Vouchers, abstracts, and volumes used to substantiate Wisconsin's claim against the United States for reimbursement of monies the state expended to raise and equip troops during the Civil War. Wisconsin's claims were not settled until 1903 when it was awarded $460,436.20. (See Governor La Follette's message, 1903.)
The expenditures, which were primarily incurred in 1861 before the federalization of the war effort and which were chiefly expenditures from the War Fund, were made by the Governor, the Quartermaster General, the Commissary General, and the Paymaster General. (The role of the Secretary of State in these negotiations is not apparent from the records. It is likely that they came to the Historical Society from the Secretary of State as a result of that office's early function as the state archives.)
The vouchers are transcriptions of information from original records created by those offices, arranged here by office and by voucher number. The record books include a detailed wartime compilation of the state's claims giving voucher number, name, a brief description of each expenditure, and the amount claimed. Two additional volumes detail the differences between Wisconsin and the U.S. Treasurer over the reimbursement amount. Volume 2, which is undated, contains a voucher level explanation of why the federal government disallowed or suspended some payments and the state's response. Notable in this volume is “Abstract A” (p. 99), a sixteen-page policy statement prepared by Governor Lucius Fairchild, circa 1866, commenting on the state claims. His account is an excellent account of the state's mobilization efforts in 1861 and Wisconsin's wartime relationship with the federal government. Volume 3, which was presented to the Historical Society with the Fairchild Estate, contains a detailed breakdown of claims, circa 1865, and a statement of monies due the state. Volume 4 is a recapitulation of differences in 1972.
