16 What did a brevet promotion indicate, and what did an officer gain by being given a brevet? (U.S. Civil War: Battles and fighting forces)
Description
This article is from the U.S. Civil War FAQ, by Justin M. Sanders jsanders@jaguar1.usouthal.edu with numerous contributions by others.
16 What did a brevet promotion indicate, and what did an officer gain by being given a brevet? (U.S. Civil War: Battles and fighting forces)
[By Stephen Schmidt (schmidsj@unvax.union.edu) with assistance from Jim
Epperson and J.M. Sanders]
A brevet rank was an honorary promotion given to an officer (or
occasionally, an enlisted man) in recognition of gallant conduct or other
meritorious service. They served much the same purpose that medals play
today (our modern system of medals did not exist at the time of the Civil
War).
A brevet rank was almost meaningless in terms of real authority. For
example, a major who was a brevet colonel collected the pay of a major,
wore the uniform of a major, could not give orders to lieutenant colonels,
and was only eligible for commands that normally fell to majors. But he
was allowed to use the title of colonel in his correspondence.
In addition, there were some unusual circumstances where brevet rank
carried authority. For instance, when a force consisted partly of Regular
troops and partly of state militia, command would go to the officer with
the highest brevet rank (who might neither the highest ranking regular
officer nor the highest ranking volunteer!). This came up during the
Mexican War on some occasions, and seems to have been designed to allow
Regular officers with brevets (implying experience) to assume command over
higher-ranking militia officers who had neither experience nor brevets.
An officer could also claim his brevet rank when serving on court-martial
duty. Since an officer cannot be tried by officers ranking lower than
himself, using brevet ranks allowed more people to qualify as possible
court members.
During the war itself, brevets were very difficult to get and were a sign
of valor, but on March 13, 1865, the War Department gave one brevet and
sometimes two to nearly every officer on duty with the army. This angered
many officers and men, who saw it as trivializing the efforts of men who
won brevets in combat. (J.L. Chamberlain mentions this in his memoirs, for
instance.)
Like regular ranks, brevets were kept separately for the U.S. Volunteers
and the U.S. Army. Thus one man could have four ranks: an actual Volunteer
rank, a brevet Volunteer rank, an actual Regular rank, and a brevet
Regular rank. Brevets in the Regular army were sometimes used to honor men
who had already been brevetted Major General in the Volunteers and could
not be brevetted again (in the Volunteers), as no brevet Lieutenant
Generals were created during the war (Winfield Scott had been made Brevet
Lieutenant General [of Regulars] during the Mexican War).
Brevet ranks were authorized for the Regular Army in the Articles of War
of 1806; they were authorized for the US Volunteers on March 3, 1863.
Partly as a result of dissatisfaction with the end-of-war brevet giveaway,
brevet promotions were discontinued in 1869; although officers who had
been given brevets before that date continued to use them. They were
reinstated for the Spanish-American war and continued in use until after
World War I.
The Confederate army did not award brevet promotions.
Sources: Boatner's *Civil War Dictionary*, the *Historical Times
Encyclopedia of the Civil War*, the 1806 Articles of War, and a very
helpful discussion of several Mexican War situations involving brevet
ranks in *The Mexican War 1846-1848* by K. Jack Bauer.
Continue to:
My Books
