The Army of the Potomac, perhaps the Union’s most famous and hardest luck army, was the largest force brought to bear against the cities of Richmond and Petersburg, Virginia from June 1864-April 1865. George Gordon Meade, NOT Ulysses S. Grant, commanded this army during the entire Siege of Petersburg. Meade answered directly to Grant, who was in charge of not only the Army of the Potomac, but also the Army of the James and some minor support units during the campaign. Despite much adversity throughout its life, the Army of the Potomac played a large role in the final defeat of Robert E. Lee’s vaunted Army of Northern Virginia. Much of that role was performed during the Petersburg Campaign, with the coup de grace following in the week-long Appomattox Campaign.
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.
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- 864eaa: Union Troops Forwarded from the Department of Washington to the Army of the Potomac from 1 May 1864
- 864fbg: Union Army of the Potomac 30 June 1864
- 864gaa: Union Siege Forces Assigned to the Army of the Potomac Before Petersburg June – October 1864
- 864gai: Union Army of the Potomac 31 July 1864
- 864hal: Union Army of the Potomac 31 August 1864
- 864ian: Union Field Works Army of the Potomac 21 September 1864
- 864jca: Union Army of the Potomac 31 October 1864
- 864kac: Union Fortress Garrisons II Corps Army of the Potomac 3 November 1864
- 864lbe: Union Army of the Potomac 31 December 1864
- 865aab: Union Artillery Fortifications and Equipment 2nd Army Corps 9 January 1865
- 865aae: Union Artillery Fortifications and Equipment 2nd Army Corps 15 January 1865
- 865aah: Union Army of the Potomac 31 January 1865
- 865be: Union Army of the Potomac 28 February 1865
- 865bk: Union Artillery in Fortresses Army of the Potomac February 1865
- 865ca: Union Forces Fortress Artillery Army of the Potomac 5 & 12 March 1865
- 865cg: Union Artillery Defenses of City Point Army of the Potomac 25 April 1865
- 865co: Abstract Return Union Army of the Potomac March 1865
- 865dg: Union Forces Artillery Equipment 9th Army Corps 1 April 1865
- 865dp: Union Forces Army of the Potomac 30 April 1865
- 865du: Union Artillery Defenses of City Point Army of the Potomac 25 April 1865