Also called the First Battle of Manassas, fought on July 21, 1861 it was the first large battle of the American Civil War. McDowell started marching part of his army around the left end of the Confederate army attempting a flanking maneuver. The two armies started shooting at each other about 6 a.m. near Matthews Hill. The Confederates did not expect the Union army to attack but they moved brigades to their left flank. The Union army pushed the Confederates back from Matthews Hill about 11 a.m. The Confederates retreated back to another hill called Henry House Hill. On the hill was Thomas J. Jackson's brigade. Another Confederate general was trying to regroup his men. When Jackson rushed forward to fill a gap in the Confederate line the general said, "Look men, there is Jackson standing like a stone wall!" After the battle Jackson would be called "Stonewall Jackson". All the Union attacks on the Confederate lines failed. In the afternoon the Confederates made an attack of their own. This drove the Union army back towards Washington, D.C. The Confederates were too tired to chase after them.
Four days later, McDowell was replaced by Major general George B. McClellan. A month later the name was changed to the Army of the Potomac. McClellan began training McDowell's raw troops. He organized the army and made sure they were well equipped. For several months, Lincoln urged MaClellan to take the Army of the Potomac and go on the offensive. Finally Lincoln demanded he take action against the Confederate army.
In March 1862, the Army of the Potomac began its first large-scale offensive in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. McClellan landed his army at Fort Monroe. The Army then moved northwest, up the Virginia Peninsula. The Confederate defensive position on the Warwick Line caught McClellan by surprise. McClellan ordered his army to prepare for a siege of Yorktown, Virginia. Before the Union army was ready, the Confederates began a withdrawal toward Richmond. The first heavy fighting of the campaign happened in the Battle of Williamsburg. The Union troops managed some small victories, but the Confederates continued their withdrawal. An amphibious flanking movement cut off the Confederate retreat. In the Battle of Drewry's Bluff, an attempt by the U.S. Navy to reach Richmond by way of the James River failed.
Army of Northern Virginia
The Army of Northern Virginia was the most successful of any Confederate army during the American Civil War. It was the main Confederate fighting force in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. The army often fought against the Union Army of the Potomac. The army was led by several generals during its early history, but was best known for its final leader, General Robert E. Lee, who took over in June of 1862. For that reason it was often called "Lee's army".
The army, when first organized was called the (Confederate) Army of the Potomac. It was formed October 22, 1861. Confederate General P. G. T. Beauregard was first given command of what was called the "Alexandria Line" on May 31, 1861. He joined his troops near Manassas, Virginia on June 2. He planned an attack on Washington, D.C. which first required pushing the Union army back behind Bull Run. He called for additional support from Joseph E. Johnston's army in the Shenandoah Valley. On the morning of July 21, 1861, Beauregard planned a surprise attack on the Union forces that failed. He was driven back until the afternoon, when Johnston's troops arrived by train. The Confederates were then able to push the Union forces back and created a victory out of a near-disaster. Both Beauregard and Johnston were full generals. But Johnson took over command of the two armies which were now merged into one. Confederate President Jefferson Davis did not like or agree with Beauregard. There was a series of verbal disputes with Beauregard following Johnston taking command. Possibly as a result, Beauregard was sent west in January 1862 to serve as second in command in the Army of Mississippi.
In the Battle of Seven Pines, Johnston was wounded. Jefferson Davis appointed Lee to take over command. In June 1862, when Lee took over, the army was a collection of various commands in Virginia and North Carolina. This is also when the army reached its peak strength of 90,000 soldiers. When he replaced Johnston, his orders had the heading "Department of Northern Virginia," and the "Army of Northern Virginia". From that time on that was the name it was known by.
Lee wanted to inspire his troops telling them "every man has resolved to maintain the ancient fame of the Army of Northern Virginia and the reputation of its general and to conquer or die in the approaching contest." There was no ancient history, it was a newly formed army. But Lee got the idea across. The first first series of battles under Lee, called Seven Days Battles, defined Lee's army. His soldiers were tough, dedicated men willing to inflict and suffer great casualties in order to win battles. Between 1861 and 1865, the Army of Northern Virginia fought in dozens of battles. Some of the better known are the Battle of Antietam, the Battle of Chancellorsville and the Battle of Gettysburg. In the Battle of Fredericksburg his army managed to inflict 12,653 casualties on the Union army while losing only 5,377 men. In December 1861, Lee corrected one of his officers after a fight saying "you allow these people to get away". "Go after them, and damage them all you can!" In the months following Lee's takeover of the Army of Northern Virginia, as they drove the Union army away from Richmond, Virginia, and out of Virginia, he became a hero to his soldiers and the people of Virginia.
Antietam was the third of four battles in Lee's Maryland Campaign. It fought on September 17, 1862 and was the bloodiest one-day battle of the Civil War. Exact numbers are unknown, but official records show the Army of Northern Virginia suffered 10,320 casualties (killed, wounded or missing). The Union Army of the Potomac suffered 12,400 casualties.
Lee's goal was for the Army of Northern Virginia to invade the Northern states of Maryland and Pennsylvania. That way he could threaten the cities of Washington, D.C. and Baltimore. By a series of decisive victories Lee thought that the South could gain recognition from England and France and get them to support the Southern cause. The hope was if Lee's army was victorious, it might cause Abraham Lincoln to sue for peace. During the month of September Lee had moved his army north. They captured the garrison at the Battle of Harpers Ferry. Lee's army was driven back at the Battle of South Mountain and withdrew again after a day of heavy fighting at Antietam. Retreating back into Virginia, Lee managed to reinforce General George B. McClellan's overly-cautious nature with a successful rearguard action at the Battle of Shepherdstown. It stopped the Union Army of the Potomac from chasing the Army of Northern Virginia back into Virginia. From a military standpoint, Antietam was a draw. But it gave Lincoln the opportunity he needed to claim a victory and use it to deliver his Emancipation Proclamation.
At Chancellorsville, Lee's army defeated the Army of the Potomac once again, this time inflicting 16,800 casualties while losing 13,000 men. The victory at Chancellorsville brought new hope to the South. It reinforced the idea that a single blow to the North could win the war. His soldiers and officers held Lee in the highest regard. They trusted his judgment and believed him to be a military genius. At this same time the Union Army of the Potomac was suffering poor morale under General Joseph Hooker. Time and again the Army of Northern Virginia, which had fewer men and far fewer resources, defeated the larger Army of the Potomac. Lee carefully monitored events in the Northern newspapers for any and all information about his enemy.