gives instructions to a captain of artillery whose company has just arrived from Boston. New London, 1776. The Quartermaster Corps is the U.S. Army's oldest logistics branch, established 16 June 1775. On that date, the
Second Continental Congress passed a resolution providing for "one
Quartermaster General of the grand army and a deputy, under him, for the separate army". In 1802 under President Thomas Jefferson the size of the US Army was reduced with the Quartermaster Department being disbanded. In its place the nation was divided into three departments, each with its own agent and subordinates who were responsible for quartermaster functions within each Department The Quartermaster Corps was re-established in 1812. From 1775 to 1912, this organization was known as the Quartermaster Department. In 1912, Congress consolidated the former Subsistence, Pay, and Quartermaster Departments to create the Quartermaster Corps. Quartermaster units and soldiers have served in every U.S. military operation from the
Revolutionary War to the
Iraq War (first U.S. phase, 2003-2011) and the
War in Afghanistan (2001-2021). In 1962 the responsibility for military heraldry was transferred from the Quartermaster Corps to the
United States Army Adjutant General's Corps. The
14th Quartermaster Detachment, a
U.S. Army Reserve unit from
Greensburg, Pennsylvania, suffered the greatest number of casualties of any allied unit in the
Gulf War from a
Scud missile attack on 25 February 1991.
Former functions Former functions and missions of the Quartermaster Corps were: • military transportation (given to the newly established
Army Transport Service during the
American Civil War and to the
Transportation Corps in 1942)* military construction (given to the
Corps of Engineers in the early 1940s) [https://web.archive.org/web/20060821220153/http://www.qmfound.com/former_missions.htm •
U.S. Army Remount Service horses/war dogs (military dog training given to
Corps of Military Police in 1951)
Notable casualties • Maj. Steve V. Long, a Quartermaster Officer who was serving as Secretary of the General Staff Office of the Commanding General U.S. Total Army Personnel Command, was one of the casualties of the
September 11 attacks when
American Airlines Flight 77 struck the Pentagon. • Several members of the
507th Maintenance Company were captured or killed in an ambush on 23 March 2003 during the
Iraq War: •
Sergeant Donald Walters, killed in action –
Silver Star recipient •
Specialist Edgar Hernandez, captured • Specialist
Shoshana Johnson, captured •
Private First Class Howard Johnson II, killed in action • Private First Class
Jessica Lynch, captured • Private First Class
Lori Piestewa, killed in action •
Private Brandon Sloan, killed in action • Private
Ruben Estrella-Soto, Jr, killed in action == Structure ==