General Orders, No. 20 (Headquarters of the Army)

General Orders No. 20

Headq’rs of the Army, Adj’t General’s Office

Washington, February, 23, 1862

A new military department, to be called the Department of the Gulf, is hereby constituted. I twill comprise all of the coast of the Gulf of Mexico west of Pensacola harbor, and so much of the Gulf States as may be occupied by the forces under Major General B. F. Butler, United States Volunteers. The headquarters for the present will be movable, wherever the General Commanding may be.

By Command of Major General McClellan:

L. THOMAS, Adjutant General