Organisations

Organisations of the American Civil War
(Military High Commands)

Overview of the Organisations Pages

These Thirty-three lists describe the territorial and field commands of the Union and Confederate armies, from 1 January 1861 to 31 December 1865.

“This is the most comprehensive and complete resource compiled in a single place in existence.”

Territorial organisations are listed for all identified Military Divisions, Departments, Districts, Sub-Districts, and equivalents.
Field organisations are listed for identifiable Armies, Army Corps, and their equivalents.
The establishment, transfers, and discontinuation dates for each organisation are accompanied by the dates of commanders.
Pre-War organisations are described for both sides and post-war organisations for the US Army,

These lists make it possible to trace the evolution of commands during the pre-war, wartime, and post-war periods – following organisations by name, dates, type, level, and theatre location. There are also alphabetical and chronological lists of all known organisations.

Chronological Start and End Lists

These first two lists are exceptionally useful as they make it possible to track the evolution of the High Command of the Union and Confederate armies.
In these lists, newly established or re-assigned Organisations are listed in Standard Font by their “from date” of existence.
Discontinued or re-assigned Organisations are listed and indented in Italic Font by their “to date” of existence.

Union All Commands by Start and End Dates – LINK
Confederate All Commands by Start and End Dates – LINK

Chronological Lists

These lists describe Organisations chronologically as Territorial and Field Commands by Start date.

Union Organisations Chronological Index – LINK
Confederate Organisations Chronological Index – LINK

Alphabetical Lists

These two lists describe Organisations alphabetically by Territorial and Field Commands.

Union Organisations Alphabetical Index – LINK
Confederate Organisations Alphabetical Index – LINK

Organisation Type Lists

These two lists describe how Organisations were structured by Type

Overview of Union Organisations by Type LINK
Overview of Confederate Organisations by Type LINK

These six lists describe Union Organisations by Type

Union Military Divisions LINK
Union Departments LINK
Union Districts, Sub-Districts, and Equivalents LINK
Union Armies LINK
Union Grand Divisions, Corps, Wings, and Equivalents LINK
Union Staff Bureaux LINK

These six lists describe Confederate Organisations by Type

Confederate Military Divisions LINK
Confederate Departments LINK
Confederate Districts, Sub-Districts, and Equivalents LINK
Confederate Armies LINK
Confederate Grand Divisions, Corps, Wings, and Equivalents LINK
Confederate Staff Bureaux LINK

Theatre Lists

These two lists describe how Organisations were structured by Theatre

Overview of Union Organisations by Theatre LINK
Overview of Confederate Organisations by Theatre LINK

These seven lists describe Union Organisations by theatre and type

Union Western Territories and Pacific Coast Theatre LINK
Union Trans-Mississippi, Frontier and Northwestern Theatre LINK
Union Western Theatre LINK
Union Gulf Coast Theatre LINK
Union Atlantic Coast Theatre LINK
Union Eastern Theatre LINK
Union Capital and Northeastern Theatre LINK

These four lists describe Confederate Organisations by theatre and type

Confederate Western and Gulf Coast Theatre LINK
Confederate Eastern and Appalachian Theatre LINK
Confederate Atlantic Coast Theatre LINK
Confederate Trans-Mississippi Theatre LINK