From May 1861 to December 1864, twelve New Hampshire Civil War regiments and a cavalry unit mustered on The Plains and other nearby locations in Concord, where they gathered to equip, train, and await orders while living in tents or temporary barracks. Governor Nathaniel S. Berry declared, “We can have but one country, one Constitution and one destiny: the Union must be preserved.” In all, 32,486 soldiers from New Hampshire served in the war, which cost the state at least 4,840 lives, more than 1 percent of the population. Twenty-one soldiers from New Hampshire units received the Medal of Honor, established in 1861. The units that mustered in Concord were the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 9th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, and 18th New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry regiments and the 1st New Hampshire Volunteer Cavalry.
