"Trying to determine the structure and command of a Civil War army can be a daunting task. It is easy to confuse which designation is which and to discern which rank commands which entity. Battlefield promotions and deviations between different armies further muddy the waters. It isn't immediately clear what it means when you read that Major General A.P. Hill commanded a division in the Army of Northern Virginia while John Gibbon commanded a brigade in Major General Joseph Hooker's I Corps of the Army of the Potomac. In an effort to provide a bit of clarity into such matters, what follows traces the command structure from the colonel leading a regiment all the way to the office of the President as Commander in Chief."
Maryland Campaign Commemoration Events Mr. Lincoln's Army by Bruce Catton; the book that made me a Civil War buff when I read it back in high school. Part of a trilogy that traces the history of the Army of the Potomac from General McClelland's creation and molding of the army on through Lee's surrender at Appomattox.
Beautifully written in Mr. Catton's unique style, the book covers the time from the inept Peninsula Campaign through Second Manassas on through the battle at Antietam (called Sharpsburg in the South), which led to the Emancipation Proclamation.
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