Journal of the Company of Military Historians
63
Capt. George T. Balch, U.S. Army Ordnance Department, and his 1861–1862 Letter Book Charles Pate
O
n 2 October 1858, Sam Colt complained to the secretary of war about the “tardy” manner in which his pistols were being inspected and received by government inspectors, saying they were frequently called away to do other work and when they were at his factory they typically did not put in full days of effort.1 Although it took him a while to compile a response to this complaint, the officer in charge of the inspection, Capt. William A. Thornton, refuted the specifics of Colt’s complaint and did so in a very convincing fashion.2 Thornton’s response made it clear he had extensive records for the inspection work done under his supervision as well as that done by his predecessor in the position, Capt. Robert H. K. Whiteley. Furthermore, such records were maintained for some time, for after the Civil War then Colonel Thornton was able to provide the chief of ordnance with very specific information on inspections done during his service as “Inspector of Contract Arms” in 1864–1865. Thornton died in April 1866 and was succeeded as Inspector of Contract Arms by Maj. Julian McAllister. When in April 1867 it was no longer necessary to continue this inspection office, McAllister was told to send the inspection records to the New York Arsenal for storage.3 Unfortunately, it appears almost all of the records related to small arms inspection were subsequently lost. To the author’s knowledge, the
FIG 1. Capt. George T. Balch. U.S. Army photo.
only records that have survived from Civil War inspecting officers of contract small arms are individual original copies of letters and reports the inspecting officers sent to Ordnance Department facilities, such as the Springfield Armory, and the chief of ordnance, and two “letter books.” One of these books was used by Whiteley in 1861–1862 and for a short time later in 1862 by Thornton. It is now in the regional branch of the National Archives in New York City. The other letter book was used by Lt./Capt. George T. Balch from 26 October 1861 to 10 March 1862. It, and Balch’s subsequent service, is the subject of this paper.4 Before continuing, it would be appropriate to define what is meant by “letter book.” In the context of this paper, a letter book was a book containing record copies of letters sent by an originator. Usually these were books containing “fair copies” of the letters but they might also be bound “press copies.” A “press copy” is a copy of a written document made in a copying press, which transfers some ink from the original to another sheet of paper, usually thin onion-skin or tissue paper. The copy is then read from the other side of the sheet. Most often these press copies are barely usable if at all and, consequently, if time and clerical resources were available “fair copies” were manually transcribed in blank ledgers provided for that purpose. A “fair copy” is a neat and exact (and easily readable) copy of an original document that is copied either from the original or from a press copy of the original. Both the Whiteley/Thornton and Balch letter books are, fortunately, fair copies. The Balch letter book measures approximately 13 inches in length and 10.5 inches in width. The book contains a name index and 317 pages with the first letter dated 26 October 1861 and the last dated 10 March 1862. The original spine is missing but the worn original covers are with the volume. The previous owner, the noted U.S. martial arms collector and researcher Anthony Daum, had the volume rebound in leather with “Letters” on the upper spine and “ORDNANCE DEPARTMENT” on lower spine in gilt letters. After Daum’s untimely death the book was sold by Cowan’s Auctions in October 2014. The catalog description listed the book as containing “hand-written journal entry records of orders, shipments, etc., from the Springfield Arsenal during the Civil War.” Given Balch’s office was located at the armory and some of the book’s contents, the auction description is understandable. However, George Balch was at the armory primarily as a matter of convenience and this book is a record of his correspondence as an inspecting officer of contract ordnance rather than one dealing with Springfield Armory
