XIX Corps (Union army)


XIX Corps was a corps of the Union Army during the American Civil War. It spent most of its service in Louisiana and the Gulf, though several units fought in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley.
XIX Corps was created on December 14, 1862, and assigned to Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks, the commander of the Department of the Gulf. The corps comprised all Union troops then occupying Louisiana and east Texas. It originally consisted of four divisions, numbering 36,000 men.

Port Hudson

In April 1863, the corps was involved in the actions at Fort Bisland and Irish Bend. It operated the Siege of Port Hudson from April 27-July 9, 1863, the fall of which, along with that of Vicksburg, Mississippi, closed off the Mississippi River to Confederate shipping. XIX Corps also gained measure of distinction for being the first Federal unit to use a large number of colored troops in action, particularly against Port Hudson, with Banks giving them due credit for their valiant contributions to the siege.
MG Nathaniel P. Banks
DivisionBrigadeRegiments and Others

1st Division

MG Christopher C. Augur
1st Brigade

Col Edward P. Chapin

Col Charles J. Paine

1st Division

MG Christopher C. Augur
2nd Brigade

BG Godfrey Weitzel

Col Stephen Thomas

1st Division

MG Christopher C. Augur
3rd Brigade

Col Nathan Dudley

1st Division

MG Christopher C. Augur
Artillery
  • 1st Battery, Indiana Heavy Artillery: Col John A. Keith
  • 1st Battery, Maine Light Artillery: Lt John E. Morton
  • 6th Battery, Massachusetts Light Artillery: Lt John F. Phelps
  • Section, 12th Massachusetts Light Artillery: Lt Edwin M. Chamberlin
  • 18th Battery, New York Light Artillery: Cpt Albert G. Mack
  • Battery A, 1st U.S. Light Artillery: Cpt Edmund C. Bainbridge
  • Battery G, 5th U.S. Artillery: Lt Jacob B. Rawles
2nd Division

BG Thomas W. Sherman

BG George L. Andrews

BG Frank S. Nickerson

BG William Dwight
1st Brigade

BG Neal S. Dow

Col David S. Cowles

Col Thomas S. Clark

2nd Division

BG Thomas W. Sherman

BG George L. Andrews

BG Frank S. Nickerson

BG William Dwight
2nd Brigade

Col Alpha B. Farr

Col Lewis Benedict

2nd Division

BG Thomas W. Sherman

BG George L. Andrews

BG Frank S. Nickerson

BG William Dwight
3rd Brigade

BG Frank S. Nickerson

2nd Division

BG Thomas W. Sherman

BG George L. Andrews

BG Frank S. Nickerson

BG William Dwight
Artillery
3rd Division

BG Halbert E. Paine

Col Hawkes Fearing
1st Brigade

Col Timothy Ingraham

Col Samuel P. Ferris

3rd Division

BG Halbert E. Paine

Col Hawkes Fearing
2nd Brigade

Col Hawkes Fearing

3rd Division

BG Halbert E. Paine

Col Hawkes Fearing
3rd Brigade

Col Oliver P. Gooding

3rd Division

BG Halbert E. Paine

Col Hawkes Fearing
Artillery
  • 4th Battery, Massachusetts Light Artillery: Lt Frederick W. Reinhard
  • Battery F, 1st U.S. Light Artillery: Cpt Richard C. Duryea
  • 2nd Battery, Vermont Light Artillery: Cpt Pythagoras E. Holcomb
4th Division

BG Cuvier Grover
1st Brigade

BG William Dwight

Col Richard E. Holcomb

Col Joseph S. Morgan

4th Division

BG Cuvier Grover
2nd Brigade

Col William K. Kimball

4th Division

BG Cuvier Grover
3rd Brigade

Col Henry W. Birge

4th Division

BG Cuvier Grover
Artillery

Cpt Henry W. Closson

  • 2nd Battery Massachusetts Light Artillery: Cpt Ormand F. Nims
  • Battery L, 1st U.S. Light Artillery: Cpt Henry W. Closson
  • Battery C, 2nd U.S. Light Artillery: Lt Theodore Bradley
United States Colored TroopsCorps D'Afrique

BG Daniel Ullman

  • 6th United States Colored Troops: Maj George Bishop
  • 7th United States Colored Troops: Maj Cornelius Mowers
  • 8th United States Colored Troops: Ltc William S. Mudgett
  • 9th United States Colored Troops: Ltc Isaac S. Bangs
  • 10th United States Colored Troops: Ltc Ladislas L. Zulavsky
  • 1st Louisiana Engineers: Col Justin Hodge
United States Colored TroopsNative Guard
CavalryGrierson's Brigade

Col Benjamin H. Grierson

Red River Campaign

In spring of 1864, the corps took part in Banks' disastrous Red River Campaign, under the command of William B. Franklin, who was wounded at Mansfield. After its conspicuous role in the failure, two divisions under William H. Emory were sent to Virginia to join Phillip Sheridan's operations in the Shenandoah Valley against Jubal Early. These troops took part in all of the major engagements of Sheridan's campaign, most notably at Opequon, where they lost some 2,000 men killed or wounded.

Georgia

After this, the corps was sent Savannah, Georgia, where it remained until the end of the war. The XIX Corps was officially disbanded on March 26, 1865, but the corps took part in the Grand Review in Washington, and some of its units remained in Savannah and Louisiana until 1866.