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XVIII Corps Civil War Facts

Army of the James

On December 24, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln ordered that the troops in the Department of North Carolina should be organized into a corps and designated as the XIII Corps. These troops were stationed at Newbern, Plymouth, Beaufort, and vicinity. They included Peck's Division, formerly of the IV (Peninsular) Corps; also, some regiments which had fought under Gen. Burnside at Roanoke Island and New Berne.
XVIII Corps Flag
There were, also, 12 regiments of 9-months men--6 of them from Massachusetts, and 6 from Pennsylvania--whose terms of enlistment expired in the summer of 1863. Some of these 9-months regiments had fought creditably at Kinston, Whitehall, and Goldsboro, in December, 1862, the same month in which the corps was organized.

In February, 1863, the roster showed 5 divisions, commanded respectively by Gens. Palmer, Naglee, Ferry, Wessells, and Prince, with Gen. J. G. Foster in command of the corps. Ferry's and Naglee's Divisions--containing 16 regiments--were detached in February, 1863, and ordered to Charleston Harbor, where they were attached to the X Corps, becoming subsequently a part of that organization. In June, 1863, the 12 regiments which had been enrolled for 9 months only took their departure, their term of service having expired. In place of these losses the troops of the Seventh Corps were transferred, that organization having been discontinued August 1, 1863. With the XVII Corps came a valuable accession of veteran material in Getty's Division, formerly of the IX Corps. This division had been left in South-eastern Virginia when the IX Corps went to the West, and had been engaged, in the spring of 1863, in the defense of Suffolk against Longstreet's besieging Army.

After the withdrawal of the enemy from the vicinity of Suffolk, there were no operations of consequence during the year 1863 in the Department of North Carolina, and the corps was left in quiet possession of the territory. There were, however, occasional reconnaissances into the Confederate's country, and some skirmishing at the outposts.

In April, 1864, the corps was concentrated at Yorktown, preparatory to the spring campaign of the Army of the James. That army was commanded by Gen. Benjamin Butler, and was composed of the X and XVIII Corps. The XVIII Corps, as organized for this campaign, contained 15,972 officers and men present for duty, including the artillery, which carried 36 guns. It was commanded by William F. Smith, a VI Corps general, who had fought under McClellan, and who, later on, had achieved distinction through his successful plan of the battles of Chattanooga. The corps contained 3 divisions, commanded by Gens. Brooks, Weitzel and Hinks, the division of the latter being composed of colored troops. Butler's Army landed at Bermuda Hundred May 6, 1864,--the same day that Gen. Ulysses S. Grant was fighting in the Wilderness,--and a series of bloody battles immediately followed, the principal one occurring May 16th, at Drewry's Bluff. The campaign was a short one, resulting in defeat, and Butler withdrew to his original position on the James River, the corps losing in these operations 213 killed, 1,224 wounded and 742 missing; total, 2,179.
Grant then ordered the XVIII Corps to reinforce the Army of the Potomac, and on May 27th it moved by transports down the James and up the York River to White House Landing, from whence it marched to Cold Harbor. Hinks' Division was left behind, and in its place, 2 divisions of the X Corps, under Gen. Devens, temporarily attached to the XVIII Corps as a third division, moved with Gen. Smith's command, the 3 divisions being commanded at Cold Harbor by Gens. Brooks, Martindale and Devens. In that battle the XVIII Corps made a gallant attack on the Confederate intrenchments; but, like the various other corps engaged, it was obliged to abandon the assault with heavy loss, its casualties at Cold Harbor amounted to 448 killed, 2,365 wounded, and 206 missing; total, 3,019.

On June 12th, Smith's command withdrew from Cold Harbor, and, re-embarking, sailed for Bermuda Hundred, arriving there on the 14th. On the following day the XVIII Corps advanced to Petersburg and assaulted the works that evening, Hinks' Colored Division gaining a partial success and capturing several pieces of artillery. This was the first time in the war in which colored troops, to the extent of a brigade, were engaged in battle.

After the failure of the assaults on Petersburg, the XVIII Corps went into position in the trenches, and participated in the siege. It held the extreme right of the line, at which point the contending armies were nearest each other. The proximity of the Confederate pickets and the incessant firing occasioned large losses, daily, in killed and wounded.

On August 26th, it was relieved by the X Corps, and ordered within the defenses of Bermuda Hundred. In the latter part of September, it was ordered to the north bank of the James, where, on the 29th, the 1st Division (Stannard's) participated in the brilliant and successful assault on Fort Harrison, at Chaffin's Farm. At this time, Gen. Stannard commanded the 1st Division, Gen. Brooks having resigned in July; Gen. Paine had succeeded Hinks in command of the colored (3rd) division; and while at Chaffin's Farm, Gen. Weitzel, who had been acting as chief of staff to Butler, succeeded Ord in command of the corps. The XVIII Corps, under Weitzel, was also engaged at the battle of Fair Oaks, October 27, 1864, which was fought on the old battle field of 1862.

On December 3, 1864, the corps was ordered discontinued. The white troops of the X and XVIII Corps were organized into one corps, designated as the XXIV Corps; the colored troops belonging to the X and XVIII were organized as another, which was designated the XXV Corps. The regiments of the XVIII were formed into a division of 3 brigades, which became Devens' (3d) Division of the XXIV Corps.

As the XVIII Corps was to remain in Virginia with the Army, it is difficult to understand what good reason the War Department could have had for thus wiping out the honored name under which the corps had fought so long and well.

Major Battles Fought In

  1. Kinston
  2. Whitehall
  3. Goldsboro
  4. Siege Of Washington (N.C.)
  5. Siege Of Suffolk
  6. Quaker Bridge
  7. Gum Swamp
  8. Bachelor's Creek
  9. Winton
  10. Port Walthall
  11. Arrow-Field Church
  12. Drewry's Bluff
  13. Bermuda Hundred
  14. Cold Harbor
  15. Assault On Petersburg, June 15th
  16. The Crater/Mine
  17. Petersburg Trenches
  18. Chaffin's Farm
  19. Fair Oaks (1864)
  20. Fall Of Richmond
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