American Historical Ephemera & Early Photography Online

Group of approx. 20 documents, 1863-1865, highlighted by two documents related to recruitment for the 2nd Massachusetts Infantry regiment featuring signatures of prominent Bostonians who aided recruitment efforts: "Paper signed by Wm. Dwight and others pledging their influence to aid in recruiting for the regiment." Boston, Massachusetts, 6 February 1864. 2pp, 7 3/4 x 10 in. "We, the undersigned, do hereby agree to exert our personal influence in aid of filling the ranks of the 2nd Mass Regt. of Infantry if it should be allowed to remain in the state for the purpose of recruiting." Signed by 19 individuals including Josiah Quincy, Jr., William Dwight, Thomas Dwight, James Lawrence, Thomas Wigglesworth, Horace Gray, Jr., Charles Armory, J. Huntington Wolcott, and Joseph S. Fay. -- "Subscriptions for recruiting Regt," Boston, 8 March, 1864. 2pp, 7 3/4 x 10 in., states: "The undersigned agree to contribute the sums set against their respective names to a fund with which to procure recruits for the Massachusetts Second Infantry Regiments." Among the 34 individuals identified as donating to the fund are the following: James Savage (1784-1873), a prominent banker whose son James Savage, Jr., captain 2nd Massachusetts Infantry, was shot and DOW following the Battle of Cedar Mountain; Francis George Shaw (1809-1882), abolitionist and father of Col. Robert Gould Shaw; William Dwight (1805-1880), father of Union Brigadier General William Dwight, and Lt. Col. Wilder Dwight, DOW at Battle of Antietam while serving with the 2nd Massachusetts Infantry; Josiah Quincy, Jr. (1802-1882), a former mayor of Boston; and William Perkins (1804-1887), a Boston merchant whose son William E. Perkins served in the 44th and 2nd Massachusetts Infantry regiments.

Additional documents include: group of 8 receipts for recruiting agent payments for the 2nd Mass. Infantry. -- Receipts for supplies, including "10 Drum Heads." -- Several printed orders and 3 manuscript circulars and 1 manuscript special orders, including one related to transportation orders following the Battle of Gettysburg, one related to picket lines after Chancellorsville, and another related to returns of the killed and wounded following Chancellorsville.

The 2nd Massachusetts Infantry Regiment was organized at Camp Andrew, West Roxbury, and mustered in under the command of Colonel George H. Gordon, Lieutenant Colonel George Leonard Andrews (first in his class, West Point Class of 1851) and Major Wilder Dwight. Other notable commanders include Robert Gould Shaw who was a captain in the regiment and was wounded in the neck at Antietam. The regiment participated in major engagements in the Eastern Theater including the Battles of Antietam, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg, before moving to the Western Theater and seeing action throughout the Atlanta Campaign, the March to the Sea, and the Campaign of the Carolinas.