Historic California Militia and National Guard Units

Jamestown Guard

 

Military Unit Designation: Jamestown Guard, Company D, 1st Infantry Battalion, 3rd Brigade, California Militia
Date of Organization: September 29, 1862
Date of Disbanding: August 9, 1866

Inclusive dates of units papers: 1862-1866
Geographical Location or Locations: Jamestown, Tuolumne County

 

Unit papers on file at the California State Archives:

a. Organization Papers: 1 document (1862)
b. Bonds: 1 document (1864)
c. Correspondence (Unclassified letters): 23 documents (1862-1864)
d. Election Returns: 7 documents (1863-1866)
e. Exempt Certificates, Applications for: none
f. Muster Rolls, Monthly returns: 7 documents (1862-1866)
g. Oaths Qualifications: 14 documents (1862-1864)
h. Orders: none
i. Receipts, invoices: 5 documents (1862-1866)
j. Requisitions: 1 document (1862)
k. Resignations: 1 document (1863)
l. Target Practice Reports: none
m. Other: none

Commanding Officers

Name	Date of Rank	Date of Commission	Remarks
Washington Bruce, Captain	29 September 1862	9 August 1862
Alvin Woodward, First Lieutenant	29 September 1862	9 August 1862
Alvin Woodward,, Captain	18 April 1863	2 May 1863
L. T. Slonickes, First Lieutenant	18 April 1863	2 May 1863	Resigned 27 August 1863
Parden B. Smith, Captain	27 August 1863	8 September 1863
Gustavus Lealand, First Lieutenant	27 August 1863	8 September 1863

Official History:

 

In Jamestown, Tuolumne County on September 29, 1862, a group of public spirited citizens formed a volunteer military unit known as the Jamestown Guard, Company D. They elected for their Captain one of the towns leading citizens, Washington Bruce, who later joined the Regular United States Army for service in the Civil War.

The purpose of forming the Jamestown Guard was a desire on the part of the residents to protect Tuolumne County from the Secessionist element that was so strong in that vicinity . It was not until nearly a year after they were organized however, that .the State sent the company's arms. This was not due to any lack of co-operation on the part of the Adjutant General's Office but a desire to make sure of the loyalty of every man on the company Muster Roll before arming them. With the close of the Civil War, the need for militia companies, as not as imperative.

 

Therefore, in 1866, when a new military system was established whereby companies were either mustered out of service or reorganized and retained in the National Guard, the Jamestown Guard was one of those units that were mustered out of the service of the State of California August 9, 1866.

This history was completed in 1940 by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in conjunction with the California National Guard and the California State Library.

 

 

 

 

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Updated 8 February 2016