Military unit
The 48th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry was a regiment of infantry that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was one of the 18 Massachusetts regiments formed in response to President Abraham Lincoln's August 1862 call for 300,000 men to serve for nine months. It consisted of a combination of Essex County companies and Irish-American companies which caused some delay and friction during the unit's formation. The regiment was assigned to the Department of the Gulf and saw heavy combat during the Siege of Port Hudson.