From what I have read a brigade staff usually consisted of a brigade commander (Brigadier General or Colonel). The Brigade commander would have an Assistant Adjutant General (AAG) and two or three aides (Lts. and/or possibly a Captain) along with a couple of clerks.

Division staffs were much larger and administered over the brigades as well. Usually led by a brigadier or major general. Staff would include head of medical for the division, QM, AAG, Commisary officer, Ordinance officer, Judge Advocate and  aides along with clerks etc.

Am I missing anyone  who may have been on these staffs?

Quote :

Sigman wrote :Am I missing anyone  who may have been on these staffs?

Andy,

I think you'd also have an Engineer officer on the Staff.

In the "1862 Army Officer's Pocket Companion" Craighill divides staff up into classes, General Staff; AAG's, Aides-de-camp, and IG's, who have varied duties that embrace the whole range of service of the troops. Then you gave Staff Departments, made of up officers, whose duties are confined to distinct branches of the service.

I think Craighill discussed the French army's structure as a model, but didn't actually lay out what the US Army would have.  No one did, nor did they for the Confederates.  In effect, staffs were ad hoc'd to a great extent.

The basic guidance would be that all staffs needed to perform the work necessary to respond to all War Department bureaux, including the AGO, QM, Subsistence, Ordnance, Medical, Pay, Engineers, Topos, JA, and IG.  Of course, nobody had that kind of staff.  The AGO provided AAGs down to brigade level, but in many cases you also had volunteer AAAGs (acting asst. adj. genl.).  The AAG usually functioned as what we would think of as a chief of staff.  Sometimes the role was performed by an AIG.  Some brigades had both, and some had a single man with both titles.  Often this position would be supplemented by a Quartermaster, who would double as the Commissary of Subsistence.  Pay was handled by a separate chain of command going back to the Paymaster General, but the work of preparing the rolls went to the AAG.

Sometimes a brigade commander would just have three or four ADCs and divide all the work among them according to taste.

The further you went up the organization chart, the larger and more specialized the staffs became, especially among the Confederates.  By the time you get to a Corps or military department, you might even see phenomena like a Chief of Staff with several AAGs under him.

Clerks were generally extra-duty men who don't show up on the staff rolls, but from a wonderful war-time work called "Seeking the Bubble" it would appear that at the higher levels there were virtually platoons of them.

There used to be a wonderful website detailing the (commissioned) staff organization of the entire Army of the Cumberland in late 1862.  Here's a sample (I'll try to paste the whole list in a separate message).  These are the staffs of two Divisions -- just look at how much variation there is, especially at Brigade level.  Also note that this is the Army of the Cumberland.  The Army of the Potomac's practice differed, I think, especially with the medical structure:

Second Division, Right Wing
(Old 2nd Division)
Brigadier General Richard W. Johnson, commanding
Staff
Captain Joseph R. Bartlett, acting assistant adjutant general and inspector general
Captain Theodore C. Bowles, assistant quartermaster
Captain Warren Parker Edgarton, chief of artillery
Captain William D. Hooker, 4th Kentucky Cavalry
Captain William E. McLeland, commissary of subsistence
Surgeon Solon Marks, medical director
Lieutenant Taft
Lieutenant Hill
Second Lieutenant Frank N. Sheets
Sergeant William C. Miles, 3rd Kentucky Cavalry, commanded headquarters escort

First Brigade, Second Division, Right Wing
(Old 6th Brigade)
Brigadier General August Willich, commanding
(Captured December 31, 1862)
Colonel William H. Gibson, commanding
Staff
Captain Carl Schmitt, assistant adjutant general
First Lieutenant Shepherd S. Green, acting assistant inspector general
Lieutenant McGrath
First Lieutenant Milton F. Miles, 49th Ohio

Second Brigade, Second Division, Right Wing
(Old 5th Brigade)
Brigadier General Edward Needles Kirk, commanding
(Mortally wounded December 31, 1862)
Colonel Joseph B. Dodge, commanding
Staff
Captain Abraham Beeler, volunteer aide
Captain Edmond P. Edsall, inspector general
Captain Isaiah C. McElfatrick, topographical engineer
Captain David C. Wagner, assistant adjutant general
Assistant Surgeon George W. Hewitt, acting brigade surgeon
Lieutenant Alexander T. Baldwin, aide-de-camp
Lieutenant Peter F. Walker, aide-de-camp
Private John Darstrin, orderly
Private Thomas Mar, orderly
(Wounded in action December 31, 1862)

Third Brigade, Second Division, Right Wing
(Old 4th Brigade)
Colonel Philemon Prindle Baldwin, commanding
Staff
Surgeon Enos S. Swain, brigade surgeon
First Lieutenant George H. Burns, acting assistant adjutant general
First Lieutenant William L. Patterson, 1st Ohio
First Lieutenant Joseph Johnson Siddall, 6th Indiana

Third Division, Right Wing
(Old 11th Division)
Brigadier General Philip Henry Sheridan, commanding
Staff
Major Henry F. Dietz, provost marshal
Captain Henry Hescock, chief of artillery
Captain George Lee, assistant adjutant general
Captain Francis Mohrhart, topographical engineer
Surgeon David J. Griffith, medical director
First Lieutenant Frank H. Allen, aide-de-camp
First Lieutenant Edgar M. DeBruin, aide-de-camp
First Lieutenant Robert M. Denning, aide-de-camp
First Lieutenant Arad J. Douglass, ordnance officer
First Lieutenant Joseph T. Forman, commanding escort
Second Lieutenant Thomas H. Soward, aide-de-camp

First Brigade, Third Division, Right Wing
(Old 37th Brigade)
Brigadier General Joshua Woodrow Sill, commanding
(Killed in action December 31, 1862)
Colonel Nicholas Greusel, commanding
Staff
Surgeon Delos W. Young, brigade surgeon
First Lieutenant Nathaniel S. Bouton, brigade quartermaster
Lieutenant J.B. Watkins, acting assistant adjutant general
Second Lieutenant John L. Mitchell, aide-de-camp
Quartermaster Sergeant Frederick Colburn, volunteer aide-de-camp

Second Brigade, Third Division, Right Wing
(Old 35th Brigade)
Colonel Frederick Schaefer, commanding
(Killed in action December 31, 1862)
Lieutenant Colonel Bernard Laiboldt, commanding
Staff
Unknown

Third Brigade, Third Division, Right Wing
Colonel George Williamson Roberts, commanding
(Killed in action December 31, 1862)
Colonel Luther Prentice Bradley, commanding
Staff
Captain Rufus Rose, 51st Illinois

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Michael Schaffner wrote : I think Craighill discussed the French army's structure as a model, but didn't actually lay out what the US Army would have.  No one did, nor did they for the Confederates.  In effect, staffs were ad hoc'd to a great extent.

Mike.

Craighill devoted forty pages to a discussion of the French staff model and only five pages to the staff of the U.S. Army. There was a very specific staff organization at the Army level. (At least the pre-War Army) It included the following positions:

The Adjutant-general
Inspector-general
Quartermaster Department
Subsistence Department
The Medical Department
Pay Department
The corps of Engineers
The corps of Topographical Engineers
The Ordnance Department
Aides-de-Camp

With the exception of the Aides-de-Camp, each of these departments had a very specific table of organization. As an example, the AG Department consisted of a brigadier general, a colonel, two lt.colonels, four majors, and twelve captains  

Craighill jumped directly from the army to the regimental staff. There is no mention of corps, divisions, or brigades.  

Wow, Colonels on brigade staffs? That is interesting. Looking at  brigade commands from Gettysburg, many were led by colonels. Army of Cumberland must of adaopted a different brigade structure as compared to Army of the Potomac.
Andy Siganuk

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Bill wrote :   Mike. Craighill devoted forty pages to a discussion of the French staff model and only five pages to the staff of the U.S. Army. There was a very specific staff organization at the Army level. (At least the pre-War Army) It included the following positions: The Adjutant-general Inspector-general Quartermaster Department Subsistence Department The Medical Department Pay Department The corps of Engineers The corps of Topographical Engineers The Ordnance Department Aides-de-Camp With the exception of the Aides-de-Camp, each of these departments had a very specific table of organization. As an example, the AG Department consisted of a brigadier general, a colonel, two lt.colonels, four majors, and twelve captains   Craighill jumped directly from the army to the regimental staff. There is no mention of corps, divisions, or brigades.

No disagreement there.  When I dashed that off last night I was thinking about staffs in the field, not HQ.  With the pre-war army being as tiny as it was, in many cases paperwork went directly from company to Washington City.

An interesting factoid about the pre-war army that I've probably already inflicted on you: Meneely in "The War Department 1861" pointed out that seven of the eight bureau heads (he counts the IG as a guy, not a bureau) were veterans -- of the War of 1812 (!)  The one who wasn't was the comparatively young and active Quartermaster General -- Joseph Johnston.

Quote :

Sigman wrote : Wow, Colonels on brigade staffs? That is interesting. Looking at  brigade commands from Gettysburg, many were led by colonels. Army of Cumberland must of adaopted a different brigade structure as compared to Army of the Potomac. Andy Siganuk

Andy, the Colonels are commanding brigades, in some cases in lieu of deceased Generals.  The staffs are generally captains and lieutenants.

Quote :

Michael Schaffner wrote :  No disagreement there.  When I dashed that off last night I was thinking about staffs in the field, not HQ.  With the pre-war army being as tiny as it was, in many cases paperwork went directly from company to Washington City.

One question leads to another. I wonder how close the various Federal field armies adhered to the staff organization of the  pre-War standing army. Everyone of these armies, Potomac, James, Ohio, Cumberland, etc. were much larger then the pre-War standing army.  

Probably not at all, just because they so little resembled the pre-war army.  Exactly how eastern and western armies did evolve is something I haven't studied enough.  By 1864 we see a fairly uniform structure of corps, for example, but in December 1862 we see the AOP using divisions, corps, and "wings" and the AOC using divisions and "wings" that seem to be the same as corps.

Adding to the confusion was the evolution of various formations.  The Army of the James became, I think, the tenth corps and both the Army of Virginia and the Army of the Potomac briefly had corps with the same number (though some of the AOV called themselves, with a flourish no doubt, "Corps d'Armee).

One of my favorite characters in the war was Richard Irwin.  I like his fictionalized accounts of his experiences and I'm always delighted to stumble across his correspondence in the ORs.  Here, for example, is a despatch that should make us all feel a little better about being confused (note his titles, too).  From Series I, Vol. 19, part II:

HEADQUARTERS DEFENSES OF WASHINGTON,
Washington, September 23, 1862—10.30 a. m.
Brig. Gen. S. WILLIAMS,
Asst. Adjt. Gen., Head quarters Army of the Potomac:
Telegram of last night received this morning. It occurs to me that at least a part of the confusion caused by the new numbers of the corps arises from the fact that you have got them wrong. Sigel’s corps is the Eleventh, Banks’ is the Twelfth, and Hooker’s (late McDowell’s) is the First Corps. This is warranted correct, the newspapers to the contrary notwithstanding. Consequently, after some puzzling, I infer from your telegram that Meade commands the First Corps, vice Hooker, wounded, and A. S. Williams commands the Twelfth Corps, vice Mansfield, killed. Is this right? To whom was Weber’s brigade assigned? Is Couch’s division independent ~ Does Sturgis command Reno’s division, and Willcox, Stevens’ ~ Piatt’s brigade is here, in Whipple’s division.
Request about General Orders, No. 157, will be attended to. Had a splendid distribution list, answering for both of us, in type when your dispatch came.
RICH’D B. IRWIN,
Captain, Aide-de-Camp, and Actg. Asst. Adjt. Gen.