In post #3 above, I was primarily speaking of scouting as performed by rank and file cavalry troopers sporadically assigned for that purpose. But there were companies of scouts, who were specifically organized as scouts, such as Jessie Scouts (U.S.A.), Harvey`s Scouts (C.S.A.) and Coleman`s Scouts (C.S.A.), to mention but a few. Several books have been written about all three, which profoundly detailed what their duties were as they served their respective armies during the ACW.
In the book,
"A Sketch of Harvey`s Scouts, Formerly of Jackson`s Cavalry Division, Army of Tennessee," circa 1885, by J. F. H. Claiborne, he details the duties of Addison Harvey`s Scouting Company, contributed directly from the men who made up the company during the war. Among numerous things he wrote (paraphrased):
The Scouts main duty falls into 5 distinct categories as follows:
First duty: Secret service scouting for information. Generally two went together sometimes only one. The second man was sent to give assistance in case of one being wounded, and likewise, on occasions, to halt in charge of the horses, while the other made his reconnaissance on foot. These men were not expected to fight. The order was to get the information speedily and quietly as possible, and report to Captain Harvey, avoiding all collisions.
Second duty: Then there was an important and hazardous service in the seizure of the enemies couriers, and courier lines for information, and to interrupt their communications. This was effected by slipping in between commands and capturing or killing the couriers en-route for other posts of commands. Regarding the capture of couriers and courier-lines, the officer had to be wide awake. He had to worm in between commands, break up posts, kill sentinels, and seize couriers. To do this was difficult and dangerous. Several points had first to be mastered. 1st. The position of the enemy had to be exactly located. 2d. Whether they kept up communications by couriers. 3d. The different routes these couriers pursued, and whether they traveled by night or day; how often these couriers were sent; whether they were attended by a guard; and if so, what was its usual strength.
Third duty: There was a service known as
"squad scouting", when 10 or 15 men, according to circumstances, were sent out under a lieutenant or some non-commissioned officer who could be relied upon to accomplish the object in view, if possible. With each scout of this kind, there was likewise usually an old, well-tried special scout, perfectly familiar with the ground, and who knew how to extricate the squad if entangled by unexpected outposts or other impediments. The
"boys" on these occasions would say that the
"officer in command went along to get them in a tight place, and the other went along to get them out of it." And it sometimes happened that when their leader had carried them into a dangerous position to gain important information, he would call on his trusty old scout to extricate them, and then for the emergency pass over to him the command. On such duty as this it was expected that every scouting party they fell in with should be promptly attacked, and our parties had frequent conflicts.
Fourth duty: These expeditions however, were merely incidental and collateral, so to speak, to the main service which Capt. Harvey personally engaged. This demanded generally the entire strength of the command (all 25-40 scouts), which he kept well in hand, and always in perfect fighting trim. His program was to reconnoitre every position and every force moving or operating within range, and never to halt till he struck it. He moved very rapidly, and would often strike a large command front, flank and rear in less than 24 hours, and be able to report to their nearest brigade or division commander the strength of the enemy's cavalry, and infantry, supply wagons, ambulance's, artillery, the name of the enemy`s commanding officer, objective point, etc...
Fifth duty: A less significant duty but important none-the-less to the citizens who found themselves drawn into the War because of their general location. This duty was to warn the citizens of local towns and communities of pending danger if they were in the direct path of an approaching army on the march. In addition to them going back through affected towns and communities after Sherman`s army had gone through to assess the damage done and then report that to the general officers and the regiment commanders.
Capt. Addison Harvey`s Scouts consisted originally of twenty-five men but was increased to forty men and in some cases 100 men when
"scouting in party". Typically, outside of cavalry patrols, a part of any command was constantly on the scout for information. It was common practice for the captain (company commander) to make it a rule to keep always on hand, some thirty men, to move together as emergencies occurred. With these, he was generally able by an unexpected onslaught to
"tear down everything before him'' unless where, sometimes, as the boys would say,
''he cut off too large a slice," and then he always made good his retreat, fighting so desperately that they never followed him far. Some of the hardest fighting in the war, some of the most brilliant passages of arms, transpired when this intrepid officers and his handful of hero's were falling back before overwhelming numbers.
Harvey`s Scouts were armed with captured Spencer rifles (short guns that repeat seven times) and two pistols each that carried six charges. As opposed to the standard Enfield Percussion lock rifled-musket or the 1861 Springfield muskets which were more common to the Infantry or the cavalry. Thus each man had twenty shots, and the Spencer rifles could be reloaded on the run. Specifically regarding the Scouts his sabre was generally discarded, because they were in the way when a soldier dismounted. Whereas the cavalry kept their sabers in the event that they were not allowed time to reload on the run during a skirmish and therefore forced to draw their sabers and perform a charge with them, which did happen from time to time.
The Federal army was the first in 1863 to acquire the lever action 7 shot Spencer repeating rifles with the Confederates getting them only as a consequence of claiming them off of dead federal soldiers after battles being fought. Since it was very difficult to obtain ammunition for them only a select few Confederate cavalry outfits were armed with them, Harvey`s Scouts was one of those outfits.
For those interested in learning more about Capt. Addison Harvey and his company of scouts, follow the link below for the book:
"A Sketch of Harvey`s Scouts, Formerly of Jackson`s Cavalry Division, Army of Tennessee," You can read the original 1885 book in its entirety or download a free copy (PDF) to your hard drive to keep for your own.
Includes company roll
archive.org