General Orders, No. 159 (U.S. War Department)

On October 16, 1862, the U.S. War Department created the Department of the Tennessee and placed Ulysses S. Grant in charge of the new department.

Portrait of Ulysses S. Grant — On October 16, 1862, the U.S. War Department created the Department of the Tennessee and placed Ulysses S. Grant in charge of the new department. [Wikimedia Commons]

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General Orders No. 159

War Department, Adjt. Gen.’s Office

Washington, October 16, 1862.

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The Department of the Tennessee will include Cairo, Fort Henry, and Fort Donelson, Northern Mississippi, and portions of Kentucky and Tennessee west of the Tennessee River.
Maj. Gen. U.S. Grant is assigned to command of the Department of the Tennessee.

By order of the Secretary of War:

L. Thomas,

Adjutant-General

Written by Harry Searles