Series I: Correspondence

Scope and content:

Contains both incoming and outgoing correspondence to/from Major Robert W. Hunter or Colonel Joseph V. Bidgood, both Secretaries of Virginia Military Records. The majority of the correspondence, however, was addressed to Col. Bidgood since he took over the duties in 1910. The correspondence primarily relates to service records of Virginians during the Civil War. Individuals wrote Bidgood for information about soldiers for pensions, genealogical & historical research, and other purposes. There is often a typescript copy of Bidgood's reply attached to the incoming correspondence. Bidgood wrote to veterans, veterans' families, clerks of the county courts, and others seeking information about soldiers and requesting copies of muster rolls. These records are particularly useful because they often contain the personal recollections of veterans and their families. As a result, genealogical information can sometimes be gleaned from the correspondence.

Special correspondence is arranged at the rear of this series. Included are letters from Joseph Reid Anderson, Jr., son of the former owner of the Tredegar Iron Works; General Thomas T. Munford, Grand Commander Grand Camp Confederate Veterans; Generals Francis C. Ainsworth & Robert Shaw Oliver, Secretaries of the War Department; Governors Claude A. Swanson, A.J. Montague, and William Hodges Mann; John Hart, editor of "Our Confederate Column" in the Richmond Times-Dispatch; and Adjutant Generals James McDonald & W.W. Sale. Joseph Reid Anderson corresponded frequently with Bidgood while serving as the compiler and editor of the "VMI Biography." Munford wrote to Major Robert W. Hunter and later Colonel Bidgood requesting names of soldiers, discussing the restoration of the flag & seal of Virginia, and addressing a controversy regarding his commission as general succeeding General Wickham. Ainsworth wrote about transferring records from the War Department to the Secretary of Virginia Military Records to assist in the project of compiling a complete roll of Confederate soldiers from Virginia. The correspondence from the various governors is mostly letters sent directly to the governor's office which is being transferred to the Secretary of Virginia Military Records. The governors simply ask Bidgood if they can respond for them to various inquiries about Civil War soldiers from Virginia citizens.

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