Слике страница
PDF
ePub

II. THE ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S DEPARTMENT.

S. Doc. 229

49

THE ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S DEPARTMENT.

The Adjutant-General's Department eo nomine was first established under the act of March 3, 1813.

From the disbandment of the Army in 1783 until the act of March 3, 1791, there was no regular Adjutant-General. The act of March 5, 1792, provided for an adjutant who should also do duty as inspector, and this dual function continued until the reorganization of the Army in 1821, which abolished the office of Adjutant and Inspector-General. This act, in effect, reduced the Adjutant-General's Department to one officer. There appears to have been no change in the legal status of the Department from that date to 1838, when, by the act of July 5 of that year, the President was empowered to appoint as many adjutantgenerals, not exceeding six, as he might deem necessary.

June 17, 1775.-Brig. Gen. (Maj. Gen., May 16, 1776) Horatio Gates (Virginia).
June 5, 1776.-Col. Joseph Reed (Pennsylvania).

Jan. 22, 1777.-Brig. Gen. Arthur St. Clair (Pennsylvania), Acting Adjutant-General.
Feb. 20, 1777.-Brig. Gen. George Weedon (Virginia), Acting Adjutant-General.
Apr. 19, 1777.-Col. Morgan Connor (Virginia), Acting Adjutant-General.
June 18, 1777.-Col. Timothy Pickering (Massachusetts).

Jan. 5, 1778.-Col. Alexander Scammel (Massachusetts).

Jan. 8, 1781.-Brig. Gen. Edward Hand (Pennsylvania).

3

Nov. 5, 1783.-Capt. William North, Sixteenth Massachusetts Continental Infantry (Massachusetts), Acting Adjutant and Inspector.

Oct. 18, 1787.-Ensign and Adjutant Ebenezer Denny, First American Regiment (Pennsylvania), Acting Adjutant-General.

Nov. 7, 1790.-Lieut. John Pratt, First American Regiment (Connecticut), Acting Adjutant-General.

Sept.-,

4

1791.-Lieut. Col. Winthrop Sargent, militia (Massachusetts), Acting

Adjutant-General.

Nov. 4, 1791.-Lieut. Ebenezer Denny, First Infantry (Pennsylvania), resumed duties of Acting Adjutant-General.

Mar. 10, 1792.-Lieut. Henry De Butts, Fourth Infantry (Maryland), Acting Adjutant and Inspector-General.

4

Apr. 11, 1792.-Lieut. Col. Winthrop Sargent, militia (Massachusetts).

Feb. 23, 1793.-Maj. Michael Rudolph, Light Dragoons (Georgia).

July 18, 1793.-Sublegionary Maj. and Inspector Edward Butler (Pennsylvania), Deputy pro tem.

May 13, 1794.-Maj. John Mills, Second Sublegion (Massachusetts), Acting Adjutant-General and Inspector.

Feb. 27, 1796.-Maj. Jonathan Haskell, Fourth Sublegion (Massachusetts), Acting Adjutant-General and Inspector.

1 Colonel Pickering was elected a member of the Board of War November 7, 1777, but continued to do duty as Adjutant-General until General Scammel's arrival January 13, 1778.

"Colonel Scammel resigned his staff appointment January 1, 1781, to take command of the First New Hampshire Regiment, but remained at headquarters until relieved by General Hand January 12, 1781.

3 On the general disbandment of the Continental Army, Captain North, who had been designated as inspector to the troops remaining in service, acted as adjutant and inspector to October 28, 1787.

Colonel Sargent declined the appointment, assigning as a reason that the office was not attended with sufficient rank.

Aug. 1, 1796.-Capt. Edward Butler, Fourth Sublegion (Pennsylvania), Acting
Adjutant-General and Inspector.

Feb. 27, 1797.-Maj. Thomas H. Cushing,' First Infantry (Massachusetts).
July 19, 1798.-Brig. Gen. William North (New York).

Mar. 26, 1802.-Maj. Thomas H. Cushing, First Infantry (Massachusetts), Adjutant
and Inspector.

Apr. 2, 1807.-Maj. Abimael Y. Nicoll, of the Artillerists (New York), Adjutant
and Inspector.

Apr. 28, 1812.-Lieut. Col. Alexander Macomb, engineers (New York), Acting
Adjutant-General.

July 6, 1812.-Brig. Gen. Thomas H. Cushing (Massachusetts).

Mar. 12, 1813.--Brig. Gen. Zebulon M. Pike (New York), Adjutant and Inspector-
General.

May 9, 1814.-Brig. Gen. William H. Winder (Maryland), Adjutant and Inspector-
General.

Nov. 22, 1814.-Brig. Gen. Daniel Parker (Massachusetts), Adjutant and Inspector-
General.

Aug. 13, 1821.-Col. James Gadsden (North Carolina).

May 8, 1822.-Capt. Charles J. Nourse, Second Artillery (District of Columbia),
Acting Adjutant-General.

Mar. 7, 1825.-Col. Roger Jones (Virginia).

July 15, 1852.-Col. Samuel Cooper (New York).

Mar. 7, 1861.-Col. (Brig. Gen., August 3, 1861), Lorenzo Thomas (Delaware).
Feb. 22, 1869.-Brig. Gen. Edward D. Townsend (Massachusetts).

June 15, 1880.-Brig. Gen. Richard C. Drum (Pennsylvania).

June 7, 1889.-Brig. Gen. John C. Kelton (Pennsylvania).

July 5, 1892.-Brig. Gen. Robert Williams (Virginia).

Nov. 6, 1893.-Brig. Gen. George D. Ruggles (New York).
Sept. 11, 1897.-Brig. Gen. Samuel Breck (Massachusetts).

Feb. 25, 1898.-Brig. Gen. (Maj. Gen., June 6, 1900) Henry C. Corbin (Ohio).

The act of March 3, 1797, permitted the Brigadier-General (General in Chief) to select his brigade major from the line of the Army. Major Cushing, not having relinquished his rank in the infantry on being appointed inspector, was selected by General Wilkinson and continued to perform the duties of inspector and adjutant until May 22, 1798.

2 The act of May 14, 1800, disbanded the adjutant-general, and the duties of adjutant and inspector were performed, under detail, by Major Cushing (who resided in Washington) from June 15, 1800, to April 2, 1807.

3 Colonel Macomb relieved Major Nicoll, April 28, 1812, having been directed in War Department order of that date "to perform the duties of Adjutant-General until further orders."

* General Pike was killed, after the capture of York, upper Canada, by the explosion of a magazine April 27, 1813. From this time until May 19, 1814, the office remained vacant, the act of March 3, 1813, having been construed to the effect that there could be but one Adjutant and Inspector-General, who must either be an officer appointed and confirmed to that office, or else be a brigadier-general especially designated by the President to perform the functions. The affairs of the office were meanwhile administered by Maj. C. K. Gardner, Assistant Adjutant-General, until December 30, 1813, and from that date to May 28, 1814 (with the exception of the brief term of service of General Winder) by Col. J. De B. Walbach, Adjutant-General, who was relieved at that date by Maj. John R. Bell, assistant inspector.

5 General Parker was appointed Paymaster-General June 1, 1821. By general orders of that date from headquarters of the Army Lieut. E. Kirby, aid-de-camp, was directed to perform the duties of Adjutant-General of the Army until further orders. Colonel Gadsden's appointment was not confirmed by the Senate and his commission expired March 22, 1822. On the following April 12 the President renominated him for the office, but the Senate adhered to its original determination.

[ocr errors][merged small]

THE ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S DEPARTMENT.

JOURNALS OF THE AMERICAN (CONTINENTAL) CONGRESS.

Resolved,

June 16, 1775.

That there be an Adjutant-General.
That his pay be one hundred and twenty-five dollars per month.

June 17, 1775.

The Congress then proceeded to the choice of the officers in the Army by ballot.

[blocks in formation]

Horatio Gates, esq., Adjutant-General.

*

Resolved, That Horatio Gates, esq.,1 now chosen Adjutant-General, shall have the rank of brigadier-general.

July 9, 1775.-Announces appointment of Brig. Gen. Horatio Gates as AdjutantGeneral of the Army. (Orders, General Headquarters, Cambridge.)

July 17, 1775.

Resolved, That the convention of New York be desired to recom mend to General Schuyler a proper person for a deputy adjutantgeneral, or brigade major for the Army in the New York Department.

Resolved,

July 19, 1775.

That it be left to General Washington, if he thinks fit, to appoint three brigade majors and commission them accordingly.

July 29, 1775.

be

Resolved, That the pay of the

Deputy adjutant-general, fifty dollars per do. (month).

[ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors]

Brigade major, thirty-three dollars per do. (month).

August 15, 1775.-" David Henley, esqr., is appointed brigade major to General Heath's brigade."

"John Trumbull, esqr., is appointed brigade major to General Spencer's brigade." "Richard Carey, esqr., is appointed brigade major to the brigade commanded by the eldest colonel."

[ocr errors]

"Thomas Chase, Daniel Box, and Alexander Scammel, esqr., are appointed to continue to do duty of brigade majors to the brigades they respectively belong." August 17, 1775.- Thomas Chase, esqr., is to continue to do duty as major of brigade to Brigadier-General Thomas's brigade." (Orders, General Headquarters, Cambridge.)

August 30, 1775.-"By the orders of the 17th instant, Thomas Chase, esqr., was, to the prejudice of Samuel Brewer, esqr., through mistake appointed to be continued to

1Afterwards major-general, and, in 1777, president of the Board of War. He accompanied Washington to Cambridge.

« ПретходнаНастави »