Benton Barracks Civil War

Question

Are there existing post records (personnel etc.) for Benton Barracks, MO, 1860-1870?

A1 Reference Branch · Accepted Answer

Lynn Alex 
 Thank you for posting your question on History Hub! 
 In Records of United States Army Continental Commands, Record Group 393, we located the military post records for Benton Barracks, Missouri, (Entries 114-131). These records include series such as Miscellaneous List of Soldiers, 1862-1865, (Entry 127) , Morning Reports, 1861-1865, (Entry 129) , and Miscellaneous Records, 1861-1865, (Entry 131) which contains information related to furloughed and discharged soldiers. 
 Depending on what type of personnel records you are seeking there may be additional information in the other series. For more specific information please feel free to reach out to our office directly via email at archives1reference@nara.gov 
 We hope this assists you with your research! 
 Sincerely, 
 Archives 1 Reference Branch (RR1R) 
 [RR1R-23-63736-AA]

A1 Reference Branch · Answer

Lynn Alex 
 Thank you for posting your question to History Hub! 
 The main source we have for Civil War laundresses is the series "List of Female Nurses, Cooks, and Laundresses Employed in Army Hospitals during the Civil War" (entry 156) in the Records of the Office of the Surgeon General (Army) (Record Group 112). This series, of course, does not cover laundresses that may have worked for individual regiments. We can't really confirm that regimental laundresses were employed in the same manner as hospital workers and thus considered salaried employees. More often than not, laundresses were hired directly by regimental officers and thus not paid by the War Department, or even more commonly, they were unsalaried camp followers. No such employment records exist for the 1st U.S Infantry in the Records of United States Army Mobile Units, 1898-1942 (Record Group 391). The only regimental source that might be relevant would be the series "Letters, Orders and Reports Received From or Relating to Members of the 1st Infantry (Name File), 1861-1872" (entry 1049) in Record Group 391. You may certainly write to the Archives 1 Reference Branch (RR1R) at archives1reference@nara.gov if you would like them to check the series for any specific information about laundresses. 
 We hope this information assists you in your research! 
 Sincerely, 
 Archives 1 Reference Branch [RR1R-23-63738-JD]

A1 Reference Branch · Answer

Lynn Alex 
 Thank you for posting your question to History Hub! 
 We checked the available military post records for Fort Duncan, Texas, in the Records of United States Army Continental Commands (Record Group 393), but determined there are no surviving medical records from the post surgeon or hospital. The records of the post quartermaster includes a series of "Reports of Deaths and Interments, Sept. 1869-Sept. 1879" (entry 135-25), which could contain information about civilians buried in the post cemetery, but otherwise there are no records relating to civilian occupants or employees of the fort. Likewise, there are no extant records of the post chaplain, which could have included information about marriages, births, and baptisms at the fort. 
 We hope this information assists you in your research! 
 Sincerely, 
 Archives 1 Reference Branch (RR1R) [RR1R-23-63734-JD]