Army of Northern Virginia

(noun)

The primary military force of the Confederate States of America in the eastern theater of the American Civil War as well as the primary command structure of the Department of Northern Virginia.

Related Terms

Examples of Army of Northern Virginia in the following topics:

  • The Battle of Fredericksburg

    • In November 1862, President Abraham Lincoln needed to demonstrate the success of the Union war effort before the Northern public lost confidence in his administration.
    • McClellan into action, he issued orders to replace McClellan in command of the Army of the Potomac in Virginia.
    • The Battle of Fredericksburg was fought December 11–15, 1862, in and around Fredericksburg, Virginia, between General Robert E.
    • Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia and the Union Army of the Potomac, commanded by Major General Ambrose Burnside.
    • Due to the Union Army's logistical and bureaucratic delays, Lee's Army of Northern Virginia had set up well-fortified positions by the time of Burnside's attack.

  • The Confederacy's Defeat

    • Grant made his headquarters with the Army of the Potomac, and put Maj.
    • Lee's extended lines were mostly on small sections of thirty miles of strongholds around Richmond and Petersburg, Virginia.
    • Grant then took advantage of the situation and launched attacks on this thirty mile and poorly defended front, ultimately leading to the surrender of Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox.
    • The Army of Northern Virginia surrendered on April 9, followed by General St.
    • On May 10, 1865 Union cavalrymen captured Confederate President Jefferson Davis after he fled Richmond, Virginia, following its evacuation in the early part of April.

  • Lee's Surrender at Appomattox

    • Grant's Army of the Potomac and General Robert E.
    • Lee's Army of Northern Virginia ended with Lee's surrender at Appomattox on April 9, 1865.
    • On May 10, 1865, Union cavalrymen captured Confederate President Jefferson Davis after he fled Richmond, Virginia, following its evacuation in the early part of April.
    • The Confederate president was subsequently held prisoner for two years in Fort Monroe, Virginia.
    • McLean House was originally built by Charles Raine in 1848, and was the site of the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia to the Union Army on April 9, 1865.

  • The Battle of Gettysburg

    • The Battle of Gettysburg resulted in the Confederate Army's retreat and the war turning in favor of the Union.
    • Union Major General George Gordon Meade's Army of the Potomac defeated attacks by Confederate General Robert E.
    • Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, ending Lee's invasion of the North.
    • With his army in high spirits, Lee intended to shift the focus of the summer campaign from war-ravaged northern Virginia and hoped to influence Northern politicians to give up their prosecution of the war by penetrating as far as Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, or even Philadelphia.
    • The invasion would allow the Confederates to live off the bounty of rich Northern farms while giving war-ravaged Virginia a much-needed rest.

  • Stalemate in the Eastern Theater

    • The eastern theater of the American Civil War included the states of Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, the District of Columbia, and the coastal fortifications and seaports of North Carolina.
    • Lee’s offensive campaign against Union General Alexander Pope’s Army of Virginia while it was isolated from General George McClellan’s Army of the Potomac, which was stationed near Richmond.
    • The imaginations of both Northerners and Southerners were captured by the epic struggles between the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, under Robert E.
    • Lee, and the Union Army of the Potomac, under a series of less successful commanders.
    • President Lincoln visiting the Army of the Potomac at the Antietam battlefield, September 1862.

  • Grant's Pursuit of Lee

    • General Grant's Union Army pursued General Lee's Confederate Army in the Overland Campaign, resulting in an important victory for the Union.
    • Grant's Overland Campaign was a series of battles fought in Virginia during May and June 1864.
    • Grant, general-in-chief of all Union armies, directed the actions of the Army of the Potomac, commanded by Major General George G.
    • Lee's Army of Northern Virginia.
    • He chose to make his headquarters with the Army of the Potomac, although Meade retained formal command of that army.

  • The Battle of Chancellorsville

    • The Confederate Army won at the Battle of Chancellorsville, but lost many troops, including General "Stonewall" Jackson.
    • It was fought from April 30 to May 6, 1863, in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, near the village of Chancellorsville.
    • The campaign pitted Union Army Major General Joseph Hooker's Army of the Potomac against General Robert E.
    • Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia.
    • Assess the pros and cons of the Battle of Chancellorsville for the Confederate Army

  • McClellan's Peninsular Campaign

    • McClellan, was an amphibious turning movement against the Confederate States Army in northern Virginia intended to capture the Confederate capital of Richmond.
    • McClellan, recently having ascended to general chief of all Union armies in addition to remaining an army commander for the Army of the Potomac, revealed on January 12, 1862, a plan to transport the Army of the Potomac by ship to Urbanna, Virginia, in order to outflank Confederate forces near Washington and capture Richmond.
    • Another setback for the campaign was the emergence of the first Confederate ironclad ship, the CSS Virginia, which complicated further Union operations along the James River.
    • President Lincoln eventually ordered the Army of the Potomac back to the D.C. area to support Major General John Pope’s forces in the Northern Virginia Campaign and the Second Battle of Bull Run.
    • General McClellan launched an invasion of Virginia, intending to take the Confederate capital of Richmond and bring an early end to the Civil War.

  • The Battle of Chattanooga

    • After winning a series of battles in the Chattanooga Campaign, the Union Army was able to invade the South.
    • In September 1863, the Union Army of the Cumberland, under Major General William S.
    • Rosecrans, executed a series of maneuvers that forced Confederate General Braxton Bragg and his Army of Tennessee to abandon Chattanooga and withdraw into northern Georgia.
    • The chief engineer of the Army of the Cumberland had devised a more reliable supply line to the troops in Chattanooga.
    • Casualties for the Union Army amounted to 5,824 of about 56,000 engaged; Bragg reported Confederate casualties of 6,667 out of about 44,000.

  • Forming Armies

    • Army.
    • Army consisted of ten regiments of infantry, four of artillery, two of cavalry, two of dragoons, and one of mounted infantry.
    • Lee disapproved of secession, but refused to bear arms against his native state, Virginia, and resigned to accept the position as commander of Virginia forces.
    • He eventually became the commander of the Confederate States Army.
    • General Lee had been offered the command of Union armies but declined when his home state of Virginia seceded.