On May 22, 1862 Governor William Sprague issued general orders for the raising of the 7th Rhode Island Infantry Regiment. 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 Johnston. Bliss was a graduate of West Point and had attained the rank of captain in the Eighth United States Infantry Regiment. 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.
The Seventh began the war in Virginia, was transferred west for the siege or Vicksburg and Jackson, then back to Virginia for the remainder of the war.
The Regiment lost during service 5 Officers and 85 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 1 Officer and 108 Enlisted men by disease. Total 199.
OFFICERS:
Zenas Bliss
ASSIGNMENTS:
Attached to 2nd Brigade, Casey's Division, Military District of Washington, to October, 1862. 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, 9th Army Corps, Army Potomac, to April, 1863; Dept. Ohio to June, 1863, and Army Tennessee to September, 1863. District of North Central Kentucky, 1st Division, 23rd Army Corps, Dept. Ohio, to April, 1864. 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, 9th Army Corps, Army Potomac, to July, 1865.
SERVICE:
-Camp at Capital Hill, Defences of Washington, D.C., till September 16, 1862, and at Arlington Heights, Va., till October 1. Moved to Sandy Hook, Md., October 1. Movement to Falmouth, Va., October 27-November 19. Warrenton, Sulphur Springs, November 15. Battle of Fredericksburg December 12-15. "Mud March" January 20-24, 1863. Moved to Newport News February 9, thence to Lexington, Ky., March 25-31. Moved to Winchester, thence to Richmond, Ky., April 18. To Paint Creek May 3, and to Lancaster May 10. Moved to Vicksburg, Miss., June 4-14. Siege of Vicksburg June 15-July 4. Advance on Jackson, Miss., July 5-10. Siege of Jackson July 10-17. At Milldale till August 8. Moved to Nicholasville, Ky., August 8-18, thence to Lexington September 7, and provost duty there till April, 1864. Moved to Virginia April 2-23. Campaign from the Rapidan to the James May-June. Battles of the Wilderness May 5-7; Spottsylvania May 8-12; Spottsylvania C. H. May 12-21; Stannard's Mill May 21; North Anna River May 23-26. On line of the Pamunkey May 26-28. Totopotomoy May 28-31. Cold Harbor June 1-12. Bethesda Church June 1-3. Before Petersburg June 16-18. Siege of Petersburg June 16. 1864, to April 2, 1865. Mine Explosion, Petersburg, July 30, 1864. Weldon Railroad August 18-21. Poplar Springs Church September 29-October 2. Boydton Plank Road, Hatcher's Run, October 27-28. Garrison of Fort Sedgwick November 1, 1864, to April 2, 1865. Fort Stedman March 25, 1865. Appomattox Campaign March 28-April 9. Assault on and fail of Petersburg April 2. Pursuit of Lee to Farmville April 3-9. Moved to Petersburg and City Point, thence to Washington, D.C., April 20-28. Grand Review May 23. Mustered out June 9, 1865.
ROSTERS:
The composite rosters of this unit contain the names of 1777 men.. BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Dyer, Frederick H. A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion. Vol. 2. Cartersville, GA: Eastern Digital Resources, 1998. Ref. See p. 1222 (1 photocopied page) for a concise summary of the regiment's service.
HISTORICAL NOTES: