Wednesday, January 15, 2014

What's so special about the 7th Regiment?


I recently sat down and looked through the rosters of the regiments in the Branch-Lane Brigade during the months (February - April 1862) that they were re-organizing, transitioning from twelve-month regiments to three-years-or-the-war regiments. Part of the Conscription Act was the provision that regiments could re-organize, electing new officers.

In the 33rd NCT, there was a small amount of movement, none of which I can say for certain was a part of the re-organization of that regiment.

In the 37th NCT, seven officers were defeated during the re-election process. The highest ranked was Maj. W. R. Rankin. Once again, this would not be any large-scale disruption.

Not so with the 28th and 18th Regiments: fifteen (15) officers of the 28th NCT were defeated, one resigned at election time, one resigned to go into medical service, and one other was court-martialed. The highest-ranked officer to loss his re-election bid was Maj. R. E. Reeves.

The 18th NCT wins the highest turnover award. Twenty-six (26) officers were defeated, while two resigned. Two others were transferred. Defeated were Col. J. D. Radcliffe, Lt. Col. O. P. Meares, and the adjutant C. D. Myers. Seven (7) of the ten (10) company captains lost their positions.

But, what has me stumped, is the 7th NCST. Not one of the regiment's field grade or company grade officers lost his position in that time frame due to being defeated during the re-election campaign. Did the 7th Regiment not re-elect new officers? Were they not eligible? Were they all totally amazing officers that the men adored? Time to go do some more reading and digging!

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