Editing Union army (section)

===Leadership===
[[President of the United States|U.S. President]] [[Abraham Lincoln]] exercised supreme [[command and control]] over the army in his capacity as [[Powers of the president of the United States#Commander-in-chief|commander-in-chief]] of the [[United States Armed Forces]]. Below him was the [[Secretary of War]], who oversaw the administration of the army, and the [[General-in-chief#United States|general-in-chief]], who directed the field operations of the army.  

At the start of the war, [[Simon Cameron]] served as Secretary of War before being replaced in January 1862 by [[Edwin Stanton]].  The role of general-in-chief was filled by several men during the course of the war:<ref name=USAL195>United States Army Logistics, 1775–1992: An Anthology. (1997). United States: Center of Military History, U.S. Army. p. 194-195</ref>
*[[Winfield Scott]]: July 5, 1841{{spaced ndash}}November 1, 1861
*[[George B. McClellan]]: November 1, 1861{{spaced ndash}}March 11, 1862
*[[Henry W. Halleck]]: July 23, 1862{{spaced ndash}}March 9, 1864
*[[Ulysses S. Grant]]: March 9, 1864{{spaced ndash}}March 4, 1869

The gap from March 11 to July 23, 1862, was filled with direct control of the army by President Lincoln and Secretary Stanton, with the help of an unofficial "War Board" that was established on March 17, 1862. The board consisted of [[Ethan A. Hitchcock (general)|Ethan A. Hitchcock]], the chairman, with Department of War bureau chiefs [[Lorenzo Thomas]] (Adjutant General), [[Montgomery C. Meigs (1816–1892)|Montgomery C. Meigs]] (Quartermaster General), [[Joseph G. Totten]] (Chief of Engineers), [[James Wolfe Ripley|James W. Ripley]] (Chief of Ordnance), and [[Joseph P. Taylor]] (Commissary General).<ref>Eicher, pp. 37–38.</ref>

Reporting directly to the Secretary of War were the bureau chiefs or heads of staff departments which made up the [[Department of War]].  These included, at the onset of the war, the [[United States Army Adjutant General's Corps|adjutant general]], [[Office of the Inspector General of the United States Army|inspector general]], [[Paymaster-General of the United States Army|paymaster-general]], [[Judge Advocate General's Corps, United States Army|judge advocate general]], [[chief of engineers]], [[United States Army Corps of Topographical Engineers|chief of topographical engineers]], [[Quartermaster General of the United States Army|quartermaster general]], commissary general of subsistence, [[Chief of Ordnance of the United States Army|chief of ordnance]], and [[Surgeon General of the United States Army|surgeon general]].

After the war started, the position of [[United States Army Provost Marshal General|Provost Marshal General]] was also created.<ref name=USAL195/>  Originally established on September 24, 1862, as an office in the Adjutant General's department under [[Simeon Draper]], it was made an independent department in its own right on May 1, 1863, under [[James B. Fry]].<ref name="Eicher58">Eicher, p. 58</ref>  The [[Signal Corps (United States Army)|Signal Corps]] was created and deployed for the first time, through the leadership of [[Albert J. Myer]].

One drawback to this system was that the authority and responsibilities of the Secretary of War, his [[United States Assistant Secretary of War|Assistant Secretaries]], and the General-in-Chief were not clearly delineated.  Additionally, the efforts of the four "supply" departments (Quartermaster, Subsistence, Ordnance & Medical) were not coordinated with each other, a condition that would last throughout the war.  Although the "War Board" could provide military advice and help coordinate military policy, it was not until the appointment of Ulysses Grant as General-in-Chief was there more than the vaguest coordination of military strategy and logistics.<ref name=USAL195/>