Definitions - Reports

[AL-1947]

While researching through the War of the Rebellion records the "Principal Events" use terms such as Action, Affair, Demonstration, Scout, Skirmish, and so on. First of all, who decided which term to use for a military event? The officers reports are nuts and bolts here's what we did but do not use these terms which leads me to believe they were added by Adjutant's, or later by others when they assembled the OR's.

Is there a good list of these key words that were used and their "official" definitions? Couldn't find through searching the War of Rebellion or by search engines.

If there was a previous thread concerning this I couldn't find it and apologize. Help appreciated.

 

[leftyhunter]

While researching through the War of the Rebellion records the "Principal Events" use terms such as Action, Affair, Demonstration, Scout, Skirmish, and so on. First of all, who decided which term to use for a military event? The officers reports are nuts and bolts here's what we did but do not use these terms which leads me to believe they were added by Adjutant's, or later by others when they assembled the OR's.

Is there a good list of these key words that were used and their "official" definitions? Couldn't find through searching the War of Rebellion or by search engines.

If there was a previous thread concerning this I couldn't find it and apologize. Help appreciated.

As a general rule a Scout refers to counterinsurgency . Certain regiments spent a lot of time on counterinsurgency duty and there commanding officer uses the term Scout. A Scout could also refer to Recon. To know which is which try to determine where and what a particular regiment was doing. Also keep in mind most officers on both sides never set foot in a military academy or even served in the pre war Army. A few officers on both sides served in various foreign armies and did attend foreign military academies , mostly though it just OJT.
Leftyhunter

 

[leftyhunter]

While researching through the War of the Rebellion records the "Principal Events" use terms such as Action, Affair, Demonstration, Scout, Skirmish, and so on. First of all, who decided which term to use for a military event? The officers reports are nuts and bolts here's what we did but do not use these terms which leads me to believe they were added by Adjutant's, or later by others when they assembled the OR's.

Is there a good list of these key words that were used and their "official" definitions? Couldn't find through searching the War of Rebellion or by search engines.

If there was a previous thread concerning this I couldn't find it and apologize. Help appreciated.

Also look at casualties on both sides if possible. An Affair generally means a small battle. If possible look for the opposing commander on the other side and what terms he uses. Often opposing commanders will use different numbers to describe their loss's and the enemies loss's.
It is not unknown for officers particularly in counterinsurgency to inflate their body counts of enemy guerrillas.
Leftyhunter

 

[AL-1947]

Also look at casualties on both sides if possible. An Affair generally means a small battle. If possible look for the opposing commander on the other side and what terms he uses. Often opposing commanders will use different numbers to describe their loss's and the enemies loss's.
It is not unknown for officers particularly in counterinsurgency to inflate their body counts of enemy guerrillas.
Leftyhunter

Thanks Leftyhunter ...
Appreciate your help.

An Affair generally means a small battle. If possible look for the opposing commander on the other side and what terms he uses.

This is where I'm just a little confused, or missing something. I don't see the field commanders classifying their battle in the OR's, the class such as Affair, Action, Engagement, Skirmish, etc, had to be applied by someone, I have no evidence that the field commander classified what he did. I have guessed that the Adjutant's may have done the classification but that is a guess, probably not a good one. If it were done by those compiling "The War of the Rebellion" you'd think that they would have included what they used to define an Action versus an Affair somewhere in the thousands of pages of stuff. Civil War web sites solved the problem of classification by calling everything a Battle.

Hey, thanks again. Have a great tomorrow ...

Sherlock Holmes "This is a two pipe problem."

 

[TomV71]

Maybe they learned the terms at officers schools? I am sure they learned something about writing reports.
West Point, VMI etc, and then they become standard.

 

[Lubliner]

Without being contradictory, @leftyhunter I think Skirmish defines a small clash between opposing forces. A scout was a mounted patrol looking for enemy combatants, and on a Scout, several skirmishes may be highlighted. These terms defined the size of the operational movement, and its purpose by commanding order. Sometimes, the special duty assignments would be given a secondary purpose on their movement from point A to B. I do know that Benn Pitman was the recorder at most Official Investigations, and the Secretary of the Department of War had especial assignments concerning the gathering and indexing of the Official Records, doled out to assistants, etc.. Pitman was one of these. Check VMI or West Point.

 

[AL-1947]

Without being contradictory, @leftyhunter I think Skirmish defines a small clash between opposing forces. A scout was a mounted patrol looking for enemy combatants, and on a Scout, several skirmishes may be highlighted. These terms defined the size of the operational movement, and its purpose by commanding order. Sometimes, the special duty assignments would be given a secondary purpose on their movement from point A to B. I do know that Benn Pitman was the recorder at most Official Investigations, and the Secretary of the Department of War had especial assignments concerning the gathering and indexing of the Official Records, doled out to assistants, etc.. Pitman was one of these. Check VMI or West Point.

Thanks Lubliner, I kinda figured that these designations were added during the make up of the War of the Rebellion. It just seems odd that they didn't include what made for an Action versus an Engagement, Scout verses Reconnaissance, would have only taken a page or two. Maybe it was best to leave it up to the reader to figure out. They definitely avoided the word battle.

 

[leftyhunter]

Without being contradictory, @leftyhunter I think Skirmish defines a small clash between opposing forces. A scout was a mounted patrol looking for enemy combatants, and on a Scout, several skirmishes may be highlighted. These terms defined the size of the operational movement, and its purpose by commanding order. Sometimes, the special duty assignments would be given a secondary purpose on their movement from point A to B. I do know that Benn Pitman was the recorder at most Official Investigations, and the Secretary of the Department of War had especial assignments concerning the gathering and indexing of the Official Records, doled out to assistants, etc.. Pitman was one of these. Check VMI or West Point.

I didn't mention skirmishes. If you look at ORs of regiments assigned to counterinsurgency duties then they use the term Scout quite a bit.
Leftyhunter

 

[Ole Miss]

Al
Perhaps this web site might be of some assistance in your quest for knowledge. It is The Glossary of Civil War Terms.
Regards
David
https://www.battlefields.org/glossary-civil-war-terms

 

[Mark F. Jenkins]

I'd recommend caution when considering specific definitions... a large number of the officers reporting weren't professional military men, so I wouldn't expect as much in the way of consistency as I would had they all been West Pointers...

 

[Lubliner]

I'd recommend caution when considering specific definitions... a large number of the officers reporting weren't professional military men, so I wouldn't expect as much in the way of consistency as I would had they all been West Pointers...

Yes, political appointees without military background could raise a regiment and become a Major. One word from @Ole Miss I noticed on his thread, was sentry. Sentinel, vidette, picket, and in many cases the number of men posted by command was a 24 to 48 hour cover, with the captain of the guard on rounds, and an unspecified number committed, given a company of men. Action Reports, depending on how soon after, and the pressure of command, and the outcome could determine word usage; similar to....'what was that word on the tip of my tongue.'

 

[Lubliner]

I didn't mention skirmishes. If you look at ORs of regiments assigned to counterinsurgency duties then they use the term Scout quite a bit.
Leftyhunter

I seem to think of insurgency/counterinsurgency in an operational setting as a strategic description. It is difficult for me to shake it out into a defined tactical move. Similarly in describing caliber for weapons, it defines range for rifled, or smoothbore, and size of the shot, but these can be upgraded to Armament, or downsized to derringer, single shot and multi shot. The common usage in their own familiar patterns of communication may have an affect, as well as whom they desired to impress. The President had ears too.

 

[leftyhunter]

I seem to think of insurgency/counterinsurgency in an operational setting as a strategic description. It is difficult for me to shake it out into a defined tactical move. Similarly in describing caliber for weapons, it defines range for rifled, or smoothbore, and size of the shot, but these can be upgraded to Armament, or downsized to derringer, single shot and multi shot. The common usage in their own familiar patterns of communication may have an affect, as well as whom they desired to impress. The President had ears too.

Counterinsurgency is not necessarily strategic it's more ad-hoc. Both the Union and Confederate Armies had to deal with insurgents in various areas at various .
The US Navy in South Eastern Florida did realized the strategic importance of guerrilla warfare and ds pent time and resources to support Unionist guerrillas. I have sources about that in my thread "Union vs CSA guerrillas" Union Generals such has Thomas and Dodge also gave aid to Unionist guerrillas.
Leftyhunter

 

[TomV71]

Counterinsurgency is not necessarily strategic it's more ad-hoc. Both the Union and Confederate Armies had to deal with insurgents in various areas at various .
The US Navy in South Eastern Florida did realized the strategic importance of guerrilla warfare and ds pent time and resources to support Unionist guerrillas. I have sources about that in my thread "Union vs CSA guerrillas" Union Generals such has Thomas and Dodge also gave aid to Unionist guerrillas.
Leftyhunter

Caught up in the term these days lefty?
Here are the three pillars of counterinsurgency. Please give us a few examples on how, when, where and by whom this was used during the Civil War.

 

[leftyhunter]

Caught up in the term these days lefty?
Here are the three pillars of counterinsurgency. Please give us a few examples on how, when, where and by whom this was used during the Civil War.
View attachment 212886

As I have said many times counterinsurgency goes back at least as far as the ancient Israelites vs the Hellenic Syrians. The end of that struggle resulted in the present day Jewish holiday of Hanaca (sp?)Techniques such has Civil Action represented in the above graph came about during the Huk Insurgency in post WW2 Philippines.
Counterinsurgency is just like the term crim fighting . It refers to countering insurgents. There are various means of doing so.
In my thread "Compare and Contrast Union vs Confederate counter guerrilla operations"
I go into detail of ACW counterinsurgency vs more modern counterinsurgency. There are actually quite a few similarities.
If you like I can bump up the thread and if you have any questions you can let me know on that thread.
Leftyhunter

 

[Lubliner]

Caught up in the term these days lefty?
Here are the three pillars of counterinsurgency. Please give us a few examples on how, when, where and by whom this was used during the Civil War.
View attachment 212886

How I feel about the word 'counterinsurgency' may be best expressed by this saying; 'The South Shall Rise Again'. If I think long upon it, it makes enough sense to forego further search. Thanks @TomV71;
Lubliner.

 

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

Here are the three pillars of counterinsurgency. Please give us a few examples on how, when, where and by whom this was used during the Civil War.

The ACW was not an insurgency, except in a broad technical sense (insurgency as a synonym for revolt or rebellion). Insurgency is specifically a rebellion by guerilla warfare, or at least that's what it has come to mean.

The ACW was not an insurgency on a wider level. The CSA fielded conventional armies and fought predominately traditional warfare. However, the war contained insurgents as a subset of the conflict and efforts to stop those insurgents would classify as a counterinsurgency. "Guerrilla" was in use by the ACW, but I'm not sure if insurgency & counterinsurgency were. Counterinsurgency as a defined concept and school of thought didn't really exist until after WW2, did it? There were counterinsurgencies against the Cubans, Boers, and Filipinos but I'm not sure the respective controlling governments were consciously borrowing tactics from their predecessors. (I'm not expert on the subject though.)

Newt Knight was an insurgent against the Confederacy. CSA efforts to defeat him and reestablish control of Jones County were a counterinsurgency. East TN is another example.

Missouri had insurgents against the Union government and the Union waged a counterinsurgency attempting to subdue them.

 

[AL-1947]

Al
Perhaps this web site might be of some assistance in your quest for knowledge. It is The Glossary of Civil War Terms.
Regards
David
https://www.battlefields.org/glossary-civil-war-terms

Thanks Ole Miss, there is some good info at that web site. I found a list a while back that I did not bookmark for some reason that had these definitions:

Action: Stresses the idea of active, frequently sharp, offensive and defensive operations.
Affair: A fight.
Campaign: A connected series of military operations forming a distinct stage in a war.
Capture: To seize by force or stratagem.
Demonstration: An exhibition of force, or a movement indicating an attack as to show readiness for war if necessary.
Descent: Incursion; sudden attack; onslaught.
Engagement: May be a general encounter, as between armies, or minor encounter between subdivisions or outposts.
Evacuation: Withdrawal of troops from a town, fortress, etc.
Expeditions: A journey for a specific purpose, as a military or exploring expedition.
Occupation: To hold possession of; to utilize an area or place for a purpose.
Operation: A military and/or naval action or mission including movement, supply attack, defense.
Raid: A foray. Originally an inroad or incursion of mounted men. A sudden or rapid attack by an armed force.
Reconnaissance: An examination of a territory to gain information of enemy troops, of the terrain, or of resources.
Scout: To reconnoiter.
Siege: The besetting of a fortified place by an army to compel surrender. A continued attempt to gain possession.
Skirmish: Encounter usually incidental to large movements. A slight fight.
Surrender: To give up possession of anything or any place upon a compulsion or demand.

These do go along with the OR's but how they were selected for an event is a mystery to me.