Reorganizing the Confederate Valley Ordnance Department After the Disaster at Waynesboro<\/strong><\/h3>\nLt. Col. Briscoe G. Baldwin, Chief of Ordnance, Army of Northern Virginia<\/em><\/p>\nBriscoe Baldwin isn\u2019t a name that gets much attention outside of Lee\u2019s staff studies, but by the last winter of the war he was about as embedded in the Army of Northern Virginia\u2019s command structure as anyone could be. He\u2019d been Lee\u2019s Chief of Ordnance since November 1862. Briscoe was a Staunton native and VMI man (class of 1848, 22nd in his class) who\u2019d spent the 1850s as a career U.S. Army ordnance officer, at one point running the arsenal up in Augusta, Maine, of all places.<\/p>\n
![\"Image](\"https:\/\/www.brettschulte.net\/CWBlog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/BriscoeGBaldwinChiefOfOrdnanceANV-437x500.png\")
<\/p>\nBriscoe G. Baldwin \u2013 Chief of Ordnance, ANV<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\nHis family wasn\u2019t exactly champing at the bit for secession, either. His brother John Brown Baldwin and his brother-in-law Alexander H.H. Stuart both sat as Union men at Virginia\u2019s Secession Convention. But once Virginia went, so did Briscoe. He resigned his U.S. commission and took a lieutenancy in Confederate artillery on July 19, 1861. He spent that first year in ordnance work around Richmond, including a stretch commanding the Richmond Arsenal, with a short detour onto Robert Rodes\u2019 staff (an old VMI classmate) during the Peninsula Campaign. From there it was a fairly steady climb from captain, to major, and finally Lt. Col. and Chief of Ordnance for the ANV that November, a post he held on Lee\u2019s own staff for the rest of the war. He was even a distant relative of J.E.B. Stuart\u2019s, who apparently called him \u201cBuck.\u201d One of his ordnance predecessors described him as having \u201ca presence & bearing which inspired liking & confidence\u201d1<\/a><\/sup>. These were good qualities for a man whose whole job was making sure Lee\u2019s army didn\u2019t run out of bullets.<\/p>\nBaldwin surrendered with the rest of the army at Appomattox, eventually made his way to Bryan, Texas, where he ran the local schools, and died there in 1898. He was reportedly the last surviving member of Lee\u2019s wartime staff.2<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\nWhich brings us to this letter, and to Waynesboro. By the start of March 1865, Jubal Early\u2019s Army of the Valley had been ground down to almost nothing, somewhere between 1,000 and 1,600 men under Gabriel Wharton, with maybe a dozen guns. On March 2, 1865, Custer\u2019s cavalry division caught up with what was left of it, dug in west of Waynesboro along the South River.3<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n![\"Map](\"https:\/\/www.brettschulte.net\/CWBlog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Waynesboro-458x500.png\")
<\/p>\nBattle of Waynesboro, March 2, 1865<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\nEarly left his left flank hanging in open air, betting the woods there would slow the Federals down. They didn\u2019t. Custer sent men through those same woods, rolled up the flank, and the whole position came apart in a matter of minutes. Union reports claimed over a thousand prisoners, every gun Early had, most of his wagons, and more than a dozen battle flags against nine total Union casualties. Early himself barely got out, riding for Rockfish Gap with a handful of staff. Lee never gave him another command.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the mess Baldwin is trying to clean up in the letter below, written twenty-five days later. Baldwin is figuring out where Early\u2019s scattered ordnance officers ended up, who\u2019s in charge of what\u2019s left, and how to get a functioning department stood back up out of the wreckage.<\/p>\n
Editor\u2019s Note: <\/strong>This letter is preserved on two consecutive leaves of Baldwin\u2019s Compiled Military Service Record, and reads in normal page order (unlike another letter from the same file, covering Hatcher\u2019s Run and Five Forks, where the leaves are reversed). It was written twenty-five days after the Battle of Waynesboro (March 2, 1865), in which Custer\u2019s cavalry routed the remnant of Jubal Early\u2019s command. Several names in the letter are difficult to make out with full confidence and are marked in brackets below; readers with access to the original images are encouraged to double-check them.<\/em><\/p>\nOrdnance Office, March 27th, 1865.<\/p>\n
Colonel,<\/p>\n
I have yours of 21st inst. [Sad?] disaster at Waynesboro. I have several times written and telegraphed you care of Genl. Early. That you have not heard from me I presume is attributable to your separation from Genl. Early and the interruption of communication. Genl. Early has gone to S.W. Virginia and is probably at Wytheville tonight. So soon as you have made arrangements to secure what you can at Staunton, Waynesboro, and Charlottesville you had better repair to Lynchburg and put yourself in communication with Genl. Early \u2014 assuming in the meantime control of the Ordnance matters at that point without interference with the Depot of the Ordnance Bureau, in charge of Capt. [Getty?].<\/p>\n
Genl. Early is still in command of the Dept. of East Tenn. and S.W. Virginia, and it is important that you should proceed to organize the Ord. Dept. of that command as soon as possible. Capt. Gregory has reported to Genl. Long, who is now in command of the Artillery between the James and Appomattox Rivers. All the wagons of Gregory\u2019s train and of the Reserve train and Corps now in S.W. Va. have been ordered to report to me at Buckingham C.H. Capt. Grattan has not yet reported \u2014 Genl. Hampton having applied for him, he has been ordered to report to him in N.C.<\/p>\n
Early has now about 5000 mounted men and 800 infantry. About 500 of Wharton\u2019s men have turned up in S.W. Va. I would not delay in Staunton. Let Major [Kasdaepl?] and Lt. Zimmer gather up your debris and do you proceed above to Lynchburg. I have ordered a quantity of ammunition to [Getty?] at Lynchburg, for fear of interruption of communication, but in the absence of any advices from Early or [word illegible] from any Ord. Officers am at a loss to know what the command needs.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Very Respectfully,<\/p>\n
Your Obt Servt<\/p>\n
Briscoe G. Baldwin<\/strong><\/p>\nLt. Col., Chf. of Ord.<\/em><\/p>\nAddressed to Col. [McClellan?], Chief of Ordnance, Staunton, Va., via Lynchburg.<\/em>4<\/a><\/sup>. 27 Mar. 1865. Compiled Military Service Record of Briscoe G. Baldwin, Confederate Officers, 1861\u20131865, Record Group 109, National Archives and Records Administration. Fold3, www.fold3.com\/file\/66213676.]<\/p>\nOriginal Images from Fold3.com<\/strong><\/p>\nPage 83 of Briscoe\u2019s CMSR:<\/strong><\/p>\n
Briscoe Baldwin isn\u2019t a name that gets much attention outside of Lee\u2019s staff studies, but by the last winter of the war he was about as embedded in the Army of Northern Virginia\u2019s command structure as anyone could be. He\u2019d been Lee\u2019s Chief of Ordnance since November 1862. Briscoe was a Staunton native and VMI man (class of 1848, 22nd in his class) who\u2019d spent the 1850s as a career U.S. Army ordnance officer, at one point running the arsenal up in Augusta, Maine, of all places.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nBriscoe G. Baldwin \u2013 Chief of Ordnance, ANV<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n His family wasn\u2019t exactly champing at the bit for secession, either. His brother John Brown Baldwin and his brother-in-law Alexander H.H. Stuart both sat as Union men at Virginia\u2019s Secession Convention. But once Virginia went, so did Briscoe. He resigned his U.S. commission and took a lieutenancy in Confederate artillery on July 19, 1861. He spent that first year in ordnance work around Richmond, including a stretch commanding the Richmond Arsenal, with a short detour onto Robert Rodes\u2019 staff (an old VMI classmate) during the Peninsula Campaign. From there it was a fairly steady climb from captain, to major, and finally Lt. Col. and Chief of Ordnance for the ANV that November, a post he held on Lee\u2019s own staff for the rest of the war. He was even a distant relative of J.E.B. Stuart\u2019s, who apparently called him \u201cBuck.\u201d One of his ordnance predecessors described him as having \u201ca presence & bearing which inspired liking & confidence\u201d1<\/a><\/sup>. These were good qualities for a man whose whole job was making sure Lee\u2019s army didn\u2019t run out of bullets.<\/p>\n Baldwin surrendered with the rest of the army at Appomattox, eventually made his way to Bryan, Texas, where he ran the local schools, and died there in 1898. He was reportedly the last surviving member of Lee\u2019s wartime staff.2<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n Which brings us to this letter, and to Waynesboro. By the start of March 1865, Jubal Early\u2019s Army of the Valley had been ground down to almost nothing, somewhere between 1,000 and 1,600 men under Gabriel Wharton, with maybe a dozen guns. On March 2, 1865, Custer\u2019s cavalry division caught up with what was left of it, dug in west of Waynesboro along the South River.3<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n Battle of Waynesboro, March 2, 1865<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Early left his left flank hanging in open air, betting the woods there would slow the Federals down. They didn\u2019t. Custer sent men through those same woods, rolled up the flank, and the whole position came apart in a matter of minutes. Union reports claimed over a thousand prisoners, every gun Early had, most of his wagons, and more than a dozen battle flags against nine total Union casualties. Early himself barely got out, riding for Rockfish Gap with a handful of staff. Lee never gave him another command.<\/p>\n That\u2019s the mess Baldwin is trying to clean up in the letter below, written twenty-five days later. Baldwin is figuring out where Early\u2019s scattered ordnance officers ended up, who\u2019s in charge of what\u2019s left, and how to get a functioning department stood back up out of the wreckage.<\/p>\n Editor\u2019s Note: <\/strong>This letter is preserved on two consecutive leaves of Baldwin\u2019s Compiled Military Service Record, and reads in normal page order (unlike another letter from the same file, covering Hatcher\u2019s Run and Five Forks, where the leaves are reversed). It was written twenty-five days after the Battle of Waynesboro (March 2, 1865), in which Custer\u2019s cavalry routed the remnant of Jubal Early\u2019s command. Several names in the letter are difficult to make out with full confidence and are marked in brackets below; readers with access to the original images are encouraged to double-check them.<\/em><\/p>\n Ordnance Office, March 27th, 1865.<\/p>\n Colonel,<\/p>\n I have yours of 21st inst. [Sad?] disaster at Waynesboro. I have several times written and telegraphed you care of Genl. Early. That you have not heard from me I presume is attributable to your separation from Genl. Early and the interruption of communication. Genl. Early has gone to S.W. Virginia and is probably at Wytheville tonight. So soon as you have made arrangements to secure what you can at Staunton, Waynesboro, and Charlottesville you had better repair to Lynchburg and put yourself in communication with Genl. Early \u2014 assuming in the meantime control of the Ordnance matters at that point without interference with the Depot of the Ordnance Bureau, in charge of Capt. [Getty?].<\/p>\n Genl. Early is still in command of the Dept. of East Tenn. and S.W. Virginia, and it is important that you should proceed to organize the Ord. Dept. of that command as soon as possible. Capt. Gregory has reported to Genl. Long, who is now in command of the Artillery between the James and Appomattox Rivers. All the wagons of Gregory\u2019s train and of the Reserve train and Corps now in S.W. Va. have been ordered to report to me at Buckingham C.H. Capt. Grattan has not yet reported \u2014 Genl. Hampton having applied for him, he has been ordered to report to him in N.C.<\/p>\n Early has now about 5000 mounted men and 800 infantry. About 500 of Wharton\u2019s men have turned up in S.W. Va. I would not delay in Staunton. Let Major [Kasdaepl?] and Lt. Zimmer gather up your debris and do you proceed above to Lynchburg. I have ordered a quantity of ammunition to [Getty?] at Lynchburg, for fear of interruption of communication, but in the absence of any advices from Early or [word illegible] from any Ord. Officers am at a loss to know what the command needs.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Very Respectfully,<\/p>\n Your Obt Servt<\/p>\n Briscoe G. Baldwin<\/strong><\/p>\n Lt. Col., Chf. of Ord.<\/em><\/p>\n Addressed to Col. [McClellan?], Chief of Ordnance, Staunton, Va., via Lynchburg.<\/em>4<\/a><\/sup>. 27 Mar. 1865. Compiled Military Service Record of Briscoe G. Baldwin, Confederate Officers, 1861\u20131865, Record Group 109, National Archives and Records Administration. Fold3, www.fold3.com\/file\/66213676.]<\/p>\n Original Images from Fold3.com<\/strong><\/p>\n Page 83 of Briscoe\u2019s CMSR:<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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