The 12th Vermont Infantry, a nine months regiment, raised as a result of President Lincoln's call on August 4, 1862, for additional troops due to the disastrous results of the Peninsula Campaign. It was composed of volunteers from ten volunteer militia companies as follows: Colonel Asa P. Blunt, previously of the 3rd and 6th Vermont regiments, was selected to command the regiment. Lieutenant Colonel Roswell Farnham and Major Levi G. Kingsley had held commissions in the 1st Vermont Infantry, along with a total of 65 officers and men.