Army of the Tennessee

The Army of the Tennessee ( Army of the Tennessee , often also Tennessee Army , but not to be confused with the Confederate Army of Tennessee ) was a major unit of the United States Army in the Civil War .

It was formed from three divisions from the Cairo District, Illinois , in the Missouri Defense Area as Army in the Field . This was renamed the Army of West Tennessee on February 21, 1862 by three divisions and, after its de facto dissolution by Major General Henry W. Halleck on April 30, 1862, set up as the Army of the Tennessee on October 16, 1862. It was named after the Tennessee River .

Under the orders of Ulysses S. Grant , she tried several times in 1862 and 1863 to conquer Vicksburg , which she finally succeeded on July 4, 1863.

In the fall of 1863, part of the army, now under William T. Sherman , was moved from Mississippi to Tennessee to participate in the Battle of Chattanooga .

In 1864 the army, now under the command of Major General James B. McPhersons , took part in the Atlanta campaign , in which it was one of Sherman's most important armies. McPherson was killed near Atlanta on July 22nd. He was succeeded for a short time by John Alexander Logan , then Oliver Otis Howard . He led the army until the end of the war and took part in Sherman's “March to the Sea” and the campaign in the Carolinas .

The Tennessee Army was one of the most successful armies in the north. The Army took part in the closing parade, the Grand Review , in Washington, DC after the war ended . It was dissolved on August 1, 1865.

Commander in chief

• Brigadier General Ulysses S. Grant (December 23, 1861-21 February 1862) (Army in the Field)
• Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant (February 21, 1862– October 16, 1862) (Army of West Tennessee)
• Major General Ulysses S. Grant (October 16, 1862– October 24, 1863)
• Major General William T. Sherman (October 24, 1863– March 26, 1864)
• Maj. Gen. James B. McPherson (March 26, 1864– July 22, 1864)
• Major General John A. Logan (July 22, 1864– July 27, 1864)
• Major General Oliver O. Howard (July 27, 1864– May 19, 1865)
• Major General John A. Logan (May 19, 1865– August 1, 1865)

Battles and campaigns

• Capture of Fort Henry
• Battle of Fort Donelson
• Battle of Shiloh
• Siege of Corinth
• Stones River Campaign
• First Vicksburg campaign
• Second Vicksburg campaign
• Chattanooga ring gold campaign
• Atlanta Campaign
• Sherman's march to the sea
• Carolina Campaign

literature

• Steven E. Woodworth: Nothing but Victory: The Army of the Tennessee, 1861-1865 . New York: Alfred A. Knopf 2005. ISBN 0-375-41218-2 .