Logistics does not stop when the battle commences. Consumption of ammunition for small arms and field artillery requires that units get replenished during battle. Like German military historian Hans Delbruck, I always do the math. A soldier has forty rounds in his cartridge box and usually has about twenty rounds in his pocket. Doctrinal tempo of fire is three rounds a minutes but in reality the more he fires the slower his rate of fire is due to accumilated residue and the heat of the barrel. However, in theory he has twenty minutes of ammunition so as soon as the regiment begins to consume ammunition the leadership is making arrangements to replenish their ammunition.

For a quick look at soldiers detailed for various support roles you may want to just scan down through some of the regiments thumb through Lillian Henderson's multi-volume set "Roster of the Soldiers Confederate States of Georgia, 1861-1865, published by Longino & Porter, 1959 and you will see some of the tasks the men had to do.

Leadership through the various levels of command had and still have to balance "task to troops." Is having a dozen men as trigger pullers and potentially loosing a valuable skill set (i.e. shoe maker, blacksmith, carpenter) more important or having the beans and bullets delivered at the right place at the right time more important. A box of .577 caliber Enfield ammunition is about eighteen inches wide and weights 98 lbs. Not really conducive to being carried on one's shoulder.

The Civil War Infantryman: In camp, on the march, and in battle, by Gregory A. CoCo. Thomas Publications, Gettysburg, PA, 1996.

The Life of Billy Yank: The Common Soldier of the Union by Bell Wiley.

The Life of Johnny Reb: The Common Soldier of the Confederacy, by Bell Wiley.

I can give you a couple more references when I am at home this evening. This will include my journal article that I wrote several years ago on logistics in the Army of Tennessee in the fall of 1863. In the article I cover the strategic, operational, and some tactical logistics.

We still have to make these decisions today. When I was a tank platoon leader, mortar platoon leader, and tank company commander in the 1990's, we had to give up some of our guys to ensure we had enough drivers in the support platoon to move the "beans, fuel, and bullets" so the line companies could do our mission. No fuel delivery, my tanks would run out of fuel within twelve hours.

I hope this helps.

Respectfully,

Gerald D. Hodge, Jr.
War Between the States Historian
M.A. Military History-Civil War Studies
Historian: 39th Georgia Volunteer Infantry Regiment