N. RICHARDSON - DOCUMENT DOUBLE SIGNED 03/01/1865 CO-SIGNED BY: CIVIL WAR - UNION - HFSID 262945

CIVIL WAR (UNION): CHAPLAIN N. RICHARDSON
Just prior to the assault on Petersburg, he requisitions and signs for forage for his horse.
Document signed twice: "N. Richardson Chaplain/36 Mass Vols", 1 page, 8x10¼."Before Petersburg, Va., 1865 March 1. On top of page, Chaplain Richardson requisitions fodder for 1 private horse (434 pounds of oats and 117 pounds of hay), for the month of March 1865, attesting that he had not procured fodder from elsewhere for this period. On the bottom portion of the page he signs receipt of the quantity of fodder. The 36th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment served the Union cause for three years (1862-1865), fighting in both the Eastern and Western Theaters. Its heaviest casualties were incurred in Virginia in 1864 and 1865, during the Battles of the Wilderness, Spotsylvania and Cold Harbor, and during the siege of Petersburg. Petersburg was finally captured by Grant's army on April 2, 1865, only one month after Richardson requisitioned this grain. The fall of Petersburg forced the Confederacy to abandon Richmond, its capital, and hastened the end of the war. A careful search of regimental records would probably provide more information on Chaplain Richardson. This document is a reminder of the enormous logistical problems facing Civil War armies: 551 pounds of grain just to feed one horse for one month! 2 horizontal fold creases. Lightly toned on verso at creases. Otherwise fine condition.