The Confederate States of America Marine Corps history saved by this man:Richard Taylor Allison

RICHARD TAYLOR ALLISON was born in Jefferson County, Kentucky on June 6, 1823. The son of Captain John S. Allison USA and the nephew of President Zachary Taylor, he was appointed Purser in the U.S. Navy on October 30, 1849. Allison served onboard the USS Benicia and the USS Princeton until he was transfered to service onboard the USS Macedonia, were he accompanied Commodore Matthew C. Perry's expedition to Japan in 1852. On May 7, 1859, Allison was appointed Paymaster at the Washington Navy Yard.
   At the outbreak of the Civil War with him being a native Kentuckian, he tendered his resignation from the U.S.Navy on April 20, 1861, but remained on duty until May 1st  at the request of Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles. Allison then left for Richmond, VA where he telegraphed CSA President Jefferson Davis at Montgomery, Alabama offering his services to the Confederacy. Summond to Montgomery, he accepted an appointment as Major and Paymaster of the Confederate States Marine Corps, moving to Richmond and remaining there on station until the evacuation in 1865.
   Though out of town from time to time during the War, Allison was in Richmond in April 1865, leaving there on April 2nd and making his way to North Carolina. With his baggage was included most of the remaining CSMC records which he saved from being ultimately burned and destroyed by the conquering Union troops. Very little written evidence of the CSMC had survived the War intact, and Allison's cache of records ensured that the history of the CSMC would be preserved for future study. He surrendered as a part of the command of General Joseph E. Johnston,CSA and was paroled at Greensboro as of April 28, 1865.
   In time, Allison moved to Maryland where he became the Clerk of the Superior Court of Baltimore, serving for many years.
   Stemming from a prolific family, his uncle, Brigadier General Joseph Pannell Taylor and two cousins, Lt. Colonel John McLean Taylor and Colonel Joseph Hancock Taylor fought for the Union during the Civil War. Two other cousins, Lt. General Richard Taylor and Albert Seaton Berry both fought for the Confederacy. Married three times, one of Allison's wives was Maria Key Taney, the daughter of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Roger B. Taney.

Shown here from my personal collection is a legal document signed by Richard Taylor Allison in 1883 while acting as Clerk of the Supreme Court of Baltimore,MD.
   Very few people have ever heard of the Confederate States Marine Corps, though it played a considerable role in the military history of the CSA . It's existence is still often disputed by historians. If Allison had not salvaged the last remaining records of this organization and safeguarded them until his surrender in 1865, it is quite possible that the history of the CSMC may have been lost to obscurity, as was their savior Major Richard Taylor Allison, CSMC (ex-USN).