Force-Structure Comparisons of the Armies at Gettysburg

Abstract

Force-Structure Comparisons of Armies with their own direct and general support artillery. However, this organizational force structure had just been established following the army’s most recent battle at Chancellorsville in May of 1863. In fact, from the time the Army of Northern Virginia fi rst came into being, before the gates of Richmond in the 1862 Peninsula Campaign, to this most recent change, it had gone through numerous reorganizations of one form or another. More than anything, the perceived personalities and capabilities of prospective commanders drove the methodology behind the organizational construction of the Army of Northern Virginia. Much of this involved the personal taste of the commanding general, Lee, which included how well commanders worked with each other, what size organization they could eff ectively handle, and what credentials and loyalties they possessed. Consequently, this army underwent forcestructure reorganizations aft er every campaign, due in large part to offi cer casualties and reassignment of ineff ective commanders. Th ese reorganizations ranged from the creation of new corps to the juggling of brigades and divisions in order to fi t the personalities and capabilities of the various commanders.1 In the beginning of the war, Confederate military acts did not account for organizations larger than a division. Consequently, at the start of the 1862 Peninsula Campaign, Joseph E. Johnston, who commanded what became the Army of Northern Virginia, had six independent divisions loosely grouped under three wings. Following Johnston’s wounding, Lee assumed command and inherited a