Army of Northern Virginia

The **Army of Northern Virginia** was the most  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". 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. Jefferson Davis appointed Lee to take over . 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". "Go after them, and damage them all you can!"

### Antietam and the Maryland Campaign 
Antietam was the third of four battles in Lee's Maryland Campaign. It fought on September 17, 1862 and was the  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 hope was if Lee's army was victorious, it might cause Abraham Lincoln to sue for peace. Lee's army was driven back at the Battle of South Mountain and withdrew again after a day of heavy fighting at Antietam. But it gave Lincoln the opportunity he needed to claim a victory and use it to deliver his Emancipation Proclamation. 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. This time Lee suffered more casualties than he could afford. As the Confederate army swept northward into Pennsylvania, the soldiers rounded up escaped slaves and free blacks. African-Americans, men, women and children were gathered up and taken with the army as they marched north. This did not stop his officers and men from rounding up blacks. In one case at Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, soldiers threatened to burn "every house which harbored a fugitive slave". They gave the people in their homes 20 minutes to give up any black people.

## Appomattox 
In mid-May, 1864, rumors were going around that the Army of Northern Virginia was beaten. A Union officer on General George G. Meade's staff corrected the idea. He said "Lee is a brave and skillful soldier and he will fight while he has a division or a day's s left." Of Lee's soldiers Lyman said "These rebels are not half-starved and ready to give up—a more sinewy, tawny, formidable-looking set of men could not be". Lyman knew they were still a deadly fighting force even after three years of hard war against a larger and better equipped army. Not surprisingly, it would take another 11 months of hard fighting before the Army of Northern Virginia finally surrendered at Appomattox.

## Notes 
## References 
## Other websites 
* Uniforms of the Army of Northern Virginia 1861-1865; YouTube
* What the Rebel Yell Sounded Like (started in the Army of Northern Virginia); YouTube