Third Corps, Army of Northern Virginia

Third Corps, Army of Northern Virginia
Battle flag of the Confederate States Army
Active	1863–1865
Country	Confederate States of America
Allegiance	Confederate States Army
Branch	Infantry
Type	Corps
Size	3 divisions
Part of	Army of Northern Virginia
Arms	Enfield rifled muskets
Campaigns	Civil War Gettysburg Wilderness Spotsylvania Cold Harbor Petersburg Appomattox
Disbanded	April 12, 1865
Commanders
Commanders	Ambrose P. Hill † Henry Heth Richard Anderson Jubal Early

Civil War

The Third Corps, Army of Northern Virginia was a unit of the Provisional Army of the Confederate States.

After the death of Lt. General Thomas J. Jackson at the Battle of Chancellorsville, Robert E. Lee reorganized his army from two infantry corps into three corps, giving command of the new Third Corps to A. P. Hill. For Hill's new corps, Lee assigned Hill's old "Light Division", commanded by Major General William Dorsey Pender, from the Second Corps and Richard H. Anderson's division from James Longstreet's First Corps. For the Corps' third division, Lee created a new division from two brigades sent from the defenses around Richmond and two brigades from Pender's division, assigning it to the command of Henry Heth. The corps' artillery reserve was commanded by Colonel R. Lindsay Walker.

When Lee launched the Gettysburg Campaign in June 1863, the Third Corps was initially left along the former Confederate positions along the Rappahannock as a rear guard, following the rest of the army on the 15th after Lee was convinced that Union commander Joseph Hooker would not launch an attack on Richmond. It arrived at Chambersburg on the 27th and rested for several days; on the evening of June 30th, Hill sent Heth's division to Gettysburg to seize a supply of shoes that was reported to be there, with Pender's division assigned to follow as support. On the morning of July 1st, Heth encountered the leading elements of the Army of the Potomac, thus starting the three-day Battle of Gettysburg. During the morning, Heth's division attacked part of the I Corps and was defeated, with Brigadier General James J. Archer captured (the first general officer in Lee's army to be captured). Both Heth's and Pender's divisions attacked during the afternoon and defeated the I Corps; Heth was wounded during the afternoon attack and was replaced by James J. Pettigrew, while Alfred M. Scales of Pender's division was wounded. On the second day, Hill's corps occupied the center of the Confederate army and was assigned to attack the Union line after Longstreet's corps had launched its attack; however, only three of Anderson's five brigades launched an attack. Ambrose R. Wright was able to briefly pierce the Union center on Cemetery Ridge but was forced to retreat. Before he was able to launch an attack with his division, Pender was mortally wounded by an artillery shell and was replaced by Brigadier General James H. Lane. During the day, Hill was ill and did not supervise the attack by his corps.