The United States Army Quartermaster Department (1775-present, reorganized and known from 1912 on as the Quartermaster Corps) is responsible for the transportation of supplies to the Army. During the Civil War, the Quartermaster Dept. supplied the Union Army with ordinance, horses, food, personnel and other necessities by railway, wagon and ironclad river boats. The Battle of Harper's Ferry centered around the capture of the Union supply camp in September 1862 by the Confederate Army (led by Maj. General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson). Harper's Ferry was later retaken by the Union army.
Perley P. Pitkin served as chief depot quartermaster for the Union Army at Harper's Ferry after the battle, and at other supply stations later on such as Belle Plain and Brandy Station.
From the guide to the United States Army Quartermaster Records, 1862-1864, (Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries)
