Id’d Civil War Razor, Strop and Case – Corporal Robert B. Piper Co. A 6th New Hampshire Infantry

Enlisted on 12/2/1861 as a Private.

On 12/6/1861 he mustered into “A” Co. NH 6th Infantry

He Re-enlisted on 1/3/1864

He was discharged on 5/30/1865 at Concord, NH

He was listed as:

* POW 9/30/1864 Poplar Springs Church, VA (Paroled)

* Paroled 2/27/1865 (place not stated)

Promotions:

* Corpl

Other Information:

born in Holderness, NH

After the War he lived in Holderness

Officers Killed or Mortally Wounded: 10
Officers Died of Disease, Accidents, etc.: 3
Enlisted Men Killed or Mortally Wounded: 177
Enlisted Men Died of Disease, Accidents, etc.: 228
(Source: Fox, Regimental Losses)

Hampshire Volunteer Infantry,.and Historian of Regiment.

THE Sixth Regiment was organized at Keene, in November,

1861, the men coming from all parts of the State.  The

regiment camped on the Cheshire Fair Ground, about a mile and

a half out from the city, the camp being called “Camp Brooks.”

Company B was the first on the ground, reporting November 9.

The men were mustered in November 27 to 30, the regimental

organization being completed on the 30th.

On the 25th of December the regiment left Keene, and

proceeded via Worcester, Norwich, and New York, to Washington,

where it arrived at 4 P. M., on the 28th, and was assigned to

Casey’s Provisional Brigade, in which it remained until

January 6, 1862, being camped at Bladensburg, Md.

On the 6th of January the regiment started for Annapolis,

Md., to join Burnside’s expedition to North Carolina.

Arriving at Annapolis on the evening of the 7th, the regiment

the next day went on board the steamer “Louisiana” and the

ship “Martha Greenwood,” and arrived at Fort Monroe on the

evening of the 10th.  Here the whole regiment was crowded

onto the “Louisiana,” and on the 11th started for Hatteras

Inlet, arriving there about 5 P. M., the next day, after

encountering a terrible storm on the way.  The Sixth landed on

the 17th and camped at “Camp Wool” on Hatteras Island.  The

camp being very unhealthy, the regiment, on the 24th, moved

about two miles to ” Camp Winfield Scott,” where it remained

until the 24th of February.  On the 25th it embarked on the

steamer ” Northerner,” and landed on Roanoke Island March 2,

being assigned, on the 6th, to the Fourth Brigade, Department

of North Carolina.

On the 8th of March six companies under Lieutenant Colonel

Griffin, joined an expedition to Columbia, N. C., in search of

a rebel regiment, said to be recruiting at that place; but the

expedition returned without finding the enemy.  On the night

of April 7 Lieutenant Colonel Griffin, with four companies of

the Sixth and two of the Ninth New York went to Elizabeth

City, N. C., and broke up a rebel camp.  On the 19th of April,

General Reno, with four regiments and a battery, moved on

Camden, N. C., and met the enemy about 3 o’clock in the

afternoon, and a sharp fight ensued.  The Sixth, by its

handsome behavior here, won complimentary notice in orders.

On the 18th of June the regiment left Roanoke Island, and

reached New Berne, N. C., the next day.  During this month the

Sixth was assigned to the First Brigade, First Division,

Department of North Carolina.

On the 1st of July the Sixth embarked to join McClellan in

Virginia; but it having been reported that Richmond had been

captured, the regiment returned and landed at New Berne,

July 5, but re-embarked the next day, and on the 10th landed

at Newport News.  The regiment was assigned on the 22d to the

First Brigade, Second Division, Ninth Army Corps.  On the 2d

of August the regiment went on board transports, reached Aquia

creek on the 4th, landed and proceeded by rail to Falmouth,

Va., where it arrived late that night, and camped opposite

Fredericksburg.  August 12 the regiment left camp and marched

to join Pope’s army, which was found near Culpeper, Va.

At Bull Run on the afternoon of the 28th the First Brigade

was ordered to attack the enemy, who ,were posted in the

woods.  The Sixth with the Second Maryland on its right, made

a gallant attack ; but the Forty-Eighth Pennsylvania, on its

left, fell behind, and the Sixth being exposed to a murderous

fire on its left flank, was compelled to fall back.  This

battle was the most disastrous to the regiment of any in which

it participated, two hundred and ten being killed, wounded, or

missing out of four hundred and fifty officers and men who

went into the fight.  On the next day the Sixth with its

brigade acted as a support to the Second Brigade of the Second

Division of the corps.  The night of the 30th the Ninth Corps

covered the retreat of Pope’s army.  About 6 P. M., September

1, the enemy attacked the corps near Chantilly, Va., and the

Sixth being brought into the fight, was engaged until dark,

when the enemy withdrew.

The army then fell back to the defences of Washington; and

here the Sixth remained until the 7th of September, when, with

its corps, it moved; and passing through Frederick. Md., was

at South Mountain on the 14th, being used with its division as

a support.  At Antietam on the 17th. the Sixth was again

engaged, taking part in a charge made to take the “stone

bridge” (afterwards known as “Burnside’s bridge”), on

Antietam creek.

A few days later the regiment marched to Pleasant Valley,

Md., remained until October 27, when the army left Pleasant

Valley, crossed the Potomac by pontoon bridges at Berlin, and

took up a line of march along the valley east of the Blue

Ridge, with Richmond for its objective point.  The regiment

was now, with its division, in the advance of the army ; and

on the 14th of November, being a part of the advance picket

line, skirmished at Amissville.  At Warrenton (or White

Sulphur) Springs, November 15th, the regiment was lightly

engaged.

On the 19th of November the regiment arrived at Falmouth

in front of Fredericksburg, and camped north of the Phillips

house until December 12, when it marched into Fredericksburg.

At about 1 P. M., the next day, the Sixth, with its brigade,

advanced to assault the enemy’s works on Marye’s Heights, and

was engaged until dark.  On the 15th it returned to its former

camp-ground at Falmouth, and remained until the 10th of

February, 1863 when it was sent to Newport News.

Orders were received on the 20th of March to break camp

and take transports to Baltimore, and from thence to proceed

by rail to Cincinnati.  The Ninth Army Corps was ordered to

report to General Burnside, who had been transferred to the

Department of the Ohio.  As the central and southern portions

of Kentucky were being plundered by the rebels, General

Burnside decided early in April to send the Ninth Corps into

that State.  Accordingly the Sixth proceeded to Lexington,

Ky., and from thence to Winchester, on the 8th of April; and

leaving Winchester on the 16th, arrived at Richmond (Ky.), on

the 18th.  The regiment then proceeded to Paint Lick creek on

the 3d of May, and to Lancaster on the 10th. Remaining there

until the 23d, when it advanced to Crab Orchard, with a view

to joining in the movement upon East Tennessee, then

contemplated by General Burnside.  Orders for the movement

were countermanded, however, and on the 4th of June the

regiment left Crab Orchard; and at evening on the 6th, reached

Cincinnati, where the night was spent. The next morning the

regiment left Cincinnati, and reached Cairo on the 8th, went

on board the steamer “General Anderson” the next day, and

passed down the Mississippi river to join General Grant in his

operations against Vicksburg.

On the 13th of June the fleet reached Milliken’s Bend, and

on the 14th the Sixth disembarked near the canal dug by

General Williams to turn the river so that the Union boats

might pass Vicksburg unmolested.  On the 15th the regiment

marched southwest to a point on the river about ten miles

below Vicksburg, returning the same day; and on the morning of

the 16th, went up the Yazoo river to Haynes’ Bluff, and camped

at Milldale, about a mile distant.  Here the regiment remained

until the 22d, when it marched eastward, and on the 25th came

upon some of the enemy’s outposts near the Big Black river.

After waiting here a few days the movement was continued July

1st to Oak Ridge.  Vicksburg surrendered on the 4th, and

the Sixth immediately started with the army in pursuit of the

enemy under General Johnston. The rebels made a stand at

Jackson, Miss., and here the Sixth was engaged from the 10th

to the 17th, when it was discovered that Johnston had

evacuated the city.  On the 20th the army began its return

march, and three days afterward the Sixth reached its old camp

at Milldale.  Here the regiment remained until August 8, when

it embarked and made its way up the river to Cairo and thence

by rail to Cincinnati, which was reached on the 20th.  On the

23d the Sixth proceeded by rail to Nicholasville, and camped a

few miles from the village near Camp Nelson, Ky.

On the 9th of September the Sixth was sent to Frankfort to

do provost duty.  Leaving Frankfort the 24th, the regiment

reached Russellville the next day, where it remained until the

26th of October; then it left for Camp Nelson to perform

provost duty, and arrived there the next day.  While here many

of the men re-enlisted, and on January 16, 1864, the re-

enlisted men left for New Hampshire to spend the furlough of

thirty days granted by terms of re-enlistment.  They were

afterwards re-furloughed, and did not leave the State until

the 18th of March, when they proceeded to Annapolis, Md., to

join the Ninth Corps, then re-assembling at that place.  The

remainder of the regiment joined, and -the Sixth was assigned

to the Second Brigade, Second Division, Ninth Army Corps,

April 20.  On the 23d of April the regiment marched with its

corps to join the Army of the Potomac, reaching it in time to

take part in the battle of the Wilderness on the 6th of May,

where, with the Second Brigade, it made an heroic charge,

capturing a large number of prisoners.  From the 8th to the

20th, the Sixth was at Spottsylvania, being severely engaged

on the 12th and 18th.  Starting on the 21st, the regiment

pushed on to the North Anna river, where it was in the reserve

from the 23d to the 25th, and was in the front line on the

26th, when Lieutenant-Colonel Pearson was killed.  The army

moved on the night of the 26th, towards Totopotomoy creek,

where the Sixth was engaged on the 30th and 31st.

June 2 and 3 the regiment was engaged near Bethesda

Church, and from the 4th to the 12th, was under fire at Cold

Harbor.  On the night of the 12th the army withdrew, and at

Noon of the 16th the Ninth Corps arrived in front of

Petersburg.  Here the regiment was constantly under fire until

the 20th of August, taking part in the assault following the

explosion of the “Mine” on the 30th of July.  August 20 the

corps withdrew and moved to the Weldon Railroad.  Here on the

20th and 21st, the Sixth assisted in repelling two desperate

attacks made by the rebels.  A new line of intrenchments was

thrown up, connecting with those formerly held, and the

regiment remained here under fire until September 30.

On the 30th of September and the day following, the Sixth

was engaged near Poplar Springs Church, about one hundred and

twenty-five officers and men being killed, wounded, or

captured.  Works were thrown up, and the regiment remained

here until early in December, participating without loss in

the engagement at Hatcher’s Run, on the 27th of October.

Early in December the corps returned to its original

position in front of Petersburg, the Sixth lying in rear of

Fort Alexander Hays until April 1, 1865.  While here the

regiment took part in a reconnoissance to Nottoway Court

House, December 10,11, and 12,1864.  On the night of April 1,

1865, the Sixth, with its brigade, made a successful attack on

the enemy’s works to the left of Fort Davis, and on the

morning of the 2d participated in a second successful attack

near Fort Sedgwick.

From Petersburg the regiment marched in pursuit of Lee’s

army, arriving at Burkeville on the 9th of April.  On the 20th

the regiment marched for City Point, and leaving there on the

26th, embarked on the steamer “D. R. Martin.”  Alexandria was

reached the next day, where the regiment remained in camp

until mustered out on the 17th of July.  On the 18th of July

the regiment left Alexandria, and proceeded by rail to New

York, thence by boat to Norwich, and arrived at Concord,

July 23.

The regiment during its term of service served in

seventeen different states; meeting all the requisitions of

duty, however onerous or perilous, with cheerful and ready

efficiency.  While it is not asserted that the Sixth was the

best regiment sent out from New Hampshire, the claim may be

made, and can be maintained, that it was equal to the best.

Its record has added a brilliant chapter to the history of New

Hampshire’s always glorious achievements in war.

The Sixth New Hampshire Volunteers was attached to General

Casey’s Provisional Brigade, near Washington, D. C., December

28, 1861; General Burnside’s Expedition to North Carolina,

January 6, 1862; Fourth Brigade, Department of North Carolina,

March 6, 1862; First Brigade, First Division, Department of

North Carolina, June, 1862; First Brigade, Second Division,

Ninth Army Corps, July 22, 1862; District of Kentucky,

Department of Ohio, September 9, 1863; on Veteran Furlough,

January 16, 1864; in Ninth Army Corps, unassigned, March,

1864; Second Brigade, Second Division, Ninth Army Corps, April

20, 1864.

E N G A G E M E N T S :

Camden, N.C.                                    Apr. 19, 1862

Bull Run, Va.                               Aug. 29, 30, 1862

Chantilly, Va.                                  Sept. 1, 1862

South Mountain, Md.                            Sept. 14, 1862

Antietam, Md.                                  Sept. 17, 1862

White Sulphur Springs, Va.                      Nov. 15, 1862

Fredericksburg, Va.                             Dec. 13, 1862

Siege of Vicksburg, Miss.             June 14 to July 4, 1863

Jackson, Miss.                               July 10-16, 1863

Wilderness, Va.                                   May 6, 1864

Spottsylvania, Va.                             May 8-20, 1864

North Anna River, Va.                         May 23-26, 1864

Totopotomoy, Va.                              May 30,31, 1864

Bethesda Church, Va.                           June 2,3, 1864

Cold Harbor, Va.                              June 4-12, 1864

Siege of Petersburg, Va.,        June 16, 1864 to Apr 3, 1865

Mine Explosion, Petersburg, Va.

  (assault)                                     July 30, 1864

Weldon Railroad, Va.                         Aug. 20-22, 1864

Poplar Springs Church, Va.             Sept. 30, Oct. 1, 1864

Hatcher’s Run, Va.                              Oct. 27, 1864

Petersburg, Va.                               Apr. 1, 2, 1865