5. The discharges from the militia regiments and the musters into and formation of the new regiments will be under the direction of the commissary of musters for the department and his assistants. 6. The new regiments as herein authorized will be organized and mustered into service in accordance with the requirements of the mustering regulations. I I am, general, etc., [Ibid., p. 428.] E. D. TOWNSEND, Assistant Adjutant-General. Under the authority quoted above, general orders were issued by Major-General Rosecrans, who had succeeded to the command of the Department of the Missouri, as follows: GENERAL ORDERS, } HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI, No. 128. St. Louis, Mo., July 22, 1864. Under instructions from the War Department (dated June 10, 1864) a regiment of veteran volunteer cavalry, to be designated the Thirteenth Missouri Volunteer Cavalry, will be organized with as little delay as practicable, from the veterans of the Missouri State Militia force, and from such of the nonveterans of that force as choose to reenlist in the new organization, under the conditions prescribed in the letter of instructions. The veterans of the Sixth Missouri State Militia Cavalry, now at Benton Barracks, will constitute the nucleus of the new organization. The veterans of all the other regiments of the Missouri State Militia will be at once sent under commissioned officers detailed by district commanders to Benton Barracks, for organization into companies, after which, should the exigencies of the service permit, all who have not heretofore received it will receive the usual veteran furlough of thirty days. In each of the Missouri State Militia regiments a captain and first lieutenant will be selected by the commanding officer thereof to recruit in the regiment for the new organization. These officers will be selected with care as the best representatives of their grade in the regiment, and will be eligible for appointment in the new organization should they succeed in securing enough recruits to form a company. These officers will report to Col. Jno. V. Du Bois, chief of cavalry of the department, from time to time, their success in recruiting, and when they have enough men to constitute a maximum cavalry company will receive further orders for the discharge and remuster of the men. The nonveterans who reenlist will be required to enlist for three years or the war, and receive the bounty of $100, provided by the act of Congress approved July 1, 1861 (see General Orders of War Department, No. 49, of 1861), the bounty to be paid under the regulations promulgated in General Orders, No. 163, series of 1863, from the War Department. In the new regiment no men will be received with private horses. The mounts will be furnished by the Government. As a check upon improper selections of officers for the new regiment, it is to be understood that all officers may be at any time ordered before a board of officers for examination as to their qualifications and fitness for command. By command of Major-General Rosecrans: GENERAL ORDERS, No. 158. O. D. GREENE, Assistant Adjutant-General. HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI, So much of General Orders, No. 128, current series, from these headquarters, as directs the commanding officer of each of the Missouri State Militia regiments to select a captain and first lieutenant to recruit in their respective regiments for the Thirteenth Regiment Missouri Veteran Cavalry is hereby revoked; recruiting details for this regiment will be made in future from these headquarters. All the reenlisted men (veterans and nonveterans) of the Missouri State Militia regiments who have reenlisted for the three years' service at the date of the receipt of this order will be sent at once, under suitable conduct, with their descriptive lists, to Benton Barracks, Mo., to be organized into companies. Commanding officers of regiments and detachments will report by telegraph to these headquarters the number of men who have reenlisted in their respective commands, and who are to be sent to Benton Barracks under the provisions of this order. By command of Major-General Rosecrans: O. D. GREENE, Assistant Adjutant-General and Chief of Staff. GENERAL ORDERS, } No. 162. HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI, The organization of the Thirteenth Missouri Volunteer Cavalry having been completed, another regiment will at once be organized under the same authority, and under the same general conditions governing in the organization of the Thirteenth (see General Orders, 128, from these headquarters), which will be designated as the Fourteenth Missouri Volunteer Cavalry. Officers will be detailed from these headquarters for recruiting for the regiment from the Missouri State Militia. Applications for permission to recruit will be forwarded to these headquarters through the ordinary channel. Officers receiving recruiting details will at once signify their wishes with regard to entering the new regiment; but, whether desiring commissions therein or not, will enter vigorously upon the duty and continue thereupon until duly relieved. They will make frequent reports direct to these headquarters as to their success in recruiting. Nonveterans of the Missouri State Militia are officially informed that no effort will be spared to make this one of the very best regiments raised in the State, and that no officers will be recommended for or appointed to positions in it who have not tried and approved qualifications for their respective grades. In addition to his present duties, Col. E. C. Catherwood, of the Thirteenth Missouri Cavalry, is (temporarily) assigned to the duty of organizing the regiment. Benton Barracks is designated as the regimental rendezvous, and to that point all veterans and reenlisted nonveterans of the Missouri State Militia force not absorbed by the organization of the Thirteenth will be sent by district commanders without further orders. District, regimental, and post commanders are charged to exert themselves to give this order early promulgation to all under their command, and to facilitate all proper efforts of recruiting officers in securing men. By command of Major-General Rosecrans: O. D. GREENE, Assistant Adjutant-General and Chief of Staff. Under the authority of the War Department and the orders from the department commander one regiment, the Thirteenth Cavalry, was organized, and another regiment, the Fourteenth Cavalry, was partially completed. Of this latter regiment the adjutant-general of the State says in his annual report of 1865, pages 4, 5: The Fourteenth Cavalry, under the supervision of the department commander, was in process of organization at the date of the last report by the transfer of such veterans of the Missouri State Militia as had not been assigned to the Thirteenth Cavalry. There not being a sufficient number of these veterans to complete the regiment, authority was obtained to fill it up by volunteering under the laws governing the general recruiting service. Nine companies were [had been] mustered in at the time of the suspension of enlistments, April 13, 1865. The Fourteenth Cavalry was the last regiment raised in the State of Missouri for three years' service. Under date of January 30, 1865, authority was given by the War Department to raise six regiments, composed of men enlisted for one, two, or three years, as the recruits might elect (Annual Report Adjutant-General of Missouri, 1865, p. 6), but the suspension of hostilities soon followed and recruiting ceased, the recruits procured under the authority of January 30 being formed into one regiment, the Fifty-first Missouri Infantry. In this chapter no attempt has been made to show the efforts put forth by the State authorities to secure recruits for the old regiments in the field to fill the quotas of the State under the various calls of the President, the contemporaneous action of the State officials in the organization of regiments for short periods of service, or the action of the United States officials in the drafting of recruits under the enrollment acts. The object has been to show in a general way the history of the organization of the three years' regiments of Missouri volunteers in service during the civil war. That they rendered gal lant service in defense of the Union is abundantly shown by the official records. As to the status of these troops in general, no comment is necessary beyond the mere statement of the fact that they were in the military service of the United States and that the surviving members of the force, and the heirs of those deceased, are entitled to all of the benefits accruing from such service. It is true that under the administration of Major-General Frémont some organizations not authorized by law were received into the military service of the United States, but the unauthorized organizations were promptly disbanded or converted into organizations having a legal basis, or were, as in the case of the engineer troops, pioneers, and sappers and miners, subsequently legalized by act of Congress. This act, approved July 17, 1862, is as follows: AN ACT to define the pay and emoluments of certain officers of the Army, and for other purposes. SEC. 20. And be it further enacted, That the different regiments and independent companies heretofore mustered into the service of the United States as volunteer engineers, pioneers, or sappers and miners, under the calls of the President or Secretary of War, or by authority of the commanding general of any military department of the United States, or which, having been mustered into the service as infantry, shall have been reorganized and employed as engineers, pioneers, or sappers and miners, shall be, and the same are hereby, recognized and accepted as volunteer engineers, on the same footing, in all respects, in regard to their organization, pay, and emoluments, as the Corps of Engineers of the Regular Army of the United States, and they shall be paid for their services, already performed, as is now provided by law for the payment of officers and noncommissioned officers and privates of the Engineer Corps of the Regular Army. Approved, July 17, 1862. [12 Stat. L., pp. 594–597.] As regards the officers appointed by General Frémont to the organizations formed by him and those mustered into service without appointments or commissions, they were finally commissioned by the governor of the State; and with regard to the nunc pro tunc action of the governor in giving or attempting to give them rank from dates prior to the issue of their commissions, it is necessary only to remark that the remuster act of February 24, 1897, authorizes recognition and payment for service rendered with duly authorized commands from the dates of rank given in commissions issued by competent authority. The status of the general and staff officers and persons appointed by General Frémont to offices which had no legal existence need not be here considered. Of the Three Years' Volunteers, 15 regiments, 10 battalions, and 2 independent companies of cavalry, 1 regiment of engineers, 2 regiments and 6 batteries of artillery, 41 regiments and 1 battalion of infantry, 4 companies of pioneers, sappers and miners, and a company designated a "Telegraph Corps" were partially or completely organized. Some of these were disbanded after a short period of service because of their illegal organization or because of an unlawful limitation in their contracts of service; some were consolidated to form complete organizations, and others were transferred to the States from which a majority of their members were recruited. As finally reorganized and held to service as Missouri volunteers the force included 13 regiments of cavalry, 2 regiments of artillery, 1 regiment of engineers, and 23 regiments of infantry. These do not include the United States Reserve Corps regiments organized for three years' service, which are treated under their appropriate title. SIX OR TWELVE MONTHS' VOLUNTEERS. Under date of August 6, 1861, Hon. John S. Phelps and Hon. Frank P. Blair, jr., members of the House of Representatives from the State of Missouri, addressed to the President a letter, in which they recommended the organization of a volunteer force to serve for six months, "to be employed in preserving peace and quiet" in the State of Missouri, to repel threatened invasion, "to remove the seat of war from among the people of that State to the southward, to invade Arkansas, and to keep the Indians west of that State under subjection." Following is a copy of the joint letter of Messrs. Phelps and Blair on this subject: The PRESIDENT. SIR: An invasion of the State of Missouri by troops under the command of General McCulloch has taken place. Other invasions of that State are threatened by troops from the States of Arkansas and Tennessee. We recommend you receive into the service of the United States from the State of Missouri troops to serve for six months, to be employed in preserving peace and quiet in that State, and to repel the threatened invasion, and to remove the seat of war from among the people of that State to the southward, to invade Arkansas, and to keep the Indians west of that State under subjection. If this suggestion shall be adopted I recommend 5,000 stand of improved arms in addition to those already sent to Missouri be forthwith sent, with a proper supply of clothing, camp and tent equipage, ammunition, and means with which to obtain commissary and other quartermaster supplies, and also medical supplies, etc. Arms for cavalry and equipments should also be furnished for a battalion or regiment of mounted men, to be raised in southwest Missouri, in addition to the arms before mentioned. Arms will be needed when Arkansas shall be invaded to arm men of that State who are Union men and willing to enter the military service of the United States. The munitions of war we have mentioned we think should be sent to Springfield, Mo., for use at that point and its vicinity. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, August 6, 1861. [P. 157, Book No. 2, Secretary of War.] JOHN S. PHELPS. This letter was indorsed by the President as follows: Honorable SECRETARY OF WAR. EXECUTIVE MANSION, August 7, 1861. MY DEAR SIR: The within paper, as you see, is by Hon. John S. Phelps and Hon. Frank P. Blair, jr., both members of the present Congress from Missouri. The object is to get up an efficient force of Missourians in the southwestern part of the State. It ought to be done, and Mr. Phelps ought to have general superintendence of it. I see by a private report to me from the Department that eighteen regiments are already accepted from Missouri. Can it not be arranged that part of them (not yet organized, as I understand) may be taken from the locality mentioned and put under the control of Mr. Phelps? And let him have discretion to accept them for a shorter term than three years, or the war; understanding, however, that he will get them for the full term if he can. I hope this can be done, because Mr. Phelps is too zealous and efficient, and understands his ground too well for us to lose his services. Of course provision for arming, equipping, etc., must be made. Phelps is here and wishes to carry home with him authority for this matter. Yours, truly, Mr. A. LINCOLN. Under the authority of the President embodied in the indorsement quoted above, Mr. Phelps was authorized by the Acting Secretary of War to organize five regiments of infantry and one regiment of cavalry, to serve six months or such longer period, not exceeding the duration of the war, as the men might elect. This authority was granted in a letter of which the following is a copy: Hon. JOHN S. PHELPS, Springfield, Mo. WAR DEPARTMENT, August 8, 1861. SIR: By direction of the President of the United States, I am authorized to accept from you five regiments of infantry and one regiment of cavalry for six months, or such longer period, not exceeding the duration of the war, as the respective regiments may be enlisted for-the several regiments to be ready for marching orders within sixty days from this date. This acceptance is with the distinct understanding that this Department will revoke the commissions of all officers who may be found incompetent for the proper discharge of their duties. You will promptly advise Adjutant-General Thomas the earliest day at which your regiments will be ready for mustering, and he will issue the necessary instructions to muster by companies and to subsist the men. Your requisitions for arms and equipments should be made to Quartermaster-General Meigs and General Ripley, Chief of Bureau of Ordnance, without delay. I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, [Military Book, No. 45, p. 239.] ́ THOMAS A. SCOTT, On August 9, 1861, Mr. Phelps addressed Major-General Frémont, commanding the Western Department, on the subject of his project as follows: Maj. Gen. JOHN C. FRÉMONT, St. Louis, Mo. WASHINGTON CITY, August 9, 1861. GENERAL: I made representation to the President that I was desirous to raise in southwest Missouri five regiments of infantry and one regiment of cavalry to serve in Missouri, in Arkansas, and the Indian country west of Arkansas, with the distinct understanding that these troops should be so stationed that on first Monday of November all who were qualified to vote might vote in State election for State officers and on question of ratifying the acts of the convention. I desire to organize these troops as a brigade under our State law and shall serve with them. I wish to command these troops. They will compose a part of your army and I desire your cordial approval of this movement. I could not perceive that this arrangement could in the least embarrass, but on the contrary would aid you. The Home Guards, as you are aware, have not a legal organization. Not an officer of those guards is commissioned. Under our State law I propose the officers of these troops shall be commissioned. Inclosed you have a copy of the letter of Acting Secretary of War to me. I have a prospect of obtaining some Enfield rifles, but may be disappointed. I am waiting for arms, and if I do not get them before I leave fear I will not get them. I wish to obtain the best arms I can, as the men who I expect will enter the service are accustomed to the use of firearms and in a short time can be made good soldiers. Yours, respectfully, JOHN S. PHELPS. I shall come to St. Louis as soon as I can, consistent with the object I have in view. If General Lyon can maintain his position at Springfield I can raise the troops in a short time, but if he shall be compelled to retire and the country shall be occupied by the enemy, I shall be delayed in the raising of troops. |