off as a loser, he was despised by his own troops and would not hold a command in the Civil War again. McClellan's first choice to lead the I Corps was his friend and intimate Jesse Reno, then having operational commmand of the IX Corps but instead the position went to Joe Hooker, considered a more experienced officer. The XII Corps under Nathaniel Banks had a poor reputation; it had been badly defeated by "Stonewall" Jackson's troops during the Valley Campaign in spring, had fought poorly at Cedar Mountain, and Pope held the corps and Banks in such low regard that he kept them away from the Second Bull Run battlefield. Banks was dropped from command of the XII Corps and eventually sent to Louisiana. Brig. Gen Alpheus Williams temporarily commanded the corps until Joseph Mansfield assumed command on September 14. The III Corps and XI Corps had both suffered severe losses at Second Bull Run and were almost driven from the field in panic; they were left behind in Washington D.C. to rest and refit. The III Corps were excellent troops who had fought hard on the Peninsula and at Second Bull Run, while the XI Corps, consisting of a large number of German-American troops, as well as its commander Maj. Gen Franz Sigel had a poor reputation and no record of success on the battlefield. McClellan was thus able to use his influence to remove several underperforming generals, namely McDowell, Heintzelman, and Banks; the Army of the Potomac in this regard was a little behind its Confederate opponent as Lee had been able to purge his ranks of inadequate generals in the aftermath of the Seven Days Battles. The administration had wanted to remove Porter and Franklin, whom they considered politically suspect, but McClellan was able to retain them for this campaign. Of the six corps that participated in the Maryland campaign, the II and VI were the largest and most well-rested as neither had fought since the Seven Days Battles. The II Corps received a new division of nine month troops commanded by Brig. Gen William French and the VI Corps had one new regiment; all the rest of the men in both corps had fought on the Peninsula. The I Corps was the smallest, as it had suffered heavy losses at Second Bull Run (one of its divisions had also been heavily engaged in the Seven