United States Armies & Departments
Army of the Potomac (Department of the Potomac)
Meade: July 1863- June 1865
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 it regained its strength and confidence under Joseph Hooker, most of the Army was puzzled by its defeat at Chancellorsville, and was looking for a rematch. They got their chance, but with yet another new commander. | |
GettysburgJuly 1863 - February 1864 |
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As Lee invades the North for a second time, George Meade takes over the army in mid-campaign and wins the war's biggest and most costly battle at Gettysburg. But he cannot gain an advantage in the fall campaigns back south of the Potomac. Two army corps are permanently detached to the Western Theater, which in turn provides a new commander in chief.
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July 1863
August 1863
September 1863
October 1863
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November 1863
December 1863
January 1864
February 1864 |
Overland to Richmond March 1864 - June 1865 |
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The army consolidaties its five army corps into three, and the Ninth Corps rejoins from the west. A series of terrible battles returns the army to the gates of Richmond, followed by the long Siege of Petersburg and, finally, the road to Appomattox. |
March 1864
April 1864
May 1864
June 1864
July 1864
August 1864
September 1864
October 1864 |
November 1864
December 1864
January 1865
February 1865
March 1865
April 1865
May 1865
June 1865 |
