The Army of Northern Virginia, Robert E. Lee’s army from the Seven Days until its surrender at Appomattox Court House, is arguably the most celebrated army of the entire Civil War. By the time the Army of Northern Virginia found itself in the trenches in front of Petersburg and Virginia, it’s offensive punch was gone, sapped of too much strength, both in terms of number of men and Robert E. Lee’s personal health. In addition, the Second Corps returned to the Shenandoah Valley from June 1864 almost to the end of the year, weakening the ANV even further. The First Corps, under Richard Anderson for much of the campaign while James Longstreet recovered from his Wilderness wounds, primarily shuttled back and forth to threatened spots. The Third Corps, which would remain under A.P. Hill for almost the entire Petersburg Campaign, was charged with occupying much of the south side entrenchments east, south, and southwest of Petersburg.
NOTE: Many of the records of the Army of Northern Virginia for the June-July 1864 time period were destroyed in the hasty evacuation of Petersburg and Richmond. As a result, I have decided to include an order of battle for the ANV from the Overland Campaign (Wilderness, Spotsylvania, North Anna, Cold Harbor) before moving on to the first tangible orbat of the ANV for the Petersburg Campaign from August 31, 1864.
The Orders of Battle below are listed in chronological order, using the shorthand, three-digit, multiple letter “code” George Nafziger devised to organize all of the thousands of OOBs he copied from various sources. In addition to this code, the actual title of each Order of Battle is shown below in order to allow the reader to quickly scan to the order of battle he or she wishes to view.
***
- 864ebi: Confederate Army of Northern Virginia Battles of the Rapidan to the James 5 to 30 May 1864
- 864hak: Confederate Army of Northern Virginia 31 August 1864
- 864iad: Abstract Return Confederate Army of Northern Virginia 10 September 1864
- 864ibc: Confederate Forces Anderson’s Division 29 September 1864
- 864ibd: Confederate Forces Wilcox’s Division 29 September 1864
- 864ibe: Confederate Forces Heth’s Division 30 September 1864
- 864ibf: Confederate Forces Cavalry Corps Army of Northern Virginia 30 September 1864
- 864jba: Confederate Army of Northern Virginia 31 October 1864
- 864kad: Abstract Return Confederate Army of Northern Virginia 10 November 1864
- 864kam: Confederate Army of Northern Virginia 30 November 1864
- 864lah: Abstract Return Confederate Army of Northern Virginia 20 December 1864
- 864lbc: Confederate Army of Northern Virginia 31 December 1864
- 865aal: Confederate Army of Northern Virginia 31 January 1865
- 865abc: Abstract Return Confederate Army of Northern Virginia January thru March 1865
- 865bi: Confederate Army of Northern Virginia 28 February 1865
- 865ci: Confederate Forces McLaw’s Division 25 March 1865