Transfer

[Union_Buff]

I was reading that some of the Union Army heavy artillery units were transferred to the infantry during the later part of the war I think (1864-65). Was this because of a shortage of infantry units at the time or because of another issue?

 

[Elennsar]

This may come out sounding nitpicking, but its not so much a shortage of infantry units as infantrymen - and with the Heavies being massively oversized (twelve companies of 150 men insteade of 10 of 100 - not counting any depletion from not being full strength), they were extremely welcome.

Grant called for them as reinforcements a bit after the Wilderness (end of the first week of May 1864), but I do not recall offhand what date.

As most of them were originally trained as infantry (and as converted, supposed to know infantry and artillery drill), they were a pretty good idea for reinforcements - other than that they were green as grass.

Well trained, but almost uniformly without of field experience - and their casualty rates show that.

An example of one of the units: http://www.cwoodcock.com/firstmaine/

 

[Union_Buff]

Thanks again Elennsar

So they would have been given new designations (i.e. 24th Heavy Artillery Regiment is changed to 24th Infantry Regiment)?

 

[Elennsar]

No, they kept their heavy artillery designations as best as I can determine.

The numbering they recieved when originally converting (from infantry to heavy artillery) for those who did seems to have been as if newly formed - for instance, the 1st Maine Heavy Artillery dropped the designation "18th Maine Volunteer Infantry" as if it had never had it.

 

[johan_steele]

Many were raised as Heavy Arty units. Grant knew that many had done near to three years w/out ever leaving the defences of Washington. He had the pool of men and he used it. Some have said that the influx of new men and Regiments was the straw that broke the ANV's back... that's plausible IMO.

 

[Jamieva]

Grant used them to replace soldiers lost at Wildnerness and Spotsylvania to keep his numbers up and be able to push on. These men had been in the DC defenses for years doing nothing.

 

[K Hale]

Grant thought Washington was ridiculously over-protected.

I recall reading that as these newly minted "infantry" units took up their places in the AotP, the veterans would call out to them, "HEY, HEAVY ARTILLERY!"

 

[Scribe]

Many were raised as Heavy Arty units. Grant knew that many had done near to three years w/out ever leaving the defences of Washington. He had the pool of men and he used it. Some have said that the influx of new men and Regiments was the straw that broke the ANV's back... that's plausible IMO.

Grant also dismounted some cavalry and turned them into infantry.

One time a group of Heavies-turned-infantry taunted a group of cavalry-turned-infantry shouting "Where are your horses?"

"Gone back to get your heavy guns," came the reply.

 

[M E Wolf]

O.R.-- SERIES I--VOLUME XXXIII [S# 60]
CONFEDERATE CORRESPONDENCE, ORDERS, AND RETURNS RELATING TO OPERATIONS IN NORTH CAROLINA, VIRGINIA, WEST VIRGINIA, MARYLAND, AND PENNSYLVANIA, FROM JANUARY 1 TO APRIL 30, 1864.--#9
HEADQUARTERS, April 12, 1864.
His Excellency JEFFERSON DAVIS:
Mr. PRESIDENT: I have received this morning a report from Colonel Mosby, dated 4 a.m., 11th instant. He had just returned from a scout in Fairfax, and reiterates the opinion that no re-enforcements have been given to the Army of the Potomac, but that the enemy is attempting to impress the idea upon our citizens that it has been largely increased. He says the trains of last week carried down infantry and artillery, and that a large number of wagons went down on the cars. He further states that the troops from the West, as well as those from Meade, have gone to Annapolis; that a large portion of the troops from the defenses around Washington have been removed and the Invalid Corps substituted, and negro troops sent to the valley. I do not know how he got this information, except from citizens, and the first part conflicts with information from special scouts, who must have obtained it by observation. A report from Channing Smith, of the 10th, states that the sutlers, traders, and all persons not connected with the Army of the Potomac are ordered to leave. All extra baggage, &c., has been ordered to Washington. The wagons reported by Mosby may have been surplus, broken, &c., sent back. C. Smith repeats the report that the Eleventh and Twelfth Corps have been ordered to Meade and are daily expected. I see an order published in the Washington Chronicle of the 8th that the Eleventh and Twelfth Corps have been consolidated into the Twentieth, under General Hooker, and that Maj. Gen. P. H. Sheridan has been assigned to the command of the cavalry of the Army of the Potomac. Reports from the valley state that the enemy have left Halltown and are leaving Harper's Ferry; they do not now allow produce to be brought within their lines; that the Eleventh New York Cavalry has left that district, and that Martinsburg and Cumberland are garrisoned by negroes. Captain Calmese attacked about 150 of the enemy in Winchester on the 8th; drove them to Stephenson's Depot, capturing 30 prisoners of the Sixth [West] Virginia Cavalry, 28 horses, equipments, arms, &c., some provisions. No loss on our part. Scouts on the Potomac report that ten steamers with troops, estimated about two brigades, passed up the river on the 9th. They may be merely sick, &c. If they are preparing armed transports and launches for disembarking troops I think they can only be intended for the James River. I see no other place where they would be required. We should be prepared in that quarter. A landing may be intended at City Point to capture Drewry's Bluff. I think it probable that at the appointed time operations at Charleston will be suspended and certain troops and iron-clads be transferred to James River, as I see it stated in the Northern papers that General Gillmore has been assigned a part in the proposed campaign in Virginia.
I am, with great respect, your obedient servant,
R. E. LEE,
General.
----------------------------------------------------------
O.R.-- SERIES I--VOLUME XXXIII [S# 60]
UNION CORRESPONDENCE, ORDERS, AND RETURNS RELATING TO OPERATIONS IN NORTH CAROLINA, VIRGINIA, WEST VIRGINIA, MARYLAND, AND PENNSYLVANIA, FROM JANUARY 1 TO APRIL 30, 1864.--#3
SPECIAL ORDERS No. 20.
WAR DEPT., ADJT. GENERAL'S OFFICE,
Washington, January 14, 1864.
* * * * * * * * * *
2. Camp Distribution, near Alexandria, Va., will be broken up as soon as practicable and discontinued, and Camp Convalescent, at Alexandria, Va., will hereafter be, and be known as, Rendezvous of Distribution, near Alexandria, Va., and the place from which all men fit for field service arriving in the Department of Washington will be distributed to their regiments. In future, none but men fit for field service and deserters will be sent to this rendezvous. The Surgeon-General will see that all men in general hospitals are transferred to the Invalid Corps, discharged, or retained for treatment until fit for field service, as may be proper in each case, unless otherwise disposed of by proper authority, and not forwarded to this camp before they are fit for field service, as has heretofore been the custom.
* * * * *

By order of the Secretary of War:
E. D. TOWNSEND,
Assistant Adjutant-General.
-----
O.R.-- SERIES I--VOLUME XXXIII [S# 60]
UNION CORRESPONDENCE, ORDERS, AND RETURNS RELATING TO OPERATIONS IN NORTH CAROLINA, VIRGINIA, WEST VIRGINIA, MARYLAND, AND PENNSYLVANIA, FROM JANUARY 1 TO APRIL 30, 1864.--#23
FORT MONROE, April 13, 1864.
(Received 6.25 p.m.)
Hon. E. M. STANTON,
Secretary of War:
I have need of a large guard for provost and other duties at Norfolk. I desire all able-bodied men I have in the field. Can you send me a battalion or regiment of the Veteran Reserve or Invalid Corps for the purpose of such provost-guard duties?
BENJ. F. BUTLER,
Major-General, Commanding.
----------------------------
ORT MONROE, April 13, 1864.
(Received 6.30 p.m.)
Hon. E. M. STANTON:
Special order received requiring the sending of 200 unassigned men of the Sixteenth New York Heavy Artillery to the Sixth New York Heavy Artillery, Army of the Potomac. Colonel Morrison, commanding, reports that when those ordered to be discharged become unfit for service and transferred to the Veteran Reserve Corps, and those who have voluntarily enlisted to fill up other New York regiments in this department are taken from his regiment, there will be none left. I can send 443, not a man of whom is fit for duty, and never was since they were enlisted in the regiment. I await instructions, but we have no unassigned recruits of that regiment.
BENJ. F. BUTLER,
Major-General, Commanding.
---------------------------------------------------------------
continued

 

[M E Wolf]

O.R.-- SERIES I--VOLUME XXXIV/1 [S# 61]
GENERAL REPORT.
Report of Lieut. Gen. U.S. Grant, U.S. Army, commanding Armies of the United States, of operations March, 1864-May, 1865.
HEADQUARTERS ARMIES OF THE UNITED STATES,
Washington, D.C., July 22, 1865.
SIR: I have the honor to submit the following report of the operations of the armies of the United States from the date of my appointment to command the same:
From an early period in the rebellion I had been impressed with the idea that active and continuous operations of all the troops that could be brought into the field, regardless of season and weather, were necessary to a speedy termination of the war. The resources of the enemy and his numerical strength were far inferior to ours; but as an offset to this, we had a vast territory, with a population hostile to the Government, to garrison, and long lines of river and railroad communications to protect, to enable us to supply the operating armies.
[excerpt]
The garrisons of Baltimore and Washington were at this time made up of heavy artillery regiments, hundred-day men, and detachments from the Invalid Corps. One division, under command of General Ricketts, of the Sixth Corps, was sent to Baltimore, and the remaining two divisions of the Sixth Corps, under General Wright, were subsequently sent to Washington. On the 3d of July the enemy approached Martinsburg; General Sigel, who was in command of our forces there, retreated across the Potomac at Shepherdstown, and General Weber, commanding at Harper's Ferry, crossed the river and occupied Maryland Heights. On the 6th, the enemy occupied Hagerstown, moving a strong column toward Frederick City. General Wallace, with Ricketts' division and his own command, the latter mostly new and undisciplined troops, pushed out from Baltimore with great promptness and met the enemy in force on the Monocacy, near the crossing of the railroad bridge. His force was not sufficient to insure success, but he fought the enemy nevertheless, and although it resulted in a defeat to our arms, yet it detained the enemy and thereby served to enable General Wright to reach Washington with two divisions of the Sixth Corps, and the advance of the Nineteenth Corps before him. From Monocacy the enemy moved on Washington, his cavalry advance reaching Rockville on the evening of the 10th. On the 12th, a reconnaissance was thrown out in front of Fort Stevens, to ascertain the enemy's position and force. A severe skirmish ensued, in which we lost about 280 in killed and wounded. The enemy's loss was probably greater. He commenced retreating during the night. Learning the exact condition of affairs at Washington, I requested by telegraph, at 11.45 p.m. on the 12th, the assignment of Maj. Gen. H. G. Wright to the command of all the troops that could be made available to operate in the field against the enemy, and directed that he should get outside of the trenches with all the force he could, and push Early to the last moment. General Wright commenced the pursuit on the 13th. On the 18th, the enemy was over-taken at Snicker's Ferry, on the Shenandoah, when a sharp skirmish occurred; and on the 20th, General Averell encountered and defeated a portion of the rebel army at Winchester, capturing four pieces of artillery and several hundred prisoners. Learning that Early was retreating south toward Lynchburg or Richmond, I directed that the Sixth and Nineteenth Corps be got back to the armies operating against Richmond, so that they might be used in a movement against Lee before the return of the troops sent by him into the valley, and that Hunter should remain in the Shenandoah Valley, keeping between any force of the enemy and Washington, acting on the defensive as much as possible. I felt that if the enemy had any notion of returning the fact would be developed before the Sixth and Nineteenth Corps could leave Washington. Subsequently the Nineteenth Corps was excepted from the order to return to the James.

About the 25th, it became evident that the enemy was again advancing upon Maryland and Pennsylvania, and the Sixth Corps, then at Washington, was ordered back to the vicinity of Harper's Ferry. The rebel force moved down the valley, and sent a raiding party into Pennsylvania, which, on the 30th, burned Chambersburg and then retreated, pursued by our cavalry, toward Cumberland. They were met and defeated by General Kelley, and with diminished numbers escaped into the mountains of West Virginia. From the time of the first raid the telegraph wires were frequently down between Washington and City Point, making it necessary to transmit messages a part of the way by boat. It took from twenty-four to thirty-six hours to get dispatches through and return answers back, so that often orders would be given, and then information would be received showing a different state of facts from those on which they were based, causing a confusion and apparent contradiction of orders that must have considerably embarrassed those who had to execute them, and rendered operations against the enemy less effective than they otherwise would have been. To remedy this evil, it was evident to my mind that some person should have the supreme command of all the forces in the Departments of West Virginia, Washington, Susquehanna, and the Middle Department, and I so recommended.
[excerpt]
Having received considerable re-enforcements, General Early again returned to the valley, and on the 9th of October his cavalry encountered ours near Strasburg, where the rebels were defeated with the loss of eleven pieces of artillery and 350 prisoners. On the night of the 18th, the enemy crossed the mountains which separate the branches of the Shenandoah, forded the North Fork, and early on the morning of the 19th, under cover of the darkness and the fog, surprised and turned our left flank, capturing the batteries which enfiladed our whole line. Our troops fell back with heavy loss and in much confusion, but were finally rallied between Middletown and Newtown. At this juncture General Sheridan, who was at Winchester when the battle commenced, arrived on the field, arranged his lines just in time to repulse a heavy attack of the enemy, and immediately assuming the offensive, he attacked in turn with great vigor. The enemy was defeated with great slaughter and the loss of most of his artillery and trains and the trophies he had captured in the morning. The wreck of his army escaped during the night and fled in the direction of Staunton and Lynchburg. Pursuit was made to Mount Jackson. Thus ended this, the enemy's last attempt to invade the North via the Shenandoah Valley. I was now enabled to return the Sixth Corps to the Army of the Potomac, and to send one division from Sheridan's army to the Army of the James, and another to Savannah, Ga., to hold Sherman's new acquisitions on the sea-coast, and thus enable him to move without detaching from his force for that purpose.(*)

[end of excerpt]
========================
M. E. Wolf