Item No. 3988901

The quartermaster of a Union brigade in the defenses of Washington requests permission to build a warehouse and barracks for his department in this January 1865 letter endorsed and signed by a number of officers in the Department of Washington, including twice by Brigadier General Gustavus A. DeRussy. In the letter, First Lieutenant George G. Nichols of the 4th Massachusetts Heavy Artillery, as action quartermaster of the 3rd Brigade, DeRussy’s Division, details the materials required to construct a proper warehouse at Fort Richardson. Materials for a “Barracks, Messroom and Cookhouse for the detailed men in the Q.M. Dept. of this Brigade” is also requested.

On the reverse of the document are several docketed endorsements. Colonel William S. King, commanding the 3rd Brigade, approves and forwards the request, writing:

Beside the exposure to changes of weather & of temperature, the men are necessarily packed in close as sheep, and the result has already been sickness and death. There is no building at present for the keeping of Clothing, Camp & Garrison Equipage & Qr Mr Stores. An old shed now used for that purpose is in a ruinous & dilapidated condition, utterly unfit for the purpose. In the opinion of the Col Comdg, a regard for the health of the men, as well as a prudent economy, alike, demand the improvements suggested.

Colonel King also indicates that he forwards an accompanying document (not present) from his brigade surgeon.

Upon being received at the headquarters of Brigadier General Gustavus A. DeRussy, the general signs and refers the matter to his division surgeon-in-chief, William I Wolfley. Wolfley, in turn, approves and signs. DeRussy once again applies his signature as he forwards the request to the headquarters of Major General Christopher C. Augur, commander of the 22nd Corps.

The response from Augur’s headquarters comes from the general’s chief-of-staff, Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Hancock Taylor, who writes, “It is not deemed to be necessary to erect additional buildings at Fort Richardson…. If there are no other means of providing for the detailed men, they can be quartered with the Garrison of the Fort.”

The remaining endorsements return the document—first by Captain Thomas Thompson of DeRussy’s staff to Colonel King, and lastly to Lieutenant Nichols by an unidentified lieutenant on King’s staff.

An ink stamp for the 22nd Army Corps dated January 10, 1865, appears over Colonel King’s January 7 endorsement.

The document was written and endorsed on four pages of a letter sheet measuring about 7 3/4” x 9 3/4”. Creased at the original folds. Some slight separation at the centerfold. The transcript of Nichols’s request appears below.

Office A.A.Q.M. 3d Brig. DeRussy’s Div.
Fort Richardson, Va. Jan 5th 1865

Capt. J. M. Reno, A.Q.M.
Chf Q.M. Div.

Capt.
I have the honor to forward an estimate of the amount of lumber required to erect Warehouse for Clothing, Camp and Garrison Equipage, also Barracks, Messroom and Cookhouse for the detailed men in the Q.M. Dept. of this Brigade, there being none fit for use at these Hd. Qrs.

10,000 Feet of Cullings
2,500 Feet of Shingles
4,041 Feet of Floor Joist (3x8)
2,914 Feet of Floor Joist (3x4)
22 Window Frames
5 Door Frames
2 Door Frames 4 Feet Wide
500 Feet of Cullings (4x4) to repair Stables.

I am sir, yours Respectfully
Geo. G. Nichols
1st Lt. 4th Mass H.A. and A.A.Q.M. 3rd Brig. DeRussy’s Div.