The 5th New Hampshire Infantry Regiment 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 marine i ...

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 conscripted ...

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 (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

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 th ...

. The regiment has the unfortunate distinction of having sustained the greatest total loss in battles of any infantry or cavalry regiment in the Union Army, with a total of 295 killed and 756 wounded, for a total of 1,051 men.

Service

The 5th New Hampshire Infantry was organized in

Concord, New Hampshire Concord () is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Hampshire and the seat of Merrimack County. As of the 2020 census the population was 43,976, making it the third largest city in New Hampshire behind Manchester and Nashua. The village of ...

and mustered in for a three-year enlistment on October 22, 1861, 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 of ...

Edward Ephraim Cross Edward Ephraim Cross (April 22, 1832 – July 3, 1863) was a newspaperman and an officer (armed forces), officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Journalist Cross was born in Lancaster, New Hampshire, son of Ephram and Abiga ...

. The regiment was attached to Howard's Brigade, Sumner's Division,

Army of the Potomac The Army of the Potomac was the principal Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was created in July 1861 shortly after the First Battle of Bull Run and was disbanded in June 1865 following the surrender of the Confedera ...

, to March 1862. 1st Brigade, 1st Division,

II Corps 2nd Corps, Second Corps, or II Corps may refer to: France * 2nd Army Corps (France) * II Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * II Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French ...

, Army of the Potomac, to July 1863. Concord, New Hampshire, Department of the East, to November 1863. Marston's Command, Point Lookout, Maryland, to May 1864. 1st Brigade, 1st Division, II Corps, Army of the Potomac, to June 1865. The 5th New Hampshire Infantry mustered out of service June 28, 1865, and was discharged July 8, 1865.

Detailed service

Left New Hampshire for

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, October 29, 1861. Camp at Bladensburg, Md., defenses of Washington, D.C., until November 27, 1861. Expedition to lower

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

November 3–11. At Camp California, near

Alexandria, Va. Alexandria is an independent city in the northern region of the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of downtown Washington, D.C. In 2020, the population was 159,467. T ...

, until March 10, 1862. Scout to Burke's Station January 17, 1862 (Company A). Advance on Manassas, Va., March 10–15. Reconnaissance to Gainesville March 20, and to Rappahannock Station March 28–29. Warrenton Junction March 28. Moved to the

Virginia Peninsula The Virginia Peninsula is a peninsula in southeast Virginia, USA, bounded by the York River, James River, Hampton Roads and Chesapeake Bay. It is sometimes known as the ''Lower Peninsula'' to distinguish it from two other peninsulas to the ...

April 4. Siege of Yorktown, Va., April 5-May 4. Temporarily attached to Woodbury's Engineer Brigade. Construct Grapevine Bridge over Chickahominy May 28–30. Battle of Fair Oaks or Seven Pines May 31-June 1. Seven days before

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

June 25-July 1. Orchard Station June 28. Peach Orchard, Allen's Farm and Savage's Station June 29. White Oak Swamp and

Glendale Glendale is the anglicised version of the Gaelic Gleann Dail, which means ''valley of fertile, low-lying arable land''. It may refer to: Places Australia * Glendale, New South Wales ** Stockland Glendale, a shopping centre *Glendale, Queensland, ...

June 30.

Malvern Hill Malvern Hill stands on the north bank of the James River in Henrico County, Virginia, USA, about eighteen miles southeast of Richmond. On 1 July 1862, it was the scene of the Battle of Malvern Hill, one of the Seven Days Battles of the American ...

July 1. At

Harrison's Landing Berkeley Plantation, one of the first plantations in America, comprises about on the banks of the James River on State Route 5 in Charles City County, Virginia. Berkeley Plantation was originally called Berkeley Hundred, named after the Berkele ...

until August 16. Movement to

Fortress Monroe Fort Monroe, managed by partnership between the Fort Monroe Authority for the Commonwealth of Virginia, the National Park Service as the Fort Monroe National Monument, and the City of Hampton, is a former military installation in Hampton, Virgi ...

, then to Alexandria and to Centreville, Va., August 16–30. Cover Pope's retreat from Bull Run. Maryland Campaign September–October. Battle of South Mountain, Md., September 14 (reserve). Antietam Creek, near Keedysville, September 15.

Battle of Antietam The Battle of Antietam (), or Battle of Sharpsburg particularly in the Southern United States, was a battle of the American Civil War fought on September 17, 1862, between Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and Union G ...

, September 16–17. Duty at Harpers Ferry, W. Va., September 21 to October 29. Reconnaissance to Charlestown October 16–17. Advance up Loudoun Valley and movement to Falmouth, Va., October 29-November 17.

Battle of Fredericksburg The Battle of Fredericksburg was fought December 11–15, 1862, in and around Fredericksburg, Virginia, in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. The combat, between the Union Army of the Potomac commanded by Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnsi ...

, Va., December 12–15. Burnside's Second Campaign, " Mud March," January 20–24, 1863. Duty at Falmouth until April. Chancellorsville Campaign April 27-May 6.

Battle of Chancellorsville The Battle of Chancellorsville, April 30 – May 6, 1863, was a major battle of the American Civil War (1861–1865), and the principal engagement of the Chancellorsville campaign. Chancellorsville is known as Lee's "perfect battle" because h ...

May 1–5. Reconnaissance to

Rappahannock Rappahannock may refer to: Education *Rappahannock Academy & Military Institute (1813–1873), a school in Caroline County, Virginia *Rappahannock Community College, a two-year college located in Glenns and Warsaw, Virginia *Rappahannock County ...

June 9. Gettysburg Campaign June 13-July 24.

Battle of Gettysburg The Battle of Gettysburg () was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, by Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War. In the battle, Union Major General George Meade's Army of the Po ...

, July 1–3. Moved to Concord, N.H., July 26-August 3. Duty at Draft Rendezvous, Concord, N.H., until November. Moved to Point Lookout, Md., November 8–13, and duty there guarding prisoners until May 27, 1864. Moved to Cold Harbor, Va., May 27-June 1, and joined the Army of the Potomac. Battles about Cold Harbor June 1–12. Before Petersburg, Va., June 16–19. Siege of Petersburg June 16, 1864, to April 2, 1865. Jerusalem Plank Road June 22–23, 1865. Deep Bottom, north of

James River The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 to Chesapea ...

, July 27–28.

Mine Explosion A mining accident is an accident that occurs during the process of mining minerals or metals. Thousands of miners die from mining accidents each year, especially from underground mining (hard rock), underground coal mining, although accidents al ...

, Petersburg, July 30 (reserve). Demonstration north of James River August 13–20.

Strawberry Plains Strawberry Plains is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Jefferson, Knox, and Sevier counties in the State of Tennessee, United States. Before 2010, it was treated by the United States Census Bureau as a census coun ...

August 14–18. Ream's Station August 25. Non-veterans mustered out October 12, 1864. Reconnaissance to Hatcher's Run December 9–10. Dabney's Mills, Hatcher's Run, February 5–7, 1865. Watkins' House March 25. Appomattox Campaign March 28-April 9. On line of Hatcher's and Gravelly Runs March 29–30. Hatcher's Run or Boydton Road March 31. White Oak Road March 31. Sutherland Station April 2. Fall of Petersburg April 2. Sailor's Creek April 6. High Bridge and Farmville April 7.

Appomattox Court House Appomattox Court House could refer to: * The village of Appomattox Court House, now the Appomattox Court House National Historical Park, in central Virginia (U.S.), where Confederate army commander Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union commander Ulyss ...

April 9. Surrender of

Lee Lee may refer to: Name Given name * Lee (given name), a given name in English Surname * Chinese surnames romanized as Li or Lee: ** Li (surname 李) or Lee (Hanzi ), a common Chinese surname ** Li (surname 利) or Lee (Hanzi ), a Chinese ...

and his army. Moved to Washington, D.C., May 2–12.

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 the ...

May 23.

Casualties

The regiment lost a total of 473 men during service; 18 officers and 277 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded, 2 officers and 176 enlisted men died of disease.

Commanders

Edward Ephraim Cross - mortally wounded at the Battle of Gettysburg while commanding 1st Brigade, 1st Division, II Corps * Colonel Charles E. Hapgood - commanded at the Battle of Gettysburg and afterward * Colonel Welcome E. Crafts - took command after Hapgood was wounded; also took command when the regiment was redesignated as 5th New Hampshire Battalion *

Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

James E. Larkin *

Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

John S. Ricker

References

* Child, William. ''A History of the Fifth Regiment, New Hampshire Volunteers, in the American Civil War, 1861-1865'' (Bristol, NH: R. W. Musgrove, Printer), 1893. * Child, William. ''Letters from a Civil War Surgeon: The Letters of Dr. William Child of the Fifth New Hampshire Volunteers'' (Solon, ME: Polar Bear & Co.), 2001. * Cross, Edward Ephraim. ''Stand Firm and Fire Low: The Civil War Writings of Colonel Edward E. Cross'' (Hanover, NH: University Press of New England), 2003. * Dyer, Frederick H. ''A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion'' (Des Moines, IA: Dyer Pub. Co.), 1908. * Pride, Mike & Mark Travis. ''My Brave Boys: To War with Colonel Cross and the Fighting Fifth'' (Hanover, NH: University Press of New England), 2001. * Grandchamp, Robert. ''Colonel Edward E. Cross, New Hampshire Fighting Fifth: A Civil War Biography'' (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company), 2012. . ;Attribution *

External links

5th New Hampshire monument at Gettysburg

5th New Hampshire living history organization

* {{Internet Archive, 03520265.3270.emory.edu, A history of the Fifth Regiment, New Hampshire Volunteers, in the American Civil War, 1861-1865 (1893)
The Papers of Ira Barton, Captain of Co. E
at Dartmouth College Library Military units and formations established in 1861 Military units and formations disestablished in 1865

5th New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry The 5th New Hampshire Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The regiment has the unfortunate distinction of having sustained the greatest total loss in battles of any infantry or ...