Army of the Tennessee or Army of West Tennessee?

Billy1977

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Flippin, Arkansas (near Yellville)
Hello everybody, could someone tell me what would be technically correct as for the name of Grant's army at the time of the Battle of Shiloh? I've read that it was actually called the Army of West Tennessee because Grant's department name was Dept. of West Tennessee but then other places I've seen that supposedly the army was rarely called that and that even well before the name was officially adopted of the Army of the Tennessee (as in the river) later in 1862 (?) that it was earlier informally known as the "Army of the Tennessee".

Is that correct? It's weird because in the Official Records I've seen both names used simultaneously, that someone will have a message addressed to the headquarters of the Army of West Tennessee in early April 1862 and then in the order of battle for Shiloh it shows the order of battle for Grant's army as the "Army of the Tennessee". So what would be the exactly correct, technical name for it in that time period whereby nobody could then say that I messed up the name of it, that it was really called the other and that it looks amateurish of me to call it by that name?

Or could this be a case of the Official Records sort of "backdating" the name of it, using the later and much more familiar name of it in the same way I've seen them do with the ranks of certain people, say a Colonel So-and-so is at the Battle of Whatever and gets captured, so he's unable to write his after-action report until he's exchanged months later and in the interim he's been promoted to brigadier general so in the Official Records his report for the Battle of Whatever is listed as the report of Brig. Gen. So-and-so even though he was a colonel at the time of it? Maybe they did this with the Army of West Tennessee when it was later officially renamed the Army of the Tennessee, then they figured since it fought most of the war as the Army of the Tennessee let's just go ahead and "backdate" the name of it and call it that even though it was actually called the Army of West Tennessee at the time?

Many thanks to you experts.
 
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Both sides changed names many times but in this case It was known as the Western Theater, Army of Tennessee
 
Hello everybody, could someone tell me what would be technically correct as for the name of Grant's army at the time of the Battle of Shiloh? I've read that it was actually called the Army of West Tennessee because Grant's department name was Dept. of West Tennessee but then other places I've seen that supposedly the army was rarely called that and that even well before the name was officially adopted of the Army of the Tennessee (as in the river) later in 1862 (?) that it was earlier informally known as the "Army of the Tennessee".

Is that correct? It's weird because in the Official Records I've seen both names used simultaneously, that someone will have a message addressed to the headquarters of the Army of West Tennessee in early April 1862 and then in the order of battle for Shiloh it shows the order of battle for Grant's army as the "Army of the Tennessee". So what would be the exactly correct, technical name for it in that time period whereby nobody could then say that I messed up the name of it, that it was really called the other and that it looks amateurish of me to call it by that name?

Or could this be a case of the Official Records sort of "backdating" the name of it, using the later and much more familiar name of it in the same way I've seen them do with the ranks of certain people, say a Colonel So-and-so is at the Battle of Whatever and gets captured, so he's unable to write his after-action report until he's exchanged months later and in the interim he's been promoted to brigadier general so in the Official Records his report for the Battle of Whatever is listed as the report of Brig. Gen. So-and-so even though he was a colonel at the time of it? Maybe they did this with the Army of West Tennessee when it was later officially renamed the Army of the Tennessee, then they figured since it fought most of the war as the Army of the Tennessee let's just go ahead and "backdate" the name of it and call it that even though it was actually called the Army of West Tennessee at the time?

Many thanks to you experts.

http://www.ohiocivilwarcentral.com/entry.php?rec=1316

It's always seemed to me the Union named armies, after prominent bodies of water within their areas of operation.

Army of the Potomac
Army of the Cumberland
Army of the Tennessee
Army of the Ohio etc.

Same with battles, Bull Run rather than Mananas, Antietam rather than Sharpsburg, Stones River rather than Murfreesboro, Cedar Creek rather than Belle Grove, etc.
 
Actually I just now looked in Dyer's Compendium of the War of the Rebellion and on page 479

https://archive.org/stream/08697590.3359.emory.edu/08697590_3359#page/n485/mode/2up

it says "District and Army of West Tennessee", which says it was "Organized Feb. 17, 1862. Merged into the Department of the Tennessee Oct. 16, 1862."
It lists the commander of it as U.S. Grant from Feb. 17 1862 to Oct. 16, 1862. In looking at its organization it is clear that it is the same field army that fought at Shiloh. Then on page 486 it shows the "Department and Army of the Tennessee" which it lists as having been "Created Oct. 16, 1862 to include Cairo, Fort Henry, Fort Donelson, Northern Mississippi and portions of Kentucky and Tennessee west of the Tennessee River."

https://archive.org/stream/08697590.3359.emory.edu/08697590_3359#page/n491/mode/2up

It shows its commander as being U.S. Grant from Oct. 16 1862 through Oct. 24, 1863 when Sherman took his place. So it certainly appears, historical markers at Shiloh battlefield, numerous books by respected authors and popular imagination and "memory" notwithstanding, it certainly appears conclusive that the proper, correct, official name for Grant's army that fought at Shiloh was the Army of West Tennessee.

Being an unfamiliar name to most people compared with the much more familiar Army of the Tennessee it would seem that the national battlefield park and multiple generations of authors have opted for the familiar name rather than what would be most historically accurate.
 
That is a very interest thought,Larry Daniel calls it The Army of The Tennessee,as does Steven Woodworth in his book the History of the Army of The Tennessee.then we have Shiloh Park Historian Stacey D.Allen in his article for Blue&Gray calls it The Army of TheTennessee.so Dyersburg might be technically correct nobody seems to care or it is just accepted as such.it might be nit picking but I don't think ir will be changed.
 
Oh I certainly don't expect the Shiloh National Battlefield to change its hundreds of expensive historical markers just to make them historically accurate or anything, that should have been something settled back in the early 1900s (end of the 1800s?) when the park was being laid out. I was just interested in getting the officially correct name out there. Like you mentioned Larry Daniels, Steven Woodworth, Stacy Allen et al. refer to it as the Army of the Tennessee however I am convinced this has to be because it is far easier than having to explain to every tourist that no, it really wasn't called the Army of the Tennessee but instead was called this name few people have heard of. Honestly until just a couple of months ago I never thought about it, just thought it was called the Army of the Tennessee the whole way through the war. But no, I don't expect either the Shiloh battlefield park or future generations of historians to refer to it by its correct name. The incorrect but familiar name has by now stuck for 150 + years, it's a little late to correct the record now. Kind of like the Battle of Bunker Hill in the Independence War being fought almost entirely on Breed's Hill but everyone still calls it the Battle of Bunker Hill. Oh well.
 
Oh I certainly don't expect the Shiloh National Battlefield to change its hundreds of expensive historical markers just to make them historically accurate or anything, that should have been something settled back in the early 1900s (end of the 1800s?) when the park was being laid out. I was just interested in getting the officially correct name out there. Like you mentioned Larry Daniels, Steven Woodworth, Stacy Allen et al. refer to it as the Army of the Tennessee however I am convinced this has to be because it is far easier than having to explain to every tourist that no, it really wasn't called the Army of the Tennessee but instead was called this name few people have heard of. Honestly until just a couple of months ago I never thought about it, just thought it was called the Army of the Tennessee the whole way through the war. But no, I don't expect either the Shiloh battlefield park or future generations of historians to refer to it by its correct name. The incorrect but familiar name has by now stuck for 150 + years, it's a little late to correct the record now. Kind of like the Battle of Bunker Hill in the Independence War being fought almost entirely on Breed's Hill but everyone still calls it the Battle of Bunker hill
 
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