Army of Northern Virginia
|
General Robert E. Lee, commander of the Army of Northern Virginia |
The
Army of Northern Virginia was the primary military force of the
Confederate States of America in the
Eastern Theater of the
American Civil War. It was most often arrayed against the
Union Army of the Potomac.
The name
Army of Northern Virginia referred to its primary area of operation, as did most
Confederate States Army names. The Army originated as the (Confederate)
Army of the Potomac, which was organized on
June 20,
1861, from all operational forces in northern Virginia. On
July 20 and
July 21, the
Army of the Shenandoah and forces from the District of Harpers Ferry were added. The
Army of the Northwest was merged in just prior to
March 14,
1862. The army was renamed
Army of Northern Virginia on
March 14,
1862. The
Army of the Peninsula was merged in
April 12,
1862.
[Eicher, p. 889.].
Robert E. Lee's biographer,
Douglas S. Freeman, asserts that the army received its final name from Lee when he issued orders assuming command on
June 1,
1862.
[Freeman, vol. 2, p. 78 and footnote 6.] However, Freeman does admit that Lee corresponded with
Joseph E. Johnston, his predecessor in army command, prior to that date and referred to Johnston's command as the Army of Northern Virginia. Part of the confusion results from the fact that Johnston commanded the Department of Northern Virginia (as of
October 22,
1861) and the name Army of Northern Virginia can be seen as an informal consequence of its parent department's name.
Jefferson Davis and Johnston did not adopt the name, but it is clear that the organization of units as of
March 14 was the same organization that Lee received on
June 1, and thus it is generally referred to today as the Army of Northern Virginia, even if that is correct only in retrospect.
In addition to Virginians, it included
regiments from all over the Confederacy, even those as far away as
Texas and
Arkansas.
Militiamen from the
New Mexico and
Arizona territories also served among its members.
The first commander of the Army of Northern Virginia was General
P.G.T. Beauregard (under its previous name, Army of the Potomac), followed by Gen.
Joseph E. Johnston and very briefly by Maj. Gen.
Gustavus Woodson Smith. But on
June 1,
1862, its most famous, and final, leader, General
Robert E. Lee, took command after Johnston was wounded, and Smith suffered what may have been a nervous breakdown, at the
Battle of Seven Pines.
In the first year of his command, Lee had two principal subordinate commanders. The "right wing" of the army was under the command of
Lieutenant General James Longstreet and the left wing under Lt. Gen.
Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson. These wings were redesignated as the First Corps (Longstreet) and Second Corps (Jackson) on
November 6,
1862. Following Jackson's death after the
Battle of Chancellorsville, Lee reorganized the army into three
corps on
May 30,
1863, under Longstreet, Lt. Gen.
Richard S. Ewell, and Lt. Gen.
A.P. Hill. A Fourth Corps, under Lt. Gen.
Richard H. Anderson, was organized on
October 19,
1864; on
April 8,
1865, it was merged into the Second Corps. The commanders of the first three corps changed frequently in 1864 and 1865. The Cavalry Corps was led by
Major General J.E.B. Stuart. It was established on
August 17,
1862, and abolished on
May 11,
1864 (the day Stuart was mortally wounded), with cavalry units being assigned to the headquarters of the Army. The Reserve Artillery was commanded by
Brigadier General William N. Pendleton.
The Army fought in a number of campaigns and battles, including:
On
April 9,
1865, the Army of Northern Virginia surrendered to the
Army of the Potomac at
Appomattox Court House, effectively ending the Civil War, with General Lee signing the papers of surrender to General
Ulysses S. Grant.
The army was noted for its aggressiveness and audacity, almost always pitted in battle against an opponent that outnumbered it, sometimes (such as at Antietam and Chancellorsville) two-to-one.
Robert E. Lee's
Farewell to the Army of Northern Virginia showed his admiration of, and devotion to, his men:
[Freeman, vol 4, pp.154-55.]*
Gettysburg Confederate order of battle (detailed command organization at the Battle of Gettysburg, 1863)
* Eicher, John H., & Eicher, David J.,
Civil War High Commands, Stanford University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8047-3641-3.
*
Freeman, Douglas S.,
R. E. Lee, A Biography (4 volumes), Scribners, 1934.
*
Steven Vincent Benet's poem
Army of Northern Virginia*
Organizational Chart of the Army of Northern Virginia at Antietam, September 1862.
