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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