Mr. Gaddy,

First, thanks for your kind compliment and I appreciate it.

I checked the Texas Confederate Indigent Soldier's and Widow's requests and found a Widow's Pension Request under Myrta Manson Bost, Pension # 51531, Rockwall County, Husband's Name: Manson, Henry Walker.

Your ancestor may have had two Compiled Military Service Records (CMSR) too. One in the CMSR's of the 7th Tennessee Infantry and the other in the General Officers, Staff Officers & NCO's, and Band CMSR's. The latter CMSR's are separate from the Regimental records and if he is in these records could provide some additional information on service for you.

Please do not confuse modern day rank structure and duties and responsibilities (i.e. Warrant Officer) with that of the Civil War Era. Although it can be somewhat challenging in technical requirements, a purely technical rank was not thought about at this point in our military history. I personally would not compare the duties of a modern day warrant officer to that of a Civil War Signal soldier (enlisted or NCO). The duties in the Civil War Signal Corps would be relatively simple; run wire, act as a courier, transmit messages via telegraph or, symaphore (aka wigwag), and cipher and decipher messages using a cipher disc. Warrant Officers today only supervise the use of and maintain signal systems. The operating and leadership of the systems and soldiers respectively is left to the NCO's and Commissioned Officers. It has only been in recently years (in about the past six) that leadership has been included in the military education system of warrant officers.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Respectfully,

Gerald D. Hodge, Jr.
War Between the States Historian
Historian: 39th Georgia Volunteer Infantry Regiment
http://39thgavolinfrgt.homestead.com/39thHomepage.html