Unit

Federal Regiment

12th Massachusetts Infantry

"Webster Regiment"
Organized: Fort Warren, MA; mustered in 6/26/1861
Disbanded/Mustered out on 7/8/1864

Commanding Officers:
Maj. Elisha Burbank
Capt. Benjamin F. Cook

Statistics for Maryland Campaign
  Initial Strength: 334
  Killed in Action (KIA): 49
  Wounded (WIA): 165
  Losses, % of Initial Strength: 64.1%

Maps Showing this Unit:
   Detail Map #1: Hookers I Corps' Sweeps Down the Pike
   Detail Map #2: Hood's Division Retakes the Cornfield

Battlefield Tablets for this Unit:
   Tablet #1: First Army Corps - 16 Sep, 2 PM to 16 Sep, 6 PM
   Tablet #14: Ricketts' Division, First Army Corps - 16 Sep, 2 PM to 16 Sep, 8 PM
   Tablet #120: Army of the Potomac - 17 Sep, 5 AM to 17 Sep, 12 PM
   Tablet #7: Ricketts' Division, First Army Corps - 17 Sep, 6 AM to 17 Sep, 5 PM
   Tablet #10: Hartsuff's Brigade, Ricketts' Division - 17 Sep, 6 AM to 17 Sep, 8 AM
   Tablet #81: Ricketts' Division, First Army Corps - 17 Sep, 6 AM to 17 Sep, 9 AM

This Regiment's Chain of Command:
  Army - Army of the Potomac
  Corps - First (I) Army Corps
  Division - 2nd Division, I Corps
  Brigade - 3rd Brigade, 2nd Division, I Corps

History of the Unit:
Named for their first commander, they were organized at Boston in 1861. Colonel Fletcher Webster (son of Senator Daniel Webster) was killed in command of the Regiment at 2nd Bull Run on 30 August 1862.

In the Antietam Campaign:
A three-year unit recruited largely from Boston, the 12th suffered the highest percentage of casualties among all Federal Regiments at Antietam. Colonel Coulter, in his after-action report for the Brigade said

"The Twelfth Massachusetts had killed and disabled eleven officers of fifteen taken into the field. The loss of this regiment, owing to its position, was by far the most severe in the brigade. Major Burbank commanded at the commencement of the action and was disabled early. He performed his whole duty while in the field. Captain Allen, who next assumed command, was also severely wounded. I cannot express too high an opinion of this officer. He has proved himself one of the most gallant officers in the brigade. The command of this regiment next devolved upon Capt. B. F. Cook, who commanded during the reminder of the action, and brought the regiment off the field."

« Search for Another Unit