Battle of Franklin
The 1863 engagement at Franklin was a reconnaissance in force by Confederate cavalry leader Maj. Gen. Earl Van Dorn, coupled with an equally inept response by Union Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger. Van Dorn advanced northward from Spring Hill, Tennessee on May 10, making contact with Federal skirmishers just outside Franklin. Van Dorn's attack was so weak that when Granger received a false report that Brentwood to the north was under attack, he believed it and sent most of his cavalry northward thinking that Van Dorn was undertaking a diversion. When the truth became known - there was no threat to Brentwood - Granger decided to attack Van Dorn, but was surprised to learn that a subordinate had already done so, without orders. Brig. Gen. David S. Stanley, with a brigade from the 4th U.S. Cavalry, had crossed the Harpeth River at Hughes's Ford, behind the Confederate right rear. Stanley attacked and captured Freeman's Tennessee Battery on the Lewisburg Road, but lost it when Brig. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest counterattacked. This incident in his rear caused Van Dorn to cancel his operations and withdraw to Spring Hill, leaving the Federals in control of the area.
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Born near Port Gibson, Mississippi, Van Dorn graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1842 being ranked 52 out of 56. He fought in the Mexican-American War and against the Seminoles and Comanches, and this experience led to his rapid advancement in the Confederate States Army, rising from colonel in March 1861 to major general in September. In this capacity, he commanded the Confederate forces at the Battle of Pea Ridge (Elkhorn Tavern) in Pea Ridge, Arkansas. The Confederates' defeat at this battle enabled the Union to control the state of Missouri. His incompetence at the Battle of Corinth, Mississippi, in October 1862 led to another Union Army victory.
Van Dorn was more effective as a cavalry commander. His action destroying Union supplies at Holly Springs, Mississippi, in December 1862, seriously disrupted Ulysses S. Grant's first Vicksburg Campaign. He was also successful at Thompson's Station, Tennessee, in March 1863.
It was Van Dorn's reputation as a womanizer, not a Union bullet, that led to his death. On May 7, 1863, he was shot at his headquarters in Spring Hill, Tennessee, by Dr. George Peters, who claimed that Van Dorn had carried on an affair with his wife. Peters was later arrested by Confederate authorities, but was never tried for the killing. Van Dorn is buried at Port Gibson, Mississippi.
The name Army of Northern Virginia referred to its primary area of operation, as did most Confederate States Army names. The Army originated as the (Confederate) Army of the Potomac, which was organized on June 20, 1861, from all operational forces in northern Virginia. On July 20 and July 21, the Army of the Shenandoah and forces from the District of Harpers Ferry were added. Units from the Army of the Northwest were merged into the Army of the Potomac between March 14 and May 17, 1862. The Army of the Potomac was renamed Army of Northern Virginia on March 14. The Army of the Peninsula was merged in April 12, 1862.
Robert E. Lee's biographer, Douglas S. Freeman, asserts that the army received its final name from Lee when he issued orders assuming command on June 1, 1862. However, Freeman does admit that Lee corresponded with Joseph E. Johnston, his predecessor in army command, prior to that date and referred to Johnston's command as the Army of Northern Virginia. Part of the confusion results from the fact that Johnston commanded the Department of Northern Virginia (as of October 22, 1861) and the name Army of Northern Virginia can be seen as an informal consequence of its parent department's name. Jefferson Davis and Johnston did not adopt the name, but it is clear that the organization of units as of March 14 was the same organization that Lee received on June 1, and thus it is generally referred to today as the Army of Northern Virginia, even if that is correct only in retrospect.
In addition to Virginians, it included regiments from all over the Confederacy, even those as far away as Texas and Arkansas. Militiamen from the New Mexico and Arizona territories also served among its members.
