XVII Corps | |
---|---|
XVII Corps badge | |
Active | 1862 – 1865 |
Type | Army Corps |
Size | Corps |
Part of | Army of the Tennessee |
Engagements | American Civil War |
Commanders | |
Notable commanders | James B. McPherson Francis P. Blair, Jr. |
Insignia | |
1st Division | |
2nd Division | |
3rd Division |
XVII Corps was a corps of the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was organized December 18, 1862 as part of Ulysses S. Grant's Army of the Tennessee. It was most notably commanded by Maj. Gen. James B. McPherson and Maj. Gen. Francis P. Blair II, and served in the Western Theater.
Corps is a term used for several different kinds of organisation.
During the American Civil War, the Union Army referred to the United States Army, the land force that fought to preserve the Union of the collective states. Also known as the Federal Army, it proved essential to the preservation of the United States of America as a working, viable republic.
The American Civil War was a war fought in the United States from 1861 to 1865, between the North and the South. The Civil War is the most studied and written about episode in U.S. history. Primarily as a result of the long-standing controversy over the enslavement of black people, war broke out in April 1861 when secessionist forces attacked Fort Sumter in South Carolina shortly after Abraham Lincoln had been inaugurated as the President of the United States. The loyalists of the Union in the North proclaimed support for the Constitution. They faced secessionists of the Confederate States in the South, who advocated for states' rights to uphold slavery.
In October 1862 the XIII Corps and XIV Corps were created in the Western Theater. At the time it was created the XIII Corps constituted the entire Army of the Tennessee under Ulysses S. Grant. Initially Grant subdivided the corps into the Right, Left and Center wings. Major General James B. McPherson led the Center of the XIII Corps. On December 18, 1862 the XIII Corps was officially divided. The Center officially became the XVII Corps with McPherson still in command and was originally composed of three divisions under John A. Logan, John McArthur, and Isaac F. Quinby.
XIII Corps was a corps of the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was first led by Ulysses S. Grant and later by John A. McClernand and Edward O.C. Ord. It served in the Western Theater of civil war, Trans-Mississippi Theater and along the Gulf of Mexico.
XIV Corps was a corps of the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was one of the earliest corps formations in the Western Theater of the American Civil War.
John Alexander Logan was an American soldier and political leader. He served in the Mexican–American War and was a general in the Union Army in the American Civil War. He served the state of Illinois as a State Senator, a Congressman, and a U.S. Senator and was an unsuccessful candidate for Vice President of the United States with James G. Blaine in the election of 1884. As the 3rd Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, he is regarded as the most important figure in the movement to recognize Memorial Day as an official holiday.
Grant's Vicksburg Campaign was the XVII Corps' first operation. It fought the Battle of Raymond and captured Jackson alongside William T. Sherman's XV Corps. On May 16, 1863 it bore the brunt of the fighting in the Battle of Champion Hill. During the Siege of Vicksburg, it formed the center of the Union forces.
The Vicksburg Campaign was a series of maneuvers and battles in the Western Theater of the American Civil War directed against Vicksburg, Mississippi, a fortress city that dominated the last Confederate-controlled section of the Mississippi River. The Union Army of the Tennessee under Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant gained control of the river by capturing this stronghold and defeating Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton's forces stationed there.
The Battle of Raymond was fought on May 12, 1863, near Raymond, Mississippi, during the Vicksburg Campaign of the American Civil War. The bitter fight pitted elements of Union Army Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's Army of the Tennessee against Confederate forces of Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton's Department of the Mississippi and East Louisiana. The Confederates failed to prevent the Federal troops from reaching the Southern Railroad and isolating Vicksburg, Mississippi, from reinforcement and resupply.
The Battle of Jackson, fought on May 14, 1863, in Jackson, Mississippi, was part of the Vicksburg Campaign in the American Civil War. Union commander Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and the Army of the Tennessee defeated elements of the Confederate Department of the West, commanded by General Joseph E. Johnston, seizing the city, cutting supply lines, and opening the path to the west and the Siege of Vicksburg.
While most of the XVII Corps was left in Mississippi, William T. Sherman took the 2nd Division, led by Brig. Gen. John E. Smith, to help in lifting the siege of Chattanooga. Two of Smith's brigades (led by Green Berry Raum and Karl Leopold Matthies) took a significant part in the Battle of Missionary Ridge.
The Battle of Missionary Ridge was fought on November 25, 1863, as part of the Chattanooga Campaign of the American Civil War. Following the Union victory in the Battle of Lookout Mountain on November 24, Union forces in the Military Division of the Mississippi under Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant assaulted Missionary Ridge and defeated the Confederate Army of Tennessee, commanded by Gen. Braxton Bragg, forcing it to retreat to Georgia.
In the winter of 1863–1864 Sherman returned to Vicksburg to lead the Meridian campaign. McPherson led the corps during the campaign. Only the 3rd and 4th Divisions and the 3rd Brigade of the 1st Division took part (the 2nd Division still being at Chattanooga).
In 1864 General McPherson assumed command of the Army of the Tennessee and for a short time no officer was appointed to command the corps. Eventually Major General Francis P. Blair, Jr. took command. Sherman transferred the rest of the corps to Georgia to take part in the Atlanta campaign. Only the 3rd and 4th Divisions took part in the campaign and these divisions missed much of the early battles but played a major role in the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain and the Battle of Atlanta. The 3rd Division under Mortimer D. Leggett had a particularly hard fight on Bald Hill. Bald Hill would be renamed Leggett's Hill in honor of the division commander. After the fall of Atlanta, General Blair took a leave of absence from the army and General Thomas E. G. Ransom commanded the XVII Corps. When Ransom died of exposure during the pursuit of John Bell Hood's army Blair returned shortly after to command of the corps.
The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain was fought on June 27, 1864, during the Atlanta Campaign of the American Civil War. It was the most significant frontal assault launched by Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman against the Confederate Army of Tennessee under Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, ending in a tactical defeat for the Union forces. Strategically, however, the battle failed to deliver the result that the Confederacy desperately needed—namely a halt to Sherman's advance on Atlanta.
The Battle of Atlanta was a battle of the Atlanta Campaign fought during the American Civil War on July 22, 1864, just southeast of Atlanta, Georgia. Continuing their summer campaign to seize the important rail and supply center of Atlanta, Union forces commanded by William Tecumseh Sherman overwhelmed and defeated Confederate forces defending the city under John Bell Hood. Union Maj. Gen. James B. McPherson was killed during the battle. Despite the implication of finality in its name, the battle occurred midway through the campaign, and the city did not fall until September 2, 1864, after a Union siege and various attempts to seize railroads and supply lines leading to Atlanta. After taking the city, Sherman's troops headed south-southeastward toward Milledgeville, the state capital, and on to Savannah with the March to the Sea.
Thomas Edwin Greenfield Ransom was a surveyor, civil engineer, real estate speculator, and a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
Blair led the corps during the March to the Sea and took part in the capture of Savannah, Georgia. The XVII Corps fought exclusively in the Battle of Salkehatchie River, where two of Blair's brigade defeated a Confederate force attempting to block Sherman's crossing of the river. Blair and the corps were present at the Battle of Bentonville but did not take an active part in the fighting.
The Battle of Rivers' Bridge was a battle of the American Civil War fought on February 3, 1865.
The Battle of Bentonville was fought in Johnston County, North Carolina, near the village of Bentonville, as part of the Western Theater of the American Civil War. It was the last battle between the armies of Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman and Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston.
One division formerly part of the XVII Corps was dubbed the Red River Division or the Provisional Division and was attached to the Right Wing-XVI Corps under Andrew J. Smith. The division was led by Thomas K. Smith and fought in many of the important battles during Red River Campaign. The Red River Division moved to Nashville. It was again attached to A.J. Smith's command only this time it was styled the 3rd Division of the "Detachment of the Army of the Tennessee". The division was led by Colonel Jonathan B. Moore and was lightly engaged at the Battle of Nashville.
James B. McPherson | 22 December 1862 – 12 March 1864 |
no commander | 12 March 1864 – 4 May 1864 |
Francis P. Blair, Jr. | 4 May 1864 – 22 September 1864 |
Thomas E. G. Ransom | 22 September 1864 – 10 October 1864 |
no commander | 10 October 1864 – 31 October 1864 |
Francis P. Blair, Jr. | 31 October 1864 – 19 July 1865 |
W. W. Belknap | 19 July 1865 – 1 August 1865 |
The Siege of Vicksburg was the final major military action in the Vicksburg Campaign of the American Civil War. In a series of maneuvers, Union Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and his Army of the Tennessee crossed the Mississippi River and drove the Confederate Army of Mississippi, led by Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton, into the defensive lines surrounding the fortress city of Vicksburg, Mississippi.
The Army of the Tennessee was a Union army in the Western Theater of the American Civil War, named for the Tennessee River. It should not be confused with the similarly named Army of Tennessee, a Confederate army named after the State of Tennessee.
The Battle of Resaca was part of the Atlanta Campaign of the American Civil War. The battle was waged in both Gordon and Whitfield counties, Georgia, May 13–15, 1864. It ended inconclusively with the Confederate Army retreating. The engagement was fought between the Military Division of the Mississippi on the side of the Union and the Army of Tennessee for the Confederates.
Army of the Mississippi was the name given to two Union armies that operated around the Mississippi River, both with short existences, during the American Civil War.
The XVI Army Corps was a corps of the Union Army during the American Civil War. The corps rarely fought as one unified unit, as its divisions were often scattered across the country.
Morgan Lewis Smith was a Union brigadier general in the American Civil War
The Siege of Corinth was an American Civil War engagement lasting from April 29 to May 30, 1862, in Corinth, Mississippi. A collection of Union forces under the overall command of Major General Henry Halleck engaged in a month-long siege of the city, whose Confederate occupants were commanded by General P.G.T. Beauregard. The siege resulted in the capture of the town by Federal forces.
The Battle of Port Gibson was fought near Port Gibson, Mississippi, on May 1, 1863, between Union and Confederate forces during the Vicksburg Campaign of the American Civil War. The Union Army was led by Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, and was victorious.
The Meridian Campaign or Meridian Expedition took place from February 3 – March 6, 1864, from Vicksburg, Mississippi to Meridian, Mississippi, by the Union Army of the Tennessee, led by Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman. Sherman captured Meridian, Mississippi, inflicting heavy damage to it. The campaign is viewed by historians as a prelude to Sherman's March to the Sea in that a large swath of damage and destruction was inflicted on Central Mississippi as Sherman marched across the state and back.
The Battle of Chickasaw Bayou, also called the Battle of Walnut Hills, fought December 26–29, 1862, was the opening engagement of the Vicksburg Campaign during the American Civil War. Confederate forces under Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton repulsed an advance by Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman that was intended to lead to the capture of Vicksburg, Mississippi.
Thomas Kilby Smith was a lawyer, soldier, and diplomat from the state of Ohio who served as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War and then in the postbellum United States Army. He led a brigade and then a division in the Army of the Tennessee in several of the most significant campaigns of the Western Theater of operations before failing health forced him to a series of desk jobs.
Benjamin Franklin Potts was a lawyer, politician, and soldier from the state of Ohio who served as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War, as well as a postbellum Governor of the Montana Territory from 1870 to 1883. He commanded a brigade of infantry in the Western Theater in some of the war's most important campaigns and repeatedly received commendations for gallantry and tactical judgement in combat.
Isaac Campbell Pugh was a United States volunteer soldier who was a veteran of the Black Hawk War, the Mexican–American War and the American Civil War; rising to the rank of Brevet brigadier general.
John Eugene Smith (1816-1897) was a Swiss immigrant to the United States, who served as a Union general during the American Civil War.
The 48th Regiment Indiana Infantry was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
The 53rd Regiment Indiana Infantry was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.