So, the law as it stood, and all the principals stating the law as it stood, that only the President had the power to appoint and remove corps commanders "does not show anything"? Okay, if you believe that you know better than Lincoln, Halleck, Grant, Sherman etc...
Please read this one:
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What is happening here? What is "fourteenth army corps?"
So, only the President is allowed to form corps, and by an order of 26th October 1862, he did this with the western armies. He designated the entire "Army of the Tennessee" as the 13th Army Corps, with Grant as commander, and the entire "Army of the Ohio" (now Cumberland) as the 14th Army Corps, with Rosecrans as commander, vice Buell.
Buell had never been technically allowed to form army corps, but was of course allowed to group his divisions into wings. The "1st, 2nd and 3rd Corps, Army of the Ohio" never legally existed. The whole force was designated as an army corps, and not legally divided into separate army corps (14th, 20th and 21st) until January 1863.
The legal creation of army corps is as followed:
March 1862: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 12th (as 5th) Corps created by Presidential Order, Mountain Department (future 11th Corps) created as a separate department.
May 1862: By permission of the President 5th and 6th provisional corps created. They are not officially recognised organisations.
July 1862: Act passes. 5th and 6th Corps legally created. Garrison of Fort Monroe designated 7th Corps. Garrison of Baltimore and approaches designated 8th Corps (as a sop to Wool). The field force culled from North and South Carolina under Burnside is designated 9th Corps.
August 1862: The Army of Virginia is created by general orders, and three corps (1st-3rd) created by redesignation of the old 1st and 5th Corps, and the Mountain Dept.
September 1862: Department of South Carolina and Georgia is designated 10th Corps. Army of Virginia Corps renumbered to 1st, 11th (ex-Mountain Dept) and 12th (Banks' old 5th).
October 1862: Entire Department of the Tennessee designated 13th Corps. Entire Department of the Cumberland designated 14th Corps.
December 1862: 13th Corps divided into 13th, 15th, 16th and 17th Corps. Department of North Carolina designated 18th Corps. Department of the Gulf is designated 19th Corps.
January 1863: 14th Corps is divided into 14th, 20th and 21st Corps.
February 1863: Department of Washington is designated the 22nd Corps.
April 1863: 23rd Corps created from all troops in Department of Kentucky not belonging to the 9th Corps.
August 1863: 4th and 7th Corps are discontinued and the troops assigned to 18th Corps.
October 1863: 20th and 21st Corps are consolidated into a new 4th Corps. Their commanders are relieved and ordered to report to a court-of-inquiry.
January 1864: The Department of Arkansas is designated the new 7th Corps.
March 1864: 1st and 3rd Corps are discontinued, troops to 2nd, 5th and 6th Corps.
April 1864: 11th and 12th Corps are discontinued and the troops assigned to a new 20th Corps.
June 1864: 13th Corps is "temporarily discontinued".
November 1864: 16th Corps is discontinued and 19th Corps' association with the Department of the Gulf ceases. The old Depts of the Tennessee and Gulf are united in one command with no corps. The two divisions continued to exist as a "detachment". The 1st Corps is recreated to consist of the Invalids.
December 1864- 10th and 18th Corps discontinued and the troops reassigned to two new corps, 24th and 25th, on the basis of race.
February 1865: A new 13th and 16th Corps are organised in the west.
March 1865: 19th Corps is discontinued. A new 10th Corps is created from all troops in NC that aren't part of 2nd, 9th or 23rd Corps.
July 1865: 13th and 16th Corps are discontinued. 28th July GO131 discontinues 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 14th, 15th, 17th, 20th, 23rd and 24th Corps
January 1866: 25th (Colored) Corps is discontinued.
There were no formal orders discontinuing the 1st (Veteran) or the 22nd Corps, both part of the Washington garrison. They are considered to have been disbanded by GO 118 of 27th June 1865, which reorganised the army into peacetime garrisons. There are no order creating any Cavalry Corps in any army, although there are orders assigning Stoneman to command the AoP cavalry in 1863, and Sheridan in 1864. One may make the argument that the April 1863 order mentioning Stoneman created a corps in the legal sense, but there is no order from the President creating a corps.