When the Army of the Potomac was reorganized in March 1864, General Meade abolished the Third Corps and assigned its regiments to other corps. Famous units such as Kearney’s and Hooker’s were broken up in the process, upsetting the rank and file (and many of the line officers), who felt they should be allowed to remain together for the final two months of their enlistment.
Third Corps veterans erected a "headstone" for the corps at the army's winter encampment near Brandy Station.
The comradeship of three years' service will never be effaced as long as one is left who won the right to wear the white and red diamonds. The stories and actions of the wearers of the coveted “Kearney Patch” would now be recalled with fondness around the campfires of the “old Third Corp”.