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The 22nd Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment in the Union army during the American Civil War. The 22nd Massachusetts was organized by Senator Henry Wilson (future Vice-President during the Ulysses Grant administration) and was therefore known as "Henry Wilson's Regiment." It was formed in Boston, Massachusetts, and established on September 28, 1861, for a term of three years.〔Parker, 24.〕 Arriving in Washington in October 1861, the regiment spent the following winter in camp at Hall's Hill, near Arlington in Virginia. It became part of the Army of the Potomac, with which it would be associated for its entire term of service. The regiment saw its first action during the Siege of Yorktown in April 1862. It was involved in the Peninsular Campaign, particularly the Battle of Gaines' Mill during which it suffered its worst casualties (numerically) of the war.〔Parker, 123〕 Their worst casualties in terms of percentages took place during the Battle of Gettysburg (60 percent).〔Bowen, 354.〕 The 22nd Massachusetts was present for virtually all of the major battles in which the Army of the Potomac fought, including the Second Battle of Bull Run, the Battle of Antietam, the Battle of Fredericksburg, the Battle of Chancellorsville, the Battle of Gettysburg and Lieutenant General Ulysses Grant's Overland Campaign. The 22nd was especially proficient in skirmish drill and was frequently deployed in that capacity throughout the war.〔Parker, 84.〕 During the Siege of Petersburg in October 1864, the 22nd Massachusetts was removed from the lines and sent home to Massachusetts. Of the 1,100 who initially belonged to the unit, only 125 returned at the end of their three years of service.〔Parker, 488.〕 Of these losses, roughly 300 were killed in action or died from wounds received in action, approximately 500 were discharged due to wounds or disease, and approximately 175 were lost or discharged due to capture, resignation, or desertion.〔Parker, 490.〕 == Organization and early duty == Henry Wilson, a Senator from Massachusetts and chairman of the Senate's Committee on Military Affairs, witnessed the First Battle of Bull Run on July 21, 1861.〔Parker, 1.〕 The disastrous defeat of the Union army convinced Wilson, and the federal government in general, of the urgent need for more troops.〔Catton, 51.〕 Immediately after the battle, Wilson promised both President Abraham Lincoln and Massachusetts Governor John Andrew that he would raise a full brigade including units of infantry, artillery, cavalry and sharpshooters.〔 Wilson's prestige encouraged the almost immediate formation of more than a dozen companies of infantry in and around Boston.〔Bowen, 346.〕 The pressing need to send troops to the front required Wilson to abandon his original intention of raising multiple regiments of infantry and he instead selected the 10 companies closest to readiness, thus creating the 22nd Massachusetts Regiment.〔 To this regiment were attached the 3rd Battery Massachusetts Light Artillery and the 2nd Company Massachusetts Sharpshooters. Thus, the 22nd Massachusetts became one of the few infantry units in the Civil War with attached artillery and sharpshooters.〔Katcher, 8.〕 Many of the officers of the 22nd, and some of the enlisted men, had just completed an enlistment with early war regiments (the so-called "ninety day regiments"), including the 5th Massachusetts and the 6th Massachusetts.〔Parker, 5–12.〕 Five of the 10 companies were recruited in Boston. The remaining five came from Taunton, Roxbury, Woburn, Cambridge and Haverhill. The regiment was signed into existence by Gov. Andrew on September 28, 1861. Wilson was appointed its first colonel. The recruits of the 22nd Massachusetts trained at a camp in Lynnfield, Massachusetts, during September and left for the front, numbering 1,117, on October 8, 1861.〔Parker, 3.〕〔Parker, 100〕 Traveling by railroad, the regiment paused in New York City, marching down Fifth Avenue, and was received with a formal ceremony and the presentation of a national battle flag made by a committee of the ladies of New York.〔Parker, 37.〕 The 22nd arrived in Washington on October 11, and on October 13, marched across the Potomac to go into winter camp at Halls Hill, just outside of Arlington, Virginia. Here the Army of the Potomac was organized during the winter of 1861–1862. The 22nd became part of Brig. Gen. John H. Martindale's brigade and was initially attached to the III Corps.〔Bowen, 347.〕 On October 28, 1861, Col. Wilson resigned his command, turning the regiment over to Col. Jesse Gove. Gove, a Regular Army officer, had seen service in the Mexican-American War. He was a strict disciplinarian and, according to John Parker (the regimental historian) Gove soon became the "idol of the regiment".〔Parker, 49〕 During its first winter of service, the 22nd remained at Hall's Hill and became proficient in military drill.〔Parker, 60.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「22nd Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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