Army of the Potomac
Americannoun
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Union forces, trained and organized by General George B. McClellan, that guarded Washington, D.C., against a Confederate invasion across the Potomac and fought battles in the eastern sector during the Civil War.
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Confederate forces from the Alexandria, Potomac, and Shenandoah districts from mid–1861 to mid–1862: later known as Army of Northern Virginia.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Gen. Ambrose Burnside as commander of the Army of the Potomac, “but if the couchant lion postpones his spring too long, people will begin wondering whether he is not a stuffed specimen after all.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 23, 2026
President Abraham Lincoln fired the his commander of the Army of the Potomac, Gen. George B. McClellan, in the civil war, and during the Korean War, President Truman dismissed Gen. Douglas MacArthur.
From New York Times ● Jan. 30, 2024
I am reminded of President Abraham Lincoln’s sarcastic request of the inert Gen. George McClellan that if the general was not planning to employ the Army of the Potomac, perhaps he could borrow it.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 31, 2023
Gen. George G. Meade the new commander of the Army of the Potomac, following the resignation of Maj.
From Washington Times ● Jun. 28, 2020
Lee had surrendered only the Army of the Potomac.
From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
