Confederate Organisations – Military Divisions

Confederate Organisations – Military Divisions

Military Divisions were strategic commands, reporting directly to the President and War Department. They were devised to coordinate the operations of their subordinate Departments at a strategic level.

The Military Division of the West was designated in October 1863 and persisted until December 1863. It was intended to coordinate operations of the Western Department, the Department of Mississippi and East Louisiana, and the Department of East Tennessee. Early in December 1863 the latter of these was detached and became independent, and the Western Department followed suit in July 1863. The sole commander, General Joseph Eggleston Johnston, always argued that the region was so extensive, communications so slow, opportunities for cooperation between his Department commanders so difficult to achieve, and the control of the President so strong, that the discretion of this Military Division was ineffectual.

The Military Division of the West was revived in October 1864, to coordinate the Department of Western Kentucky, the Department of East Tennessee and West Virginia, the Department of Tennessee and Georgia, and the Department of Alabama, Mississippi, and Eastern Louisiana. General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard was appointed to command. Beauregard encountered the same obstacles as Johnston and by December 1864, the Military Division was once again discontinued, and was never revived.

Alphabetical Index

Military Division of the West #1 4 November 1862-16 December 1863

Military Division of the West #2 3 October 1864-16 December 1864

Military Division of the West #1

4 November 1862-16 December 1863

Joseph Eggleston Johnston 4 November 1862-16 December 1863

4 November 1862: The Military Division of the West established.

4 November 1862: General Joseph Eggleston Johnston was appointed to command the Military Division of the West, arriving on 4 December 1862.

4 November 1862: The Western Department was subordinated to the Military Division of the West.

4 November 1862: The Department of East Tennessee was subordinated to the Military Division of the West.

4 December 1862: General Joseph Eggleston Johnston arrived to command the Military Division of the West.

7 December 1862: The Department of East Tennessee transferred from the Military Division of the West to the Western Department.

22 July 1863: The Western Department was detached from the authority of the Military Division of the West.

16 December 1863: The Military Division of the West was discontinued.

Military Division of the West #2

3 October 1864-16 December 1864

Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard 3 October 1864-16 December 1864

3 October 1864: The Military Division of the West was established comprising the Department of Western Kentucky, the Department of East Tennessee and West Virginia, the Department of Tennessee and Georgia and the Department of Alabama, Mississippi, and Eastern Louisiana.

3 October 1864: General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard was appointed to command the Military Division of the West, arriving on 17 October 1864.

3 October 1864: The Department of Tennessee and Georgia transferred to the Military Division of the West.

3 October 1864: The Department of Alabama, Mississippi, and Eastern Louisiana transferred to the Military Division of the West.

3 October 1864: The Department of East Tennessee and West Virginia transferred to the Military Division of the West. 3 October 1864: The Department of Western Kentucky transferred to the Military Division of the West.

17 October 1864: General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard arrived to command the Military Division of the West.

16 December 1864: The Department of Tennessee and Georgia transferred from the Military Division of the West to the War Department.

16 December 1864: The Department of Western Kentucky transferred from the Military Division of the West to the War Department.

16 December 1864: The Department of East Tennessee and West Virginia transferred from the Military Division of the West to the War Department.

16 December 1864: The Military Division of the West was discontinued.