V Corps ( Union Army ) The V Corps ( Fifth Corps ) was a unit of the Union Army of the Potomac during the American Civil War . 1862 . The corps was first organized briefly under Nathaniel P . Banks , but then permanently on May 18 , 1862 , designated as the " V Corps Provisional " . ( Banks ' s original command opposed Stonewall Jackson ' s Valley Campaign and ultimately became XII Corps . ) It was formed within the Army of the Potomac , which was engaged in the Peninsula Campaign to seize Richmond . It was created by merging Maj . Gen . Fitz John Porter ' s 3rd Division of the III Corps with Maj . Gen . George Sykes ' s division of U . S . Regular troops , formerly in the Reserve . Porter became corps commander and his 1st Division was assigned to Brig . Gen . George W . Morell . On July 22 , 1862 , " provisional " was dropped from the name as the U . S . War Department confirmed it as the V Corps , Army of the Potomac . The V Corps fought in several battles throughout the Peninsula Campaign , including Hanover Court House , Mechanicsville , Gaines ' s Mill , Glendale , and Malvern Hill . The corps ' losses in the Seven Days Battles were 995 killed , 3 , 805 wounded , and 2 , 801 captured or missing , totaling 7 , 601 , or half the entire loss of the army . Of these casualties , 6 , 837 occurred at Gaines ' s Mill ; the remainder at Mechanicsville , Glendale , and Malvern Hill . The corps was temporarily enlarged on June 14 by George A . McCall ' s division of Pennsylvania Reserves , which included future stars John F . Reynolds and George G . Meade . The corps fought stoutly at Gaines ' s Mill in particular , where Porter commanded the Union forces that included only the V Corps and Henry W . Slocum ' s 1st Division of the VI Corps against nearly the entire Confederate Army of Northern Virginia . Following the failure of the Peninsula Campaign , the Pennsylvania Reserves were reassigned to Irvin McDowell ' s I Corps ( III Corps at the Second Battle of Bull Run ) . The V Corps was reassigned to Maj . Gen . John Pope ' s Army of Virginia , along with the III and IX Corps of George B . McClellan ' s Army of the Potomac . George McClellan held a special admiration for the V Corps , especially as Fitz - John Porter was a close personal friend of his , and he often touted it as a model outfit the rest of the army should imitate . The general officers in the corps were all West Pointers and contained no political appointees or nonprofessionals . The presence of regular army troops added a more professional air to the V Corps than the others , and discipline and drills were typically stricter . In addition , the army artillery reserve was attached to the corps . The V Corps saw action at the Second Battle of Bull Run , fighting on the left wing of the Union army . Losses of the small corps were 331 killed , 1 , 362 wounded , and 456 missing ; a total of 2 , 151 , out of about 6 , 500 engaged . Two brigades , of six , were not engaged . One brigade , composed of two regiments under Gouverneur K . Warren , made a futile stand against the Confederate attack on the Union left flank . The corps saw minimal action at the Battle of Antietam . The 1st Division was held in reserve in the relative center of the Union line , but Sykes ' s 2nd Division was drawn out during the battle . Elements of Sykes ' s division engaged in skirmishing at the Upper Ford , but the corps was not committed to the main battle . It was after Antietam that a new 3rd Division was added under Andrew A . Humphreys , composed mostly of nine - month recruits from Pennsylvania . After Antietam , Fitz - John Porter was court martialed for disobeying orders at Second Bull Run . Although Porter himself was not to blame , John Pope chose him as a scapegoat for that loss and his career was summarily ruined . 1st Division commander George Morell also lost his post because he testified on Porter ' s behalf at the court martial hearings ( the War Department for a long time after the Porter trial was reluctant to promote officers in the V Corps ) In the Army of the Potomac ' s restructuring under newly appointed Maj . Gen . Ambrose E . Burnside , the V Corps was placed with the III Corps in the Center " Grand Division " under the command of Joseph Hooker . Maj . Gen . Daniel Butterfield replaced Porter to command the V Corps at the Battle of Fredericksburg , and Generals Charles Griffin , Sykes , and Humphreys the three divisions . Losses were 206 killed , 1 , 669 wounded , and 300 missing ; total , 2 , 175 . 1863 . When Hooker took command of the Army of the Potomac in the spring , he did away with the " grand divisions " and made Butterfield his chief of staff . Maj . Gen . George G . Meade , formerly commanding the 3rd Division of the I Corps , took charge of the V Corps . It was at this time that each corps was designated a symbol ; the V Corps used a " cross pattée " , the straight - edged variant of the Maltese Cross . The V Corps was not significantly engaged at Chancellorsville , but soon after the entire 3rd Division had their enlistments expire and went home . Another division under Brig . Gen . Samuel W . Crawford , made up of two Pennsylvania Reserve brigades , promptly joined while Robert E . Lee ' s Army of Northern Virginia invaded the North . George Sykes took command of the V Corps on June 28 , 1863 , as George Meade was promoted to command of the Army of the Potomac . The corps arrived at the eastern end of the Gettysburg battlefield on July 2 . They earned distinction from fighting in the Wheatfield , but were most famous for the actions of Colonel Strong Vincent ' s 3rd Brigade , 1st Division . The brigade quickly marched to cover Little Round Top , a nearly bare hill at the left end of the Union line . Against ferocious attacks from the Confederate First Corps of James Longstreet , Vincent ' s brigade held the hill and saved the Union army from being flanked . The scene is depicted in the novel " The Killer Angels " ( 1974 ) by Michael Shaara and the movie " Gettysburg " ( 1993 ) , based on the novel , focusing on the 20th Maine regiment at the extreme left , under the command of Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain . The 1st Division under Charles Griffin and the Regular Division ( mainly US Army infantry ) under Romeyn Ayres both suffered severe losses in the battle ( casualties among the regulars numbered nearly 50 % ) . By contrast , the Pennsylvania Reserves under Crawford were relatively lightly engaged . The V Corps saw the deaths of two of their generals at Gettysburg : Brig . Gens . Stephen H . Weed and Strong Vincent ( who was quickly promoted not long before his death for his heroic efforts on Little Round Top ) . The Corps saw little action in the autumn campaigns of 1863 . At the Battle of Bristoe Station ( October 14 , 1863 ) V Corps was fired on by troops of A . P . Hill . This distracted Hill from the arrival of II Corps . This allowed Gouverneur K . Warren , commanding II Corps , to seize a favorable position and inflict a defeat on Hill ' s corps . 1864 . In March , 1864 , with Lieutenant General Ulysses S . Grant now in command of all Union armies , the V Corps was restructured , along with the entire army . The 1st and 2nd Divisions were consolidated into one 1st Division , under General Griffin . Crawford ' s 3rd Division of Pennsylvanians remained unchanged , although it was due to be mustered out of the service in a few weeks . The I Corps was merged into the V as the 2nd and 4th Divisions , under Generals John C . Robinson and James S . Wadsworth respectively . The new commander of the V Corps was Maj . Gen . Gouverneur K . Warren . By the time of the Battle of the Wilderness , the corps included over 25 , 000 men ; following the end of the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House in May , 1864 , over 10 , 000 had become casualties . General Wadsworth was killed at the Wilderness , and Robinson was severely wounded ( losing a leg ) at Spotsylvania . His division was broken down and dispersed temporarily among the others of the V Corps . Wadsworth ' s Division went under General Lysander Cutler , commander of the Iron Brigade . The V Corps saw hard fighting at Cold Harbor and the Siege of Petersburg in June . Many of its men were captured in the Second Battle of Weldon Railroad on August 19 , 1864 . Cutler ' s division was broken up after these battles . At that point the three remaining divisions were commanded by generals Griffin , Ayres , and Crawford ; they would remain until the end of the war . Griffin ' s division eventually contained most of the remaining regiments of the old V Corps , plus newly organized units . Ayres had new regiments and a few veteran units , including a brigade of Maryland troops . The Regular Division he ' d commanded no longer existed as it had been disbanded due to its severe casualties . The remainder of the old I Corps served under Crawford . These divisions participated in the Battle of Peebles ' Farm ( September 30 , 1864 ) . 1865 . By March 31 , 1865 , the V Corps was down to 17 , 000 men and would lose 2 , 000 more by the time Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House . After the Battle of Five Forks , with the war ' s end literally days away , General Warren was relieved of command by Maj . Gen . Philip Sheridan , displeased by his supposed lack of aggressive pursuit of the enemy . ( Warren spent the remainder of his life seeking rehabilitation of his reputation . ) Warren was replaced by Griffin , who led the corps in the pursuit of Lee ' s army . It arrived at Appomatox Courthouse in time to support Sheridan ' s cavalry against any attempted breakout by the Confederate forces . The corps was officially disbanded on June 28 , 1865 .