Colonels Quotes
The Founding Fathers wanted to be sure that the American Culture would not be a military one. But with each American war, there was a little more of it as many men identified themselves not by their occupation or current organizational title but by their highest military title. Hawthorne and many other Americans were reluctant to see this occur. However, Hawthorne turned out to be right about the behavior of the Civil War officers long after the war had ended. In Kentucky, the governor was given the right to appoint anyone a Colonel in the state militia, and to this day Kentucky Colonels proliferate. The American military to boost the prestige of retiring officers developed the practice of promoting each officer to the next higher rank the day he retired. So Captains could be Majors, and Majors could thereafter be Colonels, and Colonels, Generals
Note the egalitarian and democratic nature of the method of selection of military officers. This was typical of frontier thinking—the men who were putting their lives on the line should have a say in who their leaders would be. The Governor and the legislature could only select the top officers like the Adjutant General or the Major General. Congress had retained the power to appoint general officers but allowed them and the civilian secretaries of the armed services to select all other officers. The latter enabled wealthy people to be appointed officers without any necessary competence and many even in the Civil War in effect bought their appointments by paying for the uniforms or bringing weapons. While America became more democratic and egalitarian over its first two centuries, the appointment of military officers is the one area where it became less democratic and egalitarian. The election of officers so popular in many states was gradually and finally abolished.
