Pacific Division (United States Army)

Pacific Division of the U. S. Army was one of its superior administrative organizations that existed during the early 19th century and for a short time in the early 20th century.

Pacific Division 1848–1853^[1]

The first Pacific Division of the U.S. Army was created on October 10, 1848, as the Army reorganized its administration for the new territories acquired during the Mexican–American War. 10th Military Department (California) and 11th Military Department (Oregon Territory) were subordinated to the new Division that had its headquarters at Monterey. In June 1849 division headquarters moved to the California, for a month then moved to Benicia and the Benicia Arsenal in the upper San Francisco Bay in July 1849.

On May 17, 1851, the Army merged Military Departments 10 and 11 into the Pacific Division as the Army again reorganized its administration on the West Coast. Both of those military departments merged into the Pacific Division ceased to exist. Division headquarters directly administered affairs in California and Oregon Territory. On June 15, 1852, Pacific Division headquarters was moved from Benicia to the San Francisco.

On October 31, 1853, the Pacific Division was replaced by the Department of the Pacific, with headquarters at San Francisco. It was created when the Army abandoned the system of divisions and numbered departments, establishing departments having a descriptive name, and reporting directly to Army Headquarters.^[2]

Commander of the Pacific Division

• Major General Persifor Frazer Smith October 10, 1848–1849
• Brevet Major General Bennet Riley 1849–1851
• Brevet Brigadier General Ethan A. Hitchcock 1851–1853

Posts in Military Department 10

• Post at Monterey, Monterey, 1847–1852
  • Monterey Ordnance Depot 1852–1856^[3]
• Sonoma Barracks, Sonoma, 1847–1852.^[4]
• Camp Sonoma, near Sonoma, 1847–1851
  • Sonoma Post, near Sonoma, 1852–1858
• Camp San José, San Jose, 1848^[5]
• Camp Anderson, Sacramento, 1849^[6]
• Camp Stanislaus, Riverbank, California, 1849^[7]
• Camp Riley, near Otay, 1849^[8]
• Camp Salvation, Calexico, California, 1849^[9]
• Camp San Miguel, Mission San Miguel Arcángel, 1849–1851^[10]
• Benicia Barracks, Benicia, 1849–1898
• Fort Far West, near Marysville, 1849–1852.^[11]
• Angel Island Military Reservation, Angel Island 1850–1863^[12]
• Camp Rancho de Chino, Chino, 1850–1852^[13]
• Camp San Luis Rey, San Luis Rey, 1850–1852^[14]
• Camp Frederica, 7 miles from Durham's Ferry, near San Joaquin City, California, 1850^[15]
• Camp Vallecito, 1850, now Vallecito County Park^[16]
  • Vallecito Depot, 1851–1853
• Fort Defiance, near Winterhaven, 1850^[17]
• Camp Santa Isabel, Santa Ysabel, 1851–1852^[18]
• Camp McClear, Fresno, 1851^[19]
• New San Diego Depot, 1851–1866^[20]
• Fort Miller, 1851–1858^[21]
• Fort Yuma, 1851–1883
• Benicia Arsenal, Benicia, 1852–1964
• Camp Crane, Bass Lake, 1852^[22]
• Camp Fitzgerald, near Winterhaven, California 1852^[23]
• Camp Rancho del Jurupa, Rubidoux, 1852–1854^[24]
• Fort Reading, Redding, 1852–1856^[25][26]
• Fort Jones, Fort Jones, California, 1852–1858^[27]
• Fort Humboldt, 1853–1867

Posts in Military Department 11

• Fort Colville, Washington Territory, 1859–1882
• Fort Steilacoom, Washington Territory, (1849–1868)
• Fort Dalles, Oregon, 1850–1867
• Fort Vancouver, Washington Territory, 1849-1889

Pacific Division, 1904–07^[28]

Several Departments were again organized under new Divisions in 1903.^[29] The previous Division of the Pacific (1869-91) was re-established and formally stood up in 1904 as the Pacific Division with subordinate or related commands, including the Department of California (to include the Hawaiian Islands) and the Department of the Columbia.^[30] The Pacific Division was headquartered at Fort Mason, San Francisco.^[31] By the end of 1907, the War Department, under Secretary of War William Howard Taft from February 1, 1904 – June 30, 1908, had eliminated the echelon of administrative units called Divisions and subsequently the Pacific Division that same year.^[32]

Commander of the Pacific Division

• Major General Arthur MacArthur 1903 - 1907^[33]

References

1. "393.2 RECORDS OF DIVISIONS 1837-1907 & 1911-13". Records of United States Army Continental Commands 1821-1920. National Archives. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
2. Durwood Ball, Army Regulars on the Western Frontier, 1848–1861, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, 2001.
3. The California State Military Museum; Historic California Posts: Historic California Posts: Posts at Monterey
4. The California State Military Museum; Historic California Posts: Sonoma Barracks (Including El Presidio de Sonoma, El Cuartel de Sonoma, Camp Sonoma, Sonoma Post)
5. The California State Military Museum; Historic California Posts: Camp San Jose
6. The California State Military Museum; Historic California Posts: Camp Anderson, (Post near Sacramento City, Post near Sutterville)
7. The California State Military Museum; Historic California Posts: Camp Stanislaus (Miller's Camp)
8. The California State Military Museum; Historic California Posts: Camp Riley
9. Camp Salvation, California State Historic Landmark 808
10. The California State Military Museum; Historic California Posts: Camp San Miguel
11. The California State Military Museum; Historic California Posts: Cantonment Far West (Camp Far West, Fort Far West)
12. The California State Military Museum; Historic California Posts: Fort McDowell(Camp Reynolds, Post of Angel Island)
13. The California State Military Museum; Historic California Posts: Rancho del Chino Post
14. The California State Military Museum; Historic California Posts: Post at Mission San Luis Rey de Francia (Camp San Luis Rey)
15. The California State Military Museum; Historic California Posts: Camp Frederica
16. The California State Military Museum; Historic California Posts: Camp Vallecito
17. The California State Military Museum; Historic California Posts: Fort Defiance(Imperial County)
18. The California State Military Museum; Historic California Posts: Camp Santa Isabel (Camp Santa Ysabel)
19. The California State Military Museum; Historic California Posts: Camp McClear
20. The California State Military Museum; Historic California Posts: San Diego Barracks(Including New San Diego Depot)
21. The California State Military Museum; Historic Posts, Camps, Stations and Airfields: Fort Miller (Including Camp Barbour, Camp Miller)
22. The California State Military Museum; Historic California Posts: Historic California Posts: Camp Crane
23. The California State Military Museum; Historic California Posts: Camp Fitzgerald (Imperial County)
24. The California State Military Museum; Historic California Posts: Camp Rancho del Jurupa
25. The California State Military Museum; Historic California Posts:Fort Reading
26. Fort Reading, California State Historic Landmark 379
27. The California State Military Museum; Historic California Posts: Fort Jones (Siskiyou County)
28. "393.2 RECORDS OF DIVISIONS 1837-1907 & 1911-13". Records of United States Army Continental Commands 1821-1920. National Archives. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
29. "393.2 RECORDS OF DIVISIONS 1837-1907 & 1911-13". Records of United States Army Continental Commands 1821-1920. National Archives. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
30. "393.2 RECORDS OF DIVISIONS 1837-1907 & 1911-13". Records of United States Army Continental Commands 1821-1920. National Archives. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
31. James, D. Clayton (1 October 1970). The Years of MacArthur Volume 1 1880-1941 (1st ed.). Boston, Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin Company. p. 43. ISBN 978-0395109489. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
32. James, D. Clayton (1 October 1970). The Years of MacArthur Volume 1 1880-1941 (1st ed.). Boston, Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin Company. p. 42. ISBN 978-0395109489. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
33. James, D. Clayton (1 October 1970). The Years of MacArthur Volume 1 1880-1941 (1st ed.). Boston, Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin Company. p. 42,87. ISBN 978-0395109489. Retrieved 1 January 2020.