Tag: Department of the South

Wikipedia says: 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.

1862–65

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. 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. On March 16, 1863, Key West and the Dry Tortugas were transferred to the Department of the Gulf. 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.

On May 17, 1865, that part of Florida remaining in the department was transferred to the Department of the Gulf. 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. This order ended this iteration of the Department of the South until it was reconstituted with different territory on May 19, 1866.

Commanders

Major General David Hunter, March 31 to September 3, 1862

Major General Ormsby M. Mitchel, September 3, 1862 to October 30, 1862 (died of yellow fever)

Brigadier General John M. Brannan, October 30, 1862 to January 21, 1863

Major General David Hunter, January 21 to June 3, 1863

Major General Quincy Adams Gilmore, June 12, 1863, to May 1, 1864

Brigadier General John P. Hatch, May 1, 1864 to May 26, 1864

Major General John G. Foster, May 26, 1864 to February 11, 1865

Major General Quincy Adams Gilmore, February 9 to November 17, 1865.