The Military Division of the James was an administrative division or formation of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

which existed for ten weeks at the end of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. This military division controlled military operations between April 19, 1865 and June 27, 1865 in parts of Virginia and North Carolina under control of two main

Union armies Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** Union ...

, the

Army of the Potomac The Army of the Potomac was the principal Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was created in July 1861 shortly after the First Battle of Bull Run and was disbanded in June 1865 following the surrender of the Confedera ...

and the

Army of the James The Army of the James was a Union Army that was composed of units from the Department of Virginia and North Carolina and served along the James River (Virginia), James River during the final operations of the American Civil War in Virginia. Histor ...

. Due to the surrender of the main

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

armies in these areas of Virginia and North Carolina on April 9, 1865 and April 18, 1865 and the collapse of Confederate civilian authority, the Military Division of the James and its constituent military departments and military districts were responsible for maintaining order and keeping the peace in the areas of States under its control until civilian government in those States as members of the Union could be restored. A few small military actions occurred in North Carolina during the existence of this military division.

Background

The

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

was the military land force of the

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confeder ...

(Confederacy) during the

(1861–1865) which fought in support of the effort of eleven Southern States to secede from the

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

and establish the Confederate States of America as a separate nation. The Confederate States Army fought the

forces organized as the

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

, which fought to preserve the Union of all the States. The Union Army comprised the small

Regular Army (United States) The Regular Army of the United States succeeded the Continental Army as the country's permanent, professional land-based military force. In modern times the professional core of the United States Army continues to be called the Regular Army (oft ...

and the much larger temporary force of

volunteers Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...

. About two percent of the soldiers of the volunteer force actually were

conscripts Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...

. Another six percent of the soldiers were substitutes paid for by draftees. The Union Army and Confederate States Army were divided into several independent armies and departments operating in various geographic areas throughout the Confederacy and the "Border States". The main Confederate army in Virginia as the war in that State ended, the

Army of Northern Virginia The Army of Northern Virginia was the primary military force of the Confederate States of America in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was also the primary command structure of the Department of Northern Virginia. It was most oft ...

under the command of

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

Robert E. Lee, surrendered to Union Army commander

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...

, who had headquarters with Major General George G. Meade's Army of the Potomac, on April 9, 1865 (officially April 12, 1865). The main Confederate army in North Carolina as the war in that State ended, the remnants of the

Army of Tennessee The Army of Tennessee was the principal Confederate army operating between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River during the American Civil War. It was formed in late 1862 and fought until the end of the war in 1865, participating i ...

and various other units under the command of General

Joseph E. Johnston Joseph Eggleston Johnston (February 3, 1807 – March 21, 1891) was an American career army officer, serving with distinction in the United States Army during the Mexican–American War (1846–1848) and the Seminole Wars. After Virginia seceded ...

, surrendered to the Union

Army of the Tennessee An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

under the command of Major General

William T. Sherman William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

on April 18, 1865 (officially April 26, 1865). Other Confederate military land forces still in the field in other parts of the Confederacy surrendered to Union Army forces, or simply disbanded, between April 16, 1865 and June 28, 1865.

Organization

The Military Division of the James was organized under the command of Major General

Henry W. Halleck Henry Wager Halleck (January 16, 1815 – January 9, 1872) was a senior United States Army officer, scholar, and lawyer. A noted expert in military studies, he was known by a nickname that became derogatory: "Old Brains". He was an important par ...

on April 19, 1865, after the surrender of the main Confederate armies in Virginia and North Carolina.Eicher, John H., and

David J. Eicher David John Eicher (born August 7, 1961) is an American editor, writer, and popularizer of astronomy and space. He has been editor-in-chief of ''Astronomy'' magazine since 2002. He is author, coauthor, or editor of 23 books on science and American ...

, ''Civil War High Commands.'' Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001. . p. 829. This military division included the Department of the Potomac (see

), under the command of Major General

John M. Schofield John McAllister Schofield (September 29, 1831 – March 4, 1906) was an American soldier who held major commands during the American Civil War. He was appointed U.S. Secretary of War (1868–1869) under President Andrew Johnson and later served a ...

(since January 31, 1865),

Department of Virginia The Department of Virginia and North Carolina was a United States Military department encompassing Union-occupied territory in the Confederate States during the Civil War. In 1863 it was formed by the merging of two previously existing departmen ...

under the command of Major General George G. Meade (since January 11, 1865), and that part of the Department of North Carolina (1865) not under the occupation of the troops under the command of Major General

. The part of the Department of North Carolina included in the Military Division of the James was under the command of Major General John M. Schofield (since January 31, 1865 until June 20, 1865) and then under the command of Major General

Jacob Dolson Cox Jacob Dolson Cox, Jr. (October 27, 1828August 4, 1900), was a statesman, lawyer, Union Army general during the American Civil War, Republican politician from Ohio, Liberal Republican Party founder, educator, author, and recognized microbiologist ...

(until June 28, 1865). In addition to maintaining order in the territory of the military division, Union troops were deployed to assist the impoverished population of the area. In a law approved March 3, 1865, Congress established the

Freedmen's Bureau The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, usually referred to as simply the Freedmen's Bureau, was an agency of early Reconstruction, assisting freedmen in the South. It was established on March 3, 1865, and operated briefly as a ...

(Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands), in the

United States Department of War The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army, a ...

for "the supervision and management of all abandoned lands, and the control of all subjects relating to refugees and freedmen from rebel states, or from any district of country within the territory embraced in the operations of the army, under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the head of the bureau and approved by the President." The law also provided that "the Secretary of War may direct such issues of provisions, clothing, and fuel, as he may deem needful for the immediate and temporary shelter and supply of destitute and suffering refugees and freedmen and their wives and children, under such rules and regulations as he may direct." The law further provided that "the commissioner, under the direction of the President, shall have authority to set apart, for the use of loyal refugees and freedmen, such tracts of land within the insurrectionary states as shall have been abandoned, or to which the United States shall have acquired title by confiscation or sale, or otherwise.... The law provided for no additional staff other than a commissioner, 10 possible clerks and 10 possible assistant commissioners for States, and no additional funding from the federal government specifically for the bureau (other than for the commissioner's salary). In the absence of additional separate personnel or funding, the U.S. Army operating in the military divisions and their constituent departments and districts had to provide personnel for the bureau, including those needed for operations of the bureau in Virginia and North Carolina, in 1865.

Discontinuance; Inclusion in Military Division of the Atlantic

The Military Division of the James was discontinued on June 27, 1865, the day before the official surrender date of the final large Confederate army in the

Trans-Mississippi Department The Trans-Mississippi Department was a geographical subdivision of the Confederate States Army comprising Arkansas, Missouri, Texas, western Louisiana, Arizona Territory and the Indian Territory; i.e. all of the Confederacy west of the Mississ ...

. The departments of the Military Division of the James were among those included in the

Military Division of the Atlantic Military Division of the Atlantic, was one of the military divisions of the U. S. Army created by GENERAL ORDERS No. 118. on June 27, 1865 at the end of the American Civil War. President Andrew Johnson directed that the United States was to be divid ...

, under the command of Major General George G. Meade, which was created by U.S. Army General Orders No. 118, on June 27, 1865.Eicher, 2001, p. 820.

Notes

References

* Eicher, John H., and

, ''Civil War High Commands.'' Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001. . * . * Long, E. B. ''The Civil War Day by Day: An Almanac, 1861–1865''. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1971. . * McClure, John M. "So Unsettled by War" in Davis, William C. and James I. Robertson, Jr., eds. ''Virginia at War, 1865''. Lexington, KY: University of Kentucky Press, 2012. . * United States War Department. ''The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies.'' Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1880–1901. (Principally prepared by Robert N. Scott) . . * Wert, Jeffry D. "Union Military Division of the James" in ''Historical Times Illustrated History of the Civil War'', edited by Patricia L. Faust. New York: Harper & Row, 1986. * Wheelan, Joseph. ''Their Last Full Measure: The Final Days of the Civil War''. Boston: Da Capo Press, a Member of the Perseus Book Group, 2015. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Military Division of the James Departments and districts of the United States Army 1865 establishments in the United States 1865 disestablishments in the United States Military units and formations established in 1865 Military units and formations disestablished in 1865 Union armies Union Army departments