Guide to Federal Records

Records of the Provost Marshal General's Bureau (Civil War)


(Record Group 110)
1861-89
1,582 cu. ft.

Overview of Records Locations

Table of Contents

  • 110.1 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY
  • 110.2 GENERAL RECORDS OF THE PROVOST MARSHAL GENERAL'S OFFICE (PMGO), WASHINGTON, DC, AND OF THE ENROLLMENT DIVISION, AGO 1861-89 22 lin. ft.
  • 110.3 RECORDS OF CENTRAL OFFICE BRANCHES 1861-88 836 lin. ft.
  • 110.3.1 Records of the Enrollment Branch
  • 110.3.2 Records of the Deserters Branch
  • 110.3.3 Records of the Disbursing Branch
  • 110.3.4 Records of the Veterans Reserve Corps Branch
  • 110.3.5 Records of the Volunteer Recruiting Branch
  • 110.4 RECORDS OF STATE AND DISTRICT OFFICES 1861-72 (bulk 1861-68) 1,350 lin. ft.
  • 110.5 RECORDS OF THE MUSTERING AND DISBURSING OFFICE 1862-67 1 lin. ft.

110.1 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY

Established: In the War Department by an act of March 3, 1863 (12 Stat. 731). Functions: Arrested deserters, enrolled men for the draft, enlisted volunteers, and compiled statistics on the physical condition of recruits and on army casualties.

Abolished: Effective August 28, 1866, by General Order 66, War Department, August 20, 1866, implementing an act of July 28, 1866 (14 Stat. 337).

Successor Agencies: Enrollment and Disbursing Divisions, Adjutant General's Office (AGO); Surgeon General's Office.

Finding Aids: Patricia Andrews, et al., comps., "Preliminary Inventory of the Records of the Provost Marshal General's Bureau (Civil War)," Parts 1-8, NM 65, 67, 71, 73, 76, 80, 82, 83 (1966- 67); Kenneth W. Munden and Henry Putney Beers, Guide to Federal Archives Relating to the Civil War (1962).

Related Records: Record copies of publications of the Provost Marshal General's Bureau (Civil War) in RG 287, Publications of the U.S. Government. Records of the Adjutant General's Office, 1780's-1917, RG 94.
Records of the Office of the Surgeon General (Army), RG 112.
Records of U.S. Army Continental Commands, 1821-1920, RG 393.

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110.2 GENERAL RECORDS OF THE PROVOST MARSHAL GENERAL'S OFFICE
(PMGO), WASHINGTON, DC, AND OF THE ENROLLMENT DIVISION, AGO
1861-89
22 lin. ft.

History: PMGO established 1863, abolished 1866. Superseded in part by the Enrollment Division, AGO, which was consolidated by an unnumbered War Department order, July 16, 1889, into newly created Record and Pension Division, War Department.

Textual Records: Letters sent, 1863-89, with indexes. Letters and telegrams sent by the Secretary of War and the Provost Marshal General to governors and other state officials, 1863-64. Letters received, 1863-65, with indexes and registers. Endorsements, 1863-83, with indexes. Correspondence and reports relating to fraudulent activities of provost marshals and bounty agents, 1863-65. Decisions of the President and the Secretary of War relating to the Provost Marshal General's Office, 1863-66. Issuances, 1861-65. Historical reports of state acting assistant provost marshal generals and district provost marshals, 1865. Personnel records, 1862-66. Financial records, 1861-70. Papers of Col. Lafayette C. Baker, 1862-66. Reports of detective Allan Pinkerton, 1865. Monthly medical reports, 1864-65. Records relating to casualties, 1861-66.

Microfilm Publications: M621, M1163.

Finding Aids: Patricia Andrews, comp., "Preliminary Inventory of the Records of the Provost Marshal General's Bureau (Civil War), Part I: The Provost Marshal General's Office and its successor, The Enrollment Division of the Adjutant General's Office," NM 65 (1966).

Subject Access Terms: Fry, Col. James B.

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110.3 RECORDS OF CENTRAL OFFICE BRANCHES
1861-88
836 lin. ft.

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110.3.1 Records of the Enrollment Branch

Textual Records: Letters sent, 1863-66, with indexes. Letters received, 1863-66, with registers. Endorsements, 1863-66, with indexes. Periodic reports, 1863-66. Enrollment lists and corrections, arranged by state and congressional district, 1863- 65 (2,500 vols., 340 ft.). Weekly abstracts of medical exemptions, 1863-65.

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110.3.2 Records of the Deserters Branch

Textual Records: Letters sent, 1863-66, with indexes, 1863-64. Letters received, 1863-65, with registers. Endorsements, 1863-66, with index. Periodic reports, 1863-65. Registers of deserters, 1862-65.

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110.3.3 Records of the Disbursing Branch

Textual Records: Letters sent, 1863-68, with indexes. Letters received, 1863-68, with registers and index. Endorsements, 1863- 68. Periodic reports, 1863-67. Personnel records, 1862-65. Financial records, 1861-67. Reports relating to bounties and premiums paid, 1862-65.

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110.3.4 Records of the Veterans Reserve Corps Branch

Textual Records: Letters sent, 1863-66, with indexes. Letters received, 1863-65, with registers and partial index. Endorsements, 1863-65, with partial index, October 1863-January 1865. Issuances, 1863-66. Reports of Examining Boards, 1864-65.

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110.3.5 Records of the Volunteer Recruiting Branch

Textual Records: Letters sent, 1862-78, with indexes in most volumes. Letters received, 1862-84, with registers and indexes. Endorsements, 1862-88, with indexes. Records of accounts and disbursements, 1861-77. Registers of claims, 1862-87. Registers of requisitions, 1863-73.

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110.4 RECORDS OF STATE AND DISTRICT OFFICES
1861-72 (bulk 1861-68)
1,350 lin. ft.

History: Provost Marshal General, under the act of March 3, 1863 (12 Stat. 731), appointed an Acting Assistant Provost Marshal General (AAPMG) for each state or group of territories. Each AAPMG coordinated provost marshal activites in his jurisdiction through a provost marshal and a board of enrollment, appointed for each congressional district within that jurisdiction. In addition, each AAPMG served as liaison between PMGO and the various state or territorial agencies.

Textual Records: Letters sent and received, with indexes and registers; issuances; morning reports; registers, lists, and muster rolls of recruits and enrollees; and financial records, 1861-72 (bulk 1861-68), for AR, CA, CT, DE, DC, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OR, PA, RI, TN, VT, and WV; and Colorado Territory, Dakota Territory, and Washington Territory.

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110.5 RECORDS OF THE MUSTERING AND DISBURSING OFFICE
1862-67
1 lin. ft.

Textual Records: Letter books, 1862-67. Registers of letters received, May-December 1863, with index.


Bibliographic note: Web version based on Guide to Federal Records in the National Archives of the United States. Compiled by Robert B. Matchette et al. Washington, DC: National Archives and Records Administration, 1995.
3 volumes, 2428 pages.

Ordering information

This Web version is updated from time to time to include records processed since 1995.


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