District of Oregon (military)

The District of Oregon was a Union Army command department formed during the American Civil War.

Civil War era military outposts in the Pacific Northwest

History

The District of Oregon was part of the independent Department of the Pacific reconstituted by consolidating the Departments of California and Oregon, which was created on January 15, 1861 when the Army was reorganized. The district was created the same day, and comprised the same territory as the former Department of Oregon, the state of Oregon (except for the areas of the Rogue River and Umpqua River in Southern Oregon) and Washington Territory, with headquarters at Fort Vancouver in Washington Territory.

On March 3, 1865 the district included Idaho Territory after it was formed from the eastern part of Washington Territory. On March 14, 1865, the District of Oregon was extended to include the entire state of Oregon.^[1]

On July 27, 1865 the Military Division of the Pacific was created under Major General Henry W. Halleck, replacing the Department of the Pacific. It consisted of the Department of the Columbia replacing the District of Oregon and the Department of California. George Wright, now a U. S. Army Brigadier General, was assigned to command the new Department of the Columbia.^[2]

District of Oregon commanders

• Colonel George Wright, January 15, 1861 – September 13, 1861.
• Colonel Benjamin L. Beall, September 13, 1861 – October 23, 1861.
• Lieutenant Colonel Albemarle Cady, October 23, 1861 – May 5, 1862
• Colonel Justus Steinberger May 5, 1862 – July 7, 1862
• Brigadier General Benjamin Alvord, July 7, 1862 – March 23, 1865
• Colonel Reuben F. Maury, March 23, 1865 – June 27, 1865^[3][4]

Posts in the District of Oregon

• Fort Colville, Washington Territory, 1859–1882
• Fort Steilacoom, Washington Territory, (1849–1868)
• Fort Dalles, Oregon, 1850–1867
• Fort Vancouver, Washington Territory 1853–1879
• Fort Bellingham, Washington Territory (1855–1860)
• Fort Cascades, Washington Territory (1855–1861)
• Fort Yamhill, Oregon (1856–1866)
• Fort Townsend, Washington Territory (1856–1861)
• Fort Walla Walla, Washington Territory 1856–1911
• Fort Hoskins, Oregon, 1857–1865
• Siletz Blockhouse, Oregon 1858–1866 ^[5]
• Camp Pickett, Washington Territory (1859–1863)
  • Post of San Juan, Washington Territory (1863–1867)
• Camp Chehalis, Washington Territory (1860–1861)
• Camp Baker, Oregon 1862–1865,^[6]
• Camp Barlow, Oregon, 1862 ^[7]
  • Camp Clackamas, Oregon, 1862 ^[8]
• Post at Cape Disappointment, Washington Territory, 1862–1864 ^[9]
  • Fort Cape Disappointment, Washington Territory, 1864–1875
• Camp Lapwai, Idaho Territory, 1862
  • Fort Lapwai, Idaho Territory, 1862–1884
• Fort Boise, Idaho Territory, 1863–1912
• Post at Grand Ronde Indian Agency or Fort Lafayette, Oregon 1863,^[10]
• Fort Hall, Idaho Territory, 1863–1865
• Fort Klamath, Oregon, 1863–1890
• Fort at Point Adams, Oregon 1863–? ^[11]
• Camp Alvord, Oregon 1864–1866 ^[12]
• Camp Dalgren, Oregon 1864 ^[13]
• Camp Henderson, Oregon, 1864–1866 ^[14]
• Camp Lincoln, Oregon 1864^[15]
• Camp Maury, Oregon 1864^[16]
• Camp Russell, Oregon 1864–1865 ^[17]
• Camp Watson, Oregon 1864–1869
• Camp Colfax, Oregon, 1865, 1867^[18]
• Camp Currey, Oregon 1865–1866 ^[19]
• Camp Lander, Idaho Territory, 1865–1866 ^[20]
• Camp Logan, Oregon 1865–1868 ^[21]
• Camp Lyon, Idaho 1865–1869 ^[22][23]
• Camp Polk, Oregon 1865–1866 ^[24]
• Camp Reed, Idaho Territory 1865–1866 ^[25]
• Camp on Silvies River, Oregon ? ^[26]
• Camp Wright, Oregon 1865–1866 ^[27]
• Old Camp Warner, Oregon 1866–1867^[28]
• Camp Warner, Oregon 1867–1874^[29]

See also

• Idaho in the American Civil War
• Montana in the American Civil War
• Oregon in the American Civil War
• Washington in the American Civil War
• Snake War

References

1. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume L, CHAPTER LXII, pp. 2–6. eHistory at The Ohio State University
2. Official Records of the War of the Rebellion, SERIES I—VOLUME XLVI, GENERAL ORDERS No. 118. June 27, 1865, Military Division of the United States After The Civil War
3. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume L, CHAPTER LXII
4. David J. Eicher, Civil War High Commands, Stanford University Press, 2001, pg.841
5. A two-story blockhouse built to protect the Siletz Indian Agency. It was a subpost of Fort Hoskins. Originally called Yaquina Bay Blockhouse (1856–1858) located at the mouth of the Yaquina River near South Beach. It was dismantled and floated upriver in 1858. Located at Siletz, Oregon.
6. Garrisoned by the Oregon Volunteer Cavalry to observe Confederate sympathizers in nearby Jacksonville, Oregon. Located one-half mile west of Phoenix, Oregon. Possibly also known as Camp Phoenix.
7. Charles Henry Carey, History of Oregon, The Pioneer Historical Publishing Company, Portland, 1922, pg. 663. Near A temporary Civil War encampment for the Oregon Volunteers, located two miles north of Oregon City, Oregon. The entire garrison moved to Camp Clackamas.
8. A temporary state militia post that lasted only one month. Located at the mouth of the Clackamas River about one mile north of Oregon City. Replaced Camp Barlow.
9. Post at Cape Disappointment was at the north mouth of the Columbia River, Washington Territory, later renamed Fort Cape Disappointment 1864 and Fort Canby in 1875.
10. Officially known as Post at Grand Ronde Indian Agency, it was a temporary outpost of Fort Yamhill built by Oregon Volunteers at Grand Ronde, Oregon.
11. Carey, History of Oregon, pg. 672. Located on the south shore of the mouth of the Columbia River. Later named Fort Stevens.
12. Carey, History of Oregon, pg. 671. On Horse Creek in the Alvord Valley, east of the Steen Mountain Range
13. Carey, History of Oregon, pg. 671 Located slightly east of Camps Maury and Polk.
14. Carey, History of Oregon, pg. 671. This camp, named for Oregon's representative in Congress at that time, was established early in 1864, near the mouth of Jordan Creek, 330 miles from Walla Walla, and was the center of operations in Southeastern Oregon for some time afterward.
15. Carey, History of Oregon, pg. 671 Near Canyon City, on the headwaters of John Day River.
16. Carey, History of Oregon, pg. 671. On the Deschutes River near the mouth of Crooked River.
17. A Civil War training camp once located in Salem, Oregon, at the state fairgrounds, present-day 17th Street and Silverton Road.
18. Carey, History of Oregon, pg. 671. At the Willow Creek crossing of the Canyon City – Boise Road, south of Baker City.
19. Carey, History of Oregon, pg. 671. On Silver Creek.
20. Carey, History of Oregon, pg. 671. On the Snake River, at the site of Old Fort Hall in S. Idaho Territory.
21. Carey, History of Oregon, pg. 671 East of Canyon City, on the road to Colfax.
22. Carey, History of Oregon, pg. 671 In the Jordan Valley, east of the Owyhee River.
23. IDAHO STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY REFERENCE SERIES, CAMP LYON, Number 357 July 16, 1965
24. Carey, History of Oregon, pg. 671. On the Deschutes River near the mouth of Crooked River.
25. Carey, History of Oregon, pg. 671,674. On the Snake River, near Salmon Falls, in S. Idaho Territory.
26. Carey, History of Oregon, pg. 674. Located on the on Silvies River, north of Malheur Lake.
27. Carey, History of Oregon, pg. 671. North of Harney Lake. A temporary state militia encampment on the Silvies River, possibly to the south of Burns, Oregon. . Originally Adobe Camp (1865), a 25-yard square sod-walled post, was located here before being replaced after only two weeks.
28. Carey, History of Oregon, pg. 671. Located east of Warner Lakes. A Federal camp originally located 20 miles east of Warner (Hart) Lake. It was moved in 1867
29. Carey, History of Oregon, pg. 671. Located west of Warner Lakes.