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VI Corps Civil War Facts
| The VI Provisional Corps was organized May 18, 1862, by uniting Franklin's Division, which had just arrived on the Peninsula, with Gen. W. F. Smith's Division, which was taken away from the IV Corps for this purpose. This provisional arrangement having been sanctioned by the War Department, the command received its permanent designation as the VI Army Corps. Gen. William B. Franklin was appointed corps commander, and Gen. H. W. Slocum succeeded to the command of Franklin's Division. On June 20, | VI Corps Flag  |
At Gaines' Mill, Slocum's Division was sent to the support of Gen. Porter, and became hotly engaged, losing 2,021 men out of less than 8,000 present. The Vermont brigade of Smith's (2nd) Division took a prominent part in the fight at Savage Station, the 5th Vermont losing 209 men in that action. The corps fought at other points during the Seven Days Battle, but at Malvern Hill it was held in reserve. At Manassas/Bull Run (Second) it was partially engaged, the Jersey Brigade of Slocum's (1st) Division having a sharp fight on August 27th, at Bull Run Bridge, in which it lost 339 in killed, wounded and missing, Gen. Taylor, the brigade commander, receiving a mortal wound. While on McClellan's campaign, Slocum's Division made a gallant and successful charge up.the mountain's side at Crampton's Gap, driving the Confederates from a strong position; Slocum's loss was 113 killed, 418 wounded, and two missing; total, 533. The corps was under fire again at Antietam, but was only partially engaged; the 3rd Brigade (Irwin's) of Smith's Division, took an active part, however, the 7th Maine and 20th New York sustaining severe losses.
Important changes in the corps now took place. It received a valuable accession by the transfer of Couch's Division of the IV Corps, which now became the 3rd Division of the VI Corps, with Gen. John Newton in command. Franklin was promoted to the command of the Left Grand Division, VI and I Corps, and Smith succeeded to the command of the corps. Slocum's able services were acknowledged by his promotion to the command of the XII Corps, and Gen. W. T. Brooks succeeded Slocum in command of the 1st Division, while Gen. A. P. Howe succeeded to the command of Smith's (2nd) Division.
The next battle occurred at Fredericksburg, Dec. 13, 1862, in which only a few regiments of the corps were engaged, although all were under a severe artillery fire. But the corps was engaged on the same field, May 3, 1863, in an action which made it famous on account of the brilliant display of dash and daring. When Hooker took the Army to Chancellorsville he left the VI Corps in front of Fredericksburg, which was still held by a strong force of the Confederates. Sedgwick, who had succeeded to the corps command, ordered an assault on Marye's Heights, and that strong position which had defied the assaults of the previous battle, was now carried by the VI Corps at the point of the bayonet. The divisions of Newton and Howe were the ones engaged; Brooks' (1st) Division was engaged later in the day, at Salem Church. The corps lost in this battle, 485 killed, 2,619 wounded, and 1,485 missing; total 4,589. The missing ones were, for the most part, lost in the action at Salem Church. On the day before this battle, the corps returns showed a strength of 23,730, "present for duty," of whom less than 20,000 were present in action.
The Gettysburg Campaign came next, in which the divisions were commanded by Gens. Wright, Howe, and Newton. The corps was held in reserve at Gettysburg, excepting Shaler's Brigade, which was sent into action as a support to the XII Corps; several casualties, also, occurred in Eustis' and Wheaton's Brigades, of Newton's Division. During the pursuit of Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, after Gettysburg, the Vermont Brigade was engaged in a very creditable affair at Funkstown, Maryland, where this one brigade, drawn out in a skirmish line of over a mile in length, alone and unassisted, repelled a determined attack of a vastly superior force, which in massed columns charged this skirmish line repeatedly. The Vermonters sustained but slight loss, as they occupied a strong, natural position.
Having returned to Virginia, the corps participated, November 7, 1863, at Rappahannock Station in a successful assault on the enemy's intrenchments. In this affair there was another display of that dash and gallantry which was so eminently characteristic of the VI Corps. The 6th Maine and 5th Wisconsin distinguished themselves particularly in this action, leading the storming party and carrying the works with the bayonet only. It was a brilliant success, resulting not only in a victory, but in the capture of a large number of prisoners, small arms, artillery and battle flags.
On the Mine Run Campaign, the divisions were commanded by Gens. Wright, Howe, and H. D. Terry, but were not in action to any extent. The corps went into winter-quarters at Brandy Station. Upon the reorganization of the Army, in March, 1864, several changes were made. The 3rd Division was broken up, Shaler's Brigade being transferred to Wright's (1st) Division, while the brigades of Eustis and Wheaton were placed in the 2nd Division, the command of which was given to Gen. Geo. W. Getty, an able officer who had served as a division-general in the IX Corps, and, also, in the VII Corps at the Seige of Suffolk.
The place of the 3rd Division was filled by the 3rd Division of the III Corps, that corps having been discontinued; the command of this division was given to Gen. Ricketts.
The corps now contained 49 regiments of infantry, an artillery brigade composed of 8 batteries of light artillery (48 guns), and a battalion of heavy artillery acting as infantry; numbering in all, 24,163, "present for duty, equipped."
In the battles of the Wilderness and Spotsylvania, it encountered the hardest contested fighting of its experience. At the Wilderness, the Vermont Brigade--Getty's Division--lost 1,232 men out of the 2,800 effectives that crossed the Rapidan on the previous day. At Spotsylvania, the Jersey Brigade of Wright's Division was engaged in a deadly struggle, the percentage of killed in the 15th New Jersey being equalled in only one instance during the whole war.
On May 10th--at Spotsylvania--Gen. Upton led a storming party of 12 picked regiments selected from the VI Corps, which carried the Confederate works after a hand-to-hand fight in which bayonet wounds were freely given and received. On May 12th, Spotsylvania, the whole corps fought at the "Bloody Angle," where the fighting was the closest and deadliest of any recorded in the history of modern wars. Sedgwick was killed at Spotsylvania, and Wright succeeded to the command, Gen. Russell succeeding Wright in the command of the 1st Division.
In the assault at Cold Harbor, June 1st, 1864, the corps sustained another severe loss, 2,715 of its number falling, killed or wounded in that ill-advised attempt. Accompanying the Army to Petersburg it participated in the preliminary operations incidental to the investment of that stronghold. But its stay was of short duration, Maj. Gen. Jubal Early's invasion of Maryland necessitating a transfer of troops to confront him, and the heroes of Marye's Heights were selected for that duty.
On July 6th, Ricketts' (3d) Division embarked at City Point, and, landing at Baltimore on the 8th, marched out to meet Early. This division took part in the battle at Monocacy on the following day, and, although unable to defeat Early, checked his advance. The other 2 divisions embarked on the 10th and, landing at Washington, attacked Early, whose advance had reached Fort Stevens, within the city limits. The brunt of this fight fell to the lot of Bidwell's (3d) Brigade, of Getty's (2d) Division, every regimental commandant in this brigade, but one, being either killed or wounded.
The corps followed in pursuit of Early through Maryland, into Virginia, and up the Shenandoah Valley. Sheridan was placed in command of the Army of the Shenandoah, which was composed of the VI, VIII, and IXX Corps, and its campaign of 1864, in the Valley, was a memorable one by reason of the victories at Opequon, Fisher's Hill, and Cedar Creek. In the latter battle occurred the famous incident of Sheridan's Ride from Winchester; and, in justice to the VI Corps, it should be noted in connection with that affair, that Gen. Wright had already given Early a successful check, had made the dispositions for a counter advance, and was about to move forward when Sheridan resumed command. Gen. Russell was killed at the Opequon, and the gallant Bidwell at Cedar Creek. The casualties of the corps at the Opequon aggregated 211 killed, 1,442 wounded, and 46 missing; total, 1,699. At Cedar Creek, it lost 298 killed, 1,628 wounded, and 200 missing; total, 2,126. Its total loss in the Shenandoah Campaign, Aug. 22d to Oct. 20th, was 4,899, out of 12,615 "present for duty," in August. Gen. Wheaton succeeded to the command of the lamented Russell, while Gen. Truman Seymour was assigned to the command of the 3rd Division, in place of Gen. Ricketts, who was seriously wounded at Cedar Creek.
In December. 1864, the VI Corps returned to the Petersburg trenches, built their winter-quarters, and went into position near the Weldon Railroad. On April 2, 1865, occurred the grand, final, and successful assault on the fortifications of Petersburg, in which the corps was assigned a prominent and important part. Then came the hot pursuit of Gen. Robert E. Lee's retreating Confederate veterans, during which the corps fought at Sailor's Creek. This, the last battle of the VI Corps, was marked by the same features which had so largely characterized all its battles,--dash, hard fighting--some of it with the bayonet,-- victory, and large captures of men, flags, guns, and material.
The history of the VI Corps, more than any other, is replete with fascinating interest. Its record is invested with more of the romance and brillancy of war. There was the successful assault of Marye's Heights; the brillant dash into the rifle pits at Rappahannock Station; the deadly hand-to-hand fighting in the gloomy thickets of Spotsylvania; the breathless interest which attaches to their lone fight at Fort Stevens, where, under the eye of President Abraham Lincoln, they saved Washington, D.C. from the hand of the Confederates; the victories in the Valley, with the dramatic incident at Cedar Creek; and the crowning success at the storming of Petersburg. Over all these scenes the Greek Cross waved proudly on the banners of the corps, while its veteran legions wrought deeds which linked that badge with an unfading glory and renown.
Major Battles Fought In
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