Tennessee, Army of

The main Confederate army in the West during the Civil War, the Army of Tennessee was assembled at Corinth, Mississippi, by Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston in March 1862 and commanded successively by Gens. Joseph E. Johnston, P.G.T. Beauregard, Braxton Bragg, Joseph E. Johnston, and John B. Hood. The Army of Tennessee, again under the command of Joseph E. Johnston, surrendered to Union forces on April 26, 1865, near Durham, North Carolina, having participated in the battles of Shiloh, Perryville (both 1862), Stones River (1862-63), Chickamauga (1863), Missionary Ridge (1863), Atlanta (1864), Franklin (1864), Nashville (1864), and Bentonville (1865). The Confederate Army of Tennessee should not be confused with its principal opponent, the Union Army of the Tennessee, created October 16, 1862, and commanded successively by Gens. Ulysses S. Grant, William T. Sherman, James B. McPherson, John A. Logan, and Oliver O. Howard. The Union Army of the Tennessee was mustered out of service on August 1, 1865, having served in the winter campaign in northern Mississippi in 1862, the Vicksburg campaign of 1863, the Atlanta campaign of 1864, Sherman's March to the Sea (1864-65), and the Carolinas campaign of 1865.

See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.

When General Braxton Bragg reorganized the Army of Mississippi on 20 November 1862 he named it the Army of Tennessee. After fighting at Stone's River, the army spent the summer campaigning in middle Tennessee. Aided by Virginia troops, the army won an outstanding victory at Chickamauga. After mounting an inconclusive siege at Chattanooga that led to defeat, the army retreated into northern Georgia. Leadership was in flux—William J. Hardee replaced Bragg; Joe Johnson replaced Hardee. Despite Johnson's rather successful efforts to slow Sherman's march toward Atlanta, Jefferson Davis replaced Johnson with John B. Hood. After several tough battles, the army left Atlanta and moved into Tennessee where it experienced defeats at Franklin and Nashville. Richard Taylor replaced Hood and retreated into Mississippi. After moving to the east to challenge Sherman, the army surrendered at the Battle of Bentonville.

Bibliography

Daniel, Larry J. Soldiering in the Army of Tennessee: A Portrait of Life in a Confederate Army. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1991.

McPherson, James M. What They Fought For, 1861–1865. New York: Doubleday Anchor, 1994. A brilliant explanation of motivation, human nature, and military necessity.

———. Ordeal by Fire: The Civil War and Reconstruction. 3d ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2001.