Question about Army of the Mississippi Corps Structure

jrwsdev

Cadet
Joined
Jun 16, 2016
Any information would be greatly appreciated. Every order of battle for Shiloh that I see has the Army of the Mississippi made up of 4 Corps. Sometimes it's listed as I Corps and others First Army Corps. If you look at the Army of Northern Virginia shortly after this time period you see it organized into Wings. I have seen references to this being because the Confederate Congress had not approved the Corps structure and this would not happen until September 1862. The Wings become Corps in that army after that time. So my question is if Corps weren't approved how was the Army of the Mississippi organized with them months before Lee was able to use them? Is it a terminology issue where we call them Corps now for simplicity, but at the time maybe they had a different description just get around Congress? Or was it an East vs West issue where Lee wasn't authorized to use them but Johnston was?

Thanks
 
Any information would be greatly appreciated. Every order of battle for Shiloh that I see has the Army of the Mississippi made up of 4 Corps. Sometimes it's listed as I Corps and others First Army Corps. If you look at the Army of Northern Virginia shortly after this time period you see it organized into Wings. I have seen references to this being because the Confederate Congress had not approved the Corps structure and this would not happen until September 1862. The Wings become Corps in that army after that time. So my question is if Corps weren't approved how was the Army of the Mississippi organized with them months before Lee was able to use them? Is it a terminology issue where we call them Corps now for simplicity, but at the time maybe they had a different description just get around Congress? Or was it an East vs West issue where Lee wasn't authorized to use them but Johnston was?

Thanks


The answer is relatively simple - Beauregard. Beauregard, being a fan of all things Napoleon adopted a "corps" structure based on the French Corps D'Armee (which directly translated into English become "Army Corps", so First Army Corps, Third Army Corps, etc.) at Corinth that had been used by the French Revolutionary and Imperial armies under Napoleon. I use "corps" in quotation marks, because Beauregard and Johnston had organized a similar system for the then Confederate Army of the Potomac and Valley District, though these "corps" were just groupings of brigades. When Beauregard left the army for the Western Theater, most of the pretense of having a corps was dropped and Johnston simply switched to a traditional Left, Right, and Center organization for his army and with Lee adopting the formal wing structure with Longstreet, Jackson, and the independent divisions after the Seven Days.

When Beauregard came west, he applied this organizational thinking to the Confederate units that came pouring into Corinth - the troops from western Kentucky under the command Polk, formerly Polk's Grand Division, became the First Corps. The troops from Lovell at New Orleans and the Gulf District under Bragg, temporarily the Second Grand Division, became the Second Corps. Hardee's Army of Central Kentucky; three brigades, attached artillery, and an artillery battalion, became the Third Corps, and Crittenden's East Tennessee troops that came with Johnston from Nashville would become the Reserve Corps under Breckinridge (following Crittenden's arrest).

Two of the corps at Shiloh weren't really proper corps, just divisions designated as corps. Hardee's Third Corps (not III Corps, as using Roman numerals for corps designation did not come into American military parlance until after the Civil War) and Breckinridge's Reserve Corps were just a division of three brigades each, but Hardee also had an attached artillery battalion under Shoup. During the start of the attack at Shiloh, Hardee was loaned Gladden's brigade from Bragg's Second Corps, and thus divided his corps into two temporary divisions, one under Hindman (his brigade under Shaver and Wood's brigade) while Hardee himself directed Cleburne's brigade and Gladden's brigade. At least that was the theory. The breakdown of terrain at Shiloh triggered mass confusion and the tactical system adopted by Beauregard of stacking the corps in tandem lead to confusion as brigades from different divisions and corps pushed up through each other. This completely breaking down unit integrity above brigade level for the most part.

Also, unlike French Corps D'Armee, American corps were almost always grouped infantry divisions with attached artillery support. French corps tended to be combined arms, with corps having a cavalry division, multiple infantry divisions with integrated artillery support.

I will note that Beauregard kept this structure during the siege of Corinth that followed, but did not integrate Earl Van Dorn's corps sized Army of the West into the Army of the Mississippi. When Bragg replaced Beauregard, being the stickler for regulation that he was, he did away with the extra-legal corps system and switched to a wing command with Hardee and Polk as wing commanders.
 
Last edited:
Novushomus, thanks so much for the information. I had noticed that 2 of the "Corps" were division sized at best, but I figured that would be a follow on question later. You handled everything. Great explanation.

DixieRifles, I had found your site when looking online to compare Order of Battles to see how many variations I could find for the "Corps". Thanks though for link.
 
The army was assembled from multiple different formations, and each body was called a Corps.

The 1st Corps under Polk was from Columbus. He had a 8 brigade force, but sent 2 brigades ahead (pulled into 2nd Corps) and dropped off 2 brigades at New Madrid, and joined the offensive army with his remaining 4 brigades which he commanded as a Corps.

The 2nd Corps was the forces that gathered at Corinth under Bragg. The organisation changed the week before Shiloh. The original 1st Division was originally LeRoy Walker's Division of his own and Chalmers' Bdes. Walker resigned on 31st March, and his brigade was broken up. The original 2nd Division was under Ruggles, and consisted of the forces sent from the New Orleans defences organised as 2 bdes. The original 3rd Division was under Gladden, and consisted of 2 bdes stripped from the forces at Pensacola and Mobile.

At Shiloh, the whole of Ruggles' Division, except the 38th Tennessee, came from the New Orleans garrison. A couple extra regiments had just arrived allow reorg from 2 to 3 bdes, with the addition of the 38th Tn from Walker's broken up bde. Withers' Division is the remaining 3 bdes; Chalmer's Bde from the old 1st Division (plus the 52nd Tn from Walker's old bde), and the other two were slight rearrangements of the Alabama regiments from the previous 2 bdes (plus the 17th Alabama from Walker) and the addition of the 2nd Texas, which had come over from Galveston. Also note the "26th Alabama" was in fact an ad hoc unit made of escapees of the 26th Alabama and the 5th Alabama Battalion which was already serving at Corinth, and would be eventually numbered the 50th Alabama.

The 3rd Corps and the Reserve were Beauregard's Army of Central Kentucky. It had suffered essentially the loss of 4 whole brigades at Fort Donelson, and like Bragg, left some forces behind to watch. Post-Donelson Beauregard's Corps had 7 inf bdes, and was organised into 3 divisions under Hardee (2 bdes under Hindman and Cleburne), Crittenden (under Statham and Carroll) and Pillow (2 bdes, under SAM Wood and Bowen) and a reserve brigade under Breckenridge (The Orphan Brigade).

At Shiloh, the 3rd Corps was Hardee's 1st division, plus SAM Wood's bde from the now broken up 3rd Division. Carroll's brigade (minus the 28th Tennessee, sent to Statham) was detached to Corinth as a garrison, and on 31st March Bragg had Carroll arrested - the brigade would soon be broken up. The 3 remaining brigades, one each from the old 2nd Division (Statham's), 3rd Division (Bowen's) and the Reserve Brigade, were formed into the Reserve. However, until 29th March/ 3rd April they were simply part of the 3rd Corps.

So, until just before Shiloh, as that force assembled, it consisted of three Corps; Polk's, Bragg's, and Hardee's. AS Johnston wrote the orders formalising the formation on 29th March thus:

1st Corps - Polk's force, minus the garrisons of Fort Pillow and New Madrid, and any force removed for the reserve
2nd Corps - Bragg's force, minus any force removed for the reserve
3rd Corps - Hardee's force (Beauregard's old force), minus any force removed for the reserve
Reserve - a division of not less than 2 brigades pulled from the existing Corps.

It was Beauregard who enacted the organisation with SO8 of 3rd April, and he detached not less than 4 brigades from 3rd Corps; Carroll's brigade (who with the rump of Walker's brigade were left at Corinth), and the 3 brigades he formed into the Reserve.

So consider than on 29th March, when AS Johnston wrote his org-plan, it was:

1st Corps - 4 bdes in 2 divisions
2nd Corps - 7 bdes in 3 divisions
3rd Corps - 7 bdes in 3 divisions and a reserve

I suspect AS Johnston was thinking of having three larger Corps, and a small reserve division, but the 3rd Corps got nickel and dimed to death.

.
 
Further, how the initial 3rd Corps structure was built.

In ca. January-February, the units that formed 3rd Corps were:

"The Army of Central Kentucky" with:
1st Division (Hardee) with brigades of Hindman, Cleburne and SAM Wood
2nd Division (Buckner) with brigades of Breckenridge, Baldwin and Brown
3rd Division (Floyd) with brigades of Floyd, Bowen and Clark.

and Zollicoffer's Division at Cumberland with the brigades of Zollicoffer (Statham), Carroll and Rains.

Now, Zollicoffer's Division marched on Fishing Creek with 2 brigades (Zollicoffer's own and Carroll's), leaving Rains' brigade at Cumberland Gap. Rains' brigade was turned over to Stevenson. Zollicoffer was killed at Fishing Creek and those two brigades joined the ACK in March.

The Army had Central Kentucky sent 4 brigades to reinforce Ft Donelson and they were lost. Both Buckner and Floyd left a brigade and marched with 2 brigades each (Baldwin's and Brown's, and Floyd's and Clark's) to Ft Donelson, where they were captured.

Beauregard on joining placed Crittenden in command of Zollicoffer's old division. He placed the lone brigades of the old 2nd and 3rd Divisions into a division, and moved SAM Wood's brigade over to compensate for the detachment of Breckenridge:

1st Division (Hardee) with brigades of Hindman and Cleburne
2nd Division (Crittenden) with brigades of Statham and Carroll (Zollicoffer's old division)
3rd Division (Pillow) with brigades of SAM Wood, Bowen and Breckenridge (Breckenridge later made an independent reserve brigade)

Pillow was removed, and Breckenridge assumed divisional command. Just before Shiloh, Crittenden and Carroll were both arrested on charges of drunkeness. The division was dissoved and the corps reformed as:

1st Division (Hardee, commanding Corps with Hindman as senior BG) with the brigades of Hindman, Cleburne and SAM Woods (i.e. it's old org)
2nd Division (Breckenridge) with the brigades of Breckenridge, Bowen and Statham
Carrol's brigade detached as garrison of Corinth.

Finally, 2nd Division of 3rd Corps was detached as a reserve division for the battle, and remained such during the siege of Corinth.
 
One relatively minor thing I've never understood was the designation of Left, Center, and Right Wings. It seems to presume that they army will always be in that configuration, no matter how or in what direction it maneuvers. I suppose there's no great harm if say the unit called Center ends up on the left, but it could be confusing. Nor does that system seem to provide any benefit over the simple 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.
 
One relatively minor thing I've never understood was the designation of Left, Center, and Right Wings. It seems to presume that they army will always be in that configuration, no matter how or in what direction it maneuvers. I suppose there's no great harm if say the unit called Center ends up on the left, but it could be confusing. Nor does that system seem to provide any benefit over the simple 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.

Classically, seniority was indicated by the names. This goes down to where was easiest to control formations in line from, and was even operative in the Roman Army.

The right-wing was the senior wing, the left wing second and the centre wing third. By tradition:

Right = 1st
Left = 2nd
Centre = 3rd

It was generally understood that the 1st division would form the right of the corps, the 1st brigade the right of the division, and even the senior regiment the right of the brigade. These deployment were practiced and hence easier than other deployments. When something occurred to make the deployment happen in another manner, there was added confusion.

Eventually, numbering of Corps within the Federal army had nothing to do with assigned positions, and looking at the Army of the Ohio/Cumberland, the rules are clear:

Buell divided the army into three corps:
1st Corps - right wing, under the senior corps commander (McCook)
2nd Corps - left wing, under second (Crittenden)
3rd Corps - center, under junior (Gilbert)

When armies march it is traditionally the right at the front, centre following, and left in the rear. Buell's column at Perryville was marching north and follows the traditional scheme. The Perryville fight was essentially entirely maintained by 1st Corps.

When Rosecrans took over the whole army was made into 14th Corps. This is a paper thing - Corps commanders had an additional Commission appointing them to the numbered Corps signed by Lincoln. This effectively made permanent appointment to a Corps a promotion within the grade of MG, since Lincoln had make you a CC, and your army commander couldn't reassign you.

When the whole AoC was made 14th Corps, Rosecrans renamed them wings, in the traditional manner. They moved and fought in exactly that formation (see Stone's River). The wrinkle was that Thomas replaced Gilbert. Gilbert's brief tenure commanding 3rd Corps Army of the Ohio, explains why seniority looks a little off in the later AotC. Shortly thereafter, 14th Corps was divided in three (14th, 20th and 21st Corps), but if you look at Chickamauga etc. they still stick to their old formation; 1st Corps/ RW/20th Corps always on the right, 2nd Corps/ LW/ 21st Corps always on the left, and 3rd Corps/ CW/ 14th Corps always in the centre. Checking Kennesaw Mountain, they deploy as per tradition...

Why these traditions developed was just to give a regular procedure.
 
Why these traditions developed was just to give a regular procedure.
As indeed is true of a lot of doctrine. Doctrine is the toolkit that an army follows, and this ordering is one of those things.

If you don't have this kind of "standard" placement, then every time the army deploys you have to define the placement and it's a lot more work. Nothing stops you from varying from the standard ordering if there's any sort of reason to (e.g. if your left wing is recently bulked out by new regiments and your right is the more defensible position, then you'd order that wing to deploy on the right) but simply by declaring a default it's something the commander doesn't have to handle personally if there's no reason to.

The cumulative workload that's taken off the army commander can quickly become staggering - anyone who's played a RTS game involving regiments knows how much trouble it would be to place every regiment manually, even when you're an omniscient floating eyeball with instant radio access to everyone involved and the ability to stop time!
 
The CSA had a 4th brigade in the reserve Corps under BG Benjamin H. Helm which was the 3rd KY Brigade. The Brigade was guarding the flanks.
 
Classically, seniority was indicated by the names. This goes down to where was easiest to control formations in line from, and was even operative in the Roman Army.
(...)

Why these traditions developed was just to give a regular procedure.
When a unit is armed with spears and shields it usually sidestep to the right, because much of your protection come from the shield held by the men to our right, so you want to stay close to him. So when reading about Greek warfare, it is not rare to read about entire armies drifting to the right.
So automatically two units of spear/shield men fighting each other will end up attacking more on the right flank than on the left.

When a unit is armed with swords and shield it will typically also sidestep to the right for the same reason, but now they will also wheel to the left at the same time. Since the men attack forward and to the right.

The result is that it is easier to fight offensively on the right wing than on the left.

Having done a lot of medievalish mock combat... this happen all the time, unless you are very focus on stopping it., and that is with two "armies" of 200-250 men each. The more men on the field the less you can control events.

So traditionally the right flank is seen as the one with all the glory of winning the battle and one that need good troops for the attack.
The left then similar need to counter the enemy attacks.
And you can then use your least good troops in the center.

And yes, standards make everything easier.
Again even with just a 70man "brigade" of 4 units having a standard formation allow you to just order "form line" instead of having to specify what unit you want where. And when the unit commanders also know the standard it Make the job of the commander easier.
(when your event is a tactical in different terrain, and not a fight on a flat field in front of spectators where it is less relevant)

Or as Saphroneth mention. When playing a tactical game with armies, having a button to form a brigade into line is a lot easier than having to order each regiment into line and them ordering them to the spot where you want them.
 
The CSA had a 4th brigade in the reserve Corps under BG Benjamin H. Helm which was the 3rd KY Brigade. The Brigade was guarding the flanks.

Helm's Brigade was formed just after Shiloh, but fought at Corinth. Breckinridge had three newly recruited regiments (by the conscription act) assigned to him, and split the Ky Bde to spread them out rather than having a green bde.

Thompson
3rd Ky - from Ky Bde
6th Ky - from Ky Bde
7th Ky - from Ky Bde
35th Alabama - newly raised regiment
Battery?

Helm
4th Ky - from Ky Bde
5th (9th) Ky - from Ky Bde
31st Mississippi - newly raised regiment
31st (49th) Alabama - newly raised regiment
4th Alabama Bn - from Ky Bde
Cobb's Ky Bty - from Ky Bde
 
Back
Top