Third Corps , Army of Tennessee The Third Corps was a military formation in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War . Formation . The Corps was originally formed by gathering William Joseph Hardee ' s division from the Central Army of Kentucky , also known as the Army of central Kentucky . The Corps was named the III Corps , Army of Mississippi when the Corps went to Corinth and fought at the Battle of Shiloh . The ' Corps ' was in reality a division , with three brigades and only 6 , 400 men it is small even for a division . The Corps was rather successful , driving Hulbert ' s division as well as W . H . L . Wallace ' s division . The Corps was later engaged at Bloody Pond and assisted Breckinridge in the rearguard . Fighting at Corinth , the Corps served successfully for a few more months until it was renamed Cleburne ' s division when that officer took command when the four Corps were consolidated and the Corps discontinued . 1862 recreation . The III Corps was re - constituted four more times following its abolition . First it was re - constituted when Edmund Kirby Smith ' s Corps from East Tennessee was attached to the Army of Tennessee . The Corps consisted of Carter Stevenson ' s Division , the largest at 10 , 000 men , John McCown ' s division of 5 , 500 , Henry Heth commanded a division of 4 , 500 men and lastly Thomas Churchill commanded a division of 6 , 500 men all in all 26 , 500 . The Corps never was fully engaged in any major battle , at Cumberland Gap the Corps was lightly engaged . The Corps would have fought at Stones River but Stevenson ' s division was ordered to Vicksburg , Heth and Churchill went to Knoxville which left only John McCown and his small division . This proved to be a key factor in the battle and many say if Braxton Bragg had Smith and his four divisions , he may have won decisively , not only tactically . With that , the Corps broke up . McCown became a permanent part of the Army of Tennessee and Stevenson stayed at Vicksburg , the remaining divisions were put under new departments and thus the unofficial Corps was abolished . The Corps was again reconstituted for was at the Siege of Vicksburg . With so many of the Army of Tennessee ' s units at Vicksburg area , the garrison seemed like part of their own army and additionally nearly the entire garrison fought with the Army of Tennessee sometime or another . The Corps consisted of Forney ' s division , 4 , 500 men , Martin Smith ' s division with another 6 , 500 , William Loring ' s division of 6 , 000 more , John Bowen ' s division of 6 , 000 and Carter Stevenson ' s division of 10 , 000 . The Corps all in all numbered 33 , 000 men . The Corps fought at Champion Hill , and the siege itself . Loring and his division broke out and later on served in two other Third Corps but the rest of the ' Corps ' , usually known as the Army of Mississippi , surrendered on July 4 . A Third Corps ( although seldom so - called ) was again re - constituted under Joseph Johnston during the Vicksburg campaign . The corps contained many troops from both the Army of Mississippi and the Army of Tennessee . The corps contained Loring ' s division after it broke out , 6 , 000 , Wallker ' s division from Charleston with 10 , 000 , John Breckinridge from the Army of Tennessee with 10 , 000 more , Jackson ' s division from the Army of Tennessee with 6 , 000 and finally a command of five disorganized brigades numbering 10 , 000 more . All in all 42 , 000 men at its height . This Corps though was dispersed and then was abolished though its fragments later became part of another III corps . The Corps was reconstituted again during the Chickamauga Campaign . Braxton Bragg organized his army into the I , II , III and reserve Corps . The new III Corps was under Simon Bolivar Buckner with fragments of Kirby Smith ' s old Corps . Under new commanders , the three divisions were under Alexander P . Stewart with 4 , 500 men , William Preston with 5 , 000 and Burshod Johnson with 6 , 000 more . All in all 15 , 500 men . The corps was renamed ' Buckner ' s Corps ' however once battle was joined and was shortly abolished . Final Reappearance . The III Corps was re - raised for a fifth and final time . It was organized after the battle of Chattanooga when Leonidas Polk ' s Army of Mississippi went east to join the Army of Tennessee in the Atlanta Campaign . It contained divisions under William Loring with 6 , 500 men , veterans from the Vicksburg Campaign . It also contained a division of 7 , 500 under Samuel French from Mississippi and finally 6 , 000 men from Mobile under general Cantey ( or Wathall ) . All in all , 20 , 000 men . This Corps took the right flank of the Army of Tennessee at Rocky Face Ridge and the left flank at Resaca . This corps , known as the III Corps or the Army of Mississippi fought also at Kennesaw Mountain where its commander , Leonidas Polk was killed . The command switched hands five times during the campaign , first to William Wing Loring for the rest of the battle , but then Alexander P . Stewart took command briefly , but was overruled by Benjamin F . Cheatham who took command for nearly a month . After heavy fighting , the Corps finally went to Alexander P . Stewart again who commanded it until the surrender . The Corps fought heavily at Peachtree Creek , where it broke through George Henry Thomas ' s lines . At Atlanta the Corps was in reserve and missed Ezra Church as well as Jonesboro . The Corps , while the smallest in the army suffered the least between the three Corps . Franklin – Nashville . When army commander John Bell Hood invaded Tennessee , the III Corps went with it . It fought heavily at Altoona Pass , and assaulted the Union right at the disastrous Battle of Franklin . Suffering heavy losses , the corps was merely a large division once it arrived at Nashville . The III Corps was on the left flank for the first part of the battle , where it suffered heavily . It was later transferred to the center where it suffered lightly by muskets but fled the field . The corps went to the Carolinas afterwards , fighting at the Battle of Bentonville . It surrendered with the rest of the army .