Army of the Potomac: Difference between revisions

It is a popular, but mistaken, belief that John Pope commanded the Army of the Potomac in the summer of 1862 after McClellan's unsuccessful Peninsula Campaign. On the contrary, Pope's army consisted of different units, and was named the [[Army of Virginia]]. During the time that the Army of Virginia existed, the Army of the Potomac was headquartered on the [[Virginia Peninsula]], and then outside Washington, D.C., with McClellan still in command, although three corps of the Army of the Potomac were sent to northern Virginia and were under Pope's operational control during the [[Northern Virginia Campaign]].

 

The Army of the Potomac underwent many structural changes during its existence. The army was divided by [[Ambrose Burnside]] into three grand divisions of two corps each with a Reserve composed of two more. Hooker abolished the grand divisions. Thereafter the individual corps, seven of which remained in Virginia, reported directly to army headquarters. Hooker also created a Cavalry Corps by combining units that previously had served as smaller formations. In late 1863, two corps were sent West, and— in 1864— the remaining five corps were recombined into three. Burnside's [[IX Corps (ACW)|IX Corps]], which accompanied the army at the start of [[Ulysses S. Grant]]'s [[Overland Campaign]], rejoined the army later. For more detail, see the section '''Corps''' below.