Duties of the Adjutant of an Infantry Battalion
by Phil Katcher
. "I dine with Col. Chamberlain since I have been in the Adjutant's
position," wrote First Lieutenant Holman S. Melcher, 20th Maine Infantry,
on 28 July 1863. "I enjoy the position very much and consider it an
honor to be on the staff of such an officer as Col. Chamberlain..."
It was a sign of how closely the adjutant and colonel were to work that
by regulations the adjutant pitched his tent on the left of the colonel's
tent as the tents were faced from the battalion.
Originally staffs included, besides the field officers who commanded, an
adjutant, a surgeon, and a quartermaster as commissioned officers, and a
sergeant major, a quartermaster sergeant, a hospital steward, and a variety
of clerks drawn from the enlisted ranks. Of these, the individual with the
highest visibility, save the sergeant major, was the adjutant.
Another Federal lieutenant, Charles Haydon of the 2d Michigan, filling the
position, agreed with Melcher: 'The office has not a few advantages &
is generally considered the most desirable of any below 'Field.' It gives
more extended acquaintance at HdQrs, a larger knowledge of business in all
its branches and is in fact a very useful school of instruction in almost
every branch of military affairs. It is a most desirable position for anyone
who expects to be Capt. & is regarded as the legitimate road to that
office. He has good quarters & no nights on guard or days on fatigue.
He is expected to dress well, be neat & punctual & polite &
a sort of special pleader to all the nice points of drill & etiquette."
But,. the job also required a great deal of work. Indeed, the adjutant probably
was the most busy officer in a battalion when not in battle. "I intended
to have written you last evening," Adjutant Melcher wrote his brother
5 January 1864, "but it took me until 11 o'clock to finish all the
business of the Office, and then thought it too late to write." The
adjutant of the 2d Michigan, Lieutenant Haydon, also put in long hours,
noting, "I had as hard work on the march as any & in camp a great
deal harder."
By and large regimental or battalion commanders recognized the importance
of the adjutant. "You know that an adjutant is the right hand man to
us Colonels," wrote Major Charles Mattocks, temporary commander of
the 1st U.S. Sharpshooters, home 12 April 1864.
The adjutant's duties fell essentially into three categories. First was
paperwork and garrison duties; second was on the parade ground; and the
third was in the field.
For the first, the adjutant handled all unit paperwork, issuing orders as
directed by the colonel and making sure information forms as required by
higher headquarters, such as morning reports, are completed and turned in.
"Dress Parade, poor breakfasts, dinner ditto, suppers ditto have filled
up the time outside the office," 2d Michigan Adjutant Haydon noted
on 15 July 1862. "Inside there have been details, returns, muster rolls,
reports, lists of absent officers, killed & wounded innumerable. Besides
which on days when Gen. Kearney was in working mood he sent us orders faster
than they could be opened & read much less obeyed." It would be
Lieutenant Haydon's duty, as adjutant, to record all these orders and pass
them on to all affected.
The adjutant was responsible for transferring orders throughout the regiment
to the appropriate officers from both regimental staff and outsiders. This
could sometimes put him in the middle of powerplays. On January 17, 1863,
Major Charles Mattocks, 17th Maine, noted an incident involving the regimental
adjutant in his diary: "Adjt. Boothby gave Capt. Thompson a verbal
order to furnish to him, the list required. He [Thompson] replied that he
should do no business (or 'no unnecessary business') on the Sabbath. I then
had the Adjutant to write him an order in my name to hand in the list before
three o'clock, to which he sent a note in reply to the Adjt., stating that
'In accordance with orders from the President and the Genl. commanding the
army, he should refuse to do any unnecessary work on the Sabbath.'"
Maddocks, a bit of a martinet, then had Thompson court martialled.
Of the reports an adjutant had responsibility for, morning reports were
the most demanding, then as with many reenactment units today. "I had
yesterday a most vexatious time over the m[ornin]'g report," new Adjutant
Haydon wrote on 10 June 1862. "I never made one before & there
had been none made since May 26th. There were many changes & all the
killed and wounded at Fair Oaks had to be accounted for. I expected to be
arrested for delay before it was done." The morning report noted the
number of men, by rank and grade, present and missing, and for what reason
they were missing.
The adjutant also was responsible for the regimental colors and supervised
the color guard. Wrote home Lieutenant Charles Brewster, adjutant of the
10th Massachusetts Infantry, on receiving new colors, "...as the colors
and thier [sic] guard are the Adjutants especial charge I may be excused
from having some feeling on the subject and I cannot take such pride in
these new fellows as I did in the old rusty ones...."
The second was on the parade ground. "A busy day in the Adjutant's
office," noted Lieutenant Haydon on 9 June 1862. "I officiated
to night for the first time at Dress Parade. There was little done except
reading orders." According to Army Regulations, the adjutant played
a key role in dress parades. The Army Regulations specified: "Ten minutes
after that signal [troop or retreat], the Adjutant's call will be given,
when the Captains will march their companies (the band playing) to the regimental
parade, where they take their positions in the order of battle. When the
line is formed, the Captain of the first company, on notice from the Adjutant,
steps one pace to the front, and gives to his company the command, 'Order-ARMS.
Parade-REST.' which is repeated by each Captain in succession to the left.
The adjutant takes post two paces on the right of the line; the Sergeant
Major two paces on the left. The music will be formed in two ranks of the
right of the Adjutant. The senior officer present will take the command
of the parade, and will take post at a suitable distance in front, opposite
the centre, facing the line."
Once formed the adjutant was to order the music to beat off, when it marched
from the front of the line to the left and returned to its original place.
The adjutant stepped two paces forward, faced left, and ordered: "Attention,
Battalion, Shoulder Arms, Prepare to open ranks. To the rear, in open order,
march." When the ranks were aligned the adjutant ordered, "Front!"
he then marched to the front of the centre, faced right, and marched up
eight to ten paces, faced about, and commanded: "Present, arms!"
When the parade was in correct position, he saluted the commanding officer,
reporting "Sir, the parade is formed!" Then he took a post three
paces to the left of the commanding officer.
Once the commander had finished putting the battalion through its paces,
he ordered the adjutant to receive his reports. The adjutant then passed
around the right of the commander, advanced towards the line, and halted
halfway between him and the line. He ordered, "First sergeants, to
the front and centre, march." When they arrived in position, he ordered,
"Front, face, Report." When they reported their strengths, he
ordered, "First sergeants, outward, face. To your posts, march."
When they'd returned, he ordered, "Attention to orders," and then
read whatever orders there were. Once this was done, he ordered, "Parade
is dismissed." The officers returned their swords and the adjutant
returned to his initial place in line. Then he ordered, "Front, march.
Forward, march." They would march to within six paces of the commander,
when the adjutant called, "Halt." The officers then saluted the
commander, and he gave them final orders and dismissed the parade.
Before a review, it was the job of the adjutant to see that a camp color
was placed 80-100 paces in front of where the battalion front and center
would be, where the reviewing officer would take his place. He also posted
camp colors at the wheeling points.
In guard mounting the adjutant was responsible for forming the guard, ordering,
when it was formed up: "Officer, and non-commissioned officers, about
face! Inspect your guards, march!" If there was no officer of the guard,
the adjutant had to inspect it. When it had been inspected, he ordered "Parade,
rest! Troops, beat off," when the music marched down the line from
right to left. Then he ordered, "Attention! Shoulder arms! Close order,
march!" When formed, he ordered "Present, arms," faced the
new officer of the day, and said, "Sir, the guard is formed."
The officer of the day acknowledged the salute and ordered the adjutant
to march the guard off.
Once away from the parade ground, the adjutant's position was not fixed
either on the right of the line or behind the colonel. Although generally
posted on the right, he was not the right guide of the battalion any more
than the sergeant major was the left guide. When on the march, in column,
"The battalion being in column, the lieutenant colonel and major will
place themselves on the directing flank, the first abreast with the leading
subdivision, and the other abreast with the last, and both six paces from
the flank. The adjutant will be near the lieutenant colonel, and the sergeant
major near the major." If the colonel wanted for the column to head
in some direction with no physical object in view he was "to dispatch
the lieutenant colonel or adjutant to place himself forty paces in advance,
facing the column, and by a sign of the sword establish him on the direction
he may wish to give to the leading guide; that officer being thus placed,
this guide will take him as the point of direction, conforming himself to
what is prescribed in the school of the company."
When the battalion was to march by the flank, the colonel commanded, "Attention!
Right [or left] face! Forward, march!" At that point the lieutenant
colonel placed himself abreast of the leading file, while the major was
abreast with the color-file, both on one side and about six paces from the
front rank. "The adjutant, placed between the lieutenant-colonel and
the front rank, will march in the same step with the head of the battalion,
and the sergeant major, placed between the major and the color bearer, will
march in the same step with the adjutant."
In actual practice, the adjutant's post while the regiment was marching
in a column varied according to specific needs. For example, as the 20th
Maine approached its position on Little Round Top the regimental adjutant,
Thomas Chamberlain, was riding next to the regimental colonel, his brother
Joshua Chamberlain, at the head of the column. Suddenly a solid shot flew
by them, and Colonel Chamberlain, worried that both he and his brothers
could all be killed at the same time, giving excessive grief to his family,
ordered the adjutant to the rear of the regiment to 'see that it is well
closed up.'
When the battalion went from column into line and was dressed, "the
colonel, lieutenant colonel, and major, as well as the adjutant and sergeant
major, will return to their respective places in line of battle. This rule
is general for all the formations into line of battle..." This would
imply a position on the rear of the right flank, since, in the formation
of the battalion, "The adjutant and sergeant major will be opposite
the right and left of the battalion, respectively, and eight paces in rear
of the file closers." Moreover, the adjutant was to be on foot, even
if the field officers were mounted, although it is clear that the adjutant
generally also rode in the field in the vast majority of cases. At these
positions, "The adjutant and sergeant major will aid the lieutenant
colonel and major, respectively, in the manuvres."
In actual practice, however, the adjutant kept near the colonel during battle
so that he can be used as a messenger or was posted where most needed. For
example, during the Battle of Chancellorsville, Colonel D.H. Hamilton, 1st
South Carolina Infantry, reported that moving forward in heavy underbrush
"my acting adjutant, Capt. T.P. Alston, came to inform me that the
left of my regiment had become separated from me in the thicket through
which we were forcing our way. I directed him to inform Capt. A.C. Haskell
(Brigadier-General McGowan's assistant adjutant-general) of the fact and
to ask for instructions. He returned to say to me that the Rifle Regiment
had not continued the advance, and that they being the battalion of direction,
the left of my regiment, ignorant that I was moving on, had awaited the
movement of the Rifles, and that I was ordered to return to my position
in the road, which I accordingly did..."
In much the same way, during the height of the fighting at Little Round
Top, "Captain Woodward, commanding the 83rd, sent his adjutant to ask
if the 20th had been turned." Later in the same action, Colonel Chamberlain
noted that, "I sent the adjutant to the commanding officer of the color
company..." This means that he did not necessarily stay on the right
flank, instead joining the colonel in the rear center of the regiment. "My
position that morning was in the centre," recalled Adjutant Melcher
of the 20th Maine in writing about action on 30 November 1863 during the
Mine Run campaign.
When the field officers of a Louisiana regiment all fell in an assault on
Federal works at Mansfield, 8 April 1864, it was the regimental adjutant,
Captain Wilber Blackman, who "seized the regimental falg and led his
old regiment forward until the victory was complete."
It was this kind of service that caused Lieutenant Colonel B.F. Carter,
4th Texas Infantry, to note in his official report of Sharpsburg, that,
"To...Adjt. F.L. Price I am indebted for the great assistance rendered
me on the field."