Corps history III Corps (Union Army)

1 corps history

1.1 peninsula campaign: march – july 1862
1.2 northern virginia campaign: july – september 1862
1.3 fredericksburg: november – december 1862
1.4 chancellorsville & gettysburg: may – july 1863
1.5 autumn 1863
1.6 army reorganization: march 1864

corps history

the iii corps included in organization famous kearny division; also, hooker s division, excelsior brigade, second jersey brigade, , other known commands. brilliant record closely interwoven history of virginia campaigns of 1862–1863, in fought during 2 eventful years.

peninsula campaign: march – july 1862

the corps organized march 13, 1862, commanded major general samuel p. heintzelman, generals joseph hooker, charles s. hamilton, , fitz john porter 3 division commanders. ordered join peninsula campaign, hamilton s division embarking on march 17, , leading advance of army of potomac on memorable campaign. during siege of yorktown corps @ maximum, morning reports of april 30 showing aggregate of 39,710, 64 pieces of light artillery, , 34,633 reported present duty . aggregate maintained briefly, porter s division taken away after form part of newly organized v corps. hamilton relieved on april 30, , general philip kearny took place, hamilton assuming division command in army of mississippi.

upon evacuation of yorktown, iii corps led pursuit of retreating enemy, attacking them @ williamsburg on may 5, hooker s , kearny s divisions. battle fought entirely iii corps; of 2,239 casualties on field, 2,002 occurred within ranks; , three-fourths of them in hooker s division, brunt of battle having fallen on excelsior brigade , jersey brigade, both in hooker s command. porter s division not engaged, having been left @ yorktown; on may 18, new v corps created porter in command, old division detached iii corps serve in new outfit, leaving 2 divisions, hooker s , kearny s, in corps, , reducing aggregate strength 23,331 present , absent, 34 pieces of field artillery. 2 divisions numbered 17,000 effectives, out of 18,205 reported present duty .

at fair oaks, next battle, 209 killed, 945 wounded, , 91 missing, principally charles d. jameson s , hiram g. berry s brigades of kearny s division. 5 fresh regiments joined in june, increasing report of june 20 27,474 present , absent , of whom 18,428 reported present duty, equipped ; included 8 batteries of light artillery, of 40 guns. after deducting large number of non-combatants , detailed men included in present duty , corps numbered @ time 17,000 effectives, available in case of action.

the corps made opening fight in 7 days battles, @ oak grove, june 25, fighting again @ glendale on june 30, , @ malvern hill on july 1; losses in these engagements aggregated 158 killed, 1,021 wounded, , 794 missing; total, 1,973. heaviest loss occurred in john c. robinson s brigade of kearny s division; 1st new york, berry s brigade, encountered hot fire @ glendale.

northern virginia campaign: july – september 1862

upon withdrawal front of richmond, iii corps accompanied army of potomac manassas, sent reinforce john pope s army of virginia. corps left harrison s bar on august 14, and, marching yorktown, embarked on august 20 alexandria. arrived @ warrenton junction on august 26, , on following day excelsior brigade had sharp fight @ bristoe station. on august 29, corps engaged @ groveton. cuvier grover s brigade, of hooker s division, fought desperately @ railroad embankment, in use of bayonets , clubbed muskets officially reported. on september 1, kearny s division engaged @ chantilly, birney s brigade taking prominent part; kearny killed in action. losses of corps @ manassas, including bristoe, groveton, , chantilly, amounted 260 killed, 1,525 wounded, , 453 missing; total, 2,238, including phil kearny, shot dead confederate troops @ chantilly. hooker s division numbered 10,000 men @ yorktown, , received reinforcement of 3,000 more; after manassas, drew rations @ fairfax station 2,400 men.

fredericksburg: november – december 1862

after second bull run, iii corps severely understrength , during maryland campaign in september, left behind in washington dc rest , refit. in october, samuel heintzelman removed command. in november rejoined army of potomac, under ambrose burnside, on way fredericksburg, , arriving @ falmouth on november 24, encamped there until battle of december 13. in meantime, general hooker had been promoted command of center grand division, composed of iii , v corps; general george stoneman had been assigned command of iii corps; general birney of 1st division; general daniel e. sickles 2nd division; , third division comprising 9 month regiments under general amiel w. whipple had been added. corps not prominently engaged @ fredericksburg, although under heavy fire; still, casualties amounted 145 killed, 837 wounded, , 202 missing; total 1,184, on half of occurred in j.h. hobart ward s brigade of birney s division. after battle corps returned quarters @ falmouth, spent winter of 1862–1863. general sickles promoted command of corps, , general hiram berry of sickles s division.

chancellorsville & gettysburg: may – july 1863

on may 1, 1863, corps broke camp , marched chancellorsville, eventful field in history; battle in brunt of fighting fell on iii , xii corps. took 17,568 men, including non-combatants, on campaign, losing 378 killed, 2,634 wounded, , 1,090 missing; total 4,102. generals berry , whipple among killed.

the depleted ranks still further lessened loss of 4 new york regiments 2 years term of enlistment had expired; in addition, division of 9 month troops had gone home. corps accordingly consolidated 2 divisions; 1st under general david b. birney, , 2nd under general andrew a. humphreys, able officer had distinguished himself division commander @ fredericksburg.

at gettysburg, corps took prominent part in battle of second day, july 2, 1863. acting against orders, general sickles moved corps assigned defensive position on cemetery ridge indefensible position mile forward, centered on peach orchard. sickles wanted occupy higher ground there, corps forced defend salient long size. when attacked 2 confederate divisions, virtually demolished , had reinforced throughout day other corps. did exact fearful price assailants, however. losses @ gettysburg 578 killed, 3,026 wounded, , 606 missing; total, 4,210 out of less 10,000 engaged. morning report showed 11,924 present duty equipped. general sickles wounded, losing leg; left corps , active military service, , general birney succeeded temporarily command.

autumn 1863

on july 14, battered iii corps strengthened addition of maj. gen william h. french s harper s ferry garrison. general french assigned command of corps. during pursuit of lee, after gettysburg, part of corps engaged @ wapping heights, virginia, july 23, action in excelsior brigade prominently engaged. minor affair occurred @ kelly s ford, virginia, november 7, 1863, in regiments of birney s (1st) division under fire.

in mine run campaign sharp fight took place @ locust grove, virginia, in joseph b. carr s (3rd) division sustained considerable loss, principal part of casualties in campaign occurring in iii corps. @ time general french still in command of corps, generals birney, henry prince, , carr in command of divisions. upon return mine run, corps went winter quarters @ brandy station.

army reorganization: march 1864

on march 23, 1864, war department ordered discontinuance of iii , corps; , amalgamation of constituent units of 2 corps ii, v , vi corps. order resented many of troops; result of resulting discontent, former soldiers of , iii corps permitted wear old corps insignia cap badges. decision discontinue iii corps motivated several factors including desire simplify army of potomac s command structure , due ineptitude of general french, otherwise extremely difficult rid of due seniority.

the 1st , 2nd divisions transferred ii corps, and, generals birney , gershom mott in command, became respectively 3rd , 4th divisions of corps. fourth division incorporated third @ battle of spotsylvania, , mott became 1 of birney s brigade commanders. 3rd division transferred vi corps, where, under command of general james b. ricketts, became 3rd division of corps.