I actually feel dumb asking this.

[ColonelBuckwalter]

I've been fascinated with the war since I was eight years old. But I never thought to find out just how numbers were assigned to regiments.

So... how?

(don't laugh too hard at my ignorance)

 

[Stryker65]

No, I mean Port Hudson, not Gibson. McRae's unit was at Gibson, but I meant to say Port Hudson, Johnson's 15th did distinguished fighting at Port Hudson holding Fort Desperate.

Sorry about that.

 

[ColonelBuckwalter]

Sorry about that.

And the 10th Arkansas was there at Port Hudson. I had a relative in that unit.

 

[Stryker65]

And the 10th Arkansas was there at Port Hudson. I had a relative in that unit.

Interesting! I have the complete parole records for the Confederate forces at Port Hudson, what was your ancestor's name?

 

[Harms88]

In new Hampshire the mold is somewhat different. Instead of creating new regiments the old regiment s were rebuilt with the same regimental number. The 5th New Hampshire Infantry returned from Gettysburg with just 173 men. Instead of forming a new regiment this one was rebuilt.

Everything I've read definitely suggests this should have been more widely adopted by the Union states. Imagine an Army of the Potomac where each regiment was rebuilt as close to actual strength as they could, with the veterans teaching new soldiers the ropes instead of a whole bunch a brand spanking new regiments showing up every few months.

 

[Stryker65]

Everything I've read definitely suggests this should have been more widely adopted by the Union states. Imagine an Army of the Potomac where each regiment was rebuilt as close to actual strength as they could, with the veterans teaching new soldiers the ropes instead of a whole bunch a brand spanking new regiments showing up every few months.

Agree. Half of the Ninth Corps's forty-odd regiments at Appomattox, for instance, were original units, while the other half were one-year regiments.

 

[Cato3rd]

don't laugh too hard at my ignorance)

There are no dumb questions. Answers to questions that might seem obvious to others, educate others. Plenty of times when I go down rabbit holes on here about different topics, I'll find an answer because someone asked the same question I had.