Robert Gray
Sergeant Major
- Joined
- Jul 24, 2012
Albumen photograph of J.R. Bostwick, Sutler of the 11th New York Cavalry.
Civil War sutlers were the nineteenth century's equivalent of the modern US Army's post exchange (PX) or commissary. Soldiers in the field patronized these traveling storekeepers to purchase needed goods and desired luxuries that were not provided by the US government.
Sutlers were usually selected by regimental officers, although some obtained the post by appointment from the Secretary of War or a state governor. Some sutlers had previous mercantile experience while others were former officers. A sutler usually had a business partner who purchased goods and handled other logistical details in northern cities.
The scarcity of official coins and currency resulted in sutlers issuing metal or cardboard tokens and scrip in 5-, 10-, 25-, and 50-cent denominations, so that they could make change when soldiers bought items with cash. Of course this change was only "good" at the sutler's store.
In 1861 James B. Swain of New York was given authority to raise a volunteer regiment and he named it after his friend Thomas A. Scott, assistant secretary of war. The 11th New York Cavalry Regiment, known as Scott's 900, eventually contracted with J.R. Bostwick to serve as its sutler.
Edited from:
Coin World.
Sutlers of the Civil War by Claire Prechtel-Kluskens, National Archives april - june 2014 · volume 40, number 2, page 43.
Photo credit:
Cowan's Auctions, June 25, 2021.
Civil War sutlers were the nineteenth century's equivalent of the modern US Army's post exchange (PX) or commissary. Soldiers in the field patronized these traveling storekeepers to purchase needed goods and desired luxuries that were not provided by the US government.
Sutlers were usually selected by regimental officers, although some obtained the post by appointment from the Secretary of War or a state governor. Some sutlers had previous mercantile experience while others were former officers. A sutler usually had a business partner who purchased goods and handled other logistical details in northern cities.
The scarcity of official coins and currency resulted in sutlers issuing metal or cardboard tokens and scrip in 5-, 10-, 25-, and 50-cent denominations, so that they could make change when soldiers bought items with cash. Of course this change was only "good" at the sutler's store.
In 1861 James B. Swain of New York was given authority to raise a volunteer regiment and he named it after his friend Thomas A. Scott, assistant secretary of war. The 11th New York Cavalry Regiment, known as Scott's 900, eventually contracted with J.R. Bostwick to serve as its sutler.
Edited from:
Coin World.
Sutlers of the Civil War by Claire Prechtel-Kluskens, National Archives april - june 2014 · volume 40, number 2, page 43.
Photo credit:
Cowan's Auctions, June 25, 2021.
Bringing the