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Muster In: Organized August 29 to September 4, 18611
Muster Out: July 16, 18652
Commander(s):
Major Henry Lyman Patten
3
Captain James Herbert Spencer
Commander Image Needed
Captain Gustave Magnitzky
Commander Image Needed
Captain Albert B. Holmes
Commander Image Needed
First Offensive Order of Battle: First Brigade | Second Division | II Corps | Army of the Potomac | Union Army4
- Commander: Major Henry Lyman Patten?5
- Unit Strength:
- Weapons: Enfield Rifles (.577 caliber) (June 30, 1864)6
Second Offensive Order of Battle: First Brigade | Second Division | II Corps | Army of the Potomac | Union Army7
- Commander: Major Henry Lyman Patten8
- Unit Strength:
- Weapons: Enfield Rifles (.577 caliber) (June 30, 1864)9
Third Offensive Order of Battle:
- Commander:
- Unit Strength:
- Weapons:
Fourth Offensive Order of Battle:
- Commander:
- Major Henry Lyman Patten (mortally wounded August 14, 1864)10,11
- Captain James Herbert Spencer (captured August 25, 1864 at Reams’ Station)12
- Note: Lt. Col. Edmund Rice of the 19th Massachusetts Infantry was temporarily in command of his own and the 20th MA for a period of time after Second Reams’ Station in late August 1864.
- Unit Strength:
- Weapons:
- Note: The 20th Massachusetts was almost completely captured at Second Reams’ Station on August 25, 1864.13
Fifth Offensive Order of Battle:
- Commander:
- Unknown (prior to September 12, 1864)
- Captain Gustave Magnitzky (September 12, 1864 forward)14
- Unit Strength:
- Weapons:
Sixth Offensive Order of Battle:
- Commander:
- Unknown
- Captain Albert B. Holmes (from October 31, 1864 forward)15
- Unit Strength:
- Weapons:
- Note: In late October 1864, at least, the 19th and 20th Massachusetts regiments were temporarily consolidated for field purposes.16
Seventh Offensive Order of Battle:
- Commander:
- Unit Strength: 133 officers and men PFD (November 3, 1864)17
- Weapons:
Eighth Offensive Order of Battle:
- Commander:
- Unit Strength:
- Weapons:
Ninth Offensive Order of Battle:
- Commander:
- Unit Strength:
- Weapons:
Dyer’s/Sifakis’ Compendium Info:
Siege of Petersburg Battles18:
- Before Petersburg June 16-18.
- Siege of Petersburg June 16, 1864, to April 2, 1865.
- Jerusalem Plank Road June 22-23, 1864.
- Demonstration north of the James July 27-29.
- Deep Bottom July 27-28.
- Strawberry Plains, Deep Bottom, August 14-18.
- Ream’s Station August 25.
- Boydton Plank Road, Hatcher’s Run, October 27-28.
- Dabney’s Mills, Hatcher’s Run, February 5-7, 1865.
- Watkins’ House March 25.
- Appomattox Campaign March 28-April 9.
- Crow’s House March 31.
- Fall of Petersburg April 2.
- Sailor’s Creek April 6.
- High Bridge and Farmville April 7.
- Appomattox C. H. April 9.
Bibliography:
- 20th MA: Fallen Leaves: The Civil War Letters of Major Henry Livermore Abbott
- 20th MA: Harvard’s Civil War: The History of the Twentieth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry
- 20th MA: Letters from a Surgeon of the Civil War
- 20th MA: The Civil War: The Nantucket Experience, Including the Memoirs of Josiah Fitch Murphey
- 20th MA: Touched with Fire; Civil War Letters and Diary of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
- 20th MA: Twentieth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry 1861-1865
Siege of Petersburg Documents Which Mention This Unit:
- 20th MA: Fallen Leaves: The Civil War Letters of Major Henry Livermore Abbott
- 20th MA: Harvard’s Civil War: The History of the Twentieth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry
- 20th MA: Letters from a Surgeon of the Civil War
- 20th MA: The Civil War: The Nantucket Experience, Including the Memoirs of Josiah Fitch Murphey
- 20th MA: Touched with Fire; Civil War Letters and Diary of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
- 20th MA: Twentieth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry 1861-1865
- Number 54. Report of Captain Gustave Magnitzky, Twentieth Massachusetts Infantry, of operations October 27-28
- Number 56. Siege of Petersburg Report of Lieutenant Colonel Arthur R. Curtis, Twentieth Massachusetts Infantry, of operations February 5-7
Sources:
- A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion by Frederick H. Dyer (Part 3) ↩
- A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion by Frederick H. Dyer (Part 3) ↩
- MOLLUS – Masschusetts Photograph Collection: Volume: 84; Page: 4227; Document ID: 258099. This photograph is available online at the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center (USAHEC) site under the Digitized Material section. I would link directly to the photograph but the site’s coding makes direct linking difficult if not impossible. ↩
- The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XL, Part 1 (Serial Number 80), pages 219-221 ↩
- Bruce, G.A. Twentieth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry 1861-1865 (Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1906). p. 408,415.: Patten was in command at the Battle of Jerusalem Plank Road on June 22, 1864. It is difficult to tell what the 20th Massachusetts did, if anything, from June 15-18, 1864 because this regimental history is very generic. A look at the losses from June 15-24, 1864 further along in the book shows no casualties ranking higher than Major Patten. Due to these clues, Patten was probably the commander of the 20th Massachusetts from June 15-18, 1864, but more research is needed. ↩
- Volume 13 (Ordnance Returns for the Second Quarter, April-June, 1864); 20th Massachusetts Entry, Page 84; Summary Statements of Quarterly Returns of Ordnance and Ordnance Stores on Hand in Regular and Volunteer Army Organizations, 1862-1867, 1870-1876. (National Archives Microfilm Publication M1281, Roll 7); Records of the Office of the Chief of Ordnance, 1797-1969, Record Group 156; National Archives Building, Washington, D.C. ↩
- The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XL, Part 1 (Serial Number 80), pages 219-221 ↩
- Bruce, G.A. Twentieth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry 1861-1865 (Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1906). p. 408. ↩
- Volume 13 (Ordnance Returns for the Second Quarter, April-June, 1864); 20th Massachusetts Entry, Page 84; Summary Statements of Quarterly Returns of Ordnance and Ordnance Stores on Hand in Regular and Volunteer Army Organizations, 1862-1867, 1870-1876. (National Archives Microfilm Publication M1281, Roll 7); Records of the Office of the Chief of Ordnance, 1797-1969, Record Group 156; National Archives Building, Washington, D.C. ↩
- Smith, John D. The History of the Nineteenth Regiment of Maine Volunteer Infantry, 1862-1865 (Great Western Printing Company, 1909). p. 227. ↩
- Bruce, G.A. Twentieth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry 1861-1865 (Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1906). p. 417. ↩
- Bruce, G.A. Twentieth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry 1861-1865 (Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1906). pp. 421-422.: Spencer was in command when the regiment was surrounded and almost completely captured at the Second Battle of Reams’ Station on August 25, 1864. ↩
- Bruce, G.A. Twentieth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry 1861-1865 (Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1906). pp. 421-422.: Only one non-commissioned officer and ten men escaped. ↩
- Bruce, G.A. Twentieth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry 1861-1865 (Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1906). pp. 423.: Magnitzky returned to the 20th MA on September 12, 1864 and assumed command as the ranking officer. ↩
- Bruce, G.A. Twentieth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry 1861-1865 (Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1906). pp. 428.: Holmes returned to the 20th MA on October 31, 1864 and assumed command as the ranking officer. ↩
- The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XLII, Part 1 (Serial Number 87), page 309 ↩
- Bruce, G.A. Twentieth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry 1861-1865 (Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1906). pp. 428.: Eight commissioned officers plus 125 enlisted men equals 133. ↩
- A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion by Frederick H. Dyer (Part 3) ↩
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