Department of the South

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The Department of the South was a military department of the United States Army that existed in several iterations in the 19th century during and after the American Civil War.

United States Army Land warfare branch of the United States Armed Forces

The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the seven uniformed services of the United States, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution. As the oldest and most senior branch of the U.S. military in order of precedence, the modern U.S. Army has its roots in the Continental Army, which was formed to fight the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783)—before the United States of America was established as a country. After the Revolutionary War, the Congress of the Confederation created the United States Army on 3 June 1784 to replace the disbanded Continental Army. The United States Army considers itself descended from the Continental Army, and dates its institutional inception from the origin of that armed force in 1775.

American Civil War Civil war in the United States from 1861 to 1865

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States from 1861 to 1865, between the North and the South. The most studied and written about episode in U.S. history, the Civil War began primarily as a result of the long-standing controversy over the enslavement of black people. War broke out in April 1861 when secessionist forces attacked Fort Sumter in South Carolina shortly after Abraham Lincoln had been inaugurated as the President of the United States. The loyalists of the Union in the North, which also included some geographically western and southern states, proclaimed support for the Constitution. They faced secessionists of the Confederate States in the South, who advocated for states' rights to uphold slavery.

Contents

1862–65

Gen. Gillmore's headquarters at Hilton Head The photographic history of the Civil War - thousands of scenes photographed 1861-65, with text by many special authorities (1911) (14762568692).jpg
Gen. Gillmore's headquarters at Hilton Head

After the first 11 months of the American Civil War, starting March 15, 1862, the Department of the South comprised Union Army troops occupying the states of Florida (March 15, 1862 to August 8, 1862 and thereafter only parts of the State of Florida), Georgia, and South Carolina. [1] This included troops stationed at Hilton Head and Morris Island in South Carolina, along with Savannah, Georgia and Pensacola, Florida. On August 8, 1862, Florida west of the Apalachicola River was detached to the Department of the Gulf. [1] On March 16, 1863, Key West and the Dry Tortugas were transferred to the Department of the Gulf. [1] Until 1864, the department's command was coterminous with that of the X Corps. North Carolina was added to the department briefly, from January 18, 1865 to January 31, 1865. [1]

Union Army Land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War

During the American Civil War, the Union Army referred to the United States Army, the land force that fought to preserve the Union of the collective states. Also known as the Federal Army, it proved essential to the preservation of the United States as a working, viable republic.

Florida in the American Civil War

Florida had joined the Confederate States of America in advance of the Civil War, as the third of the original seven states to secede from the Union, following Lincoln's 1860 election. With the smallest population, nearly half of them slaves, Florida only sent 15,000 troops to the Confederate States Army. Its chief importance was in food-supply to the south and support for blockade-runners along its long coastline full of inlets that were hard to patrol.

Georgia in the American Civil War

Georgia was one of the original seven slave states that formed the Confederate States of America in February 1861, triggering the U.S. Civil War. The state governor, Democrat Joseph E. Brown, wanted locally raised troops to be used only for the defence of Georgia, in defiance of Confederate president Jefferson Davis, who wanted to deploy them on other battlefronts. When the Union blockade prevented Georgia from exporting its plentiful cotton in exchange for key imports, Brown ordered farmers to grow food instead, but the breakdown of transport systems led to desperate shortages.

On May 17, 1865, that part of Florida remaining in the department was transferred to the Department of the Gulf. [1] Under General Orders No. 118 on June 27, 1865, the States of Georgia and South Carolina were merged into the Department of Georgia and the Department of South Carolina. [1] This order ended this iteration of the Department of the South until it was reconstituted with different territory on May 19, 1866. [1]

Department of the Gulf

The Department of the Gulf was a command of the United States Army in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and of the Confederate States Army during the Civil War.

Commanders

David Hunter Union Army general

David Hunter was a Union general during the American Civil War. He achieved fame by his unauthorized 1862 order emancipating slaves in three Southern states, for his leadership of United States troops during the Valley Campaigns of 1864, and as the president of the military commission trying the conspirators involved with the assassination of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln.

Ormsby M. Mitchel

Ormsby MacKnightMitchel was an American astronomer and major general in the American Civil War.

John G. Foster Union army general

John Gray Foster was a career military officer in the United States Army and a Union general during the American Civil War whose most distinguished services were in North and South Carolina. A postbellum expert in underwater demolition, he wrote the definitive treatise on the subject in 1869. He continued with the Army after the war, using his expertise as assistant to the Chief Engineer in Washington, DC and at a post on Lake Erie.

1866-1867

This iteration of the Department of the South, organized on May 19, 1866, comprised posts in Georgia and Alabama. [1] On August 6, 1866, it was reorganized to include North Carolina and South Carolina from the Department of the Carolinas. Georgia and Alabama were moved to the Department of Tennessee. [1] On May 11, 1867, this iteration of the department was merged into the Second Military District. [1]

Second Military District temporary administrative unit of the U.S. War Department following the Civil War

The Second Military District of the U.S. Army was a temporary administrative unit of the U.S. War Department that existed in the American South. The district was stipulated by the Reconstruction Acts during the Reconstruction period following the American Civil War. It included the territories of North and South Carolina, and acted as the de facto military government of those states while a new civilian government was being re-established. Originally commanded by Major General Daniel Sickles, after his removal by President Andrew Johnson on August 26, 1867, Brigadier General Edward Canby took over command until both states were readmitted in July 1868.

1868

This iteration of the Department of the South comprised posts in North Carolina and South Carolina from the Second Military District and posts in Alabama, Florida and Georgia from the Third Military District. [1] It was commanded by General George G. Meade from July 28, 1868 to March 13, 1869. [1]

Third Military District temporary administrative unit of the U.S. War Department following the Civil War

The Third Military District of the U.S. Army was a temporary administrative unit of the U.S. War Department that existed in the American South. The district was stipulated by the Reconstruction Acts during the Reconstruction period following the American Civil War. It comprised Georgia, Florida and Alabama and was headquartered in Atlanta. Its creation was specified in the Reconstruction Acts.

George Meade Union Army general

George Gordon Meade was a career United States Army officer and civil engineer best known for defeating Confederate General Robert E. Lee at the Battle of Gettysburg in the American Civil War. He previously fought with distinction in the Second Seminole War and the Mexican–American War. During the Civil War, he served as a Union general, rising from command of a brigade to that of the Army of the Potomac. Earlier in his career, he was an engineer and was involved in the coastal construction of several lighthouses.

1869–1883

In this iteration, the Department of the South comprised reconstructed states in the former Confederacy. It was subordinate to the Military Division of the South until 1876, and the Military Division of the Atlantic after that.

Commanders

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Eicher, John H., and David J. Eicher, Civil War High Commands. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001. ISBN   978-0-8047-3641-1. p. 845.
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