{"id":24,"date":"2006-12-04T08:04:49","date_gmt":"2006-12-04T13:04:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thehistoricalarchive.com\/happenings\/a-brief-history-of-the-quartermaster-corps\/"},"modified":"2007-01-10T15:47:50","modified_gmt":"2007-01-10T20:47:50","slug":"a-brief-history-of-the-quartermaster-corps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thehistoricalarchive.com\/happenings\/24\/a-brief-history-of-the-quartermaster-corps\/","title":{"rendered":"A Brief History of the Quartermaster Corps"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"896db7480f66673a7b164fbcd4905391\" data-index=\"1\" style=\"float: none; margin:10px 0 10px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\"><!--\r\ngoogle_ad_client = \"ca-pub-8134560547846945\";\r\n\/* 468x60 tha *\/\r\ngoogle_ad_slot = \"1487607395\";\r\ngoogle_ad_width = 468;\r\ngoogle_ad_height = 60;\r\n\/\/-->\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\"\r\nsrc=\"http:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/show_ads.js\">\r\n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n<p>The Quartermaster Corps is able to trace its origins to 16 June 1775. On that    day, following General Washington&#8217;s address command of the Army, the Second    Continental Congress passed a resolution providing for &#8220;one Quartermaster    General of the grand army and a deputy, under him, for the separate army.&#8221;    Major General Thomas Mifflin, the first Quartermaster General, had no money    to wrok with and overriding authority and was dependent upon the individual    states for supplies for the army. The third Quartermaster General, Major General    Nathanael Greene, reorganized the supply system after Valley Forge and established    the first depot system to supply the Army with the goods it needed to function    well. General Green is best known for his prowess as a battle leader but it    is his work as Quartermaster General that has been amongst the most important    innovations in the army.<\/p>\n<table width=\"216\" align=\"right\" style=\"height: 244px\">\n<tr>\n<td>\n<div align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thehistoricalarchive.com\/covers\/a73-76.jpg\" title=\"\" alt=\"\" \/><br clear=\"all\" \/>         <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thehistoricalarchive.com\/products\/World-War-II-Newsre-37.html\">World          War II Newsreels<br \/>\nFilm Collection<\/a><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<p>From 1818 to 1860, the Quartermaster General was BG Thomas Sidney Jesup. He    was a very capable administrator who took many steps to enhance the Corps&#8217; reputation.    During his 42-year tenure as head of the Quartermaster Department, he instituted    an improved system of property tracking and accountability. He also experimented    with new modes of transportation, including the use of canal boats in the east    and camel caravans in the desert southwest. He also worked some of the earliest    railroads. Because many of his policies remained in effect well into the 20th    century, Jesup is traditionally regarded as the &#8220;Father of the Quartermaster    Corps.&#8221; The supply of clothing and other items was taken over by the Quartermaster    Department in 1842, a little more than halfway through his tenure.<\/p>\n<p>During the Civil War, the Quatermaster Department was run under the capable    leadership of MG Montgomery C. Meigs. He supplied the Union Army of over half    a million strong, ran the Army&#8217;s first major depot system, and transported unprecedented    levels of supplies and personnel throughout the war. It was his efficient running    of the Quartermaster Department that helped win the war for the Union. Also,    in 1862, the Quartermaster Department assumed responsibility for the burial    of war dead and the care of the national cemeteries.<\/p>\n<p>In 1912, Congress consolidated the former Subsistence, Pay, and Quartermaster    Departments in order to create the Quartermaster Corps. While it has undergone    changes since then, what was created in 1912 is much as we know it today. It    is fully militarized with its own officers, soldiers, and units trained to perform    a host of supply and service functions on the battlefield. With this consolidation    came the missions of Subsistence and food service. And when the Army began purchasing    motorized vehicles, as early as 1903, the Quartermaster Corps naturally assumed    the new petroleum supply mission. Basically, anything that had to do with supplying    the troops anywhere in the world under any conditions was rapidly falling under    the pervue of the Quartermaster Corps.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thehistoricalarchive.com\/products\/World-War-I-Film-Li-35.html\">World War I<\/a> showed the increased importance of logistics in the modern era.    From necessity, the the first use of specialized Quartermaster units on the    Western Front were developed to ensure supply lines in foreign countries. Several    &#8220;logistics warriors&#8221; were also singled out for valor in World War    I and received the nation&#8217;s highest honors for bravery in battle.<\/p>\n<p>During <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thehistoricalarchive.com\/covers\/a73-76.jpg\">World War II,<\/a> the Quartermaster Corps trained thousands of soldiers    to fill specialized roles in every theater of operation-from the Pacific Isles    and China-Burma-India theater to North Africa, Italy, and central and northern    Europe. They performed heroically at such far off places as Bataan, Iwo Jima,    Leyete, Salerno, Anzio, Normandy, and Bastogne. At the height of the war, Quartermasters    were providing over 70,000 different supply items and more than 24 million meals    each day. When it was over, they had recovered and buried nearly a quarter of    a million soldiers in temporary cemeteries around the world. 4,943 Quartermaster    soldiers lost their lives in World War II.<\/p>\n<p>In 1950, the Quartermaster Corps moved swiftly to supply the United States    and their UN allies sent to defend South Korea from the Communist North. That    same year the Corps assumed a new mission-supply by air-which often proved crucial    to the sustainment of troops on the Korean peninsula.<\/p>\n<p>The 1965 decision to commit major United States combat forces to the Republic    of Vietnam led to a massive logistics buildup. Quartermaster Corps personnel    were deeply involved in meeting this challenge. They could be found operating    in every area of Vietnam, furnishing vital supplies and services often under    the most adverse and dangerous conditions.<\/p>\n<p>Over the past decade, Quartermaster soldiers have been amongst the first deployed    in operations Urgent Fury (Grenada) and Just Cause (Panama). They also provided    the logistic support needed to defeat Iraqi forces during Operation Desert Storm.    More recently Quartermasters have provided humanitarian relief to victims at    home (hurricanes Andrew and Iniki) and abroad (Operations Provide Comfort, Restore    Hope, Provide Promise, and Uphold Democracy).<\/p>\n<p>Over the course of history quartermasters have performed a variety of tasks    that match the evolution of the army. They have served as mule skinners, dog    trainers, teamsters, bakers, launderers, typewriter specialists, shoe repairmen,    depot operators, heraldry experts, paymasters, cemeterial custodians&#8211;and in    other capacities too numerous to mention. In fact, the Quartermaster Corps is    the most diverse branch of the army based on the many functions they provided    throughout their history. But despite all the changes, the fundamental mission    of the Corps has stayed the same: it is to support the individual combat soldier    in the field.<\/p>\n<p>No other branch of the Army can claim to have participated in so many missions,    either historically or at the present.<\/p>\n<p>No other branch of the Army touches the live of soldiers on a daily basis as    much as the Quartermaster Corps. This has been the case since its inception    in 1775.<\/p>\n\n<div style=\"font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 0px; margin: 0; padding: 0; clear: both;\"><\/div><iframe src=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/like.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thehistoricalarchive.com%2Fhappenings%2F24%2Fa-brief-history-of-the-quartermaster-corps%2F&amp;layout=standard&amp;show_faces=true&amp;width=450&amp;action=like&amp;colorscheme=light\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowTransparency=\"true\" style=\"border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px;margin-top:5px;\"><\/iframe>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Quartermaster Corps is able to trace its origins to 16 June 1775. On that day, following General Washington&#8217;s address command of the Army, the Second Continental Congress passed a resolution providing for &#8220;one Quartermaster General of the grand army and a deputy, under him, for the separate army.&#8221; Major General Thomas Mifflin, the first [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thehistoricalarchive.com\/happenings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thehistoricalarchive.com\/happenings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thehistoricalarchive.com\/happenings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehistoricalarchive.com\/happenings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehistoricalarchive.com\/happenings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehistoricalarchive.com\/happenings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thehistoricalarchive.com\/happenings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehistoricalarchive.com\/happenings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehistoricalarchive.com\/happenings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}