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Army of the Tennessee | HearLore
— Ch. 1 · Origins And Early Command —
Army of the Tennessee.
~8 min read · Ch. 1 of 7
In September 1861, Brigadier General Ulysses S. Grant established his headquarters at the river port of Cairo, Illinois. This strategic location sat on the border with southeast Missouri and northern Kentucky. From this base, Grant began organizing what would become the Army of the Tennessee. His first significant engagement occurred on November 7 at Belmont, Missouri. A force of approximately 3,000 men moved by water to seize Confederate camps opposite Columbus, Kentucky. The battle resulted in about 500 casualties for both sides. Despite suffering a tactical repulse, Grant gained favorable press coverage that confirmed his belief in giving battle when he had sufficient numbers.
The following months saw rapid reorganization of Grant's command. On the 20th of December 1861, his forces were renamed the District of Cairo. By February 1862, Grant led a campaign against Fort Henry and Fort Donelson. Approximately 27,000 men divided into three divisions under John McClernand, C.F. Smith, and Lewis Wallace executed these operations. The surrender of Fort Henry on February 6 came before Grant could fully organize his attack. Four days later, most troops marched overland to assault Fort Donelson. The battle concluded on February 16 with the unconditional surrender of 15,000 Confederates. This victory broke the Confederate western line of defense and secured Kentucky for the Union. Grant, McClernand, Smith, and Wallace all received promotions to major general of volunteers.
The Shiloh Crucible
By early April 1862, Grant's army had grown to roughly 50,000 men organized into six divisions. These units included new commands from Stephen A. Hurlbut, William Tecumseh Sherman, and Benjamin M. Prentiss. On April 6, Confederate forces advanced largely undetected from Corinth, Mississippi, to attack the five Union divisions staged at Pittsburg Landing. The surprised and unentrenched army fought desperately throughout the first day, suffering many casualties. Long-expected elements of the Army of the Ohio arrived late that day to reinforce Grant. Additional troops arrived overnight and the following day. Lew Wallace and his 3rd Division finally reached Pittsburg Landing after being slow to arrive from Crump's Landing.
Substantially reinforced by Buell and Wallace, Grant counterattacked on April 7 and drove Confederate forces back toward Corinth. The battle resulted in much criticism against Grant for lack of preparedness. In the near term, the engagement led to swift promotion for Sherman, capture of Prentiss, a fatal wound for W.H.L. Wallace, and Grant's loss of confidence in Lewis Wallace. C.F. Smith died later in April from complications due to his non-combat leg injury. Following Shiloh, General Henry W. Halleck arrived to take command of over 100,000 men. He divided this force into three corps and a reserve. Grant served as second-in-command under severe public criticism about Shiloh. He complained that his position constituted an anomalous senusure akin to arrest. Halleck gave orders directly to Thomas and division commanders nominally subordinate to Grant. This awkward structure embarrassed Grant but ultimately allowed him to survive threats to his leadership.
Vicksburg Campaign Victory
In the fall of 1862, Grant began organizing operations against Vicksburg, Mississippi, a Confederate strong point commanded by Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton. His first initiative ended unsuccessfully in December when Confederate attacks on supply lines caused Grant to abandon his planned overland move. Meanwhile, John McClernand used political influence with Abraham Lincoln to obtain authority for an expedition of his own. In January 1863, McClernand asserted control over 30,000 men then under Sherman and redesignated those troops as the Army of the Mississippi. Grant considered this objective a wild-goose chase. General-in-Chief Halleck authorized him to assume control over all Vicksburg operations.
In April 1863, Grant established his troops well south of Vicksburg by marching them down the west side of the Mississippi. Working with Acting Rear Admiral David D. Porter's Western Flotilla, he led approximately 40,000 men through the XIII, XV, and XVII Corps. The campaign spanned 180 miles against two Confederate armies. After capturing Jackson on May 14 and winning at Champion Hill on May 16, Grant failed in initial assaults on May 19 and 22. He settled in for siege operations rather than incur additional casualties. During the siege, reinforcements brought Grant's total strength above 70,000 soldiers out of a reported July 1863 departmental strength of approximately 175,000. On June 18, Grant replaced the political McClernand with Edward O.C. Ord. The city surrendered on July 4, giving parole to its garrison of 30,000. This victory opened the Mississippi River for the Union and cut the Confederacy in half.
Chattanooga And Meridian
After taking Vicksburg, the Army of the Tennessee lay idle for a time until November 1863. Washington elevated Grant to command of the newly created Military Division of the Mississippi. He ordered him to defeat Braxton Bragg's forces besieging Chattanooga, Tennessee. Grant chose George Thomas to head Rosecrans' Army of the Cumberland instead of continuing Rosecrans as commander. His forces eventually included 35,000 men from the Army of the Cumberland, 20,000 from the Army of the Potomac under Joseph Hooker, and 17,000 from the Army of the Tennessee.
William Tecumseh Sherman led the Army of the Tennessee contingent up the Mississippi River from Vicksburg and then east from Memphis. He brought most of his old XV Corps and part of the XVII Corps to Chattanooga. In the Battle of Missionary Ridge on November 25, Sherman's attack gained no traction. It fell to Thomas's army to break the Confederate line by assaulting directly up the middle of the ridge. The Army of the Tennessee ended up playing second fiddle to the Army of the Cumberland. Immediately after Chattanooga, Grant ordered Sherman to take command of a mixed force to break the siege at Knoxville. Sherman's mere approach resulted in lifting the siege. Only about a third of Sherman's Army participated in these campaigns. Most of the XVII Corps remained under McPherson at Vicksburg, and most of the XVI Corps stayed under Hurlbut at Memphis.
Atlanta Campaign Climax
In March 1864, Lincoln promoted Ulysses S. Grant to Lieutenant General and gave him command of all Union armies. Grant relocated to the Eastern Theater while William Tecumseh Sherman succeeded him in the West. Command of the Army of the Tennessee passed to James B. McPherson, who had begun as chief engineer in Grant's Henry-Donelson force. The Atlanta campaign launched in early May lasted 120 days over more than 100 miles along the Western & Atlantic Railroad. Day and night brought continuous cannon booms and rifle cracks. The Army initially numbered about 25,000 men consisting of the XV Corps under John A. Logan and part of the XVI Corps.
Despite Sherman's confidence, McPherson proved the least aggressive commander of that army. He worried too much about what might be on the other side of the hill. On July 18, as the Army completed a giant wheeling maneuver from right to left, Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston was replaced by John Bell Hood. The aggressive Hood initiated the Battle of Peachtree Creek on July 20. Then, in the Battle of Atlanta on July 22, Hood launched a strong assault against McPherson's army. McPherson himself was killed, and command temporarily passed to Major General John A. Logan. The July 22 battle saw 27,000 men defeat attacks from nearly 40,000 Confederates. Despite this success, Sherman chose Oliver O. Howard to become the new commander. Howard repulsed Hood's third attack at Ezra Church with ease. On August 31, Howard's army repulsed a final Confederate attack during the first day of Jonesborough. With rail communications severed, Hood evacuated Atlanta during the night of the 1st of September 2.
March To The Sea
After losing Atlanta in early September, Confederate General Hood regrouped and sought to lure Sherman back northward. Sherman estimated his regression toward Chattanooga involved significant marching by the Army of the Tennessee. In November and December, the Army constituted the right wing during the march to the sea with approximately 60,000 men. Howard's command consisted of the XV Corps under Peter J. Osterhaus and the XVII Corps under Frank Blair. Their column, designated the Army of Georgia, came from the Army of the Cumberland under Henry W. Slocum.
Sherman characterized his march as an unopposed shift of base transferring a strong army from interior to sea-coast. During the march, troops lived off the land and demoralized the South through extensive destruction of property. One soldier wrote on the eve of the march that they understood Sherman intended to use them to Christianize this country. In the final stage, Sherman called upon his old Shiloh division now in the XV Corps under William B. Hazen to subdue Fort McAllister outside Savannah. On December 21, the march culminated with the capture of Savannah. The Army presented Savannah to Lincoln as a Christmas gift containing one hundred fifty heavy guns and twenty-five thousand bales of cotton. This virtually unopposed movement showed the Confederacy's days were numbered.
Carolinas And Final Surrender
On the 1st of February 1865, after a month in Savannah, Sherman resumed his destructive march northward into the Carolinas. Howard's Army again constituted the right wing of a two-column advance. John Logan resumed command of the XV Corps while the XVII Corps continued under Blair. Confederate opposition intensified in North Carolina led by Joseph E. Johnston. At Bentonville in mid-March, most fighting fell to Slocum's forces. Thereafter, Johnston slipped away northwest, and Sherman rendezvoused near Goldsboro with Schofield's Army of the Ohio.
The Army marched roughly 300 miles in 50 days from Savannah to Goldsboro. On the 10th of April 1865, the day after Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House, Sherman resumed his advance toward Raleigh. He entered Raleigh on April 13, and Johnston opened prolonged surrender discussions. On April 26, at Durham Station, Johnston finally surrendered all Confederate forces in the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. The Army then marched some distance to Washington, D.C., and participated in the Grand Review on May 24. To salve the injury he had inflicted in bypassing John A. Logan for Oliver Howard, Sherman arranged for Logan to become final commander. Thus, while Howard rode with Sherman, Logan led the army in the Grand Review. Taps sounded for the Army of the Tennessee on the 1st of August 1865.
When was the Army of the Tennessee established by Ulysses S. Grant?
Ulysses S. Grant established his headquarters at Cairo, Illinois in September 1861 to organize what would become the Army of the Tennessee.
What were the key battles fought by the Army of the Tennessee during 1862 and 1863?
The Army of the Tennessee fought major engagements including Fort Henry on February 6, Fort Donelson concluding on February 16, Shiloh from April 6 to 7, and the siege of Vicksburg ending July 4.
Who commanded the Army of the Tennessee after James B. McPherson died in July 1864?
Major General John A. Logan temporarily assumed command after McPherson's death before Oliver O. Howard became the new commander under William Tecumseh Sherman.
How many men did the Army of the Tennessee have during the March to the Sea in late 1864?
During the march to the sea in November and December 1864, the Army of the Tennessee constituted the right wing with approximately 60,000 men.
When did the Army of the Tennessee sound Taps to end its service?
Taps sounded for the Army of the Tennessee on the 1st of August 1865 following the Grand Review in Washington D.C.