The 16th Maine Infantry Regiment was a volunteer infantry unit that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
Organization
- Date of muster: Organized at Portland, Maine, and mustered into Federal service on 28 August 1862 for a three‑year term.
- Initial strength: Approximately 1,000 men recruited from Maine’s towns and cities.
Service attachments
- After leaving Maine in September 1862, the regiment reported to Washington, D.C., and was assigned to the IX Corps, Army of the Potomac.
- Throughout the war the regiment served in various brigade and division assignments within the IX Corps and later the VI Corps.
Major engagements
- Fredericksburg (December 1862) – participated in the Union assaults on Marye’s Heights.
- Mud March (January 1863) – endured the failed winter offensive.
- Siege of Suffolk (April–May 1863) – helped defend the Union position in southeastern Virginia.
- Battle of the Wilderness (May 1864) – engaged in the opening battles of the Overland Campaign.
- Spotsylvania Court House (May 1864) – fought in the prolonged fighting at the “Bloody Angle.”
- Cold Harbor (June 1864) – took part in the costly Union assaults.
- Siege of Petersburg (June 1864 – April 1865) – remained in the siege lines until the fall of Petersburg.
Casualties
- Total losses during the war were approximately 260 men, including those killed in action, mortally wounded, and who died of disease.
Commanders
- The regiment was initially commanded by Colonel John A. Carter. Subsequent field commanders included Lieutenant Colonel James H. Blanchard and Major Henry T. Rogers.
Muster out
- The 16th Maine Infantry Regiment was mustered out of service on 25 June 1865 at Boston, Massachusetts. Veterans and veterans’ groups later formed a regimental association that held reunions and preserved the unit’s history.
Legacy
- The regiment’s service is commemorated on several Civil War monument sites, particularly at the Gettysburg National Military Park, where a monument marks the position held by the 16th Maine during the battle’s third day.
All information presented reflects established historical records from Union Army rosters, Official Records of the War of the Rebellion, and regimental histories.
