Staff Officers

Staff Officers. . Confederate and Union armies occupied Corinth throughout the war and whether planning battles or attending to the details of garrison life, staff officers were a frequent presence in this home. Col. Thomas Jordan, Beauregard’s chief-of-staff and the architect of the Confederate battle plan at Shiloh, was often found at Duncan House. When Gen. Rosecrans took over the home his own chief-of-staff, Lt. Col. Arthur Ducat, was a frequent fixture within the walls of the house., Gen. Grenville Dodge took command of the Corinth garrison in October, 1862 and moved his HQ into the Verandah House across Bunch Street. The Duncan House served as a workplace for his staff as well as the essential telegraph office. Dodge’s staff at Corinth was a talented group of young men which included three future state representatives, A U.S. Representative, a U.S. Senator, a governor of Iowa, and a U.S. consul to Canton, China., Major Noel B. Howard, the judge advocate of Gen. Dodge’s staff, moved into the Duncan House in the spring of 1863. Though Major Howard was assigned to the 2nd Iowa Infantry, his staff duties required him to be close to the commanding general. Judge Advocate Generals, today referred to as JAG’s, prepared charges and directed military court martials., “Colonel Howard is a small, pale-faced man, with a weakly voice, and weighing no more than one hundred and fifteen or twenty pounds. A stranger would judge that he had little capacity for physical endurance; but he is as hardy as a knot. He is a model soldier.” , – A.A. Stuart, Iowa Colonels and Regiments, (captions) , Brig. Gen. Grenville Dodge and staff in the yard of the Verandah House. On the table are maps and a scale model of the fortifications of Corinth. Major Howard is standing, third from the right. Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield., Major Noel B. Howard. Norwich University, 1819-1911., Above right: Col. Thomas Jordan , Bottom right: Col. Arthur Ducat , Far right: Detail for map drawn by Pvt. Charles Budd, 2nd Iowa Infantry. Shiloh NMP.