XXII Corps, Union Army

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: [unknown]
Surname/tag: US_Civil_War

XXII Corps was formed as a Corps under the Department of Washington. It was created on February 2, 1863, to consist of all troops garrisoned in Washington, D.C., and included three infantry divisions and one of cavalry (under Judson Kilpatrick, which left to join the Army of the Potomac during the Gettysburg Campaign). Many of its units were transferred to the Army of the Potomac during Grant's Overland Campaign.

As was tradition, its commanders doubled as commanders of the Department of Washington. During its time, many of the regiments that were fought out arrived to reconstitute and would then be transferred back out, most of them from or to the Army of the Potomac.

This Corps did not include the many regiments that passed through Washington, D.C. on the way to the front or away from it. Nor does it include the many regiments from the Army of the Potomac, Army of Georgia, and Army of the Tennessee that encamped in the area to participate in the Grand Review of the Armies.

Active=February 2, 1863 – June 26, 1865

Country=United States

Allegiance=Union Army

Type=Infantry and Cavalry

Colors=White background, red badge (1st Division) ; Blue background, white badge (2nd Division) ; White background, blue badge (3rd Division)

Engagements = Eastern Theater:

• Valley Campaigns of 1864
• Battle of Fort Stevens
• Skirmishes with Mosby's Rangers

Commanders

First Commander=Major General Samuel P. Heintzelman

Second Commander=Major General Christopher C. Augur

Third Commander=Major General John G. Parke

Contents 1 Department of the East 2 Department of Washington, D.C. 3 Department of the Potomac 4 Military District of Washington 5 Department of the Rappahannock 6 Defenses of Washington, D.C. 7 Department of Washington 8 Sources

Department of the East

Comprising all of the United States east of the Mississippi River, about half of which became Confederate territory. Formed on January 1, 1861, there were many Departments formed within its borders, and finally disestablished August 17, 1861. Its primary focus was to employ a chain of command to all units until the smaller departments could be formed. Headquartered in Albany, New York , it was commanded by Major General John E. Wool.^[1]

Department of Washington, D.C.

Constituted April 9, 1861, to include Washington, D.C. to its original boundaries of Arlington County Virginia, and the state of Maryland as far as Bladensburg. It was formed to center on the defense of the national capital, and to differentiate it from the Department of the East. The department was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Chales F. Smith from April 10 through April 28, 1861, and Colonel (later Brigadier General) Joseph K. Mansfield]from April 28, 1861, through the Department's dissolution on July 25, 1861.^[2]

Department of the Potomac

The Department of the Potomac, formed July 25, 1861 and disestablished August 16, 1861, provide for the defense of the city of Washington, D.C. This Department was entrusted with the duty of protecting the United States' capital, with the construction of fortifications. Before the dissolution of the Department of the Potomac, most of the fortifications in the Washington, D.C., area were constructed, mainly by the regiments that were garrisoned there, most of whom had gone on to form the Army of the Potomac. Commanded by Major General George B. McClellan.^[3]

Military District of Washington

A Military District during the Civil War was a formation within a Department for the purpose of reporting directly to the department commander for administrative affairs.

The Military District of Washington was organized June 26, 1862, to include Washington, D.C.; Alexandria, Virginia; and Fort Washington, Maryland.^[4] It was a District under the Department of the Potomac. It was incorporated into the Department of the Rappahanock from April 4, 1862 through June 26, 1862, when it again became an independent command. On February 2, 1863 it merged into the Department of Washington. Commanded by Brigadier General James S. Wadsworth.^[2]

Department of the Rappahannock

The Department of the Rappahannock was formed April 4, 1862, from the original I Corps of the Army of the Potomac, to control the area east of the Blue Ridge Mountains to the Potomac River, the Fredricksburg and Richmond Rail Road and the District of Columbia expanded to include the area between the Potomac and Patuxent Rivers. It was merged into the Army of Virginia as III Corps on June 26, 1862, with Major General Irwin McDowell as its commander.^[5]

Defenses of Washington, D.C.

The Defenses of Washington D.C. was a short lived command, from September 2, 1862 through February 2, 1863. used for the consolidation of all the defenses of the area including and surrounding Washington, D.C. Its main focus was on the maintaining of the fortifications in extending in a ring around Washington, D.C.^[2]

Department of Washington

On February 2, 1863, the Department of Washington was re-formed to encompass the area from north of the Potomac from Piscataway Creek to Annapolis Junction (near present-day Fort Meade), west to the Monocacy River, south to the Bull Run Mountains by way of Goose Creek, then east to Occoquan River. The size of it would expand throughout the war to include the entirety of the counties in the surrounding states of Maryland and Virginia.^[2]

The Quartermaster Department of the Department of Washington was the largest Quartermaster Department in the Union Army. Duties as varied as building, maintenance of fortifications, supplies, road building, transportation, and ordnance testing as well as many other duties were taken over by the quartermasters of the Washington Department.^[6] Washington, D.C. also served as a transship point for supplies and materiel destined to both the Army of the Potomac and Army of the James.

The XXII Corps was assigned to:

Primary subordinate units were:

For personnel assigned to the XXII Corps headquarters unit, or to an unknown or subordinate unit that has no category, add to this category.

• Department of Washington

For the primary, peacetime category, see:

• XXII Corps

For more information on the XXII Corps during the United States Civil War See:

• Wikipedia:XXII_Corps_(Union_Army)

Sources

1. ↑ Boatner, p.257
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3} Boatner, p. 893
3. ↑ Boatner, p. 664
4. ↑ General Orders No. 12
5. ↑ Boatner, p.680
6. ↑ Maintenance of the Defenses of Washington, D.C.

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