United States Armies & Departments
Army of the Potomac (Department of the Potomac)
Burnside: November 1862 - January 1863
The Army of the Potomac was the main army in the Eastern Theater for most of the Civil War, tasked with protecting the national capital of Washington and with capturing the Confederate capital of Richmond
After George McClellan formed and trained the thousands of volunteers that had poured into Washington after Bull Run, he led them to Virginia's Peninsula. The army learned a great deal about fighting, but the campaign was a failure. They still had the strength to save Washington and stop Lee's invasion of the north after Second Bull Run, but Lincloln finally lost patience with McClellan's "slows."
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Ambrose Burnside surprised everyone with a rapid march to the Rapahannock. But the army came to a dead halt when critical bridging equipment was left behind. With surprise lost and Lee in force on the Fredericksburg bluffs, Burnside insisted on continuing with the plan, with horrific results. A follow-up offensive sank into the January mud, and with the army near mutiny Burnside was replaced by the confident and caustic Joseph Hooker. |
November 1862
December 1862
January 1863 |
