Correspondence: J.H. Wilson, Chief of Cavalry Bureau, USA, to E.M. Stanton, Secretary of War, 1864

Correspondence: James H. Wilson, Chief of the Cavalry Bureau, Washington, to Edwin M. Stanton, 4 April 1864.
http://bit.ly/OR_1-32-3-JH-Wilson-to-EM-Stanton-1864

On April 4, 1864, J.H. Wilson, Chief of the Cavalry Bureau [since Feb. 1864] writes to E.M. Stanton, Secretary of War, discussing details and assignments of the mounted cavalry of the Department of the Cumberland (28 regiments cavalry; 7 regiments mounted infantry). He directs that certain regiments of several brigades "be mounted and equipped and returned to duty before any more new regiments are supplied" (255).

Regiments to be equipped:

FIRST DIVISION

First Brigade:
(1) Second Michigan Cavalry
(2) Ninth Pennsylvania Cavalry

Second Brigade:
(1) Second Indiana Cavalry
(2) Fourth Indiana Cavalry
(3) First Wisconsin Cavalry

Third Brigade:
(1) Seventh Kentucky Cavalry
(2) First Tennessee Cavalry

SECOND DIVISION

First Brigade:
(1) Seventh Pennsylvania Cavalry
(2) Fourth Michigan Cavalry
(3) Fourth U.S. Cavalry
(4) Fifth Iowa Cavalry
(5) Third Indiana Cavalry

Second Brigade:
(1) First Ohio Cavalry
(2) Third Ohio Cavalry
(3) Fourth Ohio Cavalry
(4) Tenth Ohio Cavalry
(5) Second Kentucky Cavalry

Third Brigade:
(1) Seventeenth Indiana Mounted Infantry
(2) Seventy-Second Indiana Mounted Infantry
(3) Ninety-Second Illinois Mounted Infantry
(4) One Hundred and Twenty-Third Illinois Mounted Infantry
(5) Third Kentucky Cavalry
(6) Eighth Iowa Cavalry

"The Second Michigan, Ninth Pennsylvania, Second Indiana, and First Wisconsin have all signified their willingness to re-enlist if they can be furloughed, but at present they cannot be spared from duty" (256).

Knoxville and Strawberry Plains: "...the cavalry was almost entirely used up, the horses almost starved to death..." (256).
6,000 - 9,000 horses required.
Arms: Spencer or Sharps carbine.

Special note concerning poor organization of certain Tennessee regiments; new order will override plans of Governor [Andrew] Johnson [Military Gov. of Tenn., 1862-1865] who was in process of requesting that these inferior regiments be equipped. [Later in the doc., and explanation appears to be that new Tennessee units are forming, but will be untrained, inferior to veterans]. Regarding Tennessee cavalry:

"Regarding the efficiency of these Tennessee regiments there is but one opinion. With the exception of the First Tennessee, they are all worthless" (256).

(In March): Cavalry, Dept. of the Ohio, concentrated at Louisville, Kentucky.

Plans for direct communication between generals commanding the Cavalry Bureau is submitted (duties of officers, recuperation of horses, rations, surplus stores, arms, return of horses from citizens, discourage use of mounted infantry, etcetera). [See text].

Criticism of Colonel Wolford (under General Schofield).

Official Records, Series 1, Vol. 32, Pt. 3, Chp. 44 (Correspondence, Etc.--Union) [Washington: Government Printing Office, 1891], 255-258 [Wilson to Stanton: Washington, 4 April 1864].

Short URL: http://bit.ly/OR_1-32-3-JH-Wilson-to-EM-Stanton-1864

Full Citation (general info, for series).

Subjects: Cavalry, Condition of Cavalry, Starvation, Army of the Cumberland, Organization of Army

General David S. Stanley ill, relieved from duty, 1863 (source and dates, with link)

General David S. Stanley becomes ill, is temporarily replaced by General Mitchell, Sept. 1863:

Published in The Dispatch, Civil War field notes 1863
During the crossing of Sand Mountain and Lookout Mountain, in September 1863, General David S. Stanley fell ill. On the 18th, he "went to the rear," leaving General Mitchell in (temporary) command (see source). He continued to be ailing for the next two months, and finally asked to be relieved from duty to recruit his health. This source (presented via Perseus Digital Library) is from an extract of Civil War field notes, as published in The Dispatch on September 16, 1863.
Short URL: http://bit.ly/18-Sep-1863-Gen-Stanley-is-ill

Citation:
"Headq'rs in the field, ten miles Northeast of Lafayette, Ga., Sept. 16, 1863," The Daily Dispatch, September 22, 1863 [extract of], Perseus Digital Library [ed. Gregory R. Crane, Department of the Classics, Tufts University; Perseus.tufts.edu]. [Citing: The Daily Dispatch: September 22, 1863. Richmond Dispatch. 2 pages. by Cowardin & Hammersley. Richmond. September 22, 1863. microfilm. Ann Arbor, Mi : Proquest. 1 microfilm reel ; 35 mm]. Accessed 2 Aug. 2016. http://bit.ly/18-Sep-1863-Gen-Stanley-is-ill (shortened).


General Stanley is relieved of command, replaced by (permanent replacement) Washington Lafayette Elliott, Nov. 1863:

On November, 16 1863, Stanley was relieved of command and replaced by Washington LaFayette Elliott (W.R. Carter, History of the First Tennessee Volunteers). Dennis W. Belcher, in The Cavalry of the Army of the Cumberland (Jefferson: McFarland, 2016) cites the date as November 12, 1863; see pg. 175. William Randolph Carter, author of History of the First Regiment of Tennessee Volunteer Cavalry, states this fact and gives an exact date. Carter, of the First Tennessee Vols, was under Stanley's command and crossed Lookout Mountain with Stanley's Corps.

16 November 1863: General D. S. Stanley (Davis S. Stanley): "relieved from duty as chief of cavalry, Army of the Cumberland, and General W. L. Elliott placed in command."

Citation:
Carter, William Randolph, History of the First Regiment of Tennessee Volunteer Cavalry (The Overmountain Press, 1992 [reprint]), 108.
Short URL: http://bit.ly/Source_David-S-Stanley-relieved-of-duty-for-illness

In an 1883 letter from General D.S. Stanley to Marshall P. Thatcher, author of A Hundred Battles in the West: St. Louis to Atlanta, 1861-1865, the general identifies his illness as acute dysentery, contracted ten days before the Battle of Chickamauga. That would make the date of the beginning of his illness about September 9th or 10th. The battles happened on the 19th and 20th. He recuperated at Stevenson, Alabama. (Thatcher, p.249, letter from D.S. Stanley).
https://archive.org/stream/ahundredbattles00thatrich#page/248/mode/2up

Promotion of General Elliott, Correspondence of 10 May 1865
Quote from this source: "Brigadier-General Elliott was, October 3, 1863, ordered to duty in the Department of the Cumberland..." (Date given here is later than dates above and may refer to a different event; the date is before the date he relieved Stanley, and is when he was first transferred to the Dept. of the Cumberland, if the date is accurate--it is being mentioned two years later in this recommendation for promotion).

Citation: O.R., Ser. 1, vol. 49, Pt. 2, Ch. , 699 (G. Thomas to L. Thomas, 10 May 1865, Hdqrs. Dept. of the Cumberland)
https://books.google.com/books?id=Qat3AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA699#v=onepage&q&f=false
______________________________________

Related: 

ROBERT B. MITCHELL ASKS TO BE RELIEVED OF COMMAND, OCT. 1863
About a month after Robert B. Mitchell takes (temporary) command of cavalry, he, too, asks to be relieved for reasons of health, citing the exacting conditions of the command itself.
http://musescivilwar.blogspot.com/2016/08/gen-robert-mitchell-chief-of-cavalry.html