Texas Adjutant General's Department:

An Inventory of Civil War Military Rolls at the Texas State Archives, 1860-1865

Agency History

After the annexation of Texas into the United States, the 1st Texas Legislature provided for an Adjutant General to be appointed by the Governor, in "an Act to organize the Militia of the State of Texas" (April 21, 1846). The duties which fell to the Adjutant General included the issuance of all military orders; the maintenance of records of appointments, promotions, resignations, deaths, commissions, etc.; the receipt of monthly and annual returns, and muster rolls from the various military units; the keeping of the records of general courts martial; and recruitment and enrollment of Rangers and militiamen. The position of Adjutant General was itself reestablished by the Militia Law of February 14, 1860, by which act he also assumed the duties of Quartermaster General and Ordnance Officer of the State.

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 Texas Adjutant General's Department, 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.

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Scope and Contents of the Records

These records consist of muster rolls, payrolls, muster roll/payrolls, rosters, returns, and election returns, of military units stationed in Texas on both sides of the Civil War, dating 1860-1865.

The "Confederate" military rolls consist of muster rolls, payrolls, rosters, returns, and election returns, of approximately 1,500 companies of both Texas State Troops (including Rangers) and the Confederate States Army, stationed in Texas during the Civil War, dating 1861-1865. The term "Confederate" is used in the title only to distinguish this series from the Union military rolls; the series includes Texas State Troops units, which are distinct from units of the Confederate States Army. Almost all of these rolls were abstracted (early in the 20th century) onto 3-by-5 inch index cards located in the Texas State Archives' search room, giving all of the information that is found on the roll itself. Based upon information contained in the abstracts, the rolls include the following information: name and rank of the soldier; name and rank of the commanding officer; designation of the organization (e.g., "Company A, Rangers for Frontier Protection, Texas State Troops;""Company A, Texas Volunteer Infantry, Col. O.M. Roberts commanding, CSA;""Reserved Company, Beat 3, Freestone County, 19th Brigade, Texas Militia"); enlistment data (date, place, and for what period); discharge data (usually pay information, including number of days, rate, and total); description (usually only age, if anything at all); and remarks. Remarks include: the number of officers and men on the roll (R&F: rank and file); name of enlisting officer; name of mustering officer; where and when stationed; arms issued; source of abstract information (e.g. 1 payroll dated February 1-June 1, 1864, 1 muster roll dated June 29, 1864).

The Army of the United States (or Union) military rolls consist of 29 rolls, from 24 captains plus 4 colonels, plus one volume of official copies from the U. S. War Department (1865), of Union troops stationed in or near Texas immediately before and during the Civil War, dating 1860-1861 and 1864-1865. The rolls from 1860-1861 and 1864 are mainly of the 2nd Regiment of Texas Cavalry; those from 1865 are from 1st Regiment of Texas Cavalry (San Antonio) and the 2nd Regiment of Texas Cavalry (Brownsville). The rolls, which are combination muster and payrolls on pre-printed forms, include the following information: name and rank; when, where, by whom, and for what period enlisted; by whom and to what time last paid; bounty paid and due; and remarks (1860-1861). The later rolls include, in addition, the following information: age, miles travelled to place and rendezvous and from place of discharge to home, amount alloted for clothing, accoutrements, forage, etc.; they also make a distinction between joining for service and mustering into service.

Note: The alphabetical list of captains provided in the Texas State Archives search room, matching the captain with the military organization, does NOT include Civil War units except for Union troops, listed as Army of the United States (1860-1861, 1864-1865). For non-Union Civil War rolls, there is a set of index cards in the Archives search room listing these military rolls by captain and by organization.

This finding aid describes two series of military rolls. If you are reading this electronically, click here for an overview of the Texas Adjutant General's Department, Military rolls. If you are reading this in paper, the overview is at the beginning of the first binder labeled Military rolls.

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Restrictions

Restrictions on Access

Some Civil War military rolls have been determined too fragile for retrieval, and the numbers of those do not appear in the inventory for that series. No other restrictions on access.

Restrictions on Use

Civil War military rolls are very fragile. The names on almost all of the Civil War rolls have been abstracted onto 3-by-5 inch index cards in the Texas State Archives' search room, giving all of the information that is found on the roll itself for that individual. Researchers are encouraged to use the abstracts, and/or to request copies of the abstracts, in lieu of the actual military rolls themselves. The photocopying of rolls may also be restricted by their physical condition.

Since the Civil War rolls are often too fragile to photocopy, copies of the index cards have always been accepted as proof of service by organizations such as the United Daughters of the Confederacy.

Technical Requirements

None.

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Related Material

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

(Identify the item and cite the series), Civil War military rolls, Military rolls, Texas Adjutant General's Department. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.

Accession Information

Accession numbers: 1933/001, 1937/004, and unknown others

These records were transferred to the Archives and Information Services Division of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission by the Texas Adjutant General's Department in 1920 (approximately 800 muster rolls and payrolls, dating 1860-1886); on February 21, 1934 (Civil War muster rolls, including rolls for the Frontier Regiment, 1862-1864); and by the Texas Secretary of State on February 28, 1938 (the volume of Official Copies from the War Department of Texas Troops in the Rebellion).

Processing Information

Tony Black, July 1986, September 1988

Other Formats for the Records

The names on almost all of the Civil War rolls have been abstracted onto 3-by-5 inch index cards in the Texas State Archives' search room, giving all of the information that is found on the roll itself. Many of the other military rolls (e.g. Ranger rolls) have also been abstracted onto 3-by-5 inch index cards, with varying degrees of detail as to the other information on the roll.

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Detailed Description of the Records