"Special Muster Roll"?

[M24 Chaffee]

I recently ordered and received the compiled service record of a civil war soldier from the National Archives. It included the company muster rolls. One is titled "Special Muster Roll". It's dated April 10 th 1863. I have searched but cannot find the meaning or significance of the Special Muster Roll. I see that many soldiers have this in their records. Can anyone tell me what this is? Thanks for any help!

 

Frank

[JBFloyd]

Muster rolls were prepared monthly to account for the presence/absence of the men assigned. This met a number of administrative requirements (payroll, supply accounts, etc), as well as the obvious one of determining who was actually there. Special musters were simply out-of-cycle musters. They may have been done after a major action, after the unit moved to a new location, after a unit consolidation (transfer in or out of a large number of men), or simply when the commander ordered that it be done.

[M24 Chaffee]

Muster rolls were prepared monthly to account for the presence/absence of the men assigned. This met a number of administrative requirements (payroll, supply accounts, etc), as well as the obvious one of determining who was actually there. Special musters were simply out-of-cycle musters. They may have been done after a major action, after the unit moved to a new location, after a unit consolidation (transfer in or out of a large number of men), or simply when the commander ordered that it be done.

 

Thank you JB!