“To commemorate the valor of the Fifth Corps, Army of the Potomac, and in loving memory of its heroic dead this monument has been erected by Major General Daniel Butterfield, U.S.V., its commander on this field December 13th,1862.
Organized July 22, 1862, disbanded June 1, 1865. Casualties 35708. “Brave Companions Tried and True” — Commanders: Porter • Hooker • Butterfield • Meade • Sykes • Warren • Griffin.
Presented to the Fredericksburg and adjacent Battlefields Memorial Park Association. Corner-stone laid by Fredericksburg Lodge No. 3 A.F.& A.M. May 25th, 1900, in the presence of William McKinley, President of the United States, and the monument was dedicated by that lodge May 30th, 1901.”
Research:
The Fifth Army Corps was under the Command of Major General Joseph Hooker, Center Grand Division.(1)
On November 14, 1862, Major General Ambrose Burnside ordered six army corps to form into three divisions of two. The Fifth Army Corps, along with the Third, formed the Center Grand Division.(2)
Hooker commanded both the Fifth and Third Corps, and a brigade of cavalry under Brigadier General William W. Averell. The Fifth Army Corps was to be led by Fitz John Porter until his arrest by the War Department. (3)
On December 11, 1862 Hooker, the Fifth Corps, and the army of the Potomac were given the order to cross the Rappahannock River into Fredericksburg by Major General Burnside. (4)
In 1865, the National Cemetery in Fredericksburg was established on Willis Hill. The Cemetery was authorized by Congress the same year. It was to serve as the burial site for Federal casualties that died in the battle of Fredericksburg.(5)
The Butterfield Monument was erected in the National Cemetery in Fredericksburg in honor of the fallen Fifth Army Corps. The monument was named after General Daniel Butterfield, who dedicated and payed for the monument to be erected in 1901. (6)
