-
Re: Seeking military records of George A. Dichtel
Jason AtkinsonAug 12, 2020 3:46 PM (in response to Chris Dichtel)
Dear Mr. Dichtel,
Thank you for posting your request on History Hub!
We searched the National Archives Catalog and located the series Carded Records Showing Military Service of Soldiers Who Fought in Volunteer Organizations During the American Civil War in the Records of the Adjutant General's Office (Record Group 94) that includes Dichtet, George A - Age 29, Year: 1863 - First Oregon Cavalry, Con-Don. This file has been digitized and can be viewed online through the Catalog. The “t” at the end of his name appears to be an error. Several spellings are used throughout the record.
We also located Organization Index to Pension Files of Veterans Who Served Between 1861 and 1900, 1949 - 1949 in the Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs (Record Group 15) that includes an index card for him, which we are attaching to the end of our reply. This index card indicates that there should be a pension file for him. It has not been digitized yet.
The pension index card indicates that he also served in the 2nd U.S. Infantry Regiment, a Regular Army unit. We searched the Registers of Enlistments in the United States Army, 1798 - 1914 in the Record Group 94 and located a record of Geo. A. Dicthtl, born in Bavaria Germany, who enlisted in November 1866 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (the adjacent state to where he was discharged earlier that year from his volunteer unit), and in 1868 was appointed to a National Cemetery. Please note that his wartime volunteer commission as lieutenant did not carry over into the Regular Army, where he instead served as a company quartermaster sergeant. We are attaching crops of the record below. Because of size limitations, we are attaching the left and right side of the register as separate images. The line for him is on the bottom of each.
The Enlistment Papers, 1798 - October 31, 1912 in the Records of the Adjutant General's Office (Record Group 94) may have additional information about his Regular Army service. These records have not been digitized yet.
To order records that have not already been digitized, please fill out a NATF Form 86 for the service records and a NATF Form 85 for the pension records and mail the completed forms to the address listed on the form. Because we already provided you the record for his Civil War service, we advise specifying on the NATF Form 86 that you are seeking the record of his Regular Army service as an enlisted person from 1866 through 1868. In regards to the request for his pension records, we suggest that you attach a copy of the pension index card to the NATF Form 85 when you submit it to help staff locate the record more quickly. For more information see Requesting Copies of Older (pre-WWI) Military Service Records.
Please note that the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has suspended reproduction and digitization services until further notice due to COVID-19. We have also disabled the option for ordering these records online. Orders will not be serviced until operations can resume safely. Once operations resume, document reproduction requests will be filled in the order in which they were received. We apologize for any inconvenience.
We hope this is helpful. Best of luck with your family research!
-
Re: Seeking military records of George A. Dichtel
Chris Dichtel Oct 14, 2020 9:06 PM (in response to Jason Atkinson)A somewhat belated, though very sincere, thank you! for the wealth of information in your response. Somewhat coincidentally, a book came out less than two years ago about this very subject, and which I immediately procured, entitled "On Duty in the Pacific Northwest During the Civil War, Correspondence and Reminiscences of the First Oregon Cavalry Regiment," by James Robbins Jewell, University of Tennessee Press, 2018. It draws heavily from first-hand accounts culled from diaries, letters and newspaper submissions from serving members of the regiment, so is an excellent companion piece.
One quick question: can you clarify the prior notice regarding placing orders, to wit:
"We have also disabled the option for ordering these records online. Orders will not be serviced until operations can resume safely. Once operations resume, document reproduction requests will be filled in the order in which they were received."
Assumedly, this means that it is not possible to place orders until "operations, etc", but given that it also states "in the order received" once "operations, etc", what would be the proper way to approach this in order to get in that line of "in the order". Is there any way to receive notification once this evanescent condition returns so as to line up ---to put it in military terms-- for record requests? Or can one place orders now to be placed in the line-up?
Again, thanks so much for your useful assistance!
Chris Dichtel
-
Re: Seeking military records of George A. Dichtel
Jason AtkinsonOct 15, 2020 1:28 PM (in response to Chris Dichtel)
1 person found this helpfulDear Mr. Dichtel,
Thank you for posting your follow-up request on History Hub!
To clarify my previous response, there are normally two ways to submit an order for military service records from the 19th century that are held at the National Archives in Washington, DC. One would be placing an order online using https://eservices.archives.gov/orderonline/start.swe. This option has been turned off.You may still fill out and submit, using conventional mail, the NATF Form 86 for the service records and a NATF Form 85 for pension records. You may send these forms right now. The order form will be received by the National Archives and will be put into a queue to be worked on when our DC facility is authorized to resume reproduction orders. Please note that there is currently a sizable backlog of orders already submitted that will need to be addressed when reproduction services resume, so please be patient.
Staff will contact you after they have worked on your request and will notify you of the results of their search. Although it is necessary at this time to submit your request via conventional mail, on page 3 of the forms you have the option to provide your email address for staff to use in their replies. You also have the option to request that copies of records located be delivered to you via online electronic transfer, instead of mailing paper copies or a CD/DVD with the digital files.
Changes in NARA’s operating status are announced on https://www.archives.gov/coronavirus, and may also be announced on NARA’s social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.
We hope this is helpful. Best of luck with your research!
-
Re: Seeking military records of George A. Dichtel
Elliot Schneider Oct 29, 2020 12:17 PM (in response to Chris Dichtel)Chris,
You will have to wait for orders to be filled when submitting for a quote of the records.
Elliot Schneider
-
Re: Seeking military records of George A. Dichtel
James Jewell Oct 29, 2020 2:11 AM (in response to Chris Dichtel)Hello Chris,
You have gotten great leads here, including a couple of things I did not probe, but I did use the Oregon Adjutant General's Report, 1865-66 and a couple of other sources, particularly now that I am finishing up the draft regimental history monograph (think an expanded version of my previous book). I am happy to share what I have, most of what you already have or can get through NARA, but maybe I have some information you have not found. I have not used this site previously, so I am not sure about protocols here regarding redirecting, but my email address can be picked up from the North Idaho College website, under the "more" dropdown.
James R. Jewell, Ph.D.
-
-