Biography of Thomas W. Howard

 Since Thomas Howard was not in the Confederate military, there is no biography of him in the National Archives service records. Below is my biography of the man
   There is almost nothing known about Thomas W. Howard, except what can be pulled from his work documents. In fact, there are only three documents identifying him as "Thomas;" all the others us only "T. W." His record starts with him being appointed by Major Gorgas to be receive freight coming from the South, June 10th, 1861. The following month, he was appointed the Transportation Agent at Lynchburg. He remained at that post throughout the war. In the Confederate Service Records file, there are three documents that indicate that he was a Major in the Quartermaster Department and was paroled with Gen. Lee's forces. There are, however, no Confederate documents showing him in the Army at any rank.
   The only Thomas W. Howard in the 1860 Census is the 42 year old head of a family of a wife and 8 children, living in Moundsville, 12 miles south of Wheeling, now West Virginia. He is listed as a day laborer, though his vocabulary, penmanship and sentence structure in his documents makes it possible that this is not the right match. A move from Wheeling to Lynchburg at the start of the war is certainly a real possibility.
   Agent Howard was responsible for both railroad and canal boat transportation at Lynchburg. I'm sure his original posting was to help clear the mass of freight that was coming into Virginia on the Virginia & Tennessee RR. Since Lynchburg was the junction of the Virginia & Tennessee RR, the South Side RR, the Orange & Alexandria RR and the James River canal, someone was needed to make decisions about what was to go by which method of transportation and to expedite the supplies according to priorities provided to the agent. It is evident that Agent Howard did a satisfactory job, since he retained his position throughout the war. After Maj. Ashe left the service, Howard reported directly to the Quartermaster General.
June 10, 1861 Appointed by Gorgas to receive railroad shipments from the South
July, 1861 Appointed by Major Ashe to be a Transportation Agent and to proceed to Lynchburg to superintend the transportation of Government stores of all kinds
October 16, 1861 Ashe reports he has been appointed
NA, QMR 10-16-61
January 1, 1862 Salary paid by Maj. Ashe
January 5, 1862 Asked QM General to order Orange & Alexandria RR to more promptly move supplies from Lynchburg
NA, QMR 1-5-62
January 22, 1862 Ships grind stone
NA, RRB 1-22A-62
January 31, 1862 Salary paid by Maj. Ashe
March 31, 1862 Salary paid by Maj. Ashe
April 2, 1862 Reports lack of leather for shipment to Richmond
NA, RRB 4-2-62
May x, 1862 Reports shortage of weight on a pig iron shipment
July 1, 1862 Requests wagons to deal with break in the canal
NA, QMR 7-1-62
August 1, 1862 Paid as Transportation Agent by QMG
NA, RRB 8-1A-62
August 29, 1862 Asks for salary increase
NA, QMR 8-29-62
November 1, 1862 Paid salary and office rent
NA, RRB 11-1-62
December 3, 1862 Reports theft of shoes from a shipment
January 1, 1863 Paid for 2 months
NA, RRB 1-1D-63
January 8, 1863 Reports on disposition of food and supplies at Lynchburg
NA, QMR 1-8-63
March 1, 1863 Requested transportation for car of hay
NA, RRB 3-1A-63
March 10, 1863 Reported his duties to QMG
NA, QMR 3-10-63
July 1, 1863 Paid salary and office rent
NA, RRB 7-1A-63
NA, RRB 7-1B-63
July 29, 1863 Reports 2 shipments
NA, RRB 7-29-63
August 27, 1863 Shipped leather
NA, RRB 8-27A-63
August 30, 1863 Comments on shipping by canal or RR
NA, QMR 8-30-63
September 1, 1863 Paid office rent and salary
NA, RRB 9-1H-63
NA, RRB 9-1I-63
September 4, 1863 Shipped box and castings for the CSN
NA, CSN 9-26-63
Shipped leather
NA, RRB 9-4-63
September 5, 1863 QMG affirms his use of James River Canal
NA, QM 9-5B-63
September 6, 1863 Shipped leather
NA, RRB 9-6-63
September 7, 1863 Reports his situation to the QM General
Shipped leather
NA, RRB 9-7C-63
September 17, 1863 His report on lost salt on Virginia & Tennessee RR is sent to QMG
NA, QMR 9-17A-63
October 7, 1863 Ships leather
NA, RRB 10-7A-63
October 28, 1863 Ships leather
NA, RRB 10-28A-63
November 1, 1863 Paid for 2 month's office rent and salary
NA, RRB 11-1-63
NA, RRB 11-1A-63
November 9, 1863 Arranging a coal shipment
November 26, 1863 Ships leather
NA, RRB 11-26A-63
November 30, 1863 Paid for messenger
NA, RRB 11-30I-63
December 22, 1863 Morfit reports on him and suggests all freight to Lynchburg be consigned to him
NA, QMR 12-22C-63
December 31, 1863 Paid for 2 months
NA, RRB 12-31M-63
Paid for office messenger
NA, RRB 12-31N-63
January 1, 1864 Paid for 2 month's office rent
NA, RRB 1-1C-64
January 4, 1864 Arranging coal cars
January 8, 1864 Dealing with ice
January 16, 1864 QMG approves Maj Wood's plans regarding freight to Howard at Lynchburg
NA, QMR 12-22C-63
January 23, 1864 His status an issue
NA, QMR 1-23C-64
January 25, 1864 Reports regarding beef shipments
NA, RRB 1-25A-64
January 29, 1864 Deals with other claims for cars
January 31, 1864 Paid salary
NA, RRB 1-31J-64
January x, 1864 Requests promotion to Captain & AQM
NA, QMR 1-x-64
February 4, 1864 Notifies Richmond that leather must now be boxed
February 5, 1864 Ships 4 cars of coal
NA, RRB 2-5A-64
February 6, 1864 Receives shipping instructions
February 11, 1864 Requests order regarding shipping leather
NA, QMR 2-11B-64
Leather shipment
NA, RRB 2-11B-64
February 26, 1864 Ships coal and leather
NA, RRB 2-26-64
February 29, 1864 Given a pay increase and paid
March 24, 1864 Giving leather priority
April 1, 1864 Paid salary
NA, RRB 4-1C-64
May 30, 1864 Report a car robbed en route to Abingdon
NA, RA 5-30-64
May 31, 1864 Paid salary
NA, RRB 5-31J-64
June 8, 1864 Trouble with lead shipment on South Side RR
NA, QMR 6-8A-64
June 23, 1864 Informs Gorgas that RR west of Lynchburg is out of order for several months
NA, RA 6-23-64
June 30, 1864 Paid salary
NA, RRB 6-30R-64
July 23, 1864 Asks for help transporting across gap in RR
NA, QMR 7-23-64
July 28, 1864 Asks for pay increase
NA, QMR 7-28-64
August 1, 1864 Paid salary
NA, RRB 8-1A-64
August 11, 1864 Asks permission to buy rations
NA, QMR 8-11C-64
August 31, 1864 Paid salary
NA, RRB 8-31N-64
September 1, 1864 Asks about his allowances
NA, QMR 9-1-64
NA, QM 9-3A-64
September 6, 1864 Ships 4 bales of jeans
NA, RRB 9-6-64
His assignment and pay are confirmed by QMG
NA, QM 9-6-64
September 10, 1864 Requests stationery
NA, QMR 9-10-64
September 29, 1864 Shipped to Richmond Ordnance Dept.
NA, RA 9-29-64
October 15, 1864 Addressed as Major, was asked to forward linseed oil for an ordnance Dept. contractor
NA, RA 10-15-64
October 31, 1864 Paid salary
NA, RRB 10-31C-64
November 3, 1864 Arranges to have a piece of clothing sent to him
NA, RA 11-3-64
November 24, 1864 Ordered to execute a bond
NA, QM 11-24-64
December 1, 1864 Paid salary
NA, RRB 12-1A-64
December 29, 1864 Ships hay to Petersburg
NA, RRB 12-29B-64
December 31, 1864 Paid salary
NA, RRB 12-31K-64
January 30, 1865 Supports detail of a man to run the local hotel
NA, RRB 1-30I-65
February 16, 1865 Appears on a list of employees in the service of Capt. F. C. Hunter, A. Q. M., in charge of Pay and Transportation Department, Lynchburg, Va. Remarks say he was ordered to report to Capt. E. B. Faulkner AQM

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