Hussar Yeomanry
Sergeant
- Joined
- Dec 6, 2017
- Location
- UK
The Army of the Potomac/ The Army of the Shenandoah – A most unexpected victory? Part One
This is the companion piece to my examination of 'The Army of Northeastern Virginia' though it has not been easy. This is also not what I intended to write or indeed what I started to write for I began with a hypothesis. One that research has rendered moot. Therefore in Part Two of this article I now intend to mostly argue against it rather than for it as I had originally intended to.
So, that said, having argued that the 'Army of Northeastern Virginia' was flawed I doubt it will surprise anyone that I believe both Confederate Army's had problems too.
Mostly this is creating something out of nothing. After all the north has the beginnings of a military structure to build upon and an existing War Department. The south has neither. This will make the creation of two decent sized armies a logistical challenge to say the least though they do have one thing on their side. Many regular army officers headed south including Edward Cooper who had been the Adjutant General for most of the last ten years (with a brief stint as Secretary of War). Although not a field officer and ageing his experience will prove crucial in bringing at least some order out of the chaos.
Meanwhile the other officers will become the nucleus of their army, many of those at Manassas going on to have excellent careers with the Confederate Army [We will look at this veritable who's who of the Confederate Army in a later part]. For now let us look at what Cooper and others put into the field, he as with his counterparts in the north depending on the militia system.
While estimates vary the Army of the Potomac numbers between 20 – 22,000 men. The Army of the Shenandoah is in the 11 – 12,000 range. These are sizable formations but neither bothered with a Divisional Structure. They went straight from Brigade to Army Level without stopping. Does this put an unacceptable strain on the two Army Commanders? Certainly the Army of the Potomac has 7 Brigades of significantly uneven strength and a Demi Brigade as well as a couple of unassigned units. In general they are decent sized brigades and I wonder if a couple of Divisions or Wings might help with command and control.
The Army of the Shenandoah has 5 large Brigades, 12 companies of unbrigaded Cavalry under Stuart (though more on this below) and a few unassigned units. This is a more manageable situation but still I wonder about this and whether the two Army Commanders should have done something about this.
Also like the opposing 'Army of Northeastern Virginia' neither has an artillery reserve while in the Army of the Potomac the cavalry is assigned to brigades along with the infantry and what artillery is available. [Availability of artillery will again be in a later part].
As to geographical origins of the armies that is as follows
Cavalry – Believed to be 100% Virginian, at least by designation – though I would guess there are some Marylanders et al in there.
Artillery – Entirely from Virginia except for 11 pieces from the famed Washington Artillery from Louisiana with the AoP.
Infantry: (By Regiment I mean 10 companies, so that like can at least somewhat be compared with like – therefore a 7 company strong regiment, a 5 company regiment and an 8 company regiment would count as 2 regiments)
AoP:
c.10 Virginia Regiments (2 more small detachments guarding the lines of supply)
2 North Carolina Regiments
6 South Carolina Regiments
No Georgia Regiments
2 Alabama Regiments (1 slightly oversize)
c.3 Louisiana Regiments (4 more companies guarding the lines of supply)
3 Mississippi Regiments
1 Tennessee Regiment
1 Arkansas Regiment
Texas and Florida are not represented in these 28 and a bit Regiments
AoS:
7.5 Virginia Regiments
1 North Carolina Regiment
4 Georgia Regiments
4 Alabama Regiments
3 Mississippi Regiments
1 Tennessee Regiment
& 6 companies from Kentucky.
Texas, Arkansas, South Carolina, Florida and Louisiana are not represented in these 20.5 Regiments
To me North Carolina looks under represented. 3 out of 48.5? Thoughts?
So, for Part One of this investigation I ask, should there have been some level of organisation between 'Army' and 'Brigade'? Mixed brigades of cavalry, infantry and artillery in the AoP – a good thing... or not? Certainly the creation of this army was a Herculean effort but could they have done better?
This is the companion piece to my examination of 'The Army of Northeastern Virginia' though it has not been easy. This is also not what I intended to write or indeed what I started to write for I began with a hypothesis. One that research has rendered moot. Therefore in Part Two of this article I now intend to mostly argue against it rather than for it as I had originally intended to.
So, that said, having argued that the 'Army of Northeastern Virginia' was flawed I doubt it will surprise anyone that I believe both Confederate Army's had problems too.
Mostly this is creating something out of nothing. After all the north has the beginnings of a military structure to build upon and an existing War Department. The south has neither. This will make the creation of two decent sized armies a logistical challenge to say the least though they do have one thing on their side. Many regular army officers headed south including Edward Cooper who had been the Adjutant General for most of the last ten years (with a brief stint as Secretary of War). Although not a field officer and ageing his experience will prove crucial in bringing at least some order out of the chaos.
Meanwhile the other officers will become the nucleus of their army, many of those at Manassas going on to have excellent careers with the Confederate Army [We will look at this veritable who's who of the Confederate Army in a later part]. For now let us look at what Cooper and others put into the field, he as with his counterparts in the north depending on the militia system.
While estimates vary the Army of the Potomac numbers between 20 – 22,000 men. The Army of the Shenandoah is in the 11 – 12,000 range. These are sizable formations but neither bothered with a Divisional Structure. They went straight from Brigade to Army Level without stopping. Does this put an unacceptable strain on the two Army Commanders? Certainly the Army of the Potomac has 7 Brigades of significantly uneven strength and a Demi Brigade as well as a couple of unassigned units. In general they are decent sized brigades and I wonder if a couple of Divisions or Wings might help with command and control.
The Army of the Shenandoah has 5 large Brigades, 12 companies of unbrigaded Cavalry under Stuart (though more on this below) and a few unassigned units. This is a more manageable situation but still I wonder about this and whether the two Army Commanders should have done something about this.
Also like the opposing 'Army of Northeastern Virginia' neither has an artillery reserve while in the Army of the Potomac the cavalry is assigned to brigades along with the infantry and what artillery is available. [Availability of artillery will again be in a later part].
As to geographical origins of the armies that is as follows
Cavalry – Believed to be 100% Virginian, at least by designation – though I would guess there are some Marylanders et al in there.
Artillery – Entirely from Virginia except for 11 pieces from the famed Washington Artillery from Louisiana with the AoP.
Infantry: (By Regiment I mean 10 companies, so that like can at least somewhat be compared with like – therefore a 7 company strong regiment, a 5 company regiment and an 8 company regiment would count as 2 regiments)
AoP:
c.10 Virginia Regiments (2 more small detachments guarding the lines of supply)
2 North Carolina Regiments
6 South Carolina Regiments
No Georgia Regiments
2 Alabama Regiments (1 slightly oversize)
c.3 Louisiana Regiments (4 more companies guarding the lines of supply)
3 Mississippi Regiments
1 Tennessee Regiment
1 Arkansas Regiment
Texas and Florida are not represented in these 28 and a bit Regiments
AoS:
7.5 Virginia Regiments
1 North Carolina Regiment
4 Georgia Regiments
4 Alabama Regiments
3 Mississippi Regiments
1 Tennessee Regiment
& 6 companies from Kentucky.
Texas, Arkansas, South Carolina, Florida and Louisiana are not represented in these 20.5 Regiments
To me North Carolina looks under represented. 3 out of 48.5? Thoughts?
So, for Part One of this investigation I ask, should there have been some level of organisation between 'Army' and 'Brigade'? Mixed brigades of cavalry, infantry and artillery in the AoP – a good thing... or not? Certainly the creation of this army was a Herculean effort but could they have done better?