Army of the Potomac

(noun)

The major Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War.

Related Terms

Examples of Army of the Potomac in the following topics:

  • The Battle of Fredericksburg

    • McClellan into action, he issued orders to replace McClellan in command of the Army of the Potomac in Virginia.
    • Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia and the Union Army of the Potomac, commanded by Major General Ambrose Burnside.
    • The Union Army's futile frontal attacks on December 13 against entrenched Confederate defenders on the heights behind the city is considered one of the most one-sided battles of the American Civil War, with Union casualties more than twice as heavy as those suffered by the Confederates.
    • Battle of Fredericksburg: The Army of the Potomac crossing the Rappahannock in the morning of December 13, 1862, under the command of Generals Burnside, Sumner, Hooker, and Franklin
    • 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.

  • 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.
    • On January 27, President Lincoln issued orders that all armies begin offensive tactics by February 22, and four days later, he issued a supplementary decree that the Army of the Potomac specifically move to Manassas Junction and Centreville to attack Confederates there.
    • In the Battle of Drewry's Bluff, an attempt by the U.S.
    • 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.

  • Stalemate in the Eastern Theater

    • 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 battle led to a Confederate retreat, but Union pursuit did not succeed in destroying the Confederate Army.
    • 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.

  • The Battle of Bull Run

    • The Battle of Bull Run, the first major battle of the Civil War, demonstrated to the public that the conflict would not be resolved quickly or easily.
    • The First Battle of Bull Run, called the "Battle of First Manassas" by the Confederacy, was fought on July 21, 1861, in Prince William County, Virginia, near the city of Manassas.
    • It was the first major land battle of the American Civil War, but is also significant for demonstrating to the wider public the inexperience of both armies and the intractable nature of the conflict given the inability of either side to achieve a quick or decisive victory.
    • Political pressure forced Union Brigadier General Irvin McDowell, head of the Army of the Potomac, to launch a campaign against the Confederate Army of Brigadier General P.G.T.
    • The operations of each side were undermined by the inexperience of soldiers and officers.

  • 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, 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.
    • Lee surprised Grant by attacking the larger Union Army aggressively in the Battle of the Wilderness, resulting in heavy casualties on both sides.

  • The Confederacy's Defeat

    • Grant made his headquarters with the Army of the Potomac, and put Maj.
    • 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.
    • The last battle of the American Civil War was the Battle of Palmito Ranch in Texas on May 12 and 13.
    • Summarize the events at the end of the war leading to the Confederacy's defeat.

  • The Battle of Chancellorsville

    • The Confederate Army won at the Battle of Chancellorsville, but lost many troops, including General "Stonewall" Jackson.
    • 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.
    • The Chancellorsville Campaign began with the crossing of the Rappahannock River by the Union Army on the morning of April 27, 1863.
    • Assess the pros and cons of the Battle of Chancellorsville for the Confederate Army

  • 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.
    • The significance of the Battle of Gettysburg has been the subject of controversy for years.
    • Overview map of the third day of the Battle of Gettysburg, July 3, 1863.

  • Lee's Surrender at Appomattox

    • The fighting of the eastern theater of the American Civil War between Lieutenant General Ulysses S.
    • 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.
    • Johnston's Army of Tennessee was among nearly 100,000 Confederate soldiers that were surrendered from North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.
    • 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.

  • From Annapolis to Philadelphia

    • They were charged with dealing with issues of commerce, fishing, and navigation in the waters of the Potomac and Pocomoke Rivers and the Chesapeake Bay.
    • These issues were not addressed directly by the Articles of Confederation, which regulated the thirteen largely independent American states at the time, nor by the authorization of the Potomac Company a year earlier which was to regulate the Potomac above the Great Falls.
    • It declared the Potomac, which was under Maryland's sole jurisdiction, to be a common waterway for use by Virginia as well.
    • The conference was significant as a model of interstate cooperation outside the framework of the weak Articles of Confederation.
    • The direct result of the report was the Philadelphia Convention of 1787, which produced the United States Constitution.