Campaign from the Rapidan to the James

Battle of the Wilderness

The regiment was sent to support the flank of the Second Corps when it was counterattacked on May 6. Colonel Griswold was killed by a shot to the neck. Lieutenant Colonel Stephen N. Weld assumed command of the regiment. The Second Corps was retreating in disorder through the regiment’s lines, and Brigadier General Alexander Webb advised Weld to “Get out of there as damned quick as you can!”* The regiment withdrew in good order, pausing occasionally to fire, until reaching the Union positions along Brock Road. The regiment lost nine men killed, 57 wounded and 11 missing.

Lieutenant Colonel Stephen N. Weld was promoted to colonel after the battle.

*Rhea, Gordon C., The Battle of the Wilderness, May 5–6, 1864

Battle of Spottsylvania Court House

Ny River

Assault on the Salient

The regiment made an unsuccessful charge on the Confederate lines in the late afternoon of May 12 in support of the assault that was being made on the salient. It lost ten men killed, 41 wounded and 1 man missing. Colonel Weld temporarily took command of the brigade.

The regiment made another unsuccessful charge against enemy lines on May 18, losing five men killed and 40 wounded. They were forced to line prone under heavy fire for two to three hours until a heavy thunderstorm allowed them to escape.

North Anna River

The regiment was ordered to attack what was thought to be a weak Confederate rearguard but was actually the strongest point of the Confederate lines. The regiment lost 7 men killed, 40 wounded and 17 prisoners. Lieutenant Colonel Weld later wrote that their birgade commander, Brigadier General Ledlie, was “apparently drunk” and botched the attack.*

*Rhea, Gordon C. To the North Anna River: Grant and Lee, May 13–25, 1864

Bethesda Church

Occupied rifle pits in reserve. Took part in heavy skirmishing on the second day, losing one man killed, 11 wounded and one missing.

Battle of Cold Harbor

The regiment was part of the rear guard for the army, which was moving into position to make a frontal assault on the 3rd. The Confederates attacked. The 56th Massachusetts acted as support for the 2nd Maine Battery, and took friendy fire from the guns, losing two men killed and seven wounded. But they remained as rear guard and escaped the deadly frontal assaults that most of the army made on the next day.

First Assault on Petersburg

The 56th Massachusetts led the way in the attack on the Confederate lines. They were able to capture the trenches after an assault across 200 yards of open ground, but were forced back along with the rest of the Union attackers by a Confederate counterattack. The regiment lost 19 men killed, 40 wounded and five missing and captured 50 Confederates.

Siege of Petersburg begins

Mine Explosion, Petersburg

The 56th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment with its brigade was in the front line of the assault on the crater, a last minute substitution at the insistance of Meade and Grant for Black regiments who had carefully prepared for the attack. The unplanned attack was a costly failure, with men jamming into the crater so thickly that they could not raise their weapons. Colonel Weld was captured, the only one of the nine regimental commanders of Ledlie’s division who survived the attack. The regiment lost 10 men killed, 25 wounded and 22 prisoners.

Weldon Railroad

The regiment lost one man killed and nine wounded.

Battle of Peeble’s Farm

Although the regiment escaped the encirclement and capture of several other regiments in its brigade, it lost one man killed, 8 men wounded and 30 men captured.

Boydton Plank Road, Hatcher’s Run

Battle of Fort Stedman

Appomattox Campaign

Fall of Petersburg

The regiment successfully attacked and captured Confederate Battery 27 and held it against Confederate counterattacks, losing three men killed and 13 wounded.