Army of the Potomac (Confederate)

Army of the Potomac
P. G. T. Beauregard
Active	April 1861 - March 14, 1862
Country	Confederate States of America
Branch	Confederate States Army
Role	Confederate army in Eastern Theater
Engagements	First Battle of Bull Run
Commanders
Notable commanders	P.G.T. Beauregard Joseph E. Johnston

The Confederate Army of the Potomac, whose name was short-lived, was the command under Brig. Gen. P. G. T. Beauregard in the early days of the American Civil War. Its only major combat action was the First Battle of Bull Run. Afterwards, the Army of the Shenandoah was merged into the Army of the Potomac with Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, the commander of the Shenandoah, taking command. The Army of the Potomac was renamed the Army of Northern Virginia on March 14, 1862, with Beauregard's original army eventually becoming the First Corps, Army of Northern Virginia.

The army was formed from Confederate units defending northeastern Virginia, which arrived over the course of April to July 1861. Philip St. George Cocke was appointed to command the area of Virginia along "the line of the Potomac" and to muster the local militia companies into Confederate service. Regiments from Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina also arrived in Virginia and were assigned to Cocke's command. On May 21, Cocke was replaced in command in northeastern Virginia by Milledge L. Bonham, who was in turn superseded by P. G. T. Beauregard ten days later. Beauregard divided his army into six brigades (two of which were commanded by Cocke and Bonham) and concentrated them along the south bank of Bull Run, intending to defend the rail center of Manassas Junction. He would be reinforced by additional regiments over the next few weeks, forming a seventh brigade, and received the brigade of Theophilus Holmes as well.