February 2020 ‘The Source’

Civil War News

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Record Group (RG) Record Hierarchy RG 19. Records of the Bureau of Ships Navy Department: Chief Constructor

Tools for Searching the National Archives Online (Part II)

In the December 2019 installment of this column, readers learned of the recent online enhancement offering Optical Character Recognition (OCR) searches of the various Record Groups in the National Archives.

Since the December article, the National Archives changed the website referenced for OCR searches. The new URL: https:// catalog.archives.gov/searchLast.

Last month, we outlined the Guide to the Federal Archives Relating to the Civil War; this

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month, we cover the 1968 publication Guide to the Archives of the Government of the Confederate States of America, which Henry Putney Beers compiled. In the preface to this work, Beers reminded researchers,”…many of the Confederate archives have been lost or destroyed.” Seeking to fill this void, Beers and company consulted the state archives from most of the former states of the Confederacy. This source, totaling 536 pages, contains much information on the records of the Confederate Congress, the Judiciary, and Executive branches, as well as the various governmental departments.

An appendix, ‘List of Records Groups Containing Confederate Records,’ will serve as the focus of this article.

A listing of these record groups, and a brief description of the contents within each follow.

Remember to check WorldCat http://www.worldcat.org for help in finding the Guide to the Archives of the Government of the Confederate States of America in a local library; conduct your search using the book’s title, and also check for other current reprint editions. Review additional information on this resource at https://www.archives.gov/ publications/finding-aids/guides. html#civilwar.

Continued good luck in researching the Civil War! Michael K. Shaffer is a Civil War historian, author, lecturer, instructor, and a member of the Society of Civil War Historians, the Historians of the Civil War Western Theater, the Georgia Association of Historians, and the Georgia Writers Association.

Readers may contact him at mkscdr11@ gmail.com, or to request speaking engagements, via his website www.civilwarhistorian.net. Follow Michael on Facebook www.facebook.com/michael.k.shaffer and Twitter @michaelkshaffer.

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RG 21. Records of the District Courts of the United States Judiciary: Confederate District Courts Treasury Department: Record of Field Offices - Alabama RG 26. Records of the United States Coast Guard Treasury Department: Record of Field Offices – South Carolina

RG 28. Records of the Post Office Department Treasury Department: Office of the First Auditor RG 36. Records of the Bureau of Customs Treasury Department: Record of Field Offices War Department: Territorial Commands and Armies Dept. of Alabama, Mississippi, and E. Louisiana District of the Gulf RG 37. Records of the Hydrographic Office Navy Department: Office of Ordnance and Hydrography

February 2020 Record Group (RG) Record Hierarchy RG 75. Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs War Department: Bureau of Indian Affairs Post Office Dept.: Post Offices RG 76. Records of Boundary & Claims Commissions & Arbitrations Navy Department: Cruisers RG 77. Records of the Office of the Chief of Engineers War Department: Engineer Bureau – Cartographic Records Commanders, Staff Officers, and Other Personnel – Capt. John C. Wrenshall RG 84. Records of the Foreign Service Posts of the Dept. of State Navy Department: Cruisers RG 92. Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General War Department: Engineer Bureau – Cartographic Records

RG 94. Records of the Adjutant General’s Office War Department: Engineer Bureau – Cartographic Records Office of the Chief of Ordnance – Arsenals, Armories, and Ordnance Depots

Macon Central Laboratory Record Group (RG) Record Group (RG) Record Hierarchy Record Hierarchy RG 39. Records of the Bureau of Accounts RG 98. Records of the United States Army Treasury Department: Commands Treasury Note Bureau War Department: Regiments, Battalions, and Companies – North Carolina Troops RG 104. Records of the Bureau of the Mint Treasury Department: Records of Field Offices, North Carolina RG 41. Records of the Bureau of Marine Inspection and RG 153. Records of the Office of the Judge Advocate Navigation Page 1 of 5General (Army) Treasury Department: War Department: Records of Field Offices Office of the Commissary General of Prisoners – Military Prisons, Andersonville RG 45. Naval Records Collection of the Office of Naval RG 249. Records of the Commissary General of Records and Library Prisoners Department of State: War Department: Records of Commissioners and Agents Office of the Commissary GeneralTreasury Department: of Prisoners Office of the First Auditor Military Prisons Lighthouse Bureau Territorial Commands and Armies – Records of Field Offices – Tennessee Department of Richmond War Department: Territorial Commands and Armies Dept. of North Carolina and Southern Virginia Dept. of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida Navy Department: Office of Orders and Detail Office of Ordnance and Hydrography Office of Provisions and Clothing Office of Medicine and Surgery Engineer-in-Chief Chief Constructor Marine Corps Naval Squadrons Naval Batteries Naval Procurement in Europe Navy Yards, Naval Stations, & Works Blockade-Runners Cruisers

February 2020

Civil War News

Record Group (RG) Record Hierarchy RG 56. General Records of the Dept. of the Treasury War Department: Engineer Bureau Navy Department: Office of Orders and Detail Blockade-Runners

Record Group (RG) Record Hierarchy RGRG 56.365.

General Treasury Records Dept. of Collection the Dept. ofofthe Confederate Treasury Records War Department: Judiciary: Engineer Bureau District Court, Southern Division of Navy Department: Georgia Office of Orders and Detail District Court, Eastern District ofBlockade-Runners Texas Treasury Department: Office of the Secretary Office of the Treasurer Office of the Comptroller Office of the First Auditor Office of the Second Auditor Office of the Third Auditor Lighthouse Bureau Produce Loan Office Office of the Commissioner of Taxes Treasury Note Bureau Records of Field Offices War Department: Territorial Commands and Armies – Trans-Mississippi Department District of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona RG 59. General Records of the Dept. of State RGRG 59.366.

General Records Records of Civil of the War Dept.

Special of State Agencies of Department of State the Treasury Department Department of State War Department: Treasury Department: War Department: Office of the Chief of Ordnance Records Fieldof Offices, South Office of theofChief Ordnance Navy Department: Carolina Navy Department: Office of the Secretary of the Navy Office of the Secretary of the Navy Cruisers Cruisers Navy Yards, Naval Stations, and Works – Navy Yards, Naval Stations, and Works – Norfolk Naval Yard Norfolk Naval Yard RG 74. Records of the Bureau of Ordnance RGRG 74.109.

Records War of Dept. the Bureau Collection of Ordnance of Confederate Navy Department: Records.: Navy Department: Office of Ordnance and Hydrography General Records and of the Office of Ordnance Hydrography Confederates Government: Constitutional Convention Laws & Resolutions Electoral Papers Indian Treaties

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Michael Shaffer will be speaking at the Civil War Saturday Symposium Saturday morning, February 1 During the Dalton Civil War Show Dalton Convention Center, Dalton, Georgia Mike Kent Shows’ popular Dalton Civil War Show draws hundreds of attendees for two days of visiting and buying in a huge exhibit hall filled with vendors of Civil War memorabilia, relics, books, ordnance, flags— you name it.

This year’s event will feature a Civil War Symposium on the War in the West. On Saturday morning, as the Show opens, attendees can come upstairs into the auditorium and hear presentations by three acknowledged experts: • 10 a.m. Welcome and Introduction – Stephen Davis • 10:05 “Atlanta Campaign: Into the Very Heart of the Confederacy” – Michael K. Shaffer, Kennesaw, GA

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Record Group (RG) Record Hierarchy Office ofof Commissary RG 365. Treasury Dept. Collection Confederate General of-Prisoners Records Military Prisons Judiciary: Headquarters the Armyof District Court, SouthernofDivision Georgia Territorial Commands and District Court, Eastern District ofArmies Texas Regiments, Battalions, and Companies Treasury Department: Commands Office ofState the Secretary Office ofCommanders, the Treasurer Staff and OtherOffice ofOfficers, the Comptroller Office ofPersonnel the First Auditor Navy Dept.: Office of the Second Auditor of Ordnance Office ofOffice the Third Auditor and Hydrography Lighthouse Bureau ChiefOffice Constructor Produce Loan Yards, Naval of Office ofNavy the Commissioner Taxes Stations, and Works Post Office Dept.: Treasury Note Bureau Office Postmaster Records of FieldofOffices War Department: General TerritorialAppointment Commands Bureau and Armies – Contract Bureau Trans-Mississippi Department District of Texas, NewFinance Mexico,Bureau and Arizona Inspection RG 366. Records of Civil War SpecialOffice Agencies of the Treasury Department Office of Military Telegraphs Treasury Department: Agent the TransRecords of Fieldfor Offices, South Carolina Mississippi West Post Offices Justice Dept.: Office of the Attorney General Patent Office of Confederate RG 109. War Dept.

Collection Records.: General Records of the Confederates Government: Constitutional Convention Laws & Resolutions Electoral Papers Indian Treaties

Congress: Provisional Congress Congress Senate House of Representatives

Congress: Provisional Congress Congress Senate House of Representatives

Presidency

Presidency

Judiciary: District Court of North Carolina District Court of South Carolina

Judiciary: District Court of North Carolina

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Dept. of State: Page 5 of 5 Records of Commissioners & Agents Treasury Dept.: Office of the Sec. of Treasury Office of the Comptroller Office of the Register Office of the First Auditor Office of the Second Auditor Office of the Commissioner of Taxes Treasury Note Bureau Treasury Agent for the Trans-Mississippi West Records of Field Offices War Dept.: Office of the Secretary of War Adjutant and Inspector General’s Office Quartermaster General’s Office Pay Bureau Office of the Inspector General of FieldTransportation Railroad Bureau Tax in Kind Bureau Commissary General’s Office and Subsistence Department Surgeon General’s Office and the Medical Dept. – Surgeon General’s- Office Medical Directors Medical Purveyors Hospitals Engineer Bureau Cartographic Records Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of the Chief of Ordnance Arsenals, Armories, and Ordnance- Depots Bureau of Exchange Bureau of Conscription State Conscription Offices Niter and Mining Bureau Bureau of Foreign Supplies

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