Fort Stevens Union order of battle
The following Union Army units and commanders fought in the Battle of Fort Stevens of the American Civil War on July 11–12, 1864. The Confederate order of battle is listed separately.
Abbreviations used
Military rank
- MG = Major General
- BG = Brigadier General
- Col = Colonel
- Ltc = Lieutenant Colonel
- Maj = Major
- Cpt = Captain
Defenses of the Potomac River & Washington
- Chief of Engineers: Ltc Barton Stone Alexander
- Aide-de-Camp: Col Norton Parker Chipman[1]
Division | Brigade | Regiments and Other |
---|---|---|
Emergency Division[2]
|
First Brigade
|
|
Second Brigade |
| |
3rd Brigade
|
| |
Cavalry
|
|
VI Corps
Division | Brigade | Regiments and Others |
---|---|---|
First Division
|
1st Brigade |
|
2nd Brigade
|
| |
3rd Brigade
|
| |
Second Division
|
1st Brigade |
|
2nd Brigade (Vermont Brigade) |
| |
3rd Brigade
|
| |
Artillery | Artillery Brigade |
|
XIX Corps (Detachment)
Division | Brigade | Regiments and Others |
---|---|---|
First Division
|
1st Brigade
|
|
2nd Brigade |
| |
3rd Brigade
|
| |
Division Artillery |
| |
Second Division
|
3rd Brigade
|
|
4th Brigade
|
| |
XXII Corps and Department of Washington
Division | Brigade | Regiments and Others |
---|---|---|
Defenses North of the Potomac[11]
|
1st Brigade
|
|
2nd Brigade
|
| |
3rd Brigade
|
| |
Defenses South of the Potomac[12]
|
1st Brigade |
|
2nd Brigade
|
| |
3rd Brigade created 10 July
|
| |
4th Brigade created 2 July
|
| |
Cavalry |
| |
District of Washington
|
1st Veteran Reserve Brigade
|
|
Not brigaded[15]
|
| |
Cavalry Division[16]
|
1st Division
|
|
2nd Division
|
| |
3rd Division
|
| |
District of Alexandria[17]
|
2nd Veteran Reserve Brigade
|
|
Not brigaded |
|
Front Line Commanders
In addition to their own commands these officers supervised a section of Washington's fortifications during the battle.[18]
Commander | Line |
---|---|
Alexander M. McCook | Defenses of the Potomac River & Washington (overall command) |
Quincy A. Gillmore | Northeast Line: Fort Lincoln to Fort Totten (XIX Corps, Detachment) |
Montgomery C. Meigs | Northern Line: Fort Totten to Fort DeRussy (including Fort Stevens) (Quartermaster Corps) |
Martin D. Hardin | Northwest Line: Fort DeRussy to Fort Sumner (1st Division, XXII Corps) |
Horatio G. Wright | Reserve troops (VI Corps) |
References
- Eicher, John H., & Eicher, David J., Civil War High Commands, Stanford University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8047-3641-3.
- Official Records p.234
- Meigs' Official Report p. 255
- Eicher p. 231
- Briggs commanded about 600 troopers from the 2nd Division, Cavalry Corps, Army of the Potomac (Official Records)
- Official Records p. 550
- Gillmore commanded the XIX Corps detachment until July 13 when Brig. Gen. William H. Emory was assigned to command. Eicher p255.
- Official Records page 551
- Roughly 70 percent of the 47th Pennsylvania Infantry (companies A, C, D, E, F, H, and I under Col. Tilghman H. Good) was stationed at Fort Stevens long enough to see President Lincoln during his visit, but appears not to have been involved in the actual battle due to the timing of its arrival from Louisiana and quick re-direct to join the Union forces pursuing BG Jubal Early's Confederate troops in Maryland and Virginia's Shenandoah Valley, according to later recollections by John Peter Shindel Gobin, the 47th's final commanding officer (who was Company C's captain at the time the 47th was at Fort Stevens; see "A Voyage North and a Memorable Encounter with Abraham Lincoln," in 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers: One Civil War Regiment's Story). The bulk of the 47th fought under MG David Hunter in and around Snicker's Gap (Battle of Cool Spring, Virginia on July 18) while the 47th's other companies remained in Louisiana awaiting transport to the Eastern Theater. (Companies B, G and K did not arrive in Washington until July 28, and did not reconnect with the main part of the regiment until August 2 in Maryland at Monocacy.)
- While the 47th Pennsylvania was briefly stationed at Fort Stevens, this regiment was redirected toward the Union's effort to stop BG Jubal Early's Confederate advances in Maryland and Virginia and was, therefore, likely not involved in the actual battle of Fort Stevens; see "From Louisiana to Virginia: The Battle of Snicker's Gap and Service with the Army of the Shenandoah," in 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers: One Civil War Regiment's Story.
- First Brigade (BG Henry W. Birge) and Second Brigade (Col Edward Molineux) detached for duty in Virginia. The First Brigade participating in the First Battle of Deep Bottom (see First Deep Bottom Union order of battle)
- Official Records page 698
- Official Records page 700
- Official Records Chap XLIX p. 141
- Official Records page 568
- Official Records page 568
- Cavalry Division consisted of detachments belonging to the cavalry of the Army of the Potomac and Middle Military Division. Composition taken from August 1864 organization (Official Records Chap LV p.978)
- Official Records page 699
- Official Records page 232