The Reserve Corps was created by the Confederate War Department in 1864. It was to consist of men too young or old for the draft and soldiers who could no longer perform active field duty. Several Reserve Corps units were formed in Louisiana: 1st Regiment, 2nd Regiment, Maddox's Regiment, and Watkin's Battalion. There may have been a few companies not organized into larger units. The purpose of the Reserve Corps was to do guard duty, act as herdsmen, lend some assistance to regular units in hunting deserters and draft dodgers, and other duties to relieve able-bodied men. Some men of the 2nd Reserve Corps seem to have engaged Jayhawkers in brief skirmishes in south Louisiana, but it seems that most of the other men of the Reserve Corps never saw any kind of combat.