View source for Department of the Monongahela

The '''Department of the Monongahela''' was a military department created by the [[United States War Department]] during the [[Gettysburg Campaign]] of the [[American Civil War]].

==History==
On June 9, 1863, [[President of the United States|President]] [[Abraham Lincoln]], responding to [[Robert E. Lee]]'s impending invasion of [[Maryland]] and [[Pennsylvania]], called for 100,000 volunteers from those two states, as well as [[West Virginia]] and [[Ohio]], to help repel the invasion, with only about 33,000 recruits answering his call. The [[United States Secretary of War|Secretary of War]], [[Edwin M. Stanton]], ordered the creation of two departments to organize these [[militia]] and defend Pennsylvania. The [[Department of the Susquehanna]] consisted of most of central and eastern Pennsylvania. The Department of the Monongahela consisted of western Pennsylvania, including [[Johnstown, Pennsylvania|Johnstown]], the [[Laurel Highlands]], and [[Erie, Pennsylvania|Erie]], as well as [[Hancock County, West Virginia|Hancock]], [[Brooke County|Brooke]], and [[Ohio County, West Virginia|Ohio]] counties in [[West Virginia]], and the Ohio counties of [[Columbiana County, Ohio|Columbiana]], [[Jefferson County, Ohio|Jefferson]], and [[Belmont County, Ohio|Belmont]]. The headquarters were established in [[Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|Pittsburgh]], under the command of [[Major General|Maj. Gen.]] [[William T. H. Brooks]], a combat veteran of the [[Union Army|Union]] [[Army of the Potomac]].

Brooks energetically set out to defend Pittsburgh, ordering citizens and railroad crews to build an elaborate network of earthworks and fortifications along key routes of approach that any invader might use. He organized home guard units, and sent out scouts looking for signs of [[Confederate States Army|Confederate]] activity. He established communications linkages with Maj. Gen. [[Ambrose Burnside]], commanding the adjacent Department of the Ohio, as well as the Department of the Susquehanna's Maj. Gen. [[Darius N. Couch]]. Pennsylvania Governor [[Andrew Curtin]] sent 10,000 rifles, ammunition, and supplies to Pittsburgh, and Federal troops were hastily diverted to assist in the defense of the river town should it be threatened.

Brooks's fears over a Confederate attack on [[Pittsburgh]] would prove unfounded, although [[Morgan's Raid]] through southern [[Ohio]] caused concern, as did [[John D. Imboden]]'s raid on the [[Baltimore and Ohio Railroad]] between [[Martinsburg, West Virginia]], and [[Cumberland, Maryland]],<ref>{{cite book|last=Spencer|first=Tucker|title=Brigadier General John D. Imboden: Confederate commander in the Shenandoah|year=2002|publisher=The University Press of Kentucky|location=Lexington, KY|isbn=978-0-8131-2266-3|pages=144}}</ref> well southeast of Pittsburgh. Satisfied that Pittsburgh was safe with the repulse of [[Robert E. Lee]] at the [[Battle of Gettysburg]] and the capture of [[John Hunt Morgan]] following the [[Battle of Salineville]], Brooks sent home the volunteers and militia, and the forts were abandoned.

The department was merged into the Department of the Susquehanna on April 6, 1864.<ref>The war of the rebellion: a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate armies. ; Series 1 - Volume 33, p. 814</ref> General Brooks returned to active field command, leading a division in the [[XVIII Corps (ACW)|XVIII Corps]] in the [[Army of the James]].

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Portal|American Civil War}}

==Sources==
* [[Samuel Penniman Bates|Bates, Samuel P.]], ''Martial Deeds of Pennsylvania.'' Philadelphia: T. H. Davis & Co., 1876.
* Boatner III, Lt. Col. Mark Mayo, ''The Civil War Dictionary''. New York: Van Rees Press, 1959.

==External links==

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120204123707/http://www.bivouacbooks.com/bbv4i4s4.htm Bivouac Books article on fortifying Pittsburgh in 1863]
{{Union Army Formations}}
{{Pennsylvania in the Civil War}}
[[Category:Union army departments|Monongohela, Department of the]]
[[Category:History of Pittsburgh]]
[[Category:Pennsylvania in the American Civil War]]
[[Category:West Virginia in the American Civil War]]
[[Category:1863 establishments in the United States]]