New York 72nd Infantry (Union)
24/07/1861
Organized - New York 72nd Infantry - New York
05/04/1862
Battle - Siege of Yorktown (1862) - York County, Virginia; Newport News, Virginia
Most of Gen. Joseph E. Johnston's army was not on the peninsula on April 4th when Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan departed Fortress Monroe on his Peninsula Campaign. The only force opposing the Yankee advance up the peninsula toward the Confederate capital at Richmond was Maj. Gen. John B. Magruder's small force of two divisions at Yorktown behind the Warwick River. Magruder's deceptive theatrics, conspicuously parading his men back and forth behind his defenses, convinced the Federals that his works were s…READ MORE
05/05/1862
Battle - Williamsburg - York County, Virginia; James City County, Virginia; Williamsburg, Virginia
Following the Confederate withdrawal from their Yorktown position, Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan was not prepared to mount an immediate pursuit with his entire force from the siege lines he had occupied for nearly a month. Initially, he was able to send forward only a portion of his army, led by the Third Corps of Samuel P. Heitzelman, to follow Gen. Joseph E. Johnston's Confederates. Heitzelman's divisions, led by Brig. Gens. Joseph Hooker and Phil Kearny, made contact with Johnston's army four miles sout…READ MORE
31/05/1862
Battle - Seven Pines - Henrico County, Virginia
Gen. Joseph E. Johnston withdrew his army from the Virginia Peninsula toward the Confederate capital of Richmond as Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan's army pursued him. By the end of May, Johnston held a defensive position seven miles east of the city on the Richmond and York River Railroad. McClellan's army facing Johnston straddled the Chickahominy River and stretched south. Capturing the initiative from his Union foe, Johnston attempted to overwhelm two Federal corps isolated south of the river. The Confed…READ MORE
01/06/1862
Battle - Fair Oaks, Virginia
25/06/1862
Battle - Oak Grove - Henrico County, Virginia
29/06/1862
Battle - Savage's Station - Henrico County, Virginia
30/06/1862
Battle - Glendale - Henrico County, Virginia
Following the rear guard action at Savage's Station on June 29th, Maj. Gen. George McClellan's Army of the Potomac continued its retreat toward the safety of Harrison's Landing on the James River. On June 30th, after five days of constant fighting, the Confederate divisions of Maj. Gens. Benjamin Huger, James Longstreet, and A.P. Hill converged on the retreating Union army in the vicinity of Glendale. Longstreet's and Hill's attacks penetrated the Union defense near Willis Church, routing Brig. Gen. George…READ MORE
30/06/1862
Battle - White Oak Swamp - Henrico County, Virginia
01/07/1862
Battle - Malvern Hill - Henrico County, Virginia
On June 30th, the retreating Federal Army of the Potomac finally stopped at the James River at the end of seven days of fighting outside of Richmond.READ MORE
02/07/1862
Battle - Malvern Hill, Virginia
28/08/1862
Leadership Change - Regiment - Captain Harman J. Bliss
CaptainHarman J. Bliss
28/08/1862
Leadership Change - Brigade - Colonel Nelson Taylor
ColonelNelson Taylor
28/08/1862
Leadership Change - Division - Major General Joseph Hooker
Major GeneralJoseph Hooker
28/08/1862
Battle - Second Bull Run - Prince William County, Virginia
After the early summer collapse of the Union Peninsula Campaign offensive to capture Richmond, Robert E. Lee sought to move his army north and threaten Washington DC before Union forces could regroup.READ MORE
13/12/1862
Leadership Change - Regiment - Colonel William O. Stevens
ColonelWilliam O. Stevens
13/12/1862
Leadership Change - Brigade - Colonel George B. Hall
ColonelGeorge B. Hall
13/12/1862
Leadership Change - Division - Brigadier General Daniel Sickles
Brigadier GeneralDaniel Sickles
13/12/1862
Battle - Fredericksburg - Fredericksburg, Virginia
In early November, Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside took command of the Army of the Potomac, and made immediate plans to move the army once again toward Richmond.READ MORE
30/04/1863
Leadership Change - Regiment - Colonel William O Stevens, and Major John Leonard
ColonelWilliam O Stevens
MajorJohn Leonard
30/04/1863
Leadership Change - Brigade - Brigadier General Joseph W. Revere, and Colonel J. Egbert Farnum
Brigadier GeneralJoseph W. Revere
ColonelJ. Egbert Farnum
30/04/1863
Leadership Change - Division - Brigadier General Joseph B. Carr, and Major General Hiram Berry
Brigadier GeneralJoseph B. Carr
Major GeneralHiram Berry
30/04/1863
Leadership Change - Regiment - Colonel William O Stevens
ColonelWilliam O Stevens
30/04/1863
Leadership Change - Division - Major General Hiram Berry
Major GeneralHiram Berry
30/04/1863
Battle - Chancellorsville - Spotsylvania County, Virginia
On April 27, 1863, Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker launched a turning movement designed to pry Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia out of its lines at Fredericksburg.READ MORE
01/07/1863
Leadership Change - Regiment - Colonel John S. Austin, Lieutenant Colonel John Leonard, and Major Caspar K. Abell
01/07/1863
Leadership Change - Brigade - Colonel William R. Brewster
ColonelWilliam R. Brewster
01/07/1863
Leadership Change - Division - Brigadier General Andrew A. Humphreys
Brigadier GeneralAndrew A. Humphreys
01/07/1863
Leadership Change - Regiment - Colonel John S. Austin
ColonelJohn S. Austin
01/07/1863
Battle - Gettysburg - Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
In the summer of 1863, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee launched his second invasion of the Northern states. Lee sought to capitalize on recent Confederate victories and defeat the Union army on Northern soil, which he hoped would force the Lincoln administration to negotiate for peace. Lee also sought to take the war out of the ravaged Virginia farmland and gather supplies for his Army of Northern Virginia. Using the Shenandoah Valley as cover for his army, Lee was pursued first by Union Maj. Gen. Joseph Ho…READ MORE
23/07/1863
Battle - Manassas Gap - Warren County, Virginia
14/10/1863
Battle - Bristoe Station - Prince William County, Virginia
In early October 1863, the Union army withdrew from its central Virginia pursuit of Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, 90 days after the Gettysburg campaign. Lee and the Army of the Potomac under Maj. Gen. George G. Meade maintained close contact with each other as Meade moved north towards Centreville. On October 14th, Lieut. Gen. A.P. Hill's corps stumbled upon two corps of the retreating Union army at Bristoe Station and attacked without proper reconnaissance. Union soldiers of Maj. Gen. Gouver…READ MORE
27/11/1863
Battle - Mine Run - Orange County, Virginia
After the inconclusive Bristoe Campaign in the fall of 1863, Maj. Gen. George G. Meade planned one more offensive against Gen. Robert E. Lee in northern Virginia before winter weather ended military operations. In late November, Meade attempted to steal a march southeast from Culpeper Courthouse, turn south through the Wilderness and strike the right flank of the Confederate army south of the Rapidan River. On November 27th, Maj. Gen. Jubal A. Early, in command of Ewell's Corps, marched east on the Orange…READ MORE
27/11/1863
Battle - Locust Grove, Virginia
05/05/1864
Battle - Wilderness - Spotsylvania County, Virginia; Orange County, Virginia
The first battle between Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and Gen. Robert E. Lee erupted late in the morning of May 5, 1864, as Maj. Gen. Gouverneur K. Warren's Union V Corps attacked Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell's Second Corps on the Orange Turnpike southwest of the old Chancellorsville battlefield. Although Federal infantry managed to break through at several points, the Confederate line held. Fighting shifted to the south as Lt. Gen. A.P. Hill's Third Corps engaged Maj. Gen. Winfield S. Hancock's II Corps and ele…READ MORE
08/05/1864
Battle - Spotsylvania Court House - Spotsylvania County, Virginia
Following the Battle of the Wilderness, Lieut. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant marched the Union army south with the hope of capturing Spotsylvania Court House and preventing Robert E. Lee's army from retreating further. Lee's Confederates, however, managed to get ahead of the Federals and block the road. Fighting began on May 8th, when the Union Fifth Corps under Maj. Gen. Gouverneur K. Warren and the Sixth Corps under Maj. Gen. John Sedgwick engaged Confederate Maj. Gen. Richard Anderson's First Corps at Laurel Hi…READ MORE
23/05/1864
Battle - North Anna - Caroline County, Virginia; Hanover County, Virginia
Following the stalemate at Spotsylvania Court House, Grant was determined to continue his offensive against Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. After a failed attempt to bait Lee out of his earthworks, he found the Confederates entrenched on the south side of the North Anna River, where Lee's "inverted V" defenses forced Grant to divide his army into three parts in order to attack. On May 23rd, one of Maj. Gen. A.P. Hill's divisions assaulted the isolated Fifth Corps on the Union right which had crossed the r…READ MORE
28/05/1864
Battle - Totopotomoy Creek - Hanover County, Virginia
Operations along Totopotomoy Creek northeast of Richmond opened with cavalry combat at the Pamunkey River crossing at Dabney's Ferry (near Hanovertown) and at Crump's Creek on May 27th. During the cavalry fight at Haw's Shop on May 28th, Union and Confederate infantry arrived in the vicinity and the Confederates entrenched behind Totopotomoy Creek. On the 29th, the Union army Second, Ninth, and Fifth Corps probed Lee's position along the creek, while the Sixth Corps felt its way toward Hanover Court House.…READ MORE
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
15/06/1864
Battle - Second Petersburg - Petersburg, Virginia
As the Overland Campaign concluded, the strategic goals of Lieut. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant shifted from the defeat of Robert E. Lee's army in the field to eliminating the supply and communication routes to the Confederate capital at Richmond. The city of Petersburg, 24 miles south of Richmond, was the junction point of five railroads that supplied the entire upper James River region. Grant knew Petersburg was the key to the capture of Richmond and that Lee would be forced to defend it. Marching south from Co…READ MORE
09/07/1864
Battle - Monocacy - Frederick County, Maryland
After marching north down the Shenandoah Valley from Lynchburg, the Confederate army of Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early side-stepped the Federal garrison at Harpers Ferry and crossed the Potomac River at Shepherdstown into Maryland on July 5-6th, 1864. On July 9th, a makeshift Union force under Maj. Gen. Lew Wallace attempted to stop Early's invading Confederate divisions along the Monocacy River, just east of Frederick. The strategic area was near the junction of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and the Georgetown…READ MORE
27/10/1864
Leadership Change - Brigade - Colonel Robert McAllister
ColonelRobert McAllister
27/10/1864
Leadership Change - Division - undefined Bvt MG Gershom Mott
27/10/1864
Battle - Boydton Plank Road - Dinwiddie County, Virginia
31/10/1864
Mustered Out - New York 72nd Infantry - New York
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