Confederate Organisations: Eastern and Appalachian Theatres

Confederate Organisations: Eastern and Appalachian Theatres

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The Eastern Theatre broadly covers the states of Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, District of Columbia, and adjacent operational regions.
Operations in the theatre were dominated by the fact that the two capitals at Washington, DC, and Richmond, Virginia, were barely one hundred miles apart. Virginia inevitably became a primary theatre of the conflict as each belligerent sought to threaten the other’s capital city while defending its own.
Each side had to provide for the defence of its capital, but the urgency was greater on the Union side, as loss of the capital would almost certainly prove to be a fatal blow to the Union cause. Therefore, large forces were tied down to occupy Washington’s extensive fortifications and to counter Confederate diversions and threats. Washington, DC also became the administrative nerve centre and the base for many significant logistical operations and this only added to its strategic significance. Until mid-1864, the sensitivity and vulnerability of the US capital meant that it was always strongly garrisoned and heavily fortified, and Confederate threats invariably provoked intense anxiety and impulsive reactions to ensure its defence. It was not until the suppression of Confederate forces in the Shenandoah Valley in late 1864 that the capital was finally considered secure.
The Union had to take the strategic initiative and attempted several overland advances towards Richmond, with occasional efforts made from the coast along the James River and Yorktown Peninsula. The Confederates responded aggressively and made diversionary advances and invasions towards Washington and across the Potomac River into Union territory. This required the Union to make continual adjustments to the military organisation north of the Potomac, which could raise short-term forces, forestall and react to raids, and provide security for the Northern hinterland.
Union forces quickly established bases on either side of the James River and in North Carolina and it became necessary to place garrisons to prevent further progress inland from the coasts. The proximity of Richmond and Petersburg to navigable waterways made them particularly vulnerable, and their loss would also cut lines of supply into central and northern Virginia. Confederate strategy focused from the start on protecting these locations, and making offensive movements or feints to divert Union forces from this critical area.
Both sides engaged continually in operations in the Shenandoah Valley and the mountainous region of western Virginia. The Valley was an important source of supplies for the Confederates and offered a covered line of advance into Union territory, an advantage that was exploited effectively in 1862, 1863, and 1864. The general south-westward orientation of the valley meant that any Union advance would gradually diverge and dissipate forces away from the main axis between Washington and Richmond.
Western Virginia was largely pro-Unionist and provided a base for Union operations towards prized natural resources and the vital East-West railroad line through eastern Tennessee and southwestern Virginia. The region was inaccessible to large forces and difficult either to occupy or defend but it constantly drew the attention of both sides. Difficult to conquer or garrison, there were many intense but short campaigns and raids. By late 1864 the Confederates had been so reduced that the Union was finally able to break out of the mountains into eastern Tennessee, southwestern Virginia and western North Carolina.
In the immediate crisis of the outbreak of war, short-lived organisations were improvised on the peripheries of Virginia. The earliest commands were established in western Virginia, the Yorktown peninsula, the Shenandoah Valley, the Norfolk Navy Yard, and most importantly south of the Potomac River. The largest single field force of the Confederacy was always stationed on the axis between Washington, DC, and Richmond. An aggressive strategy prompted bold invasions of Maryland in 1862 and 1864, and Pennsylvania in 1863, seeking to cut off or threaten the US capital. None was ultimately successful but they each caused alarm and provided occasional respite for Virginia.
The first year of the war saw the creation of many small, sometimes grandiosely titled field forces and territorial commands. Along these were the Forces in Norfolk which evolved into the Department of Norfolk; the Potomac Line which became the Department of Fredericksburg; the Forces in Richmond which became the Department of Richmond; western Virginia was served by the small Forces in the Kanawha Valley, the Army of the Kanawha, and the Army of the Northwest; the Department of Southwestern Virginia; the Hampton Line which became the Department of the Peninsula. The Shenandoah Valley always had its own local command, evolving from the Forces in Harper’s Ferry later renamed the Army of the Shenandoah and then the District and various permutations of the Army of the Northwest and the Army of the Valley.
The most important organisation was that facing the Union camps and forces gathering around Washington, DC. Beginning as the Department of Alexandria and the Forces in Alexandria or the Alexandria Line, the Confederates’ primary command grew into the Department of the Potomac, later renamed the Department of Northern Virginia. This command and its famous Army, for almost its entire history and until the dissolution of the Confederacy was synonymous with the leadership of General Robert Edward Lee.
While Lee directed campaigns and the defence of the Confederacy’s most northerly frontier, the Department of Henrico managed the military and logistical functions of the capital itself, the Department of Richmond organised its garrison, and the Department of Southwestern Virginia (later Trans-Allegheny Department and Department of East Tennessee and West Virginia) protected the western fringe of the state. The need to coordinate operations of forces in southern Virginia and North Carolina resulted in a Department of North Carolina and Southern Virginia from September 1862 to February 1863 and again from May 1863, to protect the vital port of Wilmington and supply lines leading north into Petersburg, Virginia. Although these more minor organisations had some autonomy, they were usually subordinated to Lee’s dominant strategy.

This is an alphabetical Index of each Organisation by Level and then by name 

Details of each specific organisation can be found in the Introduction to Confederate Military Organisations – Types -by searching for the Level and then the Name of the Organisation

Department of Alexandria, Virginia 24 April 1861-31 May 1861
Department of Fredericksburg, Virginia 5 June 1861-22 October 1861

Department of Henrico, Virginia 21 October 1861-5 March 1864
Department of Norfolk, Virginia 23 May 1861-12 April 1862
Department of the Peninsula 26 May 1861-12 April 1862
Department of the Potomac 31 May 1861-22 October 1861
Department of Richmond, Virginia 30 August 1862-6 April 1865
Department of East Tennessee and West Virginia 28 September 1864-19 April 1865
Trans-Allegheny Department 25 November 1862-27 September 1864
Department of Northern Virginia 22 October 1861-9 April 1865
Department of Southern Virginia 26 February 1863-28 May 1863
Department of Southwestern Virginia 8 May 1861-16 December 1864

District of Abingdon, Virginia 2 May 1862–7 January 1864
District of Aquia, Virginia 18 July 1861-6 September 1862
District of Harper’s Ferry, Virginia 3 July 1861-20 July 1861
District of Lewisburg, Virginia 28 January 1862-8 May 1862
District of the Potomac 22 October 1861-29 January 1862
Valley District, Virginia 22 October 1861-9 April 1865
Defences of Petersburg, Virginia 27 September 1864-1 October 1864

Army of the Kanawha 6 June 1861-25 September 1861
Army of Northern Virginia 13 March 1862-9 April 1865
Army of the Northwest 8 June 1861-10 February 1862
Army of the Peninsula 26 May 1861-12 April 1862
Army of the Potomac 24 May 1861-13 March 1862
Army of the Shenandoah 4 July 1861-20 July 1861
Army of the Valley #1 22 August 1861-25 June 1862
Army of the Valley #2 12 June 1864-27 September 1864
Forces in Alexandria, Virginia (Alexandria Line) 24 April 1861-24 May 1861
Hampton Line, Virginia 21 May 1861-26 May 1861
Forces in Harper’s Ferry, Virginia 2 April 1861-4 July 1861
Forces in the Kanawha Valley, Virginia 3 May 1861-6 June 1861
Forces in Norfolk, Virginia 18 April 1861-23 May 1861
Potomac Line, Virginia 22 April 1861-5 June 1861
Forces in Richmond, Virginia 25 April 1861-30 August 1861

Centre Wing Northern Virginia 13 March 1862-4 May 1862
Reserve Northern Virginia 4 May 1862-25 June 1862
Magruder’s Command Northern Virginia 25 June 1862-16 July 1862
I Corps (Right Wing) Northern Virginia 13 March 1862-25 June 1862
I Corps (Longstreet’s Command) Northern Virginia 25 June 1862-16 July 1862
I Corps (Longstreet’s Right Wing) Northern Virginia 16 July 1862-4 September 1862
I Corps (Longstreet’s Command) Northern Virginia 4 September 1862-6 November 1862
I Corps Northern Virginia #1 6 November 1862-26 February 1863
I Corps Northern Virginia #2 6-May 1863-9 September 1863
I Corps Northern Virginia attached Tennessee 9 September 1863-7 April 1864
I Corps Northern Virginia #3 7 April 1864-9 April 1865
I Corps Potomac 25 September 1861-13 March 1862
I Corps Southern Virginia 26-February 1863-6 May 1863
I Corps Valley 27 June 1864-27 September 1864
II Corps (Left Wing) Northern Virginia 13 March 1862-25 June 1862
II Corps (Jackson’s Command) Northern Virginia 25 June 1862-16 July 1862
II Corps (Jackson’s Left Wing) Northern Virginia 16 July 1862-4 September 1862
II Corps (Jackson’s Command) Northern Virginia 4 September 1862-6 November 1862
II Corps Northern Virginia #1 6 November 1862-12 June 1864
II Corps Northern Virginia #2 27 September 1864-9 April 1865
II Corps Potomac 25 September 1861-13 March 1862
II Corps Valley 27 June 1864-27 September 1864
III Corps Northern Virginia 30 May 1863-2 April 1865
IV Corps Northern Virginia 19 October 1864-8 April 1865
Cavalry Corps Northern Virginia 30 May 1863-12 May 1864

Reserve Forces of Virginia 30 April 1864-5 April 1865