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The armies of the United States in the Civil War
By the provisions of the
Constitution, the
President of the
United States is commanderin-chief of the army and navy.
During the
Civil War, this function was exercised in no small degree by
President Lincoln.
As
Secretaries of War, he had in his cabinet
Simon Cameron, from March 4, 1861, to January 14, 1862; and
Edward M. Stanton, who served from January 15, 1862, throughout
Lincoln's administration, and also under
Johnson until May 28, 1868, except for a short interval during which he was suspended.
There were four
generals-in-chief of the armies:
Brevet Lieutenant-General Scott,
Major-Generals McClellan and
Halleck, and
Lieutenant-General Grant.
The last named has been considered in previous pages of this volume, but the lives and services of the other three are summarized below, in addition to the treatment received in other volumes.
(consult Index.) This is true of all the army leaders not separately described in the pages that follow.
The Index will refer to treatment in other volumes.
was born near
Petersburg, Virginia, June 13, 1786.
After being graduated from William and Mary College, he studied law, was admitted to the bar, and then entered the army at the age of twenty-two.
His career was one of bravery and incident.
He was captured by the
British, but exchanged in 1813, fought in the battle of
Lundy's Lane, and was severely wounded.
After the close of the war he was raised to the rank of major-general, and in 1841 succeeded
General Macomb as commander of the United States army.
In the war with
Mexico, he won great fame and was nominated by the
Whigs for
President in 1852; but he carried only four States.
In 1855, Congress revived the rank of lieutenant-general and conferred it by brevet upon
Scott, the appointment being dated March 29, 1847, the day of his brilliant capture of
Vera Cruz.
It was evident that his age and infirmities would prevent his taking any active part in the
Civil War, and on November 1, 1861, he was retired from the chief command of the army of the United States.
He wrote an autobiography, and made a European trip in 1864, dying May 29, 1866, at
West Point, New York.
（U. S.M. A. 1839) was born in
Westernville, New York, January 16, 1815.
He served in
California and on the
Pacific coast during the
Mexican War. He retired from the army with the rank of captain in 1854 to practise law, but after the outbreak of the
Civil War reentered the regular service, with the grade of major-general.
He was in command of the Department of Missouri (afterward Department of Mississippi) from November 19, 1861, to July 11, 1862, when he became general-in-chief of all the armies.
Grant succeeded him, March 9, 1864, and
Halleck was his chief-of-staff until the close of the war. He continued in the army as head, successively, of the Military Division of the James, the Department of the Pacific, and Department of the South until his death at
Louisville, Kentucky, January 9, 1872.
(U. S.M. A. 1846) was born in
Philadelphia, December 3, 1826.
He served in the Engineer Corps during the
Mexican War, distinguished himself by gallant service, and reached the rank of captain in 1855, having been so brevetted in 1847.
He became assistant instructor in practical engineering at
West Point, later accompanied the
Red River exploring expedition, and was sent on a secret mission to
Santo Domingo.
During the
Crimean War, he was one of a commission of three appointed by Congress to study and report upon the whole art of
European warfare.
He remained some time with the
British forces.
McClellan's report was a model of comprehensive accuracy and conciseness, and showed him to be a master of siege-tactics.
In 1857,
McClellan resigned his army commission to devote himself to the practice of engineering.
He became vice-president of the Illinois Central Railroad Company, and later president of the
Eastern Division of the
Ohio and Missouri Railroad.
He made his home in
Cincinnati until the outbreak of the
Civil War, when he tendered his services to his country and was made major-general of volunteers, April 21, 1861.
The Department of the Ohio was constituted, and
McClellan took command, May 13th, his appointment as major-general dating from the following day. He drove the
Confederates from
northwestern Virginia and saved that section to the
Union, an accomplishment of the most vital importance, since, in the event of the establishment of the
Confederacy, the
Union territory would have been contracted at
