George Meade, The Life and Letters of George Gordon Meade, Major-General United States Army
George Gordon Meade, Ed.

Your first query is in regard to General Worth. By this time you are doubtless au fait as to his movements, but as reports are so vague, I will concisely state the case, which I should have done before, did I deem you would have taken any interest in it.

By law there are only allowed in the army one major-general, two brigadier-generals, as many colonels as regiments and corps, etc. But there is a fictitious rank, as it were, called brevet rank, by which the President and Senate have power to confer promotion on individuals for gallantry, which rank takes effect, or is available, only under certain circumstances.

General Worth is only a colonel in the infantry (the Eighth Regiment), but in consequence of his meritorious services in Florida he had conferred on him the brevet rank of brigadier-general. Now the question which has agitated the army has been, ‘When does this rank take effect?’ The laws upon the subject are conflicting and obscure. One party, the officers of regiments, or as they are called, of the line, contend it only does so when the President specially assigns an officer to duty with it, as in the case of General Taylor, who, similarly situated to General Worth, is only Colonel of the Sixth Infantry, and brigadier-general by brevet. But the President assigned him to the command of this army as a brigadier-general, and of course he ranks all brigadier-generals of the militia, and all of the army, of junior date to himself. The opposite party contend that it not only takes effect in the above case, but also in all cases where two corps of the army (such for instance as a regiment of artillery and one of infantry) are serving together. Now, Colonel Twiggs, commanding the dragoons, is a senior colonel to Worth, but has no brevet. The question then arose who would command in case of the death of General Taylor, and after much discussion and excitement, numerous petitions were sent to the President and Congress, and finally the President made a decision adverse to the brevet. Now, General Worth asserted that when he came here he was given to understand he should have the command, did anything happen to General Taylor, and the decision of the President, adverse to his claim, without assigning him specially, as he might have done, and thus make him second in command, he construed into an act of personal injustice of so grave a character as to compel him to leave the service. He therefore resigned his commission, and obtained a leave of two months to go to Washington and insist on his resignation