7th Rhode Island Infantry The Seventh Rhode Island Infantry was an infantry regiment that participated in the American Civil War . Formation . On May 22 , 1862 Governor William Sprague issued general orders for the raising of the Seventh Rhode Island Volunteers . This regiment was to be the last three - year infantry regiment to be raised in Rhode Island . Camp Bliss was erected in southern Providence and was to be the destination for the recruits for the regiment . Many men came to Camp Bliss in the summer of 1862 . Some were Mexican - American War veterans , or had seen service in the United States Army and other volunteer regiments . Some were politicians and gentlemen from the hierarchy of the state . The majority were fifteen - to thirty - year - old farmers and mill workers from southern and western Rhode Island who enlisted in the regiment under the call of President Abraham Lincoln for 300 , 000 men to defend the Union following a series of humiliating defeats in Virginia . The largest push for recruits came in August , with some towns offering incentives as high as four hundred dollars for men to enlist ; though the large bounties encouraged many to come forward , large numbers joined to preserve the Union . Many of their officers were known to them by their first name . They attained their positions through political influence or past experience in the service . In short time one thousand young Rhode Islanders had gathered at Camp Bliss . To command them , Governor Sprague selected Zenas Bliss of $ 4 . Bliss was a graduate of West Point and had attained the rank of captain in the Eighth United States Infantry . In the years ahead he would transform these men from Rhode Island from untrained volunteers into a regiment on par with the United States Regulars . The Seventh Rhode Island Volunteers was mustered into the service of the United States to serve for three years on September 6 , 1862 . They also drew Enfield rifle - muskets on this day . In addition the Seventh was clothed in the full uniform of the United States Army ; a feature of their coats being a very high collar . On September 10 , the regiment left Rhode Island and proceeded to Camp Casey outside of Washington , D . C . Here they remained for several weeks before joining the First Brigade , Second Division , Ninth Corps on October 6 , encamped outside Sharpsburg , Maryland following the victory at Antietam a month earlier . The Seventh remained encamped at Pleasant Valley , Maryland , for three weeks , perfecting its drill , while losing several members of the regiment to disease and the elements . Battle of Fredericksburg . In late October the Army of the Potomac again embarked upon another campaign to capture Richmond , Virginia . In early November , Ninth Corps commander , Major General Ambrose Burnside assumed command of the Army of the Potomac . On November 15 , the Seventh fought its first engagement , holding a key bridge against Confederate cavalry . Later that month they arrived at Fredericksburg , Virginia . The city lay in their path to attack Richmond . Burnside waited for over two weeks for pontoons to allow his army to cross . The result would be the near destruction of the Seventh Rhode Island . The Battle of Fredericksburg was one of the worst defeats of the Civil War for the Federal Army . The Army of the Potomac had to attack across a wide open plain to reach a Confederate division entrenched behind a sunken road . In addition , Marye ’ s Height contained twenty - four pieces of artillery . The Seventh Rhode Island went in at 12 : 20 on the afternoon of December 13 , 1862 . Almost immediately , Rhode Islanders were being killed and maimed . Lieutenant Colonel Welcome B . Sayles was hit in the chest by a shell , sprinkling pieces of his body all over members of the Seventh . After halting in the middle of the field to fire their Enfields , the Seventh surged forward in an attempt to flank the wall ; they were repulsed by " a perfect volcano of flame . " They halted one hundred and fifty paces from the sunken road . Their flag became the farthest advanced banner in the Ninth Corps . After remaining on the field for seven hours , the Seventh was relieved and returned to Fredericksburg . 570 officers and men went into the fight , 220 became casualties ; including over 50 dead . As the regiment assembled after its charge , all Colonel Bliss could say to his battered regiment of young Rhode Islanders was " you have covered yourself with mud and glory . " Bliss would be nominated for promotion to brigadier general and receive a Medal of Honor for his actions . Many of his enlisted men would receive promotions for their actions on the field . Mississippi Campaign . Following the Battle of Fredericksburg , the Seventh Rhode Island returned to its winter camp across the Rappahannock River near Falmouth , Virginia . Here many of the men would experience the hardships that their ancestors experienced at Valley Forge some eighty - five years earlier . Food and money was scarce , while typhoid , dysentery , and pneumonia reduced the regiment even further . Even in the worst of weather , one company of the regiment was constantly on picket duty along the river . A respite came in mid - February when the Ninth Corps was transferred to Suffolk , Virginia . From here they were again transferred to Lexington , Kentucky when Burnside was given command of the Army of the Ohio . In June the Seventh left Cairo , Illinois as reinforcements for Ulysses S . Grant ’ s army as they besieged Vicksburg , Mississippi . They spent several weeks entrenching around Vicksburg before being sent to Jackson , in order to prevent Confederates from reinforcing the Vicksburg garrison . Here they defeated the Rebels at the Battle of Jackson . Though the Mississippi Campaign only lasted for two months , forty - seven Rhode Islanders lost their lives ; only two were killed in action . In August they were recalled to Kentucky . The Seventh entered Mississippi with slightly over three hundred men ; over half would be infected by disease . Yazoo Fever , dysentery , and typhoid reduced the regiment to mere company strength . They spent a miserably cold and wet winter as the provost marshal in Lexington , Kentucky . Here they protected the loyal citizens against John Hunt Morgan ’ s Confederate guerillas . Following this , the regiment was again summoned to Virginia in April 1864 as reinforcements to the Army of the Potomac . Virginia . At this time only two hundred and fifty men were on duty . The Seventh returned to Virginia and crossed the Rapidan on the road to Richmond . They were held in reserve at the Battle of the Wilderness on May 5 – 7 , yet were heavily engaged May 12 at Spotsylvania Courthouse . From this day on the Seventh was engaged in combat nearly continuously . On May 18 and again on May 23 at the North Anna River every member of the color guard was killed or wounded . In these two engagements nearly one hundred Rhode Islanders fell . The Seventh was in reserve at Cold Harbor , where 7 , 000 Union soldiers became casualties in less than ten minutes ; but were engaged in skirmishes at Bethesda Church and Mechanicsville . In mid June they arrived at Petersburg with only one hundred and twenty - five men present for duty . As they were constantly under fire , at least one member of the regiment was killed or wounded every day in July and August . On June 20 , 1864 , Company H mustered one man present for duty ; only two commissioned officers remained , while most companies mustered ten men , some commanded by corporals . With such a reduced number men , the Seventh Rhode Island was pulled off the line and acted as engineers for the Second Division , Ninth Corps . Colonel Bliss was thrown from his horse at Spotsylvania , so Percy Daniels was commissioned as lieutenant colonel . On July 30 , at the Battle of the Crater , the Seventh was held in reserve . They remained in their entrenchments throughout August and September , losing even more men . On September 30 , 1864 , the Battle of Poplar Springs Church was fought and several days later an engagement at Hatcher ’ s Run . In November they were consolidated with the Fourth Rhode Island Volunteers . In addition , men returned to duty and recruits arrived from Rhode Island . By December , over three hundred men were available for duty . In November the Seventh moved to Fort Sedgwick , also known as Fort Hell as it was the closest fort at Petersburg to the Confederate line . The men lived underground in shelters known as “ bombproofs ” to escape the murderous fire outside . The Seventh remained here until April 2 , 1865 , when they helped storm into Petersburg and then pursued Lee to Appomattox Court House . The original regiment was mustered out of the service on June 9 , 1864 , while the recruits were mustered out on July 13 , 1865 . 1 , 282 men served in the Seventh Rhode Island ; 220 died . On March 13 , 1865 General Ulysses S . Grant formally gave his permission for the Seventh Rhode Island Volunteers to paint the following engagements upon their colors where they had fought and died : Fredericksburg , Vicksburg , Jackson , Spotsylvania , North Anna , Cold Harbor , Petersburg , Weldon Railroad , Poplar Spring Church , and Hatcher ’ s Run .