In June of 1862, Quartermaster General, Montgomery C. Meigs, set in motion a series of events that would eventually lead to the development of the Quartermaster Manual. This hypothetical project would help standardize the specifications used on all Quartermaster items that were being created through the depots. Colonel George H. Crosman, Assistant Quartermaster General, was tasked with this enormous project. However, this project was never completed. With the end of the war, and already a huge surplus of equipment on their hands, the Manual was shelved.

After so many years of sitting on its shelf, gathering dust, the Quartermaster Manual has been found and reassembled in its most completed form. Editors Earl J. Coates and Frederick C. Gaede have compiled the entirety of the 1865 Quartermaster Manual to be presented to the public for the first time in a published format. Also included are a wide assortment of photographs, meticulously gathered to complement the information, as well as the complete collection of Quartermaster Photographs taken in 1866.

Frederick C. Gaede	Earl J. Coates