United States Army Headgear 1855-1902 - Libreria Militare Ares

98 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGYthe period 1865-1872 and annual reports of the QuartermasterGeneral for the same period. In regard to a newartillery uniform, see Perry (for Meigs) to Lt. J. S. Totten,3d Ind. Btry., OVM, 9 July 1868, OQMG, LS, Clothing,RG 92, NA.^^ Harper's Weekly, 8 June 1867, pp. 356, 358.'""U.S. WAR DEPARTMENT, 1866, pp. 109-111; Ibid.,1867, p. 538; Perry (for Meigs) to Bvt. Brig. Gen. C. G.Card, Ft. Leavenworth, 9 May 1868, OQMG, LS, Clothing,RG 92, NA states that the supply had been exhausted.Actually this is not quite accurate as to precise count, forARSW, 1868 fisted 841 on hand with 220 purchased. SincePerry was an experienced quartermaster officer, havingheaded up the clothing and equipage branch of OQMG formany years, it must be assumed that the caps on hand, notpurchased during the year, that is 621, were either of the1851-1854 pattern or unserviceable.'"'See Perry (for Meigs) to Crosman, 16 December 1867,OQMG, LS, Clothing, RG 92, NA."'Horstmann to QMG, 13 November 1867, OQMG,Reg. LR, Clothing; Perry (for Meigs) to Horstmann, 14November 1867, OQMG, LS, Clothing; Horstmann toPerry, 15 November 1867, CCF (Caps) ; Perry (for Meigs)to Crosman, 11 December 1867 and 16 December 1867,OQMG, LS, Clothing; Horstmann to QMG, 16 December1867, OQMG, Reg. LR, Clothing; Crosman to QMG, 19December 1867, OQMG, Reg. LR, Clothing; all RG 92,NA. ARSW, 1867, pp. 878-879.'""Perry (for Meigs) to Col. Batchelder, New Orleans, 3April 1868; Perry (for Meigs) to Gen. Card, Ft. Leavenworth,9 May 1868; Perry (for Meigs) to Gen. D. H.Rucker, Phila., 3 February 1869; Perry (for Meigs) to VanVliet, Phila., 24 May 1869; all OQMG, LS, Clothing, RG92, NA.'""Meigs to Van Vliet, Phila., 22 September 1871,OQMG, LS, Clothing, RG 92, NA. No contracts withHorstmann, or with anyone else for that matter for thesecaps has been found. But this is not strange in that duringthis period, when the Army was living on stocks of clothingleft over from the war, small purchases of clothing andequipage were authorized "without the formality of awritten contract." On this, see Meigs to Lt. Col. L. C.Easton, Phila., 26 June 1872 and Bingham (for Meigs) toCapt. Hoyt, Jeffersonville, 29 May 1871; both OQMG, LS,Clothing, RG 92, NA.'"'Perry (for Meigs) to Gen. Card, Ft. Leavenworth, 9May 1868, and Perry (for Meigs) to Col. Moore, Richmond,11 May 1868, both OQMG, LS, Clothing, RG 92,NA.'"'Perry (for Meigs) to Stiehl and McBride, NY, 2 September1868; Perry (for Meigs) to Shannon, Miller, andCrane, NY, 3 September 1868; both OQMG, LS, Clothing,RG 92, NA. Exemplifying Horstmann's seemingly privilegedposition at the time. Perry stated in a letter to the firm:"The new hat or cap has not been announced in orders.When it is I will send you a copy." Perry (for Meigs) toHorstmann, 11 November 1868, OQMG, LS, Clothing, RG92, NA.'"' United States Army and Navy Journal, 23 October1869, p. 146; C. O. 1st Artillery, to AAG, 13 December1869, Dept. of the East, AG, LR, M-619, RG 94, NA.'"^ Ibid.'""Meigs to Sec. War, 30 August 1872; Meigs to Capt.Hoyt, Jeffersonville, 4 September 1872; and Meigs to Easton,Phila., 4 September 1872; all OQMG, LS, Clothing, RG92, NA.'""Actually, a change in uniform was proposed for theCorps of Engineers in 1868 and pattern coat and trousersmade up, but the projects went no further. See Perry (forMeigs) to Grossman, 13 April 1868, with endorsements,LR, Phila., RG 94, NA.'"' U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY, ROTC Manual No.145-720, p. 275.'"^For a listing of the stocks of clothing and equipage asof mid-1865, see U.S. WAR DEPARTMENT, ARQMG, 1865.'""Ibid., 1870, pp. 8-9."" Ibid.'"Ibid.; U.S. WAR DEPARTMENT, ARQMG, 1871, pp.9-11.'"LS, SGO, 3 August 1867, RG 112, NA.'"The printed report is in OQMG, CCF, box 1171 (Uniforms),RG 92, NA. Another copy is in the collections ofthe National Medical Library, Bethesda, Md."' On the printing shop, see ASHBURN, A History of theMedical Department, p. 109. The Woodhull Report is assumedto have been printed there as it bears no imprint otherthan "Surgeon General's Office" and no trace of it has beenfound in the extant records of the Government Printing Officeof the period (admittedly very sketchy) and there is norecord of correspondence on the subject between SGO andthe Superintendent of Public Printing. If it was printed by aprivate house, there is no evidence of such in either LS,SGO, or Reg. LR, SGO. It is impossible to determine iffunds were expended for outside publication as the records ofthe 1st and 2nd Auditors of the Treasury Dept. for theperiod were destroyed by fire."" ALTICK, Scholar Adventurers. This is "must" readingfor any researcher, no matter what his discipline.'" During the period he was twice at West Point as amember of the medical examining board for incoming cadets,and in November 1867 was a member of a board to checkon the ventilation of hospital tents. S. O. No. 286, HQ ofA, 24 June 1867, RG 94, NA; SG to Woodhull, 23 August1867, LS, SGO; SG to Woodhull, 25 November 1867, LS,SGO; both in RG 112, NA.'" ASHBURN, A History of the Medical Department, p.109.=" Woodhull Report, p. 3."" Ibid., p. 26."" Records searched in NA for these "backing" papers include:SGO, LS, Reg. LR., name and subject index LR,RG 112; AGO, LR, Reg. LR, name and subject index LR;personnel jackets of all named medical officers, all in RG94; Inspector General, LS, Reg. LR, RG 159; Headquartersof the Army, LS, Reg. LR, RG 108; OQMG, LS, Reg. LR,CCF under names and subjects, all RG 92. In relation tothis last, there is no evidence whatever that either OQMGor the Philadelphia Depot were consulted by Woodhull inthe preparation of his report. Indeed, the QMG does notappear to have been forwarded a copy of the report until