Army of the Potomac
unit of the Union Army during the American Civil War
The Army of the Potomac was the primary field army of the Union army in the eastern theater of the American Civil War. It was created in July 1861 shortly after the First Battle of Bull Run and was disbanded in June 1865 following the surrender of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in April.
History
The Army of the Potomac was founded in 1861. It initially was only the size of a corps relative to the size of Union armies later in the Civil War. Its nucleus was called the Army of Northeastern Virginia led by Brig. Gen. Irvin McDowell. It fought and lost the Civil War's first major battle, the First Battle of Bull Run. The arrival in Washington, D.C., of Maj. Gen.
“Army of the Potomac” enters the record as unit of the Union Army during the American Civil War. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Army, Potomac and unit can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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The record creator and administrative purpose are central evidence, because official documentation reflects both action and institutional priorities. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q653089. VIAF identifies the subject as 158306413. The Library of Congress control number is n82220368. 1 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1861 and 1865.
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This entry incorporates text from “Army of the Potomac” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.