78 



ARMY OPERATIONS. 



Armv of the Potomac .:; 



Headquarters military division of the Mississippi... 



Department of the Cumberland 



Department of the Tennessee 



Left win* Army of Geoiyta ::; 



Cavalry Corps military division of the Mississippi.. 

 Headquarters military division of west Mississippi. . 

 Reserve brigades mil'y division of west Mississippi, 



Department of the Gulf 



Department of Arkansas 



Department of the Mississippi 



Sixteenth Army Corps 



Headquarters military division of the Missouri 



Department of the Missouri 



Department of the Northwest 



Headquarters middle military division 



Cavalry forces middle military division 



Nineteenth Army Corps 



Middle Department 



Department of Washington 



Department of West Virginia 



Department of Pennsylvania 



Department of the East 



Department of Virginia 



Department of North Carolina 



Department of the South 



Department of Kentucky 



Northern Department 



Department of the Pacific 



Department of New Mexico 



103,273 

 17 



62.626 

 45,649 

 81,644 

 27,410 

 24 



13,743 

 85,625 

 24,509 

 24,151 

 14,895 

 12 



18,557 



4,781 



841 



12,980 



6,612 



2,089 



26,056 



15,517 



820 



7,462 



45,986 



84,945 



11,510 



10,655 



11.229 



7.024 



2,501 



Grand total 602,593 



Four days after the surrender of Gen. Lee's 

 army a public notice was given by the War 

 Department that orders would speedily be is- 

 sued to stop all drafting and recruiting; to 

 curtail purchases of arms, ammunition, quar- 

 termaster and commissary supplies, and reduce 

 the expenses of the military establishment ; to 

 reduce the number of general and staff officers 

 to the actual necessities of the service ; and to 

 remove all military restrictions upon trade and 

 commerce, so far as might be consistent with 

 the public safety. 



On the 28th of April, 1865. it was ordered 

 that returns be made of the volunteer forces in 

 the field, with a view to their immediate reduc- 

 tion, and regulations were prepared and pro- 

 mulgated for their muster out and discharge. 

 In executing this work rendezvous were estab- 

 lished in the field, as well as in most of the 

 States. At the field rendezvous all surplus 

 property was taken possession of by the staff 

 officers of the respective supply departments, 

 and the muster-out rolls and other discharge 

 papers prepared under the direction of corps 

 commissaries of musters and their assistants. 

 Corps and department commanders were in- 

 structed to see that the work was pushed with 

 energy, using for that end the division and 

 brigade commanders, with their respective 

 staff officers, to superintend it. As soon as a 

 regiment or other organization had its muster- 

 put papers prepared, it was placed en route to 

 its State for payment and final discharge. At 

 the State rendezvous was located the chief mus- 

 tering officer of the State, or one or more of 

 his assistants, with paymasters, quartermasters, 

 commissaries of subsistence, and ordnance of- 

 ficers, whose duties were the payment and final 

 discharge of the troops ; their care whilst await- 

 ing the same ; the reception of the public prop- 

 erty turned in by them, and their transportation 

 to their homes after discharge. 



By the foregoing arrangements the entire 



force of commissaries and assistant commis- 

 saries of musters for troops in the field were 

 made available for the work, in connection with 

 the chief and other State mustering officers. 

 The most experienced mustering officers and 

 those most familiar with the regimental records 

 were secured ; the records from which the mus- 

 tering-out data was to be obtained were readily 

 accessible, and the loss of records whilst the 

 regiments were en route from the field to their 

 States, was avoided. Regimental officers were 

 held to a rigid accountability in preparing the 

 records, and the interests of the enlisted men 

 thus protected. Order and discipline was main- 

 tained whilst troops were en route to the States 

 and after arrival therein. Troops were com- 

 fortably cared for up to the moment they were 

 paid off and ready to start for their homes. 

 Dissatisfaction among them was obviated and 

 causes for complaint removed, and all public 

 property easily secured and readily accounted 

 for. 



The arrangements for the care of discharged 

 troops being completed, orders to muster out 

 and discharge the forces from service were is- 

 sued as follows : 



April 29. All recruits, drafted men, sub- 

 stitutes, and volunteers remaining at the sev- 

 eral State depots. 



May 4. All patients in hospitals, except 

 veteran volunteers and veterans of the First 

 Army Corps (Hancock's). 



May 8. All troops of the cavalry arm whose 

 terms of service would expire prior to Octo- 

 ber 1. 



May 9. All officers and enlisted men whose 

 terms would expire prior to May 31, inclusive. 



May 17. All organizations of white troops 

 in the Army of the Potomac whose terms of 

 service would expire prior to September 30, in- 

 clusive. 



May 18. All organizations of white troops 

 in Maj.-Gen. Sherman's command, whose term 

 of service would expire prior to September 30, 

 inclusive. 



May 29. All light artillery in the Army of 

 the Potomac, Ninth Army Corps, Army of 

 Georgia, and Army of the Tennessee. 



May 29. All organizations of white troops 

 whose terms of service would expire prior to 

 September 30, inclusive, in armies and depart- 

 ments, except Departments of the East, New 

 Mexico, Pacific, and Northern. 



June 2.-<3Jl surplus light artillery ; that only 

 absolutely requiredoy the necessities of the ser- 

 vice in the respective armies and departments 

 to be retained. 



June 5. All dismounted cavalry, all infantry 

 in the Northern Department and Department 

 of the East, and all cavalry in the Department 

 of the East. 



June 16. All troops in the Department of 

 the Pacific whose terms of service would expire 

 prior to October 1. 



June 17. All enlisted men of the Veteran 

 Reserve Corps who would have beer entitled 



