Interpreting Information in Rosters

[RaggedAssSecond]

Seeking clarification on information found in regimental rosters. Several members of the 2nd Wisconsin Infantry were "Det. in Battery B, 4th U.S. Art.". Does this mean they were detached to Battery B, 4th U.S. Artillery? If yes was being detached to another unit usually a permanent thing during the Civil War?

 

[RedRover]

You would be correct. To be "detached" to another unit was assignment temporarily to another unit, subject to returning to their own unit. To be "transferred to" would be permanent.

The 2nd Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry was a unit of "volunteer" troops, organized within their States, and "mustered in" to the Service of the United States for three years, etc.

The 4th United States Artillery Regiment was a unit of the "regular army" composed of enlisted men. Although the regular army was expanded by law during the war, the number of enlistments lagged throughout the war, and units in the field frequently suffered for manpower. Ergo the detachment of volunteer soldiers to serve with these units.

The detached volunteers would not have been "transferred" to Battery B, 4th US Artillery, unless they enlisted in the regular army.

Among these "detached volunteers" serving with the regular units, was Augustus Buell...

....

"The Cannoneer."

Personal narrative of a member of the 4th Artillery Regiment of the Union Army during the U.S. Civil War.

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