Massachusetts 7th Volunteer Infantry (Union)

Williamsburg

Following the Confederate withdrawal from their Yorktown position, Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan was not prepared to mount an immediate pursuit with his entire force from the siege lines he had occupied for nearly a month. Initially, he was able to send forward only a portion of his army, led by the Third Corps of Samuel P. Heitzelman, to follow Gen. Joseph E. Johnston's Confederates. Heitzelman's divisions, led by Brig. Gens. Joseph Hooker and Phil Kearny, made contact with Johnston's army four miles sout…READ MORE

Brigadier GeneralCharles Devens

Seven Pines

Gen. Joseph E. Johnston withdrew his army from the Virginia Peninsula toward the Confederate capital of Richmond as Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan's army pursued him. By the end of May, Johnston held a defensive position seven miles east of the city on the Richmond and York River Railroad. McClellan's army facing Johnston straddled the Chickahominy River and stretched south. Capturing the initiative from his Union foe, Johnston attempted to overwhelm two Federal corps isolated south of the river. The Confed…READ MORE

Malvern Hill

On June 30th, the retreating Federal Army of the Potomac finally stopped at the James River at the end of seven days of fighting outside of Richmond.READ MORE

Brigadier GeneralCharles Devens

Major GeneralDarius N. Couch

Antietam

The Army of the Potomac, under the command of Maj. Gen. George McClellan, mounted a series of powerful assaults against General Robert E. Lee's forces along Antietam Creek near Sharpsburg, Maryland, on September 17th, 1862.READ MORE

Fredericksburg

In early November, Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside took command of the Army of the Potomac, and made immediate plans to move the army once again toward Richmond.READ MORE

CaptainPhineas A. Davis

CaptainFrederick M. Follet

ColonelThomas D. Johns

Lieutenant ColonelFranklin P. Harlow

ColonelHenry L. Eustis

ColonelWilliam H. Browne

Major GeneralJohn Newton

ColonelThomas D. Johns

ColonelWilliam H. Browne

Chancellorsville

On April 27, 1863, Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker launched a turning movement designed to pry Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia out of its lines at Fredericksburg.READ MORE

Lieutenant ColonelFranklin P. Harlow

ColonelHenry L. Eustis

Brigadier GeneralFrank Wheaton

Major GeneralJohn Newton

Gettysburg

In the summer of 1863, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee launched his second invasion of the Northern states. Lee sought to capitalize on recent Confederate victories and defeat the Union army on Northern soil, which he hoped would force the Lincoln administration to negotiate for peace. Lee also sought to take the war out of the ravaged Virginia farmland and gather supplies for his Army of Northern Virginia. Using the Shenandoah Valley as cover for his army, Lee was pursued first by Union Maj. Gen. Joseph Ho…READ MORE

Wilderness

The first battle between Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and Gen. Robert E. Lee erupted late in the morning of May 5, 1864, as Maj. Gen. Gouverneur K. Warren's Union V Corps attacked Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell's Second Corps on the Orange Turnpike southwest of the old Chancellorsville battlefield. Although Federal infantry managed to break through at several points, the Confederate line held. Fighting shifted to the south as Lt. Gen. A.P. Hill's Third Corps engaged Maj. Gen. Winfield S. Hancock's II Corps and ele…READ MORE

Spotsylvania Court House

Following the Battle of the Wilderness, Lieut. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant marched the Union army south with the hope of capturing Spotsylvania Court House and preventing Robert E. Lee's army from retreating further. Lee's Confederates, however, managed to get ahead of the Federals and block the road. Fighting began on May 8th, when the Union Fifth Corps under Maj. Gen. Gouverneur K. Warren and the Sixth Corps under Maj. Gen. John Sedgwick engaged Confederate Maj. Gen. Richard Anderson's First Corps at Laurel Hi…READ MORE

Cold Harbor

After two days of inconclusive fighting along Totopotomoy Creek northeast of Richmond, Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and Gen. Robert E. Lee turned their sights on the crossroads of Cold Harbor. Roads emanating through this critical junction led to Richmond as well as supply and reinforcement sources for the Union army. On May 31, 1864, Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan's cavalry captured Cold Harbor. The next day, Sheridan held the crossroads against a Confederate attack. With reinforcements from both armies arriving…READ MORE