GRAPHIC What is this officer's rank?

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Apr 11, 2014
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This is a picture of Henry Augustus DuBois (1840-1897). April 25, 1861, he joined the 12th Regiment of N.Y.S.N.G. as Hospital Steward, in a few weeks was examined for Asst. Surgeon, U.S.A., and passed No. 3 out of 40 applicants; Aug. 28, 186 1, was under Dr. Abadie in the Columbian Hospital, Washington, but was soon put in full charge. He served in the 6th U. S. Cavalry as Inspector of Cavalry ; May, 1862, Assistant Medical Director of the Army of the Potomac, subsequently Medical Inspector of the Artillery Reserve under Gen. Hunt; was at the battles of Chancellorsville, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, etc., in all about 40 battles; 1864, Inspector of Hospitals at headquarters of the Army of the Potomac ; in June, 1864, on Gen. Sheridan's staff; Aug., 1864, appointed Assistant Medical Director of the Middle Military Division of Va., on Sheridan's staff, and was with him in all his battles, and present at Lee's surrender; brevetted by the President Captain, and subsequently Brevet Major. In 1865, took charge of the U. S. Laboratory in Philadelphia; May, 1866, sent to Fort Union, New Mexico ; resigned Feb. 21, 1868. Can anyone tell me what is his rank in the picture? This would help me to date it.
 
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It is hard to tell but it appears that he's a Second Lieutenant. The shoulder board looks empty and that would be a 2nd Lieutenant.
 
I have since found this: Commissioned an officer in the Regular Army Medical Staff Infantry Regiment on 26 Aug 1861. Promoted to Brevet Captain on 13 Mar 1865. Promoted to Brevet Major on 13 Mar 1865. Mustered out on 01 Apr 1868. (Index to Compiled Military Service Records Heitman: Register of United States Army 1789-1903).

So he was commissioned a lieutenant in 1861 and not promoted to captain (and major the same day) until after the war. Seems strange that a lieutenant should be Medical Inspector. He looks very young in the picture, so I'm guessing late '61 or early '62, when he was 21.

He later became a physician in San Rafael CA and also started Mount Tamalpais Cemetery. He was teased for being both a doctor and mortician - he profited by his patients either way.
 
Well, two bits of bad news there:

First, since he was essentially a first lieutenant for all three-and-a-half years of his wartime service, this does almost nothing to help you date the photo. Second, he wouldn't have worn the rank boards of a captain or major at any point during the war, even though brevet officers were allowed to do so, thus helping matters even less in dating the photo. It's that 13 March 1865 date is what severely complicates matters.

If you look at the brevets granted during the war, close to 95% of them bear that date. The reason for this has to do with the exultation of victory, a strange act of a Senate committee, a War Department directive, and a desire not to do business on a Sunday even if that Sunday fell two months prior. Over 8,000 brevets were granted after the war, and virtually all hold that date. The actual dates upon which they were granted, however, range anywhere from May 1865 to 3 March 1869, with approximately 75% of them being authorized between May 1865 and August 1866 and officially issued by General Order No. 65 on 22 June 1867. Several were fraudulent, one was to a private, some were completely nonsensical, and one was to a person who was completely fictional, but Congress was passing them out rather too quickly for anyone either there or in the War Department to actually notice. Unfortunately, this means that figuring out when the brevets to Assistant Surgeon DuBois were actual authorized and when he was actually informed of them is no easy matter. If he was even still in the Army when he received his brevet, it almost certainly would have been while he was assigned to Fort Union, and it's entirely possible that his brevets came so late that he never wore any uniform after August 1861 except that of a first lieutenant.
 
Sounds like they were passing them out like peanuts. I guess they were cheap ways of rewarding service. No, it doesn't help me date the photo, but it's a great story.
 
Sounds like they were passing them out like peanuts. I guess they were cheap ways of rewarding service. No, it doesn't help me date the photo, but it's a great story.
Well, it's a bit of column A, a bit of column B; yes, they were handing them out at a remarkable rate, but by the same token, you have to remember that aside from the Medal of Honor, the US Army didn't actually have any medals or service ribbons or commendations as they do now, so brevets were a way of rewarding officers when there was no way to substantively promote them (since you can't exactly have a regiment with a dozen majors and no captains). The real interesting part comes when you go into the regulations governing how they can be used in service; an officer could be addressed by his brevet rank and even wear the uniform, but mostly he served at (and was paid for) his actual rank. If, however, there was no appropriate officer to fill the slot just above him, he might serve at and be paid for a position appropriate to his brevet rank, and revert to his old pay and duties when an appropriate officer was assigned to the position he was holding. It actually got exceedingly complicated, especially when you look at wartime brigade and division commands.
 
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