The Military Division of the Pacific was a major command (Department) of the United States Army during the late 19th century.
On July 27, 1865 the Military Division of the Pacific was created under Major General Henry W. Halleck, replacing the Department of the Pacific, consisting of the Department of the Columbia that now consisted of the state of Oregon and the territories of Washington and Idaho and the expanded Department of California that now consisted of the states of California and Nevada and the Territory of New Mexico and Territory of Arizona. [1] Headquarters for the Division of the Pacific and the Department of California remained in the City of San Francisco.
On March 18, 1868, the Army established the Department of Alaska under the Division of the Pacific. Department of Alaska was discontinued on July 1, 1870, and Alaska was absorbed by the Department of the Columbia.
The Department of Arizona was established under the Division of the Pacific on April 15, 1870. It consisted of Arizona Territory and California south of a line from the northwest corner of Arizona to Point Conception 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 moved from San Francisco to the Presidio of San Francisco.
In June 1875, the part of the Territory of Idaho that lay east of the extension of the western boundary of Utah, and including Fort Hall, was detached from the Department of Columbia and added to the Department of the Platte.
On July 1, 1876 Gen. Irvin McDowell, formerly commander of the Department of the Pacific was for a second time assigned to the command of the Pacific coast Division, which comprised also the Department of the Columbia, commanded by Brig. Gen. Oliver O. Howard, and the Department of Arizona, commanded by Col. O. B. Willcox, 12th Infantry Regiment. [2]
The Department of Arizona lost Southern California on February 14, 1883, but regained California south of the 35th parallel on December 15, 1886. The Department of California, consisted of California north of the 35th parallel and Nevada.
On November 30, 1885, the New Mexico Territory transferred from the Department of the Missouri to the Department of Arizona, coming under the Division of the Pacific.
Early in 1887 the headquarters of the Division of the Pacific, failed to secure an appropriation for a suitable administration building and moved from the Presidio of San Francisco back to the City of San Francisco.
The Military Division of the Pacific was discontinued on July 3, 1891. 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 Presidio of San Francisco is a park and former U.S. Army post on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula in San Francisco, California, and is part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.
Henry Wager Halleck was a senior United States Army officer, scholar, and lawyer. A noted expert in military studies, he was known by a nickname that became derogatory: "Old Brains". He was an important participant in the admission of California as a state and became a successful lawyer and land developer. Halleck served as the General-in-Chief of the Armies of the United States from 1862 to 1864, and then became Chief of Staff for the remainder of the war when Ulysses S. Grant was appointed to that position.
The territory of the United States and its overseas possessions has evolved over time, from the colonial era to the present day. It includes formally organized territories, proposed and failed states, unrecognized breakaway states, international and interstate purchases, cessions, and land grants, and historical military departments and administrative districts. The last section lists informal regions from American vernacular geography known by popular nicknames and linked by geographical, cultural, or economic similarities, some of which are still in use today.
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.
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.
San Francisco National Cemetery is a United States national cemetery, located in the Presidio of San Francisco, California. Because of the name and location, it is frequently confused with Golden Gate National Cemetery, a few miles south of the city.
Walter Scribner Schuyler was a career officer in the United States Army. A veteran of the American Indian Wars, Spanish–American War, Philippine–American War, and Mexican Border War, he attained the rank of brigadier general. A Cavalry officer, he carried out several high-profile command assignments over the course of his military service, including the 5th Cavalry Regiment and Military District of Hawaii.
The Department of the Platte was a military administrative district established by the U.S. Army on March 5, 1866, with boundaries encompassing Iowa, Nebraska, Dakota Territory, Utah Territory and a small portion of Idaho. With headquarters in Omaha, the district commander oversaw the army's role initially along the Overland route to Salt Lake City, then later the construction route of the Union Pacific Railroad. The district also included the Montana road through eastern Wyoming. The district was discontinued when the Army's command was reorganized in 1898.
Joseph Stewart was an officer in the United States Army notable for serving as commander of Fort Alcatraz, Fort Churchill and the Department of Alaska. His name is occasionally seen as Jasper Stewart.
The District of Southern California was a 19th-century district of Department of the Pacific, a command of the United States Army.
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 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. The Regiment included many veterans of the Mexican–American War.
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. Its creation was authorized by General Orders, No. 10, of the War Department, Adjutant-General's Office, September 13, 1858.
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.
Western Defense Command (WDC) was established on 17 March 1941 as the command formation of the United States Army responsible for coordinating the defense of the Pacific Coast region of the United States during World War II. A second major responsibility was the training of soldiers prior to their deployment overseas. The first Commanding General of WDC was Lieutenant General John L. DeWitt, who continued on in command of the Fourth U.S. Army. WDC headquarters were co-located at the existing Fourth Army headquarters at the Presidio of San Francisco. WDC's operational region covered the states of Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona, and the Territory of Alaska. However, until 11 December 1941, the command was little more than a planning agency. On that date the Army coast defense, antiaircraft, and fighter assets on the West Coast were placed under the command, which until 20 March 1942 was known as the Western Theater of Operations, then reverted to the previous name. From 11 December 1941 until 1 November 1943, Alaska Defense Command was controlled through WDC.
The Department of the Columbia was a major command (Department) of the United States Army during the 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.