Union Organisations – Staff Bureaux

Union Organisations – Staff Bureaux

The staff bureaux or departments covered the following areas of responsibility: Quartermaster, Medical, Ordnance, Adjutant-General, Subsistence, Paymaster, Engineers, Inspector-General, Topographical Engineers (discontinued in 1863), and Judge Advocate-General.

General in Chief

Winfield Scott 25 June 1841-1 November 1861
George Brinton McClellan 1 November 1861-17 March 1862 (22 July 1862)
(Ethan Allen Hitchcock Chairman of the War Board 17 March 1862-22 July 1862 interim)
Henry Wager Halleck 11 July 1862-4 March 1864
Ulysses Simpson Grant 4 March 1864-31 December 1865

Adjutant-General’s Department

Samuel Cooper, Adjutant-General 15 July 1852-7 March 1861
Lorenzo Thomas, Adjutant-General 7 March 1861-1 July 1861
Catharinus Putnam Buckingham, Adjutant-General 1 July 1861-3 August 1861
Lorenzo Thomas 3 August 1861-23 March 1863
Edward David Townsend, Acting Adjutant-General 23 March 1863-31 December 1865

Inspector-General’s Department

Sylvester Churchill, Inspector-General 25 June 1841-9 August 1861
Randolph Barnes Marcy, Inspector-General 9 August 1861-31 December 1865

Quartermaster-General’s Department

Joseph Eggleston Johnston, Quartermaster-General 28 June 1860-22 April 1861
Montgomery Cunningham Meigs, Quartermaster-General 15 May 1861-31 December 1865

Commissary Department

George Gibson, Commissary-General of Subsistence 18 April 1818-21 September 1861
Joseph Pannell Taylor, Commissary-General of Subsistence 21 September 1861-29 June 1864
Amos Beebe Eaton, Commissary-General of Subsistence 29 June 1864-31 December 1865

Ordnance Department

Henry Knox Craig, Chief of Ordnance 10 July 1851-23 April 1861
James Wolfe Ripley, Chief of Ordnance 23 April 1861-15 September 1863
George Douglas Ramsay, Chief of Ordnance 15 September 1863-12 September 1864
Alexander Brydie Dyer, Chief of Ordnance 12 September 1864-31 December 1865

Corps of Engineers

Joseph Gilbert Totten, Chief of Engineers 7 December 1838-22 April 1864
Richard Delafield, Chief of Engineers 22 April 1864-5 June 1864
John Gross Barnard, Chief of Engineers 5 June 1864-31 December 1865

Provost Marshal General’s Department

James Barnet Fry, Provost Marshal General 21 April 1864-31 December 1865

Paymaster-General’s Department

Benjamin Franklin Larned, Paymaster-General 20 July 1854-12 July 1862
Timothy Patrick Andrews, Paymaster-General 12 July 1862-29 November 1864
Benjamin Wilson Brice, Paymaster-General 29 November 1864-31 December 1865

Surgeon-General’s (Medical) Department

Thomas Lawson, Surgeon-General 30 November 1836-15 May 1861
Clement Alexander Finley, Surgeon-General 15 May 1861-14 April 1862
Robert C Wood, Acting Surgeon-General 14 April 1862-25 April 1862
William Alexander Hammond, Surgeon-General 25 April 1862-18 August 1864
Joseph K Barnes, Surgeon-General 18 August 1864-31 December 1865

Corps of Topographical Engineers

John James Abert, Chief of Topographical Engineers 1838-September 1861-31 March 1863

Judge Advocate-General’s Department

John Fitzgerald Lee, Judge Advocate-General 2 March 1849-3 September 1862
Joseph Holt, Judge Advocate-General 3 September 186231 December 1865