Research

Scope and Content Note

This series consists mainly of affidavits submitted by individuals to a Board of Commissioners created by the legislature in 1862. However, the series also contains a few unit rolls and company rosters submitted by commanding officers to the board.

The bulk of the affidavits are printed forms which contain the claimant's name, regiment and company, itemized list of clothing and equipment lost, amount claimed, and signatures of claimant and notary public. Some forms contain spaces where commanding officers signed their names. The company rosters and unit rolls contain essentially the same information.

The series does not pertain to all state militia units, but rather only to those units which were temporarily mustered into federal service (usually for 90 days) at the beginning of the Civil War. Moreover, the series is incomplete since there are no affidavits for regiments such as the 12th New York State Militia which were mustered into federal service at the start of the war.