How Were Regiments Assigned?

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

What determined where a regiment was sent after mustering in? Just whatever happened to be the greatest need at that time (i.e. luck)?

Did some infantry regiments spend the entire war on garrison duty or similar duties? Was there any effort to rotate regiments between field armies and garrison duty?

Were "bad" regiments ever demoted to garrison duty or "good" units promoted from garrison duty to field army service? (I'm not talking about reinforcement our of necessity, like the Heavy Artillery regiments joining the AOTP in 1864; I mean transfers specifically as reward or punishment.)

Did men in regiments on long-term garrison duty express resentment or disappointment about being assigned to a perceived backwater or boring duty? Did regiments perpetually assigned to a field army lament they were stuck with hard fighting on a regular basis while other regiments got off easy? Did regimental commanders ever successfully lobby for transfer between a field army and garrison duty?

I'm mostly thinking of the Union army which, out of necessity had a lot more garrison work than their Confederate counterparts. However, relevant examples of similar situations in the Confederate Army would be interesting too.

I specifically refer to Infantry regiments because there were a lot more of those and they were more likely to be assigned to garrison duty than (Light) Artillery and Cavalry (and Heavy Artillery was usually assigned to garrison work by the very nature of their equipment).

 

[DBT]

Well I have one of these regiments. I had three gg+ grandfather's and numerous uncles enlist in the 131st IL in the summer of 1862. It almost sounds like the army forgot about them as they stayed a long time in camp without tents or guns and they were decimated by measles. Some 6 months later, the regiment was finally assigned a task: guard duty in Memphis. The adjutant report describes how the men received news of their first duty with "joy." But that soon turned to anger when they were finally issued guns ... but they didn't work. The men only accepted them "under protest."

Later they were active in the Vicksburg campaign but they were always about 10 steps behind the rest of the army doing all sorts of support duty. They were decimated by disease again and continued to be issued shoddy equipment. I got a kick out of the adjutant trying to put a shine on their duty at this time describing that guerillas did fire on them once ... killing a mule. He sounds a tad embarrassed in the conclusion of his report:

"Thus ends the history of the One Hundred and Thirty-first Regiment as a separate body. While it was not its fortune, of misfortune, as you may choose to term it, to meet the enemy face to face in many conflicts, or to be tested in the crucible of a pitched battle, still its record is one to be proud of. The men who composed the Regiment were of the bravest character, and they never shrank from any duty imposed upon them. Whenever an order was given, it was promptly obeyed and executed with a will. Although no large number of the men were pierced by rebel bullets, still the death and disability list was very large on account of sickness, induced and brought on by exposure made necessary by the very nature of the duty and work assigned them."

Not long after Vicksburg, the 131st was disbanded and folded into the 29th IL. For the rest of the war they were assigned guard duty in Natchez, Memphis, Paducah and New Orleans when the 131st transferees finally had their chance in the Mobile Campaign. My gg grandfather was one of these. He enlisted in the summer of 1862 and made it all the way until March 29th 1865 when he saw his first combat at Spanish Fort ... and lost his leg.

Here's links to the adjutant reports for the 131st and 29th. Both give a bit of flavor as to how they felt about the nature of their assignments:

History of 131st Illinois Infantry

29th Illinois Infantry

Dave

 

[Library Lady]

@DBT , I notice in the AG's report for the 131st IL that consolidation with the 29th IL was ordered on October 30, 1863, and that General McPherson would be convening a Board of Examination to weed out "inefficient" officers from both units. I also see that on December 26, 1863, a number of officers of the 131st IL resigned. I believe I saw that a "vice-colonel" resigned from the 29h IL as well. So, did these gents flunk their examination or were they looking to pursue other opportunities such as command at a higher rank with the USCT? I'm having a hard time tracking them down in the on-line Illinois Civil War Muster and Descriptive Rolls Database through the Secretary of State's Office.

 

[JeffFromSyracuse]

For the Union, I think there were elements of randomness and elements of filling immediate needs when regiments were first assigned.

For example, a number of green regiments were shipped straight the Army of the Potomac after Antietam, seemingly on a "you're here and not doing anything else" basis. Same for how the 1st Minnesota ended up in Virginia - immediate need for the defense of Washington early in the war - while the rest of the units Minnesota raised stayed West, as there was less need to rush units East after April 1861.

 

[DBT]

@Library Lady I don't know much about the officers in question but you definitely get the impression something was "off" with these regiments. Officer quality, or lack thereof, probably played a big role in keeping these units off the front lines. I would love to hear more if you're able to track them down in your digging!

I guess I should be grateful for "inefficient officers" if that was actually the case. With 3 gg+ grandfathers in that regiment, I might not be here today if those officers excelled!

Dave

 

[rpkennedy]

@DBT , I notice in the AG's report for the 131st IL that consolidation with the 29th IL was ordered on October 30, 1863, and that General McPherson would be convening a Board of Examination to weed out "inefficient" officers from both units. I also see that on December 26, 1863, a number of officers of the 131st IL resigned. I believe I saw that a "vice-colonel" resigned from the 29h IL as well. So, did these gents flunk their examination or were they looking to pursue other opportunities such as command at a higher rank with the USCT? I'm having a hard time tracking them down in the on-line Illinois Civil War Muster and Descriptive Rolls Database through the Secretary of State's Office.

The term "vice-colonel, resigned" means that that person was promoted in place of the colonel who had resigned. In New York's records, the officer who resigned is usually named. For example:

AUSTIN , JOH N H.—Age, 26 years. Enlisted, May 6, 1861, at De Peyster; mustered in as private. Go. G, May 15, 1861, to serve two years; promoted first sergeant, date not stated; mustered i n as second lieutenant, October 21, 1862; mustered out with company, May 22, 1863, at Albany, N . Y. ; commissioned second lieutenant, December 18, 1862, with rank from October 21, 1862, vice Bayne promoted.

2nd Lt. Austin took over for 2nd Lt. Andrew C. Bayne who was promoted to 1st Lt.

Ryan

 

[EHParks]

@Library Lady I don't know much about the officers in question but you definitely get the impression something was "off" with these regiments. Officer quality, or lack thereof, probably played a big role in keeping these units off the front lines. I would love to hear more if you're able to track them down in your digging!

I guess I should be grateful for "inefficient officers" if that was actually the case. With 3 gg+ grandfathers in that regiment, I might not be here today if those officers excelled!

Dave

Different war, but similar actions: As Chief of Staff of the Army pre-WWII and during, George C, Marshall had compiled a list of officers and had them ranked Those ranked high got jobs, the rest either resigned or stayed in some backwater during the conflict. The story goes that Marshall mistook one officer who drank for another and the mistake wasn't discovered until much later, the one never being promoted to a higher command.

Eisenhower was charged with examining N.G. divisions, and one of the few that passed muster for him was the Oregon, Washington and Idaho units of the 41st "Sundowners" ("Jungleers") division he reviewed at Fort Lewis. George White the commanding officer had been the Adjutant General of the Oregon Guard with military experience going back to the Pershing expedition and in WWI.

Shortly after Ike's tour heads rolled in a lot of N.G. units, as I'm sure they did in many of the Volunteer regiments following the original muster.

 

[General Casey]

I believe part of the stipulation of the 37th Iowa being mustered into service was that they were assigned to garrison and prison duties since they were all over the age of 50.

Also, many of the regiments that for captured at Harpers Ferry by Jackson in 1862 got assigned to guard duty at Camp Douglas as the men were awaiting to get formally exchanged.

 

[Library Lady]

I believe part of the stipulation of the 37th Iowa being mustered into service was that they were assigned to garrison and prison duties since they were all over the age of 50.

Here is more about the 37th Iowa, AKA the Iowa Graybeards. Any book on the Rock Island prison camp should be able to fill you in on their colorful exploits. These gents were a handful!

The Iowa Graybeards

 

[EHParks]

Here is more about the 37th Iowa, AKA the Iowa Graybeards. Any book on the Rock Island prison camp should be able to fill you in on their colorful exploits. These gents were a handful!

The Iowa Graybeards

I can only imagine what "sick call" was like each morning!