Hello all:
I'm working on a research project (in spite of the current lockdowns) and I can not seem to find any mention anywhere about company-level daily reports. I'm trying to find reports of which soldiers where sent on which details. I find it hard to believe that even back then the commanders were not interested to know where their men were being used and for what reason. Has anyone seen these reports, or heard of their existence?
Thank you in advance for any answers or suggestions,
Charlie
All of the above gives some excellent information. Overall, I can tell you that such type of reports are very scattered and very rare. The consolidated morning report books were supposed to be turned in with the regimental records when the regiment was mustered out. Some were, some were not. You would have to check each regiment you are looking for individually. Some are at the National Archives, some ended up in State Archives, some the officers kept.
The quality of the morning reports vary. Some will mention some of the information you seek- who left the company, who returned that day, who was listed as a deserter, etc. Most will not- just cold statistical numbers.
Keep in mind there were various types of extra duty. Some men had more "permanent" assignments away from the normal duties of a soldier in the line. Things like officer's servant, hospital attendant, clerk at HQ, wagon driver assigned to the division train, butcher in the brigade commissary department, etc, etc. Occasionally, brigade/division/corps commanders went on a tizzy about how many men were away from the line and demanded an accounting, specifying who, where, what, and by what authority. You may come across such lists. On some of the regiments (union) I research, I found some of the lists in the loose papers enclosed in the boxes housing the original muster rolls of the regiment. To obtain them, you would have to request the boxes from the Old Army records office at the National Archives (in person or hire a researcher). Be prepared for a fight to see the boxes as the NARA feels there is no need to handle the original muster rolls since everything was put in the CMSRs. You would need to explain that you are looking for papers in the boxes other then the muster rolls. If you get to see them, there are usually a lot of gems buried among them overall for a regiment.
From what I read in your responses above, what you are really seeking are any lists of men assigned on a daily basis to construct the fortifications on Morris Island. Overall, there would not be any such lists. In general, fatigue duty was assigned on an adhoc daily basis. Whatever the task, commanders would just assign a number of men to accomplish it. It really depended on whose turn it was for the day as to who got assigned. In this case, the chief engineer would request the garrison commander for 100 men each day for fatigue work in constructing artillery batteries. The commander would say to assign the request for the day to X corps, whose commander would assign it to X division, whose commander would assign it to X brigade. The brigade commander would either assign it to X regiment, or say that each regiment shall assign X amount of men, then appoint an officer in overall command of the detail to which the assigned men will report at X time. A regimental commander gets the order to provide X amount of men for a fatigue detail and either assigns it to however many companies are needed, or says each company shall furnish X amount of men with a non-commissioned officer and officer X is assigned to oversee the detail. The companies get the order and the orderly sergeant is tasked with selecting whom shall go. Now the orderly's little black book comes into play. Who has sinned in the recent past and gets all the fatigue duty? Who is sick and can't go? Who is already scheduled for guard or picket duty? Who is on daily duty and can't go as well? In the end, Sgt. Y and 20 men are assembled and sent to HQ to report to Lt. Z for fatigue duty on the fortifications. Was a list of the detail made? Probably not. If any, it may be in the orderly's notebook or on a scrap of paper. If you dig through order books, you may come across where a clerk recorded the order for the day. Otherwise, you might stumble across a letter or diary entry saying something about working on the fortifications and who was there that day too.
Good luck with your search!