Company Forms?

[bob 125th nysvi]

Found something else to do with our 15 y.o. private. Make him the company clerk to make sure the Officer and NCOs are filling out the right forms and reports.

We pretty much have figured out what duties would be appropriate for a LH or reenactment but what we really don't have any idea of is what are ALL the appropriate reports a Company would submit over a three day period and where to get copies of the forms used in the AoP.

Any pointers, info and links would be appreciated.

Thanks ahead of time for your info.

p.s.: This is NOT a reopening of the age debate! The only thing I am interested in is finding the paperwork for the company to submit to regiment and for period style forms.

[Ross L. Lamoreaux]

Sullivan Press had a great selection of forms, but I've heard they can be hit or miss as to what they have and when you get. Still worth a looksee

[Army30th]

You will need to obtain a copy of THE COMPANY CLERK, by August V. Kautz

In it will be detailed descriptions of the forms and examples of each, and instructions on filling them out.

Morning reports, company reports, sick call reports, duty rosters, etc.

I have a copy of the book (reprint), and I believe Sullivan Press sells them.

[Pvt Schnapps]

http://www.authentic-campaigner.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9874

This link will take you to a document called "School of the Clerk" which presents a fair amount of research on what was involved in administering a company, including a section on material culture that may prove helpful, as well as some ideas for living histories. Beyond that, it presents Word and pdf versions of about two dozen common forms. If the young man is interested in more information, let me know. He may find the "Scrivener's Mess" yahoo group worth his time.

[tompritchett]

This link will take you to a document called "School of the Clerk" which presents a fair amount of research on what was involved in administering a company, including a section on material culture that may prove helpful, as well as some ideas for living histories. Beyond that, it presents Word and pdf versions of about two dozen common forms. If the young man is interested in more information, let me know. He may find the "Scrivener's Mess" yahoo group worth his time.

The Civil War clerical guru speaks. Seriously, I can think of no better person to ask questions about the duties and paperwork associated with Civil War clerking.

[bob 125th nysvi]

for the info.

M.A. the young man himself hasn't expressed an interest, he can't wait to carry a musket. However we want to upgrade how the company reenacts in the field and company clerk gives him something to do on the street and quite honestly forces the Sgts to do a little than they have been doing.

[Pvt Schnapps]

for the info.

M.A. the young man himself hasn't expressed an interest, he can't wait to carry a musket. However we want to upgrade how the company reenacts in the field and company clerk gives him something to do on the street and quite honestly forces the Sgts to do a little than they have been doing.

He might get interested when you tell him that "daily duty" as a clerk excuses him from guard mount and fatigue, but not from serving in the line of battle. :)

[bob 125th nysvi]

He might get interested when you tell him that "daily duty" as a clerk excuses him from guard mount and fatigue, but not from serving in the line of battle. :)

15 so he can't do those activities anyway.

And when he becomes 16, we're so short handed as a company he might wind up doing those things anyway!

I passed him your materials (thank you) and he seems enthusiastic to actually be assigned some real "military" duties. I just don't know how enthusiastic the NCOs (or captain) are going to be once they have to start to fill out forms.

Aww they'll probably just take it out on me.

[Pvt Schnapps]

On a daily basis, in the context of the typical reenactment, there really aren't that many forms to fill out. I think the morning report is pretty important, as are the duty rosters (given the size of most companies a combined roster seems a good compromise), and -- if you want to have fun with your adjutant -- returns of casualties and lost ordnance after the battle. If there's a surgeon around it can be kind of fun to have a sick book and send a few shammers under an NCO to him for examination.

Kautz provides a couple of other forms that reenactor companies can possibly use -- register of camp and garrison equipage, register of ordnance, &c. -- but the real heavy lifting during the war consisted of the big quarterly and monthly reports, muster rolls, and the like. These would involve so much work to reproduce and do correctly that they are seldom if ever done.

To me, the best use of clerking seems the educational part rather than a hassle factor. When you get an idea of what the forms were for, you realize the extent to which both armies actually tried to track things, the degree of actual financial accountability officers and men had for all their stuff, and how much we owe to the clerks for what we know about civil war battles -- like how many men were probably there and how many didn't make it out.

All of that can be kind of fun, just as all the other stuff we learn is kind of fun. It gives us something to talk to people about during living histories, and it provides a lot of fodder for first person. And, in the end, the clerk can't really hassle others too much -- after all, he's the one who has to fill all that stuff out. :)

Enjoy!

[Poor Private]

This leads me to ask a question. After a whole weekend of filling out the form(s) for company, brigade and all what the heck do you guys do with them after the event is over? Do you have a place for storage, do you make a scrapbook, and who gets to keep all that paperwork that is accumilated, or are they disposed of in the last fire of the day? Whats the purpose for keeping them? Not trying to disparage someones efforts but just want to know. I just can't see a unit renting a storage room to keep several years of forms and files.

[bob 125th nysvi]

"This leads me to ask a question. After a whole weekend of filling out the form(s) for company, brigade and all what the heck do you guys do with them after the event is over? Do you have a place for storage, do you make a scrapbook, and who gets to keep all that paperwork that is accumilated, or are they disposed of in the last fire of the day? Whats the purpose for keeping them? Not trying to disparage someones efforts but just want to know. I just can't see a unit renting a storage room to keep several years of forms and files."

As a professional records manager my thought is that they are going into recycling as fast as we can get them there.

In a 'records' sense there is absolutely no reason to keep them.

As for their use during a reenactment I suppose we'll try to pass them onto to higher command (last time we tried this they looked at us like we had two heads) as a real unit would have done.

Even if the higher command doesn't accept them, it should lead to a more realistic experience for our unit at least. It will give the Officer/NCO some real duties to perform. It will allow this kid to participate in the military side of an event.

That's the hope at least.

[Pvt Schnapps]

Bob, that's what I've done at the Company level, and I think all your points make a lot of sense.

Usually when my unit falls in with its parent organization, the regiment has required the morning reports. But we've also turned in other reports like casualty returns (particularly when folks leave after the Saturday battle) and manuscript returns of lost ordnance (see above).

We do it for our own practice, to enhance the experience for those at regimental headquarters (they've never turned the stuff back and I think it's inspired a couple of other units) and because the folks we're trying to honor would have done it.

In fact, it adds a whole new dimension to the trauma of battle to realize that the living still had their regular duties to attend to after the shooting stopped.

At higher echelons, I have actually held on to the morning reports, consolidated morning reports, and other paperwork turned in during each event. The bulk isn't that great and if it becomes so it can be scanned. I have, for several events, the consolidated returns of a half dozen regiments/batteries/squadrons, plus copies of orders. The total bulk, properly folded in 3.5" sections and bound -- naturally -- with red tape, comes to maybe half the size of a weekly magazine for each event. It's not all that much. If we were actually in the field for months at a time, it would come to a lot more, but that's not usually a problem with reenacting paperwork.

For some purposes, such as order books and "blotters" for miscellaneous work, the records kept become part of making the article look like something actually used rather than made up for each event. A few years ago a friend of mine began some order books for brigade staff and, for each event where either or us served as AAG, we simply picked up the numbering series for special and general orders from the last. It's not a big thing, but the order books have begun to look like they've actually seen some field service.

And it all has some practical use. The strength returns help in preparing the after action reports. They also help in analyzing turnout for and turnover during an event, and thus put some statistics behind "reenactor math," especially if I have data on registrations to compare them to. Even at the company level, if you keep track of the data you've turned in to higher levels and have the original rosters you've made out, you have material of some value for your (reenacting) unit history.

So those are two reasons to do this: to add verisimilitude to a reenactment, and to have some actual data you can use in "lessons learned" and future event planning.

[Army30th]

In my case, (I am clerk for a more modern type of reenacting), I keep the documents: morning reports, sick reports, duty rosters, platoon/company rosters, requisitions; as part of the unit's historical record. I have the last 10 years of documents in my storage facility. All items for the week-long event fit into one or two 9 x 12 manila envelopes.

[Guy Gane III]

Mr. Schaffner is my hero... ;)

When I first met him, (I believe at Bedford Village) and listened to his talk on paperwork, it was the first thing that I can say that I took away with me. Guru Emeritus.

I, too, believe that the paperwork should be necessary. We all get practice, it adds more, basically everything listed prior to my post.

As far as what to do with them? I would hope that those records are being kept. It may just leave a record of what WE have done, as reenactors. I mean, in the digital age... all the things we write will be lost with electricity, should it fail. That's why I believe there should be a paper record of event participation and all the cool stuff the forms mention.

That's my two cents, but thought worth mentioning. :roll: