The Confederate

Confederate States Army

The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...

 Army of the Potomac, whose name was short-lived, was the command under Brig. Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard in the early days of the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

. Its only major combat action was the First Battle of Bull Run

First Battle of Bull Run

First Battle of Bull Run, also known as First Manassas , was fought on July 21, 1861, in Prince William County, Virginia, near the City of Manassas...

. Afterwards, the Army of the Shenandoah

Army of the Shenandoah (Confederate)

The Army of the Shenandoah was an army of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. Major General Kenton Harper of the Virginia Militia organized about two thousand volunteers at Harpers Ferry by April 21, 1861. Brig. General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson of the Virginia...

 was merged into the Army of the Potomac with Gen. Joseph E. Johnston

Joseph E. Johnston

Joseph Eggleston Johnston was a career U.S. Army officer, serving with distinction in the Mexican-American War and Seminole Wars, and was also one of the most senior general officers in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War...

, the commander of the Shenandoah, taking command. The Army of the Potomac was renamed the Army of Northern Virginia

Army of Northern Virginia

The Army of Northern Virginia was the primary military force of the Confederate States of America in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War, as well as the primary command structure of the Department of Northern Virginia. It was most often arrayed against the Union Army of the Potomac...

 on March 14, 1862, with Beauregard's original army eventually becoming the First Corps, Army of Northern Virginia

First Corps, Army of Northern Virginia

The First Corps, Army of Northern Virginia was a military unit fighting for the Confederate States of America in the American Civil War. It was formed in early 1861 and served until the spring of 1865, mostly in the Eastern Theater. The corps was commanded by James Longstreet for much of its...

.