Alan Pitts
Confederate military law
Fri Feb 2 14:06:08 2001


We'd all be well served to understand the military laws which governed consolidation. Perhaps Mr. Martin or some other knowledgable person can produce that. It appears that all prior unit assignments were voided, and that a board of review constituted for each proposed consolidated command determined who the new field, staff and company officers would be. Officers absent from their units were dropped, and surplus officers were labeled 'supernummary'. Some surrendered under that designation. They seemed to have authority to commission enlisted men and reassign officers without respect to their previous command. For instance, company officers of Co. "G", consolidated 37th Alabama could've come from any other regiment, even though the men came from Cos. "B" and "D", 42nd Alabama. I'd like to see the law and learn what the guidelines were.

Keep in mind that they affected all Confederate commands. Forrest reorganzied his cavalry along these lines in February of 1865. Mississippi cavalry went to one new division, Tennessee cavalry went to another, and Alabama cavalry were supposed to be reorganzied under Abraham Buford. Buford's proposed division never got off the ground because Clanton and Roddey never reported.

You're an attorney; where should we look for the text of CSA military laws?






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