1861 November 9th

November 9 1861 Friday

East Kentucky Operations

USA. The Union western theatre was substantially reorganised into major new commands. The extensive and unmanageable Western Department was discontinued and was replaced by the Department of Missouri and the Department of Ohio. The Department of Kansas and the Department of New Mexico were also formed to provide for activity on the western frontier of the conflict. The new commanders travelled to take over their new commands during the next few days.
Union Major-General Henry Wager Halleck was assigned to command the Department of the Missouri, and Brigadier-General Don Carlos Buell to the Department of the Ohio. They were both subordinate to the General-in-Chief, Major-General George Brinton McClellan in Washington, DC, but they were rivals for the laurels of victory in the West. Halleck was ordered to hold onto Missouri and to prepare for an advance down the Mississippi River. Meanwhile, Buell was to keep Kentucky in the Union and to prepare for an offensive into eastern Tennessee. They were both good administrators and brought much-needed discipline, efficient administration, and organisation to an area that had hitherto been short of professional military guidance.

Kansas. As part of the organisation after the discontinuation of the Western Department, the Union Department of Kansas was established to operate on the far western fringe of operations. The Department began with fielded five regiments of infantry from Kansas and Wisconsin, and five cavalry regiments from Kansas and Ohio. All were untested but three Regular Army regiments provided contingents to strengthen them. Major-General David Hunter was assigned to take command in Kansas.

Kentucky. Demonstration at Columbus and Paducah ended.

Kentucky. Incident at Piketon.

Kentucky. Confederate Brigadier-General George Bibb Crittenden was promoted to Major-General to give him authority to coordinate the haphazard operations in Eastern Kentucky.

Missouri. Expedition to Rolla ended.

Missouri. The Union army in Missouri fell back from Springfield to Sedalia, as Major-General David Hunter feared for its exposed position. It was threatened by a Confederate force under State Major-General Sterling Price near Pineville and a second under Brigadier-General Benjamin McCulloch near Keetsville by the Arkansas border.

New Mexico Territory. As part of the reorganisation following the discontinuation of the Western Department, the Department of New Mexico was re-established, comprising New Mexico Territory from the Western Department. Colonel Edward Richard Sprigg Canby assumed command.

South Carolina. Gunboats from Captain Samuel Francis Du Pont’s fleet moved to occupy Port Royal and Beaufort. They blocked the mouth of Broad River, cutting direct communications between Charleston and Savannah. Union Brigadier-General Thomas West Sherman landed troops and occupied Beaufort, making it the headquarters for future Army operations on the South Carolina coast. The US Navy headquarters remained at the anchorage of Port Royal. The Union’s success at Port Royal secured control of coastal and inland navigation, and the islands on the coast between Savannah and Charleston. Boat expeditions could now penetrate within four miles of Coosawhatchie and larger ships could ascend Broad River as far as Mackay’s Point, the mouth of the Pocotaligo, and some distance up the Coosawhatchie and Tulifinny rivers.

Virginia. Expedition to Mathias Point by Union troops under Brigadier-General Joseph Hooker and Brigadier-General Daniel Edgar Sickles.

Virginia. Confederates under Colonel John Stuart Williams reached Abingdon after abandoning Pikeville. The Confederate rearguard skirmished briefly with Union Colonel Joshua Woodrow Sill’s command near Pikeville.

Union Organisation

USA: The Western Department was discontinued and its area transferred to the Department of New Mexico, the Department of the Missouri, and the Department of Kansas.

USA: The Department of the Cumberland was discontinued and its area divided between the Department of the Missouri and the Department of the Ohio.

USA: The Department of Kansas was established, with headquarters at Fort Leavenworth, comprising Kansas, Nebraska Territory, Colorado Territory, Dakota Territory, and the Indian Territory, taken from the Western Department.
USA: Major-General David Hunter was appointed to command the Department of Kansas, arriving on 20 November 1861.

USA: The Department of New Mexico was re-established, comprising New Mexico Territory from the Western Department.
USA: Colonel Edward Richard Sprigg Canby (19th US Infantry) assumed command of the Department of New Mexico.

USA: The Southern District of New Mexico transferred from the Western Department to the Department of New Mexico.
USA: Colonel Benjamin Stone Roberts (5th New Mexico Infantry) retained command of the Southern District of New Mexico in the Department of New Mexico.

USA: The Department of the Missouri was established, comprising Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Arkansas from the Western Department, the Department of the East, and Kentucky west of the Cumberland River from the Department of the Cumberland.
USA: Major-General Henry Wager Halleck was appointed to command the Department of the Missouri, arriving on 19 November 1861.

USA: The Department of the Ohio was adjusted to comprise Ohio, Michigan, Indiana and the parts of Kentucky east of the Cumberland River, with headquarters at Louisville, Kentucky.
USA: Brigadier-General Don Carlos Buell was appointed to command the Department of the Ohio, arriving 15 November 1861.
USA: Tennessee west of the Cumberland River was transferred from the Department of the Cumberland to the Department of the Ohio.
USA: The state of Michigan transferred from the Department from the East to the Department of the Ohio.
USA: The Army of the Ohio was established in the Department of the Ohio.
USA: Brigadier-General Don Carlos Buell was appointed to command the Army of the Ohio, arriving on 15th November 1861.

USA: The District of North Missouri was discontinued.

USA: The District of Southeast Missouri transferred from the Western Department to the Department of the Missouri, comprising the vicinity of Cairo, Illinois, and Ironton, Jefferson City and Cape Girardeau, Missouri.
USA: Brigadier-General Ulysses Simpson Grant retained command of the District of Southeast Missouri.

USA: The District of Western Kentucky was transferred from the Western Department to the Department of the Missouri.
USA: Brigadier-General Charles Ferguson Smith retained command of the District of Western Kentucky.

USA: The area of Virginia west of the Blue Ridge Mountains transferred to the Department of Western Virginia from the Department of the Potomac.

USA: Jeremiah Tilford Boyle promoted Brigadier-General 30 April 1862 to rank from 9 November 1861.

Commander in Chief: President Abraham Lincoln
Vice-President: Hannibal Hamlin
Secretary of War: Simon Cameron
Secretary of the Navy: Gideon Welles

North Atlantic Blockading Squadron: Louis Malesherbes Goldsborough
South Atlantic Blockading Squadron: Samuel Francis Du Pont
Gulf Blockading Squadron: William McKean
Pacific Squadron: John Berrien Montgomery
Western Gunboat Flotilla: Andrew Hull Foote
Potomac Flotilla: Thomas Tingey Craven

General–in-Chief: George Brinton McClellan

Department of Florida: Harvey Brown

Department of Kansas: David Hunter

Department of the Missouri: Henry Wager Halleck

District of Southeast Missouri: Ulysses Simpson Grant
District of Western Kentucky: Charles Ferguson Smith

Department of New England: Benjamin Franklin Butler

Department of New Mexico: Edward Richard Sprigg Canby

Southern District of New Mexico: Benjamin Stone Roberts

Department of New York: Edward Denison Morgan

Department of the Ohio: Ormsby McKnight Mitchel interim Don Carlos Buell awaited

District of Grafton: Benjamin Franklin Kelley
Army of the Ohio: Don Carlos Buell awaited

Department of the Pacific: George Wright

District of Oregon: Albemarle Cady
District of Southern California: James Henry Carleton

Department of the Potomac: George Brinton McClellan

District of Harper’s Ferry and Cumberland: Benjamin Franklin Kelley
Army of the Potomac: George Brinton McClellan

Department of Texas: Vacant

Department of Virginia: John Ellis Wool

Department of Western Virginia: William Starke Rosecrans

District of the Kanawha: Jacob Dolson Cox

Confederate Organisation

CSA: George Bibb Crittenden promoted Major-General PACS 9 November 1861.

Commander in Chief: President Jefferson Finis Davis
Vice-President: Alexander Hamilton Stephens
Secretary of War: Judah Philip Benjamin
Secretary of the Navy: Stephen Russell Mallory

Military Adviser to the President: Vacant

Department No 1: Mansfield Lovell

Department of Alabama and West Florida: Braxton Bragg

District of Alabama: Jones Mitchell Withers
Army of Pensacola Braxton Bragg

Department of Henrico: John Henry Winder

Department of Norfolk: Benjamin Huger

Department of North Carolina: Richard Caswell Gatlin

District of Cape Fear: Joseph Reid Anderson
District of Pamlico: Daniel Harvey Hill

Department of Northern Virginia: Joseph Eggleston Johnston

District of Aquia: Robert Augustus Toombs
District of the Potomac: Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard
Army of the Potomac: Joseph Eggleston Johnston
- I Corps Potomac: Earl Van Dorn
- II Corps Potomac: Gustavus Woodson Smith
Valley District: Thomas Jonathan Jackson
- Army of the Valley: Thomas Jonathan Jackson
Army of the Northwest: William Wing Loring

Department of the Peninsula: John Bankhead Magruder

Army of the Peninsula: John Bankhead Magruder

Department of South Carolina, Georgia and East Florida: Robert Edward Lee

District of Middle and East Florida: James Heyward Trapier
District of Georgia: Alexander Robert Lawton
District of South Carolina: Roswell Sabine Ripley

Department of Southwestern Virginia: William Wing Loring

Department of Texas: Paul Octave Hébert

District of Galveston: John Creed Moore
Defences of Pass Cavallo: John W Glenn

Western Department: Albert Sidney Johnston

First Geographical Division: Leonidas Polk
District of Upper Arkansas: William Joseph Hardee
District of the Indian Territory: Benjamin McCulloch
District of East Tennessee: Felix Kirk Zollicoffer
Army of Central Kentucky: Albert Sidney Johnston
Army of Eastern Kentucky: Humphrey Marshall
Western Army: Benjamin McCulloch

District of Arizona: John Robert Baylor

Forces in Richmond: Charles Dimmock

Union Generals

Note: Italics, awaiting confirmation of the commission

Major-General USA

George Brinton McClellan
John Charles Frémont
Henry Wager Halleck

Major-General USV

John Adams Dix
Nathaniel Prentiss Banks
Benjamin Franklin Butler
David Hunter
Edwin Denison Morgan

Brigadier-General USA

John Ellis Wool
William Selby Harney
Edwin Vose Sumner
Joseph King Fenno Mansfield
Irvin McDowell
Robert Anderson
William Starke Rosecrans

Brigadier-General USV

Samuel Peter Heintzelman
Erasmus Darwin Keyes
Andrew Porter
Fitz-John Porter
William Buel Franklin
William Tecumseh Sherman
Charles Pomeroy Stone
Don Carlos Buell
Thomas West Sherman
John Pope
George Archibald McCall
William Reading Montgomery
Philip Kearny
Joseph Hooker
John Wolcott Phelps
Ulysses Simpson Grant
Joseph Jones Reynolds
Samuel Ryan Curtis
Charles Smith Hamilton
Darius Nash Couch
Rufus King
Jacob Dolson Cox
Stephen Augustus Hurlbut
Franz Sigel
Robert Cumming Schenck
Benjamin Mayberry Prentiss
Frederick West Lander
Benjamin Franklin Kelley
John Alexander McClernand
Alpheus Starkey Williams
Israel Bush Richardson
James Cooper
James Brewerton Ricketts
Orlando Bolivar Willcox
Michael Corcoran
George Henry Thomas
Ambrose Everett Burnside
Henry Hayes Lockwood
Louis Blenker
Henry Warner Slocum
James Samuel Wadsworth
John James Peck
Ormsby McKnight Mitchel
George Webb Morell
John Henry Martindale
Samuel Davis Sturgis
George Stoneman
Henry Washington Benham
William Farrar Smith
James William Denver
Egbert Ludovicus Vielé
James Shields
John Fulton Reynolds
William Farquhar Barry
John Joseph Abercrombie
John Sedgwick
Charles Ferguson Smith
Silas Casey
Lawrence Pike Graham
George Gordon Meade
Abram Duryée
Alexander McDowell McCook
Oliver Otis Howard
Eleazar Arthur Paine
Daniel Edgar Sickles
Charles Davis Jameson
Ebenezer Dumont
Robert Huston Milroy
Lewis Wallace
Willis Arnold Gorman
Daniel Butterfield
Horatio Gouverneur Wright
Edward Otho Cresap Ord
William Nelson
William Thomas Ward
John Gross Barnard
Innis Newton Palmer
Seth Williams
John Newton
Winfield Scott Hancock
Thomas Leonidas Crittenden
George Wright
Isaac Ingalls Stevens
Thomas Williams
George Sykes
William Henry French
William Thomas Harbaugh Brooks
John Milton Brannan
William Wallace Burns
John Porter Hatch
David Sloane Stanley
William Kerley Strong
Albin Francisco Schoepf
Lovell Harrison Rousseau
James Scott Negley
Thomas John Wood
Richard W Johnson
Adolph Wilhelm August Friedrich Von Steinwehr
Joseph Bennett Plummer
John Gray Foster
George Washington Cullum
Jeremiah Tilford Boyle

Brigadier-General USA (Staff)

Montgomery Cunningham Meigs (Quartermaster-General)
Henry Knox Craig
Lorenzo Thomas (Adjutant-General)
James Wolfe Ripley (Ordnance)

Confederate Generals

Note: Italics, awaiting confirmation of the commission

General ACSA

Samuel Cooper
Albert Sidney Johnston
Robert Edward Lee
Joseph Eggleston Johnston
Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard

Major-General PACS

Leonidas Polk
Braxton Bragg
Earl Van Dorn
Gustavus Woodson Smith
Theophilus Hunter Holmes
William Joseph Hardee
Benjamin Huger
James Longstreet
John Bankhead Magruder
Mansfield Lovell
Thomas Jonathan Jackson
Edmund Kirby Smith
George Bibb Crittenden

Brigadier-General PACS

Alexander Robert Lawton
Milledge Lake Bonham
Benjamin McCulloch
William Wing Loring
Charles Clark
John Buchanan Floyd
Henry Rootes Jackson
Henry Alexander Wise
Richard Stoddert Ewell
David Rumph Jones
John Clifford Pemberton
Henry Hopkins Sibley
John Henry Winder
Richard Caswell Gatlin
Daniel Smith Donelson
Samuel Read Anderson
Benjamin Franklin Cheatham
Felix Kirk Zollicoffer
Daniel Harvey Hill
Jones Mitchell Withers
Richard Heron Anderson
Robert Augustus Toombs
Samuel Jones
Arnold Elzey
William Henry Chase Whiting
Jubal Anderson Early
Isaac Ridgway Trimble
Daniel Ruggles
Roswell Sabine Ripley
Albert Pike
Paul Octave Hébert
Joseph Reid Anderson
Simon Bolivar Buckner
Leroy Pope Walker
Albert Gallatin Blanchard
Gabriel James Rains
James Ewell Brown Stuart
Lafayette McLaws
Thomas Fenwick Drayton
Thomas Carmichael Hindman
Adley Hogan Gladden
John Porter McCown
Lloyd Tilghman
Nathan George Evans
Cadmus Marcellus Wilcox
Philip St George Cocke
Robert Emmett Rodes
Richard Taylor
Louis Trezevant Wigfall
James Heyward Trapier
Samuel Gibbs French
William Henry Carroll
Hugh Weedon Mercer
Humphrey Marshall
John Cabell Breckinridge
Richard Griffith
Alexander Peter Stewart
Daniel Marsh Frost