The OR project really was a marvel for its time, and if you compare earlier volumes with later volumes, you can see how the editors gradually worked out the protocols (for good or bad) that we are all so familiar with today. Once the decision was made to include both Union and Confederate documents, the real problem was convincing former Confederates to cooperate by loaning or giving whatever documents they had to the War Department. This was not a wildly popular idea in some parts of Dixie, but after the first volumes were published every one could see how even-handed the presentation was, and most former Confederates jumped at the chance to present their side of the story. The OR was regarded as "fair and balanced" from the start and that made all the diffference in the world.
The "godfather" of the OR was Henry Halleck. Grant placed him in charge of the occupation forces in Richmond right after Lee's surrender at Appomattox, and one of the first things Halleck did was to start collecting Confederate records. His initial impulse was to preserve anything that might link the Davis administration to the Lincoln assassination, but being the scholar that he was, Halleck soon realized that a true history of the Civil War could only be written if the whole documentary record was preserved. So he started boxing stuff up and shipping it to Washington, where it remains to this day. It is a fascinating story but unfortunately my memory banks are failing and I can't recall where I read about it.
The curse of the OR is that is has become a Bible for persons interested in the Civil War, but not everyone realizes that it is both imperfect and incomplete. I mentioned in my earlier post that I was fortunate enough to spend some time doing research in Washington (with you, the taxpayers, footing the bill, I hasten to add), but for most folks the original documents in the National Archives might as well be on Pluto.
Well, I don't mean to be downbeat. The OR Supplement helps to fill some gaps (though I agree that it is a disappointment) and the Confederate records from Columbia University are available on microfilm, so we in Arkansas have more to work with now then we did twenty years ago. And that is reflected in the quality of the posts that appear on this message board.