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Engineer Motto “Essayons” - “Let Us Try”
The duties of the Corps shall consist, in surveys for the defense of the frontier, inland and Atlantic, and of positions for fortifications; in reconnaissance of the country through which an army has to pass, or in which it has to operate; in the examination of all routes of communication by land or by water, both for supplies and for military movements; in the construction of military roads and permanent bridges connected with them, and in the absence of an officer or officers of the Corps of Engineers; of military bridges, and of field-works, for the defense of encampments, fords, ferries, and bridges. For which purposes, officers of the Corps of Engineers shall always accompany armies in the field.
"The Officers of Engineers are not to assume nor to be ordered on any duty beyond the line of their immediate profession except by the special order of the President."
Each Company usually consisted of 1 Captain, 1 First Lieutenant, and 2 Second Lieutenants, and 1 First Sergeant, 7 Sergeants, 7 Corporals, 40 Artificers, and 45 Laborers, and that 2 musicians may be added.
· Confederate Engineer Bureau: Was organized in Richmond on April 8, 1861. · 1st Engineer Battalion, Was organized in 1863. Its men were from Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, and Missouri. They served the Trans-Mississippi Department. · 1st Engineer Regiment, Was organized at Richmond during 1863 with men from North Carolina and Virginia. · 2nd Engineer Regiment, Was organized in 1863 with men from east of the Mississippi River. · 3rd Engineer Regiment, Was organized in 1863 with men from Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky and Tennessee. · 4th Engineer Regiment, Was organized in 1864 at Shreveport, LA. with men from Louisiana, Arkansas and Texas.
The Confederacy established a Corps of Engineers commanded by five different Chiefs during the war: Brig. Generals Josiah Gorgas and Danville Leadbetter, Colonel Alfred L. Rives, and Major Generals Jeremy F. Gilmer and Martin L. Smith. Fortunately, the Confederate Engineers obtained the services of trained Officers who had resigned from the U.S. Army, but they lacked equipment and maps when the war began. Equipment was purchased from foreign countries, captured from the enemy, and manufactured in the South, but deficiencies continued throughout the war. Among other duties, Engineer Officers energetically prepared maps that were quickly distributed to the various army commands. The Confederacy also organized Engineer troops and hired hundreds of civilians and slaves to work on fortifications, roads, and bridges.
Since Army Engineers were not permanently garrisoned on the frontier, it was necessary to send out small detachments whenever their services were needed. In addition to the regular surveying and mapping duties, Engineers were called upon to locate possible sites for forts and routes for roads and railroads. A detachment would typically consist of one or two Engineers, two Engineer Sergeants and several non-rated enlisted men, sometimes pulled from the ranks of other branches. |
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Confederate Engineers |