October 7, 1866, AC, LR, 1866–1867, reel 5; William Longworth to [E. M.] Gregory,
October 28, 1865, AC, ULR, 1865–1866, reel 17.
47. John H. Morrison, Palestine, to [J. B. Kiddoo], June 7, 1866, AC, LR, 1865–1866,
reel 7; John H. Morrison to [E. M.] Gregory, [Spring 1866], AC, LR, 1866–1867, reel 6;
Mahlon E. Davis to William H. Sinclair, A.A.G., September 4, 1866, AC, LR, 1866–1867,
reel 5; David S. Beath to J. J. Reynolds, July 9, 1868, AC, LR, 1867–1869, reel 16.
48. Patrick F. Duggan to J. T. Kirkman, May 29, 1867, LR, 1866–1867, reel 5; George
Johnson to Charles A. Vernou, A.A.A.G., August 4, 1868, AC, LR, 1867–1869, reel 16; J.
J. Reynolds to O. O. Howard, August 30, 1868, AC, LR, 1867–1869; Brvt. Maj. W.
Harper, Jr., to C. S. Roberts, A.A.G.M., August 21, 1868, AC, LR, 1867–1869, reel 16; N.
H. Randlett, Palestine, to C. S. Roberts, A.A.A.G., December 30, 1867, AC, LR, 1867–
1869, reel 14.
49. Philip Howard, Meridian, to E. M. Gregory, March 22, 1866, AC, LR, 1866–1867,
reel 6; A. H. M. Taylor to General, August 29, 1867, AC, LR, 1867–1869, reel 16; A. H. M.
Taylor, A.A.A.G., to O. O. Howard, August 29, 1867, AC, LR, 1867–1869, reel 16; A. F. N.
Rolfe to J. J. Reynolds, November 13, 1867, AC, LR, 1866–1867, reel 7; Edwin Finch to
Gen. Charles Griffi
n, June 20, 1867, AC, LR, 1867–1869, reel 11; Albert Evans, Sherman,
to J. T. Kirkman, A.A.G., February 17, 1867, LR, 1866–1867, reel 5.
50. James Burke to O. O. Howard, May 1, 1868, AC, LR, 1867–1869, reel 10; James
Burke to Charles A. Venou, A.A.A.G., May 29, 1868, AC, LR, 1867–1869, reel 10; James
Burke to J. J. Reynolds, June 2, 1868, AC, LR, 1867–1869, reel 10; Lowe, “Freedmen’s
Bureau and Local White Leaders in Virginia,” 465–472; Lawrence Powell, “Th
e Politics
of Livelihood: Carpetbaggers in the Deep South,” in Region, Race, and Reconstruction:
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206
Notes to pages 28–31
Essays in Honor of C. Vann Woodward, ed. J. Morgan Kousser and James S. McPherson
(New York: Oxford University Press, 1982): 315–347.
51. William H. Heistand, Hallettsville, to A. H. Lathrop, A.A.A.G., December 31,
1866, SAC, LS, May–June 1866 and October 1866–March 1868, reel 21; John T. Scott,
Victoria, to Captain, January 18, 1866, AC, ULR, 1865–1866, reel 17; Patrick F. Dug-
gan, Columbia, to Mr. Ship, September 25, 1867, SAC, LSR, April 1867–November
1868, reel 15.
2. “Th
e Post of Greatest Peril”: Th
e E. M. Gregory Era,
September 1865–April 1866
1. W. E. B. DuBois, “Th
e Freedmen’s Bureau,” Atlantic Monthly 87 (March 1901):
254; Statutes at Large, Treaties, and Proclamations of the United States of America
from December, 1863 to December 1865, 119 vols. (Boston: Little, Brown and Company,
1866), 13:507–509 (hereaft er cited as Statutes at Large).
2. Carpenter, Sword and Olive Branch, 91; Howard, Autobiography, 2:216, 208; War-
ner, Generals in Blue, 237–239.
3. Th
ere is dispute about Gregory’s age. One source has him 61, another aged 69 in
1865 and still another 63 (see Philadelphia Inquirer, November 8, 1871; Eighth Census
of the United States, 1860, Schedule I [Inhabitants], National Archives and Records
Administration, Washington, D.C.; and Seventh Census of the United States, 1850,
Schedule I [Inhabitants], National Archives and Records Administration, Washington,
D.C.).
4. Augustus Buell, Th
e Cannoneer: Recollections of Service in the Army of the
Potomac (Washington, D.C.: Th
e National Tribune, 1890), 320–321; Howard, Autobiog-
raphy, 2:218; Charles F. McKenna, comp., Under the Maltese Cross, Antietam to Appo-
mattox: Th
e Loyal Uprising in Western Pennsylvania, 1861–1865 (Pittsburgh: Th
e 155th
Regimental Association, 1910), 220; Tyler, ed., New Handbook of Texas, 3:330–331;
Flake’s Daily Bulletin, July 1, 1866; New York Times, November 8, 1871; Philadelphia
Inquirer, February 5 and November 8, 1862; Th
e Sandusky Clarion (OH), December 28,
1844; Mark M. Boatner, III, Th
e Civil War Dictionary (New York: David McKay Com-
pany, Inc., 1959), 358. McFeely calls Gregory a “radical Abolitionist.” Richter considers
him a “committed abolitionist.” Crouch, however, doubts Gregory’s abolitionism. Nor
did Commissioner Howard ever mention his subordinate being an abolitionist (see
McFeely, Yankee Stepfather, 68; Richter, Overreached on All Sides, 7; Crouch, Freed-
men’s Bureau and Black Texans, 15; and Howard, Autobiography, 2:217–218).
5. Letter of Advice to Assistant Commissioners from O. O. Howard, June 14, 1865,
LS, May 16–December 30, 1865, Selected Series of Records Issued by the Commissioner
of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands 1865–1872, Record Group
105, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C. (Microfi lm
M742, reel 1), hereaft er cited M742C; E. M. Gregory to O. O. Howard, September 21,
1865, AC, LS, September 1865–March 1867, reel 1; O. O. Howard to Bvt. Gen. Gordon
Granger, July 17, 1865, M742, LS, May 16–December 1865, reel 1; Bvt. Maj. Gen. Christo-
pher Columbus Andrews, “Speech at Brenham, Texas, July 20, 1865,” in Early Steps in
Reconstruction: Speeches by General C. C. Andrews of Minnesota in Texas and Arkan-
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Notes to pages 31–33
207
sas (Washington, D.C.: Union Republican Congressional Committee, 1865): 2–3;
F. W. Emery, A.A.G, District of Texas, to Col. John Kelly, June 28, 1865, Th
e War of the
Rebellion: Th
e Offi
cial Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, 128 vols. (Wash-
ington, D.C.: Government Printing Offi
ce, Offi
ce, 1889–1903), series 1, vol. 48, pt. 2,
pp. 1017–1018. For initial trips into Texas, see E. M. Gregory to O. O. Howard, Septem-
ber 21, October 31, and December 9, 1865, and January 31, 1866, AC, LS, September
1865–March 1867, reel 1; Allan Ashcraft , “Texas, 1860–1866: Th
e Lone Star State in the
Civil War” (Ph.D. diss., Columbia University, 1960), 255–259; Brad R. Clampitt, “Th
e
Breakup: Th
e Collapse of the Confederate Trans- Mississippi Army in Texas , 1865,”
Southwestern Historical Quarterly 108 (April 2005): 499–536; Th
omas North , Five Years
in Texas (Cincinnati: Elm Street Publishing Company, 1871), 183–184; and Charles W.
Ramsdell, “Texas from the Fall of the Confederacy to the Beginning of Reconstruc-
tion,” Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association 11 (July 1907–April 1908):
199–219.
6. Olds, “Freedmen’s Bureau as a Social Agency,” 120, 246. For E. M. Gregory’s
requests for particular offi
cers and returns, see E. M. Gregory to C. H. Whittelsey,
A.A.G. for October through
December 1865 in AC reel 17. Military problems experi-
enced transitioning to peace are in Clayton R. Newell and Charles R. Shrader, “Th
e
U.S. Army’s Transition to Peace, 1865–1866,” Th
e Journal of Military History 77 (July
2012): 867–894.
7. William E. Strong, Inspector, to O. O. Howard, January 1, 1866, House Executive
Documents, 39th Congress, 1st Session, No. 70, 313; E. M. Gregory to O. O. Howard,
September 21, 1865, AC, Letters Sent, September 1865–March 1867, reel 1; Richter, Over-
reached on All Sides, 37. Hiram Seymour Hall, Jacob C. DeGress, and John Scott made
their posts at Marshall, Galveston, and Victoria, respectively. Others had assignments
at the main hubs for shipments of crops to market from the interior, such as George C.
Abbott at Hempstead, William H. Farner at Millican, Ira P. Pedigo at Woodville (Tyler
County), and F. D. Inge in Leon County. Oliver H. Swingley went to Austin, the state
capital. Th
e remainder received appointments to regions with large black populations:
B. J. Arnold at Brenham, John T. Raper at Columbus, John F. Brown at Grimes, and
Johnathan T. Whiteside at Courtney (Grimes County) all fi t this description.
8. Circular No. 2, December 5, 1865, AC, IRB, October 1865–April 1869, reel 19; O.
O. Howard to E. M. Gregory, September 6, 1865, AC, Unregistered Letters Received,
1865–1866, reel 17; Carpenter, “Agents of the Freedmen’s Bureau,” 15. All occupations
came from the Manuscript Ninth Census and slave- owning status in the Manuscript
Eighth Census of the United States, 1860, Schedule II (Slave Population), Record
Group 29, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.
(Microcopy No. 653).
9. James Speed, Attorney General, to E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War, June 22,
1865, AC, ULR, 1865–1866, reel 17; Circular No. 1, October 12, 1865, AC, IRB, October
1865–April 1869, reel 19; Endorsement of letters by Samuel C. Sloan, Brenham, to Wil-
liam H. Sinclair, A.A.G., May 26, 1866, AC, ES, April 1866–September 1867, reel 2; O.
O. Howard to E. M. Gregory, November 3, 1865, M742C, LS, May 16–December 30,
1865, reel 1; Crouch, Freedmen’s Bureau and Black Texans, 15; Paul Moreno, “Racial
Classifi cations and Reconstruction Legislation,” Journal of Southern History 61 (May
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208
Notes to pages 33–34
1995): 271–304; Herman Belz, A New Birth of Freedom: Th
e Republican Party and Freed-
men’s Rights, 1861 to 1866 (New York: Fordham University Press, 2000), 92–112; Her-
man Belz, “Th
e Freedmen’s Bureau Act of 1865 and the Principle of No Discrimination
According to Color,” Civil War History 21 (September 1975): 197–217; Circular No. 22,
December 22, 1865, AC, ULR, 1865–1866, reel 17.
10. Circular No. 11, July 12, 1865, TxAGO, Box 401–861, Folder 861–821.
11. Charles E. Culver, Cotton Gin, to J. T. Kirkman, [A.A.A.G], June 26, 1867, AC,
LR, 1866–1867, reel 4; H. W. Allen, Hempstead, to William Sinclair, A.A.G., June 5,
1866, AC, LR, 1866–1867, reel 4; Endorsement of letter from H. W. Allen, Hempstead,
to William H. Sinclair, A.A.G., June 7, 1866, AC, ES, April 1866–September 1867, reel 2;
Christopher B. Bean, “Freedmen’s Bureau and Logistical Problems in Texas, 1865–
1868,” Military History of the West 39 (2009): 5. For other examples of confl icts, see
William H. Sinclair, Inspector, Galveston, to Henry A. Ellis, A.A.A.G., November 30,
1866, AC, ULR, 1865–1866, reel 17; Gregory Barrett, Tyler, to Charles A. Vernou,
A.A.A.G, June 24, 1868, AC, LR, 1867–1869, reel 10; L. J. Warner, Inspector, to Henry A.
Ellis, A.A.A.G., December 6, 1866, AC, LR, 1866–1867, reel 9; Samuel A. Craig, “Mem-
oirs of Civil War and Reconstruction,” Civil War Times Illustrated Collection of Civil
War Papers, U.S. Army Military History Institute, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, p.
79; and Johnathan M. Wiener, Social Origins of the New South: Alabama, 1865–1885
(Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1978), 55–56.
12. P. B. Johnson, Woodville, to J. T. Kirkman, A.A.A.G., June 1, 1867, AC, LR,
1866–1867, reel 6; Samuel I. Wright, A.Q.M, to General, December 12, 1865, Press Cop-
ies of Letters Sent, December 1865–October 1866, Records of the Field Offi
ces for the
State of Texas, Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, 1865–1870,
Record Group 105, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.
(Microfi lm M1912, reel 1) hereaft er cited SAC; William Longworth, Sutherland Springs,
to Captain, January 29, 1866, AC, Unregistered Letters Received, 1865–1866, reel 17. For
other cases of logistical problems, see George C. Abbott, Hempstead, to Chauncey C.
Morse, A.A.A.G., November 2, 1865, AC, ULR, 1865–1866, reel 17; Charles P. Russell,
Gonzales, to Colonel, July 24, 1866, AC, LR, 1866–1867, reel 7; John T. Raper, Colum-
bus, to E. M. Gregory, November 29, 1865, Unregistered Letters Received, 1865–1866,
reel 17; B. J. Arnold, Brenham to Chauncey C. Morse, A.A.A.G., December 2, 1865, AC,
ULR, 1865–1866, reel 17; Johnathan T. Whiteside, Courtney, to [E. M. Gregory],
December 8, 1865, AC, ULR, 1865–1866, reel 17. For similar problems procuring sup-
plies from the military, see J. Th
omas May, “A 19th Century Medical Care Program for
Blacks: Th
e Case of the Freedmen’s Bureau,” Anthropological Quarterly 46 (July 1973):
160–171.
13. Edward Miller, Bryan, to J. P. Richardson, A.A.A.G., November 27, 1867, AC,
LR, 1867–1869, reel 13; John Dix, Corpus Christi, to J. J. Reynolds, December 5, 1867,
AC, LR, 1866–1867, reel 5. Agents spending their own money, see Edward Miller,
Bryan, November 27, 1867, AC, LR, 1867–1869, reel 13; William Longworth, Sutherland
Springs, to [E. M. Gregory], March 17, 1866, AC, LR, 1866–1867, reel 6; P. B. Johnson,
Woodville, to J. T. Kirkman, A.A.A.G., June 7, 1867, AC, LR, 1866–1867, reel 6; Charles
C. Culver, Cotton Gin, to J. T. Kirkman, A.A.A.G., August 10, 1867, Records of the
Superintendent of Education for the State of Texas, Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and
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Notes to pages 34–38
209
Abandoned Lands, 1865–1870, Letters Received, 1866–1867, National Archives and
Records Administration, Washington, D.C., M822, reel 3 (hereaft er cited SUP); and
William H. Howard, Huntsville, to J. J. Reynolds, September 21, 1868, AC, LR,
1867–1869, reel 12.
14. Samuel I. Wright, A.Q.M., to William Longworth, Sutherland Springs May 10,
1866, SAC, PCLS, December 1865–October 1866, reel 1; Charles Garretson, A.A.Q.M.,
to William G. Kirkman, Boston, August 24, 1867, SAC, RLS, July 1867–September 1868,
reel 13; Charles Garretson, A.A.Q.M., to A. H. Mayer, Liberty, June 8, 1867, SAC, PCLS,
reel 1; Charles Garretson, A.A.A.G, A.A.Q.M, to Hamilton C. Peterson, Lockhart, Sep-
tember 25, 1867, SAC, PCLS, July 1867–October 1867, reel 2; Bureau of Refugees,
Freed-
men, and Abandoned Lands, Offi
cers’ Manual (Washington, D.C.: Government
Printing Offi
ce, 1866), 28- E–28- F (hereaft er cited Offi
cers’ Manual).
15. William H. Sinclair, Inspector, to J. T. Kirkman, A.A.A.G., March 1, 1867, AC,
LR, 1866–1867, reel 8; Endorsement of letter from David L. Montgomery, Tyler, to
Charles Garretson, A.A.A.G., August 26, 1867, AC, ES, March 1867–May 1869, reel 2.
16. David L. Montgomery, Tyler, to Charles Garretson, A.A.A.G.,A.A.Q.M., Octo-
ber 9, 1867, AC, ULR, 1867–1869 and Undated, reel 18; Charles Garretson,
A.A.A.G.,A.A.Q.M., to J. J. Reynolds, October 23, 1867, AC, ULR, 1867–1869 and
Undated, reel 18; Charles Garretson, A.A.A.G, A.A.Q.M., to J. J. Reynolds, October 23,
1867, AC, LS, March 1867–May 1869, reel 1.
17. Hahn, et al., eds., Freedom: A Documentary History of Emancipation, 1861–1867,
397; John T. Raper, Columbus, to E. M. Gregory, November 29, 1865, AC, ULR, 1865–
1866, reel 17; Th
omas Wagstaff , “Call Your Old Master–‘Master’: Southern Political
Leaders and Negro Labor During Presidential Reconstruction,” Labor History 10
(Summer 1969): 344; Circular letter from O. O. Howard, November 11, 1865, AC, ULR,
1865–1866, reel 17; A. H. Mayer, Liberty, to J. P. Richardson, A.A.A.G., February 18,
1868, AC, LR, 1867–1869, reel 13; Circular No. 13, July 28, 1865, AC, LR, 1865–1866, reel 5;
Martin Abbott, “Free Land, Free Labor, and the Freedmen’s Bureau,” Agricultural His-
tory 30 (October 1956): 1–8; Circular No. 1, 1 October 12, 1865, AC, IRB, October 1865–
April 1869, reel 19. For problems in Texas immediately following the war, see Jacob C.
DeGress, Houston, to [Headquarters], December 1, 1865, AC, ULR, 1865–1866, reel 17;
James Oakes, Austin, to J. T. Kirkman, A.A.A.G., July 31, 1867, Barry Crouch Collec-
tion, Victoria Regional History Center, Victoria College, Victoria, Texas, Box 8- A
(hereaft er cited as Crouch Collection–Victoria); S. J. W. Mintzer, Surgeon in Chief, to
[E. M. Gregory], December 1, 1865, AC, Received and Retained Reports Relating to
Rations, Lands, and Bureau Personnel, 1865–1866, reel 29 (hereaft er RRR); 1st Lt. Hugh
D. Bowker to Provost Marshal, 3rd District, Corpus Christi, December 6, 1865, AC,
ULR, 1865–1866, reel 17; and Ronnie Tyler and Lawrence R. Murphy, eds., Th
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