Guide to Federal Records

Records of the Office of the Inspector General (Army)


(Record Group 159)
1814-1962
2,911 cu. ft.

Overview of Records Locations

Table of Contents

  • 159.1 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY
  • 159.2 GENERAL RECORDS 1863-1962 2,804 lin. ft.
  • 159.3 INSPECTION REPORTS 1814-1939 246 lin. ft.
  • 159.4 OTHER RECORDS 1863-1917 27 lin. ft.

159.1 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY

Established: In the War Department by act of March 3, 1813 (2 Stat. 819).

Transfers: To the War Department General Staff as a special staff division, February 10, 1942; to the Army Staff as a special staff division in the reorganization of the armed services mandated by the National Security Act of 1947 (61 Stat. 495), July 26, 1947; to the personal staff component of the Army Staff, 1972.

Functions: Inspects, investigates, and reports on all matters affecting the efficiency, discipline, and welfare of the army.

Finding Aids: Richard W. Giroux, comp., "Preliminary Checklist of the Records of the Office of the Inspector General, 1814-1939," PC 51 (Oct. 1946); Garry D. Ryan, comp., "Supplement to Preliminary Checklist 51, Records of the Office of the Inspector General," NM 37 (1964); supplement in National Archives microfiche edition of preliminary inventories.

Security-classified Records: This record group may include material that is security-classified.

Related Records: Record copies of publications of the Office of the Inspector General in RG 287, Publications of the U.S. Government.

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159.2 GENERAL RECORDS
1863-1962
2,804 lin. ft.

Textual Records: Letters sent, 1863-89, 1891-94, with indexes, 1863-89. Letters received, including miscellaneous inspection reports, 1863-94, with registers, 1863-89, record card books, 1890-94, and indexes, 1863-94. General correspondence, 1894-1914, including miscellaneous inspection reports, 1894-97, with record cards and index. General correspondence, 1914-17. Security- classified and unclassified central decimal correspondence, 1917- 62, including inspection reports, 1939-54.

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159.3 INSPECTION REPORTS
1814-1939
246 lin. ft.

Textual Records: Reports of the Inspectors General to the Commanding General of the Army, 1814-36, 1842. Inspection reports, 1864-70. Reports on posts, depots, and other installations of the army; on cemeteries; and on the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, 1898-1914. Reports of annual general inspections of all posts, camps, and stations in the continental United States and territories, 1912-39, comprising a separately maintained decimal file class (333.1) established in the central decimal correspondence of the Office of the Inspector General in 1917. Reports of annual inspections and special investigations, 1917-20.

Microfilm Publications: M624.

Related Records: Inspection reports after 1939 in the central decimal correspondence described UNDER 159.2.

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159.4 OTHER RECORDS
1863-1917
27 lin. ft.

Textual Records: Proceedings and report of the court of inquiry presided over by Maj. Gen. Irvin McDowell, relating to the sale of cotton and other produce, 1863, with index. Investigations by Assistant Inspector General James A. Hardie relating to Montana, Dakota, and Modoc War claims, 1875-76, with index to 1867 Montana claims. Report of the board of officers appointed to investigate the aviation section of the Signal Corps, 1916. Inspection report extracts relating to efficiency of officers, 1898-1917. Appropriations ledger, National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, 1892-1906.


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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