I'm writing a book wherein one of the armies is based loosely on the US Cav of the mid 1880's.  I've been trying to find force orgs, but while Google will happily give me everything from the TO of the modern Stryker company to detailed flowcharts of WWII Japanese infantry battalions, I'm having some trouble locating anything specific regarding force orgs for the Indian Wars era U.S. Cavalry.  From the history of the 8th Cav regiment's home page:



A regiment consisted of 12 companies formed into 3 squadrons of 4 companies each.  Besides the commanding officer who was a colonel, the regimental staff consisted of 7 officers, 6 enlisted men, a surgeon and 2 assistant surgeons.  A civilian veterinarian accompanied the regiment, although he was not included in the TO.



Each company was authorized 4 officers, 15 non-commissioned officers, and 72 privates.



What it doesn't tell me was what position these men filled.



Further, looking at the history of the 7th Cav, I get:



Regimental staff: 8 officers, 6 non-commissioned officers.  1 of these officers was the regimental quartermaster.  I only know that because they name the guy as a fresh transfer.  Also a Regimental Chaplain who was a lieutenant, so there's another officer of the 8.



Company organization: 3 officers, 11 non-commissioned officers, 2 farriers & blacksmiths, 1 each saddler and wagoner, and 60 privates, totaling 78 officers & enlisted men per company.



Again, no indication what the positions were in the command sections of either company or regiment.





I'm going to assume that 1 of the officers was the CO and 1 of the NCO's was the 1st Sgt.  There would be platoon Sgt's, though the org tables are pretty vague.  After that, I run out.



I'm not above trying to extrapolate from my old cold war experience to invent shit whole cloth, but I'd much rather find an actual Table of Organization for one or two of these old units to use as a template.  Naturally, my first thought was that somebody on Arfcom probably has this  whole field committed to memory.



Any help would be beneficial, and thanks in advance.

Regimental officers:  Colonel, lt-colonel, major, adjutant (generally a lieutenant), quarter-master, chaplain, surgeon (captain's pay).  I think the last officer is an asst-quarter master.

Thanks

I found a posting on the Little Bighorn History Alliance discussing this topic.

I don't know his expertise, but per one of the posters:

Cavalry Troop 1876 (100 all ranks)

1 x Captain (Commander)
1 x 1st Lieutenant
1 x 2nd Lieutenant
1 x 1st Sergeant
5 x Line Sergeants
1 x Saddler
1 x Farrier
1 x Blacksmith
78 x Privates

So if we break this down into a HQ and two Platoons, we should have something like this;

Troop HQ:
1 x Captain (Commander)
1 x 1st Sergeant
1 x Line Sergeant
1 x Saddler
1 x Farrier
1 x Blacksmith
1 x Orderly (Pvt)

Two Platoons (each containing)
1 x Lieutenant (either 1st or 2nd)
2 x Line Sergeants
2 x Corporals
1 x Trumpeter
1 x Orderly (Pvt)
36 x Privates (in nine sets of fours)

Judge for yourself.....

http://lbha.proboards.com/thread/4494/standard-cavalry-troop-1876

@Raf, I've got the book on my want list.  Can't afford it at the moment, but I may see if the library has a copy.





@ByNameRequest





That sounds reasonable and comports with what I've been finding.
Here's what I've got ATM, given that they're an army in the field and have no set base.  It also supposes there the number of civilian agencies from which they can acquire supplies and gear is severely limited, requiring that they remain pretty much autonomous.





The Squadron is a company analog.  I swapped the nomenclature around for story flow.  These units usually operate independently and far removed from their regiment. Additionally, there's no ready way to communicate between units, so I've added more runners and dispatch riders.





(from my notes)





1 File of cavalry is 10 men and an officer (either a corporal or sergeant).  When deployed on its own, a File is usually referred to as a Troop, or Short Troop.


   


   1 Troop of cavalry is 22 men and is sometimes accompanied by an officer.  A troop consists of 2 Columns, one of which (generally the right hand Column) is led by the corporal, and the other of which is led by the sergeant.  This is typically the smallest unit to be dispatched on any independent missions.


 


 


       1 Squadron is 110 men, including the Squadron Commander.  A Squadron consists of 4 troops (and a command section


       The troop command section consists of 22 men.  


The Squadron Commander (usually a captain), the Adjutant (usually a lieutenant),


a first sergeant (a senior sergeant),


a healer (usually a lieutenant/sub-journeyman),


an administration officer (usually a sergeant),


2 orderlies (usually corporals or lance corporals),


5 runners (usually basic troopers),


2 specially trained long distance dispatch riders (usually lance corporals),


1 cook (usually a sergeant),


2 farrier/blacksmiths (usually corporals or sergeants,


1 each saddler (usually a sergeant) and


wagoner/teamster (usually a lance corporal),


3 wranglers.
           Squadron assets will include at least 1 four-up sprung and covered wagon, many will have 2 or more, with additional troopers trained to drive them), 330-400 horses.
   1 Regiment is 1170 men.  A Regiment consists of 10 Squadrons, a Regimental Support Section, and a Regimental Command Section.


       

The Regimental Command section consists of 35 men.  

The Regimental Commander (usually a major or colonel),

The Adjutant (usually a captain),

The regimental quartermaster (usually a captain),

The regimental Sergeant Major (a sergeant major),

1 Color Sergeant (a senior sergeant who bears and is responsible for the regimental standard),  

a chirurgeon (usually a major or colonel/journeyman healer),

2 healers (usually lieutenants/sub-journeymen healers),

1 Communications Officer (usually a captain.   Responsible for communications between units and between the regiment and higher command. This officer will have direct command over the dispatch riders and runners as well as more modern means of mechanical communication where available.),

4 orderlies/clerks (usually corporals/lance corporals),

6 runners (usually basic troopers.  These troopers serve directly under the Comms officer and may carry messages or may operate/maintain/set up other communications systems),

4 Color Section Musicians (usually sergeants/corporals.  Effectively, the regimental band/pipers),

5 long distance dispatch riders (usually corporals/lance corporals), and

7 officers’ personal valets, or batmen/orderlies (usually  corporals).


       


       The Regimental Support Section consists of 35 men.

The Regimental Quartermaster (who is technically a part of the Command Section, and listed there for pay roster TO purposes),

1 Quartermaster Sergeant (or more commonly, simply "the Quartermaster”, who is a senior sergeant),

5 Assistant Quartermasters (usually corporals/lance corporals/basic troopers.  These men will also act as teamsters/wagoners, and will be dispatched on supply runs when the unit is in the field for extended periods.),

1 Master Gunsmith (usually a captain or rarely a civilian contractor),

2 assistant gunsmiths (usually sergeants),

Regimental Veterinarian (usually a captain/journeyman),

2 assistant veterinarians (usually 4th or 5th year apprentices),

1 Head Wrangler (usually a sergeant),

5 wranglers (usually basic troopers/lance corporals who also act as assistants to the wainwright and blacksmith),

1 Wainwright (usually a senior sergeant, warrant, or civilian contractor),

1 senior blacksmith (usually a senior sergeant or civilian contractor),

1 Senior Cutler (usually a senior sergeant.  the person responsible for repairing/ fitting non-projectile weapons such as lances, swords or daggers),

2 Assistant Cutlers (usually corporals/lance corporals),

10 wagoners (usually corporals/lance corporals)

1 Regimental tailor (usually a sergeant or civilian contractor.  Responsible for the maintenance/repair of the regiment’s soft goods– tents, flags, pennons, etc...  Often sidelines with uniform repair.),

3 officers’ valets, or batmen (usually corporals).






Maybe a little top heavy.  



I figured a mounted army in the field would want 3 horses per trooper and at least 2 teams for each wagon.  That adds up to either a whole mess of basic troopers wrangling horses instead of fighting or patrolling, or a decent squad of dedicated wranglers.



There are a whole lot of runners and dedicated dispatch riders as well as each troop having at least 1 guy on a real good horse trained for endurance riding.  Kind of the designated marksman of messages.  This is deliberate and is an artifact of the guy running the army having been a small unit commander in a long and ugly war.



One of the lines in the story has him talking to his officers about that other war.



"Fairy tale horror stories start with 'Once Upon a Time',' Ours always started with 'Intel had Informed Us.'



So, what do you guys think?  Reasonable?  Overblown?  Let me know, good or bad.  For my purposes, "It Stinks!" is just as valuable as "Great!"