1st
BULL RUN
The Army in 1861
Approximately 1,500 enlisted
1,080 officers
Of the 1,500 only 26 are known to have deserted to the
South*
The officers:
North
West Pointers=419; 16 resigned to join the South
Non-WP=129; none joined the South
South
West Pointers=330; 162 stayed in the U.S. Army
Non-WP=130; 1 stayed in US Army**
1st
BULL RUN
Army
spread across the frontier and stationed in harbor garrisons (Artillery)
2nd
U.S. Infantry
After Mexican
War
1848-1853
California
Companies
spread from Goose Lake Oregon to Yuma Arizona
1854
Stationed
at posts from Laramie, Wyoming to Ft. Leavenworth, KS
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BULL RUN
Leadership
Winfield
S.Scott Commanding General U.S. Army since 1841
Born
1786 near Petersburg, Virginia
Regular
Army since 1807
Commanded
Bde. In War of 1812
Commanded
U.S. Army Mexico City Expedition 1847
74 years
old at outbreak
1ST
BULL RUN
John Ellis Wool
Major General
Born NY
Veteran of 1812, Mexico
72 when war came
Robert Patterson
Major General
PA
Mexico
69 when war came
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BULL RUN
Only
Scott hade commanded anything larger than a brigade in war
Regiments
scattered in companies across the frontier
Never
came together even for practice
No
command experience
No staff
experience
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BULL RUN
Both
North and South had to depend on volunteers
Raised
at State level
Brought
into accordance with Army standards
Taken
into Federal Service
Retain
State designation
State
Officers*
ORGANIZATION
Company: Up to 100 men (though usually fewer) under the
command of a captain assisted by two lieutenants. Identified by letters A
through K (omitting J, to avoid confusion with I).
Regiment: The basic infantry unit, made up of ten
companies. Typically 400 to 800 men,
depending on recruiting, casualties, and sickness. Commanded by a colonel, with
a major serving as executive
officer.
ORGANIZATION
Individual states, through their adjutant generals, were
responsible for raising regiments and, to some extent, for equipping them.
After receiving some basic
training and drill instruction, a regiment would be mustered into federal
service, where it was designated by state name and numbered by seniority; thus,
for example, the First
Minnesota Infantry.
ORGANIZATION
In the early years of the war, prominent citizens took on
the expense of recruiting companies and were rewarded by being elected captain
of the group. The states assembled companies into regiments and appointed
officers to command them. This system led to considerable political
string-pulling, and both sides had many officers with little formal training.
Some proved adept at soldiering, but the majority were more interested in
furthering their careers. They caused many headaches for commanding officers in
the armies of both the North and the South.
ORGANIZATION
Division: Usually made up of four brigades, commanded by
a Brigadier General or a Major General and known by the name of its commander.
Corps (sometimes known as a "grand division"):
Several types of units grouped together—three or more infantry divisions and
several batteries of artillery, for example. Designated by a roman numeral or
by the name of the commanding major general.
ORGANIZATION
Army:
Two or more corps plus unattached units of artillery and cavalry. Armies on
both sides were known by geographic names, often the names of rivers (the Army
of the Potomac, the Army of the
Cumberland). Some had regional designations (the Army of Northern
Virginia).
ORGANIZATION
Another way of grouping the combatants is by infantry
(soldiers on foot), cavalry (soldiers on horseback), and artillery (soldiers
assigned to cannons). These groups formed units as follows:
Battery: The basic field or light artillery unit,
commanded by a captain and comprised of four to six cannons, 7-8 men to a
cannon. Batteries were divided into two-cannon sections, each under the command
of a lieutenant. Each cannon was under the command of a sergeant. Horses pulled
the cannons into battle on caissons; depending on the size of the battery and
the number and size of the guns, there would be anywhere from 45 to 98 horses.
ORGANIZATION
Cavalry:
Organized into regiments of from 10 to 12 companies referred to as troops. As
the war progressed, cavalry formations began to operate in divisions and later
in corps augmented with artillery.
Battalion: Groups of cavalry and infantry too few to make
up a regiment. In some cases (the First
Minnesota Veteran Volunteers, for example), a battalion was essentially a
reorganized regiment that had suffered so much attrition that it could no
longer act as a regiment. Under the
recruitment system of the time, the states preferred to form new regiments rather than furnish
replacement troops for the "old” ones.
1ST
BULL RUN
Even
before Ft. Sumter
Secessionists
in VA preparing
Expedition
to capture Fed. Arsenal at Harper’s Ferry
April 12
Ft Sumter
April 17
VA secedes
May
Southern capital move to Richmond VA approx. 100 miles south of D.C.
Confederate
forces mass around Manassas VA
1ST
BULL RUN
In his
physical condition Scott could not assume field command
Command
of Union Armies had been offered to Col. Robert Edward Lee USMA 1829 2/46
May-Scott
chooses Irvin McDowell
USMA
1838 23/45
McDowell
protests his troops are too green and so are his commanders and staff
1ST
BULL RUN
Press
and radical Republicans strident: “On to Richmond”
3 month
volunteer enlistments due to expire
Pressure
too much for Lincoln to withstand
Army ordered
south
Manassas