Massachusetts 2nd Volunteer Cavalry (Union)
10/12/1862
Organized - Massachusetts 2nd Volunteer Cavalry - Massachusetts
21/05/1863
Battle - Port Hudson - East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana; East Feliciana Parish, Louisiana
In cooperation with Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's final offensive against Vicksburg, Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks's army moved against the Confederate stronghold at Port Hudson on the Mississippi River. Like Vicksburg, Port Hudson was located atop high bluffs at the river bank that commanded the river. On May 11th, Banks learned that some Confederates had been moved from Port Hudson to support the forces defending Vicksburg, so he sought to move upon the garrison before those troops could be replaced. Banks…READ MORE
26/06/1863
Battle - South Anna Bridge, Virginia
31/07/1863
Battle - Aldie, Virginia
31/05/1864
Battle - Cold Harbor - Hanover County; near Mechanicsville, Virginia
After two days of inconclusive fighting along Totopotomoy Creek northeast of Richmond, Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and Gen. Robert E. Lee turned their sights on the crossroads of Cold Harbor. Roads emanating through this critical junction led to Richmond as well as supply and reinforcement sources for the Union army. On May 31, 1864, Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan's cavalry captured Cold Harbor. The next day, Sheridan held the crossroads against a Confederate attack. With reinforcements from both armies arriving…READ MORE
06/07/1864
Battle - Aldie, Virginia
11/07/1864
Leadership Change - Brigade - undefined Maj. Charles C. Meservey
11/07/1864
Leadership Change - Division - Brigadier General Gustavus A. DeRussy
Brigadier GeneralGustavus A. DeRussy
11/07/1864
Battle - Fort Stevens - District of Columbia, DC
After his victory over Maj. Gen. Lew Wallace at the Battle of Monocacy in central Maryland on July 9th, Confederate Maj. Gen. Jubal A. Early pressed his advantage and moved south toward the Union capital in Washington, DC. On July 11th, Early's exhausted Confederates reached the outskirts of Washington near Silver Spring. Skirmishers advanced to feel the fortifications that encircled the city, which at the time were manned only by Home Guards, clerks, and convalescent troops. During the night, Union reinfo…READ MORE
12/07/1864
Battle - Fort Stevens, District of Columbia
17/08/1864
Battle - Winchester, Virginia
19/09/1864
Battle - Third Winchester - Frederick County, Virginia; Winchester, Virginia
To clear the Shenandoah River valley of Confederates, Maj. Gen. Phil Sheridan moved on Winchester in mid-September 1864. Sheridan's force of over 39,000 men was more than twice the size of Maj. Gen. Jubal Early's Confederate army defending the valley. After Brig. Gen. Joseph Kershaw's division left Winchester to rejoin Robert E. Lee's army at Petersburg, Early renewed his raids on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad at Martinsburg in the lower valley, dispersing his four remaining infantry divisions. On Septem…READ MORE
21/09/1864
Battle - Fisher's Hill - Shenandoah County, Virginia
Confederate Maj. Gen. Jubal Early's Army of the Valley, bloodied by its defeat at the Third Battle of Winchester on September 19th, retreated 20 miles up the valley and took a defensive position in an east-west line across Fisher's Hill, southwest of Strasburg. Maj. Gen. Phillip Sheridan's Army of the Shenandoah, in accordance with Lieut. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's orders, aggressively pursued Early. Sheridan, outnumbering Early about three to one, noted that the right of the Confederate line was anchored o…READ MORE
09/10/1864
Battle - Tom's Brook - Shenandoah County, Virginia
After his victory at Fisher's Hill, Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan pursued Gen. Jubal Early's army up the Shenandoah Valley to near Staunton. On October 6th, Sheridan began withdrawing, as his cavalry burned everything that could be deemed of military significance, including barns and mills in what became known as "Red October" or "the Burning." Reinforced by Brig. Gen. Joseph Kershaw's division, Early followed Sheridan. Maj. Gen. Thomas Rosser arrived from Petersburg to take command of Fitz Lee's cavalry divis…READ MORE
19/10/1864
Leadership Change - Regiment - Captain Archibald McKendry, and Lieutenant Colonel Caspar Crowninshield
CaptainArchibald McKendry
Lieutenant ColonelCaspar Crowninshield
19/10/1864
Leadership Change - Brigade - Colonel Charles Russell Lowell, and Lieutenant Colonel Caspar Crowninshield
ColonelCharles Russell Lowell
Lieutenant ColonelCaspar Crowninshield
19/10/1864
Leadership Change - Division - Brigadier General Wesley Merritt
Brigadier GeneralWesley Merritt
19/10/1864
Leadership Change - Brigade - Colonel Charles Russell Lowell
ColonelCharles Russell Lowell
19/10/1864
Battle - Cedar Creek - Frederick County, Virginia; Shenandoah County, Virginia; Warren County, Virginia
Also known as: Cedar Creek, Belle GroveREAD MORE
28/10/1864
Battle - Newtown, Virginia
31/03/1865
Battle - Dinwiddie Court House - Dinwiddie County, Virginia
01/04/1865
Leadership Change - Regiment - Colonel Caspar Crowninshield
ColonelCaspar Crowninshield
01/04/1865
Leadership Change - Brigade - Brigadier General Alfred Gibbs
Brigadier GeneralAlfred Gibbs
01/04/1865
Leadership Change - Division - Brigadier General Thomas Devin
Brigadier GeneralThomas Devin
01/04/1865
Battle - Five Forks - Five Forks, Virginia
The Union victory along the White Oak Road on March 31st threatened to destabilize the entire Confederate line west of Petersburg. General Robert E. Lee ordered Maj. Gen. George Pickett with his infantry division and the cavalry divisions of Col. Thomas Munford, Maj. Gen. W.H.F. Lee, and Maj. Gen Thomas Rosser to hold the vital crossroads of Five Forks, along the White Oak Road five miles west of the previous fighting there. Pickett's defensive line was not well constructed, and much of his cavalry force w…READ MORE
09/04/1865
Battle - Appomattox Court House - Appomattox Court House, Virginia
Between 26,000 and 28,000 Confederate soldiers surrendered and were paroled.READ MORE
20/07/1865
Mustered Out - Massachusetts 2nd Volunteer Cavalry - Massachusetts
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