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[CarterAdams38]

I am searching for information on my Mom's Granddaddy, Major Benjamin Carter Adams.

Major Adams enlisted in Alabama as a private in May, 1861 and was shipped with the 5th Alabama Regiment to Virginia becoming a part of ANV.

The Major was the ACS for General Rodes' regiment, brigade, and division. He ended up on staff of Maj. Gen. Bryan Grimes as a staff officer and was surrendered at Appomattox and was paroled.

Any information on Major Adams is very much appreciated.

 

[Mike Serpa]

I found only what's on Find A Grave

Benjamin Carter “Buck” Adams (1838-1899) - Find a...

Civil War Confederate Soldier, Company D, 5th Alabama Regiment, Greensboro Guards - Benjamin Carter Adams (Buck) (1838-) Student at the University of Virginia, 1856: enlisted May 6, 1861, in Uniontown, Alabama; assistant regimental commissary with the rank of Captain; Brigade commissary in 1862...

www.findagrave.com

 

[Tom Elmore]

Benjamin Carter "Buck" Adams shows up several times in the diaries of men from Company D, 5th Alabama, as found in this book, Voices from Company D, ed. by G. Ward Hubbs, Athens, GA: The University of Georgia Press, 2003.

In the biographical section of that book, Adams' year of birth is given as 1838. In 1856, he was listed as a student at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. He enlisted on May 6, 1861 in Uniontown, Alabama, being associated with Company D, 5th Alabama. He had two brothers in the same company, John M. Adams and Richard Henry Adams. In 1862, "Buck" Adams became the regimental commissary officer with the rank of captain. In 1863, he was a Major serving as the division commissary officer to D. H. Hill.

However, on July 17, 1863, a diary entry made by Samuel Pickens of the 5th Alabama refers to Major Adams as his division commissary officer (for Robert Rodes' division). I speculate that Major Adams made the switch of divisions immediately following the battle of Gettysburg because in that battle records show the then division commissary of Rodes' division, Major Julian Mitchell, was captured on July 4 at Smithburg, Pennsylvania, presumably when Union cavalry attacked Ewell's wagon train the night of July 4/5.

On July 27, 1863 Pickens mentions that Major Adams had a dedicated wagon in the wagon train. We may assume every division commissary officer was entitled to his own dedicated wagon at that point in time. As an aside, on May 22, 1863, the Florida brigade commissary officer (Thomas Elder) wrote that an order had just come ordering him to share one four-horse wagon with the brigade quartermaster. By the way, every regiment initially had its own commissary officer as well (at the rank of captain), but that position was officially abolished by the Confederate Congress in late May 1863; for details see, https://civilwartalk.com/threads/up...epartment-in-summer-1863.158085/#post-2055625

As of August 10, 1863, Pickens mentions that Private James "Jim" Boardman (D/5 AL) and a fellow named Tucker (Private John S. Tucker, D/5 AL) were serving as clerks to Major Adams.