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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.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.