Second Corps , Army of Tennessee The Second Corps , Army of Tennessee was a military formation in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War . Formation . The Corps was originally formed before the Battle of Shiloh in April 1862 by combining Daniel Ruggles ' Alabama Division and Braxton Bragg ' s Army of Pensacola . The Corps was forming in Corinth , Mississippi , when it was made the II Corps , Army of the Mississippi . It contained two divisions ; the first one was under Jones Withers and the second was under Daniel Ruggles . The II Corps numbered 22 , 000 men , making it the largest in the Confederate Army , and was placed under command of Braxton Bragg . At its first battle ( Shiloh ) , the Corps initially drove Benjamin Prentiss ' s Union division from their camps . But when Prentiss , Wallace and their divisions dug in at the Hornet ' s Nest , Bragg assaulted the position from all sides for hours without dislodging them . Suffering heavily , the Second Corps was completely disorganized by the time they forced Prentiss out and was held in reserve for the rest of the battle , briefly fighting on the second day . With many line officers killed or wounded , the Corps took months to refit . Fighting in the Corinth Campaign , the Corps was later re - organized for its next operation in September 1862 , the invasion of Kentucky . Service and reorganization . The II Corps after Corinth was again reorganized with two divisions , the first under Patton Anderson and the second under Simon Buckner . The Corps was now led by William Hardee , and Braxton Bragg was promoted to army command . The Corps was only lightly engaged at Perryville , however , and the entire Army wasn ' t even present . The Corps and the entire Army were re - organized again . John Breckinridge and his division , who had fought at Shiloh but were absent at Perryville , were now attached . Numbering 11 , 000 men , his division boosted the strength of the corps by 40 % . Anderson ' s division was dispersed between Buckner and the I Corps , but to replace him was a division from Kirby Smith ' s Army under John Mcown . Buckner was sent to Knoxville , but his division was then placed under the brilliant commander Patrick Cleburne . The Corps all in all numbered approximately 25 , 000 men ; McCown ' s division had 5 , 000 , Breckinridge had 11 , 000 and Cleburne had 9 , 000 . Stones River and middle Tennessee . After the reorganization in the fall of 1862 , the Army of Tennessee was ready for action , as was the Second Corps . This action took place at Murfreesboro , in the Battle of Stones River . The battle began when William Rosecrans and his Army of the Cumberland marched south from Nashville against Bragg at Murfreesboro . Bragg ordered an assault on the Union right flank , where George Thomas and Alexander McCook ' s corps were stationed . In a pre - dawn assault similar to Shiloh , Hardee ' s Corps was the spearhead when McCown ' s division attacked at 5 : 30 am . His attack , as well as Cleburne ' s , threw the entire Union force in flight , pushing both corps back over a mile . Weary and exhausted , they stopped as Polk and his Corps were to finish the job . Leonidas Polk mismanaged his assaults , and all Confederate gains by the II Corps were squandered and not exploited . Eventually , it fell to the II Corps to do the work again , and they eventually drove Sheridan ' s division , who kept Polk stopped all afternoon . The battle otherwise was a Confederate success so far , mainly due to Hardee and the II corps . The next two days decided the final outcome . Rather than following up on victory , Braxton Bragg waited a day , then on January 2 attacked Rosecrans with the reserve of the army , Breckinridge ' s division from the II corps . Breckinridge was ordered to assault the Union left , Thomas Crittenden ' s Corps over open ground and a river . Breckinridge , Hardee , Cleburne and the other officers protested , but Bragg didn ' t listen . Breckinridge drove the first Union division at the river in a suicidal charge , but was bloodied once he attacked the main line . Bragg retreated the next day , with the II Corps as the rear guard . Chickamauga - Chattanooga . The Corps was reorganized yet again after Stones River . Alexander Stewart and his division of 6 , 000 were attached to the II Corps , but Breckinridge and his division were sent to help the Siege of Vicksburg . The Confederate Army was idle for the next few months , until Breckinridge returned . When he did , due to arguments with Bragg , Hardee and McCown were relieved and the Corps was again reorganized . Daniel Harvey Hill was sent from the Army of Northern Virginia to take command , who proved to be one of the best commanders of that Corps . The Corps was re - organized with divisions under Stewart , Cleburne and Breckinridge , all in all 20 , 000 men . McCown ' s old division was now placed under St . John Liddell , and moved to the reserve Corps under William H . T . Walker . After campaigning for a few months in Tennessee , Bragg was driven out to Chattanooga , and then lost that city . In north Georgia , however , he re - formed for a counterstrike . Troops from Mississippi came under Walker and Forrest , soldiers from east Tennessee under Buckner , troops from Georgia , Kentucky , east Tennessee and Mississippi under Burshod Johnson and troops from Virginia under James Longstreet . The army was again re - organized ; Hill lost Stewart ' s division , which was sent to Buckner ' s Corps , but he still had Cleburne and Breckinridge . The corps was heavily engaged at Chickamauga , assaulting the Union left . After the Confederates broke through on the left , the II Corps did the same on the right , securing the Confederate victory . The Corps suffered heavily in the battle however , and was exhausted . Hill , as well as many other officers , wished to pursue the broken enemy , but Bragg declined and in turn relieved Hill , Polk , Wallker , Forrest and other officers from command . At Chattanooga , the Corps was re - organized . Breckinridge took command of the Corps with his old division under William B . Bate , Cleburne ' s division though , the pride of the II Corps , was transferred to the I Corps . Buckner ' s division from his old Corps was sent to the II only to be transferred up to Knoxville with James Longstreet . Thomas Hindman ' s division was transferred to the II from the I , and lastly , on a brighter note , Stewart and his division were returned to the II from Buckner ' s old corps . All in all between Bate , Stewart , Buckner and Hindman , the Corps numbered close to 28 , 000 men . One Buckner left it was down to 23 , 000 men . At the battle itself , the II Corps was stationed in the center on Missionary Ridge as well as Orchard Knob in a salient . When Orchard Knob was taken , the Union force under George Thomas attacked the center and broke the II Corps , sending them fleeing in confusion . But with light casualties on both sides , the battle didn ' t inflict much damage , other than damaging Confederate morale . Atlanta . The Corps was reorganized again in December when Joseph Johnston took command from the incompetent Braxton Bragg . Although he had nothing to be blamed for at Chattanooga , John Breckinridge was relieved of command and replaced by one of the Corps ' greatest commanders , another sent from the East by the name of John Bell Hood . Hood turned the Corps into the greatest in the Army in the same manner of Hill and Hardee , making it the pride of the west . The corps was the same as it was at Chattanooga , except that Bate and his division were traded in for Carter Stevenson ' s division of the I corps . By that time , none of the units originally in the II were still in it . The II fought in all the engagements of the campaign , and at Reasca and New Hope Church they played key roles . At Kennesaw Mountain , II Corps soldiers disobeyed orders to attack the flanking columns of John Schofield ' s Army of the Ohio and drove them back in a decisive manner . Once Hood took command of the Army , there was another reorganization . Stewart took command , but was transferred to the III corps , then Stevenson took command , then Cheatham , then Stewart again , then Hindman , and finally Stephen D . Lee . All of these changes took place within a time span of three months . The Corps was heavily engaged at Atlanta and at Ezra Church , where they suffered heavy losses . Invasion of Tennessee . After Atlanta fell to William T . Sherman , Hood went north with his army , but made a few changes . In the II corps , easterner S . D . Lee was still in command , but his division commanders were different . Stevenson was at his usual post , but H . D . Clayton took over Stewart ' s division , the latter taking command of the III corps . Hindman was relieved and in his place was a newly - exchanged former prison - of - war , Edward Johnson , an easterner . The Corps marched north into Tennessee , but missed the bloodbath at Franklin , and cost Hood the battle . Like d ' Erlon ' s I Corps at Ligny and Quatre Bras in the Waterloo campaign , the Corps never advanced on Schofield ' s rear by seizing his line of retreat on the Cumberland . Thus , for the first time in its history , the II Corps cost their commander the battle . At Nashville , however , the Corps took the center when they were assaulted by an old nemesis , George Thomas . They were pushed back , and the II corps then was transferred to the right flank . The starving Confederates fled without much defense , and cost Hood another battle . Final glory . After Nashville in the early spring of 1865 , the Confederate Army was discouraged ; there was no hope for the cause . Hood resigned , and the Army went to Joseph Johnston again . The corps was re - organized again , with Stevenson , Clayton and Stovall in command of the divisions , and Johnson had been captured once again . The remnants of the Army were transferred to stop Sherman in the Carolinas , but II corps had a new commander , their best , D . H . Hill . At Bentonville , the Confederates were to assault an isolated Union force under Slocum , and the II Corps was to lead the spearhead in a flank attack . The attack drove the Union troops for miles , and they cheered " Nashville " and routed two divisions . Hill ' s leadership led Confederate arms to success , but due to Lee ' s surrender , the II Corps did as well with the small Army of Tennessee . Assessment . Like the Corps in Lee ' s Army , the II Corps Army of Tennessee proved to be an excellent formation . Its commanders were mixed and often changed . All in all , at Chickamauga the Corps reached its best point , but was still great in Atlanta and Bentonville , as well as Stones River . The debate of which commander was best is still in debate , but generally Hood , Hill and Hardee are considered the Corps ' best .