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Having searched through the "Official Records," the "Revised
Regulations for the Army of the United States (1861)" and Col. Scott's
"Military Dictionary," I can find no concise description or definition
of the duties of a commander of a military territorial/geographic
department (e.g., Department of the Ohio). Please, could anyone point
me towards a possible source describing the duties, powers, or
authority of a military department commander? I suspect it MIGHT have
been enshrined in law, but surely the information was stated in a
general order or regulation of some flavor in order to implement
whatever Congress had had to say on the matter.
It is clear that their authority was huge within their territorial
jursidiction, but the job was different than an army command...which
they often held simultaneously.
For instance, while Schofield was commander of the Department of the
Ohio, he was also the commander of the Army of the Ohio. Yet, while
operating in Tennessee during Hoods counter-invasion in 1864, he was
reporting to Thomas...was that because he was operating in Thomas'
department (of the Cumberland)...or because Sherman had delegated all
of this authorities to Thomas in the rest of the Military Division of
the Mississippi wherever Sherman wasn't...or a little of both? Dyer's
Compendium doesn't bother to note this delegation of powers, nor does
it happen to record that the Army of the Ohio existed in 1863-5
(entirely missed it, actually!), or that Stoneman ran the Department
of the Ohio NOT in his own right in late 1864, but with delegated
powers from Schofield. The big question relates to who gets to tell
whom what to do and through what channel.
Most gratefully - Shane
Regulations for the Army of the United States (1861)" and Col. Scott's
"Military Dictionary," I can find no concise description or definition
of the duties of a commander of a military territorial/geographic
department (e.g., Department of the Ohio). Please, could anyone point
me towards a possible source describing the duties, powers, or
authority of a military department commander? I suspect it MIGHT have
been enshrined in law, but surely the information was stated in a
general order or regulation of some flavor in order to implement
whatever Congress had had to say on the matter.
It is clear that their authority was huge within their territorial
jursidiction, but the job was different than an army command...which
they often held simultaneously.
For instance, while Schofield was commander of the Department of the
Ohio, he was also the commander of the Army of the Ohio. Yet, while
operating in Tennessee during Hoods counter-invasion in 1864, he was
reporting to Thomas...was that because he was operating in Thomas'
department (of the Cumberland)...or because Sherman had delegated all
of this authorities to Thomas in the rest of the Military Division of
the Mississippi wherever Sherman wasn't...or a little of both? Dyer's
Compendium doesn't bother to note this delegation of powers, nor does
it happen to record that the Army of the Ohio existed in 1863-5
(entirely missed it, actually!), or that Stoneman ran the Department
of the Ohio NOT in his own right in late 1864, but with delegated
powers from Schofield. The big question relates to who gets to tell
whom what to do and through what channel.
Most gratefully - Shane