What is Army of the Potomac?
[[File:Army of the Potomac.png|thumb|right|250px|{{center|Leaders of the Army of the Potomac, 1862}}]] The '''Army of the Potomac''' was the main [[Union Army]] in the [[Eastern Theater of the American Civil War]] From 1861 to 1865. The army was also known as '''Mr. Lincoln's Army''' due to the close involvement by [[President of the United States|President]] [[Abraham Lincoln]].<ref name=aopEV>{{cite web |url=http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Army_of_the_Potomac|title=Army of the Potomac|author=Edward Longacre|website=Encyclopedia Virginia|publisher=Virginia Foundation for the Humanities|access-date=14 July 2016}}</ref> It had two missions. The first was to protect [[Washington, D.C.]].<ref name=aopEV/> The second mission was to defeat the [[Confederate States Army|Confederate]] [[Army of Northern Virginia]].<ref name=aopEV/> The [[General officer|generals]] who led the Army of the Potomac remain some of the most [[controversy|controversial]] military leaders in history.<ref name=Wertx>Jeffry D. Wert, ''The Sword of Lincoln: The Army of the Potomac'' (New York; London: Simon & Schuster, 2005), p. x</ref> Under [[Irvin McDowell]], [[George McClellan]], [[Joseph Hooker]] and [[George G. Meade]], the army had more [[wikt:defeat|defeat]]s than [[Victory|victories]].<ref name=Wertx/> == History == The Army of the Potomac had its beginnings when President Lincoln called for 75,000 [[militia]] from [[Northern United States|Northern states]].<ref name=aopHN>{{cite web |url=http://www.historynet.com/army-of-the-potomac |title=Army Of The Potomac |publisher=HistoryNet |access-date=14 July 2016 |archive-date=23 July 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160723100049/http://www.historynet.com/army-of-the-potomac |url-status=dead }}</ref> This was just a day after the [[garrison]] at [[Fort Sumter]] [[surrender (military)|surrender]]ed to [[Confederate States Army|Confederate forces]].<ref name=aopHN/> These units were to serve for 90 days and each state [[governor]] was given a quota.<ref name=Beatie75>Russel H