Series VIII: Selective Service and Volunteers, 1917-1921, 1925

Scope and content:

Following the draft into federal service and mobilization of the Virginia National Guard for Mexican Border Service and later war against Germany in 1917, a need arose to create a new militia force in Virginia. By order of Governor Henry C. Stuart, Adjutant General W.W. Sale issued a form letter authorizing the immediate formation of Home Defense organizations to be known as "Virginia State Volunteers" to serve during "the emergency." Two classes of Home Defense Organizations were created consisting of the Virginia State Volunteers and Virginia Home Guard. Lt. Col. Jo Lane Stern, State Inspector, was assigned the duty of organizing these volunteers. Companies of Virginia Volunteers were raised throughout the state including two battalions of infantry and over twenty individual companies. After the signing of the Armistice, most of these units disbanded or mustered out by 1920, although three companies passed over into the National Guard.

The Selective Service and Volunteers series is housed in 16 boxes and 11 oversize folders and is arranged into four (4) subseries. Subseries have been designated for induction lists, Virginia State Volunteers, Virginia Home Guard and miscellaneous materials. This series provides an overview of Virginia Home Defense Organizations and information on the Selective Service procedures in the commonwealth.

The Induction Lists subseries is housed in 5 boxes and 11 oversized folders and is arranged by locality (county and then city). The induction lists include the name of soldier or sailor, race, and date of induction. Some lists also include home address, army or navy service number, and date and cause of discharge from military. In addition there are a small number of correspondence between the Virginia Adjutant General's Office and local draft boards related to the enlistment and discharge of specific soldiers and sailors.

The Virginia State Volunteers subseries is housed in 4 boxes. The Virginia State Volunteers was organized for home defense during the First World War between 1917 and 1918. Records are arranged by locality and include manuscript histories of units (published in source volume 4, Virginia War Agencies, Selective Service and Volunteers, 1926) and correspondence between the Adjutant General's Office and the Volunteer units. The correspondence, arranged by date (1917-1921), includes inquiries on organizing a volunteer unit, applications to form a company, and orders from the Adjutant General. There are records for the following units: Albemarle Rifles, Bath Rifles, Blue Ridge Rifles, Peaks of Otter Rifles, Berryville Guards, Colonial Rifles, Blue Ridge Guard, Hanover Grays, Henry Guards, Russell Guards, Tazewell Rifles, Washington Rifles, Clinch Valley Rifles, Hopewell Rifles, Lynchburg State Guards, A.P. Hill Rifles, Petersburg Guards, Radford Home Guards, Richmond Light Infantry Blues, Richmond Grays, Richmond Howitzers, Jo Lane Stern Battalion, Valley Riflemen and Winchester State Guards.

The Virginia Home Guard subseries is housed in 3 boxes. The Virginia Home Guard were organized and controlled by local officials with the Adjutant General providing advice and guidance. The records of the Virginia Home Guard, arranged by locality, contain correspondence between individuals and the Adjutant General inquiring about forming Home Guard units. The majority of localities did not create Home Guard units. Notable records include a pamphlet containing the by-laws of the Alleghany Home Guard (City of Covington) and enlistment papers for the Danville Home Guard that list the name, address, date of enlistment, place of birth, age, occupation, color of eyes and hair, height, and marital status of each soldier.

The Miscellaneous Materials subseries is housed in 4 boxes and 1 oversize folder and contains miscellaneous selective service and draft materials. These records include: bulletins issued to local draft board by the Virginia Adjutant General's Office from 1917-1919 describing selective service/draft procedures, copies of federal publications on selective service, blank selective service forms and miscellaneous ephemera.

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