Department of the Rappahannock

[1] Its territory consisted of Virginia “east of the Blue Ridge and west of the Potomac River, the Fredericksburg and Richmond Railroad, including the District of Columbia and the country between the Potomac and the Patuxent Rivers.” The commander of the I Corps, Irvin McDowell, was promoted to Major General and authorized to command the department.

The Department of the Shenandoah absorbed the Piedmont District and Bull Mountain Range on June 1, 1862.

[1] On June 9, 1862, the department took part in its only engagement of the war, the Battle of Port Republic, during Jackson's Valley Campaign.

Two brigades from the division of James Shields, commanded by Erastus B. Tyler, were outnumbered and defeated by forces led by Confederate Major General Stonewall Jackson.

[4] From June 26, 1862 to September 12, 1862, the troops of the Department of the Rappahannock were designated the III Corps of the Army of Virginia.

Fredericksburg, Virginia , March 1863. View from the north across the Rappahannock River.
Brigadier General Irvin McDowell (left) with Major General George B. McClellan