems associated with locating the flags and concerns over their decay, the flags were unboxed and stored in the attic of the new War Department Building.
       

Of the total number of flags, 22 Confederate flags were either returned to the regiments that captured them or were loaned to the regiments and never returned. Twenty Union flags were returned to the states from whose troops the flags had been captured.
       

Numerous requests were received by the War Department for the return of flags. In most cases, the requests were denied on the basis that the flags were the property of the Federal Government. It appears from the records that the Department often declined to return the flags to avoid stirring sectional feelings, while, in some cases, Congress passed joint resolutions calling for their return. In other cases, flags were returned by order of the Secretary of War. In 1887 President Grover Cleveland instructed the Secretary of War to return those flags that could be identified. His decision met with protests from veterans and others, and he later rescinded his instructions, giving a reason that upon further review, he could not find any basis in law for their return, and that final disposition should be left to Congress.
       

Over the next 20 years, attempts to resolve the issue were unsuccessful. Then in a joint resolution dated February 28, 1905 (33 Stat 1284), Congress authorized the Secretary of War to deliver the captured flags to proper authorities of the states from which the regiments were organized “for such final disposition as the aforesaid proper authorities may determine.” According to the War Department Annual Report for 1905, at the time of the act, the department held 726 flags; 215 were Union flags captured by the Confederates and subsequently recaptured and 511 were Confederate flags captured by Union troops.
       

Under provisions of the resolution, 274 of the flags were returned to the states. A description of those flags can be found in Executive Document Number 163, House of Representatives, 50th Congress, 1st session. Unfortunately, the remaining 164 Union and 288 Confederate flags could not be identified and hence were not returned. The Military Secretary, Brig. Gen. Fred C. Ainsworth, recommended that the Secretary of War, by order, deposit the Union flags at the United States Military Academy. This was done in February 1906. Ainsworth further recommended that the unidentified Confederate flags be donated to a Confederate memorial or historical association but that such action would require approval by Congress. A joint resolution of Congress, approved June 29, 1906, (34 Stat 837) authorized the War Department to deliver the remaining flags to the Confederate Memorial Literary Society of Richmond, Virginia. Today, the flags reside in the Museum of the Confederacy at Richmond.

Louisiana State Government, Records of, 1850-1888 (Rebel Archives), in the War Department Collection 24 rolls 16mm National Archives RG 109. M359 Location: YSC Microfilm cabinet 3, Drawer 5
On the 24 rolls of this microfilm publication are reproduced certain records of the Louisiana State Government for the period 1861-1865 with a few items dated in the 1850’s. Most of the records are for the first two or three years of the War. They were presumably included among State records surrendered at Shreveport, Louisiana, in June 1865 as explained in the introduction to the inventory mentioned below. They were transferred from the War Department to the National Archives in 1938 as part of the War Department Collection of Confederate Records (Record Group 109). They consist of eighteen document boxes of loose papers and eighty numbered volumes.
       

The records are arranged in the order in which they are described in A Guide to the Records of the Louisiana State Government in the War Department Collection of Confederate Records… National Archives, compiled by Thomas J. Harrison, 1957. The Guide has been microfilmed after these introductory pages. Two items found in the course of preparing the records for microfilming are described on a sheet of paper headed “Supplement to Guide” that has been inserted in Harrison’s guide as page 18 ½. Blank numbered and unnumbered pages have not been microfilmed.
       

The loose papers consist of ordinances and resolutions of the Louisiana State Convention of 1861; acts and resolutions of Louisiana legislature, 1860-65; letters received by Governors Thomas O. Moore (1860-64) and Henry W. Allen (1864-65); records of the Attorney General, 1861-65; orders of the Auditor’s Office, Jan.- Apr. 1861; election returns of Louisiana, 1861-65. and miscellaneous documents of the State Government, 1860-65. The eighty bound volumes contain printed proceedings of the Louisiana State Convention of 1861; records of the Louisiana legislature, 1860-64; of the Executive (1860-65), Judicial (1861-62), and Treasury (1854-65) Departments, the offices of the Secretary of State (1856-65), the Auditor (1860-62), and the Adjutant General (1850-65 including records of State Troops).
       

Except as noted below, the originals of the records reproduced in this microfilm publication have been turned over to the State of Louisiana under authorization from Congress to return State archival materials that came into Federal custody along with archives of the Confederate Government. Three documents listed in Appendix No. 2 of Harrison’s guide (items 30-32), although they relate to Louisiana, were manifestly never part of the Archives of that State. They have therefore been retained by the National Archives after having been microfilmed in place. Photocopies of these items have been substituted for them among the records returned to Louisiana.

Mathew B. Brady Collection of Civil War photographs 4 rolls 16 mm National Archives RG 111. T252 Location: YSC Microfilm Cabinet 3, Drawer 5
The file prints reproduced in this microcopy were made from the photographs in the Mathew B. Brady collection. The wet plate collodion negative obtained for the purpose of illustrating the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion but only a few of them were used for this purpose. They were numbered by the War Department and filed in numerical sequence. Subject Catalogue No. 5, published by the Secretary of War in 1897, indexes the file, and has been filmed as Microcopy No. T-251.
       

Any of the photographs here listed may be copied and prints supplied from the individual copy negatives. The glass negatives are not now used for filling orders. In ordering copies from this microfilm, both call number and title of each item must be given. If there is more than one image on the Brady negative, the print supplied on order will represent the best image.
       

Errors in identification may be discovered. The user of the file will be expected to check the accuracy of all caption material obtained from the print file.
       

The National Archives will be glad to furnish prices on request for 8” x 10” glossy prints or matte prints in larger sizes.
       

Remittance should be made to the National Archives and Records Service by check or postal money order payable to the General Service Administration.

 

Robert E. Lee, Selected military service records. 1 roll. 16mm. National Archives RG 94 M2063 Location: YSC Microfilm Cabinet 3, Drawer 2.
On the single roll of this microfilm publication, M2063, are reproduced selected military service records relating to Robert E. Lee. These records are part of the Records of the Adjutant General’s Office, 1780’s-1917. Record Group 94; Records of the Office of the Chief of Engineers, RG 77; War Department Collection of Confederate Records, RG 109; and Records of the Adjutant General’s Office, 1917, RG 407.

       

Robert E. Lee, ranking general of the armies of the Confederacy during the Civil War, was born January 19, 1807 at Stratford, Westmoreland County, VA, and died October 12, 1870, at Lexington, VA. He was appointed to the United States Military Academy at West Point July 1, 1825, from which he graduated second in his class. Upon graduation, he was brevetted a second lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers, July 1, 1829. He thereafter rose steadily through the ranks, especially as a result of “gallant and meritorious conduct” in battle in the Mexican-American War during 1847. He was promoted to first lieutenant, September 21, 1836; captain July 7, 1838; brevet major, for gallant and meritorious conduct in the Battle of Cerro Gordo, Mexico, April 18, 1847 brevet lieutenant colonel for gallant and meritorious conduct in the battles of Contreras and Churubusco, Mexico, August 20, 1847 brevet colonel for gallant and meritorious conduct in the battle of Chapultepec, Mexico, September 13, 1847;  lieutenant colonel, 2d Cavalry, March 3, 1855; colonel, 1st Cavalry, March 16, 1861. He resigned April 20, 1861.
       

His service in the U. S. Army included the following: assistant engineer in the construction of Forts Monroe and Calhoun, for the defense of Hampton Roads, VA, 1829-34; assistant to the chief engineer at Washington, D. C., 1834-37; and assistant astronomer for establishing the boundary between the states of Ohio and Michigan, 1835. He was superintending engineer of improvements to the St. Louis, MO, harbor, and the Missouri and Upper Mississippi Rivers, 1837-41; had general charge of improvements to the Lower Mississippi and the Ohio River below Louisville, KY 1840-41; and also had general charge of the construction of and repairs to the defenses at the Narrows entrance to New York harbor, 1841-44 and 1844-46. He was a member of the board of Visitors to the Military Academy, 1844. assistant to the chief engineer at Washington, D. C., 1844; and member of the Board of Engineers for Atlantic Coast Defenses, September 8, 1845, to March 13, 1848.
       

During the Mexican-American War, Lee was chief engineer of the column commanded by Brig. Gen. John E. Wool during the march toward Chihuahua, 1846, During 1847, he was involved in the siege of Vera Cruz. March 9-29; reconnaissance, April 15-17; the Battle of Cerro Gordo, April 17-18; reconnaissance through the Pedregal, August 18-19; Battle of Contreras, August 19-20; reconnaissance of Coyoacan, August 20; the battle of Churubusco. August 20; Battle of Molino del Rey, September 8; reconnaissance of the approaches to Mexico City, September 9-13; storming of Chapultepec, September 13, where he was wounded; and the assault and capture of Mexico City, September 13-14.
       

He was on special duty in the Engineer Bureau at Washington, D. C., 1848; served as superintending engineer of the construction of Fort Carroll, Patapsco River, MD, 1848-52; was a member of the Board of Engineers for Atlantic Coast Defenses, July 21, 1848, to April 11, 1853 and served as Superintendent of the United States Military Academy, September 1, 1852, to March 31, 1855. He was in command at Jefferson Barracks, MO, 1855 on frontier duty at Camp Cooper, TX, 1856-57; in the expedition against Comanche Indians, 1856; and at San Antonio, TX 1857. He was on leave of absence from 1857-59. Upon his return to duty, he was in command of the force at Harper’s Ferry that suppressed John Brown’s raid, October 17-25; in command of the Department of Texas, February 6-December 12, 1860; and on leave of absence thereafter until his resignation.
       

On April 23, 1861, Lee accepted command of the armed forces of Virginia, and on August 31, 1861, became a full general in the Confederate Army. For nearly four years, Robert E. Lee was the dominant figure in the Confederacy’s military attempt to gain its independence from the United States, but on April 9, 1865, at Appomattox Courthouse, VA. He surrendered to Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant. After the war Lee accepted the presidency of Washington College in Lexington, VA: following his death, the school was renamed Washington and Lee University.
Records Description
       

The records reproduced in this microfilm are listed below, along with the number of the record group in which the record is located.
1. Letters Received by the Adjutant General’s Office, File L60-1861. RG 94. These begin with Lee’s application to West Point in 1824 and conclude with his resignation in 1861.
2. Engineer Order No. 8, August 11, 1829. RG 77.
3. Compiled Military Service Record, Robert E. Lee, 1861-65. RG 109
4. Gen Robert E. Lee’s Letter to Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant Regarding the terms of surrender, April 7-9, 1865. RG 94??
5. Parole of Honor signed by Gen. Lee and members of his staff, April 9, 1865. RG 94.
6. 201 File for Robert E. Lee, Old Records Division, Adjutant General’s Office. RG 407.

 

Union Soldiers, Index to compiled service records of Volunteers who served in organizations from the State of Louisiana. 4 rolls. 16mm. National Archives RG 92. M387 Location: YSC Microfilm Cabinet 3, Drawer 5.
On the 4 rolls of this microfilm publication is reproduced an alphabetical card index to the compiled service records of volunteer Union soldiers belonging to units from the State of Louisiana. The index contains most of the names of Louisiana Soldiers to whom references were found in the records used in compiling the service records. An index card gives the name of the soldier, his rank, and the unit in which he served. There are cross-references for soldiers’ names that appeared in the records under more than one spelling to show service that soldiers may have had in other units or organizations.
       

The supposedly correct name of a volunteer Union soldier from Louisiana may not appear in the index for several reasons. First, he may have served in a unit from another State or in the Regular Army. Second, he may have served under a different name or used a different spelling of his name. Third, proper records of his service may not have been made; or, if made, they may have been lost or destroyed in the confusion that often attended the initial mobilization, subsequent military operations, and disbandment of troops. Fourth, the references to the soldiers in the original records may be so vague that it is not practicable to determine his correct name or the unit in which he served.
       

The compiled service records to which the index applies are reproduced in Microcopy 396. The consist of a jacket-envelope for each soldier, labeled with his name and typically containing (1) card abstracts of entries relating to the soldier as found in original muster rolls, returns, hospital rolls, and descriptive books; and (2) the originals of any papers relating solely to the particular soldier. A typical example of a compiled service record is filmed on the first roll of the index reproduced in this microcopy.
       

The compiled service records of soldiers belonging to units from the state of Louisiana are arranged according to an organizational breakdown ending with the regiment or the independent battalion or company. Under each unit the service records are arranged alphabetically by soldiers’ surnames. Unless the unit in which a soldier served is known, his compiled service record can be located only through the use of an index, such as the one reproduced in this microcopy, which gives the name of the unit in which he served.
       

The compilation of service records of Union soldiers was begun in 1890 under the direction of Capt. Fred C. Ainsworth, head of the Record and Pension Division of the War Department. The abstracts made from the original records were verified by a separate operation of comparison, and great care was taken to ensure that the abstracts and the indexes were accurate.
       

Reproductions of specific compiled service records corresponding to entries in the index reproduced in this microcopy may be obtained from the National Archives for a fee. Requests for such reproductions should give the name of the State, the regiment or battalion, and the company for each soldier, exactly as shown in the index.
       

The index and the compiled service records referred to above are part of a body of records in the National Archives designated as Record Group 94, Records of the Adjutant General’s Office.
       

The National Archives has other records that may contain information relating to Union soldiers from Louisiana. Other series of compiled service records for volunteer soldiers are (1) alphabetical series of records of Union staff officers, (2) medical records for volunteer Union and Mexican War soldiers, and (3) records for non-State organizations, such as U. S. Sharp Shooter, Signal Corps, U. S. Colored Troops, and Veterans Reserve Corps. Information relating to soldiers who served in the Regular Army is recorded in Registers of Enlistments in the U. S. Army, 1798-1914 (reproduced as Microcopy 233), and in other records of The Adjutant Genera’s Office. If an application for a pension was made, additional information about the soldier may be among the pension application files of the Veterans Administration in Record Group 15. Supposed Union military service as a scout, guide, or spy. Evidence of such service may be among the records of the Provost Marshal General in Record Group 110.

 

Confederate Vessel Papers: papers pertaining to vessels involved with the Confederate States of America 32 rolls 16mm National Archives RG 109, M909. YSC Location: Cabinet 3 Drawer 6
On the 32 rolls of this microfilm publication are reproduced an index volume and papers pertaining to vessels of or involved with the Confederate States of America, “Vessel Papers:” The series consists of several thousand alphabetically arranged jacketed files, most, but not all, of which pertain to vessels that served the Confederate Government from 1861-1865. The “Vessel Papers” are a part of the War Department Collection of Confederate Records, Record Group 109.
       

Most of the original papers reproduced in this microfilm publication were created by the Confederate War and Treasury Departments. After the Civil War the records were among those of the Confederacy that came into U. S. War Department custody. A number of years later, the present series of “Vessel Papers” was assembled by the Archive Office and its successor, the Confederate Archives Division, in the War Department.
       

The Archive Office originated officially with a War Department order of July 21, 1865, which specified “That a Bureau be organized in the Adjutant General’s Office for the collection, safekeeping, and publication of the Rebel Archives that have come into the possession of this Government.” The office was officially designated as the “Archive Office of the War Department” by a subsequent issuance of August 23, 1865, and on August 19, 1867, it was officially rendered an intergral part of the Adjutant General’s Office. An order of July 24, 1880, directed that the Archive Office be merged into the War Records Office of the War Department, but a modification of August 10, 1880, placed it in the Record Division of the Office of the Secretary of War. The Archive Office, now designated the Confederate Archives Division, was once again placed under the Adjutant General’s Office by an order of February 7, 1888, and remained there until transferred to the War Department Record and Pension Office by an order of May 15, 1894.

Custody by the War Department offices of the records comprising the “Vessel Papers” is indicated by stamps that appear on many of the documents. The most frequently used stamp is a large oval one reading “Record Division, Rebel Archives, War Department,” apparently a designation used by the Archive Office. A variety of smaller oval stamps can also be found, including those reading “Office of Secretary of War, Record Division,” “Adjutant General’s Office, Confederate Archives Division,” and “Confederate Archives.” Occasionally the date appears on the stamp.
       

The “Vessel Papers” was one of several files created during the late 19th century to facilitate research in claims cases. Following the Civil War, Southern citizens filed claims seeking compensation for property losses allegedly inflicted by Union forces. The treasury and Justice Departments, Southern Claims Commission, Court of Claims, and congressional claims committees were involved in processing these cases, and all, upon occasion, required documentary evidence based upon the confederate records in War Department custody. If disloyalty of claimant could be established by documenting services performed for the Confederacy, the claim could then be disallowed at a great saving to the Government.
       

Many of the claims submitted were from Southern vessel owners or their heirs, and the Archive Office listed 6 such cases pending before the Southern Claims Commission in 1873. The “Vessel Papers” were assembled during the following decade to facilitate references in these instances, and the present arrangement apparently was perfected before 1890. Subsequent additions, however, were made as late as the 20th century.
       

The “Vessel Papers” relate to vessels involved in any way with the Confederate Government. Most of the files in the series are relatively small, containing few, and, in many instances, no original Confederate documents. Some files, however, do contain larger aggregations of papers, and a select list of these appears as appendix A to this publication. Most of the files pertain to privately owned shipping that carried passengers or freight for the Confederacy, but a number of the files also pertain to vessels of the Confederate States Navy or Government. Some files also pertain to non-Confederate shipping, including British and other foreign vessels that entered and departed from Confederate ports and Union merchant or naval vessels that either engaged in actions with Confederate ships or were captured by the Confederates. A few files do not pertain to specific vessels but to shipping companies and other miscellaneous subjects, and they are listed both in the accompanying index volume and in appendix B.
       

Most of the documents in the “Vessel Papers” are dated 1861-65. Frequently encountered are vouchers and voucher abstracts pertaining to the transportation of passengers or freight for the Confederate Government. The series also includes correspondence, papers pertaining to accounts, receipts, invoices, requisitions, claims, contracts and agreements, bills of landing, passenger and crew lists, shipping articles, muster rolls and payrolls, reports of persons and articles hired, insurance policies, ships licenses, reports of the Second Auditor of the Confederate Treasury Department regarding vessel claims, accounts of proceedings in Confederate prize courts, decrees of condemnation and sale, and lists of foreign vessels entering and leaving Confederate ports. In an atypical instance, the file for the cruiser C. S. S. Alabama includes original plans drafted by the Laird Company in Great Britain, which constructed the vessel.
       

Some of the documents in the “Vessel Papers” predate or postdate the Civil War. Most of the earlier items pertain to vessels operating before 1861, which later served the Confederacy or were captured by Confederate forces. Post-civil War documents generally pertain to claims actions instituted from the 1870’s to 1890’s and include copies of congressional bills relating to vessel claims, House of Representatives and Senate documents, and research compilations by the Archive Office and the Confederate Archives Division.
       

Many of the files constituting the “Vessel Papers” contain references prepared by the Archive Office and the Confederate Archives Division. In some instances the information appears on the file jackets, but usually on cards placed within. There are some cross-references to the other files reproduced in this microfilm publication. The citations include references to chaptered and numbered book records; letters received by the Confederate Secretary of War, the Adjutant and Inspector General, and the Quartermaster General; vouchers among the papers relating to citizens or business firms (“Citizens File”); payrolls for civilian and slave labor; letters received by military commands; returns of port collectors; military inspection reports; sequestration papers; and other series. There are also references to the published War and Navy Department compilations The War of the Rebellion: A compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies (1881-1901) and The War of the Rebellion, a compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies (1894-1922). Frequently, files consist solely of reference cards (or jackets containing the information) and no original papers.