Alan J. Pitts
The best title for this story is.....
Tue Apr 17 13:20:00 2001


A minor correction to the way we phrased things earlier. The rank and title for a regimental commissary was Captain and Assistant Commissary (A.C.S.); a regimental quartermaster was Captain and Assistant Quartermaster (A.Q.M.). Someone acting in that position was an A.A.C.S. or an A.A.Q.M. Brigade commissaries and quartermasters held the rank of major and were annotated as C.S. or Q.M. You will see assistant commissaries and quartermasters at the brigade level in the absence of regularly assigned staff officers or later in the war when Congress evidently allowed an additional officer to serve on brigade staffs. You may also see someone at the rank of Capt. & A.Q.M. serving as paymaster, usually at the division level. There were also captains (A.C.S. & A.Q.M.) on duty at military posts who had a variety of functions that are too numerous to list here. I should add that the Conscript Act of Feb. 17, 1864 authorized a complete line of A.C.S. captains to oversee tax-in-kind operations from the county level up.

Of course the rank for regimental adjutant was 1st Lieutenant. For some reason there were two officers to carry out his duties at the brigade level. These were the Assistant Adjutant General (A.A.G.) and Assistant Inspector General (A.I.G.) They held the rank of captain. Sometimes in their absence an Aide-de-Camp (A.D.C., rank = 1st Lieutenant) carried out these function. Adjutants were the only staff officers to exercise field command under any circumstances. Sometimes you see company officers who have been appointed to fill these positions on an acting basis.

Hayes mentioned ordnance officers (O.O.) who held the reank of 1st Lieutenant. I've never seen anyone in an Alabama or Alabama-related command commissioned below the brigade level. When you can find them, those record are of great interest because they will clearly say what kinds of arms are being issued and/or returned from field units. Sometimes you see that kind of information filed under a regimental sergeant, but it's infrequent. The ordnance sergeant of Scott's 12th Louisiana exercised that function for Buford's (later Scott's) Brigade, and I'd like to see his records. More on that some other time.

Each regiment had a Surgeon and an Assistant Surgeon with the rank of major and captain, respectively. They are never referenced with regard to rank (major or captain) like commissaries or quartmasters. The senior surgeon of a brigade usually was assigned to duty as hte chief medical officer of a brigade, but I cannot recall a case in which a senior medical officer was relieved from duty with his regiment to accept this post. Of course medical officers could be assigned to duty at various hospitals or command posts anywhere in the Confederacy.

The office of chaplain appears to have been created almost as an afterthought an I'm unaware of any rank associated with this position. Unlike other staff positions, there was no office in Richmond for chaplains, and no position authorized for them above the regimental level. I've seen a number of references to officers and men who mention service as chaplins, but they often appear to have held a nominal position rather than an appointive one.

Ensigns are interesting because of their position as regimental color bearer. Records usually include a nomination by the senior officer of their command, which details something about the man being appoiinted and his previous service. Often he had been serving as a color sergeant and the battles in which he carried the flag are named.

One day a week I have the opportunity to read with a second-grade child in an inner-city school. In one of our weekly exercises, I read a short story followed by a set of questions about the story. As I've been writing about P.A.C.S. staff officers, I'm prompted to ask the first question, which is always, "The best title for this story is:"

Any suggestions?