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Army of Northern Virginia
The Confederate army operating in the Eastern theater of the Civil War was initially commanded by General P.G.T. Beauregard and followed by General Joseph E. Johnston. On June 1, 1862, the Army of Northern Virginia received its name and its most well known, and final commander, General Robert E. Lee.
Although the Army of Northern Virginia was composed of units from throughout the South, its area of operations was almost exclusively limited to Virginia, where it was rarely bested. Two offensive moves by the Army of Northern Virginia took it into Union territory in Maryland at Sharpsburg (Antietam) in 1862 and into Pennsylvania at Gettysburg in 1863.
The flag on the hat is the Battle Flag of the Army of Northern Virginia designed after the battle of First Manassas by Confederate Congressman William Porter Miles and adopted into use by General Beauregard. The flag was carried by the Army of Northern Virginia thereafter until its surrender to General Ulysses S. Grant and the Union Army at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865.
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