Organizational Turbulence and Army Performance: A Comparison of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia and the Army of Tennessee.
Abstract
The Confederacy's two largest fields forces, the Army of Northern Virginia and the Army of Tennessee compiled quite dissimilar battlefield reputations. The former, more often victorious in battle, established a firm internal structure earlier in the conflict, whereas the latter perpetually reorganized its subordinate divisions and brigades. This study quantifies the amount of turbulence in brigades and divisions in both armies for three month periods of 1862, 1863, and 1864 and then analyzes battle performance in light of organizational turmoil. The propensity for internal rearrangements was similiar in 1862 as both armies formed and matured their organizational structure. However by 1863, Robert E. Lee's Virginia army had solidified its structure, whereas Braxton Bragg's Tennessee army continued its readjustments. Bragg's utter defeat at Chattanooga reflected his organizational views as his significantly reordered army was routed on Missionary Ridge. Both armies experienced similar organizational turmoil in 1864. Throughout this study evidence points to the relationship between increased organizational rearrangements and inferior battle performance. The increased turbulence weakened the Army of Tennessee's organizational fabric and contributed to its poorer performance. Organizational Turbulence, Army of Tennessee, Army of Northern Virginia, Civil war army organizational structure. Virginia, Civil War Army Organizational Structure
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 04, 1993
- Accession Number
- ADA272856
Entities
People
- David P. Goebel
Organizations
- United States Army Command and General Staff College