The Department of the East was a military administrative district established by the U.S. Army on March 5, 1866, with boundaries encompassing all the states east of the Mississippi River. The department was discontinued when the Army's command was reorganized by the 1920 amendment to the 1916 Defense Act.

Headquarters

The headquarters was originally located in leased office space in New York City until 1878 when the War Department relocated all headquarters functions across the country to army posts due to economic considerations. The headquarters was relocated to Fort Columbus

Fort Columbus

Fort Columbus was a fortification and army post in Governors Island, New York Harbor, New York City, New York, from 1806 to 1904.-Fort Jay:Fort Columbus was the name of a fortification and later the army post that developed around it...

, renamed Fort Jay

Fort Jay

Fort Jay is a harbor fortification and the name of the former Army post located on Governors Island in New York Harbor. Fort Jay is the oldest defensive structure on the island, built to defend Upper New York Bay, but has served other purposes...

 in 1904 on Governors Island

Governors Island

Governors Island is a island in Upper New York Bay, approximately one-half mile from the southern tip of Manhattan Island and separated from Brooklyn by Buttermilk Channel. It is legally part of the borough of Manhattan in New York City...

 in New York Harbor.

Department Commanders

Winfield Scott Hancock

Winfield Scott Hancock

Winfield Scott Hancock was a career U.S. Army officer and the Democratic nominee for President of the United States in 1880. He served with distinction in the Army for four decades, including service in the Mexican-American War and as a Union general in the American Civil War...

Oliver O. Howard

Oliver O. Howard

Oliver Otis Howard was a career United States Army officer and a Union general in the American Civil War...

John Schofield

John Schofield

John McAllister Schofield was an American soldier who held major commands during the American Civil War. He later served as U.S. Secretary of War and Commanding General of the United States Army.-Early life:...

Leonard Wood

Leonard Wood

Leonard Wood was a physician who served as the Chief of Staff of the United States Army, Military Governor of Cuba and Governor General of the Philippines. Early in his military career, he received the Medal of Honor. Wood also holds officer service #2 in the Regular Army...

J. Franklin Bell

J. Franklin Bell

James Franklin Bell was Chief of Staff of the United States Army from 1906 to 1910.Bell was a major-general in the Regular United States Army, commanding the Department of the East, with headquarters at Governors Island, New York at the time of his death in 1919...

Nelson Miles