Federal Department of Virginia in the American Civil War

May 1861- July 1863

The department was created on May 22, 1861, with headquarters at Fort Monroe, Virginia. It originally consisted of little more than Fort Monroe and nearby Camp Hamilton. When McClellan’s Army of the Potomac landed on the Peninsula it used Fort Monroe as a supply base, but the Department of Virginia and its troops remained independent under General Wool. In 1862 Norfolk and Suffolk across Hampton Roads were occupied by Federal troops from the Department. When the Army of the Potomac returned north in August of 1862 after the McClellan’s failed campaign the Virginia Peninsula as far as Yorktown was occupied and administered by the Department.

In April of 1863 Lee sent two divisions of the Army of Northern Virginia under Lieutenant General James Longstreet in an attempt to capture Suffolk, which protected the Federal base at Norfolk. In a month of fighting and siege Longstreet was unsuccessful in capturing the city, and was recalled to Lee’s army when Hooker launched his Chancllorsville campaign.

Once the threat to Suffolk and Norfolk was ended many of the Federal troops were sent elsewhere and the Department of Virginia was merged into the Department of Virginia and North Carolina.

Month to month organization of the Department of Virginia May 1861- July 1863

1861: May • June • July • August • September • October • November • December

1862: January • February • March • April • May • June • July • August • September • October • November • December

1863: January • February • March • April • May • June • July

Commanders of the Department of Virginia


Major General Benjamin Butler May-August 1861	Major General John E. Wool August 1861-June 1862	Major General John Dix June 1862-July 1863

Timeline of the Department of Virginia

1861
May 22	The Department of Virginia establshed under Major General Benjamin Butler with headquarters at Fort Monroe, Virginia.
August 17	Major General John E. Wool replaced Butler
1862
March 8-9	Battle of Hampton Roads.
March 18	Major General George McClellan’s Army of the Potomac begins to arrive by ship from Alexandria to begin the Peninsula Campaign. The Department of Virginia served as a supply base for McClellan’s army but its 12,000 troops remained independent.
May 10	Norfolk was occupied by Federal troops from the Department.
June 2	Major General John A. Dix replaced Major General Wool.
1863
April 11 – May 4	Siege of Suffolk Confederate forces sent from Lee’s army under Lieutenant General James Longstreet besieged the Union post. Longstreet was unsuccessful in capturing Norfolk, and his two divisions returned to Lee’s army during the Chancellorsville campaign. But the Confederate divisions of Hood and Pickett did not return in time to take part in the Battle of Chancellorsville.
July 15	The Department of Virginia merged into the Department of Virginia and North Carolina.