The Military Division of the James was an administrative division or formation of the United States Army which existed for ten weeks at the end of the American Civil War. This military division controlled military operations between April 19, 1865 and June 27, 1865 in parts of Virginia and North Carolina under control of two main Union armies, the Army of the Potomac and the Army of the James.
Due to the surrender of the main Confederate armies in these areas of Virginia and North Carolina on April 9, 1865 and April 18, 1865 and the collapse of Confederate civilian authority, the Military Division of the James and its constituent military departments and military districts were responsible for maintaining order and keeping the peace in the areas of States under its control until civilian government in those States as members of the Union could be restored. A few small military actions occurred in North Carolina during the existence of this military division.
Background
The Confederate States Army was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865) which fought in support of the effort of eleven Southern States to secede from the Union and establish the Confederate States of America as a separate nation. The Confederate States Army fought the United States Army forces organized as the Union Army, which fought to preserve the Union of all the States. The Union Army comprised the small Regular Army (United States) and the much larger temporary force of volunteers. About two percent of the soldiers of the volunteer force actually were conscripts. Another six percent of the soldiers were substitutes paid for by draftees. The Union Army and Confederate States Army were divided into several independent armies and departments operating in various geographic areas throughout the Confederacy and the "Border States".
The main Confederate army in Virginia as the war in that State ended, the Army of Northern Virginia under the command of General Robert E. Lee, surrendered to Union Army commander Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant, who had headquarters with Major General George G. Meade's Army of the Potomac, on April 9, 1865 (officially April 12, 1865). The main Confederate army in North Carolina as the war in that State ended, the remnants of the Army of Tennessee and various other units under the command of General Joseph E. Johnston, surrendered to the Union Army of the Tennessee under the command of Major General William T. Sherman on April 18, 1865 (officially April 26, 1865). Other Confederate military land forces still in the field in other parts of the Confederacy surrendered to Union Army forces, or simply disbanded, between April 16, 1865 and June 28, 1865.
Organization
The Military Division of the James was organized under the command of Major General Henry W. Halleck on April 19, 1865, after the surrender of the main Confederate armies in Virginia and North Carolina. This military division included the Department of the Potomac (see Army of the Potomac), under the command of Major General John M. Schofield (since January 31, 1865), Department of Virginia under the command of Major General George G. Meade (since January 11, 1865), and that part of the Department of North Carolina (1865) not under the occupation of the troops under the command of Major General William T. Sherman. The part of the Department of North Carolina included in the Military Division of the James was under the command of Major General John M. Schofield (since January 31, 1865 until June 20, 1865) and then under the command of Major General Jacob Dolson Cox (until June 28, 1865).
In addition to maintaining order in the territory of the military division, Union troops were deployed to assist the impoverished population of the area.