War Office

The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between the 17th century and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the Ministry of Defence.

The name "War Office" is also given to the former home of the department, the War Office building located at the junction of Horse Guards Avenue and Whitehall in central London. In August 2013 it was announced that the War Office building would be sold on the open market.

History

The War Office developed from the Council of War, an ad hoc grouping of the King and his senior military commanders which oversaw the Kingdom of England's frequent wars and campaigns. A number of older institutions, notably the Board of Ordnance (which dates from the 15th century), were merged to form the War Office. It worked alongside the Admiralty, responsible for the Royal Navy, and the (much later) Air Ministry, which oversaw the Royal Air Force. Its foundation has traditionally been ascribed to William Blathwayt, who on his appointment as Secretary at War in 1684 greatly expanded the remit of his office to cover general day-to-day administration of the Army.

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. The War Department also bore 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 in 1947.

The Secretary of War headed the war department throughout its existence. 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.

The War Department existed from 1789 until September 18, 1947, when it split into Department of the Army and Department of the Air Force and joined the Department of the Navy as part of the new joint National Military Establishment (NME), renamed the United States Department of Defense in 1949.

War Office (Lebanon, Connecticut)

The War Office, also once known as the Capt. Joseph Trumble Store and Office, is a historic commercial building on the Lebanon Green in Lebanon, Connecticut. It is located near the Governor Jonathan Trumbull House, a National Historic Landmark. It is a 1-1/2 story gambrel-roofed wood frame structure, built c. 1732 by Captain Joseph Trumbull as a place from which to conduct his merchant business. The building is most significant for its use during the American Revolutionary War. It served as the war office of Connecticut Governor Jonathan Trumbull, with more than 1,000 councils of war taking place there. Visitors to the office included George Washington, Rochambeau, Lauzun, Lafayette, Admiral de Ternay, Generals Henry Knox, John Sullivan, and Israel Putnam, also Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and John Jay. The Lebanon Green was also where cavalry of the French Army wintered in 1780-81, before joining the rest of their army for the march to Yorktown, Virginia in 1781. The War Office was, like the Trumbull House, moved a short distance in 1824.. It is now part of the museum property managed by the Connecticut chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution that also includes the Trumbull House and the Wadsworth Stables.