XXII Corps (ACW)

Infobox Military Unit
unit_name = XXII Corps


caption = Badge of the 3rd Division of the XXII Corps [http://www.members.tripod.com/~howardlanham/linkgr3/link151.html|The 1st Division badge consisted of an identical badge in red, 2nd Division in white with a blue background.] ]
dates= February 2, 1863 — June 26, 1865
country = United States
allegiance = Union Army
branch =
type = Infantry and Cavalry
command_structure=
size =
partof = Department of Washington
garrison=
garrison_label=
nickname=
patron=
motto=
colors_label=
march=
mascot=
equipment=
equipment_label=
anniversaries=
decorations=
battles= Eastern Theater:
• Valley Campaigns of 1864 • Battle of Fort Stevens
• Skirmishes with Mosby's Rangers
commanders = Major General Samuel P. Heintzelman,
Major General Christopher C. Augur
colors = White background, red badge (1st Division)
Blue background, white badge (2nd Division)
White background, blue badge (3rd Division)
battle_honours=
commander1= Major General Samuel P. Heintzelman
commander1_label= First Commander
commander2= Major General Christopher C. Augur
commander2_label= Second Commander
commander3= Major General John G. Parke
commander3_label= Third Commander
notable_commanders=

XXII Corps was a corps in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was created on February 2, 1863, to consist of all troops garrisoned in Washington, D.C., [http://www.civilwararchive.com/CORPS/22ndcorp.htm History — XXII Corps] ] 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.

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.

History

Civil War Armies at the time took their name from the Department that it was born out of. This is the reason for the naming of the Army of the Potomac, born out of the Department of the Potomac [http://www.civilwarhome.com/armyofpotomac.htm History — Army of the Potomac] ] . At the time of the war, the Union, being very urban, was impressed with rural splendor, hence many, but not all, names of and Armies named for rivers that the Army was expected to fight near. In opposition, the Confederacy, being rural, named most of their Armies for geographic areas and states.

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 destablished 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. [Boatner, p.257]

Department of Washington, D.C.

Constituted April 9, 1861, to include Washington, D.C. to its original boundaries of Arlington, 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 Charles 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.Boatner, p. 893]

Department of the Potomac

The Department of the Potomac, formed July 25, 1861 and destablished 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 and 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.Boatner, p. 664]

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. [ [http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/moa/pageviewer?frames=1&cite=http%3A%2F%2Fcdl.library.cornell.edu%2Fcgi-bin%2Fmoa%2Fmoa-cgi%3Fnotisid%3DANU4519-0002&coll=moa&view=50&root=%2Fmoa%2Fwaro%2Fwaro0002%2F&tif=00012.TIF&pagenum=607 General Orders No. 12] ] 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.

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. [Boatner, p.680]

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.

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.

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 ordinance testing as well as many other duties were taken over by the quartermasters of the Washington Department. [ [http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/civilwar/hrs1-6.htm Maintenance of the Defenses of Washington, D.C.] ] 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.

XXII Corps

A Corps is a grouping of two to six divisions, providing a level of the chain of command typically commanded by a Major General. Corps were first created by an Act of Congress on July 17, 1862, but Major General George B. McClellan had instituted them in the spring of 1862. Before this time, the formations were known as either "Wings" or "Grand Divisions". Most Corps came under the operational command of an Army, but the XXII Corps, did not.

XXII Corps was formed as a Corps under the Department of Washington on February 2, 1863. 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.

Battles

Mosby's Raids

During the time of existence of the 43rd Battalion Virginia Cavalry, better known as Mosby's Rangers, Mosby's Command, or Mosby's Raiders, commanded by Colonel John S. Mosby, made many forays in the area known as "Mosby's Confederacy" which extended from Loudoun County to Fairfax County, Virginia. Many of the raids it performed came into the area protected by XXII Corps, and many skirmishes with Brigadier General William Gamble's Cavalry Division [http://www.gdg.org/Research/OOB/Union/July1-3/wgamble.html Biography — William Gamble] ] , as well as various other XXII Corps units. [ [http://www.civilwararchive.com/Unreghst/unpaart1.htm#5th History — 5th Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery] ] During its reign, Mosby's Raiders captured Brigadier General Edwin H. Stoughton (then commanding the 2nd Vermont Brigade) [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=stoughton&GSfn=edwin&GSbyrel=all&GSdyrel=all&GSob=n&GRid=22652& Biography — Brigadier General E.H. Stoughton] ] , cut telegraph wires during Early's Valley Campaign and numerous raids against rail lines and supply stations. [Boatner, p. 571]

Battle of Fort Stevens

The corps took part in the defense of Washington during Jubal Early's Washington Raid of 1864, playing a major role in the defense of Fort Stevens on July 11, 1864. Hardin's Division held the skirmish lines and engaged in small engagements, suffering 73 killed and wounded. The following day, Early found the works held by veteran soldiers of Major General Horatio Wright's VI Corps and Brevet Brigadier General William Emory's XIX Corps. After making a small fight, Early would withdraw, crossing back into Virginia the next day.

Command history

=Connecticut=

=Illinois=

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New Hampshire

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ee also

*Washington, D.C. in the American Civil War
*List of corps of the United States
*Lists of American Civil War Regiments by State
*Baltimore riot of 1861
*First Bull Run Union order of battle
*Field artillery in the American Civil War
*Siege artillery in the American Civil War
*Infantry in the American Civil War
*Military leadership in the American Civil War#The Union
*Habeas corpus#Suspension during the Civil War and Reconstruction

References

* Boatner, Mark M. III, "The Civil War Dictionary: Revised Edition", David McKay Company, Inc., 1984.
* [http://books.google.com/books?id=Fs0Ajlnjl6AC&pg=PA488&lpg=PA488&dq=%22xxii+corps%22+%22civil+war%22&source=web&ots=QbGlqYpvfR&sig=5q4KiOdyybfN2mmYgJ87mujY9wY#PPA488,M1|* Eicher, John H., and Eicher, David J., "Civil War High Commands", Stanford University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8047-3641-3]
* Fox, William F., [http://www.civilwarhome.com/foxspref.htm "Regimental Losses in the American Civil War"] , reprinted by Morningside Bookshop, Dayton, Ohio, 1993, ISBN 0-685-72194-9.
* [http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/moa/browse.monographs/waro.html "The War of the Rebellion: Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies"] at Making of America, Cornell University

Notes

External links

* [http://www.civilwararchive.com/CORPS/22ndcorp.htm XXII Corps history]