Collection: Army of Northern Virginia

By far the most famous of the Confederate Armies, the Army of Northern Virginia would be tasked with the primary defense of Virginia and the Confederate Capital in Richmond. Originally titled the Army of the Potomac in 1861, the army would receive its famed name in June of 1862 with the transfer of its command to General Robert E. Lee. The Army of Northern Virginia would fight in the great battles of the Peninsula, 2^nd Bull Run, Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Wilderness, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, and many others. The surrender and destruction of the army in April 1865 would ensure the collapse of the defense of the Upper South and the scattering of the Confederate Government.