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ing the articles of the ration authorized by regulations in a timely manner and in a wholesome condition.3 Leadership At the beginning of the Civil War, Col. (Bvt. Maj. Gen.) George Gibson, at eighty-six, was the oldest serving officer of the Army and had served as Commissary General of Subsistence (cgs) since the establishment of that office in April 1818. Inasmuch as he was incapacitated and his deputy, Lt. Col. Joseph P. Taylor , age sixty-five, was also in poor health, the Office of the Commissary General of Subsistence (ocgs) in Washington was run by one of Gibson’s assistants, Capt. Alexander Eakin Shiras, a youngster in his fifties. As commissary general, Gibson was noted for his efficiency and for being a “shrewd counselor,” and he thereby garnered the esteem of his fellow officers , government officials, and friends.4 He died in Washington on September 29, 1861, at the age of eighty-seven, having served fifty-two years in the Army, forty-three of them as cgs, during which time he had established the procurement and distribution of Army subsistence on an efficient professional basis. Upon Gibson’s death, Joseph Taylor was immediately promoted to colonel and cgs.5 To Taylor fell most of the task of creating an effective subsistence system for the rapidly growing Army of the United States engaged in active operations in multiple theaters. Although in poor health, Taylor, through his During a visit to the Richmond front early in 1865, President Abraham Lincoln told an officer of the Subsistence Department, “Your department we scarcely hear of; it is like a well-regulated stomach, works so smoothly we are not conscious of having it.”1 During the Civil War the Subsistence Department (sd) was the smallest of the Army’s supply departments , but it successfully accomplished tasks that even a much larger establishment would have found daunting.2 While the number of troops to be supported grew from under 17,000 to over 1,000,000, the sd barely doubled the size of its Regular Army complement, from twelve to twenty-nine officers. Yet under a succession of experienced chiefs, the officers of the sd purchased, stored, and distributed the food and related items required by the large and widespread Union Army with apparent ease. Although the tactical situation from time to time induced local storages of rations, no battle, operation, or campaign of the Union Army was delayed, cancelled, or lost due to a lack of sd support. Indeed, the sd did work smoothly and without being much noticed. Mission and Functions The sole responsibility of the sd was to procure , store, and distribute rations and related subsistence items (such as soap and candles ) to the Army, including processed and packaged foods. It dispensed flour and other commodities in bulk, as well as live cattle and sheep. The sd was charged with deliver109 Subsistence Department resigned on September 6, 1853, to try his luck in civilian life. He reached the rank of major general during the war, was promoted to general on March 4, 1869, and served as the commanding general of the Army, 1869–83. Simon Bolivar Buckner (usma 1844) was appointed captain and cs on November 3, 1852, but resigned in March 1855 to enter the real estate business. He became a lieutenant general , csa, and died in January 1914, the last surviving Confederate officer over the rank of brigadier general. Of those subsistence officers who remained loyal to the Union, four rose to substantive general officer rank during the war, two as the cgs (Brigadier Generals Taylor and Eaton ) and two as brigadier generals of Volunteers . Capt. William W. Burns (usma 1847) was appointed brigadier general of Volunteers on September 28, 1861, and served in the Peninsula Campaign and at the battle of Fredericksburg before resigning his Volunteer commission in March 1863 and reverting to his lineal rank of major in the Subsistence Department.8 Capt. John W. Turner (usma 1855) was appointed brigadier general of Volunteers on September 7, 1863, and served in the East, notably at Fort Wagner, South Carolina, the Petersburg mining, and Fort Gregg, Virginia, for each of which actions he received a brevet promotion.9 Seven subsistence officers (including Gibson ) received brevet major general rank, and another eight were brevetted brigadier general during the war. Three officers (Gibson, Taylor, and Eaton) served as commissary generals during the war, and eight others who served in the Department during the war subsequently reached that position (Alexander E...

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