The 25th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry was an

infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, military service, service, or administrative corps, specialisation. In Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of l ...

that served in the Union Army during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

Service

The 25th Massachusetts was organized at Camp Lincoln in

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Massachusetts, second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the list of United States cities by population, 113th most populous city in the United States. Named after Worcester ...

, beginning September 1, 1861 and mustered in for a three-year enlistment on October 31, 1861, under the command of

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), 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 colon ...

Edwin M. Upton. The regiment was attached to Foster's 1st Brigade, Burnside's Expeditionary Corps, to April 1862. 1st Brigade, 1st Division,

Department of North Carolina Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

, to December 1862. Lee's Brigade, Department of North Carolina, to January 1863. 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, XVIII Corps, Department of North Carolina, to June 1863. 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, Defenses of New Bern, North Carolina, Department of North Carolina, to August 1863. District of the Pamlico, North Carolina,

Department of Virginia and North Carolina The Department of Virginia and North Carolina was a United States Military department encompassing Union-occupied territory in the Confederate States during the Civil War. In 1863, it was formed by the merging of two previously existing departm ...

, to September 1863. Defenses of New Bern, North Carolina, Department of Virginia and North Carolina, to October 1863. Heckman's Brigade, Newport News, Virginia, Department of Virginia and North Carolina, to January 1864. Unattached, United States Forces, Portsmouth, Virginia, Department of Virginia and North Carolina, to March 1864. 2nd Brigade, United States Forces, Portsmouth, Virginia, to April 1864. 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, XVIII Corps, Department of Virginia and North Carolina, to September 1864. Defenses of New Bern, North Carolina, District of North Carolina, Department of Virginia and North Carolina, to March 1865. 3rd Brigade, 2nd Division, District of Beaufort, North Carolina, Department of North Carolina, to March 1865. 2nd Brigade Division, District of Beaufort, North Carolina, Department of North Carolina, to April 1865. 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, XXIII Corps, Department of North Carolina, to July 1865. The 25th Massachusetts mustered out of service July 28, 1865.

Detailed service

Moved to Annapolis, Md., October 31-November 1, and duty there until January 7, 1862. Burnside's Expedition to Hatteras Inlet and Roanoke Island, North Carolina, January 7 – February 7, 1862. Battle of Roanoke Island February 8. Expedition to New Bern March 11–13. Battle of New Bern March 14. Provost duty at New Bern until May 9. Reconnaissance toward Trenton May 15–16. Trenton Bridge May 15. Picket and outpost duty until July. Expedition to Trenton and Pollocksville July 24–28. Guard, picket, and outpost duty at New Bern until December 10. Demonstration on New Bern November 11. Foster's Expedition to Goldsboro December 10–20. Kinston December 14. Whitehall December 16. Goldsboro December 17. Duty at New Bern until October 1863. Demonstration on Kinston March 6–8, Core Creek March 7. Skirmishes at Deep Gully, New Bern, March 13–14. Demonstration on Kinston May 20–23. Gum Swamp May 22. Expedition to Swift Creek July 17–20, and to Winton July 25–31. Moved to Newport News October 16–18, and duty there until January 22, 1864. Moved to Portsmouth January 22, 1864, and duty in the defenses of that city until April 26. Moved to Yorktown April 26. Butler's operations on south side of the James River and against Petersburg and Richmond May 4–28. Occupation of City Point and Bermuda Hundred May 5. Port Walthal, Chester Station, May 6–7. Swift Creek or Arrowfield Church May 9–10. Operations against Port Darling May 12–16. Drury's Bluff May 14–16. Bermuda Hundred front May 17–28. Moved to White House, then to Cold Harbor May 28 – June 1. Battles about Cold Harbor June 1–12; before Petersburg June 15–18. Siege of Petersburg and Richmond June 16 to September 4. In the trenches at Bermuda Hundred August 25 – September 4. Moved to New Bern, North Carolina, September 4–10, and duty there until March 1865. Non-veterans ordered home October 5, 1864, and mustered out October 20, 1864. Demonstration from New Bern on Kinston December 9–13, 1864. Operations against Goldsboro, North Carolina, March 3–21. Battle of Wyes Fork March 8–10. Occupation of Kinston March 14. Moved to Goldsboro March 22–23, and duty there until April 3. Advance on Raleigh April 9–13. Occupation of Raleigh April 14. Moved to Greensboro May 3–7, then to Charlotte May 12–13, and duty there until July 13. Moved to Readville, Massachusetts, July 13–21.

Casualties

The regiment lost a total of 330 men during service; 7 officers and 154 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded, 169 enlisted men died of disease.

Commanders

* Colonel Edwin M. Upton – resigned October 28, 1862 * Colonel Josiah Pickett

Notable members

* Corporal Orlando Phidelio Boss, Company F –

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...

recipient for action at the Battle of Cold Harbor, June 3, 1864 * Corporal David P. Casey, Company C – Medal of Honor recipient for action at the Battle of Cold Harbor, June 3, 1864

References

Sources

* Day, David L. ''My Diary of Rambles with the 25th Mass. Volunteer Infantry'' (Milford, MA: King & Billings, Printers), 1884. * Denny, J. Waldo. ''Address Delivered at Second Re-union K Association, 25th Massachusetts Volunteers, at Worcester, Mass., Sept. 26, 1870'' (Boston: A. Mudge & Son, Printers), 1871. * -----. ''Wearing the Blue in the Twenty-Fifth Mass. Volunteer Infantry'' (Worcester, MA: Putnam & Davis), 1879. * Draper, William Franklin. ''Recollections of a Varied Career'' (Boston: Little, Brown, and Company), 1908. * Dyer, Frederick H. ''A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion'' (Des Moines, IA: Dyer Pub. Co.), 1908. * McCarter, John Gray. ''How Rogers and I Made Our First and Second Excursion to the Old "Tar Heel" State, 1862-1903'' (Boston: s.n.), 1903. * Partridge, John W. ''Boylston, Massachusetts, in the Civil War: The Letters Home of Pvt. John W. Partridge, with Biographical Sketches of Other Boylston Soldiers'' (Bowie, MD: Heritage Books), 1995. * Putnam, Samuel H. ''The Story of Company A, Twenty-Fifth Regiment Mass. Vols. in the War of the Rebellion'' (Worcester, MA: Putnam, Davis and Co.), 1886. * Stearns, Amos Edward. ''Narrative of Amos E. Stearns, Member Co. A., 25th Regt., Mass. Vols., a Prisoner at Andersonville'' (Worcester, MA: F. P. Rice), 1887. * {{refend Military units and formations established in 1861 Military units and formations disestablished in 1865 Units and formations of the Union army from Massachusetts