Two scattered Confederate units

[Stryker65]

Hola, everyone:

Question about command structure. I'm looking through the order of battle, and do we know at all what role General Nathan G. Evans had in the battle? Says he commanded a provisional division, but no idea what troops composed it, or where these troops even were.

Additionally, what troops did Toombs have at Burnside Bridge? OR says he had 2nd, 20th, and 50th Georgia Infantry, but I doubt that in 1862, those regiments would constitute the 600 men Toombs apparently had. Confederate regiments were small, yes, but they were that size in 1864, not 62. Additionally, since the 50th came from Drayton's brigade, did Drayton take command of the remnant of Toombs' brigade? Would be strange to have two brigades-missing-units running around...

 

[RedRover]

General Evans:

Hola, everyone:

Question about command structure. I'm looking through the order of battle, and do we know at all what role General Nathan G. Evans had in the battle? Says he commanded a provisional division, but no idea what troops composed it, or where these troops even were.

Going back a short time, at the Battle of Groveton on August 30, Evans was assigned command over not just his own brigade, but Whiting's division, then under Brig. Gen. Hood. Thus commanded three brigades. Col. P.F. Stevens taking command of Evans' brigade.

He reported that at South Mountain on Sept. 14, his "provisional" division was divided, with the two brigades under Hood's immediate command detached; he acting evidently with only his own brigade, yet commanded by Col. Stevens.

Subsequently Evans notes his division ordered to Sharpsburg as the rear guard, arriving the evening of 15 September. During this movement Col. G.T. Anderson's brigade of Jones' division was assigned to act with Gen. Hood, (who was yet acting under Maj. Gen. Evans):

Anderson reported:

The next day, the 16th, Hood's brigades again detached, leaving Evans with his own brigade under Stevens, and Col. Anderson's brigade, which was itself shortly after detached to again act under Hood...

General Evans states that about noon on the 17th, during the battle, Col. Anderson's brigade ordered sent to the aid of Hood. Evans gathered stragglers into two small units, assigned to colonels Iverson and Colquitt to command in action, which continued action with Stevens' brigade under his direction.

Additionally, what troops did Toombs have at Burnside Bridge? OR says he had 2nd, 20th, and 50th Georgia Infantry, but I doubt that in 1862, those regiments would constitute the 600 men Toombs apparently had. Confederate regiments were small, yes, but they were that size in 1864, not 62. Additionally, since the 50th came from Drayton's brigade, did Drayton take command of the remnant of Toombs' brigade? Would be strange to have two brigades-missing-units running around...

Lee's army's effective strength at Antietam was limited by immense numbers of stragglers, many of whom never crossed into Maryland.

Major General D.R. Jones, commanding the division on the right, including McLaws, Drayton, Toombs, etc. etc., noted his six brigades mustered on the morning of the battle considerably less than their full strength:

A simple average among these six brigades would be 405 men each.

General D.H. Hill commented upon the situation on September 17 in his official report to Lee's Headquarters, which was not particularly contradicted, but forwarded as part of the Army's official reports of the battle.

Toombs reported that Maj. Gen. Jones sent him the 50th Georgia from Drayton's brigade on the 16th of September, as reported by Gen. Toombs:

From a common narrative:

 

[Nathan Stuart]

Thought Evans only had titular authority over the troops in Hood's division in this period.

Evans was given actual immediate command of a newly formed SC brigade of four regiments (17, 18, 22 & 23 SC) , as well as Holcombe's assigned SC Legion, that left SC to join the AoNV in Jul. '62, as an independent brigade, unattached to any division (with Evans reporting directly to Longstreet, commanding the right wing of Lee's army). The brigade's strength was bolstered by the addition in mid-Aug. '62, of Macbeth's SC artillery that was also moved from SC to VA.

At Antietam, Evans's independent brigade remained unattached to any division, with Evans reporting direct to Longstreet.

 

[RedRover]

Thought Evans only had titular authority over the troops in Hood's division in this period.

Evans was given actual immediate command of a newly formed SC brigade of four regiments (17, 18, 22 & 23 SC) , as well as Holcombe's assigned SC Legion, that left SC to join the AoNV in Jul. '62, as an independent brigade, unattached to any division (with Evans reporting directly to Longstreet, commanding the Army's right wing). The brigade's strength was bolstered by the addition in mid-Aug. '62, of Macbeth's SC artillery that was also moved from SC to VA.

Per his official report, Maj. Gen. Evans commanded a division, called elsewhere a "provisional division," which included his own brigade and Whiting's division of two brigades, under Hood, into Sept. 17. The National Park Service history of Second Manassas describes Evans' provisional division like this...

From General Longstreet's memoir:

Longstreet describes Hood's division as a "demi-division."

Evans was not Hood's "titular" commander, evidently, but his actual one. Under General Evans, Brigadier General Hood retained command of Whiting's division (of the TX and Law's brigades). After Groveton, and prior to South Mountain, Evans had ordered Hood to turn over some captured ambulances to Stevens' brigade (his own brigade). Hood refused to do so, complaining he would only turn them over to the army at large, but not to another brigade alone. Evans placed Hood under arrest. From Hood's book:

Being under arrest, and unable to command troops in that capacity, Gen. Longstreet ordered Hood to report rearward, but General Lee ordered Hood to remain with the troops, though still under arrest.

At South Mountain General Lee asked Hood to simply apologize to his commander, that the arrest might end and he resume command of his division, but Hood refused. General Lee then ordered Hood's arrest suspended during the battle, etc., that he might take an active part.

On September 16, Evans reports Hood's division was detached from his command. During the battle the next day Col. Andersons' brigade also. From Evans official report:

There are some more modern histories that suggest Gen. Hood was "unaware" he was under Gen. Evans' command in that period. I've never seen any historical suggestion of such a case of confusion. The confusion is modern. Evans' official report, which is part of the ANV's record, is pretty clear. Evan's notes he was "ordered" to assume command of a provisional division size force, whose composition changed (in the manner reported by Evans) from the close of August through the battle of Anteitam:

Hood's official report regards his own division (or demi-division as Longstreet called it) alone, and doesn't mention Evans. However, Gen. Evans report notes that Hood's official report was passed through him, who was his C.O. after the 29th, as he refers to it:

At Antietam, Evans's independent brigade remained unattached to any division, with Evans reporting direct to Longstreet.

Colonel P.F. Stevens of the Holcombe Legion assumed command of Evans' brigade at the close of August when Evans took charge of his "provisional division." Stevens commanded it through the Battle of Antietam. During its course, Gen. Evans also gathered up a few hundred stragglers, dividing them into two battalions he placed under field officers, which acted in conjunction with Stevens' brigade.
Col. Stevens reports the time at which Evans' provisional division authority was concluded, after the battle, when he resumed command of his own brigade, and Evans his own regiment, on the 20th of September.

 

[Nathan Stuart]

At the time of Antietam (the focus of this thread), believe Evans and Hood were both B-Gs, and Evans was more senior to Hood, according to their respective graduation dates from the USMA.

It's noted that in the OR (Vol. 12, Part 2, p. 548), Evans is shown on Aug. 30 as commanding Hood's division, as well as his own independent brigade. (Presumably, this command status occurred around the time Evans had Hood arrested for alleged insubordination following a seemingly trivial incident at Second Manassas, which apparently was much to the resentment of Hood's other men).

However, when this happened, thought Lee allowed Hood to remain with his troops and on Sept. 14. Lee permitted Hood to return to his division command in time for Antietam.

 

[ErnieMac]

Hola, everyone:

Question about command structure. I'm looking through the order of battle, and do we know at all what role General Nathan G. Evans had in the battle? Says he commanded a provisional division, but no idea what troops composed it, or where these troops even were.

Additionally, what troops did Toombs have at Burnside Bridge? OR says he had 2nd, 20th, and 50th Georgia Infantry, but I doubt that in 1862, those regiments would constitute the 600 men Toombs apparently had. Confederate regiments were small, yes, but they were that size in 1864, not 62. Additionally, since the 50th came from Drayton's brigade, did Drayton take command of the remnant of Toombs' brigade? Would be strange to have two brigades-missing-units running around...

Toombs' report in the Official Records provides a pretty clear account as to how the situation developed and the units involved. Link provided from the Antietam on the Web site.

Antietam: BGen Robert Toombs' Official Report

antietam.aotw.org

 

[JHughes81]

Evans was a.....special....guy. He def found out where he stood after the Hood incident. Going to visit where Evans went against

I remember on a map i was studying, it was odd to me as i had never seen that to my viewing but it had a listed designation near Evans' position, where it said something like disorganized rebels, or something of the sort. Prob same thing someone else i think was referring to.

Going tomorrow..... reading this and other threads related. Great info. I learned alot in the past couple months and my great x3 grandfather was here but above the boonsboro pike i believe it was. skirmishers/protecting an artillery/battery it appears on maps with the 23rd SC under Evans. Will be taking and posting pics.