The white troops of the X and XVIII Corps were assembled in one command, and organized, December 3, 1864, as the XIV Corps, with Maj. Gen. Edward O. Ord in command. The troops of the X Corps were assigned to the 1st and 2nd Divisions, while the regiments of the XVIII Corps were placed in the 3rd Division. The 3 divisions were commanded by Gens. Foster, Ames and Devens, and were stationed on the north bank of the James River, in front of Richmond. As before the consolidation, these troops remained in the Army of the James.
Ames' (2d) Division did not remain long in the corps. In December, 1864, it left its quarters and embarked for North Carolina, forming part of Butler's expedition to Fort Fisher. Butler's troops returned without having accomplished anything; but, in January, Ames' 3 brigades were ordered to return to Fort Fisher, this second expedition being entrusted to the command of Gen. Alfred H. Terry, the former commander of the X Corps. Abbott's Brigade, of the 1st Division, also accompanied Terry's Expedition. These troops --Ames' Division and Abbott's Brigade -- were the ones which won the famous victory at Fort Fisher, January 15, 1865. They never rejoined the XXIV Corps, but remained in North Carolina, where they formed a nucleus for a revival of the organization of the X Corps.
In December, 1864, while Ames' Division was absent on the first expedition to Fort Fisher, the XXIV Corps was reinforced by the 1st Division, XVIII Corps. This was a veteran body of troops--formerly Thoburn's Division--which had seen long and active service in West Virginia and in the Shenandoah Valley. It was transferred to the XXIV Corps, the fighting in the Valley having ended, and arrived December 25th on the banks of the James River, where it took possession of the abandoned quarters of the Fort Fisher division. These troops from West Virginia (9 regiments) were designated an Independent Division, and General John W. Turner, formerly a division-general in the X Corps, was assigned to its command. The XXIV Corps now consisted of 3 divisions, Foster's, Devens' and Turner's, containing 42 infantry regiments, and numbering 18,148 present for duty, equipped.
On January 1, 1865, Gen. Benjamin Butler was relieved from the command of the Army of the James--XXIV and XXV Corps--and Gen. Ord was appointed in his place. Maj. Gen. John Gibbon, an able and distinguished division-general of the II Corps, became the commander of the XXIV Corps. But little fighting had occurred on the north bank of the James since the organization of the corps, except a minor affair at Spring Hill, December 10, l864:, in which Brig. Gen. James Longstreet made a sortie against the extreme right of the Union line.
On the 27th of March, 1865, Foster's and Turner's Divisions of the XXIV Corps, with 1 division of the XXV, all under command of Ord, Army of the James ( Gibbon commanding his corps), crossed to the south banks of the James and Appomattox Rivers, and joined the main army at Hatcher's Run, where they participated in the preliminary movements of the final, grand campaign. In the general and victorious assault on Petersburg, April 2, 1865, the XXIV Corps was assigned to the duty of assaulting Forts Gregg and Whitworth, which they carried by a determined and brilliant attack; but not without a serious loss, and a final struggle in which bayonets were used. Gibbon describes this assault as one of the most desperate in the war.
The fall of Petersburg immediately followed as the result of the victorious assaults of the XXIV, VI, and IX Corps, after which the XXIV joined in the pursuit of Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army. During this pursuit it had a sharp fight, April 6th, at Rice's Station, or High Bridge. On April 9th, the day of Lee's surrender, the corps was sharply engaged in the forenoon, the XXIV Corps having the honor of making the last infantry fight of that campaign, and of the war. Gibbon arrived at Appomattox Court House about 10:00 A.M., and intercepted Lee's troops who were driving the cavalry back in their attempt to escape. Ord, commanding at that time the XXIV, V, and XXV (colored) Corps, states that the arrival of his command was opportune; that "in spite of Gen. Sheridan's attempts, the cavalry was falling back in confusion before Lee's infantry ;" and that his troops "soon deployed and went in, Gibbon at double-quick, with Foster's and Turner's Divisions in beautiful style." After a short, sharp action a white flag appeared at an adjoining part of Ord's line, whereupon the XXIV Corps was ordered to cease firing. The last infantry-volley of the war had been fired. This fight, on the day of Lee's surrender, was known by the troops as Clover Hill. During this campaign, March 29th to April 9th, --from Hatcher's Run to Appomattox -- the XXIV Corps lost 149 killed, and 565 wounded; total, 714.
When Ord moved the Army of the James to Petersburg, March 27, 1865, he left Devens' (3d) Division of the XXIV Corps, and one division of the XXV Corps, in front of Richmond, on the north bank of the James. Upon the fall of Petersburg these troops, under Weitzel, the commander of the XXV Corps, marched on Richmond, and encountering little or no opposition entered that city on the 3d of April. Foster's and Turner's Divisions returned to Richmond after the victory at Appomattox, and the corps remained in Virginia until August 1, 1865, when the existence of the organization ceased officially, many of the regiments having already returned to their homes.
Although this corps does not display any long list of battles, it should be remembered that its regiments were veterans of many hard-fought fields before they were assigned to it. They had withstood the shock of many battles, and their banners were inscribed with the names of historic fields.
