18th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry The 18th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry was a Union regiment that fought in the American Civil War . It was formed , primarily , with men of the Bristol , Norfolk and Plymouth counties of Massachusetts with a 3 - year enlistment period . The regiment originally consisted of 10 companies , band and regimental staff . The regiment was established in August 1861 and fought as part of the Army of the Potomac , taking part in most of the major battles of the Peninsula - until it disbanded in September 1864 . Men , who reenlisted or still had time left on their enlistment , were transferred to the 32nd Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry . History . 1861 . The 18th Massachusetts Volunteers Infantry was mustered into active service on 24 August 1861 . Two days later , under instruction from then Governor John A . Andrew , the Regiment was ordered to the Seat of War at Washington . Going by way of New York , Baltimore and Harrisburg , the Eighteenth reached Washington 30 August , and next day reported to Colonel E . D . Baker , going into camp about a mile to the west of the Capitol , the location being called Camp Massachusetts . The regiment was ordered on the 3d of September to cross the river and report to General Fitz John Porter , commanding a division , by whom it was assigned to General Martindale ’ s Brigade , its fellow regiments being the Second Maine , Thirteenth and Forty - first New York . The regimental camp was located near Fort Corcoran , on ground recently occupied by the Sixty - ninth New York , and the Eighteenth began to see actual service in fatigue duty and on picket . The division was moved to the front on the 26th and went into camp near Hall ’ s Hill , then the outpost of the Union army . This position was occupied during the winter , the regiment giving much attention to drill and discipline , so that at a review held at Bailey ’ s Cross Roads it was especially complimented for excellence by the commander in chief , and as a mark of appreciation received new uniform and camp equipage imported from France and modeled on that of the French chasseurs a pied . Before the opening of the spring campaign some changes were made in Martindale ’ s Brigade , the Forty - first New York giving place to the Twenty - second Massachusetts and Twenty - fifth New York Regiments , while the Second Company of Massachusetts Sharpshooters was attached to the brigade , which was known as the First Brigade , Porter ’ s Dvision , Third ( Heintelman ’ s ) Corps . 1862 . The winter camp was vacated 10 March 1862 , and the regiment marched to Fairfax , stopping there till the 16th , when it was ordered to Alexandria to embark for the Peninsula . Transports were taken on the 21st , and two days later the command debarked at Old Point Comfort , encamping at Hampton for two days and then at Newmarket Bridge , where it remained till the Federal army was ready for the forward movement . This began on 4 April , and early on the afternoon of the following day the defenses of Yorktown were reached , before which the Army of the Potomac came to a halt and remained for a month . The Eighteenth took active part in the earlier operations by which the enemy ’ s line was located , and three of its companies were at once placed on the skirmish line , while the remainder of the regiment formed a portion of the main line of battle , but no casualties were suffered . Later the command went into camp near by and daily furnished heavy details for outpost and fatigue duty till the evacuation of Yorktown . Immediately on that event Porter ’ s Division took transports and landed on 8 May at West Point , near the junction of the Mattaponi and Pamunkey rivers . Up the south side of the latter the division marched , setting out on the 13th , going first to Cumberland , thence to White House , moving on the 19th toward Richmond as far as Tunstall ’ s Station , and on the 26th to Gaines Mills . During this time the Fifth ( Provisional ) Army Corps had been formed , of which General Porter was given command . It was composed of his own division , the command of which was taken by General Morrell , and another under General Sykes . The brigade to which the Eighteenth belonged was strengthened by the addition of the First Michigan Regiment , and was known as the First Brigade , First Division . About the same time the regiment exchanged the smooth - bore muskets with which it had thus far been armed for the Springfield rifled pattern . Early in the morning of the 27th the division set out for Hanover Court House , but as the Eighteenth had been on picket during a heavy storm it was not in condition to march at once ; and though it followed a few hours later it was not in time to take part in the brilliant action by which General Porter defeated the Confederate force under General Branch . It assisted in burying the dead left upon the field by the enemy and on the 29th returned to its camp at Gaines Mills . There it remained till 26 June , when with the Seventeenth New York of Butterfield ’ s Brigade it was detached from the division to accompany a force of cavalry and artillery under General Stoneman for the protection of the army supplies at White House . The operations which followed were arduous , and demanded many of the best qualities of soldiership , but all were performed in a manner to win praise . The stores there having been destroyed in conformity with McClellan ’ s purpose to change base to the James river , the regiment embarked on transports , dropped down the river and finally by way of Fortress Monroe arrived at Harrison ’ s Landing , where it debarked for one day before the arrival of the rest of the brigade , which meantime had been fighting its way across the Peninsula . After the war . An association of the 18th Massachusetts Veterans was formed and met yearly . Through the efforts of Lieutenant Amasa Guild , the group was able to retrieve the State Colors in 1905 from the Museum of the Confederacy . The Colors had been lost in the Second Battle of Bull Run in 1862 and captured . The association attempted to put together an official history of the regiment but was never able to agree on it and abandoned the project .