Texas Adjutant General's Department:

An Inventory of Departmental Correspondence: Correspondence (Part II) at the Texas State Archives, 1906-1943

Agency History

On November 13, 1835, the Consultation created the office of Adjutant General, as one of five heads of departments under the Commander-in-Chief of the Texian Army (the other offices being Inspector General, Quartermaster General, Surgeon General, and Paymaster General). On December 20, 1836, the 1st Congress passed "an Act to organize and fix the Military establishment of the Republic of Texas," which in addition to the aforementioned bureaus, created a Commissary General of Subsistence, a Commissary General of Purchases, and a Colonel of Ordnance, all of whom answered to the Secretary of War. On December 18, 1837, Congress passed--and later passed again over President Sam Houston's veto--an act making the Adjutant General a position elected by the Congress; the first man so elected was Hugh McLeod. This arrangement lasted less than two years, however, with subsequent Adjutant Generals--beginning with McLeod on January 30, 1839--being appointed by the President. Congress combined the offices of Adjutant General and Inspector General on January 28, 1840, and technically abolished this position on January 18, 1841. Yet Peter Hansborough Bell served as Adjutant General of Militia soon thereafter; and in legislation of February 1842, there is a reference to an Acting Adjutant General.

The Texas Navy at first operated under a separate Secretary of the Navy, appointed by the President as authorized by an act of Congress approved October 25, 1836. On January 18, 1841, Congress abolished this office and created a Naval Bureau under the Secretary of War and Marines. Of course, the end of the Republic in 1846 meant the end of the Texas Navy as well.

Whereas under the Republic the Adjutant General was subservient to the Secretary of War, under statehood the position was elevated to that of head of all military departments. After annexation, the 1st 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; recruitment and enrollment of Rangers and militiamen; and now, the issuing of all bounty and donation land warrants on the basis of military service to the Republic. This last duty was assumed by the Commissioner of Claims, pursuant to an Act of the legislature passed August 1, 1856; the office of the Adjutant General had been the victim of apparent arson in October 1855, allegedly by persons engaged in land certificate fraud. 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.

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 Adjutant Generals would split their time between the Militia and the Rangers (whatever the prevailing terminology). The 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.

During the Congressional phase of Reconstruction, the military affairs of the State of Texas, and many aspects of civil government, were controlled by the commander of the District of Texas (1866-1868), or of the 5th Military District (1868-1870). Within months of Texas' readmission to the Union under Radical Republican Governor Edmund J. Davis (1870), the Legislature created the Frontier Forces (June 13), the State Guard and Reserve Militia (June 24), and the State Police (July 1), all of which were commanded by a newly restored state Adjutant General. On November 25, 1871, the Legislature added a fifth organization, the Minute Men. The first Adjutant General so appointed, James Davidson, absconded with over $37,000 of state funds in 1872. The State Guard and Reserve Militia were merged into a simple state militia on March 19, 1873, and the State Police force was abolished April 22, 1873.

The place of the Frontier Forces was taken in 1873 and 1874 by the Rangers and the Frontier Men, and finally by the Frontier Battalion, organized by an act passed April 10, 1874. At about the same time one can date the evolution of the Texas Volunteer Guard as the definitive militia organization for the state. On July 22, 1876, "an Act to suppress lawlessness and crime in certain parts of the state" authorized the creation of the Special State Troops, commanded first by Captain Leander McNelly and subsequently by Captain J. L. Hall. In the last year of the operation of this Special Force (1880-1881), it was commanded by Captain Thomas L. Oglesby.

The Spanish-American War (1898) saw the nationalization of the Texas Volunteer Guard, which was organized into four regiments of infantry and one of cavalry, and designated the Texas Volunteers. After the war they were de-nationalized, and reorganized on April 1, 1903 as the Texas National Guard. On August 5, 1917, the Texas National Guard was drafted into federal service, forming the 36th Division, which was to be mobilized during World War II as well.

The Frontier Battalion was reorganized as the Ranger Force by an act of the Legislature on March 29, 1901. From time to time this regular force was supplemented by specially commissioned Special Rangers, Railroad Rangers, Cattlemen's Association Rangers, and Loyalty Rangers. Finally, on August 10, 1935, the Ranger Force was transferred to the Texas Department of Public Safety.

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Scope and Contents of the Records

These records consist of letters, telegrams, and postal cards, plus attachments, received by the Texas Adjutant General's office, plus some copies (mostly for the 20th century) of outgoing letters, dating 1846-1943 (bulk 1861-1933).

Most of the incoming letters and telegrams were addressed either to the Adjutant General, or to a subordinate (e.g., the Assistant Adjutant General, the Quartermaster General, the Quartermaster of the Frontier Battalion); a significant amount of the correspondence, however, was addressed to another party--most notably, the Governor--and then referred to the Adjutant General. Incoming letters for the 1870s and part of the 1880s have been registered and for the most part indexed (see subseries Registers of letters received and Indexes to letters received, described elsewhere). Copies of outgoing letters were only rarely included during the 19th century; within the first five years of the 20th century, however, the filing of carbon copies of outgoing letters became routine. The letterpress books of the Letter books and letterpress books subseries (described elsewhere) represent a fairly complete record of letters sent by the Adjutant General from 1871 through 1905, and are also indexed. Using the registers, the filing system for some of the incoming correspondence can be reconstructed intellectually for the 1870s and 1880s; an alphanumeric code was registered in a ledger and written onto the reverse side of the letter itself, using the first letter of the last name of the correspondent plus a number related to the order in which the letter was registered.

The original order has been replaced by a roughly chronological one, usually in increments of seven to nine days; according to the biennial report of the Texas State Library, this "chronologizing" of the Adjutant General's correspondence began in 1942-1944. (In 1994, two clumps of letters from 1883-1884 and 1888 were discovered misfiled with Comptroller correspondence; they have been included below in that same original order.) No attempt has been made to place documents in exact date order. Where possible, enclosures have been kept with cover letters, but related items may be widely separated. Incoming and outgoing correspondence are interfiled chronologically.

The correspondence documents the day-to-day details of office operation, including the recruiting, paying, provisioning, arming, transporting, and training of the various military organizations of Texas throughout its history. In addition many significant developments in Texas history are reflected here. To cite a few examples: reports of depredations by Indians and bandits; petitions for exemption from service, discharges, and furloughs, especially during the Civil War; reports on Civil War hospital conditions; scouting reports; proclamations of martial law; petitions to form militia units, or to provision them; complaints of citizens against Rangers and militia units exceeding their authority; reports on the fence cutting wars of the 1880s; correspondence concerning violations of the civil rights of blacks; reports of arrests; requests for proof of service, especially in connection with applications for federal pensions for service during the War with Mexico, the Indian Wars, and the Spanish-American War; correspondence relating to cattle rustling; proceedings of courts of inquiry and courts martial; applications to become Rangers, and letters of recommendation accompanying those applications; correspondence concerning the nationalization of the Texas Volunteer Guard in 1898; requests for information concerning the fate of victims of the Galveston flood of 1900; reports of border troubles during the early 20th century; requests for, and reports of, enforcement of prohibition and anti-vice laws; correspondence concerning the use of the Texas National Guard and Rangers for strikebreaking; reports of "disloyalty," delivered by specially-appointed Loyalty Rangers during 1917-1918. Preliminary use of the printed biennial reports of the Adjutant General is highly recommended, as a guide to the subjects likely to be treated in the correspondence of a given time period.

Correspondence from 1900 to 1925 was thinned by a sampling conducted in 1973. The criteria for the sampling is not known, however.

This finding aid has been split into two parts due to electronic file size limitations imposed by TARO. If you are reading this electronically, you may click here ( Texas Adjutant General's Department, Departmental correspondence, 1846-1943 (bulk 1861-1933), 121.62 cubic ft.) for the first part of the container listing, plus the other subseries in Departmental correspondence. If you are reading this in paper, that finding aid is found at a separate divider within the binder.

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Restrictions

Restrictions on Access

None.

Restrictions on Use

None.

Technical Requirements

None.

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Related Material

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

(Identify the item), Correspondence, Departmental correspondence, Texas Adjutant General's Department. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.

Accession Information

Accession numbers: 1933/001 and unknown others

Accession data is incomplete, but about two-thirds of these records (those dating 1850-1910) were transferred to the Texas State Archives by the Texas Adjutant General's Department on February 21, 1934. The remainder was apparently transferred sometime after 1946.

Processing Information

Tony Black, January 1986, May 1988

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Detailed Description of the Records