This meticulous examination of the organization of the Confederate Army during each of its combat operations is a rare accomplishment. F. Ray Sibley's monumental study will save researchers time for decades to come. Checking traditional accounts against archival and manuscript sources, Sibley has compiled the first one volume account of the structure of the Army of Northern Virginia as it went into battle. This work includes the hierarchy of the corps, divisions, brigades, regiments, batteries, and separate units of the Army of Northern Virginia and its predecessors. The text is organized by actions and events. The indices enable the reader to use the book to outline a unit's history or an officer's combat career without consulting other sources.

A forthcoming volume will provide this information for the other armies of the Confederacy and for coastal defenses. A third volume will constitute the bibliography, itself an invaluable guide to the study of the Confederacy's military.