REGULATIONS FOR THE NAVY OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES, 1862.

 

CHAPTER 2.

 

RANK AND COMMAND.

 

Article 1.

 

Personnel of the navy.

 

The personnel of the navy shall consist of the following grades:

Commission officers.

Warrant officers.

Appointed officers.

Petty officers.

Seamen.

Second class firemen.

Ordinary seamen.

Coalheavers.

Landsmen.

Boys.

 

Article 2.

 

General military command.

 

Of the commission and warrant officers, the following only shall exercise general military command, and in the order in which they are placed:

Captain.

Commander.

Lieutenant.

Master.

Second master in the line of promotion.

Passed midshipman.

Midshipman.

Boatswain.

Gunner.

Master’s mate, if warranted.

 

Article 3.

 

Officers restricted in their right to command.

 

The other commission and warrant officers shall be restricted in their right to command to their own respective corps, unless specially extended.   They are as follows:

Surgeon.

Paymaster.

Chief engineer.

Assistant surgeon.

First assistant engineer.

Second assistant engineer.

Third assistant engineer.

Carpenter.

Sailmaker.

 

Article 4.

 

Rank and command of commission and warrant officers.

 

The commission officers in each grade shall take rank, and when on duty shall be entitled to command according to the date of their respective commissions, and warrant officers according to the dates of their warrants, and when either shall be of the same date, then according to their position on the Navy Register.

 

Article 5.

 

Officers appointed to act in higher grades.

 

Officers who may be duly appointed to act in a grade superior to their own shall be entitled, whilst so acting, to exercise command and take precedence according to the grade in which they may be acting; officers so acting shall take rank with each other as in their regular grades.

 

Article 6.

 

Command in cases of riot or quarrel.

 

Any commission or warrant officer shall have authority to exercise command over any other officer, or petty officer, or person of inferior rating, in case of riot or quarrel.   And any person who shall in such case refuse to obey the order of such commission or warrant officer, shall be punished at the discretion of a court martial.

 

Article 7.

 

Appointed officers.

 

The appointed officers are the following:

Secretary to the commander of a squadron.

Clerk to a commanding officer.

Clerk to a paymaster.

 

Article 8.

 

Petty officers and their relative rank.

 

The petty officers of the navy are the following, and they shall take rank according to the following enumeration:

Master’s mate, not warranted.

*Master-at-arms.

*Yeoman.

*Schoolmaster.

*Surgeon’s steward.

*Ship’s steward.

*Ship’s corporal.

*Armorer.

*Cooper.

*Ship’s cook.

Boatswain’s mate.

Gunner’s mate.

*Carpenter’s mate.

*Sailmaker’s mate.

Cockswain to the commander of a squadron.

Quartermaster.

Quarter gunner.

Cockswain.

Captain of forecastle.

Captain of maintop.

Captain of foretop.

Captain of afterguard.

Captain of hold.

Captain of mizzentop.

*First class fireman.

*Painter.

*Master of band.

*Steward to commander of a squadron.

*Armorer’s mate.

*Cabin steward.

*Ward-room steward.

*Cabin cook.

*Ward-room cook.

Those petty officers marked with an asterisk (*) shall in no case succeed to command.

 

Article 9.

 

Precedence of petty officers with each other.

 

The precedence of petty officers of the same grade with each other shall be established according to their order on the muster book of the ship in which they are embarked.

 

Article 10.

 

Order of precedence between officers of the navy.

 

Paymasters, surgeons, and chief engineers of more than twelve years’ standing will rank with commanders.

Paymasters, surgeons, and chief engineers of less than twelve years’ standing with lieutenants.

Assistant paymasters, passed assistant surgeons and first assistant engineers, next after lieutenants and [word illegible].

 

Article 11.

 

Precedence of assistant paymasters.

 

Assistant paymasters shall for five years after their appointment have precedence with masters, and after that with lieutenants, counting from the expiration of the five years.

 

Article 12.

 

Precedence of passed assistant surgeons and professors.

 

Passed assistant surgeons and professors of mathematics shall have precedence with masters.

 

Article 13.

 

Precedence of assistant surgeons and first assistant engineers.

 

Assistant surgeons, first assistant engineers, and secretaries to commanders of squadrons, shall have precedence with passed midshipmen.

 

Article 14.

 

Precedence of second and third assistant engineers and clerks.

 

Second and third assistant engineers, and clerks to commanding officers and paymasters, shall have precedence with midshipmen.

 

Article 15.

 

Precedence of secretaries and clerks with each other.

 

Secretaries to commanders of squadrons, and clerks to commanders of vessels, shall have precedence with each other, respectively according to the rank of the officer to whom they may be allowed.

 

Article 16.

 

Precedence b y date of commission or warrant.

 

When precedence is to be established by date of commission, warrant, or other reference to time, in any grade, and cases shall arise where there are two or more persons having the same date, they shall have precedence with each other according to the order in which they may stand upon the Navy Register.

 

Article 17.

 

Officer entitled to exercise general military command in command of a vessel, or on detached duty, shall command all other officers on same duty.

 

When any officer authorized to exercise general military command shall be in command of a vessel on any detached duty in which officers not so authorized may be embarked, or to which they may be attached for duty, or by order, such officer, whatever shall be his rank, shall be entitled to exercise command, and shall take precedence over the other officers while so embarked or attached.

 

Article 18.

 

Precedence of officers on boards, surveys, & c.

 

Whenever officers of the navy shall be directed to act together upon boards, councils, surveys, or other duty where their joint views or opinions are to be expressed, the officer entitled to precedence shall preside, except in cases of councils of war or military commissions, when the presiding officer shall be one entitled to exercise general military command.

 

Article 19.

 

Messes, senior officers, &c., to preside.

 

In all messes of officers the senior officer entitled to general military command shall preside.

 

Article 20.

 

Command of officers of medical, pay, and engineer corps.

 

Officers of the medical, pay, and engineer corps shall have rank in their own respective corps according to grade and date of commission or warrant in their grades, and shall have authority to exercise command accordingly, in matters relating to duties in their own corps, but not in any other corps, except as hereinbefore provided, conforming to the police regulations of the vessel in which they may be embarked.

 

------------------------

 

[Link to Chapter 3]