• About

Regular Cavalry in the Civil War

Regular Cavalry in the Civil War

Category Archives: research

Court Martial Insights

21 Tuesday Apr 2020

Posted by dccaughey in 1864, 2nd U.S. Cavalry, Civil War, courts martial, references, research, Reserve Brigade, Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

2nd U.S. Cavalry, cavalry, Civil War, courts martial, Culpeper;, officers, winter encampment;

Court martialI first realized the possible value of court martial records when I read Dr. Mark W. Johnson’s excellent book, That Body of Brave Men. Intrigued by what he had to say about the value of the records, I did a bit of investigating.

As I perused the War Department’s General Orders for 1863 and 1864, it struck me that relatively few cavalrymen were court martialed, and even fewer regular cavalrymen. I was able to make copies of a few records on a couple of visits to the National Archives, and friend Bob O’Neill was kind enough to copy another dozen or more. Much to my delight, there is a wealth of information in these files. Nothing book worthy in and of itself, but countless smaller details that bring the larger history to life.

As a case study, let’s take a look at the court martial of Second Lieutenant Peter Rinner of the 2nd U.S. Cavalry in January 1864. Rinner was a veteran whose enlisted service started in the Mexican War, and a first sergeant in the regiment when he was commissioned the year before. I will save the other details of his service for a future post. The charge was drunk on guard. The specification was “while on Provost Guard with his squadron did become so drunk as to be unable to perform his duty as an officer. This at or near the town of Culpeper, Va. On or about the 24th day of December 1863.”

To set the stage a bit, during the winter encampment of 1863-1864 the regular cavalry regiments and possibly others rotated on provost guard duty in the town of Culpeper, Virginia. Without going into the details of the testimony, here is a sampling some of the information I discovered from just this one record.

  • A squadron strong, the guard rotated shifts daily. The squadron was responsible for guard posts in town and pickets in vicinity of the town.
  • The headquarters for the squadron on provost guard was a room in the Virginia Hotel. The officers on guard, typically a captain and two lieutenants, slept together in this room.
  • It was not customary for there to be a formal mounting of the guard when the relief happened within the regiment. Guard posts included the hotel, the Orange & Alexandria railroad depot, and “the church.” This was probably St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, built in 1821. Specific identification of guards’ names, ranks and companies validated unit roster.
  • Battery G, 2nd U.S. Artillery was located in Culpeper, and its commander, Lt. William N. Dennison, also had a room at the Virginia Hotel. One of the units of the Horse Artillery Brigade, relations between the officers of the battery and the 2nd U.S. Cavalry were cordial enough that there was a party in Dennison’s room on December 23rd which seven officers attended.
  • It was permissible for an officer of the guard to visit a party, drink and play cards as long as his duties were fulfilled and he did not become incapacitated. In this case his squadron commander was present at the time and it was not considered an offense.
  • Company morning report books were required to be signed by commanders every morning, even when the officer was on guard.
  • The regimental adjutant placed officers in arrest, not the company or squadron commander.
  • Division headquarters appointed general courts martial. Brigade headquarters selected the board members selected from the regiments of the accused’s brigade. Both volunteer and regular officers could sit on the court martial of a regular officer. Court martial duty superseded all other duties, including unit movements. The proceedings of the previous day were read to the accused and the court first thing in the morning after the court convened.
  • The 1st New York Dragoons had already joined the Reserve Brigade before the Christmas of 1863.
  • Justice was swift. The court reached its verdict on January 11th. Only two days later, the proceedings were approved by the division commander and sent to Major General Sedgwick, in temporary command of the Army of the Potomac.
  • The Army of the Potomac was cracking down on professionalism during the winter encampment. By February 18th, army headquarters had already published four general court martial orders since January 1st. Each order encompassed the results of multiple courts. This fourth order included four courts ruling on ten officers for various forms of misconduct. All ten were cashiered.

Not every court martial record contains valuable information, but this is definitely a largely underutilized source of primary source material. Another tool available to bring pieces of history to light.

Source: NARA, Record Group 153: Office of the Judge Advocate General. Folder LL1362: Court-Martial of Second Lieutenant Peter Rinner, 2nd U.S. Cavalry, January 1864.

Research for Hire

02 Friday Jan 2015

Posted by dccaughey in research

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Civil War, research for hire

Fair warning, this is a shameless plug for a new enterprise I am instituting this year. Those interested in research help can now visit the Research for Hire link at the top of this page.

Over the last several years, I have had many requests for research assistance. While I thoroughly enjoy investigating these leads and assisting people to learn of their ancestors or people of interest, the simple fact of the matter is that they delay the book projects on which I’m working. While some queries can be dealt with in an hour or two, several last year spread into multiple weeks.

Like most amateur historians, I pursue writing and research in my spare time. And no history writer I know has enough time for research. This is simply a means of financing my research and justifying the expenditure of my limited research time on your project. Since my ‘business’ only generates a book every two to three years at the best of times, it will also prove to my accountant and the tax folks that all of those research costs actually do occasionally result in income.

The process is fully controlled by the patron, and proceeds at their pace and direction. There are no hidden fees, and what I discover is available to the patron as I turn it up – no “I found more information but it will cost you another $50 to see it.”

What I’m Working On

01 Tuesday Oct 2013

Posted by dccaughey in 2nd U.S. Cavalry, medal of honor, officers, research, Reserve Brigade, writing

≈ 5 Comments

Nothing like a government shutdown to provide more time for research and posting.  I try not to write this sort of post too often, as my assumption is that readers would rather see posts than what may be in the pipeline.  It has been a very eventful research summer, however, so I think at this point it’s appropriate.

My research trip in June was very productive, better than I had hoped for.  I still wish I’d learned how to access the 2nd U.S. Cavalry’s muster rolls before the last day of my visit, but live and learn.  The military records staff at the National Archives could not have been more professional, courteous and helpful.  Every time I thought I’d reached the end of the trail, they had a suggestion that turned up another nugget.  Similarly, I have discovered that the Denver Public Library has an extensive collection of records, including the majority of state adjutant general reports as well as complete sets of The Rebellion Record and the Supplement to the OR.

I just completed a thorough study of the post returns of Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania during the war.  This will be making an appearance soon as a brief series of posts.  Now that I have a map of where all of the regular cavalry recruiting stations were during the war, hopefully it will lead me to some historical treasure.

Reserve Brigade history.  I am convinced that I have all of the official primary records that still exist, it’s a matter of working through them all and figuring how to get the interesting parts into the narrative.  There are still a lot of records to locate and work through, so this one is a long way from completion.  Letter collections will be key to making this a worthwhile history.  Which means if you come across primary source info or newspaper accounts of the 1st US, 2nd US, 5th US, 6th US, 6th PA, and 2nd MA Cavalry regiments, or the 1st NY Dragoons, I am very interested.

2nd US Cavalry history.  NARA was exceptionally fruitful in this area, and I’m really enjoying working through the material.  I’ve already found records of over 400 of the regiment’s troopers, which will hopefully lead to more primary source material.  The current regimental historian and curator of the regimental museum in Germany, Ryan Meyer, has been very interested and helpful.

Regular cavalry roster.  It is a goal of mine to get a list posted on the website of all the men who served in the regular cavalry regiments during the war.  Profiles will be available for a small fee, but I see no reason why a free list of all of them on this blog would not be appropriate.

Learning Latin.  I completed a transcription of the death records of all the regular cavalrymen who died during the war.  The primary records list cause of death in Latin, which became very educational.  Vulnus punctum, anyone?  Surely there’s a blog post in there somewhere.

Regular cavalry medal of honor files.  I found two while at NARA and found them very informative, so now I’m working on getting the others.  I don’t have an exact count, as a couple that I had seen documented as being awarded (Sergeant Hagan of the 2nd US Cavalry at Fredericksburg, for example) were rescinded after the war.

Newspaper articles.  Vince Slaugh recently tipped me off to several articles that should be of interest to readers of this blog, including several on the 6th US Cavalry that eluded my co-author and I when we compiled the regimental history.

Blog improvement.  Still a great deal to be done here, most noticeably the creation of regimental and resource pages.

Thomas Bull Dewees, Paul Quirk and Charles McKnight Leoser.  These three gentlemen keep popping up of late, so there are sure to be posts on them once sufficient records are located.  Stay tuned.

Scott Patchan’s The Last Battle of Winchester by Savas-Beattie arrived in the mail recently.  I’ve really been looking forward to this one, can’t wait to get to the fight at the Opequon (“oh-PECK-en,” as the gentleman at the Winchester Visitor Center informed me this summer).

More to follow in the very near future.

Medal of Honor – Timothy O’Connor, 1st U.S. Cavalry

26 Wednesday Jun 2013

Posted by dccaughey in 1864, 1st Cavalry, battle of Deep Bottom, medal of honor, research, volunteers

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

1st U.S. Cavalry, battle of Deep Bottom, cavalry, Civil War, Irish in the Civil War, medal of honor

Special thanks to Craig Swain and Jimmy Price for bringing this man to my attention.  There’s all too little data out there on the 1st U.S. Cavalry in the Civil War, so every bit of detail unearthed is a victory.  Readers will see more on the 23rd Illinois and the 1st U.S. Cavalry shortly.  This is another of those threads that lead far afield once it is pulled and followed.

Timothy O’Connor was born in County Kerry, Ireland on August 15, 1842.  After immigrating to the United States, he settled in Chicago, Illinois.

At the outbreak of the war, O’Connor joined one of the many volunteer units forming in the Chicago area.  He enlisted in Company F, “somebody’s Guard, Rifles, etc” 23rd Illinois Infantry at Camp Douglas, Illinois on March 15, 1862. The regiment was raised entirely in Cook County, Illinois.  He was mustered in by Captain Moriarty when the regiment officially mustered in Chicago on May 14, 1862.  Like so many soldiers, his name is incorrectly entered in his enlistment documents.  Timothy “Conner” is described in his enlistment papers as 22 years old, 5’9” tall, with light hair, blue eyes, and a fair complexion.  He reported his residence as Chicago and his occupation as a laborer.

The regiment was assigned to Colonel James A. Mulligan’s “Irish Brigade,” not to be confused with the Army of the Potomac storied unit of the same name.  The regiment initially operated in Missouri, near Jefferson City and Lexington.  At the time O’Connor joined the regiment, it was guarding prisoners at Camp Douglas.  In June 1862 it was ordered to Harpers Ferry, where its duties principally involved guarding the railroad lines in the area until the end of the year.

Timothy took quickly to the life of a soldier, earning promotions to corporal and sergeant within months of enlisting.  By December, O’Connor had apparently had enough of guarding railroads.  On December 24, 1862, he took advantage of a War Department order issued after the battle of Antietam which authorized volunteer soldiers to join regular army regiments.  Given the experience of the year’s campaigning, hundreds of volunteers chose to join cavalry regiments.

Sergeant O’Connor was enlisted as a private into Company E, 1st U.S. Cavalry by Lieutenant Judson Haycock at New Creek, Virginia.  Four others from his company and at least three others from other companies in his former regiment joined the 1st U.S. Cavalry the same day.  His new enlistment documents described him as 22 years old, 5’8 ½” tall, with fair hair, gray eyes and a ruddy complexion.

During fighting at the first battle of Deep Bottom, Virginia on July 28, 1864, Private O’Connor captured the regimental colors of the 18th North Carolina Infantry.  He was subsequently awarded the Medal of Honor in General Orders dated January 5, 1865.  His citation reads “for extraordinary heroism on 28 July 1864, while serving with Company E, 1st U.S. Cavalry, in action at Malvern, Virginia, for capture of flag of the 18th North Carolina Infantry (Confederate States of America).”

Private O’Connor was discharged from the army at the expiration of his enlistment on December 24, 1865 in New Orleans, Louisiana.  He returned to Chicago, where he lived the rest of his life.

Timothy O’Connor died in Chicago on March 26, 1915, at the age of 72.  There is a memorial headstone at Arlington National Cemetery because he is a Medal of Honor awardee, but his remains are in Mount Olivet Cemetery in Chicago.

Sources:

Civil War Centennial Commission of Illinois, Illinois Military Units in the Civil War, 1962.

Dyer, Frederick, A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion

NARA, RG 94, Register of Enlistments in the U.S. Army, 1798-1914

Regimental roster, accessed on June 20, 2013 at http://civilwar.illinoisgenweb.org/reg_html/023_reg.html

Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Illinois, 9 vols., 1900-1902, accessed on June 19, 2013 at http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/archives/databases/reghist.pdf

No more research for hire at USAHEC?

02 Monday Nov 2009

Posted by dccaughey in research

≈ Leave a comment

Author disclaimer: This is not a rant and should not be taken as one. I simply learned of this privately recently and wanted to get the information out there for others like me who might be affected by it. If anyone knows more on this topic, I would love to hear about it.

I received some rather disturbing news recently concerning researchers for hire at USAHEC in Carlisle, Pennsylvania (formerly known as USAMHI). I had used a researcher for work there in the past, but was informed that person no longer conducts research for hire there. At one time, there was a webpage as part of the USAMHI site that listed outside researchers for hire for those who couldn’t visit to conduct their research in person. Much to my chagrin, I couldn’t find the page. Since I periodically have similar issues, I assumed I had done something wrong and contacted my former researcher again.

I was informed that new people were in charge at the center, and had determined that the researcher for hire listing provided too much personal information. A lot of military websites have reached this determination, and a good bit of web content has been removed as a result. Lists are not permitted to be sent out by mail or email for the same reason. Understandable.

The new regime also changed the rules for accessing the collections for outside researchers, possibly as the result of someone violating the rules. The system is now one of “pay as you go” for researchers, even for copies, so if one could find a researcher, that person would have to pay all costs up front at the time they accessed the information. If someone violated previously authorized privileges, then it is certainly understandable that these restrictions be tightened.

The results of said tightening, however, are now somewhat problematic. Assuming one doesn’t live within convenient travelling distance of Carlisle, how does one access the information? If you can’t go yourself, and what you need isn’t available online, and there is no way to find a researcher for hire, what options are left?

One can make a research query online, and it will be addressed as time permits by the staff, generally with a wait of several weeks. This can be very limiting if one is in search of a large amount of research, however, since such queries need to be both specific and brief to enable busy employees to answer them.

I fear I’ve raised a problem without posing a solution in this case, as the only options I see at the moment are dividing research into many specific pieces and spreading over a several months or flying to Carlisle. This would be extremely enjoyable and something I hope to do someday, but really don’t have the time for right now.

Ah well, if research was too easy everyone would do it, right?

Researching Your Civil War Ancestor: The Regular Army

17 Friday Oct 2008

Posted by dccaughey in research

≈ 2 Comments

Although at first glance more genealogical than historical, this topic is one that I encounter often in my research. When researching a particular soldier, if one can find the state from which the soldier served, more than likely one can find the unit and then probably the county from which he served. A good deal of the time, state muster rolls, adjutant general reports or the appropriate county historical society can steer one the rest of the way home from there.

Not so when researching Regular Army soldiers. Resources are few and far between. Knowledge that an ancestor served in Company C, 6th US Infantry, for example, provides no clues as to where the ancestor was born, when he enlisted, if he survived, and if so where and under what conditions he left the army. At first blush there appear to be no clues, but there are paths to follow if one knows where to start looking for clues.

We’ll assume for the purposes of this article that you don’t want to spend $75-150 or more on a request for the person’s service records from the National Archives (NARA). While the NARA researchers do a very good job, it’s slow and expensive. They’re also limited to the starting information that you can provide them.

A good first step is the National Park Service’s Civil War Soldiers & Sailors database. This is an exhaustingly compiled list of everyone who served during the Civil War from either side, their unit, and their rank entering and leaving service. That’s about the limit of available information, but it’s a very good starting point. It’s also an exceptional resource for attempting to cross-reference those who served in both volunteer and regular units, since many volunteers joined regular units in the fall of 1862. Some unit history for both volunteer and regular units is also available on the site.

There are two cautions about the CWSS. First, officers of the regular army are not included in the database unless they were enlisted men during the war prior to receiving their commission. Thus, Lt Adna R. Chaffee is included, while Maj Gen George B. McClellan is not. This problem has been noted and NPS is working to fix this. Second, the entries for regular army personnel encompass the years 1861-1865 in their entirety and not specifically the dates of the war. For volunteer units this isn’t an issue, but there was tremendous turnover in regular army regiments during the summer and fall of 1865. When researching one company of the 6th US Cavalry, I found 54 soldiers who were listed in CWSS, but joined the regiment after the war had ended. With these two things in mind, however, I still think CWSS is the best place to start.

The next stop should be the Civil War Archive . It also has a comprehensive list of soldiers and units. There is a usage fee for the site, but they periodically provide free access to attract more subscribers. To my mind, it is well worth the price of registration. In my experience, this site has more information and lists the sources for the information on each soldier or unit. One note: if one of the sources listed for a soldier is not the Index of Consolidated Military Service records, or if the name that you’re looking for was in CWSS and is not there, that person probably enlisted in the summer or fall of 1865. This and the Regulars Archive provide the easiest and best unit historical data on the internet.

After using the first two sites to confirm or deny your starting information, I recommend that you go to ancestry.com. If one selects the appropriate membership, one can search the “Descriptive and Historical Register of Enlisted Soldiers of the Army” for an individual’s enlistment information. This is actually a scan of the registers used in Washington to track all of the soldiers enlisted in the regular army by date and then alphabetically. The search on Ancestry will lead you to a scan of the page where the individual’s information is listed, along with 30-40 others. These pages are a tremendous resource. Information includes last name, first name, place of birth, enlistment date and location, presiding officer, hair color, eye color, complexion, company, regiment, and remarks including date and manner of separation from the army. This one oversized sheet will usually tell you if the person in question was killed in action, deserted, or discharged at the expiration of their term of service. One can usually find the location where they left the service and their rank. There are also two cautions for this site. First, prepare yourself for the joys of interpreting 19th Century handwriting and the ensuing headache associated with it. Second, some scans are better than others, and occasionally entries are illegible. This is the most comprehensive information that I’ve been able to find on individual soldiers anywhere. While there is a cost associated with access, it’s for a year of unlimited access, as opposed to a search of one individual’s service records at NARA.

For unit data, I recommend the Regulars Archive or Civil War Archive, both mentioned previously. The first is a free, privately maintained site, which includes unit history information as well as contemporary reference works on tactics, curriculum from West Point, etc. The Civil War Archives’ unit histories are comprehensive, and usually include one or more official reports from the unit on a particular action.

The regular army expanded by several regiments over the course of the war, particularly in 1861. If one checks where the unit was raised, this might also help determine where the individual was living when they enlisted. It is important to check both the locations where the regiment itself and its companies were raised, as the regiments were seldom raised entirely in one city or even state. The 6th US Cavalry, for example, was raised in at least four states. This particularly helpful for researching immigrants who had been in the country only a short time before the war.

Research Note

17 Saturday May 2008

Posted by dccaughey in research, resources

≈ Leave a comment

I’ve meant to mention this for a week now, so it’s high time that it hits the blog. Alexander Street Press has announced free access to its The American Civil War Research Database (found here) until June 30, 2008. While I don’t know what their normal subscription rates are, I highly encourage anyone who hasn’t already done so to visit the site. There’s a wealth of information there for anyone interested in virtually any aspect of the Civil War. Click here for username and password information during the offer. Thanks to Brett Schulte for mentioning this on TOCWOC in his Odds & Ends: May 10, 2008 column, or I would have missed out on this great opportunity.

6th Cavalry Database Update

30 Monday Jul 2007

Posted by dccaughey in research

≈ Leave a comment

After a good bit of fiddling, tweaking, adjusting, reformatting and several other -ings, the 6th US Cavalry database is functional. There is a great deal more information to be added to it, but it’s finally in a format that I’m content with (for now) that is searchable. Of the 2800+ names currently in the database, most have at least a little information with them other than name and regiment. The search of volunteer regiments for more names continues. This week it’s Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

I discovered that Excel worked well as a format for the enlisted soldiers, but am going with Word for the officers for now. There are two reasons for this. One is that the numbers are much smaller, so it’s manageable as a Word document. The second is that there is a LOT more text for each entry with the officers. There’s simply more information available on them.

I’d like to take the search to the genealogy forums next, but won’t have time to do so for a little while yet.

6th Cavalry Information

03 Tuesday Jul 2007

Posted by dccaughey in research

≈ 2 Comments

I received a couple of comments over the last couple of weeks from a reader that I didn’t notice until this evening. Moving and babies are somewhat plausible excuses, but I completely missed them.

Rich, if you’ll email me (dccaughey AT aol DOT com), I’d be happy to steer you in the right direction for the muster rolls. I’d also love to hear more about your ancestor, as his book is one of my favorite accounts of the war.

A Visit to the VA Historical Society

03 Tuesday Jul 2007

Posted by dccaughey in research, resources

≈ Leave a comment

I took a trip to the Virginia Historical Society in Richmond on Saturday afternoon. It was a short trip, but one I’d put off for months for one reason or another. I’d learned that the manuscripts of Philip St George Cooke were housed in the reference library there, and hoped to find some good information for an upcoming Fiddler’s Green entry.

I had no problems finding the place, as the directions listed on the website (and on Mapquest) were very clear and specific. A minor ($5) fee permits access to those who aren’t VHS members. Within minutes of entering the library, I was briefed on the rules of the library and was seated at a table while one of the research librarians retrieved the manuscripts. The rules of the library are reasonable, and firmly oriented around preventing theft or damage to library materials. I found the staff extremely patient and helpful, particularly since they have to make all photocopies of manuscripts.

One tip for researchers: look through the library’s excellent online catalog before your visit so that you know what you’re looking for. I had printed off the call numbers and brief descriptions of the selections that I was looking for, which made things much easier for the staff and I. Consequently, the vast majority of my time was spent with the material instead of waiting for it. It is a closed circulation library, so no materials may be checked out.

The manuscripts were all that I’d hoped for and more. Much of the information will be featured here in future posts. I was surprised to learn that Cooke and Sherman exchanged several letters after the war, and that Cooke had closely followed Merritt’s post-war career. It was particularly special as a former member of the 2nd Cavalry Regiment to see and touch the commission appointing Cooke Colonel of the 2nd Regiment of Dragoons, signed by Secretary of War Jefferson Davis and President James Buchanan. I was surprised to note that the presidential signatures on all of the commissions looked as though they were signed in pencil.

With my usual luck, last night as I was paging through my notes I found a notation on another set of manuscripts held in the same library that will be potentially be far more valuable to my research. Fortunately, there’s still time for another visit later in the week. Given this last experience, I’m looking forward to it.

← Older posts

Recent Posts

  • Levi Bailey Croy, 6th U.S. Cavalry
  • George Hollister, 6th U.S. Cavalry
  • 1862 in Review – 1st U.S. Cavalry
  • David Richwine, 1st U.S. Cavalry
  • Leroy S. Elbert, 3rd U.S. Cavalry

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Blogs I Follow

  • A Meaningful Finale
  • The Task at Hand
  • Bull Runnings
  • Army at Wounded Knee
  • Crossroads
  • Campaigns of the U. S. Civil War
  • Irish in the American Civil War
  • To the Sound of the Guns
  • Daydreams of the Soul

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 183 other subscribers

Regular Cavalry in the Civil War

Regular Cavalry in the Civil War

Buy a copy of my book!

From McFarland & Company or contact me directly.

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 183 other subscribers

Don

dccaughey@aol.com
1-719-310-2427

Blog at WordPress.com.

A Meaningful Finale

A 28-year Army veteran takes to the Appalachian Trail to contemplate a life well served & the road ahead

The Task at Hand

A Writer's On-Going Search for Just the Right Words

Bull Runnings

A Journal of the Digitization of a Civil War Battle

Army at Wounded Knee

A blog dedicated to documenting through primary sources, the Army's actions at Wounded Knee

Crossroads

Where history, scholarship, the academic life, and other stuff meet.

Campaigns of the U. S. Civil War

Campaigns of the U. S. Civil War

Irish in the American Civil War

Exploring Irish Emigration in the 19th Century United States

To the Sound of the Guns

Military History

Daydreams of the Soul

  • Follow Following
    • Regular Cavalry in the Civil War
    • Join 53 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Regular Cavalry in the Civil War
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...