- Army of the Gulf
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Army of the Gulf Active Country United States of America Branch United States Army Engagements American Civil War The Army of the Gulf was a Union army that served in the general area of the Gulf states controlled by Union forces. It mainly saw action in Louisiana and Alabama.
Contents
History
The Department of the Gulf was created when Admiral David G. Farragut captured New Orleans in 1862. The commander of the Union occupation forces, Benjamin F. Butler was placed in command of the department. In March, Butler assumed command of the department and the Army of the Gulf was created from the troops now designated to the Department of the Gulf.
The army saw little action the rest of 1862 and Butler was replaced by Major General Nathaniel P. Banks on December 17. Banks assumed command of the Department of the Gulf, the Army of the Gulf, and the XIX Corps, which were essentially different names for the same force. Banks led the army in several engagements in lower Louisiana that eventually led to the Siege of Port Hudson, the army's first major engagement. The army endured the siege and the post was finally surrendered on July 9, 1863. The next year the XIII Corps and two divisions of the XVI Corps were added to the department, increasing the army to over three corps. Banks retained command of the army and department while Gen. William H. Emory assumed command of the XIX Corps.
In March 1864, Banks began his disastrous Red River Campaign. After it failed, he resigned from the army and was replaced by Maj. Gen. Stephen A. Hurlbut. The XIX Corps was sent to the Shenandoah Valley and the forces that remained in the army participated in the land attack at the Battle of Mobile Bay.
Late in the war, Maj. Gen. Edward Canby's Military Division of West Mississippi was given the army's two remaining corps, the XIII and the XVI, for a planned offensive to capture the city of Mobile. During this operation, Canby renamed the force the Army of West Mississippi after the military division that he commanded. Although now under a different title, the force was virtually the same army and it took part in the Battle of Spanish Fort and the Battle of Fort Blakely. Canby was appointed command of the Department of the Gulf at the closing of the war and the forces once again became the Army of the Gulf.
Command history
- Major General Benjamin F. Butler (February 23 – December 15, 1862)
- Major General Nathaniel P. Banks (December 15, 1862 – September 23, 1864)
- Major General Stephen A. Hurlbut (September 23, 1864 – April 22, 1865) as Dept of the Gulf
- Major General Nathaniel P. Banks (April 23, 1865 – June 3, 1865)
- Major General Edward Canby (June 3, 1865 – June 27, 1865)
Major battles and campaigns
- Battle of Irish Bend (Banks)
- Battle of Fort Bisland (Banks)
- Siege of Port Hudson (Banks)
- Red River Campaign (Banks)
- Battle of Spanish Fort (Canby) as Army of West Mississippi
- Battle of Fort Blakely (Canby) as Army of West Mississippi
Battle Orders
- Port Hudson order of battle
References
- Eicher, John H., & Eicher, David J., Civil War High Commands, Stanford University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8047-3641-3.
- Army and Department of the Gulf
See also
Union Army FormationsIndependent
Departments- Department of the East: District of Central New York, District of Massachusetts, District of Western New York
- Department of the Pacific: District of Arizona, District of Humboldt, District of Oregon, District of California, District of Southern California, District of Utah
- Department of the Potomac
- Department of the South: District of Florida, District of Hilton Head, District of North Carolina, District of Savannah, Northern District (Charleston)
- Department of Virginia and North Carolina: District of Eastern Virginia, District of North Carolina
Middle
Military
Division- Middle Department: Department of Rappahannock, Department of Shenandoah, Mountain Department, District of Baltimore, District of Eastern Shore
- Department of Pennsylvania: Department of the Monongahela, Department of the Susquehanna
- Department of Washington: District of Alexandria, District of Saint Mary's, District of Washington, District of Annapolis
- Department of West Virginia: District of Harper's Ferry, Kanawha District
Military
Division of the
Mississippi- Cavalry Corps of the Military Division of the Mississippi
- Department of the Cumberland: District of the Etowah, District of Middle Tennessee, District of Northern Alabama, District of West Tennessee
- Department of the Ohio: District of East Tennessee, Department of Kentucky, District of Cairo, District of Western Kentucky
- Northern Department: District of Indiana, District of Illinois, District of Michigan
Military
Division of
West
Mississippi- Department of Arkansas: District of Eastern Arkansas, District of the Frontier, District of Little Rock
- Department of the Gulf: District of Baton Rouge and Port Hudson, District of Carrollton, District of Key West and Tortugas, District of La Fourche, District of West Florida and South Alabama
- Department of Kansas: District of Colorado (military), District of Nebraska, District of North Kansas, District of South Kansas, District of Upper Arkansas
- Department of Missouri: District of Central Missouri, District of North Missouri, District of Rolla, District of Saint Louis, District of Southwest Missouri
- Department of New Mexico: District of Arizona
- Department of the Northwest: District of Iowa, District of Minnesota, District of Wisconsin
Union Armies Army of Arkansas · Army of the Border · Army of the Cumberland · Army of the Frontier · Army of Georgia · Army of the Gulf · Army of the James · Army of Kentucky · Army of the Mississippi · Army of the Ohio · Army of the Potomac · Army of the Shenandoah · Army of the Southwest · Army of the Tennessee · Army of Virginia · Army of West Mississippi · Army of West Virginia ·
Union Army Corps I Corps · II Corps · III Corps · IV Corps · V Corps · VI Corps · VII Corps · VIII Corps · IX Corps · X Corps · XI Corps · XII Corps · XIII Corps · XIV Corps · XV Corps · XVI Corps · XVII Corps · XVIII Corps · XIX Corps · XX Corps · XXI Corps · XXII Corps · XXIII Corps · XXIV Corps · XXV Corps · Cavalry Corps ·
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