Curated category
Military units and formations established in 1861
- Army of the Shenandoah (Confederate)The Army of the Shenandoah began as scattered militia companies sent to Harpers Ferry, Virginia. Robert E. Lee appointed Thomas J.
- Army of the PeninsulaThe Army of the Peninsula began with a single colonel and a stretch of Virginia coast that could not be surrendered. John B.
- Army of the PotomacThe Army of the Potomac was born out of disaster. In the summer of 1861, a raw Union force marched out of Washington, D.C., under Brigadier General Irvin…
- Quantrill's RaidersThe Missouri-Kansas border area became fertile ground for guerrilla warfare when the Civil War erupted in 1861. In February 1861, Missouri voters elected…
- Army of Northern VirginiaOn the 20th of June 1861, the Army of the Potomac organized itself from operational forces in Northern Virginia. This unit would eventually become known as…
- Army of the TennesseeIn September 1861, Brigadier General Ulysses S. Grant established his headquarters at the river port of Cairo, Illinois.
- Confederate States ArmyThe Confederate States Army came into existence on the 28th of February 1861, when a provisional congress authorized a volunteer force and handed command…
- Regia MarinaThe Regia Marina, Italy's Royal Navy, was born on the 17th of March 1861 from the wreckage of rival kingdoms. It entered its first major battle just five…
- Stonewall BrigadeThe Stonewall Brigade earned its name on a single afternoon in July 1861, and would carry it through three more years of some of the bloodiest fighting of…
- Missouri State GuardThe Missouri State Guard was born on the 11th of May 1861, not in a battlefield but in a legislative chamber, when the Missouri General Assembly passed what…