Confederate Army of West Tennessee

Army of West Tennessee
Van Dorn's battleflag
Active	September 1862 to December 1862
Country	Confederate States of America
Allegiance	Tennessee
Branch	Confederate States Army
Engagements	Second Battle of Corinth Battle of Hatchie's Bridge
Commanders
Notable commanders	Earl Van Dorn

The Army of West Tennessee was a short-lived Confederate army led by Maj. Gen. Earl Van Dorn, which fought principally in the Second Battle of Corinth.

The army was organized from elements of the Army of the West on September 28, 1862, with Earl Van Dorn its first and only commander. On November 24, 1862, Adjutant General Samuel Cooper issued a ruling that the army's name and function were "improper" and on December 9, 1862, the units of the Army of West Tennessee were merged into the Army of Mississippi under Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton.

As part of his preparations for the Perryville offensive, General Braxton Bragg divided Mississippi into several commands: Major General Earl Van Dorn was given command of the District of the Mississippi, centered in Vicksburg, and Major General Sterling Price was given the District of the Tennessee, covering northwestern Mississippi and northeastern Alabama. Bragg expected Price to prevent the Union forces of Ulysses S. Grant and William Rosecrans in western Tennessee from reinforceing the Union forces in Kentucky, and expected Van Dorn to cooperate with Price. Price interpreted Bragg's orders as to mean that he was to attack the Union forces. Van Dorn, however, choose to move against the Union forces threatening Vicksburg and launched an attack on Baton Rouge, Louisiana, which failed; he then proposed a joint attack with Price on Corinth. Price by this time had decided not to wait for Van Dorn but moved against Iuka, capturing the town on September 14. Two Union columns, commanded by Grant and Rosecrans, converged on Iuka on September 19; Price attacked Rosecrans' force and due to poor communications and an acoustic shadow Grant failed to attack in concert. When he discovered that Grant was approaching from the northwest, Price decided to retreat before he was surrounded.