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89-709: The U.S. Military Railroad ( USMRR ) was established by the United States War Department as a separate agency to operate any rail lines seized by the government during the American Civil War . An Act of Congress of 31 January 1862 authorized President Abraham Lincoln to seize control of the railroads and telegraph for military use in January 1862. In practice, however, the USMRR restricted its authority to Southern rail lines captured in

178-418: A Cavalry Corps by combining units that previously had served as smaller formations. In late 1863, two corps were sent West, and – in 1864 – the remaining five corps were recombined into three. Burnside's IX Corps , which accompanied the army at the start of Ulysses S. Grant 's Overland Campaign , rejoined the army later. For more detail, see the section Corps below. The Army of

267-476: A building at 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, adjacent to the Executive Mansion , part of a complex of four matching brick Georgian/Federal style buildings for Cabinet departments with War in the northwest, Navy in the southwest and to the other side: State to the northeast and Treasury in the southeast. The War Department building was supplemented in the 1850s by a building across the street to

356-739: A command in the Western Theater. The I, II, and XII Corps retained the same commanders they had had during the Fredericksburg campaign, but the other corps got new commanders once again. Daniel Butterfield was chosen by Hooker as his new chief of staff and command of the V Corps went to George Meade. Daniel Sickles received command of the III Corps and Oliver Howard the XI Corps after Franz Sigel had resigned, refusing to serve under Hooker, his junior in rank. William Franklin also left

445-538: A number of brigades composed of short-term nine-month regiments departed as their enlistment terms expired. Darius Couch resigned from command of the II Corps after Chancellorsville, the corps going to Winfield Hancock. The Pennsylvania Reserves Division, having spent several months in Washington D.C. resting and refitting from the 1862 campaigns, returned to the army, but was added to the V Corps rather than rejoining

534-609: The Army of the Tennessee , was already moving east from the vicinity of Vicksburg, Mississippi and expected to arrive in about 10 days. Stanton proposed that reinforcements be sent from the then idle Army of the Potomac , his initial recommendation was to move 30,000 troops in just 5 days to the vicinity of Bridgeport, Alabama . Much debate surrounded the proposal. Halleck opined that such a movement would require at least 40 days and even

623-781: The Battle of Williamsburg on May 5, McClellan requested and obtained permission to create two additions corps; these became the V Corps, headed by BG Fitz-John Porter, and the VI Corps, headed by BG William B. Franklin, both personal favorites of his. After the First Battle of Kernstown in the Valley on March 23, the administration feared the threat to the national capital in Washington, D.C. from "Stonewall" Jackson 's force. To McClellan's displeasure, it detached Blenker's division from

712-654: The New York and Erie Railroad , was appointed as Military Director and Superintendent of U.S. Railroads. Herman Haupt , former chief engineer of the PRR, was appointed as Chief of Construction and Transportation in the Virginia theater. The departments in the USMRR tended to operate autonomously, although micromanagement from the Secretary of War and overlapping authority between departments did affect their operations. Over time

801-644: The Northern Virginia Campaign . During the time that the Army of Virginia existed, the Army of the Potomac was headquartered on the Virginia Peninsula , and then outside Washington, D.C., with McClellan still in command, although most of his troops had been temporarily reassigned. After Pope's defeat at Second Bull Run , McClellan was given back his original units, plus most of the units of the Army of Virginia, which were integrated into

890-623: The Orange and Alexandria Railroad from Bealeton, Virginia to Washington, passed the movement off to the B&;O from Washington to Benwood, West Virginia. At Benwood, the troops crossed the Ohio River via a pontoon bridge and boarded Central Ohio Railroad trains to move from Bellaire, Ohio to Columbus. From Columbus, troops moved via the Columbus and Xenia Railroad , Little Miami Railroad , and

979-463: The Spanish–American War of 1898. This conflict demonstrated the need for more effective control over the department and its bureaus. Secretary of War Elihu Root (1899–1904) sought to appoint a chief of staff as general manager and a European-type general staff for planning, aiming to achieve this goal in a businesslike manner, but General Nelson A. Miles stymied his efforts. Root enlarged

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1068-562: The Union Army . The USMRR organization benefited from the appointment of experienced railroad men from the private sector. Thomas A. Scott , vice-president of the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR), served as an Assistant Secretary of War during the period 1861–1862. In January 1862 Scott prepared a report on military transportation that anticipated the creation of the USMRR. Daniel C. McCallum , former general superintendent of

1157-640: The XI and XII Corps for movement beginning September 25. At the time the XII Corps’ two divisions were on picket duty along the Rappahannock River and had to be relieved by the I Corps before it could move to the railroad. The XI Corps’ remaining two divisions were deployed to the army's rear guarding the Orange and Alexandria railroad which simplified their preparations to move. Meade initially ordered

1246-478: The XII Corps ; Banks' old Division under BG Alpheus S. Williams , Shield's Division: BG James Shields and a Cavalry Division under BG John P. Hatch ). Lincoln named as corps commanders the five highest-ranking division commanders in the army. McClellan was unhappy with this, as he had intended to wait until the army had been tested in battle before judging which generals were suitable for corps command. After

1335-790: The surrender of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in April. The Army of the Potomac was founded in 1861. It initially was only the size of a corps relative to the size of Union armies later in the Civil War . Its nucleus was called the Army of Northeastern Virginia led by Brig. Gen. Irvin McDowell . It fought and lost the Civil War's first major battle, the First Battle of Bull Run . The arrival in Washington, D.C. , of Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan dramatically changed

1424-697: The "State, War, and Navy Building" (now the Old Executive Office Building , and later renamed to honor General and President Dwight D. Eisenhower ), built in the same location as its predecessors. By the 1930s, the Department of State squeezed the War Department from its office space, and the White House also desired additional office space. In August 1939, Secretary of War Harry H. Woodring and Acting Chief of Staff of

1513-559: The 1,233 mile troop movement. By October 12, the USMRR and civilian railroads completed the movement of both corps and all of their artillery, transportation, and baggage. From Bridgeport, Hooker marched his force towards Chattanooga to participate in the fighting to relieve the Army of the Cumberland. At the conclusion of the Overland Campaign in 1864, Lt. General Grant directed Major General Meade to transfer his Army of

1602-537: The 7,500 soldiers in the XI Corps were on trains headed for Bridgeport. By the morning of September 27, 12,600 men, 33 cars of artillery and 21 cars of baggage and horses were in motion. By 10:30 PM September 30, the first 4 trains of troops reached Bridgeport. By October 3 Major General Hooker was able to report that all of the XI Corps’ troops were at Bridgeport and the XII Corps was passing through Nashville to begin

1691-627: The American South, and the last Republican state governments in the region ended. The Army comprised hundreds of small detachments in forts around the West, dealing with Indians, and in coastal artillery units in port cities, dealing with the threat of a naval attack. The United States Army, with 39,000 men in 1890 was the smallest and least powerful army of any major power in the late 19th century. By contrast, France had an army of 542,000. Temporary volunteers and state militia units mostly fought

1780-528: The Army Air Forces gained virtual independence in every way from the rest of the army. After World War II, the Department of War abandoned Marshall's organization for the fragmented prewar pattern while the independent services continually parried efforts to reestablish firm executive control over their operations. The National Security Act of 1947 split the War Department into the Department of

1869-785: The Army George C. Marshall moved their offices into the Munitions Building , a temporary structure built on the National Mall during World War I. In the late 1930s, the government constructed the War Department Building (renamed in 2000 as the Harry S Truman Building ) at 21st and C Streets in Foggy Bottom , but upon completion, the new building did not solve the space problem of the department, and

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1958-528: The Army and the Department of the Air Force, and the Secretary of the Army and Secretary of the Air Force served as operating managers for the new Secretary of Defense. In the early years, between 1797 and 1800, the Department of War was headquartered in Philadelphia ; it moved with the other federal agencies to the new national capital at Washington, D.C. , in 1800. In 1820, headquarters moved into

2047-441: The Army of the Potomac absorbed the units that had served under Maj. Gen. John Pope . The belief that John Pope commanded the Army of the Potomac in the summer of 1862 after McClellan's unsuccessful Peninsula Campaign is mistaken. On the contrary, Pope's Army of Virginia was built around different units, although three corps of the Army of the Potomac were sent to northern Virginia and were under Pope's operational control during

2136-783: The Army of the Potomac received more contemporary media coverage than the other Union field armies. Such coverage produced fame for a number of this army's units. Individual brigades, such as the Irish Brigade , the Philadelphia Brigade , the First New Jersey Brigade , the Vermont Brigade , and the Iron Brigade , were well known to the general public, both during and after the Civil War. The army originally consisted of fifteen divisions,

2225-510: The Army of the Potomac ;– although not always successfully. The Army of the Potomac underwent many structural changes during its existence. The army was divided by Ambrose Burnside into three grand divisions of two corps each with a Reserve composed of two more. Hooker abolished the grand divisions. Thereafter the individual corps, seven of which remained in Virginia, reported directly to army headquarters. Hooker also created

2314-592: The Army of the Potomac, which was composed of all military forces in the former Departments of Northeastern Virginia, Washington, Pennsylvania , and the Shenandoah. The men under Banks's command became an infantry division in the Army of the Potomac. The army started with four corps, but these were divided during the Peninsula Campaign to produce two more. After the Second Battle of Bull Run ,

2403-991: The Artillery Reserve and the Cavalry Command. Commanded by Edwin V. Sumner , William B. Franklin , Louis Blenker , Nathaniel P. Banks , Frederick W. Lander (replaced by James Shields after Lander's death on March 2, 1862, Silas Casey , Irvin McDowell , Fitz John Porter , Samuel P. Heintzelman , Don Carlos Buell (replaced by Erasmus D. Keyes in November, 1861), William F. Smith , Joseph Hooker , John A. Dix , Charles P. Stone (replaced by John Sedgwick in February, 1862), George A. McCall , George Stoneman (replaced by Philip St. George Cooke in January, 1862) and Henry J. Hunt . Because this arrangement would be too hard to control in battle, President Lincoln issued an order on March 13, 1862, dividing

2492-591: The Board of War, to operate separately from Congress. The Congress of the Confederation eventually replaced the system of boards with the Department of War. Only five positions were created within the department upon its creation: the Secretary at War, an assistant, a secretary, and two clerks. Shortly after the establishment of a government under President George Washington in 1789, Congress reestablished

2581-608: The Catoosa Platform, Georgia on September 19, having begun their journey from Virginia on September 9. Ultimately, only 5 of Longstreet’s 10 infantry brigades arrived in time to participate in the Confederate victory at Chickamauga . Following their defeat, the troops of MG William Rosecrans ’ Army of the Cumberland fell back to Chattanooga, Tennessee where they were surrounded by the Confederates who occupied

2670-626: The Cavalry Corps have transferred in August 1864 to Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan 's Army of the Shenandoah , and the 2nd Division alone remained under Meade's command. On March 26, 1865, that division was also assigned to Sheridan for the closing campaigns of the war. Notes † Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant , general-in-chief of all Union armies, located his headquarters with the Army of the Potomac and provided operational direction to Meade from May 1864 to April 1865, but Meade retained command of

2759-575: The Confederate capital began in earnest. Grant established his headquarters on the grounds of Appomattox Manor overlooking the confluence of the Appomattox and James rivers. City Point, Virginia , modern day Hopewell, became the principal logistical base for the Virginia theater supplying the troops of both Meade's Army of the Potomac and Major General Benjamin Butler ’s Army of the James . In all

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2848-573: The Department of State ultimately used it. Coming into office with World War II raging in Europe and Asia, Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson faced with the situation of the War Department spread through the overcrowded Munitions Building and numerous other buildings across Washington, D.C., and suburban Maryland and Virginia . On July 28, 1941, Congress authorized funding for a new Department of War building in Arlington, Virginia , which would house

2937-551: The Department of War. Many agencies still fragmented authority, burdening the chief of staff with too many details, making the whole Department of War poorly geared toward directing the army in a global war. General Marshall described the chief of staff then as a "poor command post." President Roosevelt brought in Henry L. Stimson as Secretary of War; after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor , Stimson supported Marshall in reorganizing

3026-507: The I Corps. George Stoneman had been removed from command of the cavalry corps by Hooker after a poor performance during the Chancellorsville campaign and replaced by Alfred Pleasanton. George Meade was suddenly appointed the commander of the army on June 28, a mere three days before the battle of Gettysburg. At the battle, the I, II, and III Corps suffered such severe losses that they were almost nonfunctional as fighting units at

3115-773: The II Corps and sent it to West Virginia , where it served under John C. Fremont 's command. McDowell's I Corps was detached as well and stationed in the Rappahannock area. In June 1862, George McCall's division from I Corps (the Pennsylvania Reserves Division) was sent down to the Peninsula and temporarily attached to the V Corps. In the Seven Days Battles, the V Corps was heavily engaged. The Pennsylvania Reserves, in particular, suffered heavy losses including its division commander, who

3204-735: The Indiana Central Railroad to reach Indianapolis, Indiana. From Indianapolis the route used the Jeffersonville Railroad to return to the Ohio River. The troops crossed the Ohio River to Louisville and boarded trains using the tracks of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad to reach Nashville, Tennessee . From Nashville the final leg of the trip used the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad to deliver

3293-508: The Maryland Campaign, the Army of the Potomac had six corps. These were the I Corps, commanded by Joe Hooker after Irvin McDowell was removed from command, the II Corps, commanded by Edwin Sumner, the V Corps, headed by Fitz-John Porter, the VI Corps, headed by William Franklin, the IX Corps, headed by Ambrose Burnside and formerly the Department of North Carolina, and the XII Corps, headed by Nathaniel Banks until September 12, and given to Joseph K. Mansfield just two days prior to Antietam, where he

3382-430: The Maryland Campaign. In the battle, Pope issued confusing orders to the V Corps, eventually directing them against Jackson's flank, ignoring Longstreet's troops on the Union flank. Pope blamed the defeat at Second Bull Run on Porter, who was court-martialed and spent much of his life seeking exoneration. Sigel's command, now redesignated the XI Corps, also spent the Maryland Campaign in Washington resting and refitting. In

3471-427: The Potomac fought in most of the Eastern Theater campaigns, primarily in (Eastern) Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. After the end of the war, it was disbanded on June 28, 1865, shortly following its participation in the Grand Review of the Armies . The Army of the Potomac was also the name given to General P. G. T. Beauregard 's Confederate army during the early stages of the war (namely, First Bull Run; thus,

3560-403: The Potomac to the south side of the James River in effort to capture the Confederate rail center of Petersburg and sever Richmond ’s supply lines. The Union did not capture Petersburg before the city's defenders were reinforced by troops from General Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. The continual Union movement towards the Confederate flanks gave way to digging as siege operations to isolate

3649-407: The President doubted that the troops could reach Washington in 5 days. Daniel McCallum of the USMRR was summoned to the meeting and given a basic outline of the plan. After making some quick calculations McCallum declared that the proposed operation could be completed within 7 days. The President ultimately gave the order to begin the transfer of troops from the Army of the Potomac to the west, starting

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3738-505: The USMRR would buy, build or capture 419 locomotives and 6,330 cars beyond the rolling stock that was requisitioned from the various Northern railroads. When Col. McCallum was first appointed the USMRR system consisted only of 7 miles of the Washington and Alexandria Railroad ; however, by war's end the USMRR exercised control over a network of more than 2,000 miles of military railroads and captured Southern rail lines. The Virginia Central Railroad and Orange and Alexandria Railroad were

3827-405: The United States Department of Defense. On the same day this act was signed, Executive Order 9877 assigned primary military functions and responsibilities with the former War Department split between the Department of the Army and Department of the Air Force. In the aftermath of World War II, the American government (among others around the world) decided to abandon the word 'War' when referring to

3916-402: The United States Military Academy at West Point, New York and established the United States Army War College and the General Staff. He changed the procedures for promotions and organized schools for the special branches of the service. He also devised the principle of rotating officers from staff to line. Concerned about the new territories acquired after the Spanish–American War, Root worked out

4005-428: The United States Military Railroad supplied more than 100,000 troops and more than 65,000 horses and mules with food, equipment and supplies from the waterfront docks on the navigable portion of the James River at City Point. Initial railroad operations began when the USMRR rebuilt and restored service along 9 miles of the Petersburg and City Point Railroad ’s line. As the Union Army steadily extended its siege lines to

4094-416: The War Department as a civilian agency to administer the field army under the president (as commander-in-chief ) and the secretary of war. Retired senior General Henry Knox , then in civilian life, served as the first United States Secretary of War . When the department was created, the president was authorized to appoint two inspectors to oversee the troops. Congress created several additional offices over

4183-426: The War Department building with its records and files was consumed by fire. The United States Military Academy at West Point and the Army Corps of Engineers were established in 1802. The Department of War was reduced in size following the end of the Quasi-War in 1802, but it was subsequently expanded in the years leading up to the War of 1812 . To accommodate this expansion, sub-departments were created within

4272-407: The War Department throughout its existence. The War Department existed from August 7, 1789 until September 18, 1947, when it split into the Department of the Army and the Department of the Air Force. The Department of the Army and Department of the Air Force later joined the Department of the Navy under the United States Department of Defense in 1949. The Department of War traces its origins to

4361-420: The West in late 1863 to support the Chattanooga Campaign , and while there were combined into the XX Corps, never returning to the East. The IX Corps returned to the army in 1864, after being assigned to the West in 1863 and then served alongside, but not as part of, the Army of the Potomac from March to May 24, 1864. On that latter date, IX Corps was formally added to the Army of the Potomac. Two divisions of

4450-428: The XI and XII Corps. At Fredericksburg, the I Corps was commanded by John F. Reynolds, the II Corps by Darius Couch, the III Corps by George Stoneman, the V Corps by Daniel Butterfield, the VI Corps by William F. Smith, and the IX Corps by Orlando Willcox . The XI Corps was commanded by Franz Sigel and the XII Corps by Henry Slocum, however, neither corps was present at Fredericksburg, the former not arriving until after

4539-448: The XII Corps to march to Brandy Station, but the corps was directed to march 10 miles further up the railroad to Bealeton where there were better arrangements for loading the trains. McCallum directed the XI Corps infantry to move to Manassas Junction, Virginia , to board trains, but had the corps’ artillery march to Alexandria, where the best facilities to load the guns were located. By the end of operations on September 25, 1863, 5,800 of

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4628-415: The army for the same reason. Edwin Sumner, who was in his 60s and exhausted from campaigning, departed as well and died a few months later. William F. Smith resigned from command of the VI Corps, which was taken over by John Sedgwick. The I and V Corps were not significantly engaged during the Chancellorsville campaign. During the Gettysburg Campaign, the army's existing organization was largely retained, but

4717-422: The army from McClellan in the fall, he formed the army into four Grand Divisions. The Right Grand Division was commanded by Edwin Sumner and comprised the II and XI Corps, the Center Grand Division, commanded by Joe Hooker, comprised the V and III Corps, and the Left Grand Division, commanded by William Franklin, comprised the VI and I Corps. In addition, the Reserve Grand Division, commanded by Franz Sigel, comprised

4806-809: The army into five corps headed by MG Irvin McDowell ( I Corps ; Franklin's Division: BG William B. Franklin , McCall's " Pennsylvania Reserves " Division: BG George A. McCall and McDowell's old Division under BG Rufus King .), BG Edwin V. Sumner ( II Corps ; Sumner's old Division under BG Israel B. Richardson , Sedgwick's Division: BG John Sedgwick and Blenker's Division: Louis Blenker .), BG Samuel P. Heintzelman ( III Corps ; Porter's Division: BG Fitz John Porter , Hooker's Division: BG Joseph Hooker and Heintzelman's old Division under BG Charles S. Hamilton ), BG Erasmus D. Keyes ( IV Corps ; Keyes' old Division under BG Darius N. Couch , Smith's Division: BG William F. Smith and Casey's Division: BG Silas Casey ), MG Nathaniel P. Banks ( V Corps , which later became

4895-485: The army under the War Powers Act of 1941 . He divided the Army of the United States (AUS) into three autonomous components to conduct the operations of the War Department: the Army Ground Forces (AGF) trained land troops; the U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF) developed an independent air arm; and the Services of Supply (later Army Service Forces ) directed administrative and logistical operations. The Operations Division acted as general planning staff for Marshall. By 1942,

4984-431: The battle was over, and the latter was stationed at Harper's Ferry. Following Fredericksburg, Burnside was removed from command of the army and replaced by Joe Hooker. Hooker immediately abolished the Grand Divisions and also for the first time organized the cavalry into a proper corps led by George Stoneman instead of having them ineffectually scattered among infantry divisions. Burnside and his old IX Corps departed out to

5073-423: The civilian leadership of their military. One vestige of the former nomenclature is the names of the service was colleges: the Army War College, the Naval War College , and the Air War College , which still train U.S. military officers in battlefield tactics and the strategy of war fighting. The date "MDCCLXXVIII" and the designation "War Office" are indicative of the origin of the seal. The date (1778) refers to

5162-410: The committees created by the Second Continental Congress in 1775 to oversee the Revolutionary War . Individual committees were formed for each issue, including committees to secure ammunition, to raise funds for gunpowder, and to organize a national militia. These committees were consolidated into the Board of War and Ordnance in 1776, operated by members of Congress. A second board was created in 1777,

5251-420: The course of the 1790s, including the major general , brigadier general , quartermaster general , chaplain , surgeon general , adjutant general , superintendent of military stores, paymaster general , judge advocate , inspector general , physician general, apothecary general, purveyor, and accountant. Forming and organizing the department and the army fell to Secretary Knox, while direct field command of

5340-408: The course of the war. As a separate organization for rail transportation, the USMRR is one of the predecessors of the modern United States Army Transportation Corps . The American Civil War was the first war where railroads were a significant factor in moving troops and supplying forces in the field. The United States Military Railroad organization was established to coordinate this new capability for

5429-401: The department, with each one led by a general staff officer . These sub-departments were reformed into a modern system of bureaus by Secretary of War John C. Calhoun in 1818. Secretary Calhoun created the Bureau of Indian Affairs in 1824, which served as the main agency within the War Department for addressing the issues regarding Native Americans until 1849, when Congress transferred it to

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5518-410: The end. One corps commander (Reynolds) was killed, another (Sickles) lost a leg and was permanently out of the war, and a third (Hancock) was badly wounded and never completely recovered from his injuries. The VI Corps had not been significantly engaged and was mostly used to plug up holes in the line during the battle. For the remainder of the war, corps were added and subtracted from the army. IV Corps

5607-405: The entire department under one roof. When construction of the Pentagon was completed in 1943, the Secretary of War vacated the Munitions Building and the department began moving into the Pentagon. The United States Secretary of War, a member of the United States Cabinet, headed the War Department. The National Security Act of 1947 established the National Military Establishment , later renamed

5696-493: The final leg of the trip. Moving the troops and artillery did not complete the job. On September 27 the railroads began loading the camp baggage, wagons, ambulances, horses and mule teams that were part of the corps. The XI Corps had 261 six mule teams, 75 two horse ambulances, 3 spring wagons and the XII Corps needed 150 four horse teams and 156 six mule teams moved. The last regiment of troops passed through Indianapolis on October 6 and reached its destination October 8, 1863, ending

5785-514: The former Army of Virginia ), XII Corps ( Banks's II Corps from the Army of Virginia ), added in 1862; and the Cavalry Corps , created in 1863. Eight of these corps (seven infantry, one cavalry) served in the army during 1863, but due to attrition and transfers, the army was reorganized in March 1864 with only four corps: II, V, VI, and Cavalry. Of the original eight, I and III Corps were disbanded due to heavy casualties and their units combined into other corps. The XI and XII Corps were ordered to

5874-543: The general staff on the pattern of his American Expeditionary Force (AEF) field headquarters, which he commanded. The general staff in the early 1920s exercised little effective control over the bureaus, but the chiefs of staff gradually gained substantial authority over them by 1939, when General George C. Marshall assumed the office of Army Chief of Staff . During World War II , General Marshall principally advised President Franklin D. Roosevelt on military strategy and expended little effort in acting as general manager of

5963-615: The general staff to few members before America entered World War I on April 6, 1917. President Woodrow Wilson supported Secretary of War Newton D. Baker , who opposed efforts to control the bureaus and war industry until competition for limited supplies almost paralyzed industry and transportation, especially in the North. Yielding to pressure from Congress and industry, Secretary Baker placed Benedict Crowell in charge of munitions and made Major General George W. Goethals acting quartermaster general and General Peyton C. March chief of staff. Assisted by industrial advisers, they reorganized

6052-420: The heights surrounding the town. On the evening of September 23, 1863, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton convened a meeting with President Lincoln, Major General Henry Halleck , Secretary of State William Seward and Treasury Secretary Salmon Chase to review plans to reinforce and relieve the Army of the Cumberland with troops from other Union departments. Major General William T. Sherman , with 4 divisions of

6141-408: The largest troop rail movement of the war. In 12 days the USMRR moved approximately 25,000 men over 1,200 miles overshadowing the Confederacy's earlier movement of 12,000 men over 800 miles in 12 days. On September 24 the men summoned to plan the rail movement arrived in Washington to work out the details. Secretary Stanton telegraphed them asking for their assistance even before the President approved

6230-425: The late stages of the war, the department took charge of refugees and freedmen (freed slaves) in the American South through the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands . During the Reconstruction era , this bureau played a major role in supporting the new Republican governments in the southern states. When military Reconstruction ended in 1877, the U.S. Army removed the last troops from military occupation of

6319-463: The losing Union army ended up adopting the name of the winning Confederate army). However, the name was eventually changed to the Army of Northern Virginia , which became famous under General Robert E. Lee . In 1869, the Society of the Army of the Potomac was formed as a veterans association. It had its last reunion in 1927. Because of its proximity to the nation's largest cities at the time, Washington, D.C. , Philadelphia , and New York City ,

6408-545: The major decisions. In 1911, Secretary Henry L. Stimson and Major General Leonard Wood , his chief of staff, revived the Root reforms. The general staff assisted them in their efforts to rationalize the organization of the army along modern lines and in supervising the bureaus. The Congress reversed these changes in support of the bureaus and in the National Defense Act of 1916 reduced the size and functions of

6497-473: The makeup of that army. McClellan's original assignment was to command the Division of the Potomac, which included the Department of Northeast Virginia under McDowell and the Department of Washington under Brig. Gen. Joseph K. Mansfield . On July 26, 1861, the Department of the Shenandoah , commanded by Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks , was merged with McClellan's departments and on that day, McClellan formed

6586-557: The newly founded Department of the Interior . The U.S. Soldiers' Home was created in 1851. During the American Civil War, the War Department responsibilities expanded. It handled the recruiting, training, supply, medical care, transportation and pay of two million soldiers, comprising both the regular army and the much larger temporary volunteer army. A separate command structure took charge of military operations. In

6675-460: The plan: John W. Garrett , President of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O); Thomas Scott of the PRR; S. M. Felton, President of the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad ; William P. Smith, Master of Transportation for the B&O; and McCallum. The men at the conference worked out the detailed route planning, a task complicated by the different gauges of railroad track in use at

6764-491: The principal supply lines for the Confederate and Union forces, respectively. In the fall of 1863 the Confederate railroads , acting as interior lines of communication, transferred two divisions and an artillery battalion of Lieutenant General James Longstreet ’s I Corps, Army of Northern Virginia, by railroad from Virginia to Georgia to reinforce General Braxton Bragg ’s Army of Tennessee . The troops began arriving at

6853-671: The procedures for turning Cuba over to the Cubans, wrote the charter of government for the Philippines, and eliminated tariffs on goods imported to the United States from Puerto Rico. Root's successor as Secretary of War, William Howard Taft , returned to the traditional secretary-bureau chief alliance, subordinating the chief of staff to the adjutant general, a powerful office since its creation in 1775. Indeed, Secretary Taft exercised little power; President Theodore Roosevelt made

6942-455: The route that the railroad followed behind the Union lines. When Petersburg was eventually abandoned in 1865 the 25 engines and 275 pieces of other rolling stock had logged a grand total of 2,300,000 operating miles. United States Department of War The Secretary of War , a civilian with such responsibilities as finance and purchases and a minor role in directing military affairs, headed

7031-458: The small Regular Army fell to President Washington. In 1798, Congress authorized President John Adams to create a second provisional army under the command of former President Washington in anticipation of the Quasi-War , but this army was never utilized. The Department of War was also responsible for overseeing interactions with Native Americans in its early years. On November 8, 1800,

7120-434: The south and west, the USMRR construction corps followed in the Army's wake extending rail service from City Point to positions behind the new Union left flank. Eventually the USMRR added 21 additional miles of track which partially encircled Petersburg from the east to the southwest. Parts of the USMRR extension are preserved today within the borders of Fort Gregg-Adams, Virginia , where a series of four historic markers show

7209-498: The supply system of the army and practically wiped out the bureaus as quasi-independent agencies. General March reorganized the general staff along similar lines and gave it direct authority over departmental operations. After the war, the Congress again granted the bureaus their former independence. The Commission on Training Camp Activities addressed moral standards of the troops. In the 1920s, General John J. Pershing realigned

7298-450: The time. The initial movement of troops from Virginia was allocated to the USMRR under McCallum's direction. Garrett and Smith would supervise the movement from Washington, D.C. to Jeffersonville, Indiana, and Scott would travel west to supervise the move from Louisville, Kentucky , to Bridgeport, Alabama. As finally settled, the movement involved 9 different railroads in order get the troops from Virginia to Bridgeport. The USMRR, operating on

7387-401: The troops to Bridgeport. While the railroad men planned the movement of reinforcements to the west, Halleck began issuing the orders that assigned actual units to the move. Major General Joseph Hooker , former commander of the Army of the Potomac, was assigned to command the eastern reinforcements. Major General George Meade , the commander of the Army of the Potomac, was directed to prepare

7476-533: The west known as the Annex and became very important during the Civil War with President Abraham Lincoln visiting the War Office's telegraph room for constant updates and reports and walking back and forth to the "Residence". The original 1820 structures for War and Navy on the west side of the now famous White House was replaced in 1888 by construction of a new building of French Empire design with mansard roofs,

7565-835: The year of its adoption. The term "War Office" used during the Revolution , and for many years afterward, was associated with the Headquarters of the Army . Army of the Potomac The Army of the Potomac was the primary field army of the Union army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War . It was created in July 1861 shortly after the First Battle of Bull Run and was disbanded in June 1865 following

7654-673: Was broken up after the Peninsula Campaign, with its headquarters and 2nd Division left behind in Yorktown, while its 1st Division moved north, attached to the VI Corps, in the Maryland Campaign. Those parts of the IV Corps that remained on the Peninsula were reassigned to the Department of Virginia and disbanded on October 1, 1863. Those added to the Army of the Potomac were IX Corps , XI Corps ( Sigel's I Corps in

7743-511: Was captured by the Confederates, and two of its three brigadiers, John F. Reynolds , who was also captured, and George Meade , who was wounded. The III Corps fought at Glendale, however, the rest of the army was not heavily engaged in the week-long fight aside from Slocum's division of the VI Corps, which was sent to reinforce the V Corps at Gaines Mill. The Army of the Potomac remained on the Virginia Peninsula until August, when it

7832-432: Was killed in action. At Antietam, the I and XII Corps were the first Union outfits to fight and both corps suffered enormous casualties (plus the loss of their commanders) so that they were down to near-division strength and their brigades at regimental strength after the battle was over. The II and IX Corps were also heavily engaged but the V and VI Corps largely stayed out of the battle. When Burnside took over command of

7921-593: Was recalled back to Washington D.C. Keyes and one of the two IV Corps divisions were left behind permanently as part of the newly created Department of the James, while the other division, commanded by Brig. Gen Darius Couch, was attached to the VI Corps. During the Second Battle of Bull Run, the III and V Corps were temporarily attached to Pope's army; the former suffered major losses and was sent back to Washington to rest and refit afterward, so it did not participate in

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