Support Services - Teamster

[MattL]

5 says that he "received payment of (i.e. 'from') Lt J M Jackson AQM (Acting Quarter Master) 11 Ga. W C Thomas"

Not clear which of 'em was the AQM but probably Lt Jackson

Your ancestor's name was William C Thomas? I don't know why his name would be at the bottom of a roll. Pity you didn't include the full roll image. I can't find a William Thomas in the 11 GA on fold3

Yes, he probably wasn't driving anything on those other days. The company/regimental rolls are supposed to note that a person is present. If they are not present for part of the month, then they record where that person was/what doing. Often that was a detached duty (other than drilling, fighting etc); such as driving, building entrenchments, awol, sick, etc. Some were designated as wagoners, some as backsmiths, but those were not ranks but tasks. AFAIK.

So it seems since he was enlisted as a regular soldier that he might of served as a regular soldier and then on the rolls that remark he was driving a wagon or ambulance he was doing that outside of his regular duty? Or am I mis-interpreting things.

 

[MajGenl.Meade]

A pure guess would be that often people were given jobs they were suited for and kept away from duties they were not so suited for. He may well have been regularly assigned to driving wagons etc. because it suited all concerned. But when he wasn't driving he was subject to whatever might happen

 

[MattL]

Here is the fold3 link for him:
http://www.fold3.com/image/20/78629409/

I'm not 100% that was my ancestor, but so far that's the best record fit for him.

This topic sparked my interest again and I wanted to inquire to people with far more knowledge than myself, in an attempt to confirm (or disprove) what I *think* I've learned from this thread.

My potential ancestor William C Thomas enlisted as a Private, was promoted to a Corporal and then a Sergeant (was in the war from 1861 to 1864 where he died somewhere in Virginia, no confirmed record of this).

Here it says he was appointed Corp in 1862 and then sometime afterwards Sergeant:
http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89059402289;view=1up;seq=114

On fold3 via muster rolls I see Private and then a big gap and then in 1864 a couple rolls as Sergeant ("4 Sgt"). As a Private in the remarks it mentioned he was often an ambulance driver and driving a wagon:
https://fold3.com/image/20/78629409

When he's listed as a Sergeant he is no longer mentioned as driving a wagon or an ambulance. My basic assumption would be while a Private he was assigned as an ambulance drive and wagon driver... later after being promoted he stopped getting assigned those tasks? Would that be correct? Also when it does list him driving an ambulance/wagon sometimes it gives a date range... does that mean he would otherwise be in regular service and those remarks are just noting him doing non-regular troop activities?

Thanks for any comments, trying to see if I'm understanding things correctly.

Also on a mostly unrelated question (but since I've already referenced two references)... I'm still trying to validate that this William C Thomas was my ancestor... I've searched fold3 records and some others like that book on hatitrust in an attempt to find any info on him. It seems his last roll was in 1864 and then he disappears. My ancestor was the right age (a record on fold3 mentions him being 27 when the bounty roll was taken 1861-1862, the two census records for my William says he was born 1837/1836, not exact but within the couple years census records can be incorrect. The bounty roll says the enlisted William was born in Lumpkin County, mine was likely born in Gwinnett or Murray County, though by 1850 his parents and him were living in Lumpkin so he likely was raised there so him stating his birth county could fit (plus this was shortly after Lumpkin was formed in 1832 and county lines were changing). This William (with the referenced war records) was in Company C of the 11th Georgia, formed from Murray County Georgia. In 1860 my William was living in Dawson County, GA living next door to his in-law parents (John and Clarissa Langston), though he parents were in Murray (Jesse and Rebecca Thomas) and he likely lived there before getting married and moving next to in-laws (so it seems it could fit he would enlist with friends in the county next door).

My William was on the 1860 census then is dead or gone by the 1870 census, along with his wife (Amanda Langston). All of his four children are split up between three relatives households. From a wife of a cousin I found a family story that he died in the Civil War at the Battle of Mansassas (I suspect if he did serve then him dying at that battle, 1st or 2nd, was false) and his wife died shortly after child birth of their youngest daughter (my ancestor) Nancy M Thomas (where M is supposed to be for Manasass) when she was 7 days old. It seems he definitely died and/or disappeared at the right time. I see no probate records involving him or his wife, or guardianship records... though if he disappears without confirmation that might not lead to probate records (or they were lost).

So far this William C Thomas seems the best fit... via a marriage record I know my William C Thomas has the same middle initial "C" (so at least gives some narrowing down to a fairly common name)... also the one in these records seems unaccounted for. I found one site that mentions him:

http://www.murraycountymuseum.com/mf102.html

It outlines his service record well, though it confuses him with a William Thomas who married a Rachel. It mentions:
"Records in the Murray County Courthouse indicate that Sergeant William C. Thomas was killed in 1864, somewhere in Virginia."

Though I've been unable to find it in the online imaged probate records, though I'm guessing that may answer my question (some day I'll have to travel and look through the county court records and see if I can find it, cannot contact the author of that page either). The William Thomas they confuse in the 1860 census is still living in the 1870 census (so can't be the one that died). In Murray County 1860 there's only one other William Thomas that could fit, though he's born in Tennessee (definitely not Lumpkin County, Georgia).

This leaves this William C Thomas as the best fit for mine so far... but I'm wondering if there are any other Civil War records I might be missing that anyone knows about to find any more info. Any tips, sources of info, etc would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Paladin6]

A teamster (or wagoner) drove a wagon team of horses or mules. An army on the march, like the Army of Northern Virginia in the summer of 1863, required more than 2,000 teamsters to drive wagons carrying food for men and animals, baggage and other supplies, ammunition, and to transport the sick and wounded. The load capacity varied according to the number of animals in the team (two, four or six), and the condition of the roads. A heavy ordnance wagon with six animals could carry in excess of 2,500 pounds, although an average load might be around 1,500 pounds - the equivalent of 15 boxes containing 15,000 small-arm cartridges for infantry. Empty ordnance wagons could carry weapons gathered up from the battlefield, and additional wounded soldiers. It appears that each regiment had one dedicated ordnance wagon, and there was a separate ordnance train for reserve artillery ammunition. In approaching a battlefield, only ordnance and ambulance trains were allowed to go forward; the rest were held back in large wagon parks, or sent to the rear areas to scour the countryside for forage and supplies of use to the army.

An infantry regiment of 300 men might have three wagons dedicated to carrying food and fodder (under the commissary staff), and another two wagons to carry a change of clothing, knapsacks, etc. for the men, along with the officers' baggage, and cooking utensils (often supplemented by a brigade wagon). Additional wagons would be required at the brigade, division, corps and army levels to meet the food and baggage needs of those staffs. Bear in mind that an individual's daily food ration weighed around two pounds, and at the beginning of a campaign the wagons were loaded with 7-10 days of surplus food (not counting the usual three days' rations carried by the soldiers on their backs).

A teamster might also drive one of the many ambulances in the army, which traveled together and were under the supervision of medical officers on the battlefield (on the march all wagons were controlled by quartermasters). Each regiment could have up to two ambulances (two- or four-animal teams), and at the brigade level and above a wagon carrying medical supplies was typically available. The Confederates, as always, relied heavily upon captured Federal wagons to augment their transportation needs.

Throughout the war, both sides continually downsized the size of their wagon trains to the bare minimum, because a train of several hundred wagons would stretch for many miles, requiring protection and impacting troop movements. While teamsters generally were distant from combat operations, some notable exceptions occurred. Several hundred Confederate teamsters were collected together and armed to successfully defend their train against a Federal cavalry attack during Lee's retreat from Gettysburg, which begs the question about the role enslaved Blacks played. Gen. Early claims they were not allowed to serve as teamsters, but some accounts suggest they did so, at least unofficially, under supervision. A few "wagon masters" were also on hand, whose duty description I defer to other readers to explain. I have not focused here on the cavalry, or the artillery arm, the latter of which required drivers for caissons, limbers, travelling forces, and additional wagons for provisions/baggage, but one can readily discern that the number of teamsters alone constituted roughly three percent of the overall manpower needs of an army on the march.

 

[Paladin6]

In searching for information about Confederate Teamsters, I came across your very helpful post. My 2nd great grandfather (Andrew Jackson Campbell) enlisted for three years in May of 1862 as a Private in the 22nd Texas Infantry CSA, Hubbard's Regiment. I found this information on Fold3. Subsequently, he is shown as a Private with "Extra Duty Teamster". His final record from April 1865 has the following note: "Extra Duty Brig 2M Dept Teamster". Can you help decipher this entry? Thanks for your assistance.

 

[19thGeorgia]

In searching for information about Confederate Teamsters, I came across your very helpful post. My 2nd great grandfather (Andrew Jackson Campbell) enlisted for three years in May of 1862 as a Private in the 22nd Texas Infantry CSA, Hubbard's Regiment. I found this information on Fold3. Subsequently, he is shown as a Private with "Extra Duty Teamster". His final record from April 1865 has the following note: "Extra Duty Brig 2M Dept Teamster". Can you help decipher this entry? Thanks for your assistance.

Looks like the copyist copied it wrong. I think it should read- "Extra Duty Brig QM Dept Teamster". A Q instead of a 2.
QM for Quartermaster Department.

 

[19thGeorgia]

...or perhaps that's how some people wrote a Q.

 

[Paladin6]

Brilliant! Makes Sense. Brigade Quartermaster Department. Appreciate your help.