The 12th New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry was an infantry

Infantry

Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...

 regiment

Regiment

A regiment is a major tactical military unit, composed of variable numbers of batteries, squadrons or battalions, commanded by a colonel or lieutenant colonel...

 that served in the Union Army

Union Army

The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...

 during the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

.

Service

The 12th New Hampshire Infantry was organized in Concord, New Hampshire

Concord, New Hampshire

The city of Concord is the capital of the state of New Hampshire in the United States. It is also the county seat of Merrimack County. As of the 2010 census, its population was 42,695....

 and mustered in for a three year enlistment on September 10, 1862 under the command of Colonel

Colonel (United States)

In the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, colonel is a senior field grade military officer rank just above the rank of lieutenant colonel and just below the rank of brigadier general...

 Joseph Haydn Potter

Joseph H. Potter

Joseph Haydn Potter was a career soldier from the state of New Hampshire who served as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He was twice a prisoner of war and was cited for gallantry on multiple occasions.-Early life and career:Potter born in Concord, New Hampshire, on...

.

The regiment was attached to Casey's Division, Military District of Washington, to December 1862. 2nd Brigade, 3rd Division, III Corps, Army of the Potomac

Army of the Potomac

The Army of the Potomac was the major Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War.-History:The Army of the Potomac was created in 1861, but was then only the size of a corps . Its nucleus was called the Army of Northeastern Virginia, under Brig. Gen...

, to June 1863. 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, III Corps, Army of the Potomac, to July 1863. Marston's Command, Point Lookout, Maryland, District of St. Mary's, to April 1864. 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, XVIII Corps, Department of Virginia and North Carolina

Department of Virginia and North Carolina

The Department of Virginia and North Carolina was a United States Military department encompassing Union-occupied territory in the Confederate States during the Civil War. In 1863 it was formed by the merging of two previously existing departments: the Department of Virginia and the Department of...

, to December 1864. 2nd Brigade, 3rd Division, XXIV Corps, Department of Virginia, to June 1865.

The 12th New Hampshire Infantry mustered out of service June 21, 1865.

Detailed service

Left New Hampshire

New Hampshire

New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...

 for Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

, September 27, 1862. Duty in the defenses of Washington until October 1862. Moved to Point of Rocks, Md.

Point of Rocks, Maryland

Point of Rocks is a community in Frederick County, Maryland. It is named for the striking rock formation on the adjacent Catoctin Mountain, which were formed by the Potomac River cutting through the ridge in a water gap, a typical formation in the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians...

, October 18; then to Pleasant Valley

Pleasant Valley (Maryland)

Pleasant Valley is a small valley in Washington County, Maryland, United States.-Geography:The valley is bound by South Mountain to the east, Elk Ridge to the west and the Potomac River to the south. To the north the valley opens up to connect with the Hagerstown Valley near Boonsboro...

 October 19. Moved to Warrenton, Va.

Warrenton, Virginia

Warrenton is a town in Fauquier County, Virginia, United States. The population was 6,670 at the 2000 census, and 14,634 at the 2010 estimate. It is the county seat of Fauquier County. Public schools in the town include Fauquier High School, Warrenton Middle School, Taylor Middle School and two...

, October 24-November 16, and to Falmouth

Falmouth, Virginia

Falmouth is an unincorporated community in Stafford County, Virginia, United States. Situated on the north bank of the Rappahannock River at the falls, the community is north of and opposite the city of Fredericksburg. Recognized by the U.S...

 November 18-24. Battle of Fredericksburg

Battle of Fredericksburg

The Battle of Fredericksburg was fought December 11–15, 1862, in and around Fredericksburg, Virginia, between General Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia and the Union Army of the Potomac, commanded by Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside...

 December 12-15.

Burnside

Ambrose Burnside

Ambrose Everett Burnside was an American soldier, railroad executive, inventor, industrialist, and politician from Rhode Island, serving as governor and a U.S. Senator...

's 2nd Campaign ("Mud March

Mud March (American Civil War)

The Mud March was an abortive attempt at a winter offensive in January 1863 by Union Army Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside in the American Civil War....

") January 20-24, 1863. Duty at Falmouth until April. Chancellorsville Campaign April 27-May 6. Battle of Chancellorsville

Battle of Chancellorsville

The Battle of Chancellorsville was a major battle of the American Civil War, and the principal engagement of the Chancellorsville Campaign. It was fought from April 30 to May 6, 1863, in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, near the village of Chancellorsville. Two related battles were fought nearby on...

 May 1-5. Gettysburg Campaign June 11-July 24. Battle of Gettysburg

Battle of Gettysburg

The Battle of Gettysburg , was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The battle with the largest number of casualties in the American Civil War, it is often described as the war's turning point. Union Maj. Gen. George Gordon Meade's Army of the Potomac...

 July 1-3. Ordered to Point Lookout, Md., July 26, and duty there guarding prisoners until April 7, 1864.

Moved to Yorktown

Yorktown, Virginia

Yorktown is a census-designated place in York County, Virginia, United States. The population was 220 in the 2000 census. It is the county seat of York County, one of the eight original shires formed in colonial Virginia in 1634....

 April 7, then to Williamsburg

Williamsburg, Virginia

Williamsburg is an independent city located on the Virginia Peninsula in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia, USA. As of the 2010 Census, the city had an estimated population of 14,068. It is bordered by James City County and York County, and is an independent city...

. Butler's operations on south side of the James River

James River

The James River may refer to:Rivers in the United States and their namesakes* James River * James River , North Dakota, South Dakota* James River * James River * James River...

 and against Petersburg

Petersburg, Virginia

Petersburg is an independent city in Virginia, United States located on the Appomattox River and south of the state capital city of Richmond. The city's population was 32,420 as of 2010, predominantly of African-American ethnicity...

 and Richmond

Richmond, Virginia

Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...

 May 4-28. Swift Creek

Battle of Swift Creek

The Battle of Swift Creek was fought on May 9, 1864, between Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War. Union forces were only partially successful: they inflicted damage on the local railroad, but further advance was halted.-Description:...

 (or Arrowfield Church) May 9-10. Operations against Fort Darling

Fort Darling

Fort Darling was a Confederate military installation during the American Civil War located at Drewry’s Bluff, a high point overlooking a bend in the James River south of Richmond in Chesterfield County, Virginia. It was the site of the 1862 Battle of Drewry's Bluff.It also served as the base of...

 May 12-16. Battle of Drewry's Bluff

Battle of Drewry's Bluff

The Battle of Drewry’s Bluff, also known as the Battle of Fort Darling, or Fort Drewry, took place on May 15, 1862, in Chesterfield County, Virginia, as part of the Peninsula Campaign of the American Civil War. Five American warships, including the ironclads and , steamed up the James River to...

 May 14-16. Bermuda Hundred

Bermuda Hundred Campaign

The Bermuda Hundred Campaign was a series of battles fought at the town of Bermuda Hundred, outside Richmond, Virginia, during May 1864 in the American Civil War. Union Maj. Gen. Benjamin Butler, commanding the Army of the James, threatened Richmond from the east but was stopped by forces under ...

 May 16-27. Moved to White House

White House, Virginia

White House is an unincorporated community in New Kent County, Virginia, United States, on the south shore of the Pamunkey River. White House Plantation, for which it is named, was the home of Martha Dandridge Custis in the 18th century, who as a widow, there courted her future husband, Colonel...

, then to Cold Harbor

Cold Harbor, Virginia

Cold Harbor is an unincorporated community in Hanover County, Virginia. A battle was fought here in 1864....

, May 27-31. Battles about Cold Harbor

Battle of Cold Harbor

The Battle of Cold Harbor was fought from May 31 to June 12, 1864 . It was one of the final battles of Union Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's Overland Campaign during the American Civil War, and is remembered as one of American history's bloodiest, most lopsided battles...

 June 1-12. Before Petersburg June 15-19. Siege of Petersburg

Siege of Petersburg

The Richmond–Petersburg Campaign was a series of battles around Petersburg, Virginia, fought from June 9, 1864, to March 25, 1865, during the American Civil War...

 and Richmond June 16, 1864 to April 2, 1865. Mine Explosion

Battle of the Crater

The Battle of the Crater was a battle of the American Civil War, part of the Siege of Petersburg. It took place on July 30, 1864, between the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, commanded by General Robert E. Lee and the Union Army of the Potomac, commanded by Major General George G. Meade The...

, Petersburg, July 30, 1864 (reserve). Duty on the Bermuda Front August 26 to December, and in trenches before Richmond until April 1865. Occupation of Richmond April 3. Guard and provost duty at Manchester

Manchester, Virginia

Manchester, Virginia is a former independent city in Virginia in the United States. Prior to receiving independent status, it served as the county seat of Chesterfield County, between 1870 and 1876...

 until June.

Service at Gettysburg

On July 2, 1863, the 12th New Hampshire was heavily engaged north of the Klingel Farm, facing attack by Wilcox's Alabama brigade. The regiment had 224 men on the field that day, of whom 26 were killed and 73 were wounded (an additional six men would die of their wounds). Captain John F. Langley (Company F) was in command, and was wounded when the regiment was ordered to withdraw. Lieutenant William H. H. Fernel (Company I) took command and was able to rescue some 50 Union soldiers who were captured during the withdrawal. The following day, only 50 men were fit for duty under the command of Captain Thomas E. Barker (Company B). Placed near the center of the Union line, they helped repulse Pickett's charge

Pickett's Charge

Pickett's Charge was an infantry assault ordered by Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee against Maj. Gen. George G. Meade's Union positions on Cemetery Ridge on July 3, 1863, the last day of the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War. Its futility was predicted by the charge's commander,...

.

Casualties

The regiment lost a total of 320 men during service; 11 officers and 170 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded, 1 officer and 138 enlisted men died of disease.

Commanders

• Colonel Joseph Haydn Potter
• Colonel Thomas E. Barker
• Lieutenant Colonel
  Lieutenant Colonel (United States)
  In the United States Army, United States Air Force, and United States Marine Corps, a lieutenant colonel is a field grade military officer rank just above the rank of major and just below the rank of colonel. It is equivalent to the naval rank of commander in the other uniformed services.The pay...
  
   John F. Marsh
• Lieutenant Colonel George D. Savage
• Captain John F. Langley - commanded at the battle of Gettysburg, July 2, 1863; wounded in action
• Captain Thomas E. Barker - commanded at the battle of Gettysburg, July 3, 1863

See also

• List of New Hampshire Civil War units
• New Hampshire in the American Civil War

External links

• 12th New Hampshire Infantry monument at Gettysburg