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Fifty-Sixth Massachusetts Infantry.--“First Veteran.”
Carruth's Brigade —
Stevenson's Division--Ninth Corps.
| companies. | killed and died of wounds. | died of disease, accidents, in Prison, &c. | Total Enrollment. |
| Officers. | Men. | Total. | Officers. | Men. | Total. |
| Field and Staff | 2 | | 2 | | | | 13 |
| Company | A | | 12 | 12 | | 5 | 5 | 104 |
| | B | | 10 | 10 | | 7 | 7 | 93 |
| | C | 1 | 16 | 17 | | 6 | 6 | 109 |
| | D | 1 | 14 | 15 | | 12 | 12 | 105 |
| | E | 2 | 10 | 12 | | 12 | 12 | 105 |
| | F | | 15 | 15 | | 10 | 10 | 91 |
| | G | | 10 | 10 | | 13 | 13 | 99 |
| | H | | 10 | 10 | | 13 | 13 | 122 |
| | I | | 15 | 15 | | 13 | 13 | 103 |
| | K | | 8 | 8 | | 9 | 9 | 103 |
| Totals | 6 | 120 | 126 | | 100 | 100 | 1,047 |
126 killed == 12 per cent.
Total of killed and wounded, 447; died of disease in Confederate prisons (previously included), 47.
| battles. | K. & M. W. | battles. | K. & M. W. |
| Wilderness, Va. | 23 | Petersburg Mine | 13 |
| Spotsylvania, Va., May 12 | 20 | Weldon Railroad, Va. | 3 |
| Spotsylvania, May 18 | 10 | Poplar Spring Church, Va. | 3 |
| North Anna, Va. | 11 | Siege of Petersburg, Va. | 10 |
| Bethesda Church, Va. | 3 | Picket, July, 30, 1864 | 1 |
| Cold Harbor, Va. | 4 | Fall of Petersburg | 4 |
| Petersburg Assault | 21 | | |
Present, also, at
Hatcher's Run.
notes.--Organized at Readville, Mass., recruiting having commenced in December, 1863.
Many of the men had served terms of enlistment in other regiments.
It left the
State March 21, 1864, and, with about 850 men, proceeded to
Annapolis, where it was attached to the First Brigade,
Stevenson's (1st) Division, Ninth Corps.
In the latter part of April it marched to
Alexandria, Va., and thence to the
Wilderness.
Colonel Griswold was killed in that action, and the casualties, as given in the
State reports, were 9 killed, 57 wounded, and 10 missing. At
Spotsylvania, May 12th, it lost 10 killed, 41 wounded, and 1 missing; on the 18th, it also lost there 5 killed, and 40 wounded. In the charge of the Ninth Corps on the works at
Petersburg--June 17, 1864--the regiment was prominently engaged, its losses amounting to 10 killed, 51 wounded, and 16 missing; this was its hardest fight.
It also sustained serious losses while in the trenches before
Petersburg, men being killed or wounded daily for several weeks.
At the
Mine Explosion it lost 4 killed, 21 wounded, and 25 missing. The Fifty-sixth was a steady, reliable, fighting regiment; although its losses, numerically, were not extraordinary, yet its percentage of killed was far above the average and entitles it to distinction.
The Division was broken up in August, 1864, and the regiment transferred to
Potter's (2d) Division.
