Need Help Understanding a Curious Reference in a Letter

Joined
May 8, 2015
Location
Pittsburgh, PA
One of the watches I own was presented to Colonel George W. Gallup by the officers and men of his regiment, the 14th KY Volunteer Infantry, a mounted unit. The watch is shown here, with some information about Colonel Gallup, who was promoted to Brigadier post-war:

https://civilwartalk.com/threads/po...14th-ky-mounted-infantry.130869/#post-1465235

In researching Colonel Gallup, I was delighted to find that the Filson Historical Library in Louisville, KY has a collection of his war time letters to his wife Rebecca, as well as a partial diary of his movements. One particular letter, dated June 23, 1864, relates the events through which Gallup and his regiment had just lived the day before, during the Battle of Kolb's Farm, in Cobb Cy., GA near Marietta. It contains a curious reference:

“My Dear Wife,

Today has been a hard one for the 14th KY. At 12 o’clock I was ordered to advance my regiment to envelop the enemy’s line of battle. I marched one mile to the front and captured the enemy’s picket line, 45 in number, when General Clayborn [Cleburne – he actually faced Stevenson] attacked me with his brigades and after a stubborn fight we retreated ½ a mile, fighting as we went. Then I found cover under the crest of a ridge and held the enemy until our artillery came up. Killed 104 and wounded 250, took 45 prisoners, and I lost, out of 700 men, 77 killed and wounded, a large loss. The boys are brave. General Hooker, Thomas, McPherson and Sherman complimented this regiment and say it is the best in the 23rd Corps.

I am worn and weary, have not eaten anything since yesterday morning and I cannot write much. Lieut. Osborn, son of Walter, was killed. Lieut. Burgess, arm shot off. Capt. Gardner wounded. Ensign Jordan Oty killed. … Love to all. – Your Husband.”

I have highlighted and italicized the curious passage. Was the rank of "ensign" ever used in the Federal infantry??? If not, could there have been any conceivable reason why a person with such a rank would have been attached to his unit? Or perhaps, the word "ensign" was incorrectly transcribed from the hand written letter.
 
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One of the watches I own was presented to Colonel George W. Gallup by the officers and men of his regiment, the 14th KY Volunteer Infantry, a mounted unit. The watch is shown here, with some information about Colonel Gallup, who was promoted to Brigadier post-war:

https://civilwartalk.com/threads/po...14th-ky-mounted-infantry.130869/#post-1465235

In researching Colonel Gallup, I was delighted to find that the Filson Historical Library in Louisville, KY has a collection of his war time letters to his wife Rebecca, as well as a partial diary of his movements. One particular letter, dated June 23, 1864, relates the events through which Gallup and his regiment had just lived the day before, during the Battle of Kolb's Farm, in Cobb Cy., GA near Marietta. It contains a curious reference:

“My Dear Wife,

Today has been a hard one for the 14th KY. At 12 o’clock I was ordered to advance my regiment to envelop the enemy’s line of battle. I marched one mile to the front and captured the enemy’s picket line, 45 in number, when General Clayborn [Cleburne – he actually faced Stevenson] attacked me with his brigades and after a stubborn fight we retreated ½ a mile, fighting as we went. Then I found cover under the crest of a ridge and held the enemy until our artillery came up. Killed 104 and wounded 250, took 45 prisoners, and I lost, out of 700 men, 77 killed and wounded, a large loss. The boys are brave. General Hooker, Thomas, McPherson and Sherman complimented this regiment and say it is the best in the 23rd Corps.

I am worn and weary, have not eaten anything since yesterday morning and I cannot write much. Lieut. Osborn, son of Walter, was killed. Lieut. Burgess, arm shot off. Capt. Gardner wounded. Ensign Jordan Oty killed. … Love to all. – Your Husband.”

I have highlighted and italicized the curious passage. Was the rank of "ensign" ever used in the Federal infantry??? If not, could there have been any conceivable reason why a person with such a rank would have been attached to his unit? Or perhaps, the word "ensign" was incorrectly transcribed from the hand written letter.
Not saying this is true in the above battle but naval personnel were certainly present at many battles if fought next to a river or coast line.
Leftyhunter
 
According to Wikipedia:
"The ranks of ensign and cornet were abolished in the United States Army in the Army Organization Act of 1815.[6]

In the United States Navy, the rank of ensign superseded passed midshipman in 1862. Ensign is the junior commissioned officer rank in the United States Navy, the United States Coast Guard, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps, and the PHS Commissioned Corps. This rank is also used in the U.S. Maritime Service and the U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps. Ensign ranks below lieutenant junior grade, and it is equivalent to a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army, the Marine Corps, and the Air Force.

Depending on the warfare community, an ensign may go directly to a warship after being commissioned to serve as a division officer, or he or she may serve up one to two years of specialty training before reporting to a combat unit (e.g. flight school, weapons systems school, navigator school, submarine school, amphibious warfare school, radar school).

Ensigns who become division officers are responsible for leading a group of petty officers and enlisted men in one of the ship's divisions (for example, engineering, navigation, communications, sensors or weapons) while at the same time receiving on-the-job training in leadership, naval systems, programs, and policies from higher-ranking officers and from enlisted men and women.

Navy and Coast Guard ensigns wear collar insignia of a single gold bar and because of this share the nickname "butterbars" with Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps second lieutenants, who wear the same insignia."

Perhaps this was a localized term that was still in use in the War by some regiments, but was not a recognized rank.
 
I have highlighted and italicized the curious passage. Was the rank of "ensign" ever used in the Federal infantry??? If not, could there have been any conceivable reason why a person with such a rank would have been attached to his unit? Or perhaps, the word "ensign" was incorrectly transcribed from the hand written letter.
Ensign is the junior commissioned officer in the United States Navy. But it was lso once the junior commissioned officer in the United States Army as well. It was abolished there by the Army Organization Act of 1815 and was replaced by Second Lieutenant.
I am very surprised to see any reference to an Army Ensign in the Civil War period. Perhaps the rank, though obsolete in the US Army, was still used by some state militia units.
 
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