Another question about brevet ranks

[Stryker65]

Did brevet ranks have to be "activated" in order to apply? I've seen multiple instances now of brevet-brigadiers serving under ordinary colonels and brevet-MGs serving under ordinary BGs -- when coupled with the General Orders I've seen of "BG ___ is assigned to duty according to his brevet rank", does this mean that the brevet rank didn't apply until an order "activated" the brevet? It would explain how a lieutenant colonel brevetted BG could still serve under an ordinary colonel without a brevet.

 

[Dan Kohli]

The brevet doesn't need to be activated. It's more of a way to indicate that the individual is theoretically capable of filling that role temporarily if need be. In other words it's a promotion that's not a real promotion.

 

[13 IL Cav & 64 GA Inf]

Did brevet ranks have to be "activated" in order to apply? I've seen multiple instances now of brevet-brigadiers serving under ordinary colonels and brevet-MGs serving under ordinary BGs -- when coupled with the General Orders I've seen of "BG ___ is assigned to duty according to his brevet rank", does this mean that the brevet rank didn't apply until an order "activated" the brevet? It would explain how a lieutenant colonel brevetted BG could still serve under an ordinary colonel without a brevet.

Very good question, @Stryker65. I would have assumed that the brevet rank occurred/was assigned because of a need, and I too am surprised that breveted officers served under officers of lower non-breveted rank. I will watch carefully, hoping that someone knows the answer to your question.

 

[Stryker65]

The brevet doesn't need to be activated. It's more of a way to indicate that the individual is theoretically capable of filling that role temporarily if need be. In other words it's a promotion that's not a real promotion.

But in the case of temporarily filling that role, then the brevet would be "activated" via General Order, would it not? If the theoretical became the actual?

 

[RedRover]

Did brevet ranks have to be "activated" in order to apply? I've seen multiple instances now of brevet-brigadiers serving under ordinary colonels and brevet-MGs serving under ordinary BGs -- when coupled with the General Orders I've seen of "BG ___ is assigned to duty according to his brevet rank", does this mean that the brevet rank didn't apply until an order "activated" the brevet? It would explain how a lieutenant colonel brevetted BG could still serve under an ordinary colonel without a brevet.

Yes. brevet rank only applied in certain circumstances. Holding a brevet rank did not absolve one of acting/filling their lineal rank in the line. In certain circumstances the authority of the President was employed to determine when a brevet rank was to be exercised and recognized generally.

From the US Army Regulations, paragraphs 7 and 11 below. In 7, last sentence, viz. lineal rank trumps brevets in the field on marches, guard, quarters etc. and when different corps of the army are combined, unless "otherwise specially excepted" by the President's authority... From 11, somewhat the same...

...

An example is Col. Henry A. Morrow of the 24th Michigan with the Iron Brigade. He was awarded a brevet of brigadier general of volunteers in August, 1864, and specially assigned by the President to act under it to command the brigade.

Without that special assignment, the brigade would have otherwise been commanded by the senior colonel by lineal rank.

 

[Dan Kohli]

But in the case of temporarily filling that role, then the brevet would be "activated" via General Order, would it not? If the theoretical became the actual?

They still could use the title and uniform of their brevet under certain circumstances outside acting as that rank. Additionally activate seems like the wrong term, although a better one is currently escaping me.

 

[RedRover]

....Additionally activate seems like the wrong term, although a better one is currently escaping me.

I does seem so. Considering there was nothing theoretical about brevet rank. It was a "commissioned" rank one either held or didn't irrespective of its exercise in actual command positions or pay, etc.

But as mentioned it was limited in actual exercise. One way it was put in the 1860s, a brevet rank was a commission somewhat "at large" in the Army in contrast to a standard commissioned rank within the line and staff organization of the Army:

And in certain circumstances by common regulations, or by express command of the President, these at large "brevet" commissions were favored over other commission held by the same officer.

In General Hunt's legal case, post-war, the US Supreme Court found that a rank of "brevet brigadier general" and a "brigadier general" were equal, but distinct in "position," and as the latter had a position in the line and staff of the Army's organization, was "favored" where a brevet rank was not expressly favored.

Considering the enormous number of brevet commissions during the war, post-war almost every Regular officer held one, sometimes several grades higher than their actual rank, reform was necessary, and from 1870 the effects of holding a brevet commission were curtailed significantly, and officers acting under other commissions were constrained to reference them only in their signatures...

Here's a Brevet commission of Major General to Col. Mortimer Leggett of the 78th Ohio Volunteers:

 

[Stryker65]

The initial reasons I had for making the posts were the following:
- Lt. Col. Andrew J. Alexander, chief of staff to corps commander James H. Wilson, was assigned via his brevet of Brig. Gen. to command a cavalry brigade over three full-bird colonels;
- Lt. Col. William T. Clark, AAG to army commander Oliver O. Howard, was assigned via his brevet of Brig. Gen. to command an infantry brigade of five regiments over its one (senior) colonel;
- Capt. Gilbert H. McKibbin, AAG to corps commander Godfrey Weitzel, was assigned via his brevet of Brig. Gen. to command an infantry brigade of four regiments, superseding the senior colonel.

 

[RedRover]

The initial reasons I had for making the posts were the following:
- Lt. Col. Andrew J. Alexander, chief of staff to corps commander James H. Wilson, was assigned via his brevet of Brig. Gen. to command a cavalry brigade over three full-bird colonels;
- Lt. Col. William T. Clark, AAG to army commander Oliver O. Howard, was assigned via his brevet of Brig. Gen. to command an infantry brigade of five regiments over its one (senior) colonel;
- Capt. Gilbert H. McKibbin, AAG to corps commander Godfrey Weitzel, was assigned via his brevet of Brig. Gen. to command an infantry brigade of four regiments, superseding the senior colonel.

Ultimately, in such cases it was about getting the right men for the job in the right place. Brevets could be handy for that. For example McKibbin's case...

 

[Saphroneth]

My understanding is that Brevet rank applies to the following circumstances:

1) When you are NOT acting as your "permanent slot" in the army.

That means that if the 1st US Infantry is deployed as a unit, then it doesn't matter if 1st Lt. Muggins of D company is also a brevet brigadier general - he's 1st Lt. of D company of the 1st US infantry, and so when he's with it then he is doing the 1st Lt. job. He is a 1st Lt and draws the pay of a 1st Lt, because that is what the regiment has the budget for.

However, if Muggins is sent to garrison Fort Whatever along with an entire brigade of volunteers, then he outranks them and is thus the commander of the brigade - he is not acting as 1st Lt. Muggins of D Company of the 1st US Infantry, and so he is Brigadier General Muggins and you will call him sir. He also draws the associated pay.



2) When promotions become available.

Promotions to permanent slots come strictly by seniority, but brevets count for this. So if the colonel of the 1st US Infantry dies unexpectedly, then 1st Lt. Muggins is in luck - unless there's another brevet BG in the unit, he can leapfrog the entire command structure and become the new colonel.

This changes post civil war because there were absolutely ridiculous number of brevet generals piled into the permanent slots.

 

[67th Tigers]

Red Rover is correct. The President may assign an officer to a duty in either his regimental (permanent) rank or his brevet rank.

Hence, Bvt MG Wool considered he was the senior MG of the Army, and he was General-in-Chief by right. He had been assigned to command the Dept of Virginia in his brevet rank, and was signing himself as a Major-General.

However, his argument that he was thus the senior major-general was not accepted. His brevet only counted specifically for the duty he was being assigned to, and not to the Army as a whole.

Wool made an argument that he shouldn't have to accept orders from McClellan. This is not true, as the regulations of 1857 defined under article II:

"In case of equality of rank by virtue of a brevet commission, reference is had to commissions not brevet."

Thus regardless of being assigned to duty in a brevet rank, officers with brevet rank acting in said rank have seniority after all officers with substantive rank. Wool was thus the junior major-general in the regular army* at the time.

* Remembering that rank in the regular army is always senior to rank in the volunteer force. On Halleck's appointed to be a MG (19th August 1861), there were 9 MG's and seniority went:

1. MG (Bvt LG) Scott
2. MG McClellan
3. MG Fremont
4. Acting MG Halleck (appointment confirmed 6th February 1862)
5. BG (Bvt MG) Wool
6. MG(V) Dix
7. MG(V) Banks
8. MG(V) Butler
9. Acting MG(V) Hunter (I have never found a confirmation by the Senate for the rank)

 

[gary]

Brevent ranks were honorary and while you can hold a post accorded to a soldier of that rank (brevet brigadier general could command a bigade), the pay grade was that of one's permanent rank.

BTW, post-war George Armstrong Custer was still addressed as General even though his permanent rank was Lieutenant-Colonel.

Brevet horses (mules) and brevet turkeys (turkey-vultures) received neither their due respect nor pay.

The wierd one was Hiram Berdan. It was a United States Service but his sharpshooters were still seen as volunteers. His line officers received state commissions but who issued the field officers' commissions?

 

[Saphroneth]

Brevent ranks were honorary

This is a change that takes place after the civil war; before the Civil War, brevet ranks were substantive but simply didn't apply under certain circumstances. In your example, a brevet BG commanding a brigade would draw pay as a BG while commanding a brigade; while acting as his permanent rank in his unit, he would draw pay as per his permanent rank.

 

[Dan Kohli]

I does seem so. Considering there was nothing theoretical about brevet rank. It was a "commissioned" rank one either held or didn't irrespective of its exercise in actual command positions or pay, etc.

View attachment 568720

But as mentioned it was limited in actual exercise. One way it was put in the 1860s, a brevet rank was a commission somewhat "at large" in the Army in contrast to a standard commissioned rank within the line and staff organization of the Army:

View attachment 568714

And in certain circumstances by common regulations, or by express command of the President, these at large "brevet" commissions were favored over other commission held by the same officer.

In General Hunt's legal case, post-war, the US Supreme Court found that a rank of "brevet brigadier general" and a "brigadier general" were equal, but distinct in "position," and as the latter had a position in the line and staff of the Army's organization, was "favored" where a brevet rank was not expressly favored.

View attachment 568718

Considering the enormous number of brevet commissions during the war, post-war almost every Regular officer held one, sometimes several grades higher than their actual rank, reform was necessary, and from 1870 the effects of holding a brevet commission were curtailed significantly, and officers acting under other commissions were constrained to reference them only in their signatures...

View attachment 568719

Here's a Brevet commission of Major General to Col. Mortimer Leggett of the 78th Ohio Volunteers:

View attachment 568723

Thanks, I needed to review and reread the regs.

 

[RedRover]

My understanding is that Brevet rank applies to the following circumstances:

1) When you are NOT acting as your "permanent slot" in the army.

That means that if the 1st US Infantry is deployed as a unit, then it doesn't matter if 1st Lt. Muggins of D company is also a brevet brigadier general - he's 1st Lt. of D company of the 1st US infantry, and so when he's with it then he is doing the 1st Lt. job. He is a 1st Lt and draws the pay of a 1st Lt, because that is what the regiment has the budget for.

Correct.

And indeed officers were paid relative to a brevet rank, only when it was actually exercised

However, if Muggins is sent to garrison Fort Whatever along with an entire brigade of volunteers, then he outranks them and is thus the commander of the brigade - he is not acting as 1st Lt. Muggins of D Company of the 1st US Infantry, and so he is Brigadier General Muggins and you will call him sir. He also draws the associated pay.

Only if the President instructed that Muggins' was to act by his brevet.

Or acts under his brevet rank in the routine conditions of assignment, court martials, or detached (as in special) service with commands composed of different corps.

2) When promotions become available.

Promotions to permanent slots come strictly by seniority, but brevets count for this. So if the colonel of the 1st US Infantry dies unexpectedly, then 1st Lt. Muggins is in luck - unless there's another brevet BG in the unit, he can leapfrog the entire command structure and become the new colonel.

Not in the American service. Brevets had no relevance regarding lineal rank promotions. From the Army regulations seniority alone was considered, and not brevets.

In other words, an officer next in line of seniority to a vacancy in the line is only bypassed in favor of a junior in seniority, where disabled or incompetent. Not by means of any brevets held by the junior.

It is true there was no guarantee a Colonel would be promoted by seniority to brigadier general, but that for regular promotion generals were instead selected rather than promoted by seniority or brevets.

Promotions and seniority by brevet, had only to do with brevet rank. In other words, if a 1st lieutenant held a brevet of Major, if awarded another brevet promotion, it would be to brevet lieutenant colonel, etc. If a vacancy opened in the line for a captain within his corps, he would only receive promotion to it if the senior 1st lieutenant.

 

[67th Tigers]

The 61st Article-of-War was revoked by Congress on 31st March 1869. This had the effect of making brevets honorary. On the 15th July 1870 Congress went further, and forbade using the brevet in any form of address, or wearing the brevet rank.

 

[Saphroneth]

Not in the American service. Brevets had no relevance regarding lineal rank promotions. From the Army regulations seniority alone was considered, and not brevets.

In other words, an officer next in line of seniority to a vacancy in the line is only bypassed in favor of a junior in seniority, where disabled or incompetent. Not by means of any brevets held by the junior.

Fair enough, I just checked some Army Registers (1848 and 1852) and have found a clear case which proves this position. William A. Nichols is a Captain by brevet in the 2nd artillery as of 1848 and Henry Pratt is the senior non-brevet lieutenant, and in 1852 Pratt is a Captain in the regiment and Nichols is still a Lt in the regiment.

 

[67th Tigers]

Not in the American service. Brevets had no relevance regarding lineal rank promotions. From the Army regulations seniority alone was considered, and not brevets.

View attachment 568963

In other words, an officer next in line of seniority to a vacancy in the line is only bypassed in favor of a junior in seniority, where disabled or incompetent. Not by means of any brevets held by the junior.

Remember, there are three sorts of brevet:

1. Awarded for actions
2. Awarded for ten years time in grade
3. Created by razing rank by reduction (as happened after the War of 1812 and Mexican War)

In all cases, the officer is advanced to the next rank in the Army, but since there are no spaces in a regiment, they cannot by paid as such. See the 1824 opinion of Wirt (the Attorney-General). Brevets are Senate approved promotions, and are real promotions in the Army.

Despite being "only a Colonel," Macomb was the senior major-general in the army when Brown died. His brevet was a razee, he had been a substantive major-general when the establishment was reduced. He was the next most senior MG in the Army. The Resolution of 24th November 1778 is in effect, that razee'd officers are entitled to the next available vacancy.

Just before the ACW, the case of Brevet Colonel JE Johnston was resolved in Johnston's favour. Johnston had been Commissioned Lt Col of the 1st US Voltigeurs and breveted Colonel in that capacity. After the regiment was razed, he was appointed Capt of Topographic Engrs and received two brevets to bvt Lt Col. His claim to retain his rank of Colonel in the Army was accepted.

The way the Army Register phrases it is correct. "Rank in the Regiment" is the lineal rank, and "Rank in the Army" is the brevet rank. The question is has an officer been ordered to duty in their regimental or army rank. If 1Lt Muggins of the 1st US Infantry has been ordered to extraregimental duty (in a volunteer brigade), it is obviously his rank in the Army that is active, whether or not the order contains the phrasing or not. He cannot have been ordered to said duty any other way.

There was a bit of a back-and-forth about the interpretation. The Constitution reserves the right to make laws governing things like Brevets solely to the Senate. Various Secretaries etc. had interpreted the expressed intent of the Senate in that brevet rank was "real rank." In 1846 Polk overturned all the case law and resulting regulations in an attempt to deny Wm Worth a command. Jeff Davis' rewrite of the regulations went further than the Constitution allowed, adding restrictions on the exercise of Brevet rank not authorised by Congress.

@Saphroneth has gazumped me a bit, but I've found cases of brevets giving seniority in lineal rank, and them being ignored for seniority. It seems to depend on who was in office. Jeff Davis and Floyd were of the latter opinion, and so leading upto the ACW brevets were being ignored for lineal seniority. Simply, the law was unclear, and was interpreted both ways at different times.

Things seem to have flipped again for the ACW, with brevet rank being the "real rank," and thus in 1866 the board of Sherman, Sheridan, Meade and Thomas who were appointed to award regular Army brevets awarded very few, because they gave entitlements to command above the lineal rank.

However, lets' consider the unlikely event that 1st US Infantry and a volunteer brigade have been ordered to duty at a post under a BG, and 1Lt (Bvt BG) Muggins has not been ordered to duty as a BG. If the assigned BG dies, then the senior officer takes command, and as a body of multiple regiments, it is rank in the Army that is the effective one. In this case, until orders are received, Bvt BG Muggins is in command as the senior officer present. This was clarified by General Orders no. 11 of 15th April, 1845 - a Brevet is a regular Commission in the Army, thus in any mixed formation (meaning more than one regiment), rank in the Army determines seniority rather than rank in the regiment. This of course was overturned by Polk in 1846, but was still the common interpretation.

As another point, brevets were not authorised in the volunteer force until March 1863, and then because a bunch of people who should have gotten brevets got substantive promotion in the volunteer force instead (Grant's DC's, Burnside and his DC's etc.), creating a situtation where some division commanders ranked corps and even army commanders.

 

[Saphroneth]

One sometimes wonders if they just made it up as they went along...

 

[Trooper "D"]

They still could use the title and uniform of their brevet under certain circumstances outside acting as that rank. Additionally activate seems like the wrong term, although a better one is currently escaping me.

Commissioned.