From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

Army of West Virginia

Field	Value
unit_name	Army of West Virginia
dates	August 9, 1864 – December 19, 1864
country	United States
branch	[[Image:Seal of the United States Board of War and Ordnance.svg	25px]] United States Army
type	Field Army
battles	American Civil War
notable_commanders	Brig. Gen. George Crook
Col. Thomas Harris
Brig. Gen. Isaac Duval
Col. Joseph Thoburn
Col. J. Howard Kitching
Col. Rutherford B. Hayes
Brev. Maj. William McKinley

Col. Thomas Harris Brig. Gen. Isaac Duval Col. Joseph Thoburn Col. J. Howard Kitching Col. Rutherford B. Hayes Brev. Maj. William McKinley The Army of West Virginia served in the Union Army during the American Civil War and was the primary field army of the Department of West Virginia. It campaigned primarily in West Virginia, Southwest Virginia and in the Shenandoah Valley. It is noted for having two future U.S. presidents serve in its ranks: Rutherford B. Hayes and William McKinley, both from the 23rd Ohio Infantry. With fighting in the Valley ended, the Army of West Virginia's designation was discontinued.

History

Brigadier General George Crook was appointed to command the Department of West Virginia on July 25, 1864. At the time, Crook's field army was named Army of the Kanawha. On August 9, 1864, the field army of the Department of West Virginia was given the title "Army of West Virginia". This "army" would eventually consist of three divisions and for all practical purposes functioned as a corps in Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan's Army of the Shenandoah. This command has often been referred to as the VIII Corps. It should not be confused with the official Union VIII Corps, which was commanded by Maj. Gen. Lew Wallace and on guard duty along the B & O Railroad during this time. Crook led the army through the Shenandoah Valley Campaign and fought in all the major engagements.

The 1st Division was led by Col. Joseph Thoburn until he was killed in action at Cedar Creek. He was succeeded by Col. Thomas M. Harris. The 2nd "Kanawha" Division was led by Col. Isaac H. Duval until he was wounded at Third Winchester. Command of the division passed to Col. Rutherford B. Hayes who led the division at Cedar Creek. A Provisional Division led by Colonel J. Howard Kitching joined just prior to the battle of Cedar Creek. Exact composition of the Provisional Division is unknown other than approximately 1,000 soldiers including the 6th New York Heavy Artillery. Kitching was severely wounded at Cedar Creek and died the following year as a result. His place was taken by Col. Wilhelm Heine.

On December 19, 1864, with the fighting in the Valley over, the official designation as "Army of West Virginia" was discontinued but Crook retained command of the Department of West Virginia. Hayes' division remained in the Department of West Virginia while Thoburn's (Harris') and Kitching's (Heine's) divisions were transferred to the Army of the James.

Commander

Major General Franz Sigel
Major General David Hunter (21 May–8 Aug 1864)
Major General George Crook (8 Aug–19 Dec 1864)

Major battles

Battle of Cloyd's Mountain
Battle of New Market
Battle of Piedmont
Battle of Lynchburg
Battle of Cool Spring
Battle of Rutherford's Farm
Second Battle of Kernstown
Battle of Berryville
Battle of Opequon
Battle of Fisher's Hill
Battle of Cedar Creek

References

Civil War Home

References

Eicher does not confirm that the Army of West Virginia was synonymous with the VIII Corps in his book ''Civil War High Commands''.
"Cedar Creek Battlefield".

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

union-armies west-virginia-in-the-american-civil-war 1864-establishments-in-west-virginia military-units-and-formations-established-in-1864 military-units-and-formations-disestablished-in-1864

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about Army of West Virginia — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report