The 20th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, also known as the "Harvard Regiment," was a regiment of infantry 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 regiment was so nicknamed because the officers of the 20th were young

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

graduates. In addition, some, but not all, of the private soldiers had attended Harvard. The 20th was organized at

Camp Meigs Camp Meigs is a former American Civil War training camp that existed from 1862 to 1865 in Readville, Massachusetts. It was combined from the former Camp Brigham (formed to train the 18th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry) and Camp Massaso ...

Readville Readville is part of the Hyde Park neighborhood of Boston. Readville's ZIP Code is 02136. It was called Dedham Low Plains from 1655 until it was renamed after the mill owner James Read in 1847. It was part of Dedham until 1867. It is served by ...

, August 29 to September 4, 1861. After training they left

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

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, Na ...

, September 4. They would fight until the war's conclusion being mustered out on July 16 and discharged July 28, 1865.

Brigade, divisional and corps attachments

Attached to Lander's Brigade, Division of the Potomac, to October, 1861. Lander's Brigade, Stone's (Sedgwick'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. 3rd Brigade, 2nd Division, 2nd Army Corps, Army of the Potomac, to March, 1864. 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, 2nd Army Corps, to July, 1865.

Battles

With the exception of

First Bull Run The First Battle of Bull Run (the name used by Union forces), also known as the Battle of First Manassas

, the 20th participated in all of the major battles and many of the smaller battles fought by the Army of the Potomac. Their baptism of fire occurred at

Ball's Bluff The Battle of Ball's Bluff was an early battle of the American Civil War fought in Loudoun County, Virginia, on October 21, 1861, in which Union Army forces under Major General George B. McClellan suffered a humiliating defeat. The operation was ...

on October 21, 1861. Other battles included the Seven Days,

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 ...

, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, the

Wilderness Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plural), are natural environments on Earth that have not been significantly modified by human activity or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally re ...

Spotsylvania Court House The Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, sometimes more simply referred to as the Battle of Spotsylvania (or the 19th-century spelling Spottsylvania), was the second major battle in Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and Maj. Gen. George G. Meade's 1864 ...

, the

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. Although it is more popularly known as the Siege of Petersburg, it was not a cla ...

, and the Appomattox Campaign.

Casualties

The 20th regiment lost 17 officers and 243 enlisted men killed and mortally wounded, and one officer and 148 enlisted men from disease. The total casualties were 409. The regiment ranks first among Massachusetts regiments and fifth among Union regiments in total casualties."The Harvard Regiment"
Retrieved on 2008-02-15

Notable members

* Henry L. Abbott * William Bartlett * Joseph Hayes *

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. (March 8, 1841 – March 6, 1935) was an American jurist and legal scholar who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1902 to 1932.Holmes was Acting Chief Justice of the Un ...

* Norwood "Pen" Hallowell *

Edward Needles Hallowell Edward "Ned" Needles Hallowell (November 3, 1836 – July 26, 1871) was an officer in the Union Army in the duration of the American Civil War, commanding the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry following the death of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw a ...

William Raymond Lee William Raymond Lee (August 15, 1807 – December 26, 1891) was an officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He was born in Salem, Massachusetts. His father was also named William Raymond Lee and his mother was Hannah Lee (née Tracy ...

Francis Winthrop Palfrey Francis Winthrop Palfrey (1831–1889) was an American historian and Civil War officer. Early life Palfrey was born in Boston, Massachusetts on April 11, 1831, the son of John G. Palfrey (1796-1881) and Mary Ann (nee Hammond) Palfrey (1800-1897 ...

Paul Joseph Revere Paul Joseph Revere (Sept 10, 1832 – July 4, 1863) was a Brevet Brigadier General in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Early life He was born in Suffolk County, Massachusetts. He was the grandson and namesake of Revolutionary War ...

* Henry Martyn Tremlett

Notes

References

* * * * * * *

External links

Pvt of 20th Mass killed in 1863
* * {{Internet Archive, 02619701.3247.emory.edu, The Twentieth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, 1861-1865 (1906) Units and formations of the Union Army from Massachusetts 1861 establishments in Massachusetts Military units and formations established in 1861 Military units and formations disestablished in 1865