Provost

[bmbeeman]

With my paulsy getting worse, I'm looking into impressions other than infantry, something that would be a little easier on the legs. My unit hasA Provost unit that camps with us, and I was wondering if anyone could give some insight as to what they typically do at events, I've noticed that most of them carry side arms and I've seen a few on the field from time to time. I'm curious because from what I've noticed, it will still allow me to portray a soldier without some of the physical rigor of drill or marches.

[BrianHicks]

Re: Provost

Specialty impressions are somewhat limited at Campaigner events.

To my recollection, I have never seen any Provost impressions at anything other than mainstream events, and then they seemed to be used as nothing more that camp guards, whose purpose seemedto be to patrol the area and keep people in their camps after taps, or folks out of the camps that they didn't belong in, and non-participants off of the field during the scheduled fights.

Perhaps there are some events that may call for a Provost impression at progressive or campaigner events, but I have not yet enconutered one.

If you would like to know more about what the Provost actually did, I'd encourage you to read the period Army regulations

Kautz's Customs of Service for Officers of the Army has this to say about the Provost Officer:

362. PROVOST MARSHAL—Provost Marshals are of two kinds. The strictly Military Provost Marshal is a Military Police officer, whose duty it is to suppress marauding and depredations, and to prevent all kinds of disturbances; to keep order and regulate drinking establishments and other resorts, and prevent drunkenness, and all kinds of disorders; to enforce orders with regard to the conduct of a camp or city, and regulations for the markets, hotels, taverns, and places of public amusement; to make searches, seizures, and arrests; to execute sentences of military courts, involving imprisonment and corporeal or capital punishment.

363. The Provost Marshal takes charge of all prisoners, whether captured from the enemy, or otherwise held; he arrests stragglers and other offenders of the command, and forwards them to their proper regiments and companies, with the written charges against them; he has the supervision of the passes of officers and soldiers, and signs the passes to citizens authorized within the lines for trade or other purposes; he investigates complaints of citizens arising from the conduct of the troops; and may have charge of scouts and spies employed in the command.

364. Such is the character of the duties that are usually assigned to the Provost Marshal, but usually only some part of them would fall to his lot at one time, unless at the headquarters of an army, where the Provost Marshal might have all the foregoing, and more too, to attend to. It is only in time of war that a Provost Marshal is greatly needed, and then he is an officer of great importance, and should not be dispensed with, and he should be selected with reference to his fitness and capacity for the duty.

365. To establish a bureau to control the enrollment of the militia, the enlistment of volunteers and to execute the draft the Provost Marshal General’s Department was organized, first by the War Department, and subsequently by act of Congress. (G. 0., No. 140, 1862; Act March 3d, 1863, sec. 5.) Provost Marshals were appointed for each Congressional District, each Territory, and the District of Columbia, and Deputy Provost Marshals to assist them were authorized, who, in addition to enrolling and drafting, were charged with the arrest and confinement of deserters, spies, and persons resisting or interfering with the enrollment or draft.

366. The District Provost Marshals were appointed from civil life, and were under the orders of the Provost Marshal of the State, and all received their orders and instructions from the Provost Marshal General at Washington. This Provost Marshal system, improperly named, was called into existence by the necessity of raising large armies to suppress the rebellion, which being achieved, the necessity for such a bureau no longer exists, although there is no doubt a bureau.where the enrollment of the male population of the country could be kept correctly, would be of vast assistance in the event of another war.

367. In the field the Provost Marshals were selected from the line officers, and varied in rank from Lieutenants to Generals. They were attached to brigades, divisions, corps, and armies, and often local Provost Marshals for cities, towns, and districts, were appointed, and even detachments, operating independently for a few days, had their Provost Marshals for the time being to look after stragglers, marauders, and pillagers, and to take charge of prisoners.

Here's a quick blurb off of another site:

Beginning in 1861, regimental provost marshals were formed in the Army of the Potomac. The organization was later expanded to division, corps, and army levels, with each Federal Army having a Provost Marshal General. By the fall of 1862, provost marshals were operating in all northern states, with primary duties of capturing deserters. A similar system existed in the Confederate Army; provost marshals were appointed to enforce conscription and other laws.

[Michael Comer]

Re: Provost

Brian,

If I am not mistaken, there were some of the Ground Hornets serving as a working Provost at Corinth. They were constantly on the go from what they tell me. I believe Tom Yearby, Doug Cooper and Mitch Critel among others were involved in this. Tom told me it worked him to death because they were always on the go. Perhaps one of them can add something and tell us what all they were kept busy at.

I agree that a Provost impression at a mainstream event usually seems to be pretty limited in activity and often stand around trying to look like MP's or acts as a camp guard while the battle is going on. I've also seen some attempts to do scenarios but have never seen one pulled off in a convincing manner. Not to say there are not those that can do it - I have just never seen it.

[Hank Trent]

Re: Provost

he has the supervision of the passes of officers and soldiers, and signs the passes to citizens authorized within the lines for trade or other purposes; he investigates complaints of citizens arising from the conduct of the troops

I've dealt with provost marshalls at c/p/h events a few times, due to the above circumstances, needing a pass signed or having complaints about soldiers stealing things or causing damage. I suspect though that I've only seen the tip of the iceberg if it's a fully functional impression; it sounds like a challenging and complex role.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

[BrianHicks]

Re: Provost

Brian,

If I am not mistaken, there were some of the Ground Hornets serving as a working Provost at Corinth. They were constantly on the go from what they tell me. I believe Tom Yearby, Doug Cooper and Mitch Critel among others were involved in this. Tom told me it worked him to death because they were always on the go. Perhaps one of them can add something and tell us what all they were kept busy at.

I agree that a Provost impression at a mainstream event usually seems to be pretty limited in activity and often stand around trying to look like MP's or acts as a camp guard while the battle is going on. I've also seen some attempts to do scenarios but have never seen one pulled off in a convincing manner. Not to say there are not those that can do it - I have just never seen it.

Yes..there were Provosts active at Corinth. And I know that some good fellas were prtraying the roles. But, I'm hesitanat to classify that event as one that truly quaifies as an H/P/C type activity. (yeah... it tried... and in some few elements reached far...)

[sgtbiggen]

Re: Provost

Brett
Mr. Hicks has given some good imformation. However when going to an event it is best if you contact the people running said event and coordinate with them on what they want to do. Provost did everything from being in charge of prisoners, obtaining Military intelligence, keeping civil order, Special Guard and Security missions. Then you get into stuff as Moving Cars that are park where they do not belong where there parked dealing with traffic issue.
Being Provost Marshal or even a Provost Guard you have to be very moble at times and to think quick on your feet.

Michael Pierpoint

[Kevin O'Beirne]

Re: Provost

Provost Marshals in the Civil War were used in two ways:

* At the brigade level and above. The Provost Marshal was usually a junior field officer (Major or Lt. Col.) and had a detail of men assigned to him. In one Eastern Federal infantry brigade I've studied some the provost was a Lt. Col. and he had two companies assigned to him, or (at the time) about 170 men and officers. At that time, the brigade numbered about 3,300 men. That I've seen, regiments and companies did not have "provosts"; rather, a regular camp police guard detail could suffice to do what reenactors often have a "provost" doing.

* Provost Marshals were sometimes assigned to a specific geographic location, whether it was on the march ("guard this town from depredation") or in a rear area city. These men would, of course, have a detail of men assigned to them. The rank of the provost marshal depended on the size of the area he was guarding, number of men under his command, and level of overall responsibility. I had an ancestor who was the Provost Marshal of Washington D.C. in 1865 when President Lincoln was assassinated and he was a Major/Brevet Lt. Col. of the Veteran Reserve Corps at the time. In addition to keeping order when it was beyond the local police department's ability, he was charged with arresting deserters and others wanted by the military and with enforcing the draft.

Now, what reenactors have "provosts" do is, often, altogether another story from what Civil War provosts did. I've seen a lot of reenactments have as a "provost marshal" a non-comm or even a private, and assign no one to help him. Often the "provost" at many reenactor events is a sort of combination "authenticity cop" (often without the ability to do much about violations) and "guy who superintends parking of cars" and stuff like that.

At most "campaigner" events a provost is not required because there's little need for guarding against depredations unless it's part of a scripted scenario or portrayal, and hopefully the "violations of good order" that happen can be dealt with using less than a full provost guard detail. At some mainstream events, including some I used to help run in the mid-1990s, we needed "provosts" to help keep the nighttime drunks under control and keep modern vehicles out of the camps until Sunday afternoon. Again, a lot of what many reenactor events have a "provost" do can be handled by an ordinary camp police guard detail.

[bmbeeman]

Re: Provost

Brett
Mr. Hicks has given some good imformation. However when going to an event it is best if you contact the people running said event and coordinate with them on what they want to do. Provost did everything from being in charge of prisoners, obtaining Military intelligence, keeping civil order, Special Guard and Security missions. Then you get into stuff as Moving Cars that are park where they do not belong where there parked dealing with traffic issue.
Being Provost Marshal or even a Provost Guard you have to be very moble at times and to think quick on your feet.

Michael Pierpoint

This impression sounds like a lot of fun, and it looks less demanding (physically) than infantry, I might get in contact with out Provost department and look into what the impression encompasses, it sounds like a lot of fun.

[dusty27]

Re: Provost

Brett,

You mentioned wanting to stay in a military role, but once that is impossible, you may want to think about helping with logistics at events. This will help the organizers, keep you involved in the hobby and allows you freedom to eat, sleep, and medicate as needed.

Just a thought

[ephraim_zook]

Re: Provost

Brett,

You mentioned wanting to stay in a military role, but once that is impossible, you may want to think about helping with logistics at events. This will help the organizers, keep you involved in the hobby and allows you freedom to eat, sleep, and medicate as needed.

Just a thought

Dusty's comment should be well taken. I've been involved with several events now as part of the organizing staff / logistical staff as well as participating at the same time. It is virtually impossible to be a participant AND on the event staff and really enjoy the event. When you have the keys to the pickup truck in your pocket and there's a sick guy to be transported, guess who gets to leave the event to take him?

Ron Myzie

[Johan Steele]

Re: Provost

As an aside on the subject of the Provost Guard have any of you gents come across accounts of Provost detachments taking part in a battle against regular troops, not irregulars? I have read accounts of Provost troops being released back to their Regiments at Gettysburg and subsequently suffering 50% casualties and then a similar account of a Provost detachment seeing some hot action at Chickamauga. The rub to me was seeing almost the same info, literally almost word for word, referring to Provost troops at the battle for Atlanta which led me to question the source and I have never been able to confirm the accounts. My suspicious nature has only made the matter more questionable in my mind. I have never seen corroborating evidence to such notes; have any of you?

Thank You.

[DougCooper]

Re: Provost

As an aside on the subject of the Provost Guard have any of you gents come across accounts of Provost detachments taking part in a battle against regular troops, not irregulars? I have read accounts of Provost troops being released back to their Regiments at Gettysburg and subsequently suffering 50% casualties and then a similar account of a Provost detachment seeing some hot action at Chickamauga. The rub to me was seeing almost the same info, literally almost word for word, referring to Provost troops at the battle for Atlanta which led me to question the source and I have never been able to confirm the accounts. My suspicious nature has only made the matter more questionable in my mind. I have never seen corroborating evidence to such notes; have any of you?

Thank You.

Happened several times - perhaps the most famous is Co C, 1st Minnesota at Gettysburg. They were the Provost Guard of 2nd Div 2nd Corps. As the CS assault neared the Angle on July 3, Co C was ordered forward into the fight from behind division HQ. There was no time to release them back to the regiment, which attacked northward into the Angle from their spot on the stone wall (what was left of them after 70% casualties the day before). Co C quickly lost their company commander killed among other casualties but captured the battleflag of the 28th Virginia. Co C missed the sacrifice on July 2 so this was their only action at Gettysburg - they did well.

[Silas]

AoT provost entity

This is a link to the posted proposal for the AoT provost entity. Due to limited html qualities on the NSA forum, the formatting does not look as good as in the written version of the document. The words remain the same. Appearance/formatting can make a document easier to read.

The proposal isn't an end-all-be-all, but it is a well thought out document for implementing a provost entity at an event. I call it an entity because it is better described as a police guard in period terminology. Call it a police guard to reenactors, and they have a tendency to freak out.

They won't be carrying any hokey sheriff's badges or bandages to designate their status as provost. The fixed bayonet is the badge which designates them as members of the police guard or provost entity.

[KeystoneGuard]

Re: Provost

Mr. Beeman,

If you are still interested in learning more about the Provost Guard please give me an e-mail at captain147pa@netzero.net. I am the current Provost Marshal for a division. I would be more than happy to share with you what our men do.

Your servant,

Andre Wagner, Captain

[Kevin O'Beirne]

Re: Provost

I am the current Provost Marshal for a division. I would be more than happy to share with you what our men do.

What duties are those? Please share them here on the forum.