The V Corps fought in several battles throughout the Peninsula Campaign, including Hanover Court House, Mechanicsville, Gaines's Mill, Glendale, and Malvern Hill.

George McClellan held a special admiration for the V Corps, especially as Fitz-John Porter was a close personal friend of his, and he often touted it as a model outfit the rest of the army should imitate.

The presence of regular army troops added a more professional air to the V Corps than the others, and discipline and drills were typically stricter.

One brigade, composed of two regiments under Gouverneur K. Warren, made a futile stand against the Confederate attack on the Union left flank.

Maj. Gen. Daniel Butterfield replaced Porter to command the V Corps at the Battle of Fredericksburg, and Generals Charles Griffin, Sykes, and Humphreys the three divisions.

Griffin and Humphreys participated in the disastrous assaults on Marye's Heights, Sykes' regulars moved up after darkness and spent the night on the field.

When Hooker took command of the Army of the Potomac in the spring, he did away with the "grand divisions" and made Butterfield his chief of staff.

Gen. Samuel W. Crawford, made up of two Pennsylvania Reserve brigades, promptly joined while Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia invaded the North.

They earned distinction from fighting in the wheat field but were most famous for the actions of Colonel Strong Vincent's 3rd Brigade, 1st Division.

The brigade quickly marched to cover Little Round Top, a nearly bare hill at the left end of the Union line.

Against ferocious attacks from the Confederate First Corps of James Longstreet, Vincent's brigade held the hill and saved the Union army from being flanked.

The scene is depicted in the novel The Killer Angels (1974) by Michael Shaara and the movie Gettysburg (1993), based on the novel, focusing on the 20th Maine regiment at the extreme left, under the command of Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain.

Stephen H. Weed and Strong Vincent (who was quickly promoted not long before his death for his heroic efforts on Little Round Top).

George Sykes was removed from command, after the corps' medical director has diagnosed him with a severe case of sciatica.

After the Battle of Five Forks, with the war's end literally days away, General Warren was relieved of command by Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan, displeased by his supposed lack of aggressive pursuit of the enemy (Warren spent the remainder of his life seeking rehabilitation of his reputation).

It arrived at Appomattox Courthouse in time to support Sheridan's cavalry against any attempted breakout by the Confederate forces.