The Department of California was an administrative department of the United States Army. The Department was created in 1858, replacing the original Department of the Pacific, and it was ended by the reorganizations of the Henry L. Stimson Plan implemented in February 1913. As with the preceding organization, headquarters were in San Francisco. [1] Its creation was authorized by General Orders, No. 10, of the War Department, Adjutant-General's Office, September 13, 1858.
As first established, the department covered all territory within the latter-day state borders of Arizona, Nevada, California, and a sizable square of southwestern Oregon representing the Rogue River District and Umpqua District.
The Department of California was commanded first by Brevet Brigadier General Newman S. Clarke, Colonel U.S. 6th Infantry Regiment, until his death on October 17, 1860. It was next commanded by Lt. Colonel Benjamin L. Beall, U.S. 1st Dragoon Regiment, who had assumed command, by seniority of rank, on the death of General Clarke, on October 17, 1860. It was merged into the restored Department of the Pacific on January 15, 1861, as the District of California administering the same territories, commanded by Brevet Brigadier General Albert Sidney Johnston (1803-1862), from January 15, 1861. [2]
When General Edwin Vose Sumner, relieved General Johnston during March 1861 he continued in command of the Department of California now renamed the District of California. His successor in October 1861 (six months after the beginning of the Civil War), Brigadier General George Wright (1803-1865), continued in command of the District even after losing command of the superior Department of the Pacific, on July 1, 1864, to Gen. Irvin McDowell (1818-1885), who had recently been embarrassingly defeated in the first major battle of the Civil War three years before in the First Battle of Bull Run (Manassas) in northern Virginia, just south of the national federal capital city of Washington, D.C., in July 1861.
During June 1865, Col. Edward McGarry (1820-1867), was ordered to succeed Brigadier General George Wright, (who was relocating to his new command of the Department of the Columbia, further north in Oregon, but unfortunately died later that year of 1865), in command of the District of California until General McDowell could take command of the District which was once again raised to Department status under the larger Military Division of the Pacific, now commanded by Major General Henry W. Halleck (1815-1872), (and former General-in-Chief during the previous early period of the Civil War at the U.S. War Department headquarters in Washington, D.C., under 16th President Abraham Lincoln). [3] The territory encompassed by the new Department of California now consisted of the States of California and adjacent Nevada and further east of the District of Arizona and District of New Mexico in the adjacent federal Territories of Arizona and New Mexico. Maj. Gen. Irvin McDowell, of the U. S. Army, was assigned to command this Department of California.
The Department of Arizona was established as part of the Division of the Pacific on April 15, 1870. It consisted of the Arizona Territory and the adjacent state of California south of a line from the northwest corner of Arizona, west to Point Conception on the Pacific Ocean coast, so as to include most of Southern California.
From December 7, 1871, the one general officer at San Francisco commanded both the Division of the Pacific and the Department of California and the separate staffs were consolidated into one. On July 1, 1878, Division of the Pacific headquarters was relocated from the city of San Francisco to the Presidio of San Francisco, along the coastline of San Francisco Bay adjacent to the city.
The Department of Arizona lost Southern California to the Department of California further west on February 14, 1883, but regained California again south of the 35th parallel three years later on December 15, 1886. The Department of California then consisted of the state of California north of the 35th parallel of latitude and adjacent state of Nevada.
The Military Division of the Pacific was discontinued on July 3, 1891. [4] Each of the three subordinate departments of Arizona, California, and the Columbia, then reported directly to the War Department. The Department of California, with its headquarters at San Francisco, consisted of California north of the 35th parallel and Nevada.
The Hawaiian Islands were added to the department July 12, 1898. It became the District of Hawaii in 1910 as part of the Department of California.
From 1904 to 1907, the Department of California, as well as the Department of the Columbia, were subordinate to a re-established Division of the Pacific known as Pacific Division. [5] It became independent again after 1907 until they were subordinated to a new Western Division from 1911 to 1913.
On February 15, 1913 the Department of California, with all the mainland territorial departments, was disbanded for a new organization of the Army. The territory of the former departments of the Columbia and California were now controlled by the Western Department, except for the District of Hawaii that now became the independent Department of Hawaii.
Irvin McDowell was an American army officer. He is best known for his defeat in the First Battle of Bull Run, the first large-scale battle of the American Civil War. In 1862, he was given command of the I Corps of the Army of the Potomac. He fought unsuccessfully against Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson's troops during the Valley Campaign of 1862 and was blamed for contributing to the defeat of United States troops at the Second Battle of Bull Run in August.
The Department of the Pacific or Pacific Department was a major command (Department) of the United States Army from 1853 to 1858. It replaced the Pacific Division, and was itself replaced by the Department of California and the Department of Oregon.
California's involvement in the American Civil War included sending gold east to support the war effort, recruiting volunteer combat units to replace regular U.S. Army units sent east, in the area west of the Rocky Mountains, maintaining and building numerous camps and fortifications, suppressing secessionist activity and securing the New Mexico Territory against the Confederacy. The State of California did not send its units east, but many citizens traveled east and joined the Union Army there, some of whom became famous.
Fort Mason, in San Francisco, California is a former United States Army post located in the northern Marina District, alongside San Francisco Bay. Fort Mason served as an Army post for more than 100 years, initially as a coastal defense site and subsequently as a military port facility. During World War II, it was the principal port for the Pacific campaign.
The Pacific coast theater of the American Civil War consists of major military operations in the United States on the Pacific Ocean and in the states and Territories west of the Continental Divide. The theater was encompassed by the Department of the Pacific that included the states of California, Oregon, and Nevada, the territories of Washington, Utah, and later Idaho.
The 4th California Infantry was a volunteer infantry regiment recruited from northern California during the American Civil War. It was organized at Sacramento, Placerville, and Auburn in September and October 1861.
During the American Civil War, Army reorganization created the Department of the Pacific on January 15, 1861. On December 12, 1861, the District of Humboldt was created, consisting of the counties of Sonoma, Napa, Mendocino, Trinity, Humboldt, Klamath, and Del Norte in Northern California. The district was headquartered at Fort Humboldt, located on a bluff above the central portion of Humboldt Bay south of Eureka, California, which is now a California State Historic Park located within the City of Eureka. The District's efforts were directed at prosecuting the ongoing Bald Hills War against the Indians in the northern, coastal area of the large district. A peace was achieved in August 1864.
The District of Southern California was a 19th-century district of Department of the Pacific, a command of the United States Army.
The 2nd Regiment California Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It spent its entire term of service in the western United States. Organized at San Francisco and Carson City September 2, 1861, to December 30, 1862, and attached to Department of the Pacific. The regiment was first assembled at the Presidio, San Francisco, and after completing its organization, five companies were sent to Oregon and Washington Territory, to relieve the regular troops, and two companies were sent to Santa Barbara. The troops of this regiment sent to Oregon were afterwards returned to California. It was mustered out during the month of October, 1864.
The 1st Battalion of Native Cavalry, California Volunteers was a cavalry battalion in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Recruits were largely drawn from the Californio population, though its ranks included Yaqui and Mission Indians as well as immigrants from Mexico, Hispano America and Europe. In addition to its ethnic makeup, the Battalion is also considered unusual for being one of the few lancer units in the United States Army.
During the American Civil War in the early 1860s, the District of Utah was a subordinate district of the U.S. Army's Department of the Pacific. The district was composed of territorial areas that later became parts of the modern U.S. states of Idaho, Nevada, and Utah.
The Department of New Mexico was a department of the United States Army during the mid-19th century. It was created as the 9th Department, a geographical department, in 1848 following the successful conclusion of the Mexican–American War, and renamed Department of New Mexico in 1853. It had to contend with an invading Confederate force during the New Mexico Campaign of the American Civil War from mid-1861 to early 1862, then with Apache tribes during the remainder of the conflict. It was merged into the Department of California after the end of the war as the District of New Mexico.
The District of California was a Union Army command department formed during the American Civil War. The district was part of the Department of the Pacific, the commander of the department also being District commander. The district was created as a separate command on July 1, 1864, after Irvin McDowell took command of the Department of the Pacific, relieving General Wright, who then remained as District of California commander. The District comprised the state of California and the areas of the Rogue River and Umpqua River in Southern Oregon. Its headquarters were in San Francisco, co-located with those of the Department of the Pacific. On March 14, 1865, the District of Oregon was extended to include the entire state of Oregon, removing the Rogue River and Umpqua River areas from the District.
District of Arizona was a subordinate district of the Department of New Mexico territory created on August 30, 1862 and transferred to the Department of the Pacific in March 1865.
The 7th California Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It spent its entire term of service in the western United States, attached to the Department of the Pacific, serving in California and Arizona Territory. They were unofficially known as the "Gold Diggers" in reference to the large number of recruits from the California's "Mother Lode" region. Later, they were also called the "Hungry Seventh" for the privations they suffered in Arizona, particularly at Fort Mason. They saw combat at the Battle of Chiricahua Mountains, and at Skull Valley. The Regiment included many veterans of the Mexican–American War.
The 6th Regiment California Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It spent its entire term of service in the western United States attached to the Department of the Pacific.
Pacific Division of the U. S. Army was one of its superior administrative organizations that existed during the early 19th century and for a short time in the early 20th century.
The Military Division of the Pacific was a major command (Department) of the United States Army during the late 19th century.
The Department of Arizona was a military department of the United States Army that existed from 1870 to 1893. It was subordinate to the Military Division of the Pacific and comprised posts in Arizona and Southern California. It was the successor to the District of Arizona within the Department of California. From 1870 to 1886, Fort Whipple, Arizona was the department's headquarters. Afterwards it was headquartered at Drum Barracks in Wilmington, California.
Robert Houston Noble was a career officer in the United States Army. A veteran of the Apache Wars, Spanish–American War, Philippine–American War, Pancho Villa Expedition, and World War I, he attained the rank of brigadier general and was most notable for his World War I command of the 158th Infantry Brigade.