{{Short description|US army command}} {{Use American English|date=November 2015}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2016}} [[File:Department of the Gulf.jpg|thumb|right |300 px|Map of the military Department of the Gulf in 1864]] The '''Department of the Gulf''' was a command of the [[United States Army]] in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and of the [[Confederate States Army]] during the [[American Civil War|Civil War]].

==History== ===United States Army (Civil War)===

====Creation==== [[File:Benjamin Franklin Butler politician - Brady-Handy.jpg|thumb|Major General Benjamin Franklin Butler]] The department was constituted on February 23, 1862, when the [[United States War Department]] issued General Orders No. 20; the department consisted of "...all of the coast of the Gulf of Mexico west of Pensacola harbor, and so much of the Gulf States as may be occupied by the forces under [[Major general (United States)|Major General]] [[Benjamin Butler (politician)|B.F. Butler]]." On March 20, 1862, Butler activated his command at [[Ship Island (Mississippi)|Ship Island]], [[Mississippi]] by issuing General Orders No. 1 (Department of the Gulf) assuming his new command.<ref name=OCWC>{{cite web|last1=Searles|first1=Harry|last2=Mangus|first2=Mike|title=Army of the Gulf (1862 - 1865)|url=http://www.ohiocivilwarcentral.com/entry.php?rec=1344|website=Ohio Civil War Central|access-date=November 27, 2015}}</ref>

====Activities==== United States Navy's [[Union blockade#West Gulf Blockading Squadron|West Gulf Blockading Squadron]] captured [[New Orleans]], [[Louisiana]] on April 29, 1862, Butler moved his headquarters to New Orleans on 1 May. The department, sometimes referred to as the Army of the Gulf, became a union occupying force in the region.<ref name=OCWC/>

====Commanders==== *Major General [[Benjamin Butler (politician)|B. F. Butler]], March 20, 1862 – December 17, 1862<ref name=Dyer>{{cite web|title=Dyer's Compendium (Union) Western Departments and Armies|url=http://www.civil-war.net/pages/dyers_western_departments_and_armies.asp|website=The Civil War Home Page|access-date=November 27, 2015}}</ref> *Major General [[N. P. Banks]], December 17, 1862 – September 23, 1864<ref name=Dyer/> *Major General [[Stephen A. Hurlbut|S. G. Hurlbut]], September 23, 1864 – to April 22, 1865<ref name=Dyer/> *Major General [[Nathaniel P. Banks|N. P. Banks]], 22 April 22, 1865 – June 3, 1865<ref name=Dyer/> *Major General [[E. R. S. Canby]], June 3, 1865 – <ref name=Dyer/> <!-- ====Deactivation==== -->

===Confederate States Army===

====Organization==== The department, frequently referred to as the Gulf District, was established on July 2, 1862, as a part of Department No. 2; its area was defined as the coast from the Pearl River to the Apalachicola River northward to latitude 32° north. On November 3, 1862,<ref> [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924079609586&view=1up&seq=785 Official Records, Series 1, Volume 15, p. 771]</ref> the northern boundary was extended to latitude 33° north. On July 25, 1863, the department/district was transferred to the Department of Mississippi and Eastern Louisiana.<ref name=Eicher>{{cite book|last1=Eicher|first1=John H.|last2=Eicher|first2=David J.|title=Civil War High Commands|date=June 2002|publisher=Stanford University Press|location=Stanford, California|isbn=0-8047-3641-3|page=871|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fs0Ajlnjl6AC|access-date=November 27, 2015}}</ref> It remained in that department only until January 28, 1864, when it was transferred to the Department of Alabama and Eastern Mississippi.<ref name=Eicher/> Upon being transferred, the department/district boundaries were redefined as beginning at the mouth of the Pearl River, running north to latitude 32° north, east to the [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] State line and south to the [[Gulf of Mexico]].<ref name=Eicher/> On May 8, 1864, the boundary was again modified to define the eastern edge as being the intersection of latitude 32° north with a line running from the junction of the Coosa and Tallapoosa to point where the Choctawhatchee River entered Florida then following the Choctawhatchee to its mouth on the Gulf of Mexico.<ref name=Eicher/> The department/district surrendered on May 4, 1865.<ref name=Eicher/>

====Commanders==== *[[John H. Forney]], July 2, 1862 – December 8, 1862<ref name=Eicher/> *[[William W. Mackall]], December 8, 1862 – December 14, 1862<ref name=Eicher/> *[[Simon Bolivar Buckner|Simon B. Buckner]], December 14, 1862 – April 27, 1863<ref name=Eicher/> *[[Franklin Gardner]], April 27, 1863 – May 1863<ref name=Eicher/> *[[Dabney H. Maury]], May 1863 – July 26, 1864<ref name=Eicher/> *[[Franklin Gardner]], July 26, 1864 – August 15, 1864<ref name=Eicher/> *[[Dabney H. Maury]], August 15, 1864 – November 22, 1864<ref name=Eicher/> *[[Danville Leadbetter]], November 22 – December 12, 1864<ref name=Eicher/><ref>{{cite book | last1 = Heitman | first1 = Francis B. | title = Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army, 1789-1903, Vol. 1 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=iIUiAAAAMAAJ | location = Washington, DC | publisher = Government Printing Office | page = 621 | year = 1903 }}</ref> *[[Dabney H. Maury]], December 12, 1864 – May 4, 1865 (surrendered)<ref name=Eicher/>

===United States Army (Spanish–American War era)===

====Creation==== The department was constituted by General Order 7, Headquarters of the Army, Adjutant General's Office, dated March 11, 1898. The order specified that the department was to include the states of [[South Carolina]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], [[Florida]], [[Alabama]], [[Mississippi]], [[Louisiana]] and [[Texas]]. All of the named states had previously been included in the [[Department of the East]] except Texas which had been the sole state in the [[Department of Texas]]. The depart was redesignated as the Department of the South on March 12, 1898, and back to the Department of the Gulf on March 18, 1898. [[Brigadier general (United States)|Brigadier General]] [[William M. Graham]] assumed command of the department on March 14, 1898. The department was headquartered in [[Atlanta, GA|Atlanta]], Georgia.<ref name="Report 1899">{{cite book|title=Annual Report of the Major-General Commanding the Army to the Secretary of War|date=1899|publisher=Government Printing Office|location=Washington, D.C.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5HAsAQAAIAAJ|access-date=November 16, 2015}}</ref>

On October 25, 1899, the department was merged with the Department of the East.<ref>{{cite news |work=The Abbeville Press and Banner |location=Abbeville, SC |date=October 25, 1899 |url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84026853/1899-10-25/ed-1/seq-2/ |title=Department of the Gulf Abolished}}</ref> It was reestablished in December 1903.<ref name=reestablished/>

====Commanders==== [[File:Robert K. Evans.jpg|thumb|Brigadier General Robert Kennon "Fighting Bob" Evans.]] *Brigadier General [[William Montrose Graham, Jr.|William M. Graham]], March 14, 1898 – May 18, 1898<ref name="Report 1899"/> *[[Major general (United States)|Major General]] [[John R. Brooke]], May 17, 1898 – July 4, 1898<ref name="Report 1899"/> *Brigadier General [[Alexander Cummings McWhorter Pennington, Jr.|A. C. M. Pennington]], July 4, 1898 – March 22, 1899<ref name="Report 1899"/><ref name="Cullum IV">{{cite book|last1=Cullum|first1=George Washington|author-link1=George Washington Cullum|title=Biographical register of the officers and graduates of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., from its establishment, in 1802 : [Supplement, volume IV 1890-1900]|date=1901|publisher=The Riverside Press|location=Cambridge|page=119|url=http://digital-library.usma.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p16919coll3/id/14739/rec/8|access-date=November 6, 2015}}</ref> *Brigadier General [[Royal T. Frank]], March 22, 1899<ref>{{cite news |work=The Sun |location=New York, NY |date=March 25, 1899 |url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030272/1899-03-25/ed-1/seq-2/ |title=Gen. Frank gets a new Command}}</ref> - October 18, 1899 (his retirement date)<ref>{{cite news |work=Virginian-Pilot |location=Norfolk, VA |date=January 6, 1900 |url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86071779/1900-01-06/ed-1/seq-11/ |title=Twelve Brigadiers}}</ref> ... *Brigadier General [[Thomas H. Barry]], December 1903<ref name=reestablished>{{cite news |work=The Gainesville Star |location=Gainesville, FL |date=December 22, 1903 |url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn95047242/1903-12-22/ed-1/seq-2/ |title=Barry Supplants Hains}}</ref> – May 15, 1905<ref name="Report 1905">{{cite book|title=War Department Annual Reports|date=1905|publisher=Government Printing Office|location=Washington, D.C.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xOU0hApUFhEC|access-date=November 17, 2015}}</ref> *Brigadier General [[James F. Wade]], May 15, 1905<ref>{{cite news |work=Evening Star |location=Washington, DC |date=May 17, 1905 |url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1905-05-17/ed-1/seq-2/ |title=To Join Russian Army}}</ref> - April 6, 1906<ref>{{cite news |work=Evening Star |location=Washington, DC |date=March 23, 1906 |url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1906-03-23/ed-1/seq-6/ |title=To Command Gulf Department}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |work=Gainesville Daily Sun |location=Gainesville, FL |date=April 6, 1906 |url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn95026977/1906-04-06/ed-1/seq-6/ |title=Will Assume New Duties}}</ref> *Brigadier General [[William P. Duvall]], April 6, 1906 - February 18, 1907<ref>{{cite news |work=The Sun |location=New York, NY |date=February 19, 1907 |url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030272/1907-02-19/ed-1/seq-4/ |title=Army and Navy Orders}}</ref> *Brigadier General [[Winfield Scott Edgerly]], March 3, 1907 – July 13, 1907 *Brigadier General [[John M. K. Davis]], July 14, 1907 – January 31, 1908<ref name="Biographical">{{cite web |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/America/United_States/Army/USMA/Cullums_Register/2172*.html |title=John M. K. Davis in Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the United States Military Academy, Volumes III-VI |last=Thayer |first=Bill |website=Bill Thayer's Web Site |publisher=Bill Thayer |location=Chicago, IL |date=February 20, 2014 |access-date=July 17, 2022}}</ref> *Brigadier General [[Ramsay D. Potts (brigadier general)|Ramsay D. Potts]], July 1, 1908 – December 23, 1908<ref name="Report 1909">{{cite book|title=War Department Annual Reports|date=1909|publisher=Government Printing Office|location=Washington, D.C.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AAUSAAAAYAAJ|access-date=November 17, 2015}}</ref> *Colonel George A. Dodd, [[12th Cavalry Regiment]], December 23, 1908 – January 16, 1909<ref name="Report 1909"/> *Brigadier General [[Ramsay D. Potts (brigadier general)|Ramsay D. Potts]], January 16, 1909 – April 24, 1909<ref name="Report 1909"/> *Colonel J. T. Van Orsdale, [[17th Infantry Regiment (United States)|17th Infantry Regiment]], April 24, 1909 – May 28, 1909<ref name="Report 1909"/> *Brigadier General [[Albert Leopold Mills|A. L. Mills]], May 28, 1909 – June 3, 1909<ref name="Report 1909"/> *Colonel J. T. Van Orsdale, 17th Infantry Regiment, June 3, 1909 – June 27, 1909<ref name="Report 1909"/> *Brigadier General A. L. Mills, June 27, 1909<ref name="Report 1909"/> - January 15, 1912<ref>{{cite news |work=El Paso Herald |location=El Paso, TX |date=January 15, 1912 |url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn88084272/1912-01-15/ed-1/seq-8/ |title=Witherspoon to be sent to Atlanta}}</ref> *Brigadier General [[William Wallace Wotherspoon|William W. Wotherspoon]], January 15, 1912 - August 17, 1912 *Brigadier General [[Robert K. Evans]], August 17, 1912<ref>{{cite news |work=Evening Star |location=Washington, DC |date=August 17, 1912 |url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1912-08-17/ed-1/seq-7/ |title=Army Assignments}}</ref> - March 1914<ref>{{cite news |work=Evening Times-Republican |location=Marshalltown, Iowa |date= March 10, 1914 |url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85049554/1914-03-10/ed-1/seq-5/ |title=Southern General Who Heads Department of the East}}</ref> <!-- ====Activities====

====Deactivation==== -->

==References== {{reflist|2}}

==Further reading== *{{cite book|title=History of the administration of the department of the Gulf in the year 1862: With an account of the capture of New Orleans and a sketch of the previous career of the general, civil and military|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HldacgAACAAJ|year=1866|publisher=Ticknor and Fields}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20170724163254/http://louisdl.louislibraries.org/cdm/ref/collection/AAW/id/341 Proclamation, Headquarters, Department of the Gulf, New Orleans, May 1st, 1862] *{{cite book|author1=United States. Army. Dept. Of The Gulf |author2=United States. Army. Dept. of the Gulf (1862-1865)|title=General Orders from Headquarters, Department of the Gulf, Issued by Major-General B F Butler, from May 1st, 1862, to the Present Time|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1J5DcAAACAAJ|date=June 2010|publisher=BiblioBazaar|isbn=978-1-175-53110-0}} *{{cite book|author=Augustine Joseph Hickey Duganne|title=Camps and prisons: Twenty months in the department of the Gulf|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ClRe_jAFaeQC|year=1865|publisher=J. P. Robens|isbn=9780608426655}}

==External links== *[https://www.loc.gov/item/2006628340/ Map of the military Department of the Gulf] *[http://www.history.army.mil/books/amh/amh-12.htm Civil War - Use Withheld from Grant] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171219161910/https://history.army.mil/books/AMH/AMH-12.htm |date=December 19, 2017 }} *[http://www.civil-war.net/pages/dyers_western_departments_and_armies.asp Constitution during the Civil War] *[http://www.ohiocivilwarcentral.com/entry.php?rec=1344 Department of the Gulf from Ohio Civil War] *[http://www.nypl.org/blog/2011/11/18/ussc-processing-project-department-gulf NYPL Blog of Sanitary Commission] *''[https://books.google.com/books?id=PjicJWUQhPYC&pg=PA496 The Civil War in Louisiana]'' *[https://dmna.ny.gov/historic/reghist/civil/infantry/153rdInf/153rdInfMain.htm 153rd NY Infantry Regiment] *[https://books.google.com/books?id=9t0SAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA228 The photographic history of the Civil War, Volume 10] *[http://www.floridareenactorsonline.com/confederate-units.html Department of the Gulf Reenactors] *[http://www.civil-war.net/searchshsp2.asp?search=Graduates%20of%20West%20Point%20Serving%20in%20the%20CSA%20Army Dept of the Gulf, CSA] *[https://jubiloemancipationcentury.wordpress.com/2011/01/24/confederate-secretary-of-war-blacks-cant-be-soldiers-unless-they-can-pass-for-white/ Use of Negros by CSA] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20151126114952/http://www.alabama37th.com/History-i.htm History Part IX] *''[https://books.google.com/books?id=cjxKAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA350 The Confederate Soldier in the Civil War, 1861-1865]''

[[Category:Departments and districts of the United States Army|Gulf]] [[Category:Government agencies established in 1898]] [[Category:1862 establishments in the United States]]