The 30th Massachusetts was an

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mar ...

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscript ...

that served in the

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union of the collective states. It proved essential to th ...

during 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 ...

Service

The 30th Massachusetts was initially organized at

Camp Chase Camp Chase was a military staging and training camp established in Columbus, Ohio in May 1861 after the start of the American Civil War. It also included a large Union-operated prison camp for Confederate prisoners during the American Civil War ...

in Lowell,

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

by Benjamin F. Butler as the "Eastern Bay State Regiment" on December 31, 1861. The regiment moved to

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

on January 2, 1862, where it mustered in for a three-year enlistment on January 4, 1862, under the command of

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

Nathan Dudley Nathan Augustus Monroe Dudley (August 20, 1825 – April 29, 1910) was a soldier who served as a colonel of Volunteers and sometimes as an acting brigadier general of Volunteers for the Union Army during the American Civil War. He later served ...

. The regiment was attached to 3rd Brigade,

Department of the Gulf The Department of the Gulf was a command of the United States Army in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and of the Confederate States Army during the Civil War. History United States Army (Civil War) Creation The department was co ...

, to October 1862. Defenses of New Orleans to January 1863. 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, XIX Corps, Department of the Gulf, to August 1863. 1st Brigade, 1st Division, XIX Corps, Department of the Gulf, to July 1864, and Army of the Shenandoah, Middle Military Division, to March 1865. 1st Brigade, 1st Provisional Division, Army of the Shenandoah, to April 1865.

Department of Washington Department of Washington, was a department of the Union Army constituted on April 9, 1861. It consisted of the District of Columbia to its original boundaries, and the State of Maryland as far as Bladensburg. It was merged into the Military D ...

to June 1865.

Department of the South The Department of the South was a military department of the United States Army that existed in several iterations in the 19th century during and after the American Civil War. 1862–65 After the first 11 months of the American Civil War, startin ...

to December 1865. The 30th Massachusetts mustered out of service on December 1, 1865.

Detailed service

Sailed from Boston on steamer ''Constitution'' for Fort Monroe, Va., January 13, arriving January 16; then sailed for Ship Island, Miss., February 6, arriving there February 12, and duty there until April 15. (Company K joined the regiment March 9.) Operations against Forts St. Phillip and Jackson, Mississippi River, April 15–28, 1862. Occupation of Fort St. Phillip April 28. Moved to New Orleans April 29–30. Occupation of New Orleans May 1. Expedition to New Orleans & Jackson Railroad May 9–10. Moved to Baton Rouge May 30–31. Expedition from Baton Rouge June 7–9. Williams' Expedition to Vicksburg, Miss., and operations in that vicinity June 18-July 23. Ellis Cliff June 22. Hamilton Plantation, near Grand Gulf, June 24. Moved to Baton Rouge July 23–26, and duty there until August 21. Battle of Baton Rouge August 5. Moved to Carrollton August 21–22, and duty there until November 4. Garrison duty at New Orleans until January 13, 1863. Moved to Baton Rouge January 13–14. Expedition to Port Hudson March 7–27. Operations against Port Hudson May 12–24. Monett's Plantation and on Bayou Sara Road May 18–19. Plain's Store May 24. Siege of Port Hudson May 24-July 9. Assaults on Port Hudson May 27 and June 14. Surrender of Port Hudson July 9. Cox's Plantation, Donaldsonville, July 12–13. Camp at Baton Rouge August 1-September 2. Sabine Pass Expedition September 4–11. Moved from Algiers to Brashear City September 16, thence to Berwick and to Camp Bisland September 26. Bayou Teche Campaign October 3-November 30. At New Iberia, until January 7, 1864, and at Franklin until February 18. Veterans on leave February 18-May 3. Moved to New Orleans May 3–16, and to Morganza June 13. Moved to New Orleans, then to Fort Monroe, Va., and Washington, D.C., July 2–13. Snicker's Gap Expedition July 14–23. Sheridan's Shenandoah Valley Campaign August to December. Battle of Opequan, Winchester, September 19. Fisher's Hill September 22. Mt. Jackson September 23–24. Battle of Cedar Creek October 19. Duty at Winchester, Kernstown, and Stephenson's Depot until April 1, 1865. Moved to Washington, D.C., April 21–22, and duty there until June 1.

Grand Review of the Armies The Grand Review of the Armies was a military procession and celebration in the national capital city of Washington, D.C., on May 23–24, 1865, following the Union victory in the American Civil War (1861–1865). Elements of the Union Army in th ...

May 23–24. Moved to Savannah, Ga., June 2–6, then to Georgetown, S.C., June 13, and to Florence June 27. To Sumter July 9. Duty in 3rd Sub-District Eastern South Carolina until December.

Casualties

The regiment lost a total of 404 men during service; 4 officers and 57 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded, 2 officers and 341 enlisted men died of disease.

Commanders

* Colonel Nathan Dudley * Colonel Samuel D. Shipley

Notable members

* Captain

Eugene W. Ferris Eugene W. Ferris (November 18, 1842 – February 26, 1907) was a United States soldier who fought with the 30th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry during the American Civil War. He received his nation's highest award for bravery during comb ...

, Company D -

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valo ...

recipient for action at Berryville,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, April 1, 1865

References

* Dyer, Frederick H. ''A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion'' (Des Moines, IA: Dyer Pub. Co.), 1908. * Howe, Henry Warren. ''Passages from the Life of Henry Warren Howe: Consisting of Diary and Letters Written During the Civil War, 1816-1865'' (Lowell, MA: Courier-Citizen Co., Printers), 1899. * {{CWR Military units and formations established in 1861 Military units and formations disestablished in 1865 Units and formations of the Union Army from Massachusetts 1861 establishments in Massachusetts

Service

Detailed service

Casualties

Commanders

Notable members

See also

References