This is for Joe, the Record Man: I have been reading some information about civil war companies, and would like to know if you can explain some terms for me. >several officers were commissioned on a particular date, and then were "vacated" on another date. >numerous were "vacated by Special Order No. xxxx" >a few were commissioned and "declined" Do you know what "being vacated" means, or how or why this occurred? What were these Special Orders? If a person declined a commission, did that mean he no longer was in the service, or did he just remain a non-officer or lower officer? Thanks for your input. Lynn McKay, TN

----- Original Message ----- From: "lynne2mac" <lynne2mac@msn.com> To: <MOJEFFER-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, September 10, 2001 10:08 AM Subject: [MOJEFFER] Civil War information > > > This is for Joe, the Record Man: > > I have been reading some information about civil war companies, > and would > like to know if you can explain some terms for me. > > >several officers were commissioned on a particular date, and > then were > "vacated" on another date. > > >numerous were "vacated by Special Order No. xxxx" > > >a few were commissioned and "declined" > > Do you know what "being vacated" means, or how or why this > occurred? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------- It refers to the particular position being left open due to various reasons. "vacated by Special Order No. xxxx" means the individual was removed from the particular position due to the specific order. These special orders were issued by superiors & the person could be removed for all kinds of reasons, each order was different in its content. It could be for say disloyalty, or simply promotion. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------ > > What were these Special Orders? ----------------------------------------------------------- In a nutshell: General Orders are prepared on subject matter that pertains to an individual, unit or organization. Special Orders contain action, tasking, or instructions to an individual or a group of individuals. Special Orders are temporary in nature, and pertain to a one-time event. General Orders are permanent. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------ > > If a person declined a commission, did that mean he no longer was > in the > service, or did he just remain a non-officer or lower officer? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------- One could refuse a commission & continue to perform their current position. They did not have to resign. Sometimes they could be demoted for refusing a promotion. All kinds of things happened during this time. Say an officer received orders. He could do any of these: obey them. Disobey them & suffer the outcome, say courtmarshal, reprimand, ETC. Disobey by resigning his commission, which would take him out of the game. There were other ways to circumvent orders & smart officers did this sometimes, coming out on top or screwing up ;~) > > Thanks for your input. > Lynn McKay, TN > Desoto Joe/The Record Man