1st Delaware Infantry Regiment

The 1st Regiment Delaware Volunteer Infantry was a United States volunteer infantry regiment raised for Union Army service in the American Civil War.

1st Regiment Delaware Volunteer Infantry (May-August 1861)

When the Civil War began in April 1861, there were only about 16,000 men in the U.S. Army, and many Southern soldiers and officers were already resigning and joining the new Confederate States Army. With this drastic shortage of men in the army, President Abraham Lincoln called on the states to raise a force of 75,000 men for three months to put down the insurrection in the South. Accordingly, the 1st Delaware was raised at Wilmington, Delaware on May 22, 1861 and mustered into Federal service on May 28. The regiment comprised 37 officers and 742 enlisted men under the command of Colonel Henry H. Lockwood. The regiment was attached to the command of Major General John Dix ('Dix's Command", Department of the Potomac) and assigned to duty along the line of the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad. The regiment mustered out on August 30 1861.

1st Regiment Delaware Volunteer Infantry (September 1861 - July 1865)

The war proved to be longer and larger than anyone had expected, and on July 22, 1861, Congress authorized a volunteer army of 500,000 men. A "new" 1st Regiment of Delaware Volunteers was raised at Wilmington, Delaware between September 10 and October 19 1861. The regiment served throughout the war and suffered 12 officers and 146 enlisted men killed and mortally wounded, and 118 enlisted men killed by disease. The regiment mustered out of Federal service on July 12 1865 with 37 officers and 846 enlisted men under the command of Colonel John W. Andrews.

Service and engagements

1861

• Organization and training at Wilmington, Delaware -- September 10-October 19

1862

• Camp Harrison, Virginia (part of the Fortress Monroe garrison) -- until May
• Occupation of Norfolk, Virginia -- May 10
• Battle of Antietam -- September 16-17
• Garrison of Harper's Ferry -- September 22-October 30
• Movement to Falmouth, Virginia -- October 30-November 17
• Battle of Fredericksburg -- December 12-15

1863

• Mud March -- January 20-22
• Falmouth, Virginia -- January-April
• Battle of Chancellorsville -- May 1-6
• Gettysburg Campaign -- June-July
• Battle of Gettysburg -- July 1-3
• Pursuit of Lee to Manassas Gap -- July 5-24
• Duty of line of the Rappahannock and Rapidan -- July-October
• Blackburn's Ford -- October 15
• Mine Run Campaign -- November 26-December 2

Medal of Honor

2nd Lieutenant Charles B. Tanner of Company H, 1st Delaware Infantry, won the Medal of Honor during the Battle of Antietam. His citation read: Carried off the regimental colors, which had fallen within 20 yards of the enemy's lines, the color guard of 9 men having all been killed or wounded, was himself 3 times wounded. <ref>"Delaware's Medal of Honor Winners delaware.gov". {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |access date= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)

See also

• Lists of American Civil War Regiments by State
• 1st Delaware Regiment -- a Delaware regiment from the Revolutionary War

External links

• Gettysburg battlefield monument to Lieut. Col. Edward P. Harris