Civil War Ordnance Administration Company E 42nd Massachusetts Arms and Ammunition Return, 1863

Civil War Siege Ball

Non-Paper Memorabilia

Emerson, John W. Return of Ordnance and Ordnance Stores Received, Issued, and Remaining on Hand in Company E, 42nd Regiment Mass. Vols. Infantry, for First Quarter 1863, March 31, 1863, records the Union Army’s system for maintaining accountability over firearms, ammunition, and related equipment at the company level during active Civil War service. Company E belonged to the 42nd Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, which reached New Orleans in early 1863 and served in the Department of the Gulf. The return shows the mechanisms by which military property was counted, transferred, and reconciled through standardized quarterly reporting, providing primary-source evidence for the study of Union logistics, ordnance administration, infantry armament, and the material infrastructure required to sustain troops in the field.

Emerson, John W. March 31, 1863. Ordnance return for Company E, 42nd Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. The document itemizes arms and stores under columns recording quantities received, issued, and remaining on hand. Listed matériel includes “Springfield rifled muskets, caliber .58,” “Springfield Smooth Bore Musket caliber 69/100,” “Bayonet scabbards for sword bayonets,” cartridges, and additional ordnance and accoutrements, with numerical quantities supplied for the individual categories. These entries provide unusually specific evidence of the mixture of weapon types and calibers held within a single Union infantry company and demonstrate how government property was monitored through routine military paperwork. Signed at the conclusion by “John W. Emerson, Capt. 42nd Mass.”

The March 1863 date places the return during the regiment’s early service in Louisiana, when its companies were operating within the Union occupation and defensive network of the Department of the Gulf. Beyond identifying individual weapons, the document reveals how the Army translated battlefield requirements into an administrative system of inventories, receipts, issues, and balances, allowing officers to account for government-owned matériel from one quarter to the next. Slight general wear; otherwise no significant defects noted. Very good. A detailed Civil War ordnance record offering direct evidence of the weapons, ammunition, and supply-accounting practices of a Massachusetts infantry company in Union service.

Item #12958

Price: $75.00