Bryan Howerton
Outstanding Explanation
Tue Apr 17 11:17:20 2001


That's an outstanding explanation of the sometimes Byzantine commission and promotion practices of the Confederate army.

Regarding the elimination of the positions of regimental quartermaster and commissary, I recall reading something in a General Order from the A&IG about that. Regimental and (if I remember correctly) brigade quartermasters and commissaries were technically "Assistant" Quartermasters and "Assistant" Commissaries of Subsistence. They were considered to be assistants to, and subordinate to, the chief quartermaster and chief commissary of the field army to which the regiments and brigades were assigned. As the Confederate army began operating more and more on a field army basis, and as the component regiments became more or less permanently assigned to a specific field army, and as the army support staff became more professional and effective the regimental quartermaster and commissary staff positions became redundant. Since regiments rarely operated independently later in the war, there was perceived to be no need for quartermaster and commissary officers at that level. The more mundane functions that these officers used to perform (distribution, rationing and accounting for bullets and beans) were taken over by noncommissioned officers -- quartermaster sergeants and commissary sergeants. The bondable functions (purchasing supplies) were taken over by quartermasters and commissaries at higher command level.