[86] Newmarket heights, these colored troops displayed great gallantry. General David B. Birney died at Philadelphia, October 18, 1864, and was succeeded by General Terry, who was in command of the corps during the fighting on the Darbytown Road, and at the battle of Fair Oaks, October 27, 1864. On December 3, 1864, the corps was discontinued, and its regiments were assigned to the newly formed Twenty-fourth Corps, which was composed of the white troops from the Tenth and Eighteenth Corps. But immediately after this transfer, Ames' Division, together with Abbott's Brigade of this new corps, were detached and ordered on the Fort Fisher expedition. After the brilliant capture of Fort Fisher by these troops, they remained in North Carolina, and, in March, 1865, the Tenth Corps was revived. As reorganized, it consisted of Birge's (1st) Division, composed of three brigades taken from Grover's Division of the Nineteenth Corps, then stationed at Savannah; of Ames' (2nd) Division, composed of the troops which fought at Fort Fisher; of Paine's (3d) Division, colored troops; and of Abbott's Separate Brigade, numbering in all 12,099 men. General Terry, who was in command at the victory of Fort Fisher, was placed at the head of the corps. But the war was then near its close, and in August, 1865, the organization was discontinued.
Eleventh Corps.
- McDowell -- Cross Keys -- Cedar Mountain -- Freeman's Ford -- Sulphur Springs -- Manassas -- Chancellorsville -- Gettysburg -- Wauhatchie -- Lookout Mountain -- Missionary Ridge.
On June 26, 1862, President Lincoln ordered that “the troops of the Mountain Department, heretofore under command of General Fremont, shall constitute the First Army Corps, under the command of General Fremont.” The corps thus formed was, for the most part, the same as the one after wards known as the Eleventh Corps, and within a short time it was officially designated as such. This order of President Lincoln was included in the one constituting Pope's Army of Virginia, which was formed from the three commands of Fremont, Banks, and McDowell. Fremont's troops had seen considerable service in Western Virginia, having done some hard fighting at McDowell, and at Cross Keys. General Franz Sigel succeeded to Fremont's command on June 29, 1862, and was in command at Manassas, where the corps encountered more hard fighting, losing 295 killed, 1,361 wounded, and 431 missing; total, 2,087. At this time the three divisions were commanded by Generals Schenck, Von Steinwehr, and Schurz; there was, also, an independent brigade attached, under command of General Milroy. By General Orders No. 129, September 12, 1862, its designation was changed to that of the Eleventh, a necessary change, as McDowell's command had resumed its original title of the First Army Corps. During General McClellan's Maryland campaign, and during the fall of 1862, the Eleventh Corps remained in Northern Virginia, in front of Washington, occupying various important outposts in the vicinity of Centreville. In December, it marched to Fredericksburg in support of Burnside, but was not present at the battle, after which it went into winter-quarters at Stafford, Va. General Sigel having asked to be relieved, General O. O. Howard was appointed in his place. General Howard commanded the corps at Chancellorsville, May 1--3, 1863, at which time it numbered 12, 169 effectives, and was composed of the divisions of Generals Devens, Von Steinwehr, and Schurz. It contained 27 regiments of infantry, of which 13 were German regiments. The men of the Eleventh Corps were good soldiers,--for the most part tried and veteran troops, and were in no way responsible for the disaster which befell them at Chancellorsville. Their commander III that battle allowed himself to be surprised. He was not
