Confederate Brevets ????

[samgrant]

I found this in a Wikipedia entry on Ashbel Smith:

"While commanding Company C at the Battle of Shiloh in 1863, Smith received a severe arm injury and was cited for gallantry, along with the rest of his company. For his bravery, Smith was brevetted a Colonel and was given command of the Second Texas Infantry."

Is this just some Wikipedia junk, or did maybe Texas units have their own brevet system? This is the first time I've ever seen a reference to a Confederate brevet, and I have believed that there was no such thing.

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[gary]

I've heard of something similar. The difficulty is that the Confederate Congress had to approve of the appointment and sometimes the communication between Richmond and the Trans-Mississippi was less than ideal. Other times an individual was given the position and title and waiting for confirmation from Richmond.

[ole]

It was my understanding as well that there were no Confederate brevets. Perhaps he was given a field promotion pending confirmation and the correspondent couldn't think of what else to call it?

ole

[larry_cockerham]

Gary briefly mentioned early about the thin communication between the western theatre and Richmond. That was an overall malady of the Confederacy. Remember that Confederate leaders (soldiers) were largely elected by popular vote or appointment by governors. The percentage of military trained or experienced officers must have been much lower in the Confederacy. Nat Forrest, for example, was a street brawler, alderman, slave trader, plantation ower and investor in railroads. What he learned about the military came from trial and error. Such was the case for many Confederates. Yes, a few, like Rob Lee had a little schoolin and a few year's experience, but not all.