A brain-child of Gen. Rosecrans soon after assuming command of the 14th Corps (Army of the Cumberland) was to have each company of infantry assign men to be Pioneers and wear a special insignia of crossed yellow axes (later changed to blue for infantry) designating them as Pioneers. This cadre of men would be assigned the tasks of forging ahead to clear paths, improve roads, repair or build bridges, and other labor that needed to be done to move the army more efficiently. These men, being regular infantry would become the modern day combat engineers capable of working or fighting as needed. Instead of waiting on the Army's corps of engineers to handle immediate tasks, the 2-3 Pioneers of each company could quickly band together to take care of immediate engineering needs wherever a regiment found it needed such help.
Research of the 9th Ky records of service show many of its men were a part of this Pioneer Corps. Today, through researching the records of service of the 9th Ky we have learned that you can still today go see the work of some of the 9th Ky's Pioneers. Redoubt Brannan of Fortress Rosecrans which they built and where many 9th Ky men manned while too sick to follow the Regiment from Murfreesboro in the summer of 1863 is such a place. One of our current members, Kyle Maxwell has taken on the role of portraying these Pioneers and has researched this specialized service to improve his ability to explain it to the visitors to our camps. Any member that wants to add this to his role is free to do so. While seldom getting to (or having to) dig trenches or fell timber at events, simply learning the role to explain to spectators, & adding axes, rope, period shovels, etc. is all that is needed.
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