A group of two (2) documents signed by Confederate Brigadier General Birkett D. Fry (1822-1891). Documents include: 

1. Requisition for Clothing. Partly printed document. Signed by Birkett D. Fry. Augusta, Georgia, 12 October 1864. 1 page, 12 3/4 x 8 in. Docketed to verso. 

2. Special Requisition. Partly printed document. Signed by Birkett D. Fry, Maj. H.T. Massingal, Commanding Colonel George W. Rains. 1 page, 4to, 8 x 10 1/8 in. Docketed to verso. 

Both documents, signed the same day, were for clothing requisition. The first, and more standard, called for clothes and blankets for "patients in hospital," each listed below with their name, regiment and company, and rank, followed by what they received. 

Notably, the second document is a special requisition for a more unusual situation. The General has requested jackets, pants, shirts, and drawers for "13 Free Negro Comnscripts having been Enrolled and turned over for duty at Government Powder Works." 

George Washington Rains (1817-1898), the brother of Confederate General Gabriel Rains, was a graduate of West Point who ranked first in scientific studies. At the beginning of the Civil War, he was given the directive to construct a powder mill "of sufficient magnitude to supply the armies in the field and the artillery of the forts and coastal defenses." He chose Augusta for the complex and was producing powder by April 1862. The mill was operated almost entirely by a large enslaved workforce, with some white workers employed in the majority of skilled positions.

With the approach of Sherman's army, however, the Conscription Bureau routinely poached the white laborers for the army. This document, signed by Rains amid the labor crisis, conscripts 13 "free Negroes." Their names and fates are unknown; however, they may have filled the skilled roles that were increasingly filled by Black laborers in late 1864. 

Both documents are signed by Confederate Brigadier General Birkett D. Fry (1822-1891), who saw extensive service in the Eastern Theater. He was wounded at Seven Pines, Antietam, Chancellorsville, and, finally, at Pickett's Charge during the Battle of Gettysburg, where he was also captured. After his exchange, he was promoted to general in May 1864. 

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