Portal:United States Army
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 The United States Army is the largest branch of the United States armed forces and has primary responsibility for land-based military operations. As of 2004, it consisted of 494,295 soldiers on active duty, 342,918 in the Army National Guard (ARNG) and 204,134 in the United States Army Reserve (USAR). The modern United States Army has its roots in the Continental Army which was formed on June 14, 1775, before the establishment of the United States, to meet the demands of the American Revolutionary War. Congress created the United States Army on June 3, 1784 after the end of the American Revolutionary War, to replace the disbanded Continental Army. However, the US Army considers itself to be an evolution of the Continental Army, and thus dates its inception from the origins of the Continental Army The army is managed by the Department of the Army which is headed by the Secretary of the Army who heads administrative affairs. The highest ranking military officer in the department is the Chief of Staff of the Army.  Sherman served under General Ulysses S. Grant in 1862 and 1863 during the campaigns that led to the fall of the Confederate stronghold of Vicksburg on the Mississippi River and culminated with the routing of the Confederate armies in the state of Tennessee. In 1864, Sherman succeeded Grant as the Union commander in the western theater of the war. He proceeded to lead his troops to the capture of the city of Atlanta, a military success that contributed decisively to the re-election of President Abraham Lincoln. Sherman's subsequent march through Georgia and the Carolinas further undermined the Confederacy's ability to continue fighting. He accepted the surrender of all the Confederate armies in the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida in April 1865.  A shell casing flies out with a trail of smoke as U.S. Army Pfc. Michael Freise fires an M-4 rifle during a firing exercise.    "They've got us surrounded again, the poor bastards." — Creighton Abrams
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