The Washington times., 1901-10-27
COSTLY WORK COMPLETED
Official Civil War Record Soon to
Be Ready for Delivery.
Covers 12s Volumes, and Was Pro-
duced at n Cost of Nearly Three
Million DOIIars-BeEun by Presi-
dent Lincoln Forty Years Ago.

The last volume of the greatest book,
in size and in cost, that the Govern
ment of the United States has yet pub
lished. is on the press, and will be ready
for delivery very soon. Begun, actually,
during the Administration of President
Lincoln, 1t has been in process of com
pilation and publication for nearly forty
years, and it has cost nearly $4,000. 600.
The title of this work Is The War of
the Rebellion; a Compilation of the Off
cial Records of the Union and Confeder-
ate Armies" When competed. it will
make lbs books, with a total of 1855
pages, besides an atlas containing some
1000 maps and sketches. OF the $2,S5S,-
514 expended in getting it out there was
spent 81, ,265, ,S95 in salaries. and LAS, Az
in printing and binding.
The completion of the work seemed,
at one time, in danger of being de-
ferred until every survivor of the war
of the rebellion should have expired.
When the task of completing it fell into
the hands of Brig. Gen. Fred c. Aims
worth. Chief of the Record and Pension
Office of the War Department, ii was
taken up with characteristic vigor, an
immediate activity in the work of com
pletion was manifested, some impera-
lively necessary notifications of plan
were adopted, and some months ago the
last volume of the record except the
general index was sent out, to be fol-
lowed within the year by the finished
undertaking.
The index volume will carry a preface
signed by Secretary Root, which gives
a very interesting history CT the incep-
ton, collection, and completion of the
vast work The work is an account, al
most wholly documentary, Of the oper-
ations of two armies for four years, the
participants in the struggle being num-
bered by millions and the regiments by
thousands.
Some conception may be had of the
voiuminous character of the archives
which it was necessary to examine in
the course of the compilation of this
publication; they embrace the records,
Union and Confederate, of every COM
pany, battery, regiment, brigade, diyi-
sion, corps, and army, as well as those
of geographical military departments
and divisions, and include the files Of
the War Department and all of its bu-
reaus. The Union records are to great
extent complete; those of the Confeder-
acy are in many respects deficient, The
more important documents are pre-
served in the State, War. and Navy
Building, and in other buildings in the
city of Washington, while others, not
required for daily consultation, are
stored elsewhere. In the prosecution of
the work it was necessary that the
search of all these records should be
made by experts who were well quail
fed for the duty by reason of their
service in the army and in the War
Department.
The initiation Of the project for col
lecting for publication the official rec
ords of the civil war w1s taken by
Congress In a joint resolution approved
May 10, 1864, directing the Secretary OF
War to furnish the Superintendent Of
Printing with copies of all correspond
ence on the subject, by telegraph or
otherwise, reports of commanding Off
GERS and documents of every description
published in chronological order Begun
under Col E. d. Townsend, afterward
Adjutant General, a great number Of
papers were prepared for publication
Adopting "a suggestion of Major General
Halleck after his visit to Richmond in
May, 1865, soon after its capture, and
the securing of over ninety boxes of
Confederate archives, those papers were
turned over by Secretary Stanton to a
division for the collection, safe-keep-
ing, and publication of the rebel arch
ives" and DR.. Francis Lieber was
placed in charge of the work. Another
Joint resolution of Congress in July,
1866. tended to make more oruerly the
scheme for arranging and completing
the work, but not until 1874 did Con-
gress appropriate $4,000 to enable the
Secretary of War to begin the publi-
cation.
In March, 1875, $4,000 more was ap-
propriated for the work. With newly
selected force the preparation of papers
went on, $4,000 more was appropriated
in 1876, and IN 1877, when $4,000 had
been appropriated. forty-seven volumes
had been compiled and put in type, and
thirty copies of each volume printed.
No attempt had been made to collate
the matter so that the records relating
to particular actions and events should
be assembled in consecutive order. This
first compilation was not regarded by
those most familiar with the records
or by prominent actors in the events as
satisfactory-the Union reports respect
ing any battle being in one volume, the
Confederate reports in anothe, the
Union correspondence, in letter form, In
a third, that in telegraphic form in a
fourth. the Confederate correspondence,
in letter and telegraphic form, in two
more; so that in order to find all mat
ter pertaining to any event ii was
necessary to consult at least six separ-
ate volumes.
The first person to give the Rebellion
Record" organized and definite form was
Capt. Robert n. Scott, detailed in De
cember, 1877, to take charge of the
work. The plan submitted by him,
and adopted by Secretary McCrary,
abandoned the books already printed,
exception use as copy, and the method
ical arrangement of matter recommend
ed by Captain Scott after he had been
three years in charge has been adhered
to from beginning to end of the work
of publication. The chief idea was to
present to the reader in one volume a
connected account Of any military event
both from the Union and the Confeder-