On July 27, 1864, the battle-worn soldiers of the 16th Massachusetts Infantry officially returned home. Formed primarily in Cambridge, this regiment had seen some of the bloodiest actions of the American Civil War, including the Peninsula Campaign, Second Bull Run, and Gettysburg.
By the summer of 1864, their three-year term of enlistment had expired. The surviving veterans who chose not to re-enlist marched back into Boston, greeted by relieved families and grateful citizens. The historical record preserved by the Library of Congress captures a poignant moment of relief amidst a country still deeply fractured by war.
