Opequon Union order of battle
The following Union Army units and commanders fought in the Battle of Opequon in the American Civil War. The Confederate order of battle is listed separately. The battle was fought on September 19, 1864 near Winchester, Virginia, and Opequon Creek. The battle is also known as the Third Battle of Winchester and the Battle of Opequon Creek.
Abbreviations used
Military rank
- MG = Major General
- BG = Brigadier General
- Col = Colonel
- Ltc = Lieutenant Colonel
- Maj = Major
- Cpt = Captain
- Lt = Lieutenant
- Bvt = Brevet
Army of the Shenandoah
MG Philip Sheridan, Commanding[Note 1]
- Staff: Maj George Alexander Forsyth[4]
VI Corps
Division | Brigade | Regiments and Others |
---|---|---|
First Division
|
1st Brigade
Ltc Edward L. Campbell[Note 2] |
|
2nd Brigade
|
| |
3rd Brigade
|
| |
Second Division |
1st Brigade |
|
2nd Brigade (a.k.a. First Vermont Brigade)[11]
|
| |
3rd Brigade |
| |
Third Division |
1st Brigade
|
|
2nd Brigade
|
| |
Artillery | Artillery Brigade |
|
Army of West Virginia
BG George Crook
Division | Brigade | Regiments and Others |
---|---|---|
First Division
|
1st Brigade
|
|
3rd Brigade
|
| |
Second Division (Kanawha Division)
|
1st Brigade
|
|
2nd Brigade
|
| |
Artillery | Artillery Brigade
|
|
Note: Thoburn's 2nd Brigade was detached to guard wagons and field hospitals.[18]
XIX Corps
Division | Brigade | Regiments and Others |
---|---|---|
First Division |
1st Brigade
|
|
2nd Brigade |
| |
Division Artillery |
| |
Second Division |
1st Brigade |
|
2nd Brigade
|
| |
3rd Brigade
|
| |
4th Brigade
|
| |
Division Artillery |
| |
Artillery | Reserve
|
|
Cavalry Corps
Division | Brigade | Regiments and Others |
---|---|---|
First Division |
1st Brigade |
|
2nd Brigade |
| |
Reserve Brigade |
| |
Second Division |
1st Brigade |
|
2nd Brigade |
| |
Division Artillery |
| |
Third Division |
1st Brigade
|
|
2nd Brigade
|
| |
Horse Artillery | Horse Artillery
|
Notes
Footnotes
- Source for all information is the Official Records... by Ainsworth and Kirkley of the United States War Department, Volume XLIII, Chapter LV, pp. 107–112.[1] This source has been compared to Appendix 1 in Scott Patchan's The Last Battle of Winchester..., and differences are footnoted.[2] A small number of cases use additional sources, such as the National Park Service, and are footnoted.[3]
- Col William Penrose is listed by Pachan but not by the official records. Campbell's September 26 report says he (Campbell) was in command at Opequon.[6]
- 95th and 96th Pennsylvania were guarding trains and not engaged in the battle.[8]
- Bassett not listed by Patchan. Assumed command when Edwards assumed command of division.[9]
- Brigadier General Lewis A. Grant was on a leave of absence.[11]
- Both sources list this regiment as the 7th Maine. However, the 1st Regiment, Maine Veteran Infantry was formed on August 21, 1864 from that and other regiments.[12]
- Patchan lists this battalion as the 29th New York, but Lt. Col. Holt was in the 49th.[13]
- Col McClennan, who had been ill, retired from field due to exhaustion.[16]
- Col Henry Capehart (1st West Virginia Cavalry) is listed by the Official Records as commander of Averell's Second Brigade, while Patchan lists Powell. Powell was described as leading the brigade by one soldier, and Powell replaced Averell on September 23.[24][25]
- Chapman was disabled for several hours as a bullet hit his sword belt. Colonel William Wells became the active commander of the brigade, although Chapman remained on the field.[22]
- Official records say the 3rd and 4th U.S. batteries were not engaged in the battle.[1] However, one historian describes Lieutenant Cuyler and the 3rd U.S. being used by Merritt to assault Fort Collier.[4][22]
Citations
- Ainsworth & Kirkley 1902, pp. 107–112
- Patchan 2013, Appendix 1 of e-book
- "Third Battle of Winchester". National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
- Patchan 2013, Ch. 19 of e-book
- Ainsworth & Kirkley 1902, p. 185
- Ainsworth & Kirkley 1902, p. 168
- Ainsworth & Kirkley 1902, p. 174
- Ainsworth & Kirkley 1902, p. 107
- Ainsworth & Kirkley 1902, p. 188
- Ainsworth & Kirkley 1902, p. 198
- Patchan 2013, Ch. 14 of e-book
- "Union Maine Volunteers - 1st Regiment, Maine Veteran Infantry". National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. Retrieved 2020-11-18.
- "Soldier Details - Holt, Erastus D." National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. Retrieved 2020-11-18.
- Ainsworth & Kirkley 1902, p. 119
- Ainsworth & Kirkley 1902, p. 222
- Ainsworth & Kirkley 1902, p. 249
- Ainsworth & Kirkley 1902, p. 389
- Wert 2010, p. 83
- Ainsworth & Kirkley 1902, p. 292
- Patchan 2013, Ch. 16 of e-book
- Patchan 2013, Ch. 15 of e-book
- Patchan 2013, Ch. 20 of e-book
- Ainsworth & Kirkley 1902, p. 445
- Sutton 2001, p. 160
- Ainsworth & Kirkley 1902, p. 505
- Ainsworth & Kirkley 1902, p. 518
References
- Ainsworth, Fred C.; Kirkley, Joseph W. (1902). The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies - Series I Volume XLIII Part I - Additions and Corrections, Chapter LV. Washington, District of Columbia: Government Printing Office. ISBN 978-0-91867-807-2. OCLC 427057. Retrieved 2020-11-06.
- Patchan, Scott C. (2013). The Last Battle of Winchester: Phil Sheridan, Jubal Early, and the Shenandoah Valley Campaign, August 7-September 19, 1864. El Dorado Hills, Calif: Savas Beatie. ISBN 978-1-932714-98-2. OCLC 751578151.
- Sutton, Joseph J. (2001) [1892]. History of the Second Regiment, West Virginia Cavalry Volunteers, During the War of the Rebellion. Huntington, WV: Blue Acorn Press. ISBN 978-0-9628866-5-2. OCLC 263148491.
- Wert, Jeffry D. (2010). From Winchester to Cedar Creek: The Shenandoah Campaign of 1864. Carbondale, Illinois: Southern Illinois University Press. ISBN 978-0-80932-972-4. OCLC 463454602.