10th Rhode Island Infantry Regiment

September 2015 10th Rhode Island Infantry Regiment Flag of Rhode Island.svg May 26, 1862 to September 1, 1862 United States Union Infantry Colonel Zenas BlissRhode Island U.S. Volunteer Infantry Regiments 1861-1865 9th Rhode Island Infantry Regiment 11th Rhode Island Infantry Regiment thumb|right|Sergeant Henry G. Lillibridge of Co. H, 10th Rhode Island Infantry Regiment. From the Liljenquist Family Collection of Civil War Photographs, Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress The 10th Rhode Island Infantry Regiment served for three months in the summer of 1862. It served, along with its sister units—the 9th Rhode Island Infantry Regiment and the 10th Rhode Island Battery—in the defenses of Washington, D.C. Service The regiment was mustered info Federal service at Providence on May 26, 1862. It moved to Washington, D. C. from May 27 to 29 and was attached to Sturgis' Command as part of the Military District of Washington. It saw duty at Camp Frieze, Tennallytown until June 26. With Sturgis, the regiment marched across the Potomac into Virginia, but returned to Washington when Jackson's threat to the city subsided. After a few days, on Monday morning, June 30, the 10th was detached from Sturgis' troops and ordered to relieve the 59th New York in the seven forts and three batteries it had been occupying.Spicer 1892 221 These defenses of Washington were north and west of the city. Company A was sent to Fort Franklin. This position guarded The Baltimore and Ohio Canal, the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, the Washington Aqueduct, the new water supply for the city, and the adjacent Potomac River shoreline northwest of the city.Cooling Owen 1988 133 U. S. Army Engineers had designed Franklin to protect the city's receiving reservoir (as conveyed by the Aqueduct) as well as the river shoreline. Nearby and guarding The Baltimore and Ohio Canal and the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad as they ran along the riverbank were companies E and I at Fort Alexander and F at Fort Ripley.Cooling Owen 1988 144–149 These were also built with an eye to mutually support Franklin and Fort Marcy across the river in Virginia.Cooling Owen 1988 133 A critical line of communication into Washington was the Chain Bridge across the Potomac. Although it was a crossbeam truss structure that resembled a long garden arbor or pergola, it retained the historical name associated with the site. The Chain Bridge gave the U. S. Army access to the countryside encampments in Fairfax County and the countryside beyond via the Leesburg and Georgetown Turnpike and other roads fanning out from its Virginia side. A complex of small forts and batteries protected the bridge on the Maryland side, covering the Virginia shoreline between the Arlington line and Chain Bridge. They provided long-range coordinated fire with Fort Strong, C.F. Smith, Ethan Allen, and Marcy on the Virginia side and Fort Sumner on the Maryland side of the Potomac. The 10th garrisoned several of them.Cooling Owen 1988 122-130 Directly behind and 50 feet (15.24 m) above, in position to rake the bridge if necessary, were Battery Martin Scott and a pair of 12-pounder mountain howitzers in an unfortified position.Cooling Owen 1988 128 A quarter mile to the north and in a supporting position was Battery Vermont, mounting three 32-pounder cannons. Company H was posted to these two batteries. Located downriver and overlooking the aqueduct's distributing reservoir was Battery Cameron, mounting two 100-pounder Parrott guns. It was in a position to support the Chain Bridge defenses as well as Forts C. F. Smith, Strong. Morton, Woodbury, Corcoran, Haggerty and Bennett across the river. This position, garrisoned by Company C also had command of the Georgetown Bridge.Cooling Owen 1988 124 A quarter-mile inland from Battery Martin Scott was a reserve fort built to guard against a breakthrough by infantry past the forts along the river.Cooling Owen 1988 138 This was Fort Gaines and was manned by the 10th's Company G. It had been built by the Pennsylvania Reserves during the prior summer. Administrative and operational headquarters were at Camp Frieze in Tennallytown in the District of Columbia. Fort Pennsylvania, on the highest point of the northwest's defensive line,Cooling Owen 1988 143Cooling and Owen cite its elevation as 429 feet above mean sea level (MSL) protected this nerve center and was manned by three companies of the 10th, B, K, and L. The regiment's remaining company, D, was ordered to the defenses of the Rock Creek valley, due north of Georgetown and a half-mile east of Tennallytown. This company joined at the 4th New York Heavy Artillery in manning Fort DeRussy.Named after the 4th New York's commander. Col. Gustavus A. DeRussy.Cooling Owen 1988 151 This fort, the largest of four works in the network, commanded the Milkhouse Ford Road across Rock Creek. Controlling this ford protected the rear access to Fort Stevens, the headquarters for the northern defenses of the capital.Cooling Owen 1988 151 Although seeing no action beyond occasional skirmishes and musketry from Rebel pickets, the 10th did suffer from sickness during its deployment. It lost many men to stays in the various hospitals in the capital, but fortunately saw only three deaths as a result.Dyer 1908 1635 The regiment left their garrisons on Monday, August 25 to consolidate at Tennallytown. On Tuesday, they marched to Union Station and boarded trains heading north. Travelling on railways via Baltimore and Harrisburg, the 10th arrived at Elizabethport, N. J., on the Thursday morning, August 28. After a reception by local citizens, the regiment was dispersed to local armories until Friday morning the evening when it boarded the steamer, Bay State, and sailed from New York at 1:00 p.m.Spicer 1892 305 The steamer arrived in Narragansett Bay on Saturday, August 30. The regiment debarked in Providence on Sunday and mustered out at city hall on Monday, September 1, 1862.Dyer 1908 1635 Company B Company B of the 10th Regiment was made up of about 125 students from Brown University and Providence High School.J.H. Beers & Co 1908 3-4 Legend has it that Brown's President Sears consented to allow his students to enlist only on the condition that Gov. Dyer accompany them.J.H. Beers & Co 1908 4 Affiliations, battle honors, detailed service, and casualties Organizational affiliation Attached to:Dyer 1908 1635 Federal Publishing Company 1908 249 Attached to Sturgis' Command, Military District of Washington, till June 26. Assigned to Defenses of Washington to September 1862 Detailed serviceDyer 1908 1635 40em Organized at Providence May 26, 1862. Moved to Washington, D. C., May 27–29. Attached to Sturgis' Command, Military District of Washington. Duty at Camp Frize, Tennallytown, till June 26. Assigned to garrison duty in the Defences of Washington. Company "A" at Fort FranklinFort Franklin was built with Fort Alexander and Fort Ripley in 1861 to protect the Washington Aqueduct, the new water supply for the city, and the adjacent Potomac River shoreline. In 1863, these three earthwork forts were expanded and connected to form Fort Sumner.Cooling Owen 1988 144–149 38.9554 -77.1240 Fort Franklin "B" and "K" at Fort Pennsylvania 38 57 10.2 N 77 04 41.9 W Fort Pennsylvania "C" at Battery Cameron 38 54 56.3 N 77 05 19.7 W Battery Cameron "D" at Fort DeRussy 38.963056 -77.051111 Fort DeRussy "E" and "I" at Fort Alexander (MD)Combined with Fort Franklin and Fort Ripley in 1863 to form Fort Sumner. "F" at Fort RipleyCombined with Fort Franklin and Fort Alexander in 1863 to form Fort Sumner. "G" at Fort Gaines 38 55 49.4 N 77 05 46.8 W Battery Kemble "H"' also known as the "Burnside Zouaves" at Battery Vermont 38 56 15.0 N 77 06 40.0 W Battery Vermont and Battery Martin Scott 38 55 49.6 N 77 06 40.1 W Battery Martin Scott "L" near Fort Pennsylvania Left for home August 25 Mustered out September 1, 1862 Losses Regiment lost 3 by disease.Dyer 1908 1635 Notable Members Colonel (later Brig. Gen.) Zenas Bliss – Medal of Honor recipient for action at the Battle of Fredericksburg Nelson W. Aldrich, United States Senator for Rhode Island, 1881-1911 References Footnotes 50em Citations 30em Sources 60em Cooling Benjamin Franklin III Owen Walton H. II Mr. Lincoln's Forts: A Guide to the Civil War Defenses of Washington White Mane Pub. Co. 1st 1988 Shippensburg, PA 1–280 en https://archive.org/details/mrlincolnsfortsg0000cool/mode/2up December 22, 2023 registration 978-0-8108-6307-1 645807101 pdf Dyer Frederick Henry Frederick H. Dyer A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion Dyer Pub. Co. Des Moines, IA 1908 B01BUFJ76Q https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_OBkNAQAAMAAJ/page/1225/mode/1up?view=theater PDF August 8, 2015 33, 229, 353, 354, 356, 357, 1635, 1787 Federal Publishing Company Military Affairs and Regimental Histories of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, And Delaware Federal Publishing Company The Union Army: A History of Military Affairs in the Loyal States, 1861–65 – Records of the Regiments in the Union army – Cyclopedia of battles – Memoirs of Commanders and Soldiers. I 1908 Madison, WI https://archive.org/details/unionarmyhistory01madi/page/53/mode/1up 694018100 PDF 248 J.H. Beers & Co Dyer Family Representative Men and Old Families of Rhode Island J.H. Beers Representative Men and Old Families of Rhode Island: Genealogical Records and Historical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens and of Many of the Old Families I 1908 Chicago, IL 3–4 en https://archive.org/details/representativeme1908jhbe/page/4/mode/1up March 25, 2023 741990098 pdf Spicer William A. History of the Ninth and Tenth Regiments Rhode Island Volunteers, and the Tenth Rhode Island Battery, in the Union Army in 1862 Snow & Franham 1892 Providence, RI 415 en https://archive.org/details/historyofninthte00spicer/page/21/mode/1up?view=theater December 18, 2022 02016024 612701412 pdf External links 05896185.3525.emory.edu The high school boys of the Tenth R.I. Regiment: with a roll of teachers and students of the Providence High School, who served in the Army or Navy of the United States during the rebellion (1882) Category:Military units and formations established in 1862 Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1862 Category:Units and formations of the Union army from Rhode Island Category:1862 establishments in Rhode Island