Officers below Colonel often overlooked

[gentlemanrob]

I find that no books exist on the ranks of Captains, Majors, Lts, Sgts or even Privates therefore In your opinion who is the overlooked soldier below the rank of Colonel that needs to be remembered in history yet they don't get the respect they deserve? One that comes to mind for me is Captain Matthew T. Nunnally. I grew up always wondering who the big statue in town was for and what happened to him. From my understand Captain Nunnally attended West Point before resigning in 1861 to return home to Georgia to lead his regiment. Captain Nunnally died on the battlefield of Gettysburg and his body was never found. Now after the war the statue was sculptured to look just like Captain Nunnally by his family and placed in the City Cemetery of Monroe close to the graves of many of his relatives graves. I have often times wondered if Captain Nunnally could be buried at Hollywood Cemetery as one of the unmarked graves or if his body is buried still on the battlefield of Gettysburg. I wonder sometimes just how many great men are buried on these battlefields all over the United States and how many had family who looked for years for their relative but never found them. It's so sad to think about yet very true that this happened.

 

[Ole Miss]

What a really good idea for a thread. I think I will just mention the name of a few forgotten heroes and make the reader look them up to assist in remembering their sacrifice.
Regards
David

Lieutenant Bayard Wilkeson
Captain Edward Saxe
Captain Andrew Hickenlooper
Sergeant Thomas Plunkett
Lieutenant George E. Dixon
Harriet Patience Dame
Sergeant Jeremiah Gage

 

[major bill]

It is true that lower ranking offices are often over looked. Sometimes majors contributed greatly to battles. One issue is that often they are later promoted so no longer majors.

 

[DaveBrt]

I agree that lower ranking officers are too rarely given any biographical attention. The same is true of logistical, staff and naval personnel. In an effort to remedy that for Confederate government railroad men, from Transportation Agent up to Colonel, I have created biographies of 70 men -- some of whom had significant impact on the war. Please find my list below, with its links to each man's biography.

Biographies of Confederate Railroaders

csa-railroads.com

 

[lupaglupa]

So many men, in their own ways, were heroes. Some we know of, others left no witnesses to their valor. This is one reason I enjoy the cemetery profiles - so often they showcase very ordinary men who served. Each company has stories of heroic motions and selfless actions that took place among their ranks. It's a tough but worthwhile task to dig those stories out.