Over forty New Hampshire men, whether a native son, a resident, or a volunteer accredited to the state, earned a Medal of Honor for their actions during the Civil War [see tab on left for a full listing]. Here is one story:  

GEORGE PARSONS DOW
​Sergeant, Company C, 7th New Hampshire Infantry.
Place/date of action: Near Richmond, Virginia, October 1864
Date of issue: 10 May 1884
Citation: Gallantry while in command of his company during a reconnaissance toward Richmond. 

George P. Dow of Atkinson, N.H. enlisted as a private on 14 Oct 1861, in neighboring Plaistow, NH. He was mustered in on 6 Nov. in Manchester, and was soon promoted to corporal. On the 18th of July, '62, he was again promoted, to 1st Sergeant. He was mustered out of service on 22 Dec 1864. He had been wounded several times during his three years with the regiment, though not injured bad enough to remove him from active duty.

In October of 1864, while in command of his company, which held the extreme left of the regimental line, the unit became separated from the others while on reconnaissance in the vicinity of Richmond. Upon reaching the enemy breastworks they halted, then realizing the rest of the regiment was not behind them, and called a retreat. Being the first of the Union troops to reach that close to the city, the information gathered was of great importance once they returned to their lines.

George P. Dow, the son of Moses and Sally P (Hanson) Dow, was born in Atkinson, NH on 7 Aug 1840. He was married, on 7 Dec 1865, to Julia A. Carlton [registered in Lawrence, MA vr]. He died on 28 Aug 1910 in Atkinson, aged 70 yrs, and was buried in the town cemetery [NH vr]. They had two children: i. Mary A Dow, b. 21 Sept 1866; marr. William C. Farley ii. ch, b/d 24 May 1880
   
George was a farmer in Atkinson, later becoming the proprietor of a country store in town, and was its postmaster for 26 years. His former homestead still stands, across from the town common named for him.

Links:
Deeds of Valor, pg 436-7
History of the Seventh Regiment: pg 96 (photo), pg 530 (bio)
Muster Out Roll for Company C [family search link]

The following is a letter written by Alonzo ("Lon") Davenport of the 16th New Hampshire Infantry, to his wife Emily "Em". He had enlisted on 3 Sept 1862, and was mustered in on 23 Oct as a corporal. He was mustered out on 20 Aug 1863.

It is a very short letter, as his captain [Jonathan P Sanborn] was heading into town, so Alonzo was quick to write.

Alonzo D Davenport was born in Chelsea, Vermont on 4 Nov 1835, the son of Davis L. and Submit (Courser) Davenport. He was living in Salisbury, New Hampshire at the time of his enlistment, and afterwards moved to Franklin, NH. He died there from Bright's Disease on 28 June 1906, aged 70, and was buried in Franklin Cemetery.
He had married his wife, Emily A. Davis, on 16 Mar 1860. She died in Franklin on 2 Feb 1919.

More about:
Find a Grave entry: Alonzo D Davenport
History of the Sixteenth Regiment, New Hampshire Volunteers
​Vermont in the Civil War (entry for Alonzo Davenport)

The Battle of the Crater, aka "Burnside's Mine", took place on the 30th of July, 1864, near Petersburg, Virginia. With a siege of the city having just begun, a plan was devised to break through the Confederate lines by mining under a section of their defenses, and blowing it up with explosives.

The attack began at 4:44 am, when the mine exploded, leaving a 200 foot long, 50-60 foot wide crater in the line, some 25 to 30 feet deep in places. A division under General Ledlie led the attack, and marched straight into the hole in the line. They were to continue on towards Cemetery Hill, but were bogged down within the crater. Two other divisions followed them in, to occupy the grounds on both flanks of Ledlie, while he continued forward.

Several New Hampshire regiments were a part of the 2nd Division, 2nd Brigade, of the IX Corps: the 6th, 9th and 11th Infantry Regiments. They followed the 1st Division into battle, and went to the right of the crater, in an attempt to reach the high ground of "Cemetery Hill" (Blandford Cemetery). 

It did not take long before the Confederates were able to recover from the explosion, and attacked the Union forces. With many of the troops still within the crater, and more marching into it, the soldiers were caught in a crossfire, with nowhere to go. Shortly after noon, the order was given to fall back to the Union lines. The losses for the day were around 4400 dead, wounded, and missing, all but 100 of them from the IX Corps. 

​Aylings Revised Register listed the number of killed and mortally wounded of the NH units as follows:
6th NH Infantry: 1 officer and 8 enlisted men
9th NH Infantry: 1 officer and 22 enlisted men
11th NH Infantry: 22 enlisted men

The 4th NH Infantry, which was part of the X Corps (attached to the XVIII), suffered 13 dead in the battle.

Further reading:
​Jackman, Lyman and Hadley, Amos. History of the Sixth New Hampshire Regiment in the War for the Union. Concord, NH: Republican Press Association, 1891.
Lord, Edward Oliver. History of the Ninth Regiment, New Hampshire Volunteers in the War of the Rebellion. Concord, NH: Republican Press Association, 1895.
Cogswell, Leander W. A History of the Eleventh New Hampshire Regiment, Volunteer Infantry in the Rebellion War, 1861-1865. Concord, NH: Republican Press Association, 1891.

Websites:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Crater​
​http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/the-crater.html?tab=facts
​