1st New Hampshire Volunteer Regiment filled its ranks within two weeks of President Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...

's call for 70,000 men on April 15, 1861. Between April 17 and 30, 1861, not less than 2,004 men volunteered to fight for the Union

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...

 in 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...

. The volunteers organized and muster

Muster

Muster may refer to:* Muster , a process or event for the of accounting for members in a military unit* Muster , the rounding-up of livestock* Muster , a competitive skills event held between fire departments...

ed at "Camp Union," the Fair Grounds of the Merrimack County

Merrimack County, New Hampshire

-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 136,225 people, 51,843 households, and 35,460 families residing in the county. The population density was 146 people per square mile . There were 56,244 housing units at an average density of 60 per square mile...

 Agricultural Society on the east side of the Merrimack River

Merrimack River

The Merrimack River is a river in the northeastern United States. It rises at the confluence of the Pemigewasset and Winnipesaukee rivers in Franklin, New Hampshire, flows southward into Massachusetts, and then flows northeast until it empties into the Atlantic Ocean at Newburyport...

, in Concord

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....

 between May 1 and May 7, 1861. After the 1st NH was filled, volunteers were given their choice to enlist in the 2nd New Hampshire Volunteer Regiment

2nd New Hampshire Volunteer Regiment

2nd New Hampshire Volunteer Regiment was the longest-serving volunteer regiment of the State of New Hampshire in the American Civil War. The 2nd New Hampshire was organized in early 1861 and mustered in June 4, 1861. The 2nd NH fought from First Bull Run until the occupation of Richmond...

 or serve their three months as the garrison

Garrison

Garrison is the collective term for a body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it, but now often simply using it as a home base....

 of Fort Constitution at Portsmouth Harbor. Four hundred and ninety-six (496) enlisted in the 2nd NH, and the remainder were sent to Fort Constitution.

In early May 1861, Baldwin’s Cornet Band, of Manchester

Manchester, New Hampshire

Manchester is the largest city in the U.S. state of New Hampshire, the tenth largest city in New England, and the largest city in northern New England, an area comprising the states of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. It is in Hillsborough County along the banks of the Merrimack River, which...

, under the leadership of Edwin T. Baldwin, joined the regiment. The law at the time made no provision for regimental bands, thus band members were not mustered in until vacancies occurred in companies, and where they became as privates or company musicians but continued their duty in the band.

The 1st NH was commanded by Colonel Mason Tappan

Mason Tappan

Mason Weare Tappan was a New Hampshire state representative, a U.S. Congressman from 1855 to 1861, a colonel during the American Civil War and the state attorney general....

 and later assigned to General Patterson

Robert Patterson

Robert Patterson was a United States major general during the Mexican-American War and at the beginning of the American Civil War...

's Army of the Shenandoah. In August 1861, the 1st NH was mustered out at the end of its three months. The average age of the officers was 36 and enlisted men was 24.

See also

• 1st New Hampshire Regiment
  1st New Hampshire Regiment
  The 1st New Hampshire Regiment was an infantry unit that came into existence on 22 May 1775 at the beginning of the American Revolutionary War. John Stark was the regiment's first commander. The unit fought at Chelsea Creek and Bunker Hill in 1775. On 1 January 1776, while engaged in the Siege of...
  
  (American Revolutionary War
  American Revolutionary War
  The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
  
  )
• List of New Hampshire Civil War Units

External links

• A Brief History of the 172nd Field Artillery Regiment, the 197th Field Artillery Regiment and Separate Units of the NH Army National Guard (PDF)
• First Regiment New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry - A Sketch

Further reading

• Waite, Otis F. R., New Hampshire in the Great Rebellion. Claremont, NH: Tracy, Chase & company, 1870.