Brigadier general

“ I will much rather command the 11th Corps as a brigadier-general or not command it at all, than wear the two stars, setting aside a man who is worthy of preferment, deserves my friendship and to whom I had the honor to carry your promise of promotion. ”

“ BRIGADIER, a military officer, whose rank is next above that of a colonel; appointed to command a corps, consisting of several battalions or regiments, called a brigade. This title in England is suppressed in time of peace, but revived in actual service in the field. Every brigadier marches at the head of his brigade upon duty. On the United States establishment, there is only one brigadier-general, who is chief in actual command ”

“ In the British army brevet rank only applies to captains, majors, and lieutenant-colonels. A brigadier is a colonel or other officer of a regiment who is made temporarily a general officer for a special service, in command of a brigade, or more than one regiment. It is not a permanent rank, but is considered as a stepping-stone to the office of major-general. Many Indian officers who were colonels when the Indian mutiny began, such as Henry Lawrence and Neill, were appointed brigadier-generals for a special service, and rose to higher rank before the mutiny was ended. ”

“ The Brigadier-General has received special telegrams of congratulations from both the General officer Commanding-in-chief 1st Corps, and from the General officer commanding 1st Division, and he hopes that in the next engagement in which the brigade takes part the high reputation which the brigade already holds, may be further added to. ”

“ Officers of the general staff are known as general staff officers, while those of the other branch are called, for example, assistant or deputy-assistant adjutant or quartermaster-general, according to their several duties.
The formation in which distinct and separate units are first collected under one superior commander is known as a brigade. This, according to present establishment, consists of three battalions and a trench-mortar battery, the whole under a general officer called a brigadier-general, assisted by a staff of two officers—a brigade-major and a staff-captain. ”

“ The brigadier-general has much pleasure in communicating the preceding order, and he congratulates the officers and soldiers concerned on having merited the approbation of the lieut.-general commanding the division. ”

“ They first were formed into brigades of four foot regiments and one battery each, numbered consecutively up to twenty-one, and subsequently into six divisions, of four and three brigades, with a cavalry regiment each. The division commanders were, in the order of the numbers of their divisions, Brigadier-Generals George H. Thomas, Alexander McDowell McCook, Ormsby M. Mitchel (a regular-army officer) , William Nelson (who had been formally transferred in August from the navy to the army, with the rank of brigadier-general) , Thomas L. Crittenden, and Thomas J. Wood (of the regular army) . ”

“ Just as the Brigadier was getting into his stride, "The General, Sir," whispered the Brigade-Major, and it was then for the Brigadier to account for things being as they were and to promise that very shortly they should be otherwise. You'd have thought that a man so mature and beribboned as our Divisional Commander would be immune from attack ”

“ Our brigade was composed of the 50th Regiment and the 50th and 58th Regiments of Native Infantry, and under the command of Brigadier Black, of the Bengal army. That officer had for many years held a civil appointment, and candidly confessed that he knew nothing of the duties of a military command and much less of manœuvring a body of men. At this time General Gray had us out daily at brigade field-days, allowing each brigadier to select his own manœuvres. ”

“ He resumed command of the 1st brigade, 3d division, 20th army corps, April 21, 1865; was relieved therefrom June 8, 1865, upon the discontinuance of the brigade by reason of the muster out of the troops composing it; and on the same date, June 8, 1865, was mustered out and honorably discharged as colonel with the field and staff of his regiment, near Washington, D. C. He was brevetted brigadier-general of volunteers January 23, 1865, “for ability and manifest energy and gallantry in command of brigade.” ”

“ If the contrary, many brigades will be commanded by the officer next in rank to be assigned brigadier, however incompetent such officer may be to command a brigade, and the like would occur as to divisions and corps, in contravention of the policy, well considered and established, that general officers are appointed by selection for merit, and not promoted by seniority. If the commanding general is ordered to another command, is he to take his staff with him, or is he to leave it for service with his successor? ”

“ Thus, no inspector-general was allowed to a brigadier, but when commanding a division or other organization larger than a brigade, he was permitted to detail an officer of the line for the very necessary and responsible duty. The aides are authorized to carry oral orders and to explain them, to call for and to bring oral reports, and as the general's confidential and official representatives they should be of the most intelligent and soldierly men of their grade. ”

“ A brigade is the command of a brigadier or major-general, or of a colonel. It consists almost invariably of one arm only. In armies of the old régime it was not usual to assign troops of all arms to the subordinate generals. Hence the brigade is a much older form of organization than the division of all arms, and in fact dates from the 16th century. The infantry brigade consists, in the British service, of the brigadier and his staff, four battalions of infantry, and administrative and medical units, the combatant strength being about 4000 men. ”

“ This was a great blow to the brigade, just at the commencement of their adventure in the new warfare. It was sadly remarkable, too, that he himself was the first officer casualty in his brigade. A few days later, during which time Lt.-Col. Darlington of the 5th assumed command, the new brigadier arrived—General Henley, D.S.O.—and we were fortunate to keep him as our Commander until the end of the war. The brilliant record of the 127th brigade in France is testimony to his qualities as a leader, and it was not very long before every man and officer in the Manchesters was proud of him. ”

“ An artillery "brigade" (field, horse, and heavy) is in Great Britain a smaller unit, forming a lieut.-colonel's command and consisting of two or three batteries. (See Army, Artillery, Infantry, and Cavalry.) The staff of an infantry or cavalry brigade usually consists of the brigadier commanding, his aide-de-camp, and the brigade-major, a staff officer whose duties are intermediate between those of an adjutant and those of a general staff officer. ”

“ At length an aide from the staff of the Division [Pg 22] General cantered to where the Brigadier, conversing with several of his field officers, stood, and informed him that it was the pleasure of the Division General that the men should be made comfortable, as no immediate attack was apprehended. "No immediate attack apprehended!" echoed the Colonel. "Of course not. Why don't we attack them?"
The aide flushed, said somewhat excitedly: "That was the order I received, sir."
"Boys, cook your coffee," said our Brigadier, somewhat mechanically—a brown study pictured in his face. ”

“ The general staff of each army is composed of a commander-in-chief, two lieutenant-generals, three brigadiers of infantry, one of whom commands the reserve, two brigadiers of cavalry, and one brigadier of artillery. ”

“ The advance guard is composed of the first Brigade, the first battalion of the first field artillery, a company of the first Battalion of Engineers, the first Ambulance Company, and one radio section of the Signal Company. You sign your order at eight in the evening and send copies to Brigadier Generals Blood, Cook, Dean, Enfield, Colonel Frank, Major Good, Captain Harry, by officers. You also furnish copies to your staff. You decide to have your division march on Gettysburg in order to carry out your mission. ”

“ This is the most important command within the department however, and will probably be given to the senior officer next to General Halleck himself.
There are not so many brigadier generals in the army as there are brigades, and as to divisions they are nearly all commanded by brigadiers.
Yours,
ULYSSES.
[The battlefield referred to is Belmont. According to the Memoirs, the loss of national troops, killed, wounded, and missing, was 485; that of the Confederates, 642. Number of Union troops engaged was 2500 men; that of Confederates, 7000.] ”

“ The frontage of the brigade will depend on the situation, as also the strength of the brigade reserve. The latter should always consist of a complete unit or units, of which a small portion may be kept back at the crisis of the attack to form a rallying point in case of reverse, S. 132 (3) .
3. The orders issued by the brigadier will be in the same form as those issued by the officer commanding a larger force, S. 131.
4. The brigadier will be accompanied by signallers, who will maintain communication with all the battalions of the brigade during the attack. ”

“ But of our cool, gallant, noble brigade commander, it may not be out of place to speak. Never had the brigade been better handled, and never has it done better service on the field of battle.
There was scarcely an officer or man in the command whose attention was not attracted by the cool and handsome bearing of General Garnett, who, totally devoid of excitement or rashness, rode immediately in rear of his advancing line, endeavoring by his personal efforts and by the aid of his staff to keep his line well closed and dressed. ”

“ Dawn brings with it reveille and brigade orders. This is a magnificent bluff on the part of the brigade staff to give the impression that they have sat up all night devising new and wondrous schemes for departing from the beaten path of military science. This is quite unnecessary, as sufficient departures will occur naturally in the course of the day, and nothing on earth will convince the infantry officer that the staff ever work.
The colonel, however, reads the orders to the little group around him. First there is the General Idea, laboriously copied from orders of the night before. ”

“ To coordinate all the activities within an army corps, supporting staffs grew at each level—corps, division, brigade, and regiment. Eventually an adjutant, commissaries of muster and subsistence, and a chief of ordnance comprised the divisional staff. The staff for the brigade included an adjutant, quartermaster, commissary of subsistence, and, when the brigade served as an independent command, an ordnance officer. In addition, general officers continued to have aides as their personal staff. ”

“ When I accompanied the colonel on his visits to the Infantry brigades all the talk was of the training of the youngsters, who now formed so considerable a portion of the battalion strengths. "They are good stuff," I heard one of the brigadiers say, "and I keep drumming into them that they are fighting for England, and that the Boche mustn't gain another yard of ground." He was a fighter, this brigadier—although I have never yet met another officer who took it as a matter of course that his camp-bed should be equipped with linen sheets when he was living in the firing line. ”

“ The camp and quarter guards are to parade before the interval of their battalions, where they will be formed by the adjutant who furnishes the officer, and immediately sent off to their respective posts.
The guard of a major general is to be furnished from his own division, each brigade furnishing it by turns; it is to be formed by the major of brigade, and sent from the brigade parade. ”

“ The brigade advances with quick onward dashes by battalions that spring up, race a hundred yards and disappear for a breathing space among the boulders. Gradually they draw into the shelter of the intervening ridge, and battalion after battalion tops it and [Pg 159] moves down to the aid of those in front. A strong firing-line remains on the crest, keeps up a steady stream of bullets against the long grey line still whelmed in dust by an unceasing hail of shrapnel. The brigadier ensconces himself in a rock shelter at the end of this firing-line, the telephone receiver still ready to his hand. ”

“ The brigade uses the municipal horses, all of which are stabled in proximity to the fire stations, and a number of which are kept on duty for fire brigade purposes in the actual stations. For all practical purposes the retained brigade is the professional brigade in which the men do municipal work in the municipal workshops, and elsewhere, i.e. in training, drill and general efficiency they are quite up to the best professional standard. The volunteer brigade is well drilled and includes the best of the younger townsmen, who do duty at night by rotation. ”

“ There was a feeling that a great chance of distinguished service was lost, but as the General Reserves are usually flung into the fight towards its concluding stages, he did not worry on that score.
The four Regiments of the Brigade were massed in very close formation in a large orchard, ready to move at a moment's notice. There they lay all day, sleeping with their rifles in their hands, or lying flat on their backs gazing at the intense blue of the sky overhead. ”

“ If the divisional commander finds it necessary to detach a battalion, or in an unforeseen contingency to give an individual battalion direct orders for the execution of some movement, he should at once inform the brigadier to whom the battalion belongs. ”