How did elections of officers work in civil war regiments?

During the civil war, when units were being formed, how did companies elect officers? (such as Colonel, Major, and Captains etc)If there was a difference between the way the north and south did it, I am mainly curious about the south. A few of my ancestors were "elected" to positions at the beginning as well as during the war. Also what was they typical hierarchy of the different ranks and how many of each position was there at any given time in a typical company?


Thanks!|||The officers were usually men known to the volunteeres (it was only in volunteer regiments) as being of good character and (usuallY0 better education than most.





TheColonels of Regiments usually used there own money to outfit the regiment with weapons and uniforms.|||Have you heard of Parochialism?





The first "CIVIL WAR" in the English language happened in the 17thC between the Cavaliers and the Roundheads, even as an American that is part of YOUR history too.


If you want to talk about the Confederates and the Union, you should use the term "American Civil War"|||In theory each regiment would be 1000 men strong, lead by a Col or Lt Col, with 1 or 2 Majors below him,


The 1000 men were split into 10 companies of 100 men lead by a Captain, who had a senior Lt (1st Lt) and 1 or 2 (2nd Lt's) Companies were usually listed A-K (the letter J is not used in the US military when listing companies) some regiments would have a colour company (grenadier company made up of the biggest strongest men-veterans) and a 'light' or skirmisher company (made up of the quickest, brightest, best shots)


In reality few regiments got even close to 1000 men a large regiment would be more likely to have around 700 (larger regiments tended to come from Urban areas or heavily/densely populated NE states) with some regiments only having 200+ (mainly rural regiments)


Regiments were locally raised (i.e all the men from the same city or from the same county)


In the South there were 2 main ways a regiment was created (raised)


1)By the State, this regiment and it's men were equipped by the state (i.e the state pays for and supplies their kit) if a regiment was raised by the state then the Col would be appointed by the state, usually a professional soldier.


2) By an Individual, a regiment raised by a rich benefactor, (such as a plantation owner or politician etc) Regiments raised by individuals had their equipment brought and paid for by the rich man, because they paid for the regiment the rich man would be given a commission by the state and could end up as the Col leading the regiment. (not everyone did some just donated the money but didn't serve) In this case the state tried to ensure it provided at least one professional officer (major) to act as number 2 and help the new Col out. The Col in these regiments would often ensure key posts were given to family and friends, so would not be uncommon at the beginning of the war to see regiments with the Col's brother as a major, a son as a captain, etc in return for being made a senior officer this 'private' regiment was then handed over to the state


Each company could elect most of it's officers and Nco's


while the regiment may come from an entire county companies tended to be formed of men from local areas within the county (so you got close neighbours, relatives etc in the same company) the South had supplied many volunteers to fight in the Mexican war and against various Indian tribes so any man with previous military experience stood a good chance of getting voted for, also as the men were local to each other they would know who was a good leader and nominate them.


To get elected a man could either give a speech explaining why he felt he would be suitable or a man could be nominated by others who felt he was suitable.


After that it was election time, first vote who be on who would be Captain (or what ever the highest available post was) then votes would be held for all the positions going down the ranks down to and including Sergeant. (the only rule to be elected a man had to be able to read and write - not that common a skill back in those days) (vote could either be a show of hands or names into hats which were then counted)


you often find looking at the record books today that many men voted into officer positions were men who held decent positions of authority back home, Schoolmasters, Foremen, Mayors etc, and in 1861 a large percentage of NCO's had once been young riflemen fighting in Mexico back in the 1840's


Once the fighting started then other factors began to be considered, such as who had proved themselves steady/reliable in battle etc.