This study will be dealing with the James River Squadron and perhaps I should have begun with the CSMC at the Gosport Navy Yard, but as that is not a location which is naturally friendly to reenactments, I have chosen to begin with the Marine Guard at the Navy Yard at Rocketts in Richmond.
The first CSMC supply records for the Navy Yard at Rocketts in early October 1863, when First Lieutenant David Bradford was assigned to command the Marine Corps detachment at that yard.
Initial firearms issue to the Marine Guard at Rocketts came in early October 1863. Lieutenant Bradford received a total of 14 Enfield Rifles with sword bayonets, scabbards and frogs, 14 cartridge boxes, 14 cap pouches, 14 waist belts (4 with plates), 4 haversacks, 10 knapsacks, 4 canteens with straps, 400 Enfield rifle cartridges, and 10 gun slings from Companies A, B and C at Drewry's Bluff.
Two weeks later the detachment received an additional total of 6 Enfield Rifles with sword bayonets, scabbards and frogs, 6 cartridge boxes, 6 cap pouches, 6 waist belts (1 with plate), 5 haversacks, 6 knapsacks, 5 canteens with straps, 120 Enfield rifle cartridges, and 3 gun slings from Companies A, B and C at Drewry's Bluff.
The final supply of firearms for the Marine Guard at Rocketts came in late January 1864 with a total of 5 Enfield rifles with sword bayonets, scabbards and frogs, 6 cartridge boxes, 6 cap pouches, 6 waist belts (2 with plates), 6 haversacks, 6 knapsacks, 6 canteens with straps, 240 Enfield rifle cartridges, and 4 gun slings from Companies A, B and C at Drewry's Bluff.
These transfers of arms from the companies represented ordnance material kept on the books of the company commanders and transferred to Bradford's books as men were assigned to him from these companies. New or replacement ordnance material in the future would come from the Quartermaster of the Corps directly.
In late March 1864, Major Algernon Taylor, Quartermaster for the Marine Corps with office and stores located in Richmond, issued 2 knapsacks to Bradford.
To add to the supplies on hand, Taylor issued 10 canteens with straps, 1 knapsack, 10 haversacks, 800 rifle cartridges and 960 percussion caps to Bradford in early May.
When Second Lieutenant Lloyd Beall Stephenson took over the Marine Guard on May 24, 1864, an account was taken of all arms then in possession of the detachment. They consisted of 26 Enfield rifles, 24 sword bayonets, scabbards and frogs, 2 bayonets and scabbards, 26 cartridge boxes, 26 waist belts, 26 cap pouches, 27 knapsacks, 28 haversacks, 28 canteens with straps and 1360 Enfield rifle cartridges.
On July 2, 1864, Stephenson received 2 percussion muskets, 2 cap boxes, 2 waist belts, 2 knapsacks, 2 cartridge boxes, 2 bayonets and scabbards from Taylor. On July 20th, Stephenson transferred these to Captain Holmes' Company at Drewry's Bluff.
An unserviceable Enfield Rifle, along with its sword bayonet, scabbard and frog, as exchanged with Taylor on August 16, 1864.
In early September 1864 Stephenson received 3 knapsacks from Taylor and then at the end of the month, reported the loss of 1 sword bayonet, 1 sword bayonet scabbard, 1 cartridge box, 1 waist belt, 1 sword bayonet frog, 1 cap pouch, 17 haversacks, 16 canteens with straps the expedition to Wilmington.
At the end of September 1864 the Marine Guard had on hand 26 Enfield rifles, 23 sword bayonets, scabbards and frogs, 2 bayonets and scabbards, 25 cartridge boxes, 25 waist belts, 25 cap pouches, 32 knapsacks, 11 haversacks, 12 canteens with straps and 1060 Enfield rifle cartridges.
A final issue for 1864 from Taylor to Stephenson came in mid October with the receipt of 1 sword bayonet and frog, 18 haversacks and 18 canteens with straps, presumably to replace losses from the expedition to Wilmington.
At the end of December 1864 the Marine Guard had on hand 26 Enfield rifles, 23 sword bayonets, scabbards, 24 sword bayonet frogs, 2 bayonets and scabbards, 25 cartridge boxes, 25 waist belts, 25 cap pouches, 32 knapsacks, 29 haversacks, 30 canteens with straps and 1060 Enfield rifle cartridges.
One interesting note in the records. In both the 2nd and 3rd quarters of 1864, the Marine Guard at Rocketts expended 150 rifle cartridges each quarter because "the sentries discharged their pieces at certain times in order to clean them and keep them in order." The 3rd quarter report indicated that this was required of the sentries.
Uniforms for the Marine Guard at the Rocketts Navy Yard first appear in early January 1864 when Major Algernon Taylor, Quartermaster for the Marine Corps with office and stores located in Richmond, made an issue to Lieutenant Bradford. The initial issue was for 1 overcoat, 3 uniform coats, 7 uniform pants, 11 pairs of shoes, 12 cotton drawers and 2 blankets. About a week later, Taylor issued 40 cotton shirts, 24 "tunics" (listed as a "fatigue frock" in Taylor's quarterly report) and 5 uniform pants to Bradford. In late February Taylor issued 5 uniform coats, 3 overcoats, 8 uniform pants, 8 pairs of shoes, 3 "tunics" (listed as a "fatigue frock" in Taylor's quarterly report), 12 shirts, 3 blankets and 7 uniform caps to Bradford.
When Stephenson took over the Marine Guard on May 24, 1864, an account was taken of all quartermaster stores then in possession of the detachment. They consisted 1 cooking stove with fixtures, 1 clock, 2 water buckets, 1 cair [sp?], 1 uniform pants, 2 uniform caps, 1 overcoat, 1 "fatigue jacket", 1 drawers, 1 blanket.
In the beginning of June 1864, Stephenson received 7 uniform coats [$20.00], 22 uniform pants [$8.00], 6 uniform caps [$2.60], 50 drawers [$3.00] from Taylor. A week later he received 2 uniform coats [$20.00] and 1 pr shoes [$10.00]. And a week after that he received 1 sieve and a few days later 1 uniform pants [$8.00], all from Taylor.
For the entire 3rd quarter of 1864 Stephenson only received 29 pairs of shoes from Taylor.
In late October 1864 Stephenson received 5 uniform coats [$20.00], 16 uniform caps [$2.60], 3 tunics [$8.00], 28 flannel drawers [$1.50], 21 cotton shirts [$3.00] and 1 blank book from Taylor. Then in late November 1864 Stephenson received from Taylor 1 uniform cap [$2.60], 2 tunics [$8.00] and 4 blankets [$10.00], followed by 2 tunics and 5 pr shoes in early December and 12 tunics [$8.00], 20 cotton shirts [$5.00], 15 pr shoes [$55.00] at the end of the month.
Issues to the Marine Guard for the 2nd quarter of 1864 comprised 9 uniform coats, 24 uniform pants, 8 uniform caps, 1 fatigue jacket, 26 drawers and 1 pair of shoes.
Issues to the Marine Guard for the 3rd quarter of 1864 occurred in late July comprising 1 overcoat, 15 cotton drawers and 29 pairs of shoe.
Issues to the Marine Guard for the 4th quarter of 1864 occurred at the end of December comprising 1 overcoat, 4 uniform coats, 1 uniform pants, 17 uniform caps, 6 tunics, 21 flannel drawers, 21 cotton shirts, 6 pr shoes and 5 blankets.
Officer uniforms for the Marine Guard are a bit more difficult to deduce, but luckily we do have records of the private purchased of quartermaster supplies for part of 1864.
Second Lieutenant David Bradford, who served as commander of the Marine Guard until May 24, 1864 purchased 1 1/4 yards fine gray cloth, 1 1/2 yards fine blue cloth, 1 hank linen thread, 8/20 oz sewing silk and twist and 5 doz buttons from Taylor in late January 1864.In early April 1864 he purchased and additional 1 1/2 yards blue cloth, 1 yard cambric, 2 yards serge alpaca and 2 doz buttons. And finally before his transfer, in late April 1864 Bradford purchased 2 yards cambric, 10/12 oz sewing silk and twist and 2 yards serge alpaca.
For Second Lieutenant Lloyd Stephenson we can go back before his assignment to the Marine Guard on May 24, 1864 knowing that his uniform would have remained unchanged.In early February 1864 Stephenson bought 2 yards fine blue cloth, 4 yards cambric, 8/20 oz sewing silk and twist and 1 doz buttons from Taylor. Then a week later he bought 1 tunic (listed as a fatigue frock in Taylor's quarterly report), 1 1/2 yd fine blue cloth, 2 yards cambric, 2 1/4 yards gray cloth, 1/2 oz sewing silk and twist and 2 yards serge alpaca.
On May 31, 1864, Stephenson bought 40 yards of cotton cloth, which had been received from Adderly & Co. (Nassau). And then at the end of August 1864, Stevenson bought 1 3/4 yards blue cloth, 1 yards cambric, 1 hank linen thread, 6/20 oz sewing silk and twist, 2 doz buttons, 2 drawers, 2 shirts and 1 pair shoes.
From notes, to soon be published in another blog entry, the blue cloth is associated with Marine uniform pants, and blue gray army cloth is associated with Marine uniform coats. Thus the blue and gray cloth bought by Bradford and Stephenson can be associated to the private tailoring of different uniform items for each of these officers.
One area which unfortunately gets very little attention are rations for the CSMC. With the Marine Guard at Rocketts, we get a tiny glimpse at this area. For the month of February 1864, the Marine Guard, with 26 men on the roster, received 942 1/2 pounds of fresh beef, 942 1/2 pound of corn meal, 7 1/5 pounds of candles, 251 pounds of cabbage, 252 pounds of potatoes and 251 pounds of turnips.
Hopefully this look at the Marine Guard at Rocketts has proved a useful insight into the uniform, arms and accoutrements of the Confederate States Marine Corps. Future entries will cover other detachments in the Richmond area in similar detail.
All Rights Reserved.
