XIX Corps (Union Army)

XIX Corps was a corps of the Union Army during the American Civil War. It spent most of its service in Louisiana and the Gulf, though several units fought in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley.

XIX Corps was created on December 14, 1862, and assigned to Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks, the commander of the Department of the Gulf. The corps comprised all Union troops then occupying Louisiana and east Texas. It originally consisted of four divisions, numbering 36,000 men.

Port Hudson

In April 1863, the corps was involved in the actions at Fort Bisland and Irish Bend. It operated the Siege of Port Hudson from April 27–July 9, 1863, the fall of which, along with that of Vicksburg, Mississippi, closed off the Mississippi River to Confederate shipping. XIX Corps also gained measure of distinction for being the first Federal unit to use a large number of colored troops in action, particularly against Port Hudson, with Banks giving them due credit for their valiant contributions to the siege.

MG Nathaniel P. Banks

• Chief of Staff: BG George L. Andrews, BG Charles P. Stone

Division	Brigade	Regiments and Others
1st Division      MG Christopher C. Augur	1st Brigade    Col Edward P. Chapin (k)    Col Charles J. Paine	2nd Louisiana: Col Charles J. Paine 21st Maine: Col Elijah D. Johnson 48th Massachusetts: Col Eben F. Stone 49th Massachusetts: Ltc Burton D. Deming (k) 116th New York: Cpt John Higgins
	2nd Brigade    BG Godfrey Weitzel[1]    Col Stephen Thomas[2]	12th Connecticut: Ltc Frank H. Peck (w) 75th New York: Col Robert B. Merritt 114th New York: Col Elisha B. Smith (mw) 160th New York: Ltc John B. Van Petten 176th New York: Cols Charles C. Nott, Ambrose Stevens, Charles Lewis 8th Vermont: Col Stephen Thomas
	3rd Brigade    Col Nathan Dudley	30th Massachusetts: Ltc William W. Bullock 50th Massachusetts: Col Carlos P. Messer 161st New York: Col Gabriel T. Harrower 174th New York: Maj George Keating
	Artillery	1st Battery, Indiana Heavy Artillery: Col John A. Keith 1st Battery, Maine Light Artillery: Lt John E. Morton 6th Battery, Massachusetts Light Artillery: Lt John F. Phelps Section, 12th Massachusetts Light Artillery: Lt Edwin M. Chamberlin 18th Battery, New York Light Artillery: Cpt Albert G. Mack Battery A, 1st U.S. Light Artillery: Cpt Edmund C. Bainbridge Battery G, 5th U.S. Artillery: Lt Jacob B. Rawles
2nd Division      BG Thomas W. Sherman (w)      BG George L. Andrews      BG Frank S. Nickerson      BG William Dwight	1st Brigade    BG Neal S. Dow (w&c)[3]    Col David S. Cowles (k)    Col Thomas S. Clark	26th Connecticut: Ltc Joseph Selden 6th Michigan: Col Thomas S. Clark 15th New Hampshire: Col John W. Kingman 128th New York: Col David S. Cowles 162nd New York: Col Lewis Benedict
	2nd Brigade[4]    Col Alpha B. Farr    Col Lewis Benedict[5]	9th Connecticut: Ltc Richard Fitz Gibbons 26th Massachusetts: Ltc Josiah A. Sawtell 42d Massachusetts: Ltc Joseph Stedman 47th Massachusetts: Col Lucius B. Marsh
	3rd Brigade    BG Frank S. Nickerson	14th Maine: Col Thomas W. Porter 24th Maine: Col George Marston Atwood 28th Maine: Col Ephriam W. Woodman 165th New York: Ltc Abel Smith Jr. (mw) 175th New York: Col Michael K. Bryan (k) 177th New York: Col Ira W. Ainsworth
	Artillery	21st Battery, New York Light Artillery: Cpt James Barnes 1st Battery, Vermont Light Artillery: Cpt George T. Hebard
3rd Division      BG Halbert E. Paine (w)      Col Hawkes Fearing	1st Brigade    Col Timothy Ingraham    Col Samuel P. Ferris[6]	28th Connecticut: Col Samuel P. Ferris 4th Massachusetts: Col Henry Walker 16th New Hampshire: Col James Pike 110th New York: Col Clinton H. Sage
	2nd Brigade    Col Hawkes Fearing	8th New Hampshire: Ltc Oliver W. Lull 133rd New York: Col Leonard D. H. Currie 173rd New York: Maj A. Power Gallway 4th Wisconsin: Col Sidney A. Bean
	3rd Brigade    Col Oliver P. Gooding	31st Massachusetts: Ltc W.S.B. Hopkins 38th Massachusetts: Ltc W. L. Rodman (k) 53rd Massachusetts: Col John W. Kimball 156th New York: Col Jacob Sharpe
	Artillery	4th Battery, Massachusetts Light Artillery: Lt Frederick W. Reinhard Battery F, 1st U.S. Light Artillery: Cpt Richard C. Duryea 2nd Battery, Vermont Light Artillery: Cpt Pythagoras E. Holcomb
4th Division      BG Cuvier Grover	1st Brigade    BG William Dwight    Col Richard E. Holcomb (k)    Col Joseph S. Morgan	1st Louisiana (U.S.): Ltc William O. Fiske 22nd Maine: Col Simon G. Jerrard 90th New York: Col Joseph S. Morgan 91st New York Infantry Regiment: Col Jacob Van Zandt 131st New York: Col Nicholas W. Day
	2nd Brigade    Col William K. Kimball	24th Connecticut: Col Samuel M. Mansfield 12th Maine: Ltc Edward Ilsley 41st Massachusetts: Col Thomas E. Chickering 52nd Massachusetts: Col Halbert S. Greenleaf
	3rd Brigade    Col Henry W. Birge	13th Connecticut: Cpt Apollos Comstock 25th Connecticut: Ltc Mason C. Weld 26th Maine: Col Nathan H. Hubbard 159th New York: Ltc Charles A. Burt
	Artillery    Cpt Henry W. Closson	2nd Battery Massachusetts Light Artillery: Cpt Ormand F. Nims Battery L, 1st U.S. Light Artillery: Cpt Henry W. Closson Battery C, 2nd U.S. Light Artillery: Lt Theodore Bradley
United States Colored Troops	Corps D'Afrique    BG Daniel Ullman	6th United States Colored Troops: Maj George Bishop 7th United States Colored Troops: Maj Cornelius Mowers 8th United States Colored Troops: Ltc William S. Mudgett 9th United States Colored Troops: Ltc Isaac S. Bangs 10th United States Colored Troops: Ltc Ladislas L. Zulavsky 1st Louisiana Engineers: Col Justin Hodge
	Native Guard	1st Louisiana Native Guards: Ltc Chauncey J. Bassett 3rd Louisiana Native Guards: Col John A. Nelson 4th Louisiana Native Guards: Col Charles W. Drew
Cavalry	Grierson's Brigade    Col Benjamin H. Grierson	6th Illinois Cavalry: Col Reuben Loomis 7th Illinois Cavalry: Col Edward Prince 1st Louisiana Cavalry: Maj Harai Robinson 2nd Rhode Island Cavalry: Ltc Augustus W. Corliss 2nd Massachusetts: Maj James Magee 14th New York Cavalry: Cpt George Branning 4th Wisconsin Mounted: Maj Webster Moore

Red River Campaign

In spring of 1864, the corps took part in Banks' disastrous Red River Campaign, under the command of William B. Franklin, who was wounded at Mansfield. After its conspicuous role in the failure, two divisions under William H. Emory were sent to Virginia to join Phillip Sheridan's operations in the Shenandoah Valley against Jubal Early (see Valley Campaigns of 1864). These troops took part in all of the major engagements of Sheridan's campaign, most notably at Opequon, where they lost some 2,000 men killed or wounded (mostly in Cuvier Grover's division).

Georgia

After this, the corps was sent Savannah, Georgia, where it remained until the end of the war. The XIX Corps was officially disbanded on March 26, 1865, but the corps took part in the Grand Review in Washington, and some of its units remained in Savannah and Louisiana until 1866.

References

1. Weitzel commanded the "Right Flank" of the Union forces during the siege.
2. Eicher p.528
3. Dow was wounded May 27 and was taken prisoner by Confederate cavalry in July while convalescing on a nearby plantation.
4. 19th Corps Organization
5. At the time Benedict assumed command the 2nd Brigade consisted of 175th New York, 28th Maine, 48th Massachusetts, 162nd New York; Benedict, Henry Marvin (1866). A memorial of Brevet Brigadier General Lewis Benedict, colonel of 162d regiment N.Y.V.I., who fell in battle at Pleasant Hill, La., April 9, 1864. Albany, N.Y.: J. Munsell. p. 55. Retrieved 2012-08-03.
6. Union Land Forces at Port Hudson - June 30, 1863

External links

• XIX Corps history