Organization and Personnel
The Army of Northern Virginia consisted of various commands located throughout Virginia and North Carolina, with the Confederate Army of the Potomac as its core. Although various people, including Confederate president Jefferson Davis, had called it the Army of
Organization and Personnel
The Army of Northern Virginia consisted of various commands located throughout Virginia and North Carolina, with the Confederate Army of the Potomac as its core. Although various people, including Confederate president Jefferson Davis, had called it the Army of Northern Virginia on occasion, Robert E. Lee referred to it as the "Army of Northern Virginia" in Special Orders No. 22, dated June 1, 1862, when he assumed command in place of the wounded Joseph E. Johnston. Lee's subsequent orders maintained the heading "Department of Northern Virginia," and the "Army of Northern Virginia" soon became a household name in the Union and the Confederacy.
Nearly half of the men who served in the Army of Northern Virginia resided in either Virginia or North Carolina, and another quarter came from Georgia and South Carolina. The average year of birth for soldiers in the Army of Northern Virginia was 1835. The median birth year was 1838. More than half were farmers and nearly all of them (94 percent) came from rural areas. One in seven was a student in 1860, and nearly half resided with parents or an older sibling.
Because of their youth, only about three of eight soldiers were married. When the war broke out, single men—those least burdened with personal obligations—rushed to serve. In 1862, however, as wartime burdens extended to more families, a majority of those who entered the Army of Northern Virginia were married. During the last two years of the war, as the Confederacy strained to place more men in uniform, the army drew older and younger men into the ranks, and almost half of those were married.
On average officers were a couple of years older than their enlisted men. They tended to be wealthier; their combined personal and family median wealth was $3,000, compared to $1,200 for enlisted men. Almost half of all officers or their parents with whom they resided owned slaves, a figure that contrasted with 36 percent of enlisted men. Yet these distinctions were not as one-sided as they initially appeared. One in five officers and their families had a total wealth of less than $400, and almost nine of ten (89 percent) soldiers who owned slaves or whose families owned slaves served the entire war as enlisted men.
More than five of nine (56 percent) soldiers who served in the Army of Northern Virginia enlisted in 1861, and another three in ten (30 percent) enlisted the next year. In April 1862, the Confederate Congress passed the Conscription Act, and three of four who enlisted in 1862 did so prior to its enforcement. Because of poor record keeping, no one knows how many of the army's troops were conscripted. Most likely, the percentage of conscripts ranged from 6 to 8 percent. Less than 1 percent were hired as a substitute for someone else.
Lee Assumes Command
Prior to Lee's assumption of command, elements of the Army of Northern Virginia had fought at the Battle of Big Bethel on June 10, 1861, and at the First Battle of Manassas on July 21. In March 1862, the Union Army of the Potomac under George B. McClellan began landing troops on the Peninsula between the York and James rivers for an advance on the Confederate capital at Richmond. Confederate general John B. Magruder, with a small command, bluffed the Union troops into advancing cautiously while Johnston and his forces shifted down from the Rappahannock River area to block the movement. Exploits by the ironclad CSS Virginia discouraged the Union from moving too boldly as well. Fearful that the Union navy would push upriver with ground forces and trap the Confederates on the narrow peninsula, Johnston preferred to fall back near Richmond before fighting a major battle. His columns retreated to the outskirts of the capital, covering their movement with a nasty fight at Williamsburg on May 4–5. As McClellan attempted to bring forward siege guns, Johnston felt compelled to act. His poorly planned and badly managed attack at Seven Pines–Fair Oaks on May 31–June 1 resulted in heavy Union and Confederate losses, including Johnston himself, but provided no relief for the beleaguered Confederates.
Newly assigned to command by President Davis, Robert E. Lee realized that if he allowed the enemy to employ a conventional siege, Union troops, with their overwhelming military strength, would inevitably capture Richmond. The Army of Northern Virginia had to assume the offensive and knock McClellan back from the area around the capital. Lee implemented changes immediately. He ordered soldiers to dig extensive fortifications and to husband resources for the upcoming attack. He directed officers to devote more attention to the feeding and well-being of their men, so that the troops were rested and ready for a fight, and he gathered vital intelligence from newspapers, prisoners, and a brilliant cavalry ride around the Union army led by J. E. B. Stuart. Lee also consolidated forces from around Virginia and North Carolina, including Stonewall Jackson's command, fresh from its brilliant Shenandoah Valley Campaign.
On June 25, Lee hurled some 65,000 troops on and 