Pacific Division of the U. S. Army was one of its superior administrative organizations that existed during the early 19th century and for a short time in the early 20th century.
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Pacific Division 1848–1853
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The first Pacific Division of the U.S. Army was created on 10 October 1848, as the Army reorganized its administration for the new territories acquired during the Mexican–American War. 10th Military Department (California) and 11th Military Department (Oregon Territory) were subordinated to the new Division that had its headquarters at Monterey. In June 1849, the headquarters moved to San Francisco for a month then moved to Benicia and the Benicia Arsenal in July 1849.
On 17 May 1851, the Army merged Military Departments 10 and 11 into the Pacific Division as the Army again reorganized its administration on the West Coast. Both of those military departments merged into the Pacific Division ceased to exist. Division headquarters directly administered affairs in California and Oregon Territory. On 15 June 1852, Pacific Division headquarters was moved from Benicia to the San Francisco.
On 31 October 1853, the Pacific Division was replaced by the Department of the Pacific, with headquarters at San Francisco. It was created when the Army abandoned the system of divisions and numbered departments, establishing departments having a descriptive name, and reporting directly to Army Headquarters.
Commander of the Pacific Division
Major General Persifor Frazer Smith 10 October 1848–1849
Brevet Major General Bennet Riley 1849–1851
Brevet Brigadier General Ethan A. Hitchcock 1851–1853
Posts in Military Department 10
Post at Monterey, Monterey, 1847–1852
Monterey Ordnance Depot 1852–1856
Sonoma Barracks, Sonoma, 1847–1852.
Camp Sonoma, near Sonoma, 1847–1851
Sonoma Post, near Sonoma, 1852–1858
Camp San José, San Jose, 1848
Camp Anderson, Sacramento, 1849
Camp Stanislaus, Riverbank, California, 1849
Camp Riley, near Otay, 1849
Camp Salvation, Calexico, California, 1849
Camp San Miguel, Mission San Miguel Arcángel, 1849–1851
Benicia Barracks, Benicia, 1849–1898
Fort Far West, near Marysville, 1849–1852.
Angel Island Military Reservation, Angel Island 1850–1863
Camp Rancho de Chino, Chino, 1850–1852
Camp San Luis Rey, San Luis Rey, 1850–1852
Camp Frederica, 7 miles from Durham's Ferry, near San Joaquin City, California, 1850
Camp Vallecito, 1850, now Vallecito County Park
Vallecito Depot, 1851–1853
Posts in Military Department 11
Fort Colville, Washington Territory, 1859–1882
Fort Steilacoom, Washington Territory, (1849–1868)
Fort Dalles, Oregon, 1850–1867
Fort Vancouver, Washington Territory, 1849-1889
Pacific Division, 1904–07
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Several Departments were again organized under new Divisions in 1903. The previous Division of the Pacific (1869-91) was re-established and formally stood up in 1904 as the Pacific Division with subordinate or related commands, including the Department of California (to include the Hawaiian Islands) and the Department of the Columbia. The Pacific Division was headquartered at Fort Mason, San Francisco. By the end of 1907, the War Department, under Secretary of War William Howard Taft from 1 February 1904 – 30 June 1908, had eliminated the echelon of administrative units called Divisions and subsequently the Pacific Division that same year.
Commander of the Pacific Division
Major General Arthur MacArthur 1903 - 1907