The Army of the Shenandoah was a field army of the Confederate States Army active during the American Civil War. It was created to defend the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia from Union Army attacks during the early months of the war. The army was transferred to reinforce the Confederate Army of the Potomac at the First Battle of Bull Run, which was the only major engagement of the war it participated in. After the battle, the army was merged into the Army of the Potomac.

Francis S. Bartow was a licensed attorney turned politician, who served two terms in the United States House of Representatives and became a political leader of the Confederate States of America. Bartow was also a colonel in the Georgia Militia commanding the 21st Oglethorpe Light Infantry during the early months of the American Civil War. Bartow was a delegate from Georgia's 1st congressional district to the Southern Convention in Montgomery, Alabama becoming an inaugurating member of the Confederate Provisional Congress—leading efforts to prepare local forces in the aftermath of secession, protracting into The American Civil War of 1861–65.