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Regular Cavalry in the Civil War

Regular Cavalry in the Civil War

Tag Archives: enlisted men

Fiddler’s Green: Ephraim Adams

16 Sunday Nov 2014

Posted by dccaughey in 2nd U.S. Cavalry, battle of Cedar Creek, Fiddler's Green

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2nd U.S. Cavalry, battle of Cedar Creek, cavalry, Civil War, enlisted men, Ephraim Adams, Shenandoah Valley campaign

I don’t often feature enlisted men in the Fiddler’s Green series, for the simple reason that there isn’t normally much information available about them. I found the case of Ephraim Adams somewhat unique, though. He literally grew up in his company, and held every enlisted rank in it before falling at its head in battle.

Ephraim Adams was born in Carlisle, Pennsylvania in late 1839. He was enlisted into Company F, 2nd U.S. Dragoons at Carlisle on December 24, 1855 by Lieutenant Tyler as a bugler at the age of 16. His enlistment documents describe him as 5’4″ tall, with gray eyes, brown hair and a fair complexion. He served his first enlistment on the frontier with his regiment, earning the rank of sergeant just before reenlisting in Company F at Fort Kearney, Nebraska Territory on September 20, 1860.

Ephraim continued to serve with his company through most of the Civil War, earning the rank of first sergeant by the time he reenlisted a second time. Lieutenant Robert Lennox, his former sergeant major, reenlisted him into Company F on July 12, 1864 at Light House Landing, Virginia, as the regiment recovered from Sheridan’s two raids. Due to heavy losses among the regiment’s officers, he was commanding his company when the regiment moved to the Shenandoah Valley in early September.

First Sergeant Adams was leading his company during the battle of Cedar Creek when he received a gunshot wound to the face on October 19, 1864. After initial treatment at a field hospital on the battlefield, he was admitted to the U.S. General Hospital at York, Pennsylvania on October 26th. He did not regain consciousness before he died there on November 1, 1864. According to the final statement signed by First Lieutenant James Cahill, a former fellow first sergeant, he was buried on November 3, 1864 in plot #130 at Prospect Hill Cemetery, York, Pennsylvania.

More on Enlisted Appointments

29 Friday Nov 2013

Posted by dccaughey in 1862, officers, promotions

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Civil War, enlisted men, Lorenzo Thomas, officer appointments

As chronicled here and elsewhere, General Orders No. 33 from the Adjutant General’s Office on June 18, 1861 allowed for up to one third of new Regular Army officers to be appointed from deserving noncommissioned officers in existing regiments.  This of course was an excellent opportunity for advancement, and a great number of these former enlisted men served with great distinction during the war.

What had not previously occurred to me was the logistics behind these promotions.  Every officer promotion or new appointment in the Regular Army had to be approved by the Adjutant General’s Office and Congress, since it controlled the Army’s purse strings, then officially published by the Adjutant General’s Office.  The inevitable delays of this system frequently resulted in officers learning of their appointments or promotions months after their effective dates.

What was the method for prioritizing requests for new officer appointments before they reached the A.G.O.?  It apparently did not exist early in the war.  Consider this response I recently found written by the Adjutant General himself on a cavalry sergeant major’s appointment recommendation in the spring of 1862.

“Respectfully referred to Maj. Gen. McClellan for the reports of intermediate commanders, through whom this letter should have passed.  There are on file 150 recommendations, like this, for the promotion of noncom’d officers in the regular army.  Of course, it is impossible to appoint all, or even one half, or one fourth of the number.  And it is both an insidious and a difficult task for the Adjt. Gen’l. to make selection among them.  They should be classified, first by their regimental commanders, & again by the commanders of the brigades, divisions and of the Army in which they are serving.  It is only after a careful comparison of the merits of all, conscientiously made by those [who] are best acquainted with them, that justice can be done to all.

[signed] L. Thomas, Adjt. Gen’l.”

One would have thought this a blinding flash of the obvious, but it evidently took a very frustrated Adjutant General to bring it to pass.

Here is a brief snapshot of the process.  The regimental adjutant writes the request for appointment of Sergeant Major X, which is approved and signed by the regimental commander in the field.  A second piece of paper is wrapped around the first and signed by each level in the chain of command, all the way up to the Army’s Adjutant General Office.  The requests are carried by horseback up to army level, then most likely by train to Washington, a process of weeks at the best of times.  Up to this point in the war, such endorsements normally read, “Respectfully forwarded.”  By regulation at the time, such a request had to be forwarded to the Adjutant General’s Office, whether the recommendation was approval or disapproval.  Such noncommital endorsements placed the A.G.O. in a quandary, as described above.  I have a mental image, probably wholly inaccurate, of a clerk standing before the Adjutant General’s overflowing desk, saying, “Sir, I have 19 lieutenant vacancies in the infantry regiments, and over 100 recommendations for appointment to fill them.  How would you like me to proceed?”

This was much less of a problem later in the war, though it is unclear whether this was because of fewer vacancies or fewer qualified noncommissioned officers to fill them.

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A Meaningful Finale

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

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

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A Journal of the Digitization of a Civil War Battle

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Campaigns of the U. S. Civil War

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