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United States Department of War

The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army, also bearing responsibility for naval affairs until the establishment of the Navy Department in 1798, and for most land-based air forces until the creation of the Department of the Air Force on September 18, 1947.

For the present agency overseeing the United States Armed Forces, see United States Department of Defense.

Department overview

August 7, 1789 (1789-08-07)

September 18, 1947 (1947-09-18)

The Secretary of War, a civilian with such responsibilities as finance and purchases and a minor role in directing military affairs, headed the War Department throughout its existence.


The War Department existed from August 7, 1789[1] until September 18, 1947, when it split into the Department of the Army and the Department of the Air Force. The Department of the Army and Department of the Air Force later joined the Department of the Navy under the United States Department of Defense in 1949.

Organization[edit]

The United States Secretary of War, a member of the United States Cabinet, headed the War Department.


The National Security Act of 1947 established the National Military Establishment, later renamed the United States Department of Defense. On the same day this act was signed, Executive Order 9877 assigned primary military functions and responsibilities[29] with the former War Department split between the Department of the Army and Department of the Air Force.


In the aftermath of World War II, the American government (among others around the world) decided to abandon the word 'War' when referring to the civilian leadership of their military. One vestige of the former nomenclature is the names of the service was colleges: the Army War College, the Naval War College, and the Air War College, which still train U.S. military officers in battlefield tactics and the strategy of war fighting.

Military history of the United States

United States Assistant Secretary of War

United States Secretary of War

Cline, Ray S. Washington Command Post: The Operations Division, United States Army in World War II. (1950)

Coffman, Edward M. The Regulars: The American Army, 1898–1941 (2007)

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Coffman, Edward M. The hilt of the sword: the career of Peyton C. March (1966), on World War I

Hewes, James E. From Root to McNamara: Army Organization and Administration, 1900–1963. (1975)

Koistinen, Paul A. C. Beating Plowshares into Swords: The Political Economy of American Warfare, 1606–1865 (1996)

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Koistinen, Paul A. C. Mobilizing for modern war: the political economy of American warfare, 1865–1919 (1997)

Koistinen, Paul A. C. Planning War, Pursuing Peace: The Political Economy of American Warfare, 1920–1939 (1998)

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Koistinen, Paul A. C. Arsenal of World War II: the political economy of American warfare, 1940–1945 (2004)

Pogue, Forrest C. George C. Marshall, Volume 2: Ordeal and hope, 1939–1942 (1967)

Pogue, Forrest C. George C. Marshall, organizer of victory, 1943–1945 (1973)

Shannon, Fred. The Organization and Administration of the Union Army 1861–1865 (2 vol 1928) ; vol 2 excerpt and text search

vol 1 excerpt and text search

Short, Lloyd Milton (1923). . United States: Johns Hopkins Press. ISBN 0598686584.

The Development of National Administrative Organization in the United States, Issue 10

White, Leonard D. The Federalists: a Study in Administrative History, (1948).

White, Leonard D. The Jeffersonians: A Study in Administrative History, 1801–1829 (1965)

White, Leonard D. The Jacksonians: A Study in Administrative History, 1829–1861. (1965)

White, Leonard D. The Republican Era, 1869–1901 a Study in Administrative History, (1958)

Wilson, Mark R. The Business of Civil War: Military Mobilization and the State, 1861–1865 (2006)

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Archived March 25, 2015, at the Wayback Machine

Reconstruction of War Department Records from 1784 to 1800

Official Reports of the War of the Rebellion {US Civil War} 1861–1865 {published 1880–1901}

US Army General Orders for 1885

U.S. War Department, Operations Division Diary, 1941–1946, Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library

– Library of Congress

American State Papers, 1789 to 1837

at Project Gutenberg

Works by United States Department of War

at Internet Archive

Works by or about United States Department of War