Second Massachusetts Sharpshooter Company

United States Regiments & Batteries > Massachusetts

The company lost 11 enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 12 enlisted men to disease during the Civil War. The company is honored by a monument at Gettysburg.

The Second Massachusetts Sharpshooter Company was originally formed for Colonel Hiram Berdan’s sharpshooter regiments. The two companies of Massachusetts sharpshooters decided to retain their state affiliation when told that they would lose the state enlistment bounty by joining Berdan’s Federal regiments. The two companies of Massachusetts Sharpshooters were nominally independent, although each operated with a Massachusetts regiment.

1861
September Organized at Lynnfield under the command of Captain Lewis E. Wentworth of Salem. The core of the company came from men who were in excess of the 100 man limit imposed on the First Sharpshooter Company.  Additional men were then recruited and mustered in during the month of September to bring the company up to strength.
October 8 The company was attached to the 22nd Massachusetts Infantry Regiment for most of its history. Left by rail for Washington, D.C. The regiment paraded down Fifth Avenue in New York Ciry while passing through.
October 11 Arrived in Washington D.C.
October 13 Crossed the Potomac and was assigned duty at Hall’s Hill, Virginia. Attached to Martindale’s Brigade, Porter’s Division, Army of the Potomac.
October 28 Colonel Wilson resigned from the 22nd Massacusetts. Colonel Jesse Gove, a Regular Army officer, took over command of the regiment. He provided the regiment with rigorous training, particularly as skirmishers, a duty they would specialize in throughout the war.
1862
March Attached to 1st Brigade, 1st Division, 3rd Corps, Army of the Potomac
March 10-16 Advance on Manassas, Va.
March 16-23 Moved to Alexandria, then to Fortress Monroe, Va.,
April 5

Warwick Road

The regiment was engaged in its first combat.
May Transferred to the 1st Brigade. 1st Division, 5th Corps
April 5-May 4

Siege of Yorktown
May 27 Hanover Court House
May 27-29 Operations about Hanover Court House
June 25-July 1 Seven days before Richmond
June 26 Mechanicsville
June 27

Battle of Gaines’ Mill

The regiment spent most of the battle in reserve. At the end of the day the Union line broke and the 22nd Massachusetts was outflanked and forced to fall back. Colonel Gove was killed and Captain Walter S. Sampson took command. But the Second Massachusetts Sharpshooters under the command of Lieutenant Stiles had been assiagned as baggage train guard and missed the disaster.
June 30

Battle of Glendale (White Oak Swamp and Turkey Bridge)

The 22nd Massachusetts supported the 3rd Massachusetts Battery
July 1

Battle of Malvern Hill

The regiment supported a battery of the 5th United States Artillery. The Sharpshooters suffered few casualties but lost their knapsacks containing their bullet moulds and patch cutters, specialty equipment needed for their telescope rifles. The telescope rifles would be replaced by standard regulation Sharps rifles, to the disgust of the men.
July – August 15

At Harrison’s Landing

Lieutenant Colonel Griswold returned from sick leave and was promoted to colonel.
August 15-28 Retreat from the Peninsula and movement to Centreville. The regiment was moved by boat to Aquia Creek then by rail to Fredericksburg, and marched to Glendale, near Manassas.
August 30

Second Battle of Bull Run (Second Manassas)

The 22nd was detched from its brigade on picket duty and was not engaged in the battle.
Early September The regiment occupied its old camp at Hall’s Hill, Virginia.
September 16-17

Battle of Antietam

The regiment was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Tilton due to the ill health of Colonel Griswold. It was in reserve and took no part in the fighting.
September 19-20

Shepherdstown

The regiment crossed the Potomac at Boteler’s Ford downstream from Shepherdstown in pursuit of Lee. A counterattack by A.P. Hill drove them back across the Potomac.
September 20 At Sharpsburg
October 16 Colonel Griswold resigned due to his poor health.
October 17 Lieutenant Colonel Tilton was promoted to colonel
October 30-
November 19		 Movement to Falmouth, Va.
December 12-15

Battle of Fredericksburg

On the 13th the 22nd Massachusetts advanced under heavy artillery fire and relieved the 12th Rhode Island behind a stone wall. The regiment held its position, firing prone, until they were relieved by the 20th Maine. On the 14th they renewed their ammunition and returned to their position from the 13th, where they were pinned down all day by heavy Confederate fire. They withdrew across the Rappahannock on the 15th.

The Second Massachusetts Sharpshooter Company lost seven men wounded, two of them mortally.
December 22 The regiment went into winter quarters at Camp Gove near Stoneman’s Station (now Leland Station).
December 29-30 Expedition to Richards’ and Ellis’ Fords
1863
January 20-24

“Mud March”
January – April At Falmouth
April 27-May 6

Chancellorsville Campaign
May 1-5

Battle of Chancellorsville

The 22nd Massachusetts Infantry Regiment covered the Rapidan River fords in the army’s rear and saw no action. One man in the Sharpshooters was killed by a shell.
May 8 The regiment returned to quarters at Camp Gove.
End of May Colonel Tilton took over command of the brigade as senior colonel, and Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Sherwin took over the regiment.
May 28 The 22nd left Camp Gove to cover the Rappahannock crossings.
June 11-July 24

Gettysburg Campaign
June 13 Began the march north from the Rappahannock in pursuit of Lee.
June 30 Arrived at Union Mills, Pennsylvania.
July 1 Marched to Hanover, Pennsylvania. They were ordered to make a night march to Gettysburg.
July 2-4

Battle of Gettysburg

The 22nd Massachusetts Infantry Regiment was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Sherwin while Colonel William S. Tilton temporarily commanded the brigade. It fought in the Rose Woods and the Wheatfield on July 2. A monument to the Second Massachusetts Sharpshooter Company is south of Gettysburg on the south side of the Loop of Sickles Avenue.
July At Warrenton and Beverly Ford
September 9 200 draftees joined the regiment.
September 17 At Culpeper
October 11-22

Bristoe Campaign
November 7-8 Advance to line of the Rappahannock
November 7

Rappahannock Station
November 26-
December 2

Mine Run Campaign
December At Beverly Ford
1864
March Attached to 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, 5th Corps. Colonel Tilton was relieved of brigade command in the reorganization of the army and returned to command of the regiment.
May-June

Campaign from the Rapidan to the James
April 30 Broke camp and began advance south of the Rapidan River.
May 5-7

Battle of the Wilderness
May 8-18

Battle of Spotsylvania Court House

Commanded by Major Mason Burt, the regiment was again used as skirmishers, attacking a line of rifle pits.
May 8

Laurel Hill

The Sharpshooters lost six men killed and four men badly wounded, their highest casualties of any battle.
May 12

Assault on the Salient
May 23-26
North Anna River
May 26-28 Line of the Pamunkey
May 28-31

Totopotomoy
June 1-12

Battle of Cold Harbor
June 1-3

Bethesda Church
June 16-18

First Assault on Petersburg

The regiment served as skirmishers.
June 16 – August 8

Siege of Petersburg
June 30 Moved into the trenches.
August 8 The 22nd Massachusetts Infantry Regiment was relieved from duty in the trenches and assigned to guard duty at City Point.
October 3 The Sharpshooters were ordered to return to Massachusetts to muster out. Recruits and reenlisted men were transferred to the 32nd Massachusetts Infantry Regiment.
October 5 Left by ship for Washington, then by train to Massachusetts.
October 10 Arrived in Boston.
October 17 The Second Massachusetts Sharpshooter Company was mustered out in Boston.