----- Original Message ----- From: "Ursula B. Adamson" <ubatrans@klondyke.net> To: <germany-passenger-lists@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, November 17, 2006 6:54 PM Subject: [G-P-L] Civil War Question > Hello to those who are better informed about the civil war than me: > > I have the records of a Civil War soldier from Michigan who enlisted at > age 22 as a > Seargeant - so it says on the online records. > Can anyone tell me what qualifications he had to have in order to enlist > as a Sergeant? > I'm sure he didn't just show up and say, hey I want to enlist as a > Sergeant. > > Looking forward to your answer. > > Ursula from Michigan Believe it or not...The officers were chosen based on money, family, friends, ect. Those that did not want to go into the army could also, for about $300 buy someone else to take their place. > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > GERMANY-PASSENGER-LISTS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' > without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >

If they organized a unit, they could possibly go in with any rank they chose during the Civil War . Our family story says that my great-grandfather's family paid someone to serve in his place and he came to the U.S. instead of doing compulsory military service in Prussia. Wow, do I need to get everything written down! I had forgotten the part about paying someone, until I read this e-mail. Thanks for jogging my memory! Another great-grandfather who was born in Alabama, but married and moved to Texas in 1853, served in the 7th Texas Infantry during the Civil War. His brothers served in Alabama units, and a brother-in-law started a unit in the Civil War. People who went in that unit with him were everything from colonels to privates! My great-grandfather started as a private, but ended as a captain. At one point, he was acting brigadier general! But people still refer to him as "Captain Miles" or "Captain Jim". (I had not heard that in my own family, but others doing research called him that.) After the War, a lot of veterans were known as "Colonel" or "Captain", although they may have only been privates during the War. It was their designation instead of saying "Mister". The last surviving Confederate veteran lived and died not far from us near Franklin, Texas. My mother and I went to see him before he died at about age 117 (or 104, depending on the source!) . He was said to be a private during the War, but some stories say that he just was a boy who looked after the horses. When, due to his longevity, he gained a lot of recognition, he was called "Colonel". Some even referred to him as "General". When my grandparents married, instead of a new house, my grandmother wanted her "dream house"-one that was across the street from her as she grew up. That area was known, then, as "Captains Row", because all the houses had been built by returning Civil War captains. I thought that was interesting that they all were captains-no privates, corporals, lietenants, or generals. Cecelia in Texas >> Can anyone tell me what qualifications he had to have in order to enlist >> as a Sergeant? >> I'm sure he didn't just show up and say, hey I want to enlist as a >> Sergeant. >> >> Looking forward to your answer. >> >> Ursula from Michigan > Believe it or not...The officers were chosen based on money, family, > friends, ect. Those that did not want to go into the army could also, for > about $300 buy someone else to take their place.