"Adelbert Ames" Topic

I have found some interest in him lately learning he was Governor of Mississippi and served as Senator for Mississippi during reconstructions.

Some questions about his Civil War service. The questions are numbered.

1. Did he lead the 20th Maine during Chancellorsville or was he aide de camp to Gen. Meade during Chancellorsville? Not sure how that worked.

He was an Artillery officer in the regular army serving in the Civil War but went home to take command of the 20th Maine.

2. Did he give up his regular army commission and recieved a commission from the governor of Maine? How did that work?

He became a Brigade Commander and took over as Divisional Commander during Gettysburg when Barlow got wounded but then went back to being a Brigade Commander after the battle. Later he was promoted to Colonel in the regular army.

3. So was he still a Lt. Colonel during Gettysburg or was he a higher rank but under a different commissions? Not sure how that worked.

Well anyways thanks!

Larry,

The wonders of Google:

link

link

link

With a little reading and comparing, these should answer your questions.

And we also have a number of sources about Ames here at the Mississippi Archives:

link

Jim

Jim
My question was mainly on the Commission. He was an officer in the regular army early in the war but gave that up and was commissioned an officer from the State of Maine to lead the 20th Maine and later was commissioned back into the Regular army as a Colonel.

When he was with the 20th was he a Colonel or a Lt. Colonel? I ask because it says later he was commissioned a colonel in the regular army. Leading me to think he was either an lower rank or the commission was not the same.

Also when he served in the Spanish American war did he have a regular army commission or a State commission?

I am not sure how the commissioner worked back then. Is it like todays National Guard where you can be commissioned by the State?

I may not be asking the question correctly.

It can be very confusing. The differences between an officer's Volunteer rank and Regular Army is totally different and not usually the same.

In the beginning of the war the US military needed lots and lots of officers fast for State and US service. An officer could resign his Regular army commission and take a State title. So for example a Capt. in Regular army could instantly be commissioned a Brig. Gen. of Volunteers from New York. Once the war ends if this individual never received an upgrade promotion IN THE US Army he would still be a Capt. if he wanted to resume his Regular army job. This happened a LOT. This is how Custer went from Major General of Volunteers and then after the war a Lt. Col. in the regular army overnight. Through influence of his friends in Washington he was able to get promoted DURING (from 2nd Lt. to Lt. Col.) the war in the regular army even though his Volunteer rank was higher.

avidgamer

Thant brings up another question. Does a Regular Officer at the time have to obey orders from a higher officer if that higher officer was not a regular commssioned officer?

I am talking Civil war era here.

Re the commissions: Often a Union officer would hold a commission in the Regular Army and simultaneously hold a higher grade as a volunteer. This would require the permission of the Regular Army (adjutant general's office, probably), but it was often done. So Ames could have been a captain or whatever in the Regular Army and a colonel or general of volunteers at the same time.

As for having to obey the orders of a higher-ranking volunteer, yes, ordinarily, but there could be exceptions.

Larry,

Your second question was often a thorny concern during the war. Many officers were sometimes more wooried about WHO out-ranked whom. There were many mnay instance where offciers would NOT obey an officer that was beneath them on the food chain.

Usually the highest 'current' rank was the key. The tie breaker would come down to regular army rank and/or the date of their commissions.

This was also as problem in the Confederacy, not so much holding twin ranks but seniority in the CSA Army. Joe Johnston always felt that he had been cheated when people he outranked in the US Army, like Lee, were given seniority over him.

BTW this situation still exists today, my Father was promoted to Colonel in the US Army Reserve a couple of years before he made Colonel in the Regular Army.

If you look at the 1863 Army Register Ames is listed as Lt A. Ames, 5th US Artillery, Colonel of Volunteers with seniority as Lt to 14th May '61, after spending a whole 8 days as a newly minted 2Lt…

See link

It can be very confusing. The differences between an officer's Volunteer rank and Regular Army is totally different and not usually the same.

Bit like that last sentence then :o)

Trajanus,

Yeah… confusing, eh?! ;)

To add to the confusion, Congress gave Pres. Lincoln the power to appoint army commanders and corps commanders over other major generals who were senior to them (had an earlier date of rank). For instance, when Meade was given command of the AoP both Slocum and Sedgwick where senior to him. Slocum didn't mind, and had recommended Meade for the job, but Sedgwick seems to have been a bit upset at first.

After the surrender of Vicksburg, Grant was given the rank of major general in the Regular Army. Up to then he had only been a MG of volunteers and had no rank in the Regular Army, having resigned as a captain back in the 1850s. Sherman and McPherson were promoted to brigadier generals in the Regular Army for their parts in the Vicksburg campaign, through the recommendations of Grant and Halleck. Up to then, Sherman had been a colonel in the Reg. Army (of the 13th Inf.) and McPherson, I would guess probably about a captain of engineers (too lazy to look it up). But both continued to be major generals of volunteers (and corps commanders).

In 1864, during the Atlanta campaign, Hooker, as a corps commander in Thomas's Army of the Cumberland (one of the 3 armies in Sherman's command), often tried to pull rank on McPherson and Schofield, since he had an earlier date of rank as a MG of volunteers. But Sherman ruled that those two, being army commanders, had precedence over Hooker as a mere corps commander.

Seniority in Sherman's Army was (Major Generals listed):

1. Thomas – "Army of the Cumberland"
2. Sherman – Military Division of the Mississippi
3. Hooker – 20th Corps
4. McPherson – "Army of the Tennessee"
(5. Stoneman – cavalry division)
6. Howard – 4th Corps
7. Butterfield – 3rd Division, 20th Corps
8. Stanley – 1st Division, 4th Corps
9. Palmer – 14th Corps
10. Logan -15th Corps
(11. Blair – 17th Corps)
12. Schofield – 23rd Corps and "Army of the Ohio"
13. Dodge – 16th Corps

I've always wondered how much Thomas' seniority affected things.

It meant that if anything happened to Sherman, Thomas was in command until the President ruled otherwise. Sherman was probably OK with that, or he might have preferred McPherson. But then McPherson was killed at the Battle of Atlanta, and Sherman chose Howard as his successor in command of the Army of the Tennessee -- which led to Hooker resigning in a huff because he thought he should have been given that command, being the senior officer present. I suspect that Sherman picked Howard at least partly because he figured Hooker would do that (and he didn't like Hooker).