Army of the Cumberland

Army of the Cumberland
Battle of Missionary Ridge
Active	October 24, 1862 – August 1, 1865
Country	United States of America
Branch	United States Army
Engagements	American Civil War Battle of Stones River Battle of Chickamauga Battles for Chattanooga Atlanta Campaign Battle of Nashville
Commanders
Notable commanders	Major General William S. Rosecrans Major General George H. Thomas

The Army of the Cumberland was one of the principal Union armies in the Western Theater during the American Civil War. It was originally known as the Army of the Ohio.

History

The origin of the Army of the Cumberland dates back to the creation of the Army of the Ohio in November 1861, under the command of Brig. Gen. Robert Anderson. The army fought under the name Army of the Ohio until Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans assumed command of the army and the Department of the Cumberland and changed the name of the combined entity to the Army of the Cumberland. When Rosecrans assumed command, the army and the XIV Corps were the same unit, divided into three wings commanded by Alexander McCook (Right Wing), George H. Thomas (Center), and Thomas L. Crittenden (Left).

The army's first significant combat was at the Battle of Stones River. After the battle the army and 14th Corps were separated. The former Center wing became the 14th Corps, the Right wing became the XX Corps, and the Left wing became the XXI Corps. Rosecrans still retained command of the army. He next led it through the Tullahoma Campaign and at the Battle of Chickamauga, after which the army became besieged at Chattanooga. Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant arrived at Chattanooga to assume command of the Army of the Cumberland, Army of the Tennessee, and reinforcements from the Army of the Potomac. Rosecrans had been a popular and respected commander, but due to his defeat at Chickamauga and inability to lift the Confederate siege, Grant chose to replace him with George H. Thomas on October 28, 1863.

In the Battles for Chattanooga, Grant had been leery of using the Army of the Cumberland in the main fighting, fearing their morale to be too low after the defeat at Chickamauga. Instead, he used the veterans from the Army of the Potomac, proud of their recent victory at the Battle of Gettysburg, to take Lookout Mountain and planned to use the troops from the Army of the Tennessee, also recent victors at the Siege of Vicksburg, to attack the Confederate right flank on Missionary Ridge. The Army of the Cumberland was given the minor task of seizing the rifle pits at the base of Missionary Ridge. However, once they achieved their objective, four divisions (one led by Philip H. Sheridan) stormed up the ridge and routed the Confederate center. When Grant angrily asked who had ordered those troops up the ridge both Thomas and Gordon Granger, a corps commander in the army, responded they did not know. Granger then replied, "Once those boys get started, all hell can't stop 'em."

After Chattanooga, Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman assumed command of all Union armies in the West and created an army group of the Army of the Cumberland, the Army of the Tennessee, and the Army of the Ohio and marched towards Atlanta. In September, Atlanta fell to Sherman's army group. When Confederate general John B. Hood moved north from Atlanta, Sherman chose not to follow him and instead dispatched some of the Army of the Cumberland (IV Corps and Provisional Detachment) and the Army of the Ohio (XXIII Corps) after him. Thomas finally met Hood at the Battle of Nashville and crushed him, thus bringing to an end any significant military actions for the Army of the Cumberland. Other elements of the Army of the Cumberland (the XIV and XX Corps) marched to the sea and north through the Carolinas with Sherman, under the command of Maj. Gen. Henry W. Slocum. These forces became the Union's Army of Georgia and participated in the Grand Review in Washington, D.C., before President Andrew Johnson, in 1865.

Command history

References

• Eicher, John H., and Eicher, David J., Civil War High Commands, Stanford University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8047-3641-3.
• Organization Of U.S. Forces In The Civil War

External links

• Army Organization during the Civil War