Pacific coast theater of the American Civil War

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This map depicting forts and navigation routes on the west coast was commissioned in 1858 by then U.S. Secretary of War and future C.S. President Jefferson Davis

The Pacific coast theater of the American Civil War consists of major military operations in the

Continental Divide. The theater was encompassed by the Department of the Pacific that included the states of California, Oregon, and Nevada, the territories of Washington, Utah, and later Idaho.[1]

The operations of Union volunteer troop detachments, primarily from California, some from Oregon, and a few companies from Washington Territory, were directed mostly against Indigenous Americans in the theater. Union and Confederate regular forces did not meet directly within the Pacific Department except in New Mexico Territory. 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.

commerce raiders, CSS Shenandoah, fired the last shot of the war in the Bering Sea off the coast of 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
.

Secession Crisis on the West Coast

During the secession crisis following Lincoln's

Brigadier General) Albert Sidney Johnston, headquartered in Benicia, California, 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 friends.[2] 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 replacement. Brig. Gen. Edwin Vose Sumner was soon sent west via Panama to replace Johnston in March 1861. Johnston resigned his commission on 9 April, and after Sumner arrived on 25 April, Johnston turned over his command and moved with his family to Los Angeles
.

On 28 March 1861, the newly formed

Arizona Territory voted to separate from New Mexico Territory and join the Confederacy. This increased Union officials' fears of a secessionist movement to separate Southern California from the rest of California and join the Confederacy. This fear was based on the demonstrated Southern Californian desire for separation from the rest of California in the overwhelming vote for the 1859 Pico Act
, the strength of secessionists in the area, and their declared intentions and activities, especially in forming militia companies.

Operations against secessionists and the Confederacy

Outbreak of the Civil War

Securing Southern California

At the outbreak of the Civil War, the secession of

into Camp Fitzgerald, in Los Angeles, in May–June 1861, secession quickly became impossible.

Suspected by local Union authorities, General Johnston evaded arrest and joined the secessionist militia company, the Los Angeles Mounted Rifles as a private, leaving

San Pedro held up a shipment of arms from John G. Downey, the Governor of California, preventing the activation of the Rifles.[4]

Charged with all the supervision of Los Angeles, San Bernardino, San Diego, and Santa Barbara counties, on 16 August Major

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.[7]

On 25 September, the

Confederate Army
.

In March 1862, all the troops 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.

Campaign of the California Column

In early 1862, the District headquarters was used as the base for the campaign of 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-controlled 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
.

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 Squadron 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 patrolled the coast between Panama and British Columbia as needed. Mare Island Naval Shipyard in San Francisco Bay was the Squadron's permanent base.

Pacific Coastal Defenses

To protect the ports, especially

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

Santa Catalina Island was seized by Federal forces, a post established and garrisoned, and the population removed to prevent it being used as a base for privateers. For a time Federal authorities considered making it a reservation location for Indians captured in the Bald Hills War
, but this never came to pass.

Naval Incidents

Following the failure of the

Confederate Navy to seize gold and silver for the Confederacy or to raid the commerce of the Union in the Pacific Ocean
.

J. M. Chapman Plot

In 1863,

J. M. Chapman as a Confederate privateer in San Francisco Bay. Their object was to raid ships on the Pacific coast carrying gold and silver shipments to capture the gold and silver to support the Confederacy. Their attempt was detected and they were seized on 15 March, during the night of their intended departure by Cyane, revenue officers, and San Francisco police.[14][15]

Conspiracy to seize Shubrick

Following the seizure of 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 the papers captured on J. M. Chapman was one letter disclosing plans for the capture of

plot to seize Shubrick. Allen suspected the captain of the Shubrick and some of his crew of being part of this plot. He arranged for the ship to be taken and sailed back to the United States by a trusted second officer and members of the crew while the captain and the rest of the crew were ashore in Victoria. Allen later believed that there was a plot by Confederate sympathizers in Victoria to purchase ships in British Columbia and outfit them as Confederate privateers. However, this plot never came about.[16][17]

Salvador Pirates

In the spring of 1864, the Confederate Navy ordered Captain

Panama Railroad steamer Salvador, a force from 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 boarding the ship and every passenger and all baggage was searched. All officers were armed for the protection of their ships.[18][19]

Confederate Commerce Raiding

CSS Alabama operated in the Pacific for only a few weeks in the southwest Pacific, capturing three ships. CSS Shenandoah was the second and last Confederate raider to enter the Pacific Ocean. However, her attacks came too late, at the end of the war or afterward, and did most of her 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 her. On 21 June 1865, the Shenandoah captured the whaler William Thompson. The captain of that ship, Francis Smith, informed an incredulous Commander James Waddell that the war had ended some weeks previous. Without concrete proof that the war had ended, the Confederate ship continued its raiding activities. Finally, on 2 August, sailors of a British bark headed back to Liverpool from San Francisco brought news of the surrender at Appomattox, the capture of Jefferson Davis, and the surrender of the last Confederate forces. With this incontrovertible proof, Commander Waddell ordered all operations against American ships cease and the Shenandoah set sail for Great Britain to avoid its sailors being tried for piracy.[20]

Indian Wars in the Department of the Pacific

The campaign classification established by the

Battle of Bear River.[21] However, there were several campaigns against various Indian tribes besides the eastern Shoshone
, as described below.

In

Sinkyone, Tsnungwe, Wailaki, and Whilkut. From 12 December 1861, this theater was incorporated into the District of Humboldt with its headquarters at Fort Humboldt
. The Bald Hills War was essentially 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 defending the area from a return of the Confederacy and fighting the Navajo and the Apache Wars until after the Civil War when they were relieved by Federal Troops in 1866.

In 1862–1863, California Cavalry units from the Southern California District fought the

Owens Valley Paiutes, or Numa, and against their allies among the Kawaiisu in the Sierra Mountains to the west.[22]

Throughout the Civil War, Oregon and California Volunteer patrols had several clashes with the

Bannock, and Shoshone bands in Oregon and the Territories of Washington (later Idaho), Utah, and Nevada (from 1863, the state of 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 Territory fought the Snake Indians until relieved by Federal troops in late 1865; the war continued until 1868.

Other operations east of the

trans-Mississippi theater
.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ The Bear River Massacre was formally in Washington Territory, which was partitioned into the Idaho Territory subsequent to the battle. However, Col. Connor had the Bear River valley reassigned to his military District of Utah prior to his campaign to protect a settlement of Mormons there.[citation needed]
  2. ^ Asbury Harpending, The great diamond hoax: and other stirring incidents in the life of Asbury Harpending, San Francisco, James H. Barry Co., 1913.p.36
  3. ^ George Henry Tinkham, California men and events: time 1769-1890, 2nd, revised ed., Record Publishing Company, 1915. pp.194-195
  4. ^ J. M. Scammel, Military Units in Southern California, 1853-1862; California Historical Quarterly, Vol. XXIV, Chapter 3. II The Los Angeles Units, p.14
  5. ^ a b The California State Military Museum, Historic California Posts:Posts at San Bernardino
  6. ^ The War of the Rebellion SERIES I, Volume L, Chapter LXII - Operations on the Pacific Coast, Part I, pp.16,27,28,429,450,466,512,515,567,569,585,594,595,601-602,606,607,612,614-615,617,660-661,663,669-670,687
  7. ^ California State Militia and National Guard Unit Histories, San Bernardino Rangers. This history was written in 1940 by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in conjunction with the Office of the Adjutant General and the California State Library
  8. ^ The California State Military Museum, Historic California Posts: Camp Latham
  9. ^ Historic California Posts: Drum Barracks (Camp San Pedro, Camp Drum, Fort Drum, and Wilmington Depot)
  10. ^ Historic California Posts: Fort MacArthur - Military Museum
  11. ^ The California State Military Museum, Historic California Posts: Camp Carleton (Camp Banning, Camp Prentiss, New Camp Carleton)
  12. ^ The California State Military Museum, Historic California Posts: Camp Morris
  13. ^ The California State Military Museum, Historic California Posts: Camp Sumner
  14. ^ California Military Museum; The Pacific Squadron of 1861-1866, The following article is taken from Aurora Hunt's book, The Army of the Pacific; Its operations in California, Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, plains region, Mexico, etc. 1860-1866, under the chapter The Pacific Squadron of 1861-1866. pp.305-310
  15. ^ John Boessenecker, Badge and Buckshot: Lawlessness in Old California, Univerciy of Oklahoma Press, 1997, pg. 135-136
  16. ^ Robin W. Winks, The Civil War Years: Canada and the United States, McGill-Queen's Press, 1999, pp. 162-163.
  17. ^ Clinton A. Snowden, History of Washington: The Rise and Progress of an American State, Volume Four, THE CENTURY HISTORY COMPANY, NEW YORK, 1909. Chapter LII. THE CIVIL WAR. pp. 111-112
  18. ^ Aurora Hunt, The Army of the Pacific; Its operations in California, Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, plains region, Mexico, etc. 1860-1866, The Pacific Squadron of 1861-1866, pp.314-315.
  19. ^ "Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion." 31 volumes. United States Government Printing Office, 1914; reprinted, 1987, by the National Historical Society, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; citation includes series 1, volume 3, pp. 302-303, 352-368.
  20. ^ Marcello, Paul (2 March 2016). "Shenandoah, 1864-1865". Naval Heritage and History Command. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
  21. ^ U.S. National Park Service, The Civil War: Search for Battles
  22. ^ The California Military Museum; California and the Indian Wars, The Owens Valley Indian War, 1861-1865.

External links