In early 1861 he was given an appointment as the
major of the 6th Virginia Infantry Battalion and soon after that he received the
colonelcy of the
17th Virginia Infantry. He commanded the 17th at Blackburn's Ford during the
First Battle of Manassas, as well during the 1862
Peninsula Campaign. He saw action at the battles of
Yorktown,
Williamsburg,
Seven Pines, and throughout the
Seven Days Battles. During the subsequent
Northern Virginia Campaign, Corse commanded
Kemper's Brigade during the
Second Battle of Manassas until he was wounded. He was healthy enough to participate in the
Maryland Campaign and was wounded at both
South Mountain and
Antietam at the head of his regiment. A new brigade was created for him, and he was promoted to
brigadier general on November 1. His brigade was placed in a
division commanded by General
George E. Pickett and was only lightly engaged at
Fredericksburg. Corse married Elizabeth Beverley on November 22, 1862. They had four children. In early 1863 he accompanied
Lt. Gen. James Longstreet on an expedition to southeastern Virginia, resulting of the absence of Corse and his brigade from the rest of the army during the
Battle of Chancellorsville. During the
Gettysburg campaign, Corse's Brigade was detached from Pickett's Division to guard
Hanover Junction, north of
Richmond. Because of this, the brigade did not participate in the battle nor the disastrous assault known as
Pickett's Charge. Pickett's Division was detached from
Longstreet's Corps when they were transferred to
Georgia and
Tennessee in late 1863, operating in western Virginia. In January 1864, Corse and his brigade participated in Pickett's operations against
New Bern, North Carolina. After seeing action at
Drewry's Bluff against
Benjamin Butler's
Bermuda Hundred operation, the brigade finally rejoined the Army of Northern Virginia and fought at
Cold Harbor and through the
Siege of Petersburg. Following the disaster at the
Battle of Five Forks, they began the retreat which would eventually end at
Appomattox Court House. Corse himself was captured at the
Battle of Sayler's Creek on April 6, 1865. After his surrender, General Corse was conveyed to
Fort Warren near
Boston, Massachusetts, on the day that
Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, and he and the fourteen generals accompanying him narrowly escaped the violence of a mob at a town in
Pennsylvania on the next morning. They were only saved by the determination of their small guard of Union soldiers and officers. ==Postbellum career==