This collection is comprised of Quartermaster Edward Dewey's monthly invoices for the 8th Regiment, Vermont Volunteers, during one year of the Civil War, 1864. The collection is stored in two flip top boxes and consumes 1 linear foot of shelf space. The source of the collection is unknown.
Edward Dewey was born in Montpelier, Vermont, on March 27, 1829, son of Julius Yemans Dewey (1801-1877) and Mary Perrin Dewey (1799-1843). Although Dewey prepared for college, he chose to enter a mercantile life until 1860 when he became assistant secretary of the Vermont Mutual Fire Insurance Co. Dewey held this position for four years when he was summoned into the United States service as quartermaster of the 8th Vermont Volunteers. In January of 1864 Lieutenant Edward Dewey joined the regiment in Louisiana, and in July 1864 accompanied it to Virginia, where the regiment participated in the battles of Opequon and Cedar Creek. On February 11, 1865, Dewey was promoted to captain and assistant quartermaster in the staff department of United States volunteers. However, he resigned three months later and returned home to his wife and children in Montpelier. Upon his return he was elected assistant secretary of the National Life Insurance Company of which his father had become president in 1851. In June 1877 he was elected vice-president of the company and stayed in that position until January 1897.
On August 27, 1856, Edward Dewey married Susan Griggs Lilley (1834-1909), daughter of his father's third wife. They had six children. Edward was the older brother of Admiral George Dewey (1837-1872), hero of the Battle of Manila Bay (1898) during the Spanish-American War. Edward Dewey died in Montpelier on October 26, 1900; he is buried in Green Mount Cemetery in that city.
The 8th Regiment, Vermont Volunteers, was raised, armed, and equipped in 1861 as a result of a special session of the Legislature called by Governor Fairbanks. Judge Stephen Thomas of West Fairlee, a member of the legislative committee that wrote the bill to raise the troops, was commissioned colonel of the Eighth regiment in November 1861. The unit had reported to Camp Holbrook, Brattleboro, Vermont, by January 22, 1862, and left for New York in March. The regiment participated in the occupation of New Orleans in 1862 and saw action in Louisiana in 1862 and 1863. In 1864 the regiment joined the Army of the Shenandoah in the protection of Washington. During that year they saw action at Opequon, Fisher's Hill, Cedar Creek, and Newton, Virginia. The 8th Vermont was mustered out of service June 28, 1865.
The Edward Dewey 8th Vermont Papers document the operation of one Union Army regiment during one year of the Civil War. The collection contains of returns of quartermaster's stores, invoices, letters of transmittal, and various inventories of military equipment during Dewey's position as quartermaster of the 8th Vermont from January 1864 through December 1864. The bulk of the invoices are from March of 1864; the papers from July are burnt and may be hard to read. The folders are organized by month and then divided into 1) miscellaneous invoices, letters, and commissary reports, 2) returns of clothing, camp, and garrison equipment, and 3) invoices for fuel and forage.
Other items in the Vermont Historical Society collection related to Edward Dewey's Civil War service include:
| MS 125:5 | Edward Dewey: Account book, 8th Regiment |
| Misc. File 353 & 354 | 1864-1865, Correspondence with his wife during Civil War |
| Misc. File 355 | 1864-1865, Letters from his wife during Civil War. |
| FB-19 p.57, size D | portrait of Edward Dewey |
| MS#125 | George Dewey Family Papers |
| MSS8-889375 | Letter, New York, 1889, by George Dewey to Edward Dewey asking him to send money to Hope Goodwin for George |
| MSS8-889554 | Letter, Washington, DC, 1889, George Dewey to Edward Dewey saying that he has bought a saddle horse and needs $300. |
| Misc. File 419 | Three letters between Edward Dewey and Senator George Edmunds about Theodore Dewey's acceptance to Annapolis. |
| F-PO-Dewey(others) | Folder 1, portrait of Edward Dewey. Folder 3, Edward Dewey's home on State St., Montpelier |
MS 124: 1 Letter, January 1864
2 February 1864, Invoices, Commission Returns
3 March 1864, Invoices, Commissary Papers
4 _____, Returns of Clothing, Camp, and Garrison Equipment
5 _____, Returns of Clothing, Camp, and Garrison Equipment
6 _____, Fuel and Forage Invoices
7 April 1864, Invoices, Commissary Papers
8 _____, Fuel and Forage Invoices
9 May 1864, Invoices, Commissary Papers, Letters
10 _____, Returns of Clothing, Camp, and Garrison, Equipage
11 _____, Fuel and Forage Invoices
12 June 1864, Invoices, Commissary Papers
13 _____, Returns of Clothing, Camp, and Garrison Equipment
14 _____, Fuel and Forage Invoices
MSA 194: 1 July 1864, Invoices, Commissary Papers, Letters
2 _____, Returns of Clothing, Camp, and Garrison Equipment
3 _____, Fuel and Forage Invoices
4 August 1864, Invoices, Commissary Papers
5 _____, Returns of Clothing, Camp, and Garrison Equipment
6 _____, Fuel and Forage Invoices
7 September 1864, Invoices, Commissary Papers
8 _____, Returns of Clothing, Camp, and Garrison Equipment
9 _____, Fuel and Forage Invoices
10 October 1864, Invoices, Commissary Papers
11 _____, Returns of Clothing, Camp, and Garrison Equipment
12 October 1864, Fuel and Forage Invoices
13 November 1864, Invoices, Commissary Papers
14 _____, Returns of Clothing, Camp, and Garrison Equipment
15 _____, Fuel and Forage Invoices
16 December 1864, Invoices
17 _____, Returns of Clothing, Camp, and Garrison Equipment
18 _____, Fuel and Forage Invoices
Processed by
Erin Tyburski
April 1998