UNITED STATES. DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY. OFFICE OF THE THIRD AUDITOR.

Minnesota's Indian War claims were settled jointly with its Civil War claims by the Office of the Third Auditor, in consultation with the Office of the Second Comptroller, which explains why the Indian War claims accounting records are part of the National Archives Civil War claims record series.

The state was reimbursed by the federal government for military expenses incurred during the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862 as provided for under acts of Congress approved March 3, 1863; July 2, 1864; and April 10, 1869. The Sioux (Dakota) War claims appear to have been presented by the state in four installments, beginning in 1862, and audited and settled by [1888?]. Reimbursement of the state's Civil War expenditures was provided for under acts of Congress approved July 17, 1861 and July 27, 1861. These claims appear to have been presented by the state in seven installments, although those in installments 4-6 were transferred to the Indian War claims account.

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Minnesota Indian War Claims

The majority of Indian War claims accounting records comprise itemized statements of differences that arose on individual claims (expenses) during their audit by the Office of the Third Auditor and review by the Office of the Second Comptroller, as well as itemized explanatory responses by the state prior to final settlement of the claims.

Individual expenses (claims) are listed in both federal and state accounting documents by installment number, and thereunder according to the same alphanumeric system of abstract letters (A-G) and voucher and schedule numbers. These alphanumeric designators correspond to those assigned to the vouchers and other records submitted by the state in support of its claims. In most documents that are part of either installment 1 or installment 2, individual expenses are listed by abstract letter and number, followed by voucher number, e.g., A21.3, or, as in the case of abstract C, by abstract letter alone, followed by voucher number, e.g., C.2. Each abstract letter represents a particular type of expense (claim): A, citizen militia and home guard units payroll; B, subsistence; C, [?]; D, transportation; E, arms and equipment; F, property lost and destroyed; and G, miscellaneous. The number immediately following the letter in the Abstract A entries identifies the particular militia or home guard unit; it has not been determined if this number serves the same purpose for abstracts B and D-G. In at least one document whose claims are referenced in relation to installments 1 and 2, as noted in the reel contents list in the Detailed Description section of the inventory, the expenses are listed by schedule number rather than by voucher number. Entries in installments 3 and 4 are identified solely by voucher numbers.

It should be noted that since the documents generally relate to disputed claims, there are often gaps in the numerical sequence of voucher numbers; also, some documents whose titles refer to expenses incurred in 1862 may include entries that reference expenses incurred in 1863.

Each claim/expense entry generally indicates the abstract and voucher designators; name of the payee; date(s), description, and amount of the expense and/or payment; ruling of the Third Auditor's or Second Comptroller's office (admitted/allowed, disallowed, suspended pending further explanation and/or documentation from the state; an explanation of or reason for the ruling; or some combination of these options); or a justification by the state. Many documents exhibit handwritten annotations of later rulings by the federal government or explanations by the state and some include a recapitulation that summarizes the financial data presented and indicates the current settlement status.

Minnesota Civil War Claims

The Civil War claims accounting records reproduced on the microfilm may represent only a portion of Minnesota-related records present in this series of state Civil War claims records. Some include references to the state's Indian War claims.

The Civil War records are similar in form and content to the Indian War records. Most expenses in the documents are listed by settlement number and thereunder by abstract letter (A-G) and voucher number. However, individual letters of the alphabet do not indicate the same type of expenditure that they do in the Indian War claims documents, and their meanings also vary from installment to installment. The types of expenses represented by the abstract letters are explained in only some of the documents. In at least one document that is part of installment 7, the abstract categories, as well as the vouchers, are identified by number.

Since the focus of this microfilm is on the Minnesota Indian War claims, there is less information on the Civil War claims in this section and in the Detailed Description section of the inventory.

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The Indian War claims records do not appear to be reproduced on the microfilm in a consistent order, and Civil War claims records are interspersed with those relating to Indian War claims. However, individual claims are listed systematically in the documents according to the system described above. The reel contents list in the Detailed Description section enumerates the order in which the records appear on the microfilm. Since it is not always clear on the microfilm if individual documents are part of a volume containing more than one document, the majority of the titles in the list refer to documents.

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Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Claims of the State of Minnesota for Reimbursement of Civil War Expenses. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples

Accession Information:

Accession number: 16,097

Provenance: National Archives Record Group 217.8.7: Records of the Accounting Officers of the Department of the Treasury. Office of the Third Auditor. Land, Files, and Miscellaneous Division.

Forms part of: State Claims for War Expenses. State Claims for Reimbursement of Civil War Expenses, ca. 1861-1900.

Originals: National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Md.

Microfilm produced by National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Md., 2006.

Available for sale or interlibrary loan from the Minnesota Historical Society.

Processing Information:

Processed by: Deborah Kahn, October 2006

Catalog ID number: 006271577

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Available for sale or interlibrary loan from the Minnesota Historical Society.

Related materials: A microfilm reproduction of Claims of the State of Minnesota Relating to Indian Wars (also part of the records of the Third Auditor's office) consists of vouchers and related documents submitted to the U.S. Department of the Treasury by the state to substantiate its claim for reimbursement of military expenses incurred during the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862. It is also available in the Minnesota Historical Society manuscript collections.

Related materials: There are several record series in the Minnesota State Archives at the Minnesota Historical Society pertaining to the service of citizen militia and home guard units and to expenses incurred by the state during the U.S.-Dakota War, including those in the records of the Adjutant General, State Auditor, and Board of Auditors for the Adjustment of Claims for War Expenditures.

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This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:

Dakota Indians -- Wars, 1862-1865 -- Claims.

Persons:

McIlrath, Chas. (Charles), 1829-1910.

Organizations:

Minnesota. State Auditor.

United States. Comptroller of the Treasury.

Places:

Minnesota -- Claims vs. United States.

Minnesota -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Claims.

Minnesota -- Militia.

Document Types:

Microforms.

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