16th Infantry Regiment was formerly the 6th Volunteers. The regiment completed its organization at Raleigh, North Carolina, in June 1861. Its soldiers were from the counties of Jackson, Burke, Madison, Yancey, Rutherford, Buncombe, Macon, Henderson, and Polk. Sent to Virginia with about 1,200 men, the regiment was assigned to General W. Hampton's, Pender's, and Scales' Brigade. It fought at Antietam and served in many battles of the Army of Northern Virginia, from Seven Pines to Cold Harbor. It was involved in the long Petersburg siege south of the James River and was active around Appomattox. It had a force of 721 men in April 1862, and at Frayser's Farm in the Seven Days Battles it lost 33 killed and 199 wounded. It had 8 killed and 44 wounded at Second Manassas, and suffered 6 killed and 48 wounded at Fredericksburg. The regiment reported 105 casualties at Chancellorsville, and thirty-seven percent of the 321 engaged at Gettysburg were disabled. It also surrendered 12 officers and 83 men. The field officers were Colonels Champion T. N. Davis, Stephen Lee, John S. McElroy, and William A. Stowe; Lieutenant Colonels Abel J. Cloud and Robert G. A. Love; and Majors Benjamin F. Briggs and Herbert D. Lee. Robert Gustavus Adolphus Love, or R. G. A. Love, initially served as a Captain in the 16th North Carolina Infantry Regiment in the Army of Northern Virginia. When Captain Robert G. A. Love received a promotion to Colonel he transferred to the Sixty-second North Carolina Infantry Regiment (numerous Loves served in Western North Carolina Regiments).