New York State Bureau of Military Statistics Telegrams Received and Sent by the Governor's Office A4149

New York State Bureau of Military Statistics Telegrams Received and Sent by the Governor's Office

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Overview of the Records

Repository:

New York State Archives
New York State Education Department
Cultural Education Center
Albany, NY 12230

Summary:

This series consists of original and duplicate telegrams pertaining to military matters received and sent by Governor Edwin D. Morgan's office, including telegrams received from and sent to President Lincoln and members of his cabinet and staff. It is not exactly clear how the Adjutant General's Office came into possession of these records, though they may have been acquired by the Bureau of Military Statistics.

Creator:

New York (State). Bureau of Military Statistics

Title:

Telegrams received and sent by the Governor's Office

Quantity:

1.3 cubic feet

10 volumes

Inclusive Dates:

1861-1862

Series Number:

A4149

Arrangement

Organized into three subseries: 1. Copies of Telegrams Received; 2. Original Telegrams Received; 3. Telegrams Sent.

Chronological within subseries.

Scope and Content Note

This series consists of ten volumes of original and duplicate telegrams received and sent by Governor Edwin D. Morgan's office between April 15, 1861 and September 20, 1862.

Subseries 1--Copies of Telegrams Received. The first six volumes contain transcriptions of telegrams received by the Governor's Office between April 15 and December 27, 1861.

Subseries 2--Original Telegrams Received. Volumes seven through nine contain original telegrams received from March 4, 1862 through September 20, 1862.

Subseries 3--Telegrams Sent. Volume ten is a letter press book containing telegrams sent by the Governor's Office between May 6, 1861 and August 16, 1861.

The majority of the telegrams pertain to military matters such as the initial raising and equipping of troops in response to President Lincoln's call for 75,000 volunteers after the attack on Fort Sumter; transportation of troops to the Washington, D.C. area; purchase of arms, uniforms, and accoutrements for New York soldiers; subsequent recruitment of men to satisfy quotas established by the federal government; appointment of officers; and the payment of recruiting bounties. The volumes contain telegrams received from and sent to President Lincoln, Lincoln's first Secretary of War Simon Cameron and his successor Edwin M. Stanton, and General Henry W. Halleck, who was essentially Lincoln's chief of staff.

Alternate Formats Available

Scanned images of selected correspondence with Abraham Lincoln are available at the New York State Archives.

New York State Archives Digital Collections

Telegrams received and sent by the Governor's Office, 1861-1862

Related Material

A4111 Administrative Correspondence Files, contains additional correspondence to and from the Governor's Office.

Other Finding Aids

Available at Repository

Volumes 7-10 contain alphabetical name indexes.

Volume list is available at the repository.

Custodial History

It is not exactly clear how the Adjutant-General's Office came into possession of records dealing solely with the Executive Chamber. One explanation may be that these volumes were acquired by the Bureau of Military Statistics. The bureau's first director, Lockwood L. Doty, also was Governor Morgan's private secretary prior to his appointment to the Bureau of Military Statistics. Furthermore, in his first annual report to Governor Seymour, Doty stated that "the public correspondence of the Governor by telegraph and mail, commencing in 1860, relating to preparations for public defense and military affairs... are being arranged in the order of their dates..." These ten volumes very well could be a part of what Doty referred to as "The Executive Record."