Pacific Coast Theater of the American Civil War
Encyclopedia
The Pacific Coast Theater of the American Civil War was the military operations in the United States
on the Pacific Ocean
and in the states and Territories west of the Continental Divide
. The theater was encompassed by the Department of the Pacific
that included the states of California
, Oregon
, and Nevada
, Washington Territory
, Utah Territory
, and later Idaho Territory
. The operations of Union
volunteer troop detachments primarily from California, some from Oregon and a few companies from Washington Territory were directed mostly against Indian
s in the theater. Union and Confederate regular forces did not meet directly within the Pacific Department except in New Mexico Territory
, however operations were directed against Confederate irregulars in California and strong garrisons were placed in Southern California, and southern New Mexico Territory to control the region which had strong secessionist sympathies. Though the Union and confederate armies did not meet, Confederate States Navy warships would operate in the Pacific Ocean, but neither of them succeeded in interupting commerce to the Eastern United States. The last of these commerce raiders the CSS Shenandoah
fired the last shot of the American Civil War in the Bering Sea
off Alaska
. Attempts by the Confederacy to buy or seize ships for commerce raiding on the West Coast were thwarted by alert Union officials and the Pacific Squadron
.
Brigadier General
) Albert Sidney Johnston
, headquartered in Benicia
who commanded all the Federal troops of the Department of the Pacific
. Johnston met with some of these Southern men, but before they could propose anything to him he told them that he had heard rumors of an attempt to seize the San Francisco forts and arsenal at Benicia, that he had prepared for that and would defend the facilities under his command with all his resources and to the last drop of his blood. He told them to tell this to their Southern friends. Deprived of his aid the plans for California and Oregon to secede from the United States never came to fruition. Meanwhile Union men feared Johnston would aid such a plot and telegraphed Washington asking for his replacemnt. Brig. Gen. Edwin Vose Sumner
was soon sent west via Panama
to replace Johnston in March 1861. Johnston resigned his commission on April 9, and after Sumner arrived on April 25 turned over his command and moved with his family to Los Angeles
.
On March 28, 1861, the newly formed Arizona Territory voted to separate from New Mexico Territory and join the Confederacy. This had increased Union officials' fears of a secessionist design to separate Southern California from the state and join the Confederacy. This fear was based on the demonstrated desire for separation from California in the overwhelming vote for the Pico Act, the strength of secessionists in the area and their declared intentions and activities, especially in forming militia companies. With Johnston in their midst, they would have a dangerous leader.
seemed possible. The populace was largely in favor of separtion from California, militias with secessionist sympathies had been formed, and Bear Flags, the banner of the Bear Flag Revolt, had been flown for several months by secessionists in Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties. After word of the Battle of Fort Sumter
reached California, there were public demonstrations by secessionists. Only San Diego had a small, Union garrison. However when three companies of Federal cavalry were moved from Fort Mojave
and Fort Tejon
into Camp Fitzgerald, Los Angeles in May and June 1861, secession quickly became impossible.
Suspected by local Union authorities, General Johnston evaded arrest and joined the seccessionist militia company, the Los Angeles Mounted Rifles
as a private, leaving Warner's Ranch
May 27 in their journey across the southwestern deserts to Texas
, crossing the Colorado River
into the Confederate Territory of Arizona, on July 4, 1861. A. J. King, Undersheriff of Los Angeles County and other influential men in El Monte
, that had formed another secessionist militia on March 23, 1861, the Monte Mounted Rifles were thwarted when Undersheriff King ran afoul of Federal authorities and when army officers at San Pedro
held up a shipment of arms from John G. Downey
, Governor of California
, preventing the activation of the Rifles.
Charged with all the supervision of Los Angeles, San Bernardino, San Diego, and Santa Barbara Counties, on August 14, 1861, Major William Scott Ketchum
steamed from San Francisco to San Pedro and made a rapid march to encamp near San Bernardino
on August 26 and with Companies D and G of the 4th Infantry Regiment later reinforced at the beginning of September by a detachment of ninety First U.S. Dragoons and a howitzer. Except for frequent sniping at his camp, Ketchum's garrison stifled any secessionist uprising from Belleville
and a show of force by the Dragoons in the streets of San Bernardino at the end of election day quelled a secessionist political demonstration during the September gubernatorial elections in San Bernardino County. Union commanders would rely on the San Bernardino Mounted Rifles and their Captain Clarence E. Bennett for intelligence and help in holding the pro-Southern San Bernardino County
for the Union in late 1861 as Federal troops were being withdrawn and replaced by California Volunteers.
On September 25, 1861 the District of Southern California
was established, with its first Headquarters at Camp Latham, west of Los Angeles
this was later moved to Drum Barracks
. This District was first formed to control the secessionist majority population in Southern California
. This district included Tulare County to the north which at the time was much larger than it is now including what is now Kings
, Kern and Inyo Counties and part of Fresno County. From Camp Latham, Ketchum's regular soldiers were relieved on October 20 by three companies of 1st California Cavalry sent out to San Bernardino County. and establish Camp Carleton
and later Camp Morris. Volunteer troops were also sent to Camp Wright in San Diego County to watch the southern overland approach
to California across the Colorado Desert
from Fort Yuma
, located on the west bank of the Colorado River
. They were also to intercept secessionist sympathizers traveling to the east to join the Confederate Army.
In March 1862, all the troops that were drilling at Camp Latham were transferred to Camp Drum, leaving a company of soldiers to observe the Los Angeles area. Following flooding at Camp Carleton in the Great Flood of 1862, the garrison moved to New Camp Carleton
, near the secessionist hotbed of El Monte. For the rest of the Civil War, Union garrisons were maintained in Southern California.
into Confederate Arizona. California sent some of their Volunteer Regiments east to clear the Confederate garrisons from southern New Mexico Territory
and West Texas
around El Paso
. Subsequently, California units remained there as garrisons fighting the Navajo
, the Comanche
, and the Apache
until after the Civil War when they were relieved by Federal Troops in 1866. In March 1865, Arizona Territory
under the military District of Arizona
, was transferred from the Department of New Mexico
to the Department of the Pacific
and in July 1865 to the Department of California
.
remained small. One ship was always on station at Panama City
to protect that Pacific Terminal of the gold shipments carried by the vessels of the Pacific Mail
. The remaining ships patroled the coast between Panama and British Columbia as needed. Mare Island Naval Shipyard
in San Francisco Bay was the Squadron's pemanant base.
, the shipping point of gold and silver from the Pacific Coast, from possible attacks by Confederate commerce raiders or the fleets of the British Empire
or French Empire
forts were built or improved. Coastal fortifications at Fort Point and Camp Sumner were built at the edge of the Presidio
, as well as at Fort Baker
on the Marin Headlands
. One Civil War-era fort, Post of Alcatraz Island or Fort Alcatraz, on a rocky island just inside the Golden Gate, served as a prison for seccesionists and later became the infamous Federal penitentiary, Alcatraz. San Francisco Bay was also protected by the Benicia Arsenal
, Fort Mason
at San Francisco's Point San Jose, and Camp Reynolds on Angel Island.
At the mouth of the Columbia River
, gateway to the new Idaho goldfeilds, two forts were established. In 1862, a camp called Post at Cape Disappointment later Fort Cape Disappointment
was established in Washington Territory
. Fortifications were built and artillery implaced to cover the mouth of the river. In 1863, Fort at Point Adams, later Fort Stevens
was established in Oregon
on the south bank at the mouth of the Columbia River to do the same. Posts also existed or were established at the ports of San Diego, San Pedro Bay
, Santa Barbara
, Noyo
, Humboldt Bay, and Fort Vancouver
.
.
In 1863, Asbury Harpending
, after traveling secretly to Richmond
to obtain a letter of marque
, joined with other California members of the Knights of the Golden Circle
in San Francisco to outfit the schooner
J. M. Chapman
as a Confederate privateer in San Francisco Bay
. Their object was to raid commerce on the Pacific coast carrying gold and silver shipments, to capture and carry it back to support the Confederacy. Their attempt was detected and they were seized on March 15, during the night of their intended departure by the USS Cyane
, revenue officers and San Francisco police.
Following the seizure of the J. M. Chapman, Union men everywhere along the coast were alarmed and more alert for other attempts to get a vessel for the purpose. Among its papers was one letter disclosing plans for the capture of the USS Shubrick but the scheme appeared to have been abandoned. However in Victoria, British Columbia
, Allen Francis, United States consul believed he had discovered plots to seize the Shubrick and later ones to purchase ships in British Columbia
and outfit them as Confederate privateers.
In spring of 1864, the Confederate navy ordered Captain Thomas Egenton Hogg
and his command to take passage on board a coastal steamer in Panama City
, seize her on the high seas, arm her and attack the Pacific Mail steamers and the whalers in the North Pacific. In Havana
, the American consul, Thomas Savage, learned about this conspiracy, and notified Rear Admiral
George F. Pearson
at Panama City. The Admiral had the passengers boarding the steamers at Panama City watched and when Hogg's command was found aboard the Panama Railroad steamer Salvador, a force from the USS Lancaster
arrested them and brought them to San Francisco. Tried by a military commission, the "Salvador Pirates
" were sentenced to be hanged, but General Irvin McDowell
commuted their sentences. To prevent any further attempts to seize Pacific coast shipping, General McDowell ordered each passenger on board American merchant steamers to surrender all weapons when boading the ship and every passenger and his baggage was searched. All officers were armed for the protection of their ships.
CSS Alabama
operated in the Pacific for only a few weeks in the southeast Pacific capturing three ships. The CSS Shenandoah
was the second and last Confederate raider
to enter the Pacific Ocean. However its attacks came too late, at the end of the war or afterward and did most of its damage after the war was over capturing 38 vessels, mostly whalers. When word of the attacks came the Pacific Squadron sent ships out to hunt the raider down but did not find it. By then Commander James Waddell
, captain of the Shenandoah had discovered the war was over. He fled back to Great Britain to avoid being tried for piracy.
National Park Service
lists only one campaign and one battle in this theater, the Battle of Bear River. However this is not correct, there were several campaigns against the Indian tribes besides the eastern Shoshone
.
In Northern California
there was the ongoing Bald Hills War
(1858–1864) against the Chilula
, Lassik, Hupa
, Mattole, Nongatl, Sinkyone, Tsnungwe
, Wailaki and Whilkut
. From December 12, 1861 the theater of this war was made into the District of Humboldt
with its headquarters at Fort Humboldt
. It was a protracted irregular war requiring garrisons protecting settlements and escorting pack trains, and also long patrols sometimes resulting in skirmishes.
California units remained in New Mexico Territory and west Texas as garrisons fighting the Navajo
and the Apache Wars
until after the Civil War when they were relieved by Federal Troops in 1866.
Between 1862 and 1864, California Cavalry units from the Southern California District fought the Owens Valley Indian War
against the Owens Valley Paiutes or Numa and against their friends among the Kawaiisu
in the Sierra Mountains to the west.
Throughout the Civil War, Oregon and California Volunteer patrols had several clashes with the Ute
, Goshute
, Paiute, Bannock
, and Shoshone bands in Oregon and the Territories of Washington (later Idaho), Utah, and Nevada. However the invasion of the territory of the Snake Indians
by gold miners in 1863 brought on the Snake War
. The Volunteers of California, Oregon and Washington fought the Snakes until relieved by Federal troops in late 1865, the war continued until 1868.
Other operations west of the Mississippi River
are included in the Trans-Mississippi Theater
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
and in the states and Territories west of the Continental Divide
Continental Divide
The Continental Divide of the Americas, or merely the Continental Gulf of Division or Great Divide, is the name given to the principal, and largely mountainous, hydrological divide of the Americas that separates the watersheds that drain into the Pacific Ocean from those river systems that drain...
. The theater was encompassed by the Department of the Pacific
Department of the Pacific
The Department of the Pacific was a major command of the United States Army during the 19th century.-Formation:The Department of the Pacific was first organized on October 31, 1853, at San Francisco, California, taking over from the previous Pacific Division. The department reported directly to...
that included the states of California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
, and Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
, Washington Territory
Washington Territory
The Territory of Washington was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from February 8, 1853, until November 11, 1889, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Washington....
, Utah Territory
Utah Territory
The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah....
, and later Idaho Territory
Idaho Territory
The Territory of Idaho was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 4, 1863, until July 3, 1890, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Idaho.-1860s:...
. The operations of Union
Union (American Civil War)
During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...
volunteer troop detachments primarily from California, some from Oregon and a few companies from Washington Territory were directed mostly against Indian
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
s in the theater. Union and Confederate regular forces did not meet directly within the Pacific Department except in New Mexico Territory
New Mexico Territory
thumb|right|240px|Proposed boundaries for State of New Mexico, 1850The Territory of New Mexico was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 6, 1912, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of...
, however operations were directed against Confederate irregulars in California and strong garrisons were placed in Southern California, and southern New Mexico Territory to control the region which had strong secessionist sympathies. Though the Union and confederate armies did not meet, Confederate States Navy warships would operate in the Pacific Ocean, but neither of them succeeded in interupting commerce to the Eastern United States. The last of these commerce raiders the CSS Shenandoah
CSS Shenandoah
CSS Shenandoah, formerly Sea King, was an iron-framed, teak-planked, full rigged ship, with auxiliary steam power, captained by Commander James Waddell, Confederate States Navy, a North Carolinian with twenty years' service in the United States Navy.During 12½ months of 1864–1865 the ship...
fired the last shot of the American Civil War in the Bering Sea
Bering Sea
The Bering Sea is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean. It comprises a deep water basin, which then rises through a narrow slope into the shallower water above the continental shelves....
off Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
. Attempts by the Confederacy to buy or seize ships for commerce raiding on the West Coast were thwarted by alert Union officials and the Pacific Squadron
Pacific Squadron
The Pacific Squadron was part of the United States Navy squadron stationed in the Pacific Ocean in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Initially with no United States ports in the Pacific, they operated out of storeships which provided naval supplies and purchased food and obtained water from local...
.
Secession Crisis on the West Coast
During the secession crisis following Lincoln's election, a group of Southern sympathizers in California made plans to secede with Oregon to form a "Pacific Republic". Their plans rested on the cooperation of Colonel (BrevetBrevet (military)
In many of the world's military establishments, brevet referred to a warrant authorizing a commissioned officer to hold a higher rank temporarily, but usually without receiving the pay of that higher rank except when actually serving in that role. An officer so promoted may be referred to as being...
Brigadier General
Brigadier General
Brigadier general is a senior rank in the armed forces. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries, usually sitting between the ranks of colonel and major general. When appointed to a field command, a brigadier general is typically in command of a brigade consisting of around 4,000...
) Albert Sidney Johnston
Albert Sidney Johnston
Albert Sidney Johnston served as a general in three different armies: the Texas Army, the United States Army, and the Confederate States Army...
, headquartered in Benicia
Benicia, California
Benicia is a waterside city in Solano County, California, United States. It was the first city in California to be founded by Anglo-Americans, and served as the state capital for nearly thirteen months from 1853 to 1854. The population was 26,997 at the 2010 census. The city is located in the San...
who commanded all the Federal troops of the Department of the Pacific
Department of the Pacific
The Department of the Pacific was a major command of the United States Army during the 19th century.-Formation:The Department of the Pacific was first organized on October 31, 1853, at San Francisco, California, taking over from the previous Pacific Division. The department reported directly to...
. Johnston met with some of these Southern men, but before they could propose anything to him he told them that he had heard rumors of an attempt to seize the San Francisco forts and arsenal at Benicia, that he had prepared for that and would defend the facilities under his command with all his resources and to the last drop of his blood. He told them to tell this to their Southern friends. Deprived of his aid the plans for California and Oregon to secede from the United States never came to fruition. Meanwhile Union men feared Johnston would aid such a plot and telegraphed Washington asking for his replacemnt. Brig. Gen. Edwin Vose Sumner
Edwin Vose Sumner
Edwin Vose Sumner was a career United States Army officer who became a Union Army general and the oldest field commander of any Army Corps on either side during the American Civil War...
was soon sent west via Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
to replace Johnston in March 1861. Johnston resigned his commission on April 9, and after Sumner arrived on April 25 turned over his command and moved with his family to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
.
On March 28, 1861, the newly formed Arizona Territory voted to separate from New Mexico Territory and join the Confederacy. This had increased Union officials' fears of a secessionist design to separate Southern California from the state and join the Confederacy. This fear was based on the demonstrated desire for separation from California in the overwhelming vote for the Pico Act, the strength of secessionists in the area and their declared intentions and activities, especially in forming militia companies. With Johnston in their midst, they would have a dangerous leader.
Securing Southern California
At the outbreak of the Civil War, the secession of Southern CaliforniaSouthern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
seemed possible. The populace was largely in favor of separtion from California, militias with secessionist sympathies had been formed, and Bear Flags, the banner of the Bear Flag Revolt, had been flown for several months by secessionists in Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties. After word of the Battle of Fort Sumter
Battle of Fort Sumter
The Battle of Fort Sumter was the bombardment and surrender of Fort Sumter, near Charleston, South Carolina, that started the American Civil War. Following declarations of secession by seven Southern states, South Carolina demanded that the U.S. Army abandon its facilities in Charleston Harbor. On...
reached California, there were public demonstrations by secessionists. Only San Diego had a small, Union garrison. However when three companies of Federal cavalry were moved from Fort Mojave
Fort Mojave
Fort Mohave was originally named Camp Colorado when it was established on April 19, 1859 by Lieutenant Colonel William Hoffman during the Mohave War...
and Fort Tejon
Fort Tejon
Fort Tejon in California is a former United States Army outpost which was intermittently active from June 24, 1854, until September 11, 1864. It is located in the Grapevine Canyon area of Tejon Pass along Interstate 5, the main route through the mountains separating the Central Valley from Los...
into Camp Fitzgerald, Los Angeles in May and June 1861, secession quickly became impossible.
Suspected by local Union authorities, General Johnston evaded arrest and joined the seccessionist militia company, the Los Angeles Mounted Rifles
Los Angeles Mounted Rifles
The Los Angeles Mounted Rifles was a company of the California State Militia formed in 1861. It was the only California state unit to serve the Confederacy.- Formation :...
as a private, leaving Warner's Ranch
Warner's Ranch
Warner's Ranch near Warner Springs, California, was notable as a way station for large numbers of emigrants on the Southern Trail from 1849 to 1861, as it was a stop on both the Gila River Trail and the Butterfield Overland Mail stagecoach line...
May 27 in their journey across the southwestern deserts to Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, crossing the Colorado River
Colorado River
The Colorado River , is a river in the Southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, approximately long, draining a part of the arid regions on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains. The watershed of the Colorado River covers in parts of seven U.S. states and two Mexican states...
into the Confederate Territory of Arizona, on July 4, 1861. A. J. King, Undersheriff of Los Angeles County and other influential men in El Monte
El Monte, California
El Monte is a residential, industrial, and commercial city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city's slogan is "Welcome to Friendly El Monte," and historically is known as "The End of the Santa Fe Trail." As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 113,475,...
, that had formed another secessionist militia on March 23, 1861, the Monte Mounted Rifles were thwarted when Undersheriff King ran afoul of Federal authorities and when army officers at San Pedro
San Pedro, Los Angeles, California
San Pedro is a port district of the city of Los Angeles, California, United States. It was annexed in 1909 and is a major seaport of the area...
held up a shipment of arms from John G. Downey
John G. Downey
John Gately Downey was an Irish-American politician and the seventh Governor of California from January 14, 1860 to January 10, 1862. Until the election of Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2003, Downey was California's only foreign-born governor...
, Governor of California
Governor of California
The Governor of California is the chief executive of the California state government, whose responsibilities include making annual State of the State addresses to the California State Legislature, submitting the budget, and ensuring that state laws are enforced...
, preventing the activation of the Rifles.
Charged with all the supervision of Los Angeles, San Bernardino, San Diego, and Santa Barbara Counties, on August 14, 1861, Major William Scott Ketchum
William Scott Ketchum
William Scott Ketchum , U. S. Army officer before and during the American Civil War.William Scott Ketchum was born on July 7, 1813 in Norwalk, Connecticut. Graduated from the United States Military Academy, at West Point, New York in 1834. He served in the Seminole Wars and on the Western...
steamed from San Francisco to San Pedro and made a rapid march to encamp near San Bernardino
San Bernardino
San Bernardino, California is a large city in the Inland Empire Metropolitan Area of Southern California.San Bernardino may also refer to:-Landforms:*San Bernardino , a torrent that flows through the Italian province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola...
on August 26 and with Companies D and G of the 4th Infantry Regiment later reinforced at the beginning of September by a detachment of ninety First U.S. Dragoons and a howitzer. Except for frequent sniping at his camp, Ketchum's garrison stifled any secessionist uprising from Belleville
Belleville, California
Belleville, California was a gold mining boomtown in the San Bernardino Mountains of San Bernardino County, California. It grew up rapidly following the discovery of gold by William F. Holcomb in Holcomb Valley early in 1860. Belleville was named after Belle, the first child born in the new town...
and a show of force by the Dragoons in the streets of San Bernardino at the end of election day quelled a secessionist political demonstration during the September gubernatorial elections in San Bernardino County. Union commanders would rely on the San Bernardino Mounted Rifles and their Captain Clarence E. Bennett for intelligence and help in holding the pro-Southern San Bernardino County
San Bernardino County, California
San Bernardino County is a county in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2010 census, the population was 2,035,210, up from 1,709,434 as of the 2000 census...
for the Union in late 1861 as Federal troops were being withdrawn and replaced by California Volunteers.
On September 25, 1861 the District of Southern California
District of Southern California
During the American Civil War, the Army had reorganized including the new Department of the Pacific which was created on January 15, 1861. By 1863, the department had five districts including the District of Southern California established on September 25, 1861...
was established, with its first Headquarters at Camp Latham, west of Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
this was later moved to Drum Barracks
Drum Barracks
The Drum Barracks, also known as Camp Drum and the Drum Barracks Civil War Museum, is the last remaining original American Civil War era military facility in the Los Angeles area...
. This District was first formed to control the secessionist majority population in Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
. This district included Tulare County to the north which at the time was much larger than it is now including what is now Kings
Kings County
-Canada:*Kings County, New Brunswick*Kings County, Nova Scotia*Kings County, Prince Edward Island and the related King's County -United States of America:*Kings County, California...
, Kern and Inyo Counties and part of Fresno County. From Camp Latham, Ketchum's regular soldiers were relieved on October 20 by three companies of 1st California Cavalry sent out to San Bernardino County. and establish Camp Carleton
Camp Carleton
Camp Carleton was the largest of several military camps to be maintained at various times in the vicinity of San Bernardino. It was established in the fall of 1861 by Captain William A. McCleave and a detachment of the 1st California Cavalry to check any successionest activities in San Bernardino...
and later Camp Morris. Volunteer troops were also sent to Camp Wright in San Diego County to watch the southern overland approach
Butterfield Overland Mail in California
The Butterfield Overland Mail in California was created by the United States Congress on March 3, 1857, and operated until June 30, 1861. Subsequently other stage lines operated along the route...
to California across the Colorado Desert
Colorado Desert
California's Colorado Desert is a part of the larger Sonoran Desert, which extends across southwest North America. The Colorado Desert region encompasses approximately , reaching from the Mexican border in the south to the higher-elevation Mojave Desert in the north and from the Colorado River in...
from Fort Yuma
Fort Yuma
Fort Yuma is a fort in California that is located in Imperial County, across the Colorado River from Yuma, Arizona. It was on the Butterfield Overland Mail route from 1858 until 1861 and was abandoned May 16, 1883, and transferred to the Department of the Interior. The Fort Yuma Indian School and a...
, located on the west bank of the Colorado River
Colorado River
The Colorado River , is a river in the Southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, approximately long, draining a part of the arid regions on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains. The watershed of the Colorado River covers in parts of seven U.S. states and two Mexican states...
. They were also to intercept secessionist sympathizers traveling to the east to join the Confederate Army.
In March 1862, all the troops that were drilling at Camp Latham were transferred to Camp Drum, leaving a company of soldiers to observe the Los Angeles area. Following flooding at Camp Carleton in the Great Flood of 1862, the garrison moved to New Camp Carleton
New Camp Carleton
New Camp Carleton was a Union Army garrison of the District of Southern California during the American Civil War. It was established on March 22, 1862 near El Monte, California...
, near the secessionist hotbed of El Monte. For the rest of the Civil War, Union garrisons were maintained in Southern California.
Campaign of the California Column
In early 1862, the District headquarters was used as the base for the campaign of the California ColumnCalifornia Column
The California Column, a force of Union volunteers, marched from April to August 1862 over 900 miles from California, across the southern New Mexico Territory to the Rio Grande and then into western Texas during the American Civil War. At the time, this was the longest trek through desert terrain...
into Confederate Arizona. California sent some of their Volunteer Regiments east to clear the Confederate garrisons from southern New Mexico Territory
New Mexico Territory
thumb|right|240px|Proposed boundaries for State of New Mexico, 1850The Territory of New Mexico was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 6, 1912, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of...
and West Texas
West Texas
West Texas is a vernacular term applied to a region in the southwestern quadrant of the United States that primarily encompasses the arid and semi-arid lands in the western portion of the state of Texas....
around El Paso
El Paso
El Paso, a city in the U.S. state of Texas, on the border with Mexico.El Paso may also refer to:-Geography:Colombia:* El Paso, CesarSpain:*El Paso, Santa Cruz de TenerifeUnited States:...
. Subsequently, California units remained there as garrisons fighting the Navajo
Navajo people
The Navajo of the Southwestern United States are the largest single federally recognized tribe of the United States of America. The Navajo Nation has 300,048 enrolled tribal members. The Navajo Nation constitutes an independent governmental body which manages the Navajo Indian reservation in the...
, the Comanche
Comanche
The Comanche are a Native American ethnic group whose historic range consisted of present-day eastern New Mexico, southern Colorado, northeastern Arizona, southern Kansas, all of Oklahoma, and most of northwest Texas. Historically, the Comanches were hunter-gatherers, with a typical Plains Indian...
, and the Apache
Apache
Apache is the collective term for several culturally related groups of Native Americans in the United States originally from the Southwest United States. These indigenous peoples of North America speak a Southern Athabaskan language, which is related linguistically to the languages of Athabaskan...
until after the Civil War when they were relieved by Federal Troops in 1866. In March 1865, Arizona Territory
Arizona Territory
The Territory of Arizona was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from February 24, 1863 until February 14, 1912, when it was admitted to the Union as the 48th state....
under the military District of Arizona
District of Arizona
District of Arizona was a subordinate district of the Department of New Mexico territory created on August 30, 1862 and transferred to the Department of the Pacific in March 1865.-District of Arizona Commanders:...
, was transferred from the Department of New Mexico
Department of New Mexico
The Department of New Mexico was a department of the United States Army during the mid-19th century. At first a part of the Department of the West, it was created as an independent department following the breakup of that Division into various departments during the Civil War...
to the Department of the Pacific
Department of the Pacific
The Department of the Pacific was a major command of the United States Army during the 19th century.-Formation:The Department of the Pacific was first organized on October 31, 1853, at San Francisco, California, taking over from the previous Pacific Division. The department reported directly to...
and in July 1865 to the Department of California
Department of California
The Department of California was one of two Army Departments created September 13, 1858, replacing the original Department of the Pacific and was composed of the territory of the United States lying west of the Rocky Mountains and south of Oregon and Washington territories, except the Rogue River...
.
Pacific Squadron Operations
Because of the blockade of the Confederacy, the Union Navy could not spare many ships to guard the ports and shipping of the Pacific Coast and the Pacific SquadronPacific Squadron
The Pacific Squadron was part of the United States Navy squadron stationed in the Pacific Ocean in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Initially with no United States ports in the Pacific, they operated out of storeships which provided naval supplies and purchased food and obtained water from local...
remained small. One ship was always on station at Panama City
Panama City
Panama is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Panama. It has a population of 880,691, with a total metro population of 1,272,672, and it is located at the Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal, in the province of the same name. The city is the political and administrative center of the...
to protect that Pacific Terminal of the gold shipments carried by the vessels of the Pacific Mail
Pacific Mail Steamship Company
The Pacific Mail Steamship Company was founded April 18, 1848 as a joint stock company under the laws of the State of New York by a group of New York City merchants, William H. Aspinwall, Edwin Bartlett, Henry Chauncey, Mr. Alsop, G.G. Howland and S.S. Howland...
. The remaining ships patroled the coast between Panama and British Columbia as needed. Mare Island Naval Shipyard
Mare Island Naval Shipyard
The Mare Island Naval Shipyard was the first United States Navy base established on the Pacific Ocean. It is located 25 miles northeast of San Francisco in Vallejo, California. The Napa River goes through the Mare Island Strait and separates the peninsula shipyard from the main portion of the...
in San Francisco Bay was the Squadron's pemanant base.
Pacific Coastal Defenses
To protect the ports especially San Francisco BaySan Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
, the shipping point of gold and silver from the Pacific Coast, from possible attacks by Confederate commerce raiders or the fleets of the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
or French Empire
Second French Empire
The Second French Empire or French Empire was the Imperial Bonapartist regime of Napoleon III from 1852 to 1870, between the Second Republic and the Third Republic, in France.-Rule of Napoleon III:...
forts were built or improved. Coastal fortifications at Fort Point and Camp Sumner were built at the edge of the Presidio
Presidio of San Francisco
The Presidio of San Francisco is a park on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula in San Francisco, California, within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area...
, as well as at Fort Baker
Fort Baker
Fort Baker is one of the components of California's Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The Fort, which borders the City of Sausalito in Marin County and is connected to San Francisco by the Golden Gate Bridge, served as an Army post until the mid-1990s, when the headquarters of the 91st Division...
on the Marin Headlands
Marin Headlands
The Marin Headlands is a hilly area at the southernmost end of Marin County, California, just north of the Golden Gate Bridge. The Headlands are located just north of San Francisco, immediately across the Golden Gate Bridge. The entire area is part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area...
. One Civil War-era fort, Post of Alcatraz Island or Fort Alcatraz, on a rocky island just inside the Golden Gate, served as a prison for seccesionists and later became the infamous Federal penitentiary, Alcatraz. San Francisco Bay was also protected by the Benicia Arsenal
Benicia Arsenal
The Benicia Arsenal 1851-1964, and Benicia Barracks 1852-1866, was a large military reservation located next to Suisun Bay in Benicia, California. For over 100 years, the arsenal was the primary US Army Ordnance facility for the West Coast of the United States.In 1847 a parcel of land adjoining...
, Fort Mason
Fort Mason
Fort Mason, once known as San Francisco Port of Embarkation, US Army, in San Francisco, California, is a former United States Army post located in the northern Marina District, alongside San Francisco Bay. Fort Mason served as an Army post for more than 100 years, initially as a coastal defense...
at San Francisco's Point San Jose, and Camp Reynolds on Angel Island.
At the mouth of the Columbia River
Columbia River
The Columbia River is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, Canada, flows northwest and then south into the U.S. state of Washington, then turns west to form most of the border between Washington and the state...
, gateway to the new Idaho goldfeilds, two forts were established. In 1862, a camp called Post at Cape Disappointment later Fort Cape Disappointment
Cape Disappointment State Park
Cape Disappointment State Park, formerly known as Fort Canby State Park, is a park located southwest of Ilwaco, Washington. The park is located on the southern part of Long Beach Peninsula, which is fronted by the Pacific Ocean. The park is one of several state parks and sites in Washington and...
was established in Washington Territory
Washington Territory
The Territory of Washington was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from February 8, 1853, until November 11, 1889, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Washington....
. Fortifications were built and artillery implaced to cover the mouth of the river. In 1863, Fort at Point Adams, later Fort Stevens
Fort Stevens (Oregon)
Fort Stevens was an American military installation that guarded the mouth of the Columbia River in the state of Oregon. Built near the end of the American Civil War, it was named for slain Civil War general and former Washington Territory governor, Isaac Stevens. The fort was an active military...
was established in Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
on the south bank at the mouth of the Columbia River to do the same. Posts also existed or were established at the ports of San Diego, San Pedro Bay
Drum Barracks
The Drum Barracks, also known as Camp Drum and the Drum Barracks Civil War Museum, is the last remaining original American Civil War era military facility in the Los Angeles area...
, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...
, Noyo
Fort Bragg, California
Fort Bragg is a city located in coastal Mendocino County, California along State Route 1, the major north-south highway along the Pacific Coast. Fort Bragg is located west of Willits, at an elevation of 85 feet...
, Humboldt Bay, and Fort Vancouver
Fort Vancouver
Fort Vancouver was a 19th century fur trading outpost along the Columbia River that served as the headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company in the company's Columbia District...
.
Naval Incidents
Following the failure of the New Mexico Campaign and to the end of the Civil War some attempts were made by the Confederate Navy to seize gold and silver for the Confederacy or to raid the commerce of the Union in the Pacific OceanPacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
.
J. M. Chapman Plot
In 1863, Asbury Harpending
Asbury Harpending
Asbury Harpending , an adventurer and financier in California, Mexico and New York City.Born in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, at the age of fifteen he was sent to college but within the year he ran away to join the filibuster of General William Walker, to Nicaragua but his party was intercepted by...
, after traveling secretly to Richmond
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
to obtain a letter of marque
Letter of marque
In the days of fighting sail, a Letter of Marque and Reprisal was a government licence authorizing a person to attack and capture enemy vessels, and bring them before admiralty courts for condemnation and sale...
, joined with other California members of the Knights of the Golden Circle
Knights of the Golden Circle
The Knights of the Golden Circle was a secret society. Some researchers believe the objective of the KGC was to prepare the way for annexation of a golden circle of territories in Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean for inclusion in the United States as slave states...
in San Francisco to outfit the schooner
Schooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
J. M. Chapman
J. M. Chapman (privateer)
J. M. Chapman, 90 Ton schooner, was purchased by in 1863, by Asbury Harpending and other California members of the Knights of the Golden Circle in San Francisco to outfit as a Confederate privateer....
as a Confederate privateer in San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
. Their object was to raid commerce on the Pacific coast carrying gold and silver shipments, to capture and carry it back to support the Confederacy. Their attempt was detected and they were seized on March 15, during the night of their intended departure by the USS Cyane
USS Cyane (1837)
The second USS Cyane was a sloop-of-war in the United States Navy during the Mexican-American War.Cyane was launched 2 December 1837 by Boston Navy Yard. She was commissioned in May 1838, Commander John Percival in command....
, revenue officers and San Francisco police.
Following the seizure of the J. M. Chapman, Union men everywhere along the coast were alarmed and more alert for other attempts to get a vessel for the purpose. Among its papers was one letter disclosing plans for the capture of the USS Shubrick but the scheme appeared to have been abandoned. However in Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...
, Allen Francis, United States consul believed he had discovered plots to seize the Shubrick and later ones to purchase ships in British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
and outfit them as Confederate privateers.
Salvador Pirates
In spring of 1864, the Confederate navy ordered Captain Thomas Egenton Hogg
Thomas Egenton Hogg
Thomas Egenton Hogg was a master in the Confederate States Navy who participated in raids on Union ships during the American Civil War. He was captured and sentenced to death, but was eventually released from prison, after which he became a businessman and railroad promoter in the U.S. state of...
and his command to take passage on board a coastal steamer in Panama City
Panama City
Panama is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Panama. It has a population of 880,691, with a total metro population of 1,272,672, and it is located at the Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal, in the province of the same name. The city is the political and administrative center of the...
, seize her on the high seas, arm her and attack the Pacific Mail steamers and the whalers in the North Pacific. In Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
, the American consul, Thomas Savage, learned about this conspiracy, and notified Rear Admiral
Rear admiral (United States)
Rear admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a commodore and captain, and below that of a vice admiral. The uniformed services of the United States are unique in having two grades of rear admirals.- Rear admiral :...
George F. Pearson
George F. Pearson
George Fredrick Pearson was Rear-Admiral of the U. S. Navy, commanding the Pacific Squadron during the later part of the American Civil War.-Early life and career:...
at Panama City. The Admiral had the passengers boarding the steamers at Panama City watched and when Hogg's command was found aboard the Panama Railroad steamer Salvador, a force from the USS Lancaster
USS Lancaster
Four ships of the United States Navy have been named USS Lancaster after Lancaster, Pennsylvania, was a sidewheel steamer built in 1855 and purchased by the US Navy in 1862...
arrested them and brought them to San Francisco. Tried by a military commission, the "Salvador Pirates
Salvador Pirates
Salvador Pirates was the name given to the band of Confederate Navy sailors that attempted to seizea Panama Railroad coastal steamer on the high seas...
" were sentenced to be hanged, but General Irvin McDowell
Irvin McDowell
Irvin McDowell was a career American army officer. He is best known for his defeat in the First Battle of Bull Run, the first large-scale battle of the American Civil War.-Early life:...
commuted their sentences. To prevent any further attempts to seize Pacific coast shipping, General McDowell ordered each passenger on board American merchant steamers to surrender all weapons when boading the ship and every passenger and his baggage was searched. All officers were armed for the protection of their ships.
Confederate Commerce Raiding
CSS Alabama
CSS Alabama
CSS Alabama was a screw sloop-of-war built for the Confederate States Navy at Birkenhead, United Kingdom, in 1862 by John Laird Sons and Company. Alabama served as a commerce raider, attacking Union merchant and naval ships over the course of her two-year career, during which she never anchored in...
operated in the Pacific for only a few weeks in the southeast Pacific capturing three ships. The CSS Shenandoah
CSS Shenandoah
CSS Shenandoah, formerly Sea King, was an iron-framed, teak-planked, full rigged ship, with auxiliary steam power, captained by Commander James Waddell, Confederate States Navy, a North Carolinian with twenty years' service in the United States Navy.During 12½ months of 1864–1865 the ship...
was the second and last Confederate raider
Commerce raiding
Commerce raiding or guerre de course is a form of naval warfare used to destroy or disrupt the logistics of an enemy on the open sea by attacking its merchant shipping, rather than engaging the combatants themselves or enforcing a blockade against them.Commerce raiding was heavily criticised by...
to enter the Pacific Ocean. However its attacks came too late, at the end of the war or afterward and did most of its damage after the war was over capturing 38 vessels, mostly whalers. When word of the attacks came the Pacific Squadron sent ships out to hunt the raider down but did not find it. By then Commander James Waddell
James Iredell Waddell
James Iredell Waddell was an officer in the United States Navy and later in the Confederate States Navy.-Biography:...
, captain of the Shenandoah had discovered the war was over. He fled back to Great Britain to avoid being tried for piracy.
Indian Wars in the Department of the Pacific
The campaign classification established by the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
National Park Service
National Park Service
The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
lists only one campaign and one battle in this theater, the Battle of Bear River. However this is not correct, there were several campaigns against the Indian tribes besides the eastern Shoshone
Shoshone
The Shoshone or Shoshoni are a Native American tribe in the United States with three large divisions: the Northern, the Western and the Eastern....
.
In Northern California
Northern California
Northern California is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. The San Francisco Bay Area , and Sacramento as well as its metropolitan area are the main population centers...
there was the ongoing Bald Hills War
Bald Hills War
Bald Hills War was a war fought by the forces of the California Militia, California Volunteers and soldiers of the U. S. Army against the Chilula, Lassik, Hupa, Mattole, Nongatl, Sinkyone, Tsnungwe, Wailaki, Whilkut and Wiyot Native American peoples.The war was fought within the boundaries of the...
(1858–1864) against the Chilula
Chilula
The Chilula were an Athapaskan tribe who inhabited the area on or near lower Redwood Creek, in Northern California, some 500 to 600 years before contact with Europeans...
, Lassik, Hupa
Hupa
Hupa, also spelled Hoopa, are a Native American tribe in northwestern California. Their autonym is Natinixwe, also spelled Natinookwa, meaning "People of the Place Where the Trails Return." The majority of the tribe is enrolled in the federally recognized Hoopa Valley Tribe; however, some Hupa are...
, Mattole, Nongatl, Sinkyone, Tsnungwe
Tsnungwe
The Tsnungwe are a Native American people settled along the Trinity River, South Fork of the Trinity River and New River, in Trinity and Humboldt County in California....
, Wailaki and Whilkut
Whilkut
The Whilkut were an Athapaskan tribe, speaking a dialect similar to the Hupa and Chilula, who inhabited the area on or near the upper Redwood Creek and along the Mad River except near its mouth, up to Iaqua Butte, and some settlement in Grouse Creek in the Trinity River drainage in Northwestern...
. From December 12, 1861 the theater of this war was made into the District of Humboldt
Humboldt Military District
During the American Civil War, Army reorganization created the Department of the Pacific on January 15, 1861. On December 12, 1861, the District of Humboldt was created, consisting of the counties of Sonoma, Napa, Mendocino, Trinity, Humboldt, Klamath, and Del Norte in Northern California...
with its headquarters at Fort Humboldt
Fort Humboldt State Historic Park
Fort Humboldt State Historic Park is a California state park located in the southern portion of Eureka, just off U.S. Route 101. The North Coast regional headquarters of the California State Parks is located onsite.-Early years, 1853–1860:...
. It was a protracted irregular war requiring garrisons protecting settlements and escorting pack trains, and also long patrols sometimes resulting in skirmishes.
California units remained in New Mexico Territory and west Texas as garrisons fighting the Navajo
Navajo Wars
The Navajo Wars were a series of battles and other conflicts, often separated with treaties that involved raids by different Navajo bands on the rancheras along the Rio Grande and the counter campaigns by the Spanish, Mexican, and United States governments, and sometimes their civilian elements....
and the Apache Wars
Apache Wars
The Apache Wars were a series of armed conflicts between the United States and Apaches fought in the Southwest from 1849 to 1886, though other minor hostilities continued until as late as 1924. The Confederate Army participated in the wars during the early 1860s, for instance in Texas, before being...
until after the Civil War when they were relieved by Federal Troops in 1866.
Between 1862 and 1864, California Cavalry units from the Southern California District fought the Owens Valley Indian War
Owens Valley Indian War
The Owens Valley War was fought between 1862 and 1863, by California Volunteers and local settlers against the Owens Valley Paiutes, and their Shoshone and Kawaiisu allies, in the Owens Valley of California and the southwestern Nevada border region. The removal of a large number of the Owens River...
against the Owens Valley Paiutes or Numa and against their friends among the Kawaiisu
Kawaiisu
thumb|Kawaiisu FamilyThe Kawaiisu are a Native American group who lived in the southern California Tehachapi Valley and across the Tehachapi Pass in the southern Sierra Nevada Mountains to the north, toward Lake Isabella and Walker Pass...
in the Sierra Mountains to the west.
Throughout the Civil War, Oregon and California Volunteer patrols had several clashes with the Ute
Ute Tribe
The Ute are an American Indian people now living primarily in Utah and Colorado. There are three Ute tribal reservations: Uintah-Ouray in northeastern Utah ; Southern Ute in Colorado ; and Ute Mountain which primarily lies in Colorado, but extends to Utah and New Mexico . The name of the state of...
, Goshute
Goshute
The Goshutes are a band of Western Shoshone Native American. There are two federally recognized Goshute tribes today: the Confederated Tribes of the Goshute Reservation and Skull Valley Band of Goshute Indians of Utah of the Skull Valley Indian Reservation.-Name:The name Goshute derived either from...
, Paiute, Bannock
Bannock (tribe)
The Bannock tribe of the Northern Paiute are an indigenous people of the Great Basin. Their traditional lands include southeastern Oregon, southeastern Idaho, western Wyoming, and southwestern Montana...
, and Shoshone bands in Oregon and the Territories of Washington (later Idaho), Utah, and Nevada. However the invasion of the territory of the Snake Indians
Snake Indians
Snake Indians is the common name given by American immigrants on the Oregon Trail to the bands of Northern Paiute, Bannock and Shoshone Native Americans in the Snake River and Owyhee River valleys of southern Idaho and Eastern Oregon...
by gold miners in 1863 brought on the Snake War
Snake War
The Snake War was a war fought by the United States of America against the "Snake Indians", the settlers' term for Northern Paiute, Bannock and western Shoshone bands who lived along the Snake River. Fighting took place in the states of Oregon, Nevada, and California, and in Idaho Territory...
. The Volunteers of California, Oregon and Washington fought the Snakes until relieved by Federal troops in late 1865, the war continued until 1868.
Other operations west of the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
are included in the Trans-Mississippi Theater
Trans-Mississippi Theater of the American Civil War
The Trans-Mississippi Theater of the American Civil War was the major military and naval operations west of the Mississippi River. The area excluded the states and territories bordering the Pacific Ocean, which formed the Pacific Coast Theater of the American Civil War.The campaign classification...
.
See also
- California in the American Civil War
- Oregon in the American Civil WarOregon in the American Civil WarOregon in the American Civil War refers to the military involvement of Oregon in the American Civil War.At the outbreak of the war, regular U.S. Army troops in the District of Oregon were withdrawn from posts in Oregon and Washington Territory and sent east...
- Washington Territory in the American Civil War
- Washington in the American Civil WarWashington in the American Civil WarThe history of Washington in the American Civil War is atypical, as the territory was the most remote from the battlefields of the American Civil War. Although the Indian Wars in Washington were recent, there were no Indian hosilities within the area of modern Washington state, unlike the rest of...
- Idaho in the American Civil WarIdaho in the American Civil WarThe history of Idaho in the American Civil War is atypical, as the territory was far from the battlefields.At the start of the Civil War, modern-day Idaho was part of the Washington Territory. On March 3, 1863, the Idaho Territory was formed, consisting of the entirety of modern day Idaho, Montana,...
- Montana in the American Civil WarMontana in the American Civil WarMontana played little direct role in the American Civil War. The closest the Confederate States Army ever came to Montana was New Mexico and eastern Kansas, each over a thousand miles away...
- Washington in the American Civil War
- Utah Territory in the American Civil War
- Utah in the American Civil WarUtah in the American Civil WarThe Utah Territory during the American Civil War was far from the main operational theaters of war, but still played a role in the disposition of the United States Army, drawing manpower away from the volunteer forces and providing its share of administrative headaches for the Lincoln Administration...
- Nevada in the American Civil WarNevada in the American Civil WarDuring the American Civil War, Nevadas entry into statehood in the United States was expedited by Union sympathizers in order to ensure Nevada's participation in the 1864 presidential election in support of President Abraham Lincoln....
- Utah in the American Civil War
- New Mexico Territory in the American Civil WarNew Mexico Territory in the American Civil WarThe New Mexico Territory, which included the areas which became the modern U.S. states of New Mexico and Arizona as well as the southern part of Nevada, played a role in the Trans-Mississippi Theater of the American Civil War. Both Confederate and Union governments claimed ownership and territorial...
- Arizona Territory in the American Civil War