Army of Tennessee The Army of Tennessee was the principal Confederate army operating between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River during the American Civil War . It was formed in late 1862 and fought until the end of the war in 1865 , participating in most of the significant battles in the Western Theater . It should not be confused with the Union Army of the Tennessee , named after the Tennessee River . History . 1862 . The army was formed on November 20 , 1862 , when General Braxton Bragg renamed the former Army of Mississippi and was divided into two corps commanded by Polk and William J . Hardee . A third corps was formed from troops from the Department of East Tennessee and commanded by Edmund Kirby Smith ; it was disbanded in early December after one of its two divisions was sent to Mississippi . The remaining division was assigned to Hardee ' s corps while Kirby Smith returned to East Tennessee . The army ' s cavalry was consolidated into a single command under Joseph Wheeler . The army ' s first major engagement under its new name took place against the Army of the Cumberland on December 31 along the Stones River . The attacks started at 6 a . m . against the Union right wing and forced the Union flank back towards the Union supply route to Nashville , but the Confederates were unable to capture the road . Bragg expected Union commander William S . Rosecrans to retreat during the night but Rosecrans decided to remain . No fighting took place on January 1 ; the next day Bragg assigned one division to seize a ridge on the east side of Stones River but the division ' s attack was repulsed by heavy artillery fire . Bragg retreated during the night and halted near the Duck River . 1863 . Following Stones ' River , feuding broke out between Bragg and his corps and division commanders over who was responsible for the Confederate defeat ; several officers stated that Bragg had lost the confidence of the army . When he learned of the dispute , Confederate President Jefferson Davis sent Joseph Johnston to inspect the army and take command if he though it necessary to relieve Bragg . Johnston however refused to take command of the army . In the summer of 1863 , Rosecrans began an offensive , generally known as the Tullahoma Campaign , a name taken from the location of the Confederate headquarters at the time . Due to the low level of the river , Bragg felt compelled to retreat back to his supply center of Chattanooga , Tennessee , where he established his headquarters . When the Union forces halted following the campaign . Bragg took the opportunity to make several command changes in the army . Hardee was transferred to Mississippi in July and replaced by D . H . Hill . Bragg ' s department was reorganized into the Department of Tennessee , which covered Alabama north of the Tennessee River and Georgia north of Atlanta ; the Department of East Tennessee , now commanded by Simon Buckner , was merged with Bragg ' s department and Buckner ' s troops were designated the Third Corps . The cavalry was reorganized into two corps commanded by Wheeler and Forrest ; a two - division Reserve Corps was also organized under the command of W . H . T . Walker . The Confederate government agreed to transfer James Longstreet ' s First Corps , Army of Northern Virginia to the army during this time , but due to the loss of Knoxville , Longstreet had to travel by rail through the Carolinas and Atlanta to northern Georgia ; the movement started on September 9 . Rosecrans launched the Chickamauga Campaign in late August , staging demonstrations near Chattanooga and upstream of the city along the Tennessee River . This convinced Bragg that Rosecrans was crossing the river to the north ; however , Union forces were actually crossing to the south of the city . This forced Bragg to fall back into northern Georgia , abandoning the important railroad hub of Chattanooga on September 8 . Over the course of the next several days , Bragg attempted to launch several attacks on isolated parts of the Union army but each attempt failed . On the evening of September 18 , Bragg concentrated the army near Chickamauga Creek ; he thought that only part of the Union army was nearby but Rosecrans had concentrated his army faster than Bragg had expected . During September 19 at Chickamauga , both sides fed in reinforcements as the day progressed . Longstreet arrived on the battlefield during the night of the 19 and 20 ; Bragg divided the army into two wings , with Polk commanding one division of his corps along with Hill ' s and Walker ' s corps on the right , and Longstreet commanding the other division of Polk ' s corps with Buckner ' s corps and his own corps ( commanded by John B . Hood ) , on the left . Polk was ordered to attack at daylight on September 20 , with Longstreet attacking immediately afterwards , but Polk didn ' t launch his attack until midmorning . The left wing failed to dislodge the Union army but Longstreet ' s wing attacked a gap in the Union army which routed the Union right flank . A portion of the Union army rallied on Horseshoe Ridge and held off multiple Confederate attacks until evening , when it followed the rest of Rosecrans ' army into Chattanooga . After Chickamauga , the Army of Tennessee besieged the Union army in Chattanooga , taking up defensive positions on the surrounding hills , especially on Missionary Ridge , which formed the Confederate center , and Lookout Mountain on the Confederate left . Bragg considered a direct attack on the city too costly , and a lack of supplies and pontoons caused him to reject a plan to cross the river and break the Union supply line to Nashville . Instead he spread the Confederate army along the Tennessee River , cutting the Union railroad supply line into the city and reducing the amount of supplies the Union army could get into the city . During the next several weeks , Bragg became embroiled with a dispute with the army ' s corps commanders . Bragg became involved in a personal dispute with Forrest , which lead to Forrest being reassigned to Mississippi and West Tennessee , with his cavalry corps merged with Wheeler ' s corps . Meanwhile , Hill , Buckner , and Longstreet , along with several division commanders , signed a petition to Davis , asking that Bragg be relieved of command . After Davis rejected the petition , Bragg made several changes to the command structure of the army . Polk was relieved of command and was charged with disobedience during the Chickamauga campaign and failure to attack when ordered ; instead of being court martialed , Polk was transferred to Mississippi and Hardee took command of the First Corps . Hill was also relieved of command and replaced by John C . Breckinridge ; both the Third Corps and Reserve Corps were merged into the other two corps , with Buckner and Walker demoted to division command . During the month of September and into early October , the Army of the Cumberland was reinforced by the troops of Maj . Gen . Ulysses S . Grant ' s Army of the Tennessee , along with two corps from the Army of the Potomac under Maj . Gen . Joseph Hooker , and Grant replaced Rosecrans in command with George H . Thomas ; Grant had command of the combined Union forces . During the early morning hours of October 27 , Union forces captured Brown ' s Ferry , which opened a supply route to Alabama ; A Confederate counterattack at Wauhatchie during the night of October 28 – 29 tried to recapture the ferry but failed . Bragg then on November 5 sent Longstreet ' s corps to Knoxville and nearly all of his cavalry away , reducing his army ' s strength ; Bragg hoped that Grant would be forced to detach part of his own force to relieve the Union garrison at the city . The final Union attack on the Confederate army started November 24 , when Hooker captured Lookout Mountain and threatened the Confederate left flank . The next day , William T . Sherman attacked the Confederate right flank on Missionary Ridge but was stalemated . To help Sherman and to draw Confederate units from the right , Grant ordered a demonstration against the Confederate center . This demonstration by Thomas turned into a full fledged attack which broke though the Confederate line . Bragg retreated back into north Georgia , regrouping around Dalton . His request to be relieved on was accepted on December 1 . Hardee temporarily took command of the army , but refused an offer or permanent command . Instead Davis appointed Joseph Johnston to command the army in December 1863 . 1864 . During the winter of 1864 , the army went through other command changes : John B . Hood took command of the Second Corps , while Polk was transferred to the army in May with the Army of Mississippi , which was re - designated the Third Corps . In the 1864 Atlanta Campaign , Johnston faced the combined Northern armies of Maj . Gen . William T . Sherman , whose orders were to destroy the Army of Tennessee , with the capture of Atlanta as the secondary objective . Johnston , who felt the continued existence of his army was more important than protecting territory , tended to avoid battle with Sherman . During May and early June , Johnston took up several defensive positions but withdrew from each after Sherman outflanked each position . Polk was killed at Pine Mountain on June 14 ; he was temporarily replaced by W . W . Loring until July , when A . P . Stewart took command of the corps . Johnston ' s retreats caused impatience among the Confederate leadership in Richmond , particularly Confederate President Jefferson Davis , who had never gotten on well with Johnston , and feared that Johnston was planning to abandon Atlanta without a fight . Following Sherman ' s outflanking of Johnston at the Chattahoochee River , forcing Johnston back on Atlanta itself , Johnston was replaced by Hood on July 9 . Stephen D . Lee was reassigned from Mississippi to take command of the Second Corps . Hood launched several attacks on Sherman ' s forces around Atlanta , including at Peachtree Creek , Atlanta , and Ezra Church , but each attack failed . Sherman was able to cut Hood ' s last railroad supply line following the Battle of Jonesboro on September 1 , which forced Hood to abandon the city the following day . Hood then retreated southwest of Atlanta , first to Lovejoy ' s Station before stopping at Palmetto ; there he meet with Davis and P . G . T . Beauregard , who had just been appointed commander of the Military Division of the West . Hardee was transferred to take command of the Department of South Carolina , Georgia , and Florida , while Frank Cheatham took command of Hardee ' s Corps . Davis approved Hood ' s plan to attack Sherman ' s supply lines north of Atlanta ; if Sherman followed him , Hood could then compel Sherman to attack him on ground of his own choosing . Hood started north at the end of September , capturing several Union railroad garrisons and destroying several miles of tracks . When Sherman followed the Confederates , Hood started moving west into Alabama instead of fighting in northern Georgia . By the end of October , Sherman decided to give up his pursuit of Hood and instead launched his March to the Sea . Instead of following Sherman ' s forces , Hood decided to head back north into Tennessee . Wheeler ' s cavalry corps was detached to Georgia and the Carolinas to fight Sherman ' s advance ; Forrest ' s corps was then attached to Hood ' s army . The army reached Tuscumbia on the Tennessee River but a lack of supplies and the need to repair the railroad to the city in order to accumulate supplies prevented the army from crossing the river until November 20 . Hood was faced in Middle Tennessee by Thomas and the Army of the Cumberland . Hood tried to trap part of the Union army under John M . Schofield near Columbia but failed ; he then tried to march past Schofield and reach Nashville first before any Union reinforcements reached the city . However , Schofield , detecting Hood ' s march , ordered a retreat back to Nashville and managed to avoid being cut off at Spring Hill ; despite Hood ' s orders that Confederate forces seize the Nashville Turnpike . Hood caught up with Schofield at Franklin and ordered an immediate frontal assault , despite only having two of his three infantry corps present ; he also ignored the advice of his subordinates to outflank the Union fortifications and avoid a head - on attack . During the resulting battle , Hood lost 7 , 000 men , almost a quarter of his strength , including six generals killed or mortally wounded , another six wounded , and one captured . but continued to advance north into Middle Tennessee , where he attempted to besiege Nashville . He deployed the Confederate army along a range of hills and ridges south of the city in a line for a total of four miles and started digging entrenchments and redoubt s . Cheatham ' s corps was on the right , Lee ' s corps in the center , and Stewart ' s corps on the left . Since there was a total of 21 , 000 men present in the army , Hood was unable to completely surround the city ; the Confederate left was four miles from the Tennessee River , while the right was one mile from the river . On December 15 , Thomas ' s troops launched their attack , feinting towards the Confederate right while the main assault fell on the Confederate left . Lee ' s corps was driven from its defensive works , forcing Hood to retreat to another line of hills to the south . Cheatham ' s corps was on the left , Stewart ' s corps in the center , and Lee ' s corps on the right . Thomas attacked again the next afternoon , using another feint against the Confederate right while launching another flanking attack against the Confederate left . Cheatham ' s and Stewart ' s corps were routed , while Lee ' s corps served as the rear guard as the Confederates retreated from the field . Hood decided to abandon the state due to the poor state of the army . Forrest ' s cavalry , along with eight brigades of infantry , formed the rear guard . The army initially retreated to Corinth but since the railroad was too damaged to supply the army , Hood ordered a further retreat to Tupelo . 1865 . Hood resigned his command in January , and was briefly replaced by Richard Taylor . During late January and February , the army was transferred to the Carolinas , where it joined other Confederate forces fighting against Sherman ' s troops marching through the Carolinas . Stewart commanded the army during this time , with William W . Loring in command of Stewart ' s Corps , D . H . Hill commanding Lee ' s corps , and William B . Bate commanding Cheatham ' s corps ( both Lee and Cheatham were still traveling from Mississippi ) . Wheeler ' s cavalry corps operated as part of Wade Hampton ' s cavalry command . General Joseph E . Johnston was given command the Confederate forces in the region , which he dubbed the Army of the South . At this time , the Army of Tennessee was reduced to only 4 , 500 men and lacked many supplies , including weapons , artillery , and wagons , and suffered from desertion along the way east from Mississippi . Parts of the Army of Tennessee fought in several small engagements during the Carolinas Campaign , including Wise ' s Forks . The entire army fought at the Battle of Bentonville from March 19 to 21 , when Johnston attacked one wing of Sherman ' s army , hoping to crush it before Sherman ' s other wing could arrive . In accordance with Johnston ' s plan , Stewart positioned his forces on the Confederate right wing facing south , with Loring on the left , Hill in the center , and Bate on the right . Johnston launched his attack shortly after 3 p . m . Stewart drove back the left wing of the Union XIV Corps , capturing thre cannons and several hundred prisoners , but the army became disorganized as a result and the attack had to be temporarily halted for the army to reform . Part of the army was sent to assist the Confederate left wing and the rest attacked the Union XX Corps with troops from William J . Hardee ' s command ; the Union troops were able to repulse each attack . During the night , Sherman brought his other wing to the battlefield , forcing Johnston to retreat back to the Confederate starting positions and refusing his flank in order to protect his line of retreat ; Stewart ' s men occupied the Confederate center . Johnston retreated during the night of March 21 and moved through Morrisville and Greensboro , North Carolina before arriving near Smithfield , North Carolina . During the encampment around Smithfield from April 8 to 10 , Johnston reorganized his force into a single army , adopting the name of the Army of Tennessee for the combined forces . Most of the regiments were consolidated into single units , while the infantry was divided into three corps commanded by Hardee , Stewart , and Lee ; Hampton was given command of the cavalry corps , while Wheeler remained in command of the divisions formerly in his corps . The artillery was reorganized from sixteen batteries into seven batteries of four cannons each . Johnston ' s total strength was about 30 , 400 men . When Sherman started after Johnston on April 10 , Johnston retreated through Raleigh , North Carolina , abandoning the city on April 12 before continuing westward along the North Carolina Railroad to Greensboro ; he planned to surrender but thought that the Confederate could get better terms men if he negotiated from a position of strength . Johnston and Sherman met and negotiated terms of surrender on April 17 at the Bennett Place near Durham Station , North Carolina ; Sherman not only accepted the surrender of the Army of Tennessee but promised to recognize the Confederate state governments . These terms were immediately rejected by the Union government , forcing Sherman and Johnston to negotiate a new agreement . The new terms of surrender , signed on April 26 , were modeled on the terms given at Appomattox Court House and included not only the Army of Tennessee but also all other Confederate forces in Florida , Georgia , South Carolina , and North Carolina ; the number of Confederate troops included in the surrender totaled almost 90 , 000 men .