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 II Corps numbered 22,000 men, making it the largest in the Confederate Army, and was placed under command of Braxton Bragg.

But when Prentiss, W. H. L. 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.

The battle began when William Rosecrans and his Army of the Cumberland marched south from Nashville against Bragg at Murfreesboro.

[2] Bragg ordered an assault on the Union right flank, where George Thomas and Alexander McCook's corps were stationed.

His attack, as well as Cleburne's, threw the entire Union force in flight, pushing both corps back over a mile.

Leonidas Polk mismanaged his assaults, and all Confederate gains by the II Corps were squandered and not exploited.

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 drove the first Union division at the river in a suicidal charge, but was bloodied once he attacked the main line.

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.

When Orchard Knob was taken, the Union force under George Thomas attacked the center and broke the II Corps, sending them fleeing in confusion.

The corps fought in all the engagements of the campaign, and at Resaca and New Hope Church they played key roles.

At Kennesaw Mountain, its soldiers disobeyed orders to attack the flanking columns of John Schofield's Army of the Ohio and drove them back in a decisive manner.

The Corps marched north into Tennessee, but missed the bloodbath at Franklin, and cost Hood the battle.

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.

As a result of the overwhelming Union strength and the heavy casualties his army suffered in the battle, Johnston surrendered to Sherman little more than a month later at Bennett Place, near Durham Station.