The Regular Army

[josh54739]

Hey, everyone!
Just a few questions I had on the Civil War Regular Army. I figured some of you were interested in them, as well, and could provide insight.
1. Was there a significant amount of desertion by southern men in the Regular Army at the start of the war?
2. I heard they were allowed to recruit from volunteer units. What was so different about service between the two? (I know Regular Army was career soldiers, but a Civil War enlistment didn't seem so different.)
3. Also, what led men to enlist in the Regular Army over the volunteers? Was it a lot of times it was chosen if no volunteer units were being raised locally when you wanted to join?
4. Could the Regular Army draft soldiers?
5. Towards the end of the war, some POW's chose to enlist in the Union Army and fought Indians. Did they return home after the war, or remain the in the north to avoid possible stigma?

 

[East Tennessee Roots]

5. Towards the end of the war, some POW's chose to enlist in the Union Army and fought Indians. Did they return home after the war, or remain the in the north to avoid possible stigma?

Two of these three "galvanized" east Tennesseans went west with the regular Army :

https://civilwartalk.com/threads/re...esseans-in-the-civil-war.129343/#post-1437761

 

[redbob]

The two best books that I have found on the Regular Army in the Civil War are: Syke's Regular Infantry Division 1861-1865 (AoP) by Timothy Reese and That Body of Brave Men-The U.S. Infantry and the Civil War in the West by Mark W. Johnson.
Now to your questions:
1. Unlike Officers, enlisted men were not allowed to resign from the army and if they left; (like the Irish-Americans that deserted during the Mexican War and joined the Mexicans (the San Patricios) they would have been probably shot if they were captured. For whatever reason, desertion to go South by enlisted personnel was evidently not a big problem.
2. The biggest difference was that the regulars were in for a six year enlistment and the volunteers were only in until the end of the war. Also, promotion in the regulars was very slow and to be honest daily life in the regulars was pretty tough-stricter discipline, more adherence to regulations and the fact that because the regulars seemed to be put in where the fighting was tougher; life expectancy was perhaps shorter.
3. This is perhaps your toughest question, before the war, the main draw was a job and a steady paycheck and during the war perhaps it was the same reason or possibly a desire to prove themselves by joining the toughest organization that they could find.
4. They preferred (much like the Marine Corps) to recruit rather than draft. Because of the habit of sending the regulars in at the toughest spot in a battle, probably no active regular regiment was ever up to strength despite a heavy recruiting effort and many regular regiments were simply "shot out of existence".
5. I can't speak for all of the "Galvanized Yankees", but I can tell you of the experience of one of my ancestors. Joined the Confederate cavalry, was captured, sent to Camp Douglas, took the oath and went West with the US Army, served his enlistment, was discharged and went West because he probably felt as though he wouldn't be welcomed back in Tennessee. As a sidelight, these "Galvanized Yankee" regiments had some of the lowest desertion rates of any Union regiments. There is at least one good book on these men, Galvanized Yankees by Dee Brown.
Sources put the total number of regulars in the Union Army at about only 3% of it's total manpower of approximately 2.2 million.

 

[ariete]

2.
ACSA army of the Confederate States of America
PACS provisional army of the Confederate States (which was to be disbanded if the South would have won the war)

 

[thomas aagaard]

Was there a significant amount of desertion by southern men in the Regular Army at the start of the war?

No. Enlisted men where more likely to be northerners or immigrants... and was more likely to be loyal to their regiment than to any state.
(the same was the case in the navy, with the % of southern officers resigning being lower than in the army. They where more loyal to the navy than to any state)

Suggest you take a look at the book Ten years in the ranks, U.S. army" by Augustus Meyers
He served 5 years from 1854 to 1859, and reenlisted in summer of 1860 and served until 65.

(so it was 5 year enlistments, not 6 as mentioned above by redbob)


He got a lot of observations about details on gear, army procedures and similar.
Really worth a read.

It can be found here:
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/45949?msg=welcome_stranger

Thomas Bernstorff

 

[GELongstreet]

To the first point (Regulars deserting during the early war), also discussed below.

Regular Army Soldiers Who Wished To Join The CSA In 1861
and partially in
How many enlisted men deserted to join the Confedercy?