First Corps - Army of Northern Virginia

The organization of the volunteer Confederate forces under
Brigadier-General Beauregard into the First Corps, Army of the
Potomac, was announced on June 20, 1861. There were then six
brigades, which number was increased later to eight. The strength of
the corps was about thirty thousand. A division organization was
afterward adopted, and one of these divisions, commanded by Major-
General Longstreet, was denominated the Center of Position, Army of
Northern Virginia, at the opening of the Peninsula campaign. It
contained about fourteen thousand men. As the Second Division (or
Corps) of the army, the troops fought from Fair Oaks, where they were
known as the Right Wing, through the Seven Days' battles. Toward the
end of July, the army was further concentrated into commands of which
one, consisting of six divisions, was headed by Longstreet, and this,
during the campaign against Pope, was called the Right Wing or
Longstreet's Corps. After the battle of Antietam, the corps was
designated the First Corps, Army of Northern Virginia. In September,
1863, Lee sent the corps, with the exception of Pickett's division,
to assist Bragg, and, as Longstreet's Corps, fought in the Army of
Tennessee at Chickamauga and remained in East Tennessee until April,
1864, when it rejoined the Army of Virginia. Major-General R. H.
Anderson succeeded to the command of the corps after Longstreet was
wounded at the battle of the Wilderness, May 6th. The latter returned
to his corps, October 19th, and continued at the head until the
surrender at Appomattox.

Second Corps - Army of Northern Virginia

On September 25, 1861, Major-General G. W. Smith was assigned
to the command of the Second Corps, Army of the Potomac, which was
organized to consist of all the troops not hitherto assigned to the
First Corps. After October 2nd, the force was known as the Second
Division and contained five brigades. It numbered almost twenty
thousand men, and passed into the Reserve, Second Division, and D. H.
Hill's Division of the Army of Northern Virginia. Most of these
troops finally came under the command of Lieutenant-General T. J.
Jackson and became known as the Second Corps of the Army of Northern
Virginia, after the battle of Antietam. After Jackson's death,
Lieutenant-General R. S. Ewell succeeded to the corps, after it had
been temporarily headed by Stuart and A. P. Hill. On May 30, 1863,
two divisions were detached to enter the Third Army Corps. The corps
was commanded by Lieutenant-General J. A. Early in the Shenandoah
campaign of 1864, and in the closing months of the war around
Petersburg, by Lieutenant-General John B. Gordon.

Third Corps - Army of Northern Virginia

Created from three divisions of the First and Second corps,
Army of Northern Virginia, on May 30, 1863, and put under the command
of Lieutenant-General A. P. Hill. Its first battle was Gettysburg.
Hill was killed in front of Petersburg, April 2, 1865, and the corps
was united with the First until the surrender at Appomattox.

Anderson's Corps - Army of Northern Virginia

Organized late in 1864 to consist of the divisions of Major-
Generals R. F. Hoke and Bushrod R. Johnson, and a battalion of
artillery under Colonel H. P. Jones. It contained an aggregate
strength of about fourteen thousand. Hoke's division served with the
First Army Corps and was sent to Wilmington, North Carolina, on
December, 20, 1864. Johnson's division remained with the Army of
Northern Virginia until the surrender at Appomattox.

Cavalry Corps - Army of Northern Virginia

The various troops of cavalry in this army were finally
gathered into a division of several brigades under the command of
Brigadier-General J. E. B. Stuart. By the date of the battle of
Gettysburg, July, 1863, the cavalry was organized in Divisions and
the organization was known as the Cavalry Corps. After the death of
Major-General J. E. B. Stuart, May, 1864, Major-General (later
Lieutenant-General) Wade Hampton took command. Major-General Fitzhugh
Lee also commanded several divisions at one time and was in command
of the corps at Appomattox.

 

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The Confederate forces assigned to operate in the Kanawha
valley, West Virginia, were placed under the command of Brigadier-
General John B. Floyd on August II, 1861, and denominated the Army of
the Kanawha. This force and one under Brigadier-General Henry A. Wise
were its chief constituents. The troops took part in the engagement
at Carnifex Ferry. The strength of the command was about thirty-five
hundred. Some of the troops were sent with Floyd to the Central Army
of Kentucky, early in 1862, and formed one of its divisions. Several
of the regiments were captured at Fort Donelson when this post
capitulated to General Grant.

 

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A title applied to the troops under Brigadier-General
Humphrey Marshall, consisting of the militia of Wise, Scott and Lee
counties, in 1861. It was a small force of about fifteen hundred men,
and was scattered by Federal troops under Brigadier-General James A.
Garfield. Its chief action was at Pound Gap, March 16, 1862.

 

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Organized December 14, 1861, to embrace all the forces on the
Rio Grande above Fort Quitman, and those in the territories of New
Mexico and Arizona. Its main object was the conquest of California.
Brigadier-General H. H. Sibley was placed in command. He had about
thirty-seven hundred men. His troops won the battle of Valverde,
occupied Santa Fe and fought at Glorieta (or Apache Canon). The army
was forced to retreat into Texas, in April, 1862, by Federal troops
under Colonel E. R. S. Canby. Sibley was relieved of the command in
December, 1862.

 

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At the beginning of the war, the Louisiana State troops,
commanded by Major-General Braxton Bragg and later by Colonel P. O.
HEBERT, were sometimes designated the Army of Louisiana.

 

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The forces at or near Pensacola, Florida, under Major-General
Braxton Bragg, were designated the Army of Pensacola on October 22,
1861. Brigadier-General A. H. Gladden had temporary command in
December, and Brigadier-General Samuel Jones took charge on January
27, 1862. The force then numbered eighty-one hundred men, divided
among regiments from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, and
Mississippi. On March 13, the army was discontinued, the regiments
entering the Army of the Mississippi or assigned for duty elsewhere.
Pensacola was evacuated by the Confederate troops on the 9th of May.

 

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On January 27, 1862, the command of Brigadier-General Jones
M. Withers, consisting of Alabama troops in and around the city of
Mobile, was designated the Army of Mobile. Its strength was about ten
thousand. It was subsequently commanded by Colonel J. B. Villepigue,
temporarily, and Brigadier-General Samuel Jones, after March 15th.
Many of the regiments entered the Army of the Mississippi and fought
at Shiloh under Withers. More regiments were sent to that army, and
on June 27, the Army of Mobile was discontinued.

 

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Brigadier-General S.B. Buckner assumed command of the forces
in central Kentucky, September, 1861, and he was followed October
28th, by General Albert Sidney Johnston. The troops were organized in
two divisions with a reserve, and a third division, under Brigadier-
General John B. Floyd, was added later on. Major-General Hardee had
temporary command, December, 1861-February, 1862. On March 29, 1862,
the Central Army of Kentucky, whose strength was about twenty-three
thousand, was consolidated with the Army of the Mississippi, under
the latter designation, with General Johnston in command and General
P. G. T. Beauregard second.

 

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In February, 1862, Major-General E. Kirby Smith was sent to
Knoxville to assume command of the troops in East Tennessee. With the
army thus organized, it was intended to create a diversion in favor
of General A. S. Johnston's operations with the Army of the
Mississippi. The Army of East Tennessee was engaged in many minor
engagements. On August 25th, the organization was designated the Army
of Kentucky and was composed of three divisions. It led the advance
in Bragg's invasion of Kentucky and was successful at the battle of
Richmond, August 30th, raising great hopes for the Confederate
conquest of Kentucky. On November 20, 1862, the Army of Kentucky was
merged as Smith's Corps in the Army of Tennessee.

 

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From troops in the Western Department (Department No. 2) was
created the Army of the Mississippi on March 5, 1862, and to General
P. G. T. Beauregard was given the command. The army was divided into
two corps headed by Major-Generals Leonidas Polk and Braxton Bragg.
On March 29th, the army was joined to the Central Army of Kentucky
with its three divisions, reserve corps, and cavalry. General A. S.
Johnston, of the latter, took command of the Army of the Mississippi,
that name having been preserved. Beauregard was second in command.
The whole body was gathered at Corinth (except a force at Fort
Pillow) in three corps, a reserve corps, and cavalry, and this was
the organization that fought at Shiloh, when its strength was about
forty thousand. The death of General Johnston placed the chief
command upon General Beauregard, who was relieved June 27, 1862, by
Major-General Hardee, and he, on August 15th, by Major-General Bragg.
The army was transferred to Chattanooga in July. Major-General Polk
had temporary command from September 28th to November 7, 1862, when,
on the return of Bragg, the organization was called the Army of
Tennessee.

Third Corps - Army of the Mississippi

Major-General W.J. Hardee, who had been commander in northwestern
Arkansas, was placed at the head of the Third Corps of the Army of
the Mississippi on its reorganization, March 29, 1862. In August, the
corps was merged in the Left Wing of the Army of the Mississippi.

Reserve Corps - Army of the Mississippi

Commanded by Major-General George B. Crittenden on March 29, 1862,
and by Major-General J. C. Breckinridge after April 6th, and, later,
by Brigadier-General Jones M. Withers. After Shiloh, and the siege of
Corinth, the corps went to Louisiana and fought the battle of Baton
Rouge, August 6, 1862, with the Federal troops under Brigadier-
General Thomas Williams. Then it returned with Breckinridge to form
the Army of Middle Tennessee and was merged in Hardee's (Second)
Corps, Army of Tennessee, as the First Division, in November, 1862.

 

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The joining of the Army of Kentucky with the Army of the
Mississippi, on November 20, 1862, was the origin of the Army of
Tennessee-the great Confederate army of the West. There were three
Corps and a division of cavalry, with an effective total of forty-
seven thousand. General Braxton Bragg was in command. This army
fought the battle of Stone's River, went through the Tullahoma
campaign, and fought the battle of Chickamauga, assisted by
Longstreet's Corps from the Army of Northern Virginia. It was driven
from Chattanooga in November, 1863, by Grant's forces. After the
battle of Chickamauga, the corps were reorganized several times.
Bragg was removed from the command on December 2, 1863, and until
General Johnston assumed it, on December 27th, both Hardee and Polk
were in temporary command. Polk was sent to the Department of
Alabama, Mississippi and East Louisiana before the end of December.
The army spent the winter around Dalton, Georgia, and faced Sherman's
advance in May, 1864, in two infantry and one cavalry corps. Polk
brought back his divisions, which he called the Army of Mississippi,
and these forces were consolidated with the Army of Tennessee on July
26th, after Polk had been killed. On July 18th, Johnston was replaced
by General John B. Hood. After the capture of Atlanta, the army
returned to Tennessee, and, failing to cut off Major-General
Schofield's command at Franklin, was routed by Major-General Thomas
at Nashville (December 15-16, 1864). In February, 1865, General
Johnston was again placed in command of the Army of Tennessee, as
well as the troops in South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. The army
had greatly dwindled. Lieutenant-General A. P. Stewart was at the
actual head of the Army of Tennessee after March 16th, and Johns-
ton's enlarged command included troops from the far South under
Hardee, which, in February, had been organized in a corps, and those
in North Carolina under Bragg. The aggregate present of the old Army
of Tennessee was about twenty thousand. The army surrendered to
Sherman in North Carolina, April 26,1865.

First Corps - Army of the Mississippi and of Tennessee

Major-General Leonidas Polk commanded from June, 1861, to
March, 1862, the First Division in the Western Department (No. 2),
the troops of which were scattered along the Mississippi from
Columbus, Kentucky, to Memphis, and in the interior of Tennessee and
Mississippi. It numbered about twenty-five thousand men. On the
organization of the Army of the Mississippi in March, 1862, this
division was called the First Grand Division, and after the
consolidation with the Central Army of Kentucky, on March 29th, the
First Corps, Army of the Mississippi. On August 15th, Polk's Corps
was reorganized as the Right Wing in ten divisions, with over fifteen
thousand present for duty. In the Army of Tennessee, the Right Wing
became the First, or Polk's Corps. After the battle of Chickamauga,
Polk was relieved of the command, and both corps of the army
underwent reorganization. The leading corps was thereafter known as
Hardee's, or Cheatham's Corps, from the names of its commanders.

Second Corps - Army of the Mississippi and of Tennessee

Major-General Braxton Bragg was given command of the Second
Corps of the Army of the Mississippi on its organization, March 29,
1862. There were ten divisions, composed chiefly of Alabama,
Mississippi, and Louisiana troops. In July, Major-General Samuel
Jones had command, and on August 15th, when General Bragg resumed
command of the whole army, his former corps passed to the control of
Major-General Hardee. There was an aggregate present of about sixteen
thousand men. On November 7th, the Left Wing, in an organization that
had a short existence after August 15th, again became the Second (or
Hardee's) Corps. In July, 1863, Lieutenant-General Hardee was
relieved by Lieutenant-General D. H. Hill, who commanded at
Chickamauga, and the later commanders were Major-Generals J. C.
Breckinridge, T. C. Hindman, Lieutenant-General J. B. Hood, Major-
General C. L. Stevenson and Lieutenant-General S. D. Lee. After 1864,
the corps was known as Hood's, or Lee's Corps, Hardee having assumed
command of the other corps.

Wheeler's Cavalry Corps - Army of Tennessee

On January 22, 1863, Major-General Joseph Wheeler was
assigned to command all the cavalry in Middle Tennessee. On March
16th, the cavalry divisions in the Army of Tennessee were designated
as corps, and were given the names of their respective commanders.
Wheeler and Van Dorn. The corps were organized into divisions and
brigades, and Wheeler's Corps, sometimes known as the Second Corps,
had an aggregate present of nearly twelve thousand. It displayed
great activity in Tennessee, making numerous raids and guarding the
flanks of the army. After the battle of Chickamauga, it made a famous
raid on Rosecrans' communications, October, 1863. It also operated on
the flanks of the army during the Atlanta and other campaigns until
the close of the war.

Van Dorn's Cavalry Corps - Army of Tennessee

On March 16, 1863, Major-General Van Dorn's Cavalry Division
in the Army of Tennessee was called Van Dorn's, or the First Cavalry
Corps. It had an average aggregate present of about eight thousand,
and was a valuable adjunct to General Bragg's army.

 

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When Major-General John C. Breckinridge assumed command of
the forces around Murfreesboro on October 28, 1862, they were
denominated the Army of Middle Tennessee. There were three brigades,
with cavalry under Brigadier-General Forrest, who was shortly
relieved by Brigadier-General Wheeler. When Bragg advanced from
Chattanooga to oppose Rosecrans, the Army of Middle Tennessee became
identified with a division of Hardee's Corps, Army of Tennessee.

 

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On June 12, 1861, Governor C. F. Jackson of Missouri, in
defiance of the United States military government, issued a call for
fifty thousand of the State militia for active service. At the time
of the flight of the governor and his followers to the extreme
southwestern corner of the State, he was joined by Price. At that
time, the whole Confederate State force amounted to about three
thousand men. This Missouri State Guard was in command of Brigadier-
Generals Sterling Price and M. M. Parsons from October 29, 1861, to
March 17, 1862, when it merged in the Army of the West.

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Major-General Earl Van Dorn assumed command of the troops in
the Trans-Mississippi District of Western Department (No. 2), on
January 29, 1862. Out of the force grew the Army of the West, so
called after March 4th. It was largely composed of the Missouri State
Guard. This army fought at Pea Ridge and elsewhere in Arkansas, and,
being transferred across the Mississippi, was present at the siege of
Corinth. The First Division was commanded by Major-General Sterling
Price after March 22d, and the Second by Major-General Samuel Jones.
It had three divisions after May, and a strength of over twenty
thousand. On June 20th, Van Dorn was replaced by Major-General John
P. McCown, who had commanded the Third Division, and he in turn by
Major-General Price, on July 3d. The transfer of the Army of the
Mississippi to Chattanooga at the end of July, left the Army of the
West in control of western Tennessee, and northern Mississippi. One
division of the army fought the battle of Iuka, September 10th. On
September 28th, a junction was made with Van Dorn's new command of
troops in Mississippi, and the new organization was denominated the
Army of West Tennessee. To Price was assigned a corps, which
continued to be called, sometimes, the Army of the West.

 

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Major-General Van Dorn was transferred June 20, 1862, from
the Army of the West to the Department of Southern Mississippi and
East Louisiana. His troops occupied Vicksburg, and a force from the
Reserve Corps of the Army of the Mississippi, under Major-General
Breckinridge, fought the battle of Baton Rouge, August 6th. On
September 28th, Van Dorn's troops joined the Army of the West to
oppose Rosecrans' activities in northern Mississippi, and the
combined force was denominated the Army of West Tennessee, with Van
Dom at the head. It fought the battle of Corinth (October 4th), and
on December 7th its name was changed to the Army of Mississippi. It
consisted of two corps, headed by Van Dorn and Price, the chief
control having passed to Lieutenant-General John C. Pemberton, at the
head of the Department of Mississippi and East Louisiana. Van Dorn,
with his cavalry, made a famous raid in northern Mississippi in
December, capturing the Federal supply depot at Holly Springs. In
January, 1863, the corps were changed into divisions. The title, Army
of Mississippi, ceased to be used shortly after this date. The chief
force under Pemberton surrendered at Vicksburg. Meanwhile, Van Dorn
had been killed in Tennessee, May 8, 1863, and Price had been ordered
to the Trans-Mississippi Department, February 27,1863.

 

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The forces in the Department of West Louisiana and Texas were
constituted the Southwestern Army, January 14, 1863, and the command
was given to Lieutenant-General E. Kirby Smith. On February 9th, the
command was enlarged so as to embrace the whole Trans-Mississippi
Department, which, on May 26, 1862, had been separated from the
Western Department (Department No. 2). Major-General T. H. Holmes had
previously commanded in the Trans-Mississippi. Smith had about thirty
thousand men, widely scattered from Fort Smith, Arkansas, to the Rio
Grande. Major-General Holmes was defeated at Helena, July 4, 1863.
The various portions of the army were constantly occupied in small
engagements. These forces opposed the Federal Red River expedition in
1864. At the latest returns, in 1865, the aggregate present of the
force was about forty-three thousand. They were the last Confederate
troops to surrender, May 26, 1865.

 

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In August, 1864, General E. Kirby Smith ordered Major-General
Sterling Price to move into Missouri. It was expected that the
various independent bands could be organized and bring at least
twenty thousand recruits into the Confederate army. Price's force,
consisting of the divisions of Fagan, Marmaduke, and Shelby, amounted
to nearly twelve thousand men, and is variously called the Army of
the Missouri, Price's Expeditionary Corps, and the Army in the Field.
After a very active campaign, Price was driven into Arkansas at the
end of November by Major-Generals Rosecrans and Pleasanton, and the
Army of the Missouri again became identified with the forces in the
Trans-Mississippi Department.

 

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