1864 May 9th

May 9 1864 Monday

Buzzard Roost, GA
Varnell’s Station, GA
Snake Creek Gap, GA
Battle of Cloyd’s Mountain, VA (CWSAC Formative Battle Union Victory)
Battle of Swift Creek, VA (CWSAC Formative Battle – Inconclusive)
Beaver Dam Station, VA
Jarrald’s Mill, VA
Mitchell’s Shop, VA
Fort Clifton, VA

Red River Campaign
Atlanta Campaign – Dalton
James River Campaign
Virginia Overland Campaign – Spotsylvania
Sheridan’s Richmond Raid
Hoke’s North Carolina Operations
Crook’s West Virginia Raid
Averell’s Second West Virginia Raid
Kautz’s Weldon Railroad Raid

Go to May 10 1864

Arizona Territory. Expedition began from Fort Crittenden in the Utah Territory to Fort Mojave.

Arizona Territory. Union troops left Fort Bowie and headed for Tucson, burning Gila Indian farms and property along the way. The expedition resulted in 51 Indians being killed, 17 more wounded, and 16 women and children being taken as prisoners

Arkansas. Reconnaissance to Craighead County and Lawrence County ended.

Arkansas. Skirmish at Eudora Church.

California. Incident at Kneeland’s Prairie.

Colorado Territory. Union reconnaissance from American Ranch to Cedar Bluff began, through Sioux Indian territory.

Florida. The Union transport Harriet A Weed was sunk by a torpedo in the Saint John’s River near the mouth of Cedar Creek, twelve miles below Jacksonville

Georgia. Union demonstration at Rocky Face Ridge.

Georgia. Union demonstration at Resaca.

Georgia. Union demonstration at Dalton.

Georgia Skirmishes at Lee’s Cross Roads, Ringgold Gap, Sugar Valley, Boyd’s Trail, and Tunnel Hill.

Georgia. Union Major-General William Tecumseh Sherman was encouraged by the first message received from Major-General James Birdseye McPherson in three days. McPherson reported that he had moved through Snake Creek Gap against minimal opposition and had arrived within five miles of Resaca. Sherman anticipated that McPherson’s next report would state that he had reached the Oostenaula River and burned the bridges beyond the Confederate army, trapping it at Rocky Face Ridge.

Buzzard Roost, Georgia, also known as Buzzard’s Roost Gap, Mill Creek Gap, and Dug Gap. The main part of Union Major-General William Tecumseh Sherman’s army was blocked at Buzzard Roost on Rocky Face Ridge where five separate attacks were repulsed by the Confederate defenders. Unsuccessful assaults were launched at both Mill Creek Gap and at Dug Gap four miles to the south. To maintain the diversion, Sherman ordered further demonstration attacks to be carried out for three days. Two attacks gained the crest but counter-attacks drove them back down each time. This fruitless fighting nevertheless pinned down the main body of the Confederate Army of Tennessee while advances were made past both the left and right flanks of the Confederate position.

Varnell’s Station, Georgia. At Varnell’s Station, Union Colonel Oscar Hugh La Grange’s brigade of Brigadier-General Edward Moody McCook’s cavalry division, scouting ahead of Major-General John McAllister Schofield’s Army of the Ohio, encountered a Confederate cavalry screen from Major-General Joseph Wheeler’s command. The Union troopers pushed through successfully to Poplar Place. They were repulsed with heavy losses when the Confederates launched a fierce counter-attack once the Union cavalry was beyond immediate support. La Grange was captured at a loss of 150 Union troops. Confederate losses were not reported.

Snake Creek Gap, Georgia. Union Major-General James Birdseye McPherson’s Army of the Tennessee passed through Snake Creek Gap. His troops met a single cavalry brigade under Colonel Warren Grigsby, which was scouting the area. After a fierce fight, Union Brigadier-General Thomas William Sweeny formed a line and drove the Confederates back across Sugar Valley. By midday, the Confederates had retreated to Resaca, several miles to the east. The Confederate cavalrymen were able to withdraw to a well-established line of fortifications on the outer edge of Resaca, where they were joined by the 37^th Mississippi Infantry, a regiment of recently arrived reinforcements from Brigadier-General James Cantey’s brigade.
When Confederate General Joseph Eggleston Johnston heard of the presence of Union troops near Resaca, he reacted quickly. During the evening, he sent Lieutenant-General John Bell Hood with one division from his own Corps and two from Lieutenant-General William Joseph Hardee’s Corps to reinforce the small division at Resaca. Johnston had previously prepared defensive positions to the north and west of Resaca, fifteen miles south of Rocky Face Ridge, and had cut military roads to improve communications. The reinforcement was made quickly and efficiently and the risk of being cut off at Resaca was narrowly averted.
By 2 pm, McPherson had advanced to the outskirts of Resaca where he found the strongly entrenched Confederate line. Resaca was held by just 4,000 men of one infantry division and Grigsby’s cavalry but McPherson had not expected to meet serious opposition. He paused to assess the situation. In the evening, the only available Union cavalry, the 9^th Illinois Mounted Infantry, moved past Resaca to the northeast to scout out the best route to cut the Western & Atlantic Railroad. Meanwhile, skirmishers in Major-General Grenville Mellen Dodge’s XVI Corps moved to attack a line of fortifications along Camp Creek, held by the Confederate cavalry, the remainder of Cantey’s brigade, two batteries, and another brigade under Confederate Brigadier-General Daniel Harris Reynolds, newly arrived by rail from Atlanta. The attackers were held off easily, and McPherson was unable to establish clearly the strength of the defending force. Fearing defeat for his isolated and unsupported force of 25,000 men, McPherson pulled his column back to Snake Creek Gap by nightfall and entrenched. McPherson’s withdrawal was subsequently criticised as the occupation of Resaca would have permitted the isolation of the Confederate Army of Tennessee on Rocky Face Ridge. McPherson’s caution and withdrawal allowed the remaining Confederates to evacuate Rocky Face Ridge and Dalton overnight.

Kentucky. Union expedition from Louisa to Rock House Creek, West Virginia, began.

Kentucky. Skirmish at Pound Gap.

Louisiana. Skirmishes at Wells’ Plantation, Wilson’s Landing, and Governor Moore’s Plantation.

Louisiana. At Alexandria, Union engineers approached completion of the coffer dams being built to save the Mississippi River fleet stranded on the Red River. At 5.30 am, two of the stone-filled barges, sunk as the central part of the dam, gave way under the increasing pressure of the backed-up water but they swung around fortuitously into a better position to form a chute over the rapids.
Union Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter quickly ordered his lighter draft vessels to attempt a passage through the unexpected gap. USS Lexington was made ready first and steamed forward at high speed, crunching and careening over the rapids but suffering little damage. As the water level began to fall, the ironclad USS Neosho followed next, but the pilot panicked and called for steam to be cut. The ship continued onwards but was out of control, as it plunged through the onrushing water over the falls. The ship struck the bottom and tore a hole in its keel but swept onwards. The hole was quickly repaired.
USS Osage and the wooden steamer USS Fort Hindman got underway and passed through with less excitement and less damage. Four ships had now been rescued but the six larger ships of the squadron still remained above the falls. Union Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph Bailey and his men, despite the fact that eight days of heavy labour had been swept away with the movement of the barges, were encouraged by the rescue of the first four ships and started work on building a new dam. A thousand men set to work further upstream so that the original dam did not have to withstand the full weight of water. The depth and speed of flow were increased by using two dams. The new dam took the now-experienced soldiers just three days to complete.

Louisiana. The two divisions of Union XIII Corps involved in the Red River expedition passed to the temporary command of Brigadier-General William Plummer Benton.

Mississippi. Expedition to Ripley ended.

Mississippi. Skirmish at Benton involving Union Brigadier-General John McArthur and Confederate Brigadier-General William Wart Adams.

Missouri. Incident at Bee Creek.

New Mexico Territory. Expedition to Gila began.

North Carolina. Incident at Batchelder’s Creek.

North Carolina. USS Connecticut, Commander John J Almy, seized the blockade-running British steamer Minnie with a cargo of cotton, tobacco, turpentine, and $10,000 in gold.

Tennessee. Expedition to Memphis ended.

Tennessee. Incidents at Bolivar and Memphis.

Utah Territory. Union expedition from Fort Crittenden to Fort Mojave, Arizona Territory, began. The aim was to determine whether a route from the Colorado River to Salt Lake City could be improved to replace the present route from Carson City to Salt Lake City.

Virginia. John Clifford Pemberton had been unable to secure a significant command since his exchange after the surrender at Vicksburg. He resigned his commission as Lieutenant-General and reverted to the grade of Lieutenant-Colonel and Chief of Artillery in the Department of Richmond.

Virginia. Incidents at Childsburg, Fort Powhatan, Mattapony Church, New Castle, Spotsylvania Court House, and Brandon Bridge (Brander’s Bridge).

Virginia. Raid from Todd’s Tavern cavalry under Union Major-General Philip Henry Sheridan’s cavalry began.

Virginia. Skirmishes involving cavalry under Union Major-General Philip Henry Sheridan occurred at Jarrald’s Mill, Davenport Ford, Davenport, Beaver Dam Station, and the North Anna River.

Virginia. Minor engagements took place along the Ny River and at Ware Bottom Church where the Union 85^th Pennsylvania Infantry and 39^th Illinois Infantry skirmished with Confederate pickets.

Sheridan’s Raid from Todd’s Tavern, Virginia. Union Lieutenant-General Ulysses Simpson Grant detached Major-General Philip Henry Sheridan’s cavalry from the Army of the Potomac and sent it on a raid towards Richmond. Sheridan had gained permission from Grant to threaten Richmond and thereby draw the Confederate cavalry into action to defend the capital. Sheridan took with him all three of his divisions under Brigadier-General Wesley Merritt, Brigadier-General David McMurtrie Gregg, and Brigadier-General James Harrison Wilson (deputising for Brigadier-General Alfred Thomas Archimedes Torbert, who was sick).
Sheridan headed down the Telegraph Road towards Richmond with 12,000 men and 32 guns in a column thirteen miles long. They did not split into converging columns but pushed on, immense and relentless, in one compact mass. Whereas previous Union cavalry raids had sought to evade the lively and skillful Confederate cavalry, Sheridan was determined to force a battle and overwhelm his adversary with numbers. The more men he could engage the better he would like it. The command reduced its trains, leaving unserviceable animals, wagons, and tents behind and taking only the essential ammunition train, two ambulances per division, and some pack-mules for baggage. Three days’ rations and a half-day’s forage were issued to be carried on the saddle.
Confederate Major-General James Ewell Brown Stuart heard almost immediately of their departure and set off in pursuit with 4,500 of his cavalrymen. These comprised two brigades from Major-General Fitzhugh Lee’s division under Brigadier-General Lunsford Lindsay Lomax, and Brigadier-General Williams Carter Wickham, along with the brigade of Brigadier-General James Byron Gordon. He left three of his brigades with Major-General Wade Hampton to screen the army.
Cavalry skirmishes occurred around Jarrald’s Mill and the Confederates clashed frequently with the Union rear-guard along the route to Mitchell’s Shop. The long Union cavalry column crossed the Ny River, the Po River, and the Ta River, and skirted around the swampy Mat River. These tributaries flowed into and made up the Mattaponi River. The column finally turned off the Telegraph Road and headed southwest for Chilesburg and the North Anna River. Three miles beyond that obstacle was the major Confederate supply depot at Beaver Dam Station on the Virginia Central Railroad. Just before dusk, Merritt’s division crossed the North Anna with three brigades while the other two divisions camped on the northern bank.

Beaver Dam Station, Virginia. The Union 1^st Michigan Cavalry entered Beaver Dam Station at the head of Brigadier-General George Armstrong Custer’s cavalry brigade. The column had set off at 6 am along the Telegraph Road from Fredericksburg to Richmond, accompanied by six batteries of horse artillery. Within two hours, contact was made with Confederate Brigadier-General Williams Carter Wickham’s cavalry brigade. Wickham began to make harassing attacks on the rearmost units, but this did not slow Sheridan’s progress. Custer’s brigade was the vanguard of Brigadier-General Wesley Merritt’s Division, and they pushed hard towards Beaver Dam Station on the Virginia Central Railroad. Custer’s men arrived just as 400 Union prisoners, recently captured in the battle of the Wilderness, were about to board a train to Richmond. When ordered to march at double time to the station, the prisoners halted and refused to move, even when their captors threatened to fire on them. Unable to move them or to abandon them, the Confederate cavalry formed a battle line between the prisoners and Custer’s charging column but were overrun. Few of the Confederate guards escaped capture. Custer reported that 378 Union prisoners were liberated. In addition to freeing the prisoners, Custer occupied the station where he found 504,000 bread rations and 915,000 meat rations that the depot guards had not yet set on fire, and stores of pork, cornmeal, fish, sugar, rum, medical supplies, and a trainload of flour. Custer then burned the station and several adjacent buildings. Custer’s men also destroyed two locomotives and 100 train cars and tore up ten miles of adjacent railroad track and ripped down telegraph lines before camping for the night. The transportation loss was extremely serious as the Virginia Central Railroad had only eight engines in running order and 108 cars.
In one single raid, Sheridan’s cavalry had already accomplished more destruction than had been achieved by all of his predecessors in three years. The destruction of the Confederate supply depot was a serious threat to the capacity of the Army of Northern Virginia to continue the campaign. For his part, Confederate Major-General James Ewell Brown Stuart could not avoid the inevitable clash, but he sought to find circumstances that might allow his 4,500 men to oppose Sheridan’s well-armed 12,000 troopers with some hope of success. The Richmond garrison might provide some reinforcement for Stuart when the raiders were at the outskirts of the capital but not before. Stuart was leading one of Fitzhugh Lee’s brigades against the Union rear and he asked for Lee’s other brigade and Brigadier-General James Byron Gordon’s brigade from Major-General William Henry Fitzhugh Lee’s division to reinforce him. He pursued down the Telegraph Road with his three brigades then skirted the North Anna River until he saw during the night the flames confirming the destruction of the depot at Beaver Dam Station.

Mitchell’s Shop, Virginia. During the morning, the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia continued to entrench across the front of the Union Army of the Potomac near Spotsylvania. They had become experts in improvised fortifications and quickly established traverses, head logs, and log-and-dirt barriers behind slashed trees and abattis. Their positions quickly became impregnable.
The Union V Corps and VI Corps continued to extend and improve their own entrenchments while they waited for Major-General Winfield Scott Hancock’s II Corps to arrive on the Brock Road and Major-General Ambrose Everett Burnside’s IX Corps to arrive and move into position from the Spotsylvania to Fredericksburg road.
The two sides engaged vigorously in long-range sharpshooting and skirmishing. Union Major-General John Sedgwick, the commander of VI Corps, was killed by a Confederate sharpshooter. He was currently the thirtieth-ranking general in the Union army. Lieutenant-General Ulysses Simpson Grant was pondering how he might attack the Confederates behind their elaborate defences when Burnside arrived from the Ny River and reported erroneously that a body of Confederate infantry was on the move past the Union left flank, in the direction of Fredericksburg. Lacking sufficient cavalry to explore the situation and to clarify whether the unidentified Confederates posed a threat to his own flank, Grant planned his own counter-attack against the opposite right flank, rather than be exposed to this unidentified force on his left. Hancock’s 4^th Division (II Corps) under Brigadier-General Gershom Mott was moved to support Burnside’s IX Corps on the left while Hancock was ordered to attack from the Union right the following day with his other three divisions. Hancock’s advance would head south to reach the Shady Grove Road and would then go eastward to the bridge one mile west of the Block House, crossing the Po River to strike the Confederate left flank. Hancock set off upstream in the early afternoon after laying three pontoon bridges. Darkness called a halt to the march before he had even reached the Shady Grove Road.

Virginia. Union Major-General John Sedgwick, the popular commander of VI Corps, was killed at a range of over 800 yards by a Confederate sharpshooter. He was currently the thirtieth-ranking general in the Union army and stood only behind Major-General George Gordon Meade in the specific chain of command of the Army of the Potomac.

Virginia. Union expedition to the James River began.

Swift Creek, Virginia, also known as Arrowfield Church. Union Major-General Benjamin Franklin Butler made a strong thrust from his Bermuda Hundred lines towards Petersburg. He advanced with 14,000 men, half of his available force of fourteen brigades. Major-General William Farrar Smith (XVIII Corps) came under fire near Port Walthall Junction but Major-General Quincy Adams Gillmore (X Corps) encountered no resistance on his advance to Chester Station. Gillmore began to tear up the railroad but Butler called him back to strengthen Smith’s advance. The Confederate skirmishers disengaged and rejoined Major-General Bushrod Rust Johnson’s Division, which was entrenched along the unfordable Swift Creek, three miles north of Petersburg. A premature Confederate attack at Arrowfield Church was driven back with heavy losses but the Union forces did not follow up.
Gillmore and Smith concluded that further progress towards Petersburg was impossible by this route. After some long-range artillery fire, Butler halted again to tear up the railroad track. He disapproved irascibly of a proposal by his two Corps commanders to outflank the position by laying a pontoon bridge over the Appomattox River at Point of Rocks. Gillmore and Smith were offended by Butler’s tone and became reluctant to offer more suggestions. Casualties were reported at about 990 in total. (CWSAC Formative Battle – Inconclusive)

Fort Clifton, Virginia. In conjunction with the advance to Swift Creek, five Union gunboats steamed up the Appomattox River to bombard Fort Clifton, while Brigadier-General Edward Ward Hinks’ division of US Coloured Troops struggled through the marshy ground from City Point on the land side. The gunboats were quickly driven off and the infantry attack was abandoned. Hinks returned to City Point.

Virginia. Union Brigadier-General William Woods Averell’s cavalry left Tazewell and rode eastwards for Wytheville.

Cloyd’s Mountain, Virginia also known as Cloyd’s Farm. Union Brigadier-General George Crook had marched into southwestern Virginia with the objective of destroying the Virginia & Tennessee Railroad and the bridge over the New River near Dublin Station. He was operating in conjunction with Brigadier-General William Woods Averell’s cavalry raiders who had the same objective and were due to join him at Dublin Station. Crook’s Kanawha Division had three brigades under Colonel Rutherford Birchard Hayes, Colonel Carr B White, and Colonel Horatio G Sickel.
Confederate Brigadier-General Albert Gallatin Jenkins commanded a few units scattered along the rail lines, amounting to perhaps 2,500 or 3,000 men, including many militiamen and Home Guards, and three guns. Jenkins had spent the early part of 1864 raising and organising a cavalry force under Colonel John McCausland to protect western Virginia and located his headquarters at Dublin Station. Jenkins decided to make a stand against Crook’s 6,100 men at Cloyd’s Mountain and prepared a strong defensive position. Heavily forested hills surrounded a wide meadow along Back Creek.
When Crook arrived at Cloyd’s Mountain, he decided against a frontal assault, concluding that a direct attack on the Confederate works was doomed to fail. The surrounding area was heavily forested, so Crook used these for concealment and moved around to the Confederate right flank. Crook began the battle with an artillery barrage, then sent White’s inexperienced brigade forward. Sickel’s and Hayes’ brigades were to launch a frontal assault as soon as White’s West Virginians had gone into action. White’s brigade advanced to an exposed position within 20 yards of the enemy before heavy casualties forced it back. Crook, moving with Hayes’ dismounted brigade, traversed the steep slopes on foot. Hayes’ brigade spearheaded the main assault around 11 am. The troops fought their way to the Confederate works and severe hand-to-hand fighting ensued. The two Union brigades began to give way until Crook sent in two fresh regiments on Hayes’ front. White’s men finally advanced again and overran the crews of the artillery that had plagued them. The Confederate centre began to give way and, as Jenkins tried to shift troops to the threatened area, he fell mortally wounded and was captured. Colonel John McCausland assumed command and conducted a rear-guard action until he could withdraw after a further hour of fighting. Confederate Brigadier-General John Hunt Morgan arrived too late for the battle and joined the retreat.
Crook was able to continue onwards immediately to Dublin five miles ahead. He began the destruction of the Virginia & Tennessee Railroad before dark, severing the Confederacy’s only direct rail connection to Tennessee. He also wrecked the railroad installations and destroyed a large store of military supplies. The Union lost 642 (or 688) casualties and the Confederates at least 538 men and two of their three guns. Confederate Brigadier-General Albert Gallatin Jenkins was mortally wounded. (CWSAC Formative Battle Union Victory)

ORDER OF BATTLE: CLOYD’S MOUNTAIN, VA

Union Department of West Virginia: Major-General Franz Sigel
Army of the Kanawha: Brigadier-General George Crook
Kanawha Division: Brigadier-General George Crook
1st Brigade, Kanawha Division (Kanawha): Colonel Rutherford Birchard Hayes
2nd Brigade, Kanawha Division (Kanawha): Colonel Carr B White
3rd Brigade, Kanawha Division (Kanawha): Colonel Horatio G Sickel

Confederate Trans-Allegheny Department: Brigadier-General Albert Gallatin Jenkins Vice Major-General John Cabell Breckinridge
McCausland’s Brigade, Trans-Allegheny: Colonel John McCausland
Morgan’s Brigade, Trans-Allegheny: Brigadier-General John Hunt Morgan

West Virginia. Incident at Halltown.

West Virginia. Union expedition from Louisa, Kentucky, to Rock House Creek began.

Union Organisation

USA: Brigadier-General Horatio Gouverneur Wright assumed command of VI Corps (Potomac), succeeding Major-General John Sedgwick.

USA: Brigadier-General William Plummer Benton assumed command of XIII Corps (Gulf), succeeding Brigadier-General Michael Kelly Lawler.

USA: Major-General John Sedgwick was killed at Spotsylvania, Virginia.

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 awaited

• Department of Arkansas: Nathan Kimball temporary
  • District of Eastern Arkansas: Napoleon Bonaparte Buford
  • District of Northern Arkansas: Robert Ramsey Livingston
  • 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: Brigadier-General Samuel Bell Maxey assumed command of the District of the Indian Territory, succeeding Brigadier-General Douglas Hancock Cooper.

CSA: Major-General Stephen Dill Lee arrived to command the Department of Alabama and East Louisiana, succeeding Lieutenant-General Leonidas Polk.

CSA: John Clifford Pemberton resigned his commission as Lieutenant-General and reverted to the grade of Lieutenant-Colonel.

CSA: Brigadier-General Albert Gallatin Jenkins was mortally wounded at Cloyd’s Mountain.

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: George Edward Pickett interim Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard 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
John Sedgwick KIA
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
Thomas Greely Stevenson
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 Sanborn
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
James Clay Rice
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

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
John Clifford Pemberton RES
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
Richard Waterhouse