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Van Dorn's Cavalry Corps—Army of Tennessee
On March 16, 1863,
Major-General Van Dorn's Cavalry Division in the Army of Tennessee was called
Van Dorn's, or the First Cavalry Corps.
It had an average aggregate present of about eight thousand, and was a valuable adjunct to
General Bragg's army.
Army of Middle Tennessee
When
Major-General John C. Breckinridge assumed command of the forces around
Murfreesboro on October 28, 1862, they were denominated the Army of Middle Tennessee.
There were three brigades, with cavalry under
Brigadier-General Forrest, who was shortly relieved by
Brigadier-General Wheeler.
When
Bragg advanced from
Chattanooga to oppose
Rosecrans, the Army of Middle Tennessee became identified with a division of
Hardee's Corps, Army of Tennessee.
was born near
Lexington, Kentucky, January 21, 1821, and became a lawyer.
He served as major in the
Mexican War. From 1857 to 1861, he was vice-president of the
United States.
In 1860, he was a candidate for the presidency, receiving the electoral votes of the
Southern States, with the exception of
Virginia,
Kentucky,
Tennessee, and
Missouri.
He was sent to the Senate, but left that body to join the
Confederates.
He was made brigadier-general in November, 1861, and major-general in April, 1862, after the
battle of Shiloh.
He had a command under
General A. S. Johnston in the
Central Army of Kentucky, and Army of the Mississippi, and led the reserve corps at
Shiloh.
After the siege of
Corinth he took his force to
Louisiana, and fought the
battle of Baton Rouge, August 6, 1862.
Later, he headed the Department and Army of Middle Tennessee.
Rejoining the Army of Tennessee at the end of 1862, he fought at
Stone's River,
Chickamauga, and
Chattanooga, at the head of a division in
Hardee's Corps, and was its temporary commander for a period before the
battle of Chattanooga.
He was brought East after the opening of the
Wilderness campaign, fought at Cold Harbor, and was second in command under
Early in the
Shenandoah.
From February 6, 1865, to the downfall of the
Confederacy, he was
Secretary of War.
He then went to
Europe, but returned in 1868, and resumed the practice of law. He died in
Lexington, Kentucky, May 17, 1875.
Missouri State Guard
On June 12, 1861,
Governor C. F. Jackson of
Missouri, in defiance of the
United States military government, issued a call for fifty thousand of the
State militia for active service.
At the time of the flight of the governor and his followers to the extreme southwestern corner of the
State, he was joined by
Price.
At that time, the whole Confederate State force amounted to about three thousand men. This Missouri State Guard was in command of
Brigadier-Generals Sterling Price and
M. M. Parsons from October 29, 1861, to March 17, 1862, when it merged in the Army of the West.
Army of the West
assumed command of the troops in the Trans-Mississippi District of Western Department (No. 2), on January 29, 1862.
Out of the force grew the Army of the West, so called after March 4th.
It was largely composed of the Missouri State Guard.
This army fought at
Pea Ridge and elsewhere in
Arkansas, and, being transferred across the
Mississippi, was present at the siege of
Corinth.
The First Division was commanded by
Major-General Sterling Price after March 22d, and the Second by
Major-General Samuel Jones.
It had three divisions after May, and a strength of over twenty thousand.
On June 20th,
Van Dorn was replaced by
Major-General John P. McCown, who had commanded the Third Division, and he in turn by
Major-General Price, on July 3d.
The transfer of the Army of the Mississippi to
Chattanooga at
