1864 June 3rd

June 3 1864 Friday

Battle of Cold Harbor, VA (CWSAC Decisive Battle – Confederate Victory)

Atlanta Campaign – Dallas
Virginia Overland Campaign – Cold Harbor
Forrest’s Second Tennessee Raid
Sturgis’ Operation against Forrest
Hunter’s Shenandoah Valley Campaign
Morgan’s East Kentucky Raid

USA. The US Congress passed a National Banking Act, which provided for a unified national currency.

Arkansas. Skirmish at Searcy.

Florida. Expedition to Camp Milton and Jacksonville ended.

Georgia. Incidents at Marietta, Burnt Hickory, and Ackworth. Incident at Ossabaw Sound.

Ossabaw Sound, Georgia. A Confederate boat expedition of some 130 officers and men under the command of Lieutenant Thomas P Pelot surprised and captured USS Water Witch, Lieutenant-Commander Austin Pendergrast, in an early morning raid off Ossabaw Island. In pitch darkness at 2 am, Pelot’s men approached within 50 yards before being discovered. Before the crew of 68 Union sailors could man their stations, the Confederates had boarded USS Water Witch and the defenders were overwhelmed. Pelot and five other Confederates were killed and 17 more were wounded in taking the prize. One fatality was the pilot who had been brought along to navigate the ship back to the Georgia mainland. Since the pilot was lost, the captured ship ran aground four times in the shallow sound. It took all day for the Confederates, now under Lieutenant Joseph Price, to bring the USS Water Witch back to the nearby coast. They steamed into the Vernon River, where they moored their prize above the obstructions guarding Savannah.

Missouri. Reconnaissance from Sedalia to Blackwater Creek began.

Missouri. Skirmish at Diamond Grove.

Missouri. Skirmish near Neosho.

Tennessee. USS Carondelet, Lieutenant-Commander John G Mitchell, reported at Memphis that every steamer arriving from Cairo on the Mississippi had been fired upon by marauders ashore. The increasing number of Confederate hit-and-run attacks on river shipping on the western waters required the Union to allocate reserves of troops and of water transportation to be held in readiness at different points along the Mississippi. They were kept on the alert to engage any Confederate raiders attempting to interrupt the navigation of the river.

Tennessee. Confederate Major-General Nathan Bedford Forrest was preparing to cross the Tennessee River when he was recalled by Lieutenant-General Stephen Dill Lee to oppose the threat to Mississippi represented by the advance of Union Brigadier-General Samuel Davis Sturgis from Memphis. Sturgis’ explicit aim was to find and engage Forrest and to render his raiders incapable of further operations in Tennessee, so this recall represented an initial success in his advance.

Virginia. Cavalry skirmish at Haw’s Shop.

Virginia. Skirmish near Via’s House.

Virginia. USS Coeur de Lion, Acting Master William G Morris, seized the schooner Malinda in the Potomac River for violating the blockade.

Virginia. Union forces in the Shenandoah Valley under Major-General David Hunter reached Harrisonburg. Confederate Brigadier-General John Daniel Imboden concentrated his forces at Mount Crawford on the south bank of the North River, blocking the direct path to Staunton along the Valley Turnpike. Imboden established his headquarters at the Grattan House and incorporated the reinforcements arriving from southwestern Virginia into his force.

Cold Harbor, Virginia, also known as Bethesda Church. At dawn, around 4.30 am, the Union II Corps, VI Corps, and XVIII Corps, of the Union Army of the Potomac attacked all along the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia between Bethesda Church and Cold Harbor. The two Confederate Corps of Lieutenant-General Ambrose Powell Hill and Lieutenant-General Richard Heron Anderson opposed the assault.
The 60,000 Union troops advanced through a thick ground fog on diverging lines through frontal and enfilade fire, but almost all the attackers were forced to lie down and find protection before they could get within 30 or 50 yards of the well-designed Confederate works. Although the results varied at different parts of the line, the repulse of the Union advance was almost universally complete. The most effective performance of the day was on the Union left or southern flank, where the II Corps (Major-General Winfield Scott Hancock) advanced with Brigadier-General Francis Channing Barlow’s division on the left and Brigadier-General John Gibbon’s division on the right. Major-General David Bell Birney’s division was in reserve, but it was later moved to reinforce the left of V Corps. Barlow’s division, spearheaded by brigades under Brigadier-General Nelson Appleton Miles and Brigadier-General John Rutter Brooke, supported by Colonel Clinton Dugald McDougall’s brigade, was able to break through a portion of Major-General John Cabell Breckinridge’s front line and drove the defenders out of their entrenchments in hand-to-hand fighting. Several hundred prisoners and four guns were captured. Confederate artillery was brought to bear on the captured entrenchments, turning them into a death trap for the Union forces. Their position was retaken when Confederate troops under Breckinridge counterattacked.
Gibbon’s division attacked with two brigades under Brigadier-General Robert Ogden Tyler and Colonel Thomas Alfred Smyth leading, and the brigades of Colonel H Boyd McKeen and Brigadier-General Joshua Thomas Owen following behind. They pushed through skirmishers in a swampy area but came under fire from strong works on the encircling ridge beyond. The attack fragmented as they attempted to go forward to take the main line. They were thrown back from Turkey Hill by Confederate Brigadier-General Joseph Finegan’s improvised brigade. Colonel Peter A Porter and McKeen were killed and McKeen’s successor, Colonel Frank Haskell was also killed. Colonel James P McMahon of the 164^th New York Infantry planted the regimental colours on the Confederate works but he was killed. Although Smyth and McMahon briefly achieved a small lodgement, Owen deployed to the left and failed to exploit their progress, and the opportunity passed. The loss in Gibbon’s division alone was 1,097 men killed and wounded.
In the centre, VI Corps (Major-General Horatio Gouverneur Wright) attacked with the divisions of Brigadier-General David Allen Russell, Brigadier-General James Brewerton Ricketts, and Brigadier-General Thomas Hewson Neill, deployed from left to right. The three divisions advanced but were pinned down almost immediately by heavy fire. They made little effort to advance further. Some outlying Confederate works on the right were taken but none of the main works were reached despite fourteen separate assaults being attempted before 8 am. Even the aggressive Brigadier-General Emory Upton considered that further movement was impracticable. Some Confederate defenders in this part of the line reported that they were unaware that a serious assault had even been attempted against their position. Wright’s men held their position but lost 800 killed and wounded in their attack. Confederate Brigadier-General Evander McIvor Law was wounded in the head and never returned to duty.
On the right flank, the Union XVIII Corps (Major-General William Farrar Smith) attacked across difficult open ground swept by frontal and enfilade fire. Brigadier-General Charles Devens’ division was posted as flank protection on the right. Brigadier-General John Henry Martindale’s division was forced to pass along two ravines to approach the enemy, while Brigadier-General William Thomas Harbaugh Brooks advanced on the left to maintain contact with VI Corps on his left. When they emerged in front of the Confederate line, heavy rifle and artillery fire mowed them down in large numbers. Martindale captured the Confederate outposts but had to change front to reply to heavy fire coming from his right. This came partly from the area where Major-General Gouverneur Kemble Warren’s V Corps had advanced so cautiously that it allowed the Confederate gunners in Warren’s sector to concentrate on Smith instead. Martindale’s other flank then came under enfilading fire. He was ordered to wait while Brooks advanced to cover his left flank, but he mistook the sound of fire from that direction to be Brooks’ arrival and advanced again unsupported. Brigadier-General George Jerrison Stannard’s brigade led the e way with three unsuccessful assaults. Brooks’ advancing column also came under heavy fire and had to stay under cover until it ceased.
At 7 am, Union Lieutenant-General Ulysses Simpson Grant advised Meade to exploit vigorously any successful area of the assault. Meade ordered each of his three corps commanders (Hancock, Wright, and Smith) to assault again at once, without regard to the movements of their neighbouring corps. Hancock advised against the move. Wright’s men intensified their rate of fire but stayed stubbornly in place. When Smith reported that XVIII Corps could no longer advance without flank support, he was ordered nevertheless by Major-General George Gordon Meade to attack again at 8 am, but to do so independently of VI Corps. Colonel Hiram Burnham’s brigade alone remained capable of resuming the attack. Artillery was brought up to neutralise the harassing fire which the Confederates poured into the attackers. Smith had lost about 1,000 men including four regimental commanders and also Colonel J C Drake, commanding a brigade (2/3/XVIII). Smith described the attack as a wanton waste of life and refused to advance again.
The only activity on the northern end of the field was made by Union Major-General Ambrose Everett Burnside’s IX Corps, facing Lieutenant-General Jubal Anderson Early’s II Corps. The IX Corps held the right flank around Bethesda Church. The divisions of Brigadier-General Robert Brown Potter and Brigadier-General Orlando Bolivar Willcox advanced early and drove back the outposts of the line established by Early along Shady Grove Church Road on 1 June. Burnside’s powerful force overran the Confederate skirmishers, but he mistakenly thought he had pierced the first line of earthworks and halted his corps to regroup before moving on again. The Confederates continued to resist in their main line with Major-General Henry Heth’s division (III Corps), Major-General Robert Emmett Rodes’ division (II Corps), and Major-General John Brown Gordon’s division (II Corps), which were deployed from north to south. Burnside planned to resume the advance in good order in the afternoon, but no coordinated advance could be organised. Heavy skirmishing developed during the day, especially against Colonel Philip Cook’s (formerly Doles’) brigade of Heth’s division and Union brigades under Brigadier-General John Frederick Hartranft (1/3/XI) and Colonel John I Curtin (1/2/IX) captured some outposts. The XI Corps was reinforced by Brigadier-General Charles Griffin’s division (1/V) and repulsed a counterattack by Gordon. The attack planned for Burnside at 1 pm was cancelled by Meade. Losses in IX Corps amounted to about 800 men and 400 men were lost in V Corps. After making several local counterattacks, Confederate Lieutenant-General Jubal Anderson Early’s troops of II Corps retired to their original positions overnight.
By 12.30 pm, Grant was forced to concede that his army’s offensive capacity was exhausted. He advised Meade to suspend the advance and Union soldiers still pinned down before the Confederate lines began to improvise entrenchments. At 1.30 pm, Meade finally ordered all attacks to be suspended. Around 8 pm, Breckinridge and Finegan were attacked while they re-established their outposts and Major-General Robert Frederick Hoke’s division was attacked soon afterwards but the Union attacks were repelled at all points.
After the fighting subsided the lines remained within a hundred yards of each other for ten days. The battle prompted a rise in anti-war sentiment in the Northern states. Grant gained the reputation of being a callous butcher and the morale of the army wavered. Grant admitted that this assault was the one he regretted more than any other, and Meade remarked that Grant had finally understood the reality of warfare in the eastern theatre. Grant abandoned any more frontal assaults and contemplated how next to move the campaign forward. Blocked by the immovable Confederate army within ten miles of Richmond, Grant’s army occupied similar ground to that held by Major-General George Brinton McClellan almost two years earlier to the day. Grant was determined not to be thwarted in the same way that McClellan had been by Lee’s counter-offensive of May 1862.
The Union Army now numbered 108,000 men and lost at least 7,000 casualties, compared to 1,500 Confederates lost from their total force of 59,000. An alternate report suggested that about 12,000 of the 108,000 Union troops engaged became casualties, and on the Confederate side, 2,500 men out of 62,000 were lost. More recent research indicates that the morning assault may have cost as few as 3,500 to 4,000 Union men killed, wounded and missing, with estimates for the entire day of about 6,000 casualties. Similarly, the Confederates may have lost between 1,000 and 1,500 men. Regardless of the tabulations, the victory was an undoubtedly disastrous attack by the Union army. (CWSAC Decisive Battle – Confederate Victory)

Haw’s Shop, Virginia. Beyond the northern wing of the battle at Cold Harbor, Union Brigadier-General James Harrison Wilson’s cavalry division skirmished with Confederate Brigadier-General Rufus Barringer’s cavalry brigade near Haw’s Shop as it approached to cover the flank of the attack by Union Major-General Ambrose Everett Burnside’s IX Corps. After the Confederates withdrew, Wilson engaged Major-General Henry Heth’s left flank, striking Brigadier-General Birkett Davenport Fry’s brigade near Via’s House. Wilson took and held some rifle pits for an hour before retiring to Haw’s Shop. They did not establish contact with Burnside’s right flank.

UNION ORDER OF BATTLE: COLD HARBOR, VA

Union General-in-Chief: Lieutenant-General Ulysses Simpson Grant
Department of the Potomac: Major-General George Gordon Meade
Army of the Potomac: Major-General George Gordon Meade
II Corps (Potomac): Major-General Winfield Scott Hancock
1st Division, II Corps (Potomac): Brigadier-General Francis Channing Barlow
1st Brigade, 1st Division, II Corps (Potomac): Colonel Nelson Appleton Miles
2nd Brigade, 1st Division, II Corps (Potomac): Colonel R Byrnes
3rd Brigade, 1st Division, II Corps (Potomac): Colonel Clinton Dugald MacDougall
4th Brigade, 1st Division, II Corps (Potomac): Colonel John Rutter Brooke
2nd Division, II Corps (Potomac): Brigadier-General John Gibbon
1st Brigade, 2nd Division, II Corps (Potomac): Colonel H B McKeen
2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, II Corps (Potomac): Brigadier-General Joshua Thomas Owen
3rd Brigade, 2nd Division, II Corps (Potomac): Colonel Thomas Alfred Smyth
4th Brigade, 2nd Division, II Corps (Potomac): Brigadier-General Robert Ogden Tyler
3rd Division, II Corps (Potomac): Brigadier-General David Bell Birney
1st Brigade, 3rd Division, II Corps (Potomac): Colonel Thomas Wilberforce Egan
2nd Brigade, 3rd Division, II Corps (Potomac): Colonel T R Tannatt
3rd Brigade, 3rd Division, II Corps (Potomac): Brigadier-General Gershom Mott
4th Brigade, 3rd Division, II Corps (Potomac): Colonel William R Brewster
V Corps (Potomac): Major-General Gouverneur Kemble Warren
1st Division, V Corps (Potomac): Brigadier-General Charles Griffin
2nd Brigade, 1st Division, V Corps (Potomac): Colonel Jacob Bowman Sweitzer
3rd Brigade, 1st Division, V Corps (Potomac): Brigadier-General Joseph Jackson Bartlett
2nd Division, V Corps (Potomac): Brigadier-General Henry Hayes Lockwood
1st Brigade, 2nd Division, V Corps (Potomac): Brigadier-General Romeyn Beck Ayres
2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, V Corps (Potomac): Colonel N T Dushane
3rd Brigade, 2nd Division, V Corps (Potomac): Colonel John Howard Kitching
3rd Division, V Corps (Potomac): Brigadier-General Samuel Wylie Crawford
1st Brigade, 3rd Division, V Corps (Potomac): Colonel Peter Lyle
2nd Brigade, 3rd Division, V Corps (Potomac): Colonel J K Bates
3rd Brigade, 3rd Division, V Corps (Potomac): Major William Ross Hartshorne
4th Division, V Corps (Potomac): Brigadier-General Lysander Cutler
1st Brigade, 4th Division, V Corps (Potomac): Colonel W W Robinson
2nd Brigade, 4th Division, V Corps (Potomac): Colonel John William Hofmann
3^rd Brigade, 4^th Division, V Corps (Potomac): Colonel Edward Stuyvesant Bragg (1^st
Brigade, 1^st Division from 6 June)
VI Corps (Potomac): Major-General Horatio Gouverneur Wright
1st Division, VI Corps (Potomac): Brigadier-General David Allen Russell
1st Brigade, 1st Division, VI Corps (Potomac): Colonel William Henry Penrose
2nd Brigade, 1st Division, VI Corps (Potomac): Colonel Emory Upton
3rd Brigade, 1st Division, VI Corps (Potomac): Brigadier-General Henry Lawrence Eustis
4th Brigade, 1st Division, VI Corps (Potomac): Colonel Nelson Cross
2nd Division, VI Corps (Potomac): Brigadier-General Thomas Hewson Neill
1st Brigade, 2nd Division, VI Corps (Potomac): Brigadier-General Frank Wheaton
2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, VI Corps (Potomac): Colonel Lewis Addison Grant
3rd Brigade, 2nd Division, VI Corps (Potomac): Colonel Daniel Davidson Bidwell
4th Brigade, 2nd Division, VI Corps (Potomac): Colonel Oliver Edwards
3rd Division, VI Corps (Potomac): Brigadier-General James Brewerton Ricketts
1st Brigade, 3rd Division, VI Corps (Potomac): Colonel William Snyder Truex
2nd Brigade, 3rd Division, VI Corps (Potomac): Colonel Benjamin Franklin Smith
IX Corps (Potomac): Major-General Ambrose Everett Burnside
1st Division, IX Corps (Potomac): Major-General Thomas Leonidas Crittenden
1st Brigade, 1st Division, IX Corps (Potomac): Brigadier-General James Hewitt Ledlie
2nd Brigade, 1st Division, IX Corps (Potomac): Colonel J S Sudsburg
3rd Brigade, 1st Division, IX Corps (Potomac): Colonel Elisha Gaylord Marshall
2nd Division, IX Corps (Potomac): Brigadier-General Robert Brown Potter
1st Brigade, 2nd Division, IX Corps (Potomac): Colonel John Irwin Curtin
2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, IX Corps (Potomac): Colonel Simon Goodell Griffin
3rd Division, IX Corps (Potomac): Brigadier-General Orlando Bolivar Willcox
1st Brigade, 3rd Division, IX Corps (Potomac): Colonel John Frederick Hartranft
2nd Brigade, 3rd Division, IX Corps (Potomac): Colonel Benjamin C Christ
Cavalry Corps (Potomac): Major-General Philip Henry Sheridan
1^st Cavalry Division, Cavalry Corps (Potomac): Brigadier-General Alfred Thomas Archimedes Torbert
1st Brigade, 1^st Cavalry Division, Cavalry Corps (Potomac): Brigadier-General George Armstrong Custer
2nd Brigade, 1^st Cavalry Division, Cavalry Corps (Potomac): Colonel Thomas Casimer Devin
Reserve Brigade, 1^st Cavalry Division, Cavalry Corps (Potomac): Brigadier-General Wesley Merritt
2^nd Cavalry Division, Cavalry Corps (Potomac): Brigadier-General David McMurtrie Gregg
1st Brigade, 2^nd Cavalry Division, Cavalry Corps (Potomac): Brigadier-General Henry Eugene Davies
2nd Brigade, 2^nd Cavalry Division, Cavalry Corps (Potomac): Colonel John Irvin Gregg
3^rd Cavalry Division, Cavalry Corps (Potomac): Brigadier-General James Harrison Wilson
1st Brigade, 3^rd Cavalry Division, Cavalry Corps (Potomac): Colonel John Baillie McIntosh
2nd Brigade, Cavalry Division, Cavalry Corps (Potomac): Colonel George Henry Chapman
XVIII Corps (James): Major-General William Farrar Smith attached to Army of the Potomac
1st Division, XVIII Corps (James): Brigadier-General William Thomas Harbaugh Brooks
1st Brigade, 1st Division, XVIII Corps (James): Brigadier-General Gilman Marston
2nd Brigade, 1st Division, XVIII Corps (James): Brigadier-General Hiram Burnham
3rd Brigade, 1st Division, XVIII Corps (James): Colonel Guy Vernor Henry
2nd Division, XVIII Corps (James): Brigadier-General John Henry Martindale
1st Brigade, 2nd Division, XVIII Corps (James): Brigadier-General George Jerrison
Stannard
2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, XVIII Corps (James): Colonel Griffin Alexander Stedman
3rd Division, XVIII Corps (James): Brigadier-General Charles Devens (temporary organization formed 30 May)
1st Brigade, 3rd Division, XVIII Corps (James): Colonel William Brainerd Barton
2nd Brigade, 3rd Division, XVIII Corps (James): Colonel J C Drake
3rd Brigade, 3rd Division, XVIII Corps (James): Brigadier-General Adelbert Ames

West Virginia. Union Brigadier-General William Woods Averell’s cavalry set out from Bunger’s Mills in Greenbrier County en route to Lynchburg.

Union Organisation

Commander in Chief: President Abraham Lincoln
Vice-President: Hannibal Hamlin
Secretary of War: Edwin McMasters Stanton
Secretary of the Navy: Gideon Welles

North Atlantic Blockading Squadron: Samuel Phillips Lee
South Atlantic Blockading Squadron: John Adolphus Bernard Dahlgren
West Gulf Blockading Squadron: David Glasgow Farragut
East Gulf Blockading Squadron: Theodorus Bailey
Pacific Squadron: John Berrien Montgomery
Mississippi River Squadron: David Dixon Porter
Potomac Flotilla: Andrew Allen Harwood

General–in-Chief: Ulysses Simpson Grant

Military Division of the Mississippi: William Tecumseh Sherman

Department of the Cumberland: George Henry Thomas
- District of Tennessee: Lovell Harrison Rousseau
- District of Western Kentucky: Eleazer Arthur Paine
- District of Northern Alabama: Robert Seaman Granger
- Army of the Cumberland: George Henry Thomas
  - IV Corps Cumberland: Oliver Otis Howard
  - XIV Corps Cumberland: John McAuley Palmer
  - XX Corps Cumberland: Joseph Hooker
  - Cavalry Corps Cumberland: Washington Lafayette Elliott
Department of the Ohio: John McAllister Schofield
- District of East Tennessee: Jacob Ammen
- District of Kentucky: Stephen Gano Burbridge
- Army of the Ohio: John McAllister Schofield
  - XXIII Corps Ohio: John McAllister Schofield
Department of the Tennessee: James Birdseye McPherson
- District of West Tennessee: Benjamin Henry Grierson
  - Sub-District of Memphis: Ralph Pomeroy Buckland
- District of Vicksburg: Henry Warner Slocum
- Army of the Tennessee: James Birdseye McPherson
  - XV Corps Tennessee: John Alexander Logan
  - XVI Corps Tennessee: vacant
    - Right Wing XVI Corps Tennessee: Andrew Jackson Smith
    - Left Wing XVI Corps Tennessee: Grenville Mellen Dodge
  - XVII Corps Tennessee: Francis Preston Blair

Military Division of West Mississippi: Edward Richard Sprigg Canby

Department of Arkansas: Frederick Steele
- District of Eastern Arkansas: Napoleon Bonaparte Buford
- District of Little Rock: Eugene Asa Carr
- District of the Frontier: John Milton Thayer
- Army of Arkansas: Frederick Steele
  - VII Corps Arkansas: Frederick Steele
Department of the Gulf: Nathaniel Prentiss Banks
- District of Baton Rouge: Fitz-Henry Warren
- District of Port Hudson: Daniel Ullmann
- District of La Fourche: John McNeil
- District of Morganza: William Hemsley Emory
- District of Carrollton: Nelson B Bartram
- District of West Florida: Alexander Asboth
- District of Key West and Tortugas: Daniel Phineas Woodbury
- Defences of New Orleans: Joseph Jones Reynolds
- Army of the Gulf: Nathaniel Prentiss Banks
  - XIII Corps Gulf: William Plummer Benton
  - XIX Corps Gulf: William Hemsley Emory
Department of the Missouri: William Starke Rosecrans
- District of St Louis: vacant
- District of Southwest Missouri: John Benjamin Sanborn
- District of North Missouri: Clinton Bowen Fisk
- District of Central Missouri: Egbert Benson Brown
- District of Rolla: Odon Guitar

Department of the East: John Adams Dix

Department of Kansas: George Sykes

District of Nebraska Territory: Robert Byington Mitchell
District of North Kansas: Thomas Alfred Davies
District of South Kansas: Thomas Jefferson McKean
District of the Border: William Russell Judson
District of Colorado Territory: John Milton Chivington

Middle Department: Lewis Wallace

District of Delaware: John Reese Kenly
District of the Eastern Shore of Maryland: Henry Hayes Lockwood
VIII Corps Middle: Lewis Wallace

Department of New Mexico: James Henry Carleton

District of Arizona: George Washington Bowie

Northern Department: Samuel Peter Heintzelman

District of Indiana: Henry Beebe Carrington

Department of the Northwest: John Pope

District of Minnesota: Henry Hastings Sibley
District of Wisconsin: Thomas Church Haskell Smith
District of Iowa: Alfred Sully

Department of the Pacific: Irvin McDowell

District of the Humboldt: Henry M Black
District of Oregon: Benjamin Alvord
District of Southern California: James Freeman Curtis
District of Utah: Patrick Edward Connor

Department of the Potomac: George Gordon Meade

Army of the Potomac: George Gordon Meade
- II Corps Potomac: Winfield Scott Hancock
- V Corps Potomac: Gouverneur Kemble Warren
- VI Corps Potomac: Horatio Gouverneur Wright
- IX Corps Potomac: Ambrose Everett Burnside
- Cavalry Corps Potomac: Philip Henry Sheridan

Department of the South: John Gray Foster

Northern District (South): Alexander Schimmelfennig
District of Beaufort (SC): Rufus Saxton
District of Hilton Head: John Porter Hatch
District of Florida: William Birney

Department of the Susquehanna: Darius Nash Couch

Lehigh District: Franz Sigel

Department of Virginia and North Carolina: Benjamin Franklin Butler

District of St Mary’s: Alonzo Granville Draper
District of Eastern Virginia: George Foster Shepley
District of Currituck: Samuel Henry Roberts
District of North Carolina: Innis Newton Palmer
- Sub-District of Beaufort NC: James Jourdan
- Sub-District of New Bern: Edward Harland
Army of the James: Benjamin Franklin Butler
- X Corps James: Quincy Adams Gillmore
- XVIII Corps James: William Farrar Smith

Department of Washington: Christopher Columbus Augur

District of Alexandria: John Potts Slough
District of Washington: Moses N Wisewell
XXII Corps Washington: Christopher Columbus Augur

Department of Western Virginia: David Hunter

District of Harper’s Ferry: Franz Sigel
Army of the Kanawha: George Crook
Army of the Shenandoah: David Hunter

Confederate Organisation

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

Military Adviser to the President: Braxton Bragg

Department of Alabama and East Mississippi: Stephen Dill Lee

District of Mississippi and East Louisiana: John S Scott
Gulf District: Dabney Herndon Maury
District of Northern Alabama: Jones Mitchell Withers
District of West Tennessee: Nathan Bedford Forrest

Department of North Carolina and Southern Virginia: Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard

First District of North Carolina and Southern Virginia: Henry Alexander Wise
Second District of North Carolina and Southern Virginia: John Henry Winder
Third District of North Carolina and Southern Virginia: William Henry Chase Whiting

Department of Northern Virginia: Robert Edward Lee

Army of Northern Virginia: Robert Edward Lee
- I Corps Northern Virginia: Richard Heron Anderson temporary
- II Corps Northern Virginia: Jubal Anderson Early temporary
- III Corps Northern Virginia: Ambrose Powell Hill
- Cavalry Northern Virginia: Wade Hampton
Valley District: Jubal Anderson Early

Department of Richmond: Robert Ransom

Department of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida: Samuel Jones

District of Georgia: Hugh Weedon Mercer interim Henry Rootes Jackson awaited
District of South Carolina: Roswell Sabine Ripley
- 1^st Sub-District of South Carolina: Nathan George Evans
- 2^nd Sub-District of South Carolina: Beverley Holcombe Robertson
- 3^rd Sub-District of South Carolina: Thomas Jordan
- 4^th Sub-District of South Carolina: James Heyward Trapier
- 6^th Sub-District of South Carolina: Henry Alexander Wise
- 7^th Sub-District of South Carolina: William Booth Taliaferro
District of Florida: James Patton Anderson
Defences of Savannah: Lafayette McLaws

Department of Tennessee: Joseph Eggleston Johnston

District of Western North Carolina: James Green Martin
Army of Tennessee: Joseph Eggleston Johnston
- I Corps Tennessee: William Joseph Hardee
- II Corps Tennessee: John Bell Hood
- III Corps Tennessee: Leonidas Polk
- Cavalry Corps Tennessee: Joseph Wheeler

Trans-Allegheny Department: George Bibb Crittenden temporary

Trans-Mississippi Department: Edmund Kirby Smith

District of Texas, New Mexico and Arizona: John Bankhead Magruder
- Western Sub-District of Texas, New Mexico and Arizona: Hamilton Prioleau Bee
  - Sub-District of the Rio Grande: Hamilton Prioleau Bee
- Eastern Sub-District of Texas, New Mexico and Arizona: William Steele
- Sub-District of Houston: Xavier Blanchard Debray
- Northern Sub-District Texas, New Mexico and Arizona: Henry Eustace McCullough
District of Arkansas: Sterling Price
District of West Louisiana: Richard Taylor
District of Indian Territory: Samuel Bell Maxey
Trans-Mississippi Army: Edmund Kirby Smith

Reserve Forces of Alabama: Jones Mitchell Withers

Reserve Forces of Florida: John King Jackson

Reserve Forces of Georgia: Thomas Howell Cobb

Reserve Forces of North Carolina: Theophilus Hunter Holmes

Reserve Forces of South Carolina: James Chesnut

Reserve Forces of Virginia: James Lawson Kemper

Union Generals

Note: Italics, awaiting confirmation of the commission

Lieutenant-General USA

Ulysses Simpson Grant

Major-General USA

George Brinton McClellan
John Charles Frémont
Henry Wager Halleck

Major-General USV

Asterisk indicates concurrently Brigadier-General USA

John Adams Dix
Nathaniel Prentiss Banks
Benjamin Franklin Butler
David Hunter
Ethan Allen Hitchcock
Irvin McDowell*
Ambrose Everett Burnside
William Starke Rosecrans*
John Pope*
Samuel Ryan Curtis
Franz Sigel
John Alexander McClernand
Lewis Wallace
George Henry Thomas*
George Cadwalader
William Tecumseh Sherman*
Edward Otho Cresap Ord
Samuel Peter Heintzelman
Joseph Hooker*
Silas Casey
William Buel Franklin
Darius Nash Couch
Henry Warner Slocum
John James Peck
Alexander McDowell McCook
Thomas Leonidas Crittenden
John Gray Foster
John Grubb Parke
Christopher Columbus Augur
Stephen Augustus Hurlbut
Gordon Granger
Lovell Harrison Rousseau
James Birdseye McPherson*
George Stoneman
George Gordon Meade*
Oliver Otis Howard
Daniel Edgar Sickles
Robert Huston Milroy
Daniel Butterfield
Winfield Scott Hancock
George Sykes
David Sloane Stanley
James Scott Negley
John McAllister Schofield
John McAuley Palmer
Frederick Steele
Abner Doubleday
Napoleon Jackson Tecumseh Dana
John Alexander Logan
James Gilpatrick Blunt
George Lucas Hartsuff
Cadwallader Colden Washburn
Francis Jay Herron
Francis Preston Blair
Joseph Jones Reynolds
Philip Henry Sheridan
Julius Stahel
Carl Schurz
Gouverneur Kemble Warren
David Bell Birney
Alfred Pleasonton
Andrew Atkinson Humphreys
Quincy Adams Gillmore
William Farrar Smith
James Blair Steedman
Edward Richard Sprigg Canby
Horatio Gouverneur Wright
Andrew Jackson Smith

Brigadier-General USA

Brackets indicates concurrently Major-General USV

(Irvin McDowell)
(William Starke Rosecrans)
Philip St George Cooke
(John Pope)
(Joseph Hooker)
(George Gordon Meade)
(William Tecumseh Sherman)
(James Birdseye McPherson)
(George Henry Thomas)

Brigadier-General USV

Thomas West Sherman
Benjamin Franklin Kelley
Jacob Dolson Cox
Alpheus Starkey Williams
James Brewerton Ricketts
Orlando Bolivar Willcox
Henry Hayes Lockwood
George Webb Morell
John Henry Martindale
Samuel Davis Sturgis
Henry Washington Benham
William Farquhar Barry
John Joseph Abercrombie
Lawrence Pike Graham
Eleazar Arthur Paine
William Thomas Ward
John Gross Barnard
Innis Newton Palmer
Seth Williams
John Newton
George Wright
William Thomas Harbaugh Brooks
John Milton Brannan
John Porter Hatch
Albin Francisco Schoepf
Thomas John Wood
Richard W Johnson
Adolph Wilhelm August Friedrich Von Steinwehr
George Washington Cullum
Thomas Jefferson McKean
Zealous Bates Tower
Jefferson Columbus Davis
James Henry Lane
William Scott Ketchum
John Wynn Davidson
James Gallant Spears
Eugene Asa Carr
Thomas Alfred Davies
William Hemsley Emory
Marsena Rudolph Patrick
Orris Sanford Ferry
Daniel Phineas Woodbury
Henry Moses Judah
John Cook
John McArthur
Jacob Gartner Lauman
Horatio Phillips Van Cleve
Speed Smith Fry
Alexander Asboth
James Craig
Mahlon Dickerson Manson
Grenville Mellen Dodge
Robert Byington Mitchell
Cuvier Grover
Rufus Saxton
Benjamin Alvord
Napoleon Bonaparte Buford
William Sooy Smith
Nathan Kimball
Charles Devens
Samuel Wylie Crawford
Henry Walton Wessells
Milo Smith Hascall
John White Geary
Alfred Howe Terry
James Henry Carleton
Absalom Baird
John Cleveland Robinson
Truman Seymour
Henry Prince
Maximilian Weber
Jeremiah Cutler Sullivan
Alvin Peterson Hovey
James Clifford Veatch
William Plummer Benton
John Curtis Caldwell
Neal Dow
George Sears Greene
Samuel Powhatan Carter
John Gibbon
Erastus Barnard Tyler
Charles Griffin
George Henry Gordon
James Madison Tuttle
Julius White
Peter Joseph Osterhaus
Stephen Gano Burbridge
Washington Lafayette Elliott
Albion Parris Howe
Benjamin Stone Roberts
Jacob Ammen
Fitz-Henry Warren
Morgan Lewis Smith
Charles Cruft
Frederick Salomon
John Basil Turchin
Henry Shaw Briggs
James Dada Morgan
Johann August Ernst Willich
Henry Dwight Terry
George Foster Shepley
John Reese Kenly
John Potts Slough
Godfrey Weitzel
George Crook
Gershom Mott
Henry Jackson Hunt
Francis Channing Barlow
Mason Brayman
Nathaniel James Jackson
George Washington Getty
Alfred Sully
William Woods Averell
Francis Barretto Spinola
John Henry Hobart Ward
Solomon Meredith
James Bowen
Eliakim Parker Scammon
Robert Seaman Granger
Joseph Rodman West
Alfred Washington Ellet
George Leonard Andrews
Clinton Bowen Fisk
William Hays
Israel Vogdes
David Allen Russell
Lewis Cass Hunt
Frank Wheaton
John Sanford Mason
David McMurtrie Gregg
Robert Ogden Tyler
Alfred Thomas Archimedes Torbert
Gilman Marston
William Dwight
Sullivan Amory Meredith
Nathaniel Collins McLean
William Vandever
Alexander Schimmelfennig
Charles Kinnaird Graham
John Eugene Smith
Joseph Tarr Copeland
Charles Adam Heckman
Edward Elmer Potter
Henry Beebee Carrington
John Haskell King
Adam Jacoby Slemmer
Thomas Hewson Neill
Thomas Gamble Pitcher
Thomas William Sweeny
William Passmore Carlin
Romeyn Beck Ayres
William Babcock Hazen
Joseph Anthony Mower
Richard Arnold
Edward Winslow Hinks
Michael Kelly Lawler
George Day Wagner
Lysander Cutler
Joseph Farmer Knipe
James Barnes
Edward Harland
Samuel Beatty
Isaac Jones Wistar
Franklin Stillman Nickerson
Edward Henry Hobson
Ralph Pomeroy Buckland
Joseph Dana Webster
William Harrow
William Hopkins Morris
Thomas Howard Ruger
Thomas Edward Greenfield Ransom
Elias Smith Dennis
Thomas Church Haskell Smith
Mortimer Dormer Leggett
Davis Tillson
Hector Tyndale
Albert Lindley Lee
Marcellus Monroe Crocker
Egbert Benson Brown
John McNeil
George Francis McGinnis
Hugh Boyle Ewing
James Winning McMillan
Daniel Ullmann
George Jerrison Stannard
Henry Baxter
John Milton Thayer
Charles Thomas Campbell
Halbert Eleazer Paine
Robert Brown Potter
Thomas Ewing
Joseph Andrew Jackson Lightburn
Henry Hastings Sibley
Joseph Bradford Carr
Joseph Jackson Bartlett
Joshua Thomas Owen
Patrick Edward Connor
John Parker Hawkins
Gabriel René Paul
Edward Augustus Wild
Edward Ferrero
Adelbert Ames
William Birney
Daniel Henry Rucker
Robert Allen
Rufus Ingalls
Gustavus Adolphus De Russy
Alexander Shaler
Benjamin Henry Grierson
Robert Sanford Foster
Hugh Judson Kilpatrick
Alexander Stewart Webb
Alfred Napoleon Alexander Duffié
Walter Chiles Whitaker
Wesley Merritt
George Armstrong Custer
William Denison Whipple
John Converse Starkweather
Kenner Garrard
Charles Robert Woods
John Benjamin Sanborn
Giles Alexander Smith
Samuel Allen Rice
Jasper Adalmorn Maltby
Thomas Kilby Smith
Walter Quintin Gresham
Manning Ferguson Force
Robert Alexander Cameron
John Murray Corse
John Aaron Rawlins
Alvan Cullem Gillem
John Wesley Turner
Henry Lawrence Eustis
Henry Eugene Davies
Andrew Jackson Hamilton
Henry Warner Birge
Charles Garrison Harker
James Hewitt Ledlie
James Harrison Wilson
Adin Ballou Underwood
Augustus Louis Chetlain
Thomas Francis Meagher
William Anderson Pile
John Wallace Fuller
John Franklin Miller
Philippe Régis Dénis de Keredern De Trobriand
Cyrus Bussey
Christopher Columbus Andrews
Hiram Burnham
Edward Moody McCook
Lewis Addison Grant
Edward Hatch
August Valentine Kautz
Francis Fessenden
John Rutter Brooke
John Frederick Hartranft
Samuel Sprigg Carroll
Simon Goodell Griffin
Emory Upton
Nelson Appleton Miles
Joseph Hayes

Brigadier-General USA (Staff)

Montgomery Cunningham Meigs (Quartermaster-General)
Lorenzo Thomas
William Alexander Hammond (Surgeon-General)
Joseph Pannell Taylor (Commissary-General of Subsistence
George Douglas Ramsay (Ordnance)
James Barnet Fry (Provost Marshal)
Richard Delafield (Engineers)

Confederate Generals

Note: Italics, awaiting confirmation of the commission

General ACSA/PACS

Samuel Cooper
Robert Edward Lee
Joseph Eggleston Johnston
Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard
Braxton Bragg
Edmund Kirby Smith

Lieutenant-General PACS

James Longstreet
Leonidas Polk
Theophilus Hunter Holmes
William Joseph Hardee
Richard Stoddert Ewell
Ambrose Powell Hill
John Bell Hood
Richard Taylor
Jubal Anderson Early
Richard Heron Anderson

Major-General PACS

Benjamin Huger
John Bankhead Magruder
Mansfield Lovell
William Wing Loring
Sterling Price
Benjamin Franklin Cheatham
Samuel Jones
John Porter McCown
Daniel Harvey Hill
Thomas Carmichael Hindman
John Cabell Breckinridge
Lafayette McLaws
Simon Bolivar Buckner
Samuel Gibbs French
George Edward Pickett
Carter Littlepage Stevenson
John Horace Forney
Dabney Herndon Maury
Martin Luther Smith
John George Walker
Arnold Elzey
Patrick Ronayne Cleburne
Franklin Gardner
Isaac Ridgeway Trimble
Joseph Wheeler
Edward Johnson
William Henry Chase Whiting
Robert Emmett Rodes
William Henry Talbot Walker
Henry Heth
Robert Ransom
Alexander Peter Stewart
Jones Mitchell Withers
Stephen Dill Lee
Cadmus Marcellus Wilcox
Wade Hampton
Fitzhugh Lee
Howell Cobb
John Austin Wharton
William Thompson Martin
Nathan Bedford Forrest
Charles William Field
James Patton Anderson
William Brimage Bate
Camille Armand Jules Marie de Polignac
Robert Frederick Hoke
William Henry Fitzhugh Lee
James Fleming Fagan
John Brown Gordon
Joseph Brevard Kershaw
Bushrod Rust Johnson
Stephen Dodson Ramseur

Brigadier-General PACS

Alexander Robert Lawton
Henry Alexander Wise
Henry Hopkins Sibley
John Henry Winder
Gideon Johnson Pillow
Daniel Ruggles
Roswell Sabine Ripley
Paul Octave Hébert
Albert Gallatin Blanchard
Gabriel James Rains
Thomas Fenwick Drayton
Nathan George Evans
James Heyward Trapier
Hugh Weedon Mercer
William Montgomery Gardner
William Mahone
Raleigh Edward Colston
John King Jackson
George Wythe Randolph
James Ronald Chalmers
Daniel Leadbetter
William Whann Mackall
Winfield Scott Featherston
Thomas James Churchill
William Booth Taliaferro
Albert Rust
Samuel Bell Maxey
Hamilton Prioleau Bee
James Morrison Hawes
George Hume Steuart
James Edwin Slaughter
Seth Maxwell Barton
Henry Eustace McCullough
John Selden Roane
States Rights Gist
William Nelson Pendleton
Joseph Finegan
William Nelson Rector Beall
Thomas Jordan
William Preston
John Echols
George Earl Maney
John Stuart Williams
James Green Martin
Thomas Lanier Clingman
Daniel Weisiger Adams
Louis Hébert
Ambrose Ransom Wright
James Lawson Kemper
James Jay Archer
Beverley Holcombe Robertson
St John Richardson Liddell
Johnson Hagood
Harry Thompson Hays
Matthew Duncan Ector
Edward Aylesworth Perry
John Gregg
John Calvin Brown
Alfred Holt Colquitt
Abraham Buford
William Steele
Francis Asbury Shoup
Joseph Robert Davis
William Edmondson Jones
John Crawford Vaughn
Evander McIvor Law
Elkanah Brackin Greer
Francis Redding Tillou Nicholls
Alfred Cumming
William Stephen Walker
Montgomery Dent Corse
George Thomas Anderson
Alfred Iverson
James Henry Lane
Edward Lloyd Thomas
John Rogers Cooke
Jerome Bonaparte Robertson
Evander McNair
Archibald Gracie
William Robertson Boggs
James Camp Tappan
Dandridge McRae
Mosby Monroe Parsons
John Pegram
John Sappington Marmaduke
John Hunt Morgan
Marcus Joseph Wright
Zachariah Cantey Deas
Lucius Eugene Polk
Edward Cary Walthall
John Adams
William Hicks Jackson
James Cantey
Henry Lewis Benning
William Tatum Wofford
Samuel McGowan
Marcellus Augustus Stovall
George Blake Cosby
Francis Crawford Armstrong
William Lewis Cabell
John Daniel Imboden
Alfred Eugene Jackson
Robert Brank Vance
Henry Delamar Clayton
Arthur Middleton Manigault
Douglas Hancock Cooper
John Wilkins Whitfield
James Alexander Walker
Matthew Whitaker Ransom
Alfred Moore Scales
George Washington Custis Lee
Henry Harrison Walker
Gabriel Colvin Wharton
Francis Marion Cockrell
James Patrick Major
Samuel Wragg Ferguson
Lunsford Lindsay Lomax
Laurence Simmons Baker
Otho French Strahl
Philip Dale Roddey
Eppa Hunton
Thomas Pleasant Dockery
Benjamin Grubb Humphreys
Henry Brevard Davidson
Cullen Andrews Battle
William Andrew Quarles
William Whedbee Kirkland
Goode Bryan
Matthew Calbraith Butler
Williams Carter Wickham
Robert Daniel Johnston
Alexander Welch Reynolds
Thomas Neville Waul
Edmund Winston Pettus
Armistead Lindsay Long
Henry Rootes Jackson
William Wirt Adams
Thomas Lafayette Rosser
Pierce Manning Butler Young
James Argyle Smith
Joseph Horace Lewis
Mark Perrin Lowrey
Edward Higgins
John Tyler Morgan
John Herbert Kelly
William Young Conn Humes
Jesse Johnson Finley
James Holt Clanton
Alfred Jefferson Vaughan
Joseph Orville Shelby
John Randolph Chambliss
Lawrence Sullivan Ross
Daniel Chevilette Govan
Randall Lee Gibson
Clement Hoffman Stevens
Nathaniel Harrison Harris
Allen Thomas
Alexander Travis Hawthorn
Robert Charles Tyler
Edward Porter Alexander
William Wirt Allen
Hiram Bronson Granbury
Claudius Wistar Sears
William Feimster Tucker
Richard Lucian Page
Alpheus Baker
Daniel Harris Reynolds
James Chesnut
Stand Watie
Samuel Jameson Gholson
John Bratton
Thomas Moore Scott
John McCausland
Clement Anselm Evans
William Terry
Bryan Grimes
Martin Witherspoon Gary
Birkett Davenport Fry
Stephen Elliott
William Ruffin Cox
Thomas Fentress Toon
William Gaston Lewis
Zebulon York
Robert Doak Lilley
John Caldwell Calhoun Sanders
William Richard Terry
James Conner
Rufus Clay Barringer
Richard Waterhouse