Confederate Army of Tennessee
| Army of Tennessee | |
|---|---|
1864 standardization flag of the army.
|
|
| Active | November 20, 1862 – April 26, 1865 |
| Country |
 Confederate States
|
| Branch |
 Confederate army
|
| Role | Largest Confederate field army in Western Theater |
| Engagements | |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders |
Braxton Bragg Joseph E. Johnston John Bell Hood Alexander P. Stewart |
The Army of Tennessee was the principal Confederate army serving in the Western Theater of the American Civil War. It was formed in late 1862 and fought until the end of the war in 1865. It should not be confused with the Union Army of the Tennessee, named after the Tennessee River.
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 Leonidas 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.
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 thought 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.
...
Wikipedia