Quartermaster
QUARTERMASTER
The company quartermaster sergeant is responsible for the company wagon and all the property it contained, including the tents, the company mess gear, the company desk, the company library, the ordnance, the subsistence provisions, and the company tools. He was also responsible for acquiring fuel, forage for the horses, and straw for bedding for the company. These were normally drawn from the supplies of the regimental quartermaster, along with replacements for uniforms and equipment. When they were not available from stores, the company quartermaster sergeant was responsible for forage parties to acquire them. The company quartermaster sergeant was required to sign for the uniforms and equipment that were in his custody and before disbursing these items to a soldier, he required a signature of receipt, countersigned by an officer. The rank of company quartermaster sergeant was not a command position, although he was required to know the drills, and the duties and responsibilities of the line NCOs. He was the second most senior NCO in the company after the first sergeant. During combat, his place was safeguarding the company wagon and its supplies. He was generally required to fight only in defense of the company property. In an extreme emergency, he could be used to replace a fallen line NCO, but this was extremely rare. The wagons were driven by teamsters, who were usually members of the company.
The Quartermaster of the Alabama Red Rovers is labor intensive job. Qr. M. Sergt. David Scott fills this position well. Qr. M. Sergt. Scott and his able-bodied assistant Pvt. Kevin Milton oversee, maintain and repair company property. The quartermaster also helps recruits it being outfitted and make sure that each soldiers has the proper and maintained equipage for properly taking the field. Sergt. Scott goes beyond serving as the company quartermaster sergeant as he also fills the shoes of the original Quartermaster Sergeant Isaac Hamilton. Hamilton’s story is told each year at the Fannin Massacre Reenactment on Sunday Morning as Isaac Hamilton – Goliad Massacre Survivor. The first person presentation of Isaac Hamilton was originally written, developed and presented by Dennis Riedesel, Ph.D.(left) In recent years Riedesel has mentored David Scott (right) as the newest presenter of the first person account of Isaac Hamilton.
by William V. Scott with no comments yet.