X Corps (Union army)

History

The corps was officially created on September 13, 1862, to consist of the majority of Union troops operating in South Carolina and eastern Georgia. (Other troops in Florida were officially under its command but were not effectively.) The corps was initially commanded by Ormsby M. Mitchel, who announced via General Orders issued from his headquarters at Hilton Head, South Carolina on September 17, 1862 that he had assumed command of the U.S. Army's Department of the South "in obedience to orders from the Adjutant-General's Office."

When Mitchel died from yellow fever on October 30, 1862, he was succeeded by John Milton Brannan. Brannan was then later succeeded by David Hunter, Quincy Adams Gillmore, David B. Birney and Alfred H. Terry.

The corps took part in most of the operations against Charleston from 1862–63, including attacks on James Island and Morris Island and the Battle of Fort Wagner. Other elements of the corps based in Florida took part in the disastrous Battle of Olustee.

In early 1864, the corps, now commanded by Gillmore, was transferred to the Army of the James. It took part in the Bermuda Hundred operations and played a principal role in the disastrous Drewry's Bluff action. It also took part in the attack on Cold Harbor in conjunction with units of the Army of the Potomac, and the corps played a major role in the early stages of the Petersburg Campaign.

In December 1864, the corps was disbanded; its white contingent went to the new XXIV Corps, while its black units went to the XXV Corps. A detachment of former X Corps troops took part in the successful attack on Fort Fisher, North Carolina, in early 1865. The X Corps was "revived", under the command of Alfred Terry, in March 1865. It was attached to the Department of North Carolina under Schofield and was part of Sherman's Army after Bentonville. After Johnston's surrender, it served primarily on garrison duty in South Carolina and Georgia until it was discontinued in August 1865.

References

References

1. "[https://ehistory.osu.edu/books/official-records/020/0382 General Orders, Hdqrs., Department of the South, Numbers 40, Hilton Head, Port Royal, S. C., September 17, 1862]," in ''The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Prepared Under the Direction of the Secretary of War, By Lieut. Col. Robert N. Scott, Third U.S. Artillery, and Published Pursuant to Act of Congress Approved June 16, 1880'', Series I, Vol. XIV, Serial 20, p. 382. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1885.
2. Yowell, Everett. "[https://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1913PA.....21...70Y The Debt Which Astronomy Owes to Ormsby Macknight Mitchel]." ''Popular Astronomy'', Vol. 21, pp.70-74, 1913.