1864 May 11th

May 11 1864 Wednesday

Battle of Yellow Tavern, VA (CWSAC Formative Battle Union Victory)
Ground Squirrel Bridge, VA
Ashland, VA
Front Royal, VA

Red River Campaign
Atlanta Campaign – Dalton
James River Campaign
Virginia Overland Campaign – Spotsylvania
Sheridan’s Richmond Raid
Crook’s West Virginia Raid
Averell’s Second West Virginia Raid

Go to May 12 1864

Georgia. Union demonstration at Resaca.

Georgia. Union demonstration at Dalton.

Georgia. Skirmish at Sugar Valley.

Georgia. Union Major-General William Tecumseh Sherman completed the withdrawal of the bulk of his forces from in front of Rocky Face Ridge and strengthened the flanking manoeuvre made by Major-General James Birdseye McPherson’s Army of the Tennessee through Snake Creek Gap. He shifted most of the Army of the Cumberland and the Army of the Ohio to reinforce McPherson’s advance. Diversions and demonstrations continued along Rocky Face Ridge to mask the movement. The Army of the Tennessee had already held Snake Creek Gap for two days, hovering on the flank of the Confederate positions at Resaca, but not attacking the town or the Confederate lines of communication.

Georgia. Confederate Joseph Eggleston Johnston sent Major-General Joseph Wheeler’s cavalry to scout around the northern end of Rocky Face Ridge to discover whether a flanking movement was being prepared from that direction and to discover the location of the left flank of the Union army. To make his own left flank more secure he sent a division from Lieutenant-General William Joseph Hardee’s Corps south of Dug Gap, where a road led into his rear into Sugar Valley. Late in the day, Wheeler sent reports that the Union movement was actually southwards and towards their right, in the direction of Dug Gap, or even as far as Snake Creek Gap. The apparent diversion at Snake Creek Gap was in fact the advance guard of a larger advance. Johnston had previously thought the reverse, that the Snake Creek Gap force was the diversion and the main effort was against Rocky Face Ridge. Johnston now concluded that he could no longer hold the position at Rocky Face Ridge and needed to locate his next line of defence somewhere to the south at Resaca.
Reassured that Confederate Lieutenant-General Leonidas Polk was approaching with large reinforcements from Alabama, Johnston ordered Polk to concentrate at Resaca. Polk was to take command of that sector, protecting the town and the crossings of the Oostenaula River in the rear of the Army of Tennessee. Late in the evening, Polk arrived at Johnston’s headquarters in Dalton with Lieutenant-General John Bell Hood. The pair had ridden together from Resaca to discuss the campaign with Johnston. Polk advised that his first division was already strengthening the defences at Resaca, his second division was on the way from Rome by rail to join it. and his third and fourth divisions were expected at Rome in the morning. Johnston expressed his appreciation that Polk had not just brought one division of reinforcements but had fortuitously brought his entire Corps of four divisions. Polk then returned to Resaca during the night to complete its defences.

Louisiana. As the Red River slowly continued to rise behind the two wing dams being built near Alexandria, the Union ironclads USS Mound City, Acting Lieutenant Amos R Langthorne, USS Carondelet, Lieutenant-Commander John G Mitchell, and USS Pittsburg, Acting Lieutenant William R Hoel, were finally hauled across the upper falls above the obstructions by throngs of straining soldiers. The gunboats, with all their hatches battened down, successfully lurched through the gap between the dams to safety. USS Ozark, USS Louisville, and USS Chillicothe, which had crossed the upper falls, prepared to follow the next day.

Louisiana. USS New London, Acting Master Lyman Wells, unaware that the Confederates had captured USS Granite City and USS Wave on 6 May, had already lost one boat crew which did not return from USS Granite City on 10 May. During the morning, Wells sent another boat toward USS Granite City, under a flag of truce and commanded by Acting Ensign Henry Jackson. Seeing a Confederate flag flying, Jackson tried to shoot it down and was killed by a Confederate sharpshooter.

Maryland. Union expedition from Point Lookout to the Rappahannock River, Virginia, began. The transport steamer Star and the gunboat USS Yankee searched for concealed Confederate torpedoes.

Mississippi. Confederate General Joseph Eggleston Johnston sent a request to Richmond that Major-General Nathan Bedford Forrest should be moved from the defence of northern Mississippi and into middle Tennessee, where he could raid and disrupt the Union lines of communications leading through Nashville. Meanwhile, Forrest reorganised his command for future operations.

ORDER OF BATTLE: CONFEDERATE DEPARTMENT OF ALABAMA AND EAST MISSISSIPPI

Confederate Department of Alabama and East Mississippi: Major-General Stephen Dill Lee
Gulf District: Major-General Dabney Herndon Maury
District of Mississippi and East Louisiana: Colonel John S Scott
District of Northern Alabama: Brigadier-General Jones Mitchell Withers
District of West Tennessee: Major-General Nathan Bedford Forrest
Chalmers’ Cavalry Division (West Tennessee): Brigadier-General James Ronald Chalmers
1st Brigade, Chalmers’ Cavalry Division (West Tennessee): Colonel J J Neely
2nd Brigade, Chalmers’ Cavalry Division (West Tennessee): Colonel R McCulloch
Buford’s Cavalry Division (West Tennessee): Brigadier-General Abraham Buford
3rd Brigade, Buford’s Cavalry Division (West Tennessee): Colonel Edward Crossland
4th Brigade, Buford’s Cavalry Division (West Tennessee): Colonel Tyree Harris Bell
Gholson’s Independent Brigade (West Tennessee): Colonel J McQuirk

Missouri. Reconnaissance to Patterson ended.

South Carolina. Union reconnaissance from Hilton Head to Daufuskie Island aboard the transports Croton, Plato, and Thomas Foulks.

Virginia. Union expedition from Point Lookout, Maryland, to the Rappahannock River began. The transport steamer Star and the gunboat USS Yankee, searched for concealed Confederate torpedoes.

Virginia. Kautz’s Raid on the Petersburg & Weldon Railroad ended.

Virginia. Skirmishes at Spotsylvania Court House, Diamond Hill, Todd’s Tavern, and Fort Darling.

Virginia. Skirmish at Glen Allen Station.

Virginia. Skirmish at Ashland.

Virginia. Union Major-General Ulysses Simpson Grant began to plan a new major assault aimed at the Mule Shoe salient at Spotsylvania, employing the successful tactics employed by Colonel Emory Upton’s brigade the previous evening. The new attack would be delivered by an entire Corps.
As the army rested from its exertions of the past six days and was briefed on the new attacking tatics, Grant sent his supply trains to replenish their loads from Belle Plain, ready for the advance he expected to follow a decisive breakthrough in the morning. In a letter to Major-General Henry Wager Halleck made a remark that quickly circulated to the press and became legendary both in its determination and apparent disregard for losses: “I propose to fight it out on this line if it takes all summer”.
Union Major-General Winfield Scott Hancock’s II Corps was moved from the far right to mass against the salient in the Union centre while Major-General Ambrose Everett Burnside’s IX Corps closed up onto its left flank, ready to provide a diversionary attack or to exploit any success. Major-General Horatio Gouverneur Wright’s VI Corps would apply pressure on the right flank, and Major-General Gouverneur Keble Warren’s V Corps, now on the farthest right of the line after Hancock’s relocation, would also make a demonstration.
Hancock recalled his 1^st Division (Brigadier-General Francis Channing Barlow) across the Po River from its exposed position on the right flank and massed it with his 2^nd Division and 3^rd Division for the attack. In the process Barlow had to abandon a gun to be captured because it could not be extricated from between two trees; this was the first gun ever lost by II Corps. Brigadier-General Gershom Mott’s shaky 4^th Division was reassembled and put into the line. The four divisions edged forward through heavy rain at dusk and they were in place by midnight, ready to launch a violent attack at dawn.

Virginia. The Confederates took the general inactivity at Spotsylvania as a sign that the Union Army was getting ready to pull back, either for a general retreat or to make another flanking march to the east. This suspicion was confirmed by a lookout in Spotsylvania church who reported movement eastwards. Confederate cavalry under Major-General Fitzhugh Lee described heavy traffic of wagons towards Fredericksburg and Belle Plain beyond the Rappahannock River. As a result, General Robert Edward Lee felt obliged to prepare for another rapid move to either pursue or forestall the next Union move. He advised Lieutenant-General Ambrose Powell Hill to be ready to move but not to extract his artillery until the last minute. He then visited Lieutenant-General Richard Stoddert Ewell whose II Corps held the critical sector of the “Mule Shoe”. Ewell had one division lining the western face and another on the eastern side, with his third division in reserve behind. The position was about a mile deep and about two-thirds of a mile wide. It was heavily wooded and there were few tracks, making a night-time withdrawal of artillery difficult in the deepening mud. Lee told Ewell to pull back the most forward batteries before nightfall so that they could be removed quickly if necessary. Lee then alerted Major-General Richard Heron Anderson and I Corps on the left flank to be ready to move but to leave their artillery in place. As a result, the Mule Shoe was severely weakened by the removal of its 22 guns in preparation for a quick departure.

Virginia. Union Major-General Benjamin Franklin Butler’s forces returned from Swift Creek and reoccupied their entrenchments in the Bermuda Hundred peninsula. This ended his reconnaissance towards Petersburg through Port Walthall Junction and Swift Creek. Butler began to plan a new advance towards Richmond, believing that he had been blocked in his campaign against Petersburg. Butler’s weak effort to reach Petersburg generated ill feeling and contempt from his two Corps commanders, Major-General Quincy Adams Gillmore (X Corps) and Major-General William Farrar Smith (XVIII Corps). Union Brigadier-General Isaac Jones Wistar was relieved of command following poor handling of his brigade in the Bermuda Hundred operations, and he finally resigned on 15 September 1864.

Virginia. After Union Brigadier-General Thomas Greeley Stevenson was killed leading the 1^st Division, IX Corps on 10 May, he was immediately superseded by Colonel Daniel Leasure. The decision was soon made to replace the colonel with a more experienced commander and Major-General Thomas Leonidas General Crittenden was chosen to take command of the division. Crittenden had been inactive and awaiting orders since losing his command after the defeat at Chickamauga.

Front Royal, Virginia. Confederate Brigadier-General John Daniel Imboden surprised and captured a Union cavalry regiment of 464 men near Front Royal. These were part of the force of Union Major-General Franz Sigel who was camped around Strasburg.

Ashland, Virginia. The Union 1^st Massachusetts Cavalry from Brigadier-General Henry Eugene Davies’ brigade raided Ashland Station and attacked the railroad and depot. They destroyed railroad tracks and a train of cars. When they were finishing their destruction, they were attacked by the 2^nd Virginia Cavalry under Colonel Thomas Taylor Munford at Ground Squirrel Bridge.

Ground Squirrel Bridge, Virginia, also known as Ground Squirrel Church. Union Major-General Philip Sheridan had concluded that continuing his cavalry raid to Richmond and its fortified garrison would be unjustifiably foolhardy. Instead of rejoining the Army of the Potomac near Spotsylvania, he decided to cross south of the Chickahominy in order to join Major-General Benjamin Franklin Butler’s Army of the James. Union Brigadier-General David McMurtrie Gregg’s division formed the rearguard and repelled a surprise attack by Brigadier-General James Byron Gordon’s cavalry at Ground Squirrel Bridge. They gave up their camp and retreated until reinforced by artillery which forced the Confederates to disengage. Sheridan’s main body continued down the Mountain Road through Louisa.

Yellow Tavern, Virginia. Confederate Major-General James Ewell Brown Stuart left Hanover Junction before dawn and crossed the South Anna River at sunrise. He learned that a Union cavalry brigade had burned Ashland Station four miles to the north during the night, destroying a locomotive, a train of railroad cars, and the government storehouses before ripping up six miles of track along the Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac Railroad. Stuart’s three brigades continued to the Telegraph Road and then headed south along the highway. Along the way, Stuart received word that two enemy cavalry divisions had left Ground Squirrel Bridge and were moving toward Richmond along the Mountain Road. Half a mile from the junction of the Mountain Road and Telegraph Road, which converged to become the macadamised Brock Turnpike, was an abandoned stagecoach inn called Yellow Tavern, just six miles from Richmond. The inn stood half a mile south of the intersection. Stuart chose to converge at that point to deflect Sheridan’s advance away from Richmond.
Stuart reached Yellow Tavern at 8 am and took up positions to block the advance of Union Major-General Philip Henry Sheridan’s cavalry. Stuart posted two brigades one mile north of Yellow Tavern. Brigadier-General Williams Carter Wickham’s brigade was east of the Telegraph Road, occupying a ridgeline roughly perpendicular to the Telegraph Road, facing south-southwest in a flanking position. Brigadier-General Lunsford Lindsay Lomax’s brigade held another ridge parallel to the Telegraph Road, facing west, with 10 guns emplaced on a hill near the end of Lomax’s line. They deployed at 10 am in a concave V-shape so that any column marching down the road would enter the field of crossfire from both wings. A small force of observation with two guns was west of the road on Lomax’s left and Stuart spared just one regiment for his reserve, the 1^st Virginia Cavalry. Had Sheridan been riding for Richmond, he could have bypassed Stuart’s positions without a fight and Stuart could have reunited with Brigadier-General James Byron Gordon’s brigade, which was harassing the rear of the Union column. However, Sheridan’s intention was to bring on a decisive battle with Stuart at the earliest opportunity.
At about 2pm, Stuart heard from General Braxton Bragg that 4,000 men of the Richmond garrison were moving to the threatened sector and three regular brigades were also on their way from the south side of the James, and this force would probably suffice to hold the city if Stuart could delay the approach of the raiders a little while longer.
After disrupting Confederate road and rail communications along the Virginia Central Railroad, Sheridan’s cavalry made contact with the heavily outnumbered Confederates at about 11 am. The two Union cavalry divisions under Brigadier-General Wesley Merritt and Brigadier-General James Harrison Wilson formed up for an attack. They took two hours to scout the Confederate positions and then Sheridan made his plan. He left one brigade to guard his rear against the harassment of Gordon’s brigade. Two more brigades deployed in reserve across the turnpike and four brigades moved against Fitzhugh Lee’s two brigades north of Yellow Tavern. Sheridan sent Brigadier-General George Armstrong Custer’s brigade to the right of the Union line, with Colonel George Henry Chapman’s brigade of Brigadier-General James Harrison Wilson’s 3^rd Division passing onto Custer’s left.
Reacting to the threat, dismounted Confederate troopers and the Baltimore Light Artillery began to open fire on Custer’s men. Custer responded in turn by ordering his 5^th Michigan Cavalry and 6^th Michigan Cavalry to dismount and drive the Confederates back. Unfortunately, the overeager colonel of the 5^th Michigan led his men forward before waiting for the 6^th Michigan to be ready. They advanced about 100 yards when they suddenly came under a murderous crossfire from the woods to their left and rear. Custer rode up and ordered the troops to lie down, although he himself remained in the saddle until the 6^th Michigan arrived. After placing the 6^th to the left of the 5^th, Custer then led both regiments until they had driven the Confederate first line back to their main line on the ridge. When the Michiganders reached the edge of the woods, Custer ordered them to stand fast while he reconnoitred further ahead.
Moving up from reserve, Union Colonel Alfred Gibbs’ reserve brigade of Brigadier-General Wesley Merritt’s 1^st Cavalry Division turned south off the Mountain Road, made contact with Lomax’s forces, and immediately began probing his line. Behind Gibbs came Colonel Thomas Casimer Devin’s brigade, which rode farther south, seeking the Confederates’ left flank. One of Devin’s regiments, the 6^th New York Cavalry, reached the Brooks Turnpike, engaged a small Confederate force, and chased it for three miles south to the outskirts of Richmond. The 17^th Pennsylvania Cavalry found the left flank of Stuart’s line and assaulted it. The Confederate 5^th Virginia Cavalry under Colonel Henry C Pate beat off two probing attacks in hand-to-hand fighting.
The Union cavalry tested other parts of the line and Confederate casualties mounted. At 4 pm, Merritt launched a heavy attack against Lomax with a view to push him back against Wickham. Custer’s brigade spearheaded the attack, with two regiments dismounted as skirmishers and two more mounted and ready to exploit any gaps. Custer’s 5^th Michigan Cavalry and 6^th Michigan Cavalry attacked the 15^th Virginia Cavalry just north of Yellow Tavern. While this was a serious threat, Stuart realised that his left flank was in greater danger. He rode alone to view the exposed flank about the same time as Custer’s brigade attacked.
Custer observed that his two reserve regiments, the 1^st Michigan Cavalry and 7^th Michigan Cavalry, were being raked by Griffin’s Confederate horse artillery, which was well screened by trees on its hilltop position. While the Union horse artillery bombarded the enemy battery, Custer led the 1^st Michigan up the hill and when the column emerged from the cover of trees at a trot, Griffin’s guns turned to face them and commenced firing. Custer’s men paused to remove fences from their route on five occasions and filed, three men at a time, across an old bridge over a deep ditch. Finally, from a distance of 200 yards, Lieutenant-Colonel Peter Stagg led a surprise charge that captured the two guns.
Just before 4 pm, the 5^th Michigan Cavalry and 6^th Michigan Cavalry resumed their advance on foot while the 7^th Michigan Cavalry and 1^st Vermont Cavalry joined in the charge. The 7^th Michigan Cavalry drove the Confederates back for 400 yards at the cost of heavy casualties. Meanwhile, Chapman’s brigade renewed its assault on the Confederate centre and Wilson led his dismounted troopers against the enemy right. The 5^th Michigan Cavalry and 6^th Michigan Cavalry advanced on their left and drove back the Confederate line and turned the attack into a pursuit. Stuart joined about 80 men who had railed near the Telegraph Road and they fired at the 5^th Michigan Cavalry riding past.
Confederate troops also rallied in a ravine about 400 yards further back and checked the Union advance. The 1^st Virginia Cavalry counter-attacked from the reserve, inspired by the presence of Stuart himself. Heartened by the sight of Stuart’s counter-charge, the original defenders of Lomax’s line who had withdrawn to a creek bed, rallied and staged their own counterattack on foot. Cantering on alone, Stuart joined Company K of the 1st Virginia Cavalry just as the 1^st Michigan Cavalry made another mounted charge. The Confederate line dissolved as the Union cavalrymen broke through. Drawing his nine-shot Le Mat revolver, Stuart fired at the Union cavalry as they swept past. Behind him, some of the Virginians rallied and launched another counterattack that managed to drive the disorganised Union troopers back once again. At this point, Stuart was shot and mortally wounded by a dismounted Union trooper, Private John A Huff of the 5^th Michigan Cavalry, a former sharpshooter.
The Confederates had resisted against greater numbers and superior firepower for over three hours before Stuart was wounded. After he fell, Fitzhugh Lee restored the integrity of the defence and held out for another desperate hour while Stuart was taken off to Richmond. Sheridan kept up the pressure on the Confederate line for another hour after Stuart was hit. While Custer and Chapman continued to drive Lomax’s brigade back, Gibbs and Devin hammered at Wickham’s line. Conceding the hopelessness of the situation, Lee pulled his entire division back four miles, retiring across the north fork of the Chickahominy River to regroup.
At this point, Sheridan was told that a Confederate courier had been captured stating that Bragg’s reinforcements were on their way from the city. Sheridan began to disengage and led his force southward toward the Mechanicsburg Turnpike (Brook Turnpike) and through Richmond’s outer line of defences, which he reached that evening. All the while the Union cavalry could hear the bells of Richmond ringing the alarm. Sheridan was tempted to continue into the city but with Gordon in his rear, Fitzhugh Lee now to his flank, and an unknown number of garrison troops and infantry gathering unseen in the dark he decided that a further approach would be reckless. He turned away eastwards and headed through heavy wind and rain for Meadow Bridge over the Chickahominy.
During the night, Sheridan’s men encountered the annoyance of land mines or “land torpedoes” scattered along the route and set to explode by trip wires. A number of horses and men were killed or injured so Sheridan put a dozen prisoners in front of his column, making them crawl on hands and knees to discover the booby traps. He was slowed but no more men were lost. Progress was also slowed by a violent rainstorm and the Union cavalry did not reach Meadow Bridge until daylight, by which time both the highway bridge and railroad bridge had been set on fire by Confederates.
The Union cavalry sustained 625 or 635 casualties out of 12,000 men engaged and claimed 300 prisoners. Confederate casualties from their force of 5,000 men are unreported. (CWSAC Formative Battle Union Victory)

West Virginia. After his success at Cove Mountain, Confederate Brigadier-General John Hunt Morgan turned towards Abingdon with the intention of launching a raid into eastern Kentucky.

West Virginia. Union Brigadier-General William Woods Averell left Dublin and rode through heavy rain to New River. The New River Bridge on the Virginia & Tennessee Railroad had recently been burned by Union Brigadier-General George Crook. Closely pursued by the Confederates, Averell was able to ford the river and headed for Christianburg. After tearing up ten miles of railroad track, they followed the northward retreat of Union Brigadier-General George Crook towards Lewisburg.

West Virginia. Skirmish at Blacksburg.

Union Organisation

USA: Major-General Edward Richard Sprigg Canby arrived to command the Military Division of West Mississippi.

USA: The District of Little Rock was established in the Department of Arkansas, comprising the posts of Little Rock, Lewisburg, and Pine Bluff.
USA: Brigadier-General Eugene Asa Carr assumed command of the District of Little Rock.

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 Nashville: Lovell Harrison Rousseau
  • District of Western Kentucky: Eleazer Arthur Paine
  • 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: Cadwallader Colden Washburn
    • 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: Nathan Kimball temporary
  • District of Eastern Arkansas: Napoleon Bonaparte Buford
  • District of Northern Arkansas: Robert Ramsey Livingston
  • District of Little Rock: Eugene Asa Carr
  • District of the Frontier: James Gilpatrick Blunt
  • Army of Arkansas: Frederick Steele
    • VII Corps Arkansas: Nathan Kimball temporary
• Department of the Gulf: Nathaniel Prentiss Banks
  • District of Baton Rouge: Henry Warner Birge
  • District of Port Hudson: Daniel Ullmann
  • District of La Fourche: John McNeil
  • District of Carrollton: Nelson B Bartram
  • 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 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 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 New Mexico: James Henry Carleton

• District of Arizona: George Washington Bowie

Northern Department: Samuel Peter Heintzelman

• District of Indiana: John Smith Simonson

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: George Wright

• 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

• IX Corps Potomac: Ambrose Everett Burnside
• 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
  • Cavalry Corps Potomac: Philip Henry Sheridan

Department of the South: John Porter Hatch interim John Gray Foster awaited

• Northern District (South): Alexander Schimmelfennig
• District of Beaufort (SC): Rufus Saxton
• District of Hilton Head: William Watts Hart Davis
• District of Florida: William Birney
• District of West Florida: Alexander Asboth

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 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
• District of Yorktown: Joseph Bradford Carr
• 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: Franz Sigel

• Army of the Kanawha: George Crook

Confederate Organisation

CSA: Wilburn Hill King promoted Brigadier-General PACS 11 May 1864 to rank from April 16 1864 unconfirmed

CSA: Major-General James Ewell Brown Stuart was mortally wounded at Yellow Tavern, Virginia.

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: William B Butler interim Henry Alexander Wise awaited

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: Richard Stoddert Ewell
  • III Corps Northern Virginia: Jubal Anderson Early temporary
  • Cavalry Corps Northern Virginia: James Ewell Brown Stuart
• 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: William Stephen Walker interim Thomas Jordan awaited
  • 4^th Sub-District of South Carolina: James Heyward Trapier
  • 5^th Sub-District of South Carolina: Alfred Moore Rhett
  • 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: Samuel Jones

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: John Cabell Breckinridge

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 awaited

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*
Don Carlos Buell
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
Richard James Oglesby
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

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
Horatio Gouverneur Wright
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
Andrew Jackson Smith
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
Charles Leopold Matthies
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

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

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
Richard Heron Anderson
James Ewell Brown Stuart
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
Jubal Anderson Early
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

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
Bushrod Rust Johnson
George Wythe Randolph
Joseph Brevard Kershaw
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
Albert Gallatin Jenkins
Matthew Duncan Ector
Edward Aylesworth Perry
John Gregg
John Calvin Brown
Alfred Holt Colquitt
Junius Daniel
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
George Pierce Doles
Montgomery Dent Corse
George Thomas Anderson
Alfred Iverson
James Henry Lane
Edward Lloyd Thomas
Stephen Dodson Ramseur
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 Brown Gordon
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
Abner Monroe Perrin
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 Byron Gordon
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
Richard Waterhouse