Department of the Gulf

Army of the Gulf

Introduction

The Department of the Gulf was created in 1862 and was headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was also referred to as the Army of the Gulf. It was an amalgamation of a wide variety of troops. The Department of the Gulf existed from 1862 through 1865 along the Gulf of Mexico coastline stretching from the panhandle of Florida to the border of Mexico at the Rio Grande in Texas. Several Army Corps were assigned to the department including the XIX, XIII, and XVI Corps. A significant number of U.S. Colored Troops were mustered within the department. Major battles included the capture on New Orleans, Bisland,  the siege of Port Hudson, the Red River Campaign, and the Mobile Campaign which included the capture of forts Morgan and Gaines and the sieges of Spanish Fort and Fort Blakeley. Numerous expeditions and raids into rebel held territory were also conducted. 

Brief History of the Department of the Gulf

​On February 23, 1862, the United States War Department issued General Orders No. 20, creating, "A new military department, to be called the Department of the Gulf." The new 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 B.F. Butler." On March 20, 1862, Butler arrived at Ship Island, Mississippi and issued General Orders No. 1 (Department of the Gulf) assuming his new command.

Shortly after Butler assumed command, U.S. naval forces, led by Admiral David G. Farragut, captured the port city of New Orleans on April 29, 1862. As commander of Union troops in the Department of the Gulf, Butler assumed the role of military governor of New Orleans after his soldiers marched into the city on May 1, 1862. During Butler's tenure, the forces under his command, now known as the Army of the Gulf, functioned primarily as an army of occupation.

Butler's hardline rule over the next five months engendered the enmity of citizens throughout the South and earned him the nickname of "the Beast." His harsh policies eventually forced President Lincoln to recall the controversial general. While in New Orleans, General Butler began to enlist men into colored regiments. The first were the Louisiana Native Guards. These became the 73rd, 74th, and 75th USCTs. The department contained many contraband camps as the number of escaped slaves into New Orleans increased enormously.

On November 9, 1862, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton issued General Order No. 184, replacing Butler with Major General Nathaniel P. Banks in command of the Department of the Gulf.

When Banks assumed control of the department, the Army of the Gulf consisted of only the 19th Corps. In 1863, the Army of the Gulf participated in three major engagements, the Battle of Fort Bisland (April 12, 1863–April 13, 1863), the Battle of Irish Bend (April 14, 1863), and the Siege of Port Hudson (May 22, 1863 – July 9, 1863)—all Union victories. 

Beginning in August 1863, the number of troops available to Banks began to swell. The 13th Army Corps moved down the Mississippi River to various parts of the Department of the Gulf. In February 1864, two divisions from the 16th Army Corps were also dispatched to the Department of the Gulf. Joint Army/Navy attempts to occupy Texas at Sabine Pass and Galveston ended in failure, but an expedition to the Rio Grande was successful. The strategic Island of Brazos Santiago near Brownsville was held for the duration of the war. 

With more than thirty thousand soldiers at Banks' disposal by the spring of 1864, Chief-of-Staff Henry Halleck ordered Banks to launch a campaign against the remaining Confederate forces in Louisiana. Despite Banks' reservations about the operation (as well as those of Ulysses S. Grant and William T. Sherman) the Army of the Gulf, supported by Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter's U.S. Naval forces, embarked upon the Red River Campaign on March 12, 1864. Two months later, Banks limped back to Louisiana after suffering decisive defeats at the Battle of Mansfield (April 8, 1864), and the Battle of Pleasant Hill (April 9, 1864).

Although the Red River Campaign was a military failure, it enabled critical votes to be cast in Louisiana and saw the greatest engineering feat of the war; Bailey' Dam. Shortly after Banks returned to southern Louisiana the U.S. War Department issued General Orders No. 192, on May 7, 1864. The order placed the Department of the Gulf under the dominion of the newly created Division of West Mississippi, commanded by Major General Edward Canby. Reduced to an administrative role, Bank would never again command troops in the field.

Following the Red River disaster, many of the troops in the Army of the Gulf were dispersed. On June 11, 1864, the 13th Corps designation was temporarily discontinued, and the troops were transferred to other commands. In July 1864, the 1st and 2nd Divisions of the 19th Corps were sent to Virginia to participate in the Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1864.

Units remaining in the department saw some further action during the summer of 1864. On August 3, U.S. Naval vessels put nearly 1,500 troops from the Army of the Gulf ashore near Mobile, Alabama then participated in the siege and capture of Fort Gaines (August 3-8, 1864) and the siege of capture of Fort Morgan (August 9-23).

On November 7, the 16th and 19th Corps, Army of the Gulf, were discontinued. On November 25, 1864, the units of the old 19th Corps still in Louisiana were transferred to the Reserve Corps, Army of the Gulf. Two divisions of the 16th Corps travelled to Nashville, Tennessee in time to participate in the Franklin-Nashville Campaign.

On February 18, 1865, the 13th and 16th Corps were reorganized. Under the command of Major General Edward Canby, those troops participated in the siege and capture of Fort Spanish (March 27-April 8, 1865) and Fort Blakely (April 2-9, 1865), which eventually led to the occupation of Mobile, Alabama. The storming of Fort Blakely is often cited as the last major infantry action of the Civil War east of the Mississippi River.

Elements of the Department of the Gulf were sent to occupy Texas in June, 1865. General Gordon Granger and regiments of the XIII Corps were sent to Galveston and the colored regiments of the XXV Corps from Virginia were sent to the south Texas to report to General Steele along the Rio Grande. This event is celebrated today as Juneteenth. Both the XIII and XVI corps were officially discontinued on July 20, 1865.

Source: https://www.ohiocivilwarcentral.com/army-of-the-gulf/

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