1st New Hampshire Infantry Regiment filled its ranks within two weeks of

President Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation throu ...

'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 commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. The volunteers organized and mustered at "Camp Union," the Fair Grounds of the Merrimack County Agricultural Society on the east side of the

Merrimack River The Merrimack River (or Merrimac River, an occasional earlier spelling) 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 Mas ...

, in

Concord Concord may refer to: Meaning "agreement" * Pact or treaty, frequently between nations (indicating a condition of harmony) * Harmony, in music * Agreement (linguistics), a change in the form of a word depending on grammatical features of other ...

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 or serve their three months as the

garrison A garrison (from the French ''garnison'', itself from the verb ''garnir'', "to equip") is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a mil ...

Fort Constitution Fort William and Mary was a colonial fortification in Britain's worldwide system of defenses, defended by soldiers of the Province of New Hampshire who reported directly to the royal governor. The fort, originally known as "The Castle," was situ ...

Portsmouth Harbor The Piscataqua River (Abenaki: ''Pskehtekwis'') is a tidal river forming the boundary of the U.S. states of New Hampshire and Maine from its origin at the confluence of the Salmon Falls River and Cochecho River. The drainage basin of the river ...

. 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 () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, 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 Weare Tappan (October 20, 1817 – October 25, 1886) was a New Hampshire state representative, a U.S. congressman from 1855 to 1861, a colonel during the American Civil War and the New Hampshire Attorney General. He was born in Newpor ...

and later assigned to General Patterson'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.

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 Portable Document Format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems. ...

)
First Regiment New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry - A Sketch
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See also

External links

Further reading