How was rank determined when enlisting?

One of my family ancestors began the war as a 2nd Lt. in a North Carolina infantry regiment. He received a commission from the NC governor that was apparently based on my ancestor's rank as member of the state militia, where he had served for about ten years prior to the war. So maybe Stephen D. Smith had state militia service that would account for him being appointed corporal?
 
Hello All,

I am new to this forum and looking forward to learning from you all. I have an ancestor, Stephen D. Smith, who fought as part of Company D, 14th Regiment, GA Volunteer Infantry. They were known at the time of organization as "Cherokee Brown Rangers" and most of the men who enlisted were from Cherokee County, GA and the surrounding areas. Stephen was likely present at some of the worst battles, and after being captured at the Battle of Spotsylvania he spent over a year in the prisoner camp at Elmira, NY. I have a copy of his compiled service records and his pension application.

I am trying to find out more about his early life and have been unable to locate him in any census prior to 1900. I have searched what information I have on him for clues about his early life, but am coming up empty handed so far. I know it is a long shot, but I wondered if his rank at enlistment could provide me with a clue. On the day he enlisted, it was as 4th corporal. How were ranks assigned? Why was he 4th corporal and not a private? What does the rank at enlistment say about that person?

Does it imply he was a little older than the others who enlisted? Could it mean that he knew how to read and write? Could it mean he knew the enlisting officer and was therefore granted a rank slightly above private? How were ranks assigned at the time of enlistment?

Thank you for any help! If this question should be asked in a different part of the site, please point me in that direction.
I've never done southern genealogy but I am currently working on a 3-generaton event-based genealogy for ~260 men in the union army (259 served from Maine and 1 served from Wisconsin). I took a look at your problem and, even with a knowledge of the data available online, I was overwhelmed by the number of "Stephen D. Smiths" I did find that he enlisted as "SD Smith" and, since I couldn't find him on the 1860 census for Cherokee County, assume he went there to enlist.

Going back to a basic point, how do you know that he is your ancestor? Heresay? Genealogical tracking? It is a basic rule of genealogy that you work backwards, do not go on to the previous ancestor until you have proven the current, and never (never, ever) skip a generation in the same line. It is estimated that less than 5% of genealogical information available is online--the other 95% comes from slogging through courthouses, libraries, historical societies, probate & land records, etc. etc. Even so, you can do a summary job (and fill in credible citations afterwards). I'd hit the obituaries, starting with your parent, then his parent and so forth. Once you've tracked him back, you'll have an approximate date of birth and perhaps a spouse. Then, as the Brits say: "Bob's your uncle"!
 
This is where that dammed missing 1890 Census really hits you. I have several mysteries that I think I could pin down if we just didn't have that gap!

You may have already done this but just in case - I have been able to find some of my missing links by looking through old newspapers. It takes a lot of time but if your ancestor lived in an area where the papers had local news/gossip items the mentions in those columns can be amazingly helpful. Things like "Mrs Charles Porter spent a week in Peonia with her parents, the Tom Smithers family" have provided me with valuable family info.

Ah yes, the blasted 1890 census! I've been able to work around it on my other family lines, but for this family it would have contained essential information that would have likely helped me with this "brick wall" long ago. Thanks for the newspaper suggestion. I resorted to browsing the gossip columns long ago, but am currently limited to what is available online. So far nothing has turned up, but I am still plugging away at it. I enjoy reading about the area and getting a glimpse of what life was like where he lived even if I haven't turned up any clues, yet.
 
One of my family ancestors began the war as a 2nd Lt. in a North Carolina infantry regiment. He received a commission from the NC governor that was apparently based on my ancestor's rank as member of the state militia, where he had served for about ten years prior to the war. So maybe Stephen D. Smith had state militia service that would account for him being appointed corporal?
The state militia service is a good suggestion! Thanks! I'll look and see what I can find.
 
I've never done southern genealogy but I am currently working on a 3-generaton event-based genealogy for ~260 men in the union army (259 served from Maine and 1 served from Wisconsin). I took a look at your problem and, even with a knowledge of the data available online, I was overwhelmed by the number of "Stephen D. Smiths" I did find that he enlisted as "SD Smith" and, since I couldn't find him on the 1860 census for Cherokee County, assume he went there to enlist.

Going back to a basic point, how do you know that he is your ancestor? Heresay? Genealogical tracking? It is a basic rule of genealogy that you work backwards, do not go on to the previous ancestor until you have proven the current, and never (never, ever) skip a generation in the same line. It is estimated that less than 5% of genealogical information available is online--the other 95% comes from slogging through courthouses, libraries, historical societies, probate & land records, etc. etc. Even so, you can do a summary job (and fill in credible citations afterwards). I'd hit the obituaries, starting with your parent, then his parent and so forth. Once you've tracked him back, you'll have an approximate date of birth and perhaps a spouse. Then, as the Brits say: "Bob's your uncle"!

Your 3-generation event-based genealogy sounds interesting! If you have a thread on this site about it, please point me in that direction. I'd love to read more about it.

Yes, the fact that there are so many "Stephen D. Smiths" has proved aggravating to say the least. With such a common last name, that is to be expected, I guess. I won the genealogical lottery having my father's side as Smith and my mother's side as Jones! I have a bottle of Excedrin handy any time I begin research.

Thanks for the reminder on good genealogical research practices. You listed several of my pet peeves. I KNOW that this Stephen D. Smith is mine because I followed those practices. I started with my father, then through obituaries, marriage certificates, census records, death certificates, courthouse records, wills, etc. I worked my way backwards. I never add a generation going back until I have at least three "proof" documents. I'm confident in the information I have gathered so far - I've just been stuck not being able to find any more on him for the last several years.

I didn't include all of his biographical information in my initial post as the only question I was concerned with at the time was how rank was assigned at enlistment. I also didn't expect everyone to help by trying to look him up! Thank you for that. I'll include some of his information below, now.

Stephen D. Smith
born: May 1838 in Georgia
died: June 25, 1903 likely Coosa County, Alabama
burial: unknown
obituary: paid for a search at the AL archives and nothing was found
death certificate: he infuriatingly died 5 years prior to Alabama requiring these
wife: married Rebecca Garman in 1885 in Calhoun Co., AL (Rebecca was born in Milton County, GA in 1858. This is a neighboring county to Cherokee so it's possible they knew each other previously in GA even though they married in Alabama. However, he is not listed in the censuses of Milton County.)
military service: Company D, 14th GA Infantry, enlisted on July 9, 1861 in Cherokee Co, GA as 4th corporal, captured at Spotsylvania and sent to Elmira prison camp in NY
known children: Stonewall Smith (nicknamed "Tige") born 1875 from a union prior to Rebecca, Martin Samuel Smith, Ida Smith
possible children: Henry Chester, Luther Thomas (These MAY belong solely to Rebecca from a prior union.)
census records: 1900 Coosa County, AL, Rockford precinct
miscellaneous: Ida Smith's death certificate lists her father as "Dee" Smith. The informant on the death certificate is unlisted so I'm taking this with a grain of salt, but I'm treating this as a possible nickname for Stephen until proven otherwise especially since I don't yet know what the D. in his name stood for.

I plan on visiting the little town of Rockford, its courthouse, its cemeteries, and its library some time this year. Maybe some clues will be uncovered then. Thanks for all your help!
 
Your 3-generation event-based genealogy sounds interesting! If you have a thread on this site about it, please point me in that direction. I'd love to read more about it.

Yes, the fact that there are so many "Stephen D. Smiths" has proved aggravating to say the least. With such a common last name, that is to be expected, I guess. I won the genealogical lottery having my father's side as Smith and my mother's side as Jones! I have a bottle of Excedrin handy any time I begin research.

Thanks for the reminder on good genealogical research practices. You listed several of my pet peeves. I KNOW that this Stephen D. Smith is mine because I followed those practices. I started with my father, then through obituaries, marriage certificates, census records, death certificates, courthouse records, wills, etc. I worked my way backwards. I never add a generation going back until I have at least three "proof" documents. I'm confident in the information I have gathered so far - I've just been stuck not being able to find any more on him for the last several years.

I didn't include all of his biographical information in my initial post as the only question I was concerned with at the time was how rank was assigned at enlistment. I also didn't expect everyone to help by trying to look him up! Thank you for that. I'll include some of his information below, now.

Stephen D. Smith
born: May 1838 in Georgia
died: June 25, 1903 likely Coosa County, Alabama
burial: unknown
obituary: paid for a search at the AL archives and nothing was found
death certificate: he infuriatingly died 5 years prior to Alabama requiring these
wife: married Rebecca Garman in 1885 in Calhoun Co., AL (Rebecca was born in Milton County, GA in 1858. This is a neighboring county to Cherokee so it's possible they knew each other previously in GA even though they married in Alabama. However, he is not listed in the censuses of Milton County.)
military service: Company D, 14th GA Infantry, enlisted on July 9, 1861 in Cherokee Co, GA as 4th corporal, captured at Spotsylvania and sent to Elmira prison camp in NY
known children: Stonewall Smith (nicknamed "Tige") born 1875 from a union prior to Rebecca, Martin Samuel Smith, Ida Smith
possible children: Henry Chester, Luther Thomas (These MAY belong solely to Rebecca from a prior union.)
census records: 1900 Coosa County, AL, Rockford precinct
miscellaneous: Ida Smith's death certificate lists her father as "Dee" Smith. The informant on the death certificate is unlisted so I'm taking this with a grain of salt, but I'm treating this as a possible nickname for Stephen until proven otherwise especially since I don't yet know what the D. in his name stood for.

I plan on visiting the little town of Rockford, its courthouse, its cemeteries, and its library some time this year. Maybe some clues will be uncovered then. Thanks for all your help!
Not that this solves your current problem, but have you ever read the records from Elmira? My gr-gr-grandfather was there and it was fascinating to see him turn up in the prison records (there and at the several other prisons he went through).
 
Ah yes, the blasted 1890 census! I've been able to work around it on my other family lines, but for this family it would have contained essential information that would have likely helped me with this "brick wall" long ago. Thanks for the newspaper suggestion. I resorted to browsing the gossip columns long ago, but am currently limited to what is available online. So far nothing has turned up, but I am still plugging away at it. I enjoy reading about the area and getting a glimpse of what life was like where he lived even if I haven't turned up any clues, yet.
It's harder in the South, as there were fewer papers and fewer have been preserved and digitized. My husband's family was all in New York and Michigan and it's a cakewalk getting info on his people compared to mine.
 
I didn't include all of his biographical information in my initial post as the only question I was concerned with at the time was how rank was assigned at enlistment. I also didn't expect everyone to help by trying to look him up!
Today was the monthly meeting of our genealogy group (chapter of Maine Genealogical Society) and it so happened that today was a round-table discussion of genealogy sites. So I took careful notes! I've come up with these:
http://www.usgwarchives.net/al/coosa.htm (The USGenWeb project was a national, by-state, network of volunteer transcriptions (etc.). It ran on RootsWeb and began to disappear when Ancestry took over RootsWeb (Maine was one of the first to go). By now, it is pretty much gone BUT the archives still exist. The site above is for Coosa County).

https://raogk.org/alabama/coosa-county/
Random Acts is a national network of volunteers. They’ve helped me with NYC data.

https://www.theancestorhunt.com/newspaper-research-links.html
Click on ALABAMA

Familysearch.com:
1. TOP MENU: catalog: place name [start with state name—there is a place to fine tune this]
2. SEARCH PAGE, right hand side: Collections--Drop-down menu: choose Georgia, Alabama for more databases

BOOK: Coosa County Records: Cemeteries (Coosa County Alabama) Paperback – 1980
Not available on any of the big national booksellers but I’ll bet the Coosa County Historical
Society (compiler) may be able to advise [grave of Stephen D. Smith...grave stones often contain information]

By all means, contact:
THE COOSA COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY: PO BOX 5, ROCKFORD AL 35136
 
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Your 3-generation event-based genealogy sounds interesting! If you have a thread on this site about it, please point me in that direction. I'd love to read more about it.
There is no thread on this because it is so focused. What I am doing is a 3-generation study (a favorite format for the Maine Genealogical Society) on all Civil War soldiers from this Maine town--that is, all soldiers who gave their residence here when they enlisted. As I've often grumbled, the project has gone on for longer than the war itself. There were about 260 individuals many of whom had other service for other towns. I'm doing it for the local historical society but, when done, I shall probably do something on the development of municipal support for veterans (positive) and on the impact of the ACW on the community and on the participants (often negative).
 
Welcome @laurenallyn !

You asked a great question and have received some valid answers.

The normal early procedure in Confederate units was for the men to elect their officers and non-coms. Obviously this could easily become a popularity contest, but often, the more educated or wealthy men were thus elected, at least at the beginning. Later, when they had been tested in combat, the men could elect their officers based on merit.

Absolutely.

For most units, all of those "officer elections" came to a screeching halt after the men were engaged in real combat.

The Confederate States of America soon implemented a very thorough written test for any PACS ( Provisional Army of the Confederate States ) officer.

For the most part, it worked much better than the original popularity contests.
 
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Lauren

Have you ruled out this Stephen Smith, the son of Bartlett Smith (b. 1812) and Lucinda Smith, enumerated in November 1850 for the 1850 US Census in Cherokee County, GA?
1579395476176.png

Interestingly, this family was enumerated twice in 1850 - both times in Cherokee County; once in October and again in November. The Nov entry is above and the October entry below which lists Stephen as "Stephen P." Of course, since residents self reported their names verbally, it's possible that the census taker mistook a D for a P. Still it helps with more complete names. Like Lafayette on the November enumeration, was correctly named as Jackson La on the October enumeration below. Just wanted to be sure you have seen this one?
1579396011881.png

Here is a link to the DNA profile page for descendants of "Bartlett James Smith." Apparently, the younger son of Bartlett and Lucinda Smith, enumerated as "Lafayette" was Jackson Lafayette Smith b. 31 July 1845. That's great because you could potentially have a male family member submit DNA and determine if this is indeed your line.
 
On enlistment ranks, Abner Small, 3rd Maine, 16th Maine, whose diary I am reading, has just been sent out as recruiting officer for the new 16th regiment. He described his trek from town to town and the ranks he offered to various recruits; he gives no specific reason for offering positions to some and not to others.

Aside: He wrote that it one town he signed up a minor whose father took him home by the ear, warning Small that he would be a "dead hero" should he still be in town that evening!
 
In the Union army, ranks tended to be given by appointments rather than elections although some regiments did vote when they were organized but that seemed to be the exception rather than the rule, at least in my experience.

In my family, I had one relative that finished up one enlistment as a corporal and when he reenlisted in a newly forming unit, he was appointed as company first sergeant (probably due to his being a veteran), a rank he held until his death at Petersburg.

Ryan
 
This has been a really interesting thread! I've tended to find more prominent men in the family were officers for my Confederate records, though it is not a hard and fast rule. In one of the families, my direct ancestor was the officer, and his younger brothers were enlisted men. The particular man who has an officer was a doctor, but even then, it always struck me as odd that he was an infantry officer rather than serving as a doctor in the Confederate army.
 
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