The Union Army's Army of the James was created in April 1864. In December, the Army of the James reorganized into two units with the white troops becoming the 24th Corps and the Black troops forming the 25th Corps. The 25th Corps were among the first Union troops to enter Richmond, Virginia, in April 1865, while the 24th Corps were at Appommattox, where General Robert E. Lee surrendered on April 9.

General Edward O. C. Ord (1818-1883) was a military officer for the United States Army after his graduation from West Point. During the Mexican-American War, he was stationed with William T. Sherman building forts in California. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Ord was sent to Virginia where he led many successful military campaigns against the Confederacy. Ord's leadership of the 24th Corps was key to the conclusion of the war when Lee surrendered in Appomattox.

Thomas G. Welles (1846-1892) was the son of Gideon Welles, the Secretary of the Navy during the American Civil War, and his wife Mary Jane Hale Welles. Welles served as the assistant to General Edward O. C. Ord, the commander of the Army of the James. According to Duke University, he also served as an attorney in Hartford, Connecticut.

External sources:

Peter Luebke, "Army of the James" (December 7, 2020), in Encyclopedia Virginia, https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/army-of-the-james, accessed on March 18, 2024.

"Edward Otho C. Ord (1818–1883)" (September 8, 2020), in Arkansas Encylopedia, https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/edward-otho-c-ord-5775/, accessed on June 28, 2023.

"Thomas Glastonbury Welles", findagrave.com, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/14626004/thomas-glastonbury-welles, accessed on June 28, 2023.

Thomas Glastonbury Welles, "Letters, 1866-1869," David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, https://find.library.duke.edu/catalog/DUKE002440974, accessed on March 18, 2024.