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As some of you know, I’ve had a long time interest in Ohio’s military history. While at the Archives the other day, I came across a Letter of Instruction (LOI) written to the various ordnance officers that I found interesting and I’d thought I’d not only post it, but include some initial research on Ohio’s pre-Civil war militia as well. All of this factors into Ohio’s actions in 1861. BTW, the LOI is Entry 117, RG 156, Miscellaneous Records Relating to the Arming and Equipping of the Militia, 1808-1853. While it’s not dated (1825?) or signed (Bomford) it’s a good document to understand how the government armed and equipped the pre-war militias. I have yet to find a revocation of this LOI, and I suspect it was in force until the 1860’s. Anyway, I’ve extracted the pertinent passages. I imagine that what happened in Ohio was pretty typical in other states, as well.
“The arms procured under this act consist of muskets, rifles, pistols, cavalry sabers, non-commissioned officer’s swords, and accouterments for small arms generally, with a few pieces of field artillery. The principal part of the arms procured, however, consist of muskets; therefore the apportionment had been made, and the quota due the several states have been assigned in muskets only. The whole amount of arms, which may be due to any State or Territory will be paid entirely in muskets, if desired by the State authorities, or in lieu of muskets, or arms or accouterments of equal value, will be furnished by the United States to any reasonable extent … All the arms procured under the Act were made by contractors; therefore, contract arms are to be preferred in all issues to the Militia.
White or buff belts for cavalry sabers and non-commissioned officers swords may be issued, but black belts only, are to be issued with the accouterments for muskets or rifles.
Field artillery will be furnished, when practicable, but not without special instruction from the chief of ordnance.
Arms will be transported to the States at the expense of the United States, and will be delivered at any place within the State situated upon navigable water … the United States cannot incur any expense fro transporting the arms to the interior by land.”
To put this letter into context, the Militia Act of 1808 appropriated $200,000 annually to provide arms and equipment to the state militias. Items produced or purchased under this act were distributed in proportion to the enrolled militia each state reported annually. The Ordnance Department determined that the cost of a musket was $16. Using Ohio as an example, in 1826, Ohio reported 110, 188 enrolled militia. The Ordnance Department, for 1827, apportioned the state 1,404 muskets (or the equivalent in other arms and/or accouterments) worth $22,464. Ohio took more than muskets, though. From 1 January 1816 to 1 January 1839, Ohio received 62 iron six-pounders, mounted; 10,371 muskets, complete (bayonets, wipers, tools, etc.); 3,604 common rifles; 130 carbines; 11,202 pistols; 5600 sabers; 1 sword; 2,433 infantry sets; 222 rifle sets; 2847 cavalry accouterments; and 1 sword belt. The solitary sword and belt were for evaluation.
The Act was not intended to provide every militia man with a weapon. Ohio militia laws required universal enrollment and established militia divisions, brigades, regiments, battalions, and companies to account for them. Companies were essentially administrative entities rather than combat units. For example, in Medina County, assume that Captain Curt and Captain Jim are company commanders in the same battalion. Medina is an agricultural county and, if Captain Curt’s entire company were called out for three months during the summer, crops, families, and farms would suffer or fail. To prevent this and to share the burden, the state required each company commander to divide his 64-man company into classes; usually eight. In the event of an emergency in which the federal government called out the militia, the battalion commander, Major Chip, would relay instructions from the division commander to Captains Curt and Jim and his other company commanders to each provide X number of men from the first class. If the emergency continued longer than 3 months, the next group of soldiers would come from the second class, and so on until the emergency was over. Substitutes and volunteers were allowed. The soldiers from the designated classes would assemble at a rendezvous point, elect their officers and NCOs, and draw arms from the state armories. In 1821 there were five armories in Ohio; one for each division. Arms acquired under the Militia Act of 1808 were to be used to equip this volunteer militia who would augment the regular army, would serve outside the state, and who would need the same standardized arms, ammunition, and equipment as the regulars. This was all as a result of lessons learned in the War of 1812. If the governor called out the militia for a state emergency, or even for the semi-annual musters, personal arms were acceptable.
Even though there were safeguards in place, (state-marked muskets and monetary bonds, for example) most weren’t enforced and the weapons had a habit of disappearing. Interest in the enrolled militia lagged and it wasn’t uncommon for Ohio to either not provide an annual return or to submit a return from a previous year. Consequently, in 1855, Congress based apportionment upon the number of representatives and senators, rather than enrollment rosters.
Concurrently, independent volunteer militia units appeared in the 1820’s and 1830’s that did not rely upon the state for support. Usually drawn from the “better sort” of society, these units provided their own weapons and uniforms and could control their membership. The Cleveland Grays is an example. These independent, volunteer units allowed the governor to get at least a small, trained and equipped force into the field quickly.
In the late 1850’s, Ohio tried to reorganize and re-energize the militia with marginal success. When the Civil War broke out, and Governor Dennison called out the militia in response to President Lincoln’s appeal, there were few weapons with which to arm the way-too-many volunteers. The adjutant general could only account for 5,204 muskets of the 27,967 issued since 1808. The state legislature, on 18 April, passed “An Act for the defense of the state, and the support of the federal government against rebellion” and appropriated $450,000 for the “purchase of arms and equipments for the militia of the state, to be expended under the authority and direction of the governor, and audited and paid upon account certified and allowed by him.”
Ohio sent agents out agents to purchase weapons of all kinds to arm the regiments. The state soon began receiving arms issues from the government as well. In 1863, the federal government calculated that Ohio had overdrawn its apportionment by $340,775.55.
There are some previous posts that list the types of arms issued to Ohio’s regiments. It’s interesting to consider the information contained in thos lists in this context. It helps explain the weapons shortages and provides some insight into Ohio’s lack of preparedness. It’s also interesting to see what types of arms are not included the Ohio Quarter Master Generals report: sapper muskets and long range rifles, cal.54 (Mississippi?), for example.
“The arms procured under this act consist of muskets, rifles, pistols, cavalry sabers, non-commissioned officer’s swords, and accouterments for small arms generally, with a few pieces of field artillery. The principal part of the arms procured, however, consist of muskets; therefore the apportionment had been made, and the quota due the several states have been assigned in muskets only. The whole amount of arms, which may be due to any State or Territory will be paid entirely in muskets, if desired by the State authorities, or in lieu of muskets, or arms or accouterments of equal value, will be furnished by the United States to any reasonable extent … All the arms procured under the Act were made by contractors; therefore, contract arms are to be preferred in all issues to the Militia.
White or buff belts for cavalry sabers and non-commissioned officers swords may be issued, but black belts only, are to be issued with the accouterments for muskets or rifles.
Field artillery will be furnished, when practicable, but not without special instruction from the chief of ordnance.
Arms will be transported to the States at the expense of the United States, and will be delivered at any place within the State situated upon navigable water … the United States cannot incur any expense fro transporting the arms to the interior by land.”
To put this letter into context, the Militia Act of 1808 appropriated $200,000 annually to provide arms and equipment to the state militias. Items produced or purchased under this act were distributed in proportion to the enrolled militia each state reported annually. The Ordnance Department determined that the cost of a musket was $16. Using Ohio as an example, in 1826, Ohio reported 110, 188 enrolled militia. The Ordnance Department, for 1827, apportioned the state 1,404 muskets (or the equivalent in other arms and/or accouterments) worth $22,464. Ohio took more than muskets, though. From 1 January 1816 to 1 January 1839, Ohio received 62 iron six-pounders, mounted; 10,371 muskets, complete (bayonets, wipers, tools, etc.); 3,604 common rifles; 130 carbines; 11,202 pistols; 5600 sabers; 1 sword; 2,433 infantry sets; 222 rifle sets; 2847 cavalry accouterments; and 1 sword belt. The solitary sword and belt were for evaluation.
The Act was not intended to provide every militia man with a weapon. Ohio militia laws required universal enrollment and established militia divisions, brigades, regiments, battalions, and companies to account for them. Companies were essentially administrative entities rather than combat units. For example, in Medina County, assume that Captain Curt and Captain Jim are company commanders in the same battalion. Medina is an agricultural county and, if Captain Curt’s entire company were called out for three months during the summer, crops, families, and farms would suffer or fail. To prevent this and to share the burden, the state required each company commander to divide his 64-man company into classes; usually eight. In the event of an emergency in which the federal government called out the militia, the battalion commander, Major Chip, would relay instructions from the division commander to Captains Curt and Jim and his other company commanders to each provide X number of men from the first class. If the emergency continued longer than 3 months, the next group of soldiers would come from the second class, and so on until the emergency was over. Substitutes and volunteers were allowed. The soldiers from the designated classes would assemble at a rendezvous point, elect their officers and NCOs, and draw arms from the state armories. In 1821 there were five armories in Ohio; one for each division. Arms acquired under the Militia Act of 1808 were to be used to equip this volunteer militia who would augment the regular army, would serve outside the state, and who would need the same standardized arms, ammunition, and equipment as the regulars. This was all as a result of lessons learned in the War of 1812. If the governor called out the militia for a state emergency, or even for the semi-annual musters, personal arms were acceptable.
Even though there were safeguards in place, (state-marked muskets and monetary bonds, for example) most weren’t enforced and the weapons had a habit of disappearing. Interest in the enrolled militia lagged and it wasn’t uncommon for Ohio to either not provide an annual return or to submit a return from a previous year. Consequently, in 1855, Congress based apportionment upon the number of representatives and senators, rather than enrollment rosters.
Concurrently, independent volunteer militia units appeared in the 1820’s and 1830’s that did not rely upon the state for support. Usually drawn from the “better sort” of society, these units provided their own weapons and uniforms and could control their membership. The Cleveland Grays is an example. These independent, volunteer units allowed the governor to get at least a small, trained and equipped force into the field quickly.
In the late 1850’s, Ohio tried to reorganize and re-energize the militia with marginal success. When the Civil War broke out, and Governor Dennison called out the militia in response to President Lincoln’s appeal, there were few weapons with which to arm the way-too-many volunteers. The adjutant general could only account for 5,204 muskets of the 27,967 issued since 1808. The state legislature, on 18 April, passed “An Act for the defense of the state, and the support of the federal government against rebellion” and appropriated $450,000 for the “purchase of arms and equipments for the militia of the state, to be expended under the authority and direction of the governor, and audited and paid upon account certified and allowed by him.”
Ohio sent agents out agents to purchase weapons of all kinds to arm the regiments. The state soon began receiving arms issues from the government as well. In 1863, the federal government calculated that Ohio had overdrawn its apportionment by $340,775.55.
There are some previous posts that list the types of arms issued to Ohio’s regiments. It’s interesting to consider the information contained in thos lists in this context. It helps explain the weapons shortages and provides some insight into Ohio’s lack of preparedness. It’s also interesting to see what types of arms are not included the Ohio Quarter Master Generals report: sapper muskets and long range rifles, cal.54 (Mississippi?), for example.