Every state which declared for the Union at the start of the campaign formed a Militia Department which was responsible to processing the states volunteers and forming and training them into fighting units of horse, foot and guns.

These are basically Armies, but not intended for battle, although many have become involved in local conflicts to support my field armies or fight off enemy incursions into their state.

Each Department is commanded by a Major General selected from the local state and chosen primarily for their Administrative Skill rather than their command abilities. Administration being the primary factor in the speed of organisation and training of recruits.

As Brigades, Regiments and Batteries are formed they are given a commander from the local state and numbered and named to reflect their origins. e.g. 1st New York Volunteers, 2nd Pennsylvania Battery, 3rd Ohio Cavalry etc,

Once they are formed and ready for battle these units are transferred to one of the Field Armies.

Likewise, as units serving in a field army become depleted the unit will be transferred back to their home Department for rest and replenishment.

Thus the composition of a State Militia Department will vary from state to state and over time and will depend upon the number of volunteers available from that state and the losses they have suffered in battle.

As things stand my campaign is divided into three main theatres of operation.

1. The Eastern Theatre
   
2. The Central Theatre
   
3. The Western Theatre

Field Armies are assigned to each theatre, and each theatre has its own goals and objectives. Although Field Armies are often transferred between theatres as a matter of operational necessity they still remain nominally responsible for their assigned theatre and draw their recruits from the Departments in that theatre.

e.g. The Army of the Mississippi is the only field army currently assigned to the Western Theatre and so is the only Field Army which draws its recruits from the Western Departments.

The map above shows a rough division of the Union States into the theatre of operations to which their Departments supply troops. The only inconsistency at the moment is Pennsylvania which has supplied troops to both the Central and Eastern Theatres in the past due to the demands of the campaign.

The map also shows a number of neutral of conflicted states, such as Missouri, Kentucky and West Virginia which supply volunteers to a theatre but do not have a formal Department for recruiting and training them.

The volunteers from these states are recruited and trained by the nearest state and are classed as Orphan Brigades as they are not truly state militia units that belong to that state.

e.g. The Department of the Ohio has Ophan Brigades from both West Virginia and Kentucky being trained under its organisation.

 

List of two-letter state abbreviations for future reference

This section describes how I manage the recruitment, training and replenishment of troops on my current Union 1861 Campaign.

I make a clear distinction between a field army, which is designed for combat, and a Department which is designed to manage and organise the recruitment and training of volunteers.

I currently only have four Field Armies.

1. The Army of the Potomac
   
2. The Army of the Shenandoah
   
3. The Army of the Ohio
   
4. The Army of the Mississippi

Each is assigned to a theatre of operations and draws its manpower from the list of states that are earmarked on the chart above as supporting that operational theatre. Thus, The Army of the Mississippi is assigned to the Western Theatre and draws its manpower from Minnesota Territory,
Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri (Orphaned), Kansas (Orphaned), Indian Territory (Orphaned), New Mexico Territory (Orphaned), Arizona Territory (Orphaned), and Colorado Territory (Orphaned)

Departments on the other hand are administrative organisations and not intended for combat at all. Although, some do become embroiled in battles especially when their home state is invaded by the enemy. In theory, every state which is required to raise volunteers and provide troops to the army will have a Department responsible for recruitment, training and replenishment of their troops. The composition and organisation of these departments will vary widely according to the number of volunteers raised by that state and the current demands of field armies.

For example:

• New York provides by far the greatest number of volunteers for the Union cause and so has by far the largest Department.
  
• Smaller states like Rhode Island or Vermont have much smaller departments because they raise far fewer recruits.
  
• At the moment many Departments are training new cavalry brigades simply because the Field Armies are constantly facing a shortage of cavalry. But, in the past, there has been a demand for more artillery batteries.
  
• Some states like Kansas, Kenturcky, Tennesse and West Virginia provide volunteers for the Union but are unable to form their own Departments to train and equipment them. These troops are formed into 'orphan' brigades and are assigned to the nearest viable Department for training. Thus, 'The Department of Ohio' trains recruits from Kentucky, West Virginia and Tennessee as well as it's own native brigades.

Whenever a field army engages in combat a review is conducted of its OOB after the battle to identify whether any of its brigades need rest and replenishment.

Cavalry and Infantry Brigades are deemed to be in need of R&R if their effective strength has fallen below 1,000 men, and Artillery Batterys are deemed in need of R&R if their strength has fallen below 100 men.

A check is then made of all the Departments that provide troops to the theatre of operations to which the army has been assigned to determine if there is a fresh brigade or battery that can be assigned to replace the under-strength unit.

If so, then that brigade is immediately transferred from its department to the field army, and once it has arrived then the under-strength brigade is withdrawn to the appropriate department for R&R.

This means that there is a constant movement of units between the Field Armies and the Departments, but that the Field Armies are not normally affected by the absence of Brigades for R&R.

Generally, a brand new unit will only be recruited when the number of volunteers available in a state exceeds 3,000 men. This is enough to recruit a new full-strength infantry or cavalry brigade, or several artillery batteries,

These new units will be recruited by the states Department and put through basic training in their home state, unless they are an orphan brigade, in which case they are trained by their host state.. What type of unit is recruited is mainly based on operational need, but there is generally a shortage of cavalry and artillery.