Talk:Army of Northern Virginia

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This page has been cited as a source by a media organization. The citation is in: Williesha Lakin. "Soldiers camp out in the past", salon.com, November 26, 2004. (details)

You've been referenced by the media! See [1] "According to wikipedia.com (sic), the Army of Northern Virginia, led by Gen. Robert E. Lee, was the primary military force of the Confederacy in the eastern theater of the Civil War." - Ta bu shi da yu 02:55, 30 Nov 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Lee naming it

Beauregard and Johnston commanded the army itself beforehand, but Army of Northern Virginia, as a name, was created by Lee just after he was appointed to command. --Chr.K. 21:57, 15 June 2006 (UTC)

I have souped up the description a bit. I have a high degree of confidence in the Eicher citation; their Civil War High Commands reference contains an exhaustive history of unit lineage. I think what we have here is renaming retrospectively. It is probable that Eicher has documentation showing the name was assigned effective March 14 simply because some of those records were created after Lee assumed command. This is very similar in nature to other armies that had later more famous names. A prime example is the Army of the Tennessee, which is almost universally cited as fighting in the Battle of Shiloh, although that name was not formally designated until October 16, 1862. Hal Jespersen 00:21, 16 June 2006 (UTC)