Materials do not circulate, but may be used in the State Archives search room. Materials will be retrieved from and returned to storage areas by staff members.
Most records created by Texas state agencies are not copyrighted and may be freely used in any way. State records also include materials received by, not created by, state agencies. Copyright remains with the creator. The researcher is responsible for complying with U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17 U.S.C.).
None.
After the annexation of Texas into the United States, the 1st
Legislature provided for an Adjutant General to be appointed by the Governor,
in
On February 1, 1861, the delegates to the Texas Secession Convention adopted an ordinance of secession, which was approved by the voters of the state on February 23. In early March the convention reassembled, declared Texas out of the Union, and adopted a measure making Texas one of the states in the newly formed Confederate States of America.
With the Civil War came the reorganization of the office, an act of December 25, 1861 creating an Adjutant and Inspector General, who would also serve as Quartermaster and Commissary General, and Ordnance Officer. Oversight of the 33 Brigades of the Texas State Troops plus the Frontier Regiment fell to this office, just as later Adjutants General would split their time between the Militia and the Rangers (whatever the prevailing terminology). The manpower and supply demands of the Confederate States Army, often conflicting with the needs and desires of the State of Texas, would affect the entire period of the war.
Most of the major battles of the Civil War were fought east of the Mississippi River. Ironically, the last battle of the war was a victory by John S. Ford over Union forces at Palmito Ranch near Brownsville on May 13, 1865, slightly more than a month after Lee's surrender at Appomattox Courthouse. General E. Kirby Smith formally surrendered the Trans-Mississippi Department on June 2, and Union forces under General Gordon Granger entered Galveston on June 19, 1865.
With the Civil War came the reorganization of the office of Texas Adjutant General, an act of December 25, 1861 creating an Adjutant and Inspector General, who would also serve as Quartermaster and Commissary General, and Ordnance Officer. Oversight of the 33 Brigades of the Texas State Troops plus the Frontier Regiment fell to this office. In addition, two other governmental entities were involved in Texas during this time: Confederate officials, and Union troops.
These records include correspondence, military orders, monthly returns, records of the sick and wounded, reports of guards, morning reports, pay vouchers, reports and payrolls of hired persons, tax-in-kind records, and quartermaster records (contracts, vouchers, statements, estimates of funds required, receipts of public funds, and various abstracts). They comprise the Civil War-era records of the Texas State Troops (including Frontier Regiment and Mounted Regiment records); certain records of the Confederate States Army; and certain records of Union forces in Texas. Dates covered are 1855, 1860-1866, undated, bulk 1861-1865.
The inventories for the Adjutant General's Civil War records are in two separate
finding aids due to electronic file size limitations imposed by TARO. If you
are reading this electronically, click on the link
These records are organized by state archives staff into three groups:
(Identify the item and cite the series), Civil War records, Texas Adjutant General's Department. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
Processing and original finding aid by Tony Black, October 1986
Corrections and revisions by Tony Black, May 1988
Text converted and initial EAD tagging provided by Apex Data Services, December 2000
Corrections and further encoding to TARO project standards by Tony Black, March 2002
Finding aid converted from EAD 1.0 to 2002 by TARO using the conversion stylesheet v1to02.xsl, July 2003
Split into two finding aids, and further encoding to DACS standards by Tony Black, May 2010
Accession numbers: 1931/003, 1933/001, 1933/005
The Texas Adjutant General's Department transferred the vast majority of these records to the Texas State Archives on February 21, 1934. In addition, the Secretary of State transferred two volumes on November 5, 1931, and another volume on February 27, 1934.
With the Civil War came the reorganization of the office of Texas Adjutant General, an act of December 25, 1861 creating an Adjutant and Inspector General, who would also serve as Quartermaster and Commissary General, and Ordnance Officer. Oversight of the 33 Brigades of the Texas State Troops plus the Frontier Regiment fell to this office.
These records consist of Brigade correspondence of Texas State Troops; correspondence concerning conscription; general, special, and circular orders of military entities (of both the State of Texas and the Confederate States of America); Ranger records of the Frontier Regiment and the Mounted Regiment, Texas State Troops; records of the sick and wounded; and quartermaster records (including both State of Texas Quartermasters and Confederate Quartermasters). They date 1861-1865, and undated.
The inventories for the Adjutant General's Civil War records are in two separate
finding aids due to electronic file size limitations imposed by TARO. If you
are reading this electronically, click on the link
Although these records were transferred by the Texas Adjutant General's Department, the role of that state official in the creation of these Confederate (national) documents is unknown. The manpower and supply demands of the Confederate States Army, often conflicting with the needs and desires of the State of Texas, would affect the entire period of the war.
These records consist of Confederate Quartermaster correspondence,
contracts, vouchers, statements, estimates of funds required, receipts of
public funds, various abstracts, reports and payrolls of hired persons,
tax-in-kind records, reports of guards, morning reports, and miscellaneous
volumes, relating almost entirely to Texas, dating 1861-1865, and undated. The
researcher should note that additional Confederate records can be found among
the previously described Texas State Troops
These records have been organized by State Archives staff into fourteen series:
(Identify the item and cite the series), Confederate records, Civil War records, Texas Adjutant General's Department. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
Accession number: 1933/001
The Texas Adjutant General's Department transferred the vast majority of these records to the Texas State Archives on February 21, 1934.
Materials do not circulate, but may be used in the State Archives search room. Materials will be retrieved from and returned to storage areas by staff members.
Most records created by Texas state agencies are not copyrighted and may be freely used in any way. State records also include materials received by, not created by, state agencies. Copyright remains with the creator. The researcher is responsible for complying with U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17 U.S.C.).
Processing and original finding aid by Tony Black, October 1986
Corrections and revisions by Tony Black, May 1988
These records consist of letters to (and to a lesser extent from) the various offices of the Confederate Quartermaster, involving Texas, dating 1861-1865, and undated. The majority of the items are addressed to (and from) the following individuals:
These records are arranged by State Archives staff roughly chronologically, to the month.
(Identify the item), Quartermaster correspondence, Confederate records, Civil War records, Texas Adjutant General's Department. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
These records consist of contracts made between private individuals and firms and Confederate military officials to provide certain goods and services, e.g., to slaughter cattle, to pack beef, to provide bacon, rice, sugar, molasses, candles, wood, tin, canteens, wool hats, shoes, etc. They date 1861-1864.
These records are arranged by State Archives staff chronologically.
(Identify the item), Articles of agreement, Confederate records, Civil War records, Texas Adjutant General's Department. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
These records consist of Confederate vouchers authorizing payment to individuals and firms for goods and services expended on account of Confederate military needs, dating 1861-1865. Most are also marked with a later annotation of receipt.
These records are arranged by State Archives staff by sites in Texas, sites outside of Texas, and no location. Within each of these groups, the records are arranged alphabetically by camp/fort/station, and chronologically therein.
(Identify the item), Confederate vouchers, Confederate records, Civil War records, Texas Adjutant General's Department. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
These records consist of financial statements of Confederate
military posts and organizations, including monthly summary statements of funds
received and disbursed, and
These records are arranged by State Archives staff by sites in Texas, sites outside of Texas, and no location. Within each of these groups, the records are arranged alphabetically by camp/fort/station, and chronologically therein.
(Identify the item), Confederate quartermaster statements, Confederate records, Civil War records, Texas Adjutant General's Department. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
These records consist of estimates of funds required from the Confederate States government by the quartermasters of various military posts and organizations, 1861-1862. Most if not all of the camps and stations are outside of Texas.
These records are arranged by State Archives staff by camp or station, and chronologically therein.
(Identify the item), Estimates of Confederate funds required, Confederate records, Civil War records, Texas Adjutant General's Department. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
These records consist of receipts of Confederate quartermaster funds, for subsistence and for contingencies, dating 1861-1865.
These records are arranged by State Archives staff by sites in Texas, sites outside of Texas, and no location. Within each of these groups, the records are arranged alphabetically by camp/fort/station, and chronologically therein.
(Identify the item), Receipts of Confederate public funds, Confederate records, Civil War records, Texas Adjutant General's Department. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
These records consist of abstracts of advances and allowances made to officers, of disbursements on account of contingencies, of expenditures, of transfers of public funds, and briefs of errors on commissary and quartermaster papers. They date 1861-1865. The Confederate officials responsible were: Major N. B. Pearce (Commissary of Subsistence), Captain James P. McKinney (Assistant Quartermaster), Captain G. H. Leigh (Assistant Commissary of Subsistence), Captain George C. Rives (Post Quartermaster, 2nd Congressional District), and Captain John R. King (Assistant Commissary of Subsistence, 1st Regiment, Texas Mounted Riflemen, Provisional Confederate States Army).
These records are arranged by State Archives staff by the Confederate official responsible, and therein chronologically.
(Identify the item), Various Confederate abstracts, Confederate records, Civil War records, Texas Adjutant General's Department. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
These records consist of reports and receipt rolls (payrolls) for hired persons and extra duty men (non-commissioned officers and privates employed on extra duty as mechanics and laborers), dating 1861-1865, for the following Confederate officers:
These records are arranged by State Archives staff by the Confederate official responsible, and therein chronologically.
(Identify the item), Confederate reports and payrolls of hired persons, Confederate records, Civil War records, Texas Adjutant General's Department. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
Because of the scarcity of sound currency during the Civil War,
the Confederate States government created a method in April 1863 whereby troops
could be provisioned without placing an overwhelming burden upon farmers. This
tax-in-kind, often called the tithe or tenth, included the following
commodities: grain (corn, wheat, oats, rye, buckwheat, rice); forage (hay and
fodder); potatoes (Irish and sweet); peas and beans; wool; cotton; sugar and
molasses; tobacco; and bacon. The tax-in-kind was delivered to a regional
depot; the depot agents would in turn see that the tithe was properly
distributed to the troops. Nearly all of the tax-in-kind records found in the
Texas State Archives pertain to the 2nd Congressional District, which was
divided into 18 depots, representing the following counties: Austin, Bastrop,
Bell, Brazoria, Burleson, Burnet and Lampasas, Caldwell, Colorado, Fayette, Ft.
Bend, Jackson, Lavaca, Matagorda, Milam, Travis, Washington, Wharton, and
Williamson. The Post Quartermaster in charge of these tax-in-kind transactions
was Captain George C. Rives, who was headquartered in Austin. See pages 43-52
of James L. Nichols'
These records consist of receipts and reports of articles received as tax-in-kind, lists of delinquent taxpayers who owe tax-in-kind (including one oversized list of 602 taxpayers from Fayette County, June 28, 1864), plus requisitions and other quartermaster documents that directly involve the disposition of articles received as tax-in-kind. They date 1863-1865 (bulk 1864).
There is also a volume that contains an assortment of
tax-in-kind records from George C. Rives' office, including abstracts, reports
of persons and articles employed and hired, tax-in-kind reports, and monthly
summary statements. A note on page 164 of the volume states:
These records are arranged by State Archives staff alphabetically by county (see the chart below), and therein chronologically.
(Identify the item), Tax-in-kind records, Confederate records, Civil War records, Texas Adjutant General's Department. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
These records consist of two kinds of tax-in-kind documents,
dating 1863-1864: estimates of cotton, sugar, molasses, tobacco, and bacon
tithes, for March-May 1864 (the majority of them in April); and estimates of
grain, forage, potato, and wool tithes, for December 1863-June 1864. Only two
counties are represented, Lavaca and Williamson. Each of these narrow strips of
paper is signed by both the individual taxpayer and the county
appraiser/assessor (Washington Anderson for Williamson County, H. K. Judd for
Lavaca County). Those from Williamson County are endorsed on the back by the
agent of Depot Number 3; those from Lavaca County are endorsed only
These records are arranged by State Archives staff by county, and therein chronologically.
(Identify the item), Estimates of tithes due, Confederate records, Civil War records, Texas Adjutant General's Department. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
These records consist of reports of persons employed by the various agents for collection of the tax-in-kind in the 2nd Congressional District, plus some payrolls and rolls of extra-duty men in those depots. They date 1863-1865. Also included (in the first folder) are the following: a list of agents and subagents employed in collection of the tax-in-kind in the 2nd Congressional District; a report of agents on duty for Captain G. H. Leigh; a reports of persons transferred to Captain William Cook (Assistant Quartermaster) by Captain George C. Rives (October 1864); and a descriptive list of persons employed in the Quartermaster Department and transferred by Captain Rives to Captain E. Sampson (Assistant Quartermaster) in January 1865.
These records are arranged by State Archives staff alphabetically by county, and chronologically therein.
(Identify the item), Reports of hired persons (tax-in-kind), Confederate records, Civil War records, Texas Adjutant General's Department. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
These records consist of two oversized rolls or reports of slave
labor impressed during the Civil War, dating 1863 and 1865. The first is a roll
of slaves hired for the Quartermaster Department, Confederate States Army at
Seguin, Texas, for July and August 1863. It gives the following information:
number, name of slave, names of owners, number of slaves owned by each,
residence (including both Guadalupe and Caldwell Counties), date of hire, age,
and remarks. The second is a report of the assessment of Negroes in Wilson
County, Texas, dated May 16, 1865. Information on this roll includes: name of
owner or employer, number in possession, number in service, number due the
service (and number to be retained in the service) and for what length of time.
See the following in
(Identify the item), Reports of slave impressment, Confederate records, Civil War records, Texas Adjutant General's Department. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
These records consist of six volumes (including one strictly of
photostatic copies), all relating to Colonel O. M. Roberts' 11th Texas Regiment
of Infantry, Confederate States Army, dating 1862-1865. Two volumes (those
marked
In addition are a handful of loose morning reports and returns: three for Captain Edward A. Stevens' company of Texas Cavalry in Colonel P. C. Woods' regiment (1862-1864); one for Captain William L. Foster's company of Texas Cavalry in Colonel Woods' regiment (1862); and one for Colonel J. B. Robertson's 5th Texas Regiment, Texas Brigade, near Richmond, Virginia (undated).
These records are arranged by State Archives staff chronologically.
(Identify the item), Reports of guards and morning reports, Confederate records, Civil War records, Texas Adjutant General's Department. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
These records consist of two volumes, dating 1862-1869 (bulk
1862-1865). One is primarily a cash book of balance sheets, June 1862-February
1865, of accounts of such persons as Captain James P. McKinney, Major N. B.
Pearce, and William H. King. It also contains odd items such as a copy of a
Special Order dated 1866, and a copy of a court martial order dated 1869. The
second volume is marked on the cover
(Identify the item), Various volumes, Confederate records, Civil War records, Texas Adjutant General's Department. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
Union troops did play a role within the borders of the State of Texas, at the beginning and toward the end of the Civil War. These are not truly records of the Texas Adjutant General's Department, although they have traditionally been described within this record group.
These records consist of Union correspondence (both loose and in a bound volume), military orders, monthly returns, pay vouchers, a morning report, reports of guards, a hospital payroll, and a miscellaneous volume. They comprise records of Union troops in Texas, 1855, 1860-1866 (bulk 1863-1864).
These records have been organized by State Archives staff into eight series:
(Identify the item and cite the subseries), Union troops records, Civil War records, Texas Adjutant General's Department. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
Accession numbers: 1931/003, 1933/001, 1933/005
Two volumes were
Materials do not circulate, but may be used in the State Archives search room. Materials will be retrieved from and returned to storage areas by staff members.
Most records created by Texas state agencies are not copyrighted and may be freely used in any way. State records also include materials received by, not created by, state agencies. Copyright remains with the creator. The researcher is responsible for complying with U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17 U.S.C.).
Processing and original finding aid by Tony Black, October 1986
Corrections and revisions by Tony Black, May 1988
These records consist of Union correspondence in two forms, loose and in a bound volume, dating 1863-1864.
The loose correspondence contains approximately 68 letters between and among the various organizations of Union troops in Texas during 1863 and 1864. This includes: approximately 17 letters (mostly commissions) from the Assistant Adjutant General, Headquarters, Department of the Gulf, to the commanding officer of the 2nd Texas Cavalry; approximately 13 letters (mostly in the nature of orders) from Colonel E. J. Davis (Headquarters, Texas Cavalry Forces) to the various commanding officers of the 2nd Texas Cavalry; about 18 items from those commanding officers back to Colonel Davis; about 4 letters from Headquarters, United States Forces on the Rio Grande to Colonel Davis; and approximately 16 letters to the commander of the 2nd Texas Cavalry from a variety of offices: the Ordnance Office in Washington, D.C., the Post Hospital in Brownsville, the War Department in Washington, D.C., the 2nd Division of the 13th Crops, the Office of the Provost Marshal in Brownsville, Headquarters of Cavalry Forces of the 19th Army Corps, and the United States General Marine Hospital.
The bound volume, labeled somewhat misleadingly
Accession number: 1933/005
The bound volume, labeled somewhat misleadingly
These records are arranged by State Archives staff chronologically.
(Identify the item), Union correspondence, Union troops records, Civil War records, Texas Adjutant General's Department. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
These records consist of approximately 61 General Orders, 43 Special Orders, and 30 Circulars emanating from the various headquarters of Union forces in or near Texas, 1863-1864. Those organizations include: United States Forces on the Rio Grande at Brownsville; Texas Cavalry Brigade near Brownsville; Cavalry Forces of the 19th Army Corps at Morganzia, Louisiana; the 2nd Division, 13th Army Corps at Brownsville; the Department of the Gulf at New Orleans and at Alexandria, Louisiana; the Military Division of the Western Mississippi at New Orleans; and the War Department, Adjutant General, in Washington, D.C. These orders are mostly holographic, rarely printed.
These records are arranged by State Archives staff by type of order (General, Special, or Circular), and therein chronologically.
(Identify the item), Military orders, Union troops records, Civil War records, Texas Adjutant General's Department. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
These records consist of monthly returns for the 1st Regiment of Infantry, United States Army, stationed in or near Texas before, during, and after the Civil War, 1855 and 1865-1866. The one pre-Civil War return is for August 1855, for Colonel Joseph Plympton's command, with headquarters at Ft. McKavett, Texas. The other 14 returns date January through December 1865, and May and July 1866; these are Colonel Robert C. Buchanan's regiment, headquartered at New Orleans.
Information contained on these returns includes: stations of
companies and names of company captains; numbers of officers and enlisted men
present and absent, both by status (e.g.,
These records are arranged by State Archives staff chronologically.
(Identify the item), Monthly returns, Union troops records, Civil War records, Texas Adjutant General's Department. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
These records consist of eight pay vouchers plus one abstract of payments made to United States troops by Lieutenant Colonel P. N. Luckett, Quartermaster and Acting Commissioner of the State of Texas, between November 1860 and March 1861. The officers paid include a captain and a 2nd lieutenant of the U.S. 2nd Cavalry, a 1st and a 2nd lieutenant of the U.S. 1st Infantry, and assistant surgeons of the U.S. Army; also, one corporal and one musician.
(Identify the item), Pay vouchers, Union troops records, Civil War records, Texas Adjutant General's Department. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
These records consist of one daily consolidated morning report
of the 42nd Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteers, stationed at Long Island, New
York (November-December 1862). A notation on the reverse reads:
(Identify the item), Morning report, Union troops records, Civil War records, Texas Adjutant General's Department. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
These records consist of a volume--without boards--containing reports of guards of the 1st Regiment, Texas Cavalry, United States Army, mounted at Brownsville and later at Baton Rouge, Louisiana, between April 6, 1864 and May 4, 1865. Information on the reports includes: numbers of officers and men of each rank; lists of articles in charge; lists of the guard of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd relief (with times of day indicated), by name, company, regiment, where posted, and remarks; the names of the sergeant, corporal, orderly for the commanding officer, and best shot; and a list of prisoners, by name, company, regiment, when and by whom confined, charges, sentence, and remarks.
Accession number: 1931/003
This record, along with the one immediately following, were
(Identify the item), Reports of guards, Union troops records, Civil War records, Texas Adjutant General's Department. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
These records consist of one muster roll/pay roll for steward, wardmaster, cooks, nurses, matrons, and detached soldiers sick in the hospital for Fort Mason, December 31, 1860-February 28, 1861.
(Identify the item), Hospital payroll, Union troops records, Civil War records, Texas Adjutant General's Department. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
These records consist of a volume that contains a variety of Union troop records, dated 1863-1865:
A notation on the inside of the back cover of this volume reads:
Accession number: 1931/003
This volume was transferred to the Texas State Archives by the Texas Secretary of State on November 5, 1931.
(Identify the item), Miscellaneous volume, Union troops records, Civil War records, Texas Adjutant General's Department. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.