General Thompson's statement about the different types of non-wound "casualties" incurred in a battle is certainly appropriate to the idea of manpower recovery. But as to <i>overnight</i> recovery in a battle I'm a little hesitant, especially considering those units at rest in near proximity to the enemy. One can easily imagine the confusion and organizational displacement caused by a Civil War fight that had gone into the early night hours and then abruptly ceased. In many of these cases the soldiers who had left the ranks due to straggling, minor wounds, assisting the wounded, etc. would not be able to find their way back to their regiments until daylight. This was, I think, especially true for the first two years of the war, and would probably have been less of a problem among the veterans at a later date. If I understood him correctly, some of what General Driscoll states in regards to campaign recovery is also applicable to overnight recovery!
I've no problem with the overnight <i>fatigue</i> recovery for "resting" units, but the overnight manpower recovery might be a stretch to implement. However, I suppose that if the concept were implemented that it just might be easier and more realistic to automatically increase the unit's manpower by a specific percentage (certainly a low percentage) at the beginning of dawn; if, that is, the unit has actaully sustained losses above that percentage!
Maj. Gen. Jos. C. Meyer
Second Division, 14th Corps,
Army of the Cumberland
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