Well, score a "gotcha" on my aging memory banks. I distinctly recall reading about the burning of War Department records, which apparently wasn't in Jones' book as I thought. Maybe it was in Putnam's or DeLeon's. If I can find the reference, I'll post the title and page numbers.

What Volume II of Jones' book did specifically mention was the burning of the files of the Second Auditor's Office, which was tragic enough. The Second Auditor's Office was the branch that handled the records of deceased soldiers. Some of those records survived the war, but most apparently did not. The files included such things as date and place of death, valuation and disposition of the dead soldier's personal effects, and (most importantly to researchers) correspondence, certifications and receipts of payments to the deceased soldier's survivors, usually widows, sometimes fathers or mothers. The records which did survive the war are a treasure-trove of information.

Notwithstanding the order to preserve the Department's records, the many descriptions of the evacuation of Richmond portray a scene of utter chaos. Large portions of the city were accidentally set ablaze. It's amazing that any records survived.