USA > New York > Chemung County > A brief history of Chemung county, New York > Part 4
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Closing the period .- Just as the period of which we are writing was closing, as though to make the
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past more misty; dim, and unreal, and the future promise to be brighter and lighter, illuminating gas was introduced into the county at Elmira. A company formed in Albany, N. Y., built the works in 1849; and in the spring of 1850 the business was in full operation.
F
PART III
Military Affairs in the County
And there was mounting in hot haste: the steed, The mustering squadron, and the clattering car Went pouring forward with impetuous speed, And swiftly forming in the ranks of war; And the deep thunder peal on peal afar; And near, the beat of the alarming drum Roused up the soldier .- CHILDE HAROLD.
Their armor rings on a fairer field Than Greek or Roman ever trod, For Freedom's sword is the blade they wield, And the light above them the smile of God. -PROCTOR.
The County During the War.
Military organizations. - The Chemung valley always possessed much military spirit; as was natu- rally to be expected of a locality whose history begins with a battle. In the old days there were no uniformed companies, but men capable of bear- ing arms met at certain stated times during the year; furnishing their own accoutrements; were drilled a little, marched a little; maneuvred their guns, and then it all ended with a general jollifica- tion. The traditions of these occasions, and in a few instances; the memories of these "general train- ing days," as they were called, bring up scenes of great merriment and amusement. In a few indi- vidual cases representatives of the valley were con- nected with the War of 1812 with England. About 1834, a regular company was organized; largely through the efforts and activity of General W. R. Judson.60 It made its first publie parade in 1840
60General JUDSON was very active in other than the mili- tary affairs of the county. He was a saddler and harness- maker by trade, having been an apprentice of Cooley & Maxwell. He came to the valley when a lad, from Otsego County, N. Y., in 1812. He was in business for many years in Elmira. In the State of Kansas in 1856 he bought a large tract of land and founded a town thereupon, which he named Elmira. He was an exceedingly enthusiastic politician, and held many offices, county, State, and na- tional. He became the Colonel of the militia regiment assigned to that portion of the State in which the county was located. He was the commanding officer of a Kansas Regiment of Cavalry during the war, and served with dis-
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at the funeral of Col. John Hendy.61 It was called "The Elmira Guards," and continued in more or less active existence nearly twenty years, being succeeded in 1858 by "The Southern Tier Rifles," an organization that is still referred to with con- siderable pride. Under the command of Capt. Henry C. Hoffman, it was most perfectly disciplined, and one of the "crack" companies of the State.
When President Lincoln, on April 15, 1861, issued his first call for troops, the appeal reached Elmira on the afternoon of that day. A public meeting was called for the same evening. It was tumul- tuously attended. Most of the members of the "Southern Tier Rifles" volunteered at once, and the company under the command of Capt. Nat. B. Fowler, became Company K of the Twenty-third N. Y. Volunteers. It was largely a local regi- ment, and the first one organized in the county. It was mustered into the service of the United States for two years, or unless sooner discharged, on May 16, 1861, with 788 officers and men. Its officers were: Colonel, Henry C. Hoffman;62 lieuten-
tinction. He was wounded in an engagement at Fort Smith, Ark.
61 Among the members of this first company were N. W. Gardiner, a hatter; Joseph Hoffman, a saddler; Henry Voorhees, a carpenter; Henry Hill, a merchant; R. B. Sharpstein, an innkeeper; William Halliday, a merchant; Wakeman Merwin, a saddler and harnessmaker, and Charles Orwan, a gunsmith.
62Colonel HOFFMAN was one of the many active, energetic, and enterprising business men of whose nativity within its borders Chemung County has good reason to be proud. His father was WILLIAM HOFFMAN, a sturdy, long-headed man of German descent, who took up a large tract of land to the west of Elmira late in the 18th century. He had a number of sons who inherited his sterling qualities, and added
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ant-colonel, Nirom M. Crane; major; William M. Gregg; adjutant, William W. Hayt; quartermaster, Myron H. Mandeville; surgeon, Seymour Churchill; assistant surgeon, William A. Medill; sergeant- major, Archibald N. Devoe; quartermaster-sergeant, Hiram T. Smith; drum-major, Miles Terrill; fife- major, Julius C. Smead.
The Twenty-third was a faithful, highly popular organization, and made an honorable record dur- ing its term of service. It was mustered out on May 23, 1863.
On July 30, 1861, Elmira was made one of the three military depots of the State, and a military rendezvous by the general government.63 Officers of the regular army were sent there on duty.64
In 1863 Elmira was made the headquarters of the district as well as for the western division of the State, comprising the last eleven congressional dis- tricts thereof, for the reception of volunteers and drafted men. It was placed in the command of Gen. A. S. Diven.
greatly to the business, social, agricultural, and political importance of the county. COLONEL HOFFMAN was a mem- ber of the Board of Supervisors of the county three times, representing the town of Horseheads and was twice a Mem- ber of Assembly for the county.
63On the part of the State, the commanding officer of the post was Gen. R. B. Van Valkenburg, of Bath. He was succeeded by Colonel Eastman, of the United States Army, and he by Gen. Benjamin F. Tracy, of the Volunteers.
64The mustering and disbursing officers of the post of the regular army were Gen. W. W. Averill, a West Point graduate, who received his early education at the Elmira Academy. He became a distinguished cavalry officer during the war. He was succeeded by Capt. J. I. Tidball, Major Arthur T. Lee, Captain La Rhett L. Livingstone, and Capt. J. Riley Reid.
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The number of military organizations .- From April 1861; to April 1865, there were twenty-four organi- zations belonging to the infantry arm of the service mustered in at Elmira, numbering 18,171 officers and men. To these are to be added four artillery organizations; with 973 officers and men; and six cavalry organizations with 1,650 officers and men, making a total of 20,796 soldiers forwarded from Elmira during the war. There were a number of individual instances of men entering the service not attached to organizations raised or mustered in at Elmira, which would raise the total forwarded from that city in round numbers to at least 25,000.
A complete company was raised in Horseheads and was assigned to the Thirty-eighth N. Y. V .; as Company I.65 It was mustered in on June 8, 1861. Almost every member came from the town of Horseheads. Its captain was Calvin S. Dewitt; a former member of the Twenty-third Regiment. It was in the first battle of Bull Run.
The Fiftieth Engineers .- Particular interest cen- tered about the Fiftieth Engineers, as it was, officers and men alike, largely made up of citizens of the county and near neighborhood. It was mustered into service on September 18, 1861, as "Stuart's Independent Volunteers," taking its name from Gen. Charles B. Stuart, of Geneva, N. Y. Com- panies E and G were largely recruited in Millport and vicinity. Their respective captains were: Ira
65 A curious, although perhaps not unusual, incident is connected with the annals of this company. First Sergeant William E. Straight was reported dead, and funeral ser- vices were held in his honor in Elmira. After some time he returned home, having been wounded and taken prisoner.
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L. Spaulding, and W. W. Personius. The captain of Company "H" was Gen. Edmund O. Beers. 66
The Eighty-sixth Regiment .- In the Eighty-sixth regiment, called "The Steuben Rangers," was one company so full of Chemung County men that it deserved to be called a "home company." It was Company E, of which Thomas F. Shoemaker was captain. His first lieutenant was John Gilbert Copley; who afterwards became the county clerk of Chemung County. In Company F Capt. Henry G. Harrower, of Big Flats; was the commanding officer.
The surgeon of the Eighty-ninth Regiment was Dr. Truman Hoffman Squire.67
Capt. William M. Crosby was a teacher in a com- mercial college in Elmira. He recruited a company
66GENERAL BEERS was the son of Jabez Beers, a carpenter, who came to Elmira from Orange County, N. Y., in 1827. He was one of thirteen children. He was a member of the old "Elmira Guards" in 1847 and until that company dis- banded in 1854. In 1857 he joined "The Southern Tier Rifles." In the Fiftieth Engineers he rose to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. After the war he continued his ser- vices in various positions in the State militia, and was made Brigadier-General of the State forces located in the district in which the county is situated. He was an active and successful politician and served one term as Sheriff of the county. He won the respect, confidence, and even the love of his fellow-citizens, by a life of kind-heartedness, probity and perfect honesty.
67 DR. SQUIRE was one of the most eminent surgeons of the county and State. He came to Elmira from Herkimer County, N. Y., in 1849. He was promoted to be Division Field Surgeon under General Burnside, and the Surgeon- General of the Army reported of him that he considered him one of the most efficient surgeons in the Army of the Potomac. He wrote admirably on medical subjects for home and for- eign publications, and was a member of societies in this country and abroad.
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all from that city, and composed largely of young men in attendance upon his school. It was mus- tered into service as Company K of the 103d N. Y. V.
The favorite of all .- The favorite organization of all, however, would seem to have been the 107th Regiment. It was very quickly recruited, equipped; and forwarded to the front. The regimental feel- ing is, even now, very strong, and annual meetings are held on September 17, the anniversary of the battle of Antietam, where the regiment suffered severely. The county owes its only monumental remembrance of the war to the statue, the figure of a soldier in marble and granite, standing in the court-house park on Lake Street, in Elmira, which was unveiled on September 17, 1882. Many of the old Twenty-third joined the ranks of the 107th as officers and men. It was mustered into the serv- ice on August 13, 1862, with 1,016 members. Its officers were: Colonel, Robert B. Van Valkenburgh; lieutenant-colonel, Alexander S. Diven;68 major,
68GENERAL DIVEN was, in many ways, one of the most dis- tinguished men, if not the most distinguished man, of his day in the county. He was the son of John Diven, who came into the county from Pennsylvania in 1790. General Diven came to Elmira in 1845 as a member of a firm of law- yers that became widely known, Diven, Hathaway &
Woods. He was an intensely public-spirited man, being largely interested in the building of the Erie Railroad, the Elmira and Williamsport Railroad, and in a great many other local enterprises of magnitude and of value and inter- est to the county. He was a State Senator and a Member of Congress, where he took high rank as an orator and busi- ness man. General Diven died in 1905. His eldest son, George M. Diven, the dean at present of the Chemung County bar in actual practice, was equally public-spirited, and conducted successfully a number of local enterprises of large importance. He was for many years the President of the Elmira Board of Education.
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Gabriel L. Smith; adjutant, Hull Fanton; quar- termaster, Edward P. Graves; surgeon, Patrick H. Flood;69 assistant surgeon, James D. Hewitt; Chaplain, Ezra F. Crane; sergeant-major; John R. Lindsay; quartermaster-sergeant, Lucien B. Chidsey; commissary sergeant, Henry Inscho; hospital steward, John M. Thro.
The captain of Company B of this regiment was Lathrop Baldwin, Jr.70
The regiment made a very brilliant record, par- ticipating in some of the bloodiest and most decisive engagements of the war. It was with General Sher- man on his "March to the Sea," and was mustered out of service on June 5, 1865.
69DR. FLOOD was another popular and successful physician of Elmira. He came originally from Northampton County, Pa., and to Elmira in 1852, at once taking a high position in his profession. He was an active and ambitious poli- tician, served two terms as Mayor of the City of Elmira, and was a member of all the local medical societies. He was the Surgeon of the First Division, Twentieth Army Corps, at the close of the war. His son, Thomas S. Flood, has been Alderman and Mayor of the City of Elmira, and Member of Congress, and his youngest son, Henry, was postmaster of the city of Elmira.
70CAPTAIN BALDWIN was a member of the Baldwin family that came early into the valley. He was slender and deli- cate of figure, with the gentlest of dispositions, but with a spirit and force of character that was characteristic of his family, and he made a good soldier. He was a son of a sol- dier of the War of 1812, and grandson of a soldier of the Revolution. His father was deputy sheriff of the county, and was the first occupant of the new County Court House in 1824. Captain Baldwin was a printer and a news- paper man. He was promoted to be Major soon after the One Hundred and Seventh reached the field. At the fierce battle of Peach Tree Creek, Ga., on June 22, 1864, he was mortally wounded, and died the following month. His commission as Lieutenant-Colonel, to which office he had been promoted, is dated on the day of the battle. The first post of the Grand Army of the Republic, and one of the first organized of the country, bears his name.
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The 141st .- The 141st Regiment was also entitled to be called a "home regiment," as it had three full companies raised in the county. It followed very quickly in the wake of the 107th, being mus- tered into the service a month later, in September, 1862, with 956 officers and men. The two reg- ments rivalled each other in local popularity. The officers of the 141st were: Colonel, Samuel G. Hatha- way;71 lieutenant-colonel, James C. Beecher; major, John W. Dinniny; adjutant, Henry L. Pierson; quartermaster, Silas Haight; surgeon; John W. Robinson; assistant surgeon, Orlando S. Green- man; chaplain, Thomas K. Beecher; sergeant- major, L. A. Hazard; quartermaster-sergeant, Miles W. Hanley; hospital steward, Harris Sawyer; prin- cipal musician, George Gray.72
71COLONEL HATHAWAY was an exceptional man in physical appearance and mental capacity, an unusually fine speaker and brilliant lawyer. He came to Elmira in 1835, from Cortland County, N. Y., and was in partnership first with Judge James Dunn, and afterward with Judge Hiram Gray. He is best remembered, however, as a member of the famous firm of Diven, Hathaway & Woods. He was a close politi- cal and personal friend of John Van Buren, son of President Martin Van Buren. He died in 1864, while in service.
72 Adjutant Pierson was succeeded as soon as the regiment went into the field, by Robert M. McDowell, a grandson of Capt. Daniel McDowell, one of the earliest settlers in the valley. He made a military record for himself quite in keep- ing with the family name, which is such a distinguished one in the history of the county. He was educated as a civil engineer, and during the war was chief topographical engi- neer on the staff of Gen. Joseph Hooker. For many years, as mining engineer, he was connected with an extensive system of railroads in the West.
The Lieutenant-Colonel and Chaplain of the regiment were both clergymen, sons of Lyman Beecher and brothers of Henry Ward Beecher. The Sergeant-Major, L. A. Hazard, was a newspaper man, exceedingly bright and amiable, long connected with the Elmira Gazette, and at one time part
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Company C of the regiment was commanded by Elisha G. Baldwin.73 Company K by Capt. Wilbur F. Tuttle, of Big Flats. The regiment was mus- tered out on June 8, 1865.
The 161st .- In this regiment one whole company was recruited from Chemung County, and scattered all through its ranks were Chemung County men. The company mentioned was C, and was raised and commanded by Capt. R. R. R. Dumars." The regiment saw nearly all its service; and it was very rough, in the campaigns around New Orleans. It participated in the capture of Port Hudson; and was the first regiment to enter Mobile after the sur- render of that city. It was mustered out of service on September 20, 1865.
The 179th .- This was the last regiment entirely or partially made up from the county, that was raised in Elmira. It contained many members
proprietor thereof, with his younger brother Charles Hazard. A post of the Grand Army of the Republic in Elmira is named in his honor and memory. Dr. O. S. Greenman surgeon of the regiment, was a successful and highly-regarded physician of Horseheads.
73CAPTAIN BALDWIN was another member of that numerous family of Baldwins that was so prominent in all the affairs of the county from its very first settlement. He was a printer and newspaper man. At the bloody battle of Peach Tree Creek, Ga., both his regiment and the One Hundred and Seventh suffered terribly. He was in command of his regiment and it stood its ground nobly. For gallant services there he was promoted to be Major.
74CAPTAIN DUMARS was a printer and newspaper man, and in such connection was always popular and prominent. He established the Elmira Daily Press, and afterward became a leading spirit on the Advertiser. He served one term as Alderman from his ward in the Common Council of the City of Elmira. His first lieutenant was Orlando N. Smith, a most estimable man, a son of Dr. Norman Smith, the first
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who had belonged to the old "Twenty-third," and who had in the brief period earned the title of "'veterans." It was mustered into service during the month of September; 1864; with 846 officers and men. It was commanded by Col. William M. Gregg.75 The regiment retained and increased the reputation for daring and bravery that had been fairly earned by the earlier local organizations, and the story of its services will be recited hereafter with pride by the descendants of those who were in its ranks. At the assault on Petersburg, Va., on April 2, 1865, the regiment suffered terribly. For gallant conduct there; Colonel Gregg was bre- veted brigadier-general. The regiment was mus- tered out of service on June 8; 1865. For the brief period it was in the field there was crowded into the time a service of hardship and danger that some organizations did not experience during the whole war
In March and April, 1865, the last regimental organization was begun in Elmira, and seven com- panies were mustered in with 584 officers and men. Its services were never required, and its organiza- tion was never completed.
Artillery .- In the artillery arm of the service,
dentist to settle in Elmira, coming there in 1835. Orlando Smith was largely interested in the Elmira Fire Department.
15COLONEL GREGG was a descendant of John Gregg, who came into the valley in the late years of the 18th century. He was a saddler and harnessmaker, and was always interested in the military and political affairs of the county. He was one of the three railroad mail agents first appointed, in 1849, to run on the Erie Railroad, their route being between Elmira and Binghamton. He served one term as Sheriff of the county. A post of the Grand Army of the Republic in Horseheads is named in his honor.
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there were four organizations, regiments, and bat- teries mustered in at Elmira during the war, and although some men of the county were members thereof, none of the companies could be called local organizations.
The Cavalry .- In the cavalry arm of the service there were six organizations mustered in at Elmira. They had a number of representatives from the county; although relatively very small compared with the infantry.
Tenth Regiment .- One of these was the 10th Regi- ment of Mounted Volunteers. It was a very popu- lar organization in the county. It was mustered in on December; 1861; with 991 officers and men. Its commanding officer was Col. William Irvine.76 One of the lieutenants of the regiment was Luther L. Barney,17 who had been very active in the organi- zation of his company.
The Twenty-fourth New York Cavalry had one company; that of Capt. L. L. Doolittle, which had a number of Chemung County men on its rolls.
The Seventeenth New York Cavalry, afterwards consolidated with the First Veteran Cavalry, had two companies, almost exclusively composed of Chemung County men. It was mustered into serv-
76COLONEL IRVINE was a busy and enterprising politician. He was at one time the Adjutant-General of the State. Subsequently he removed to California, where he became a successful business man and lawyer.
77 LIEUTENANT BARNEY made a useful and competent officer. He rose to the rank of Captain and served as Assistant Adju- tant-General on the division staff of General Gregg. After the war he engaged in the insurance business, and attained most responsible positions with some of the strongest com- panies in the country.
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ice on July 30; 1863. Two captains in this regi- ment, William L. Morgan, and John Whitley, Jr., personally enlisted, with two exceptions, every man on their rolls.78
The lack of silver change .- There was one depri- vation in these times that caused very serious an- noyance and inconvenience-the entire and com- plete disappearance of silver change. There had been no quarters, dimes, or nickels at that time, and the pennies or cents were great copper discs that no one but children hankered after. The whole country had depended on Mexican or Span- ish coinage called "pillared" pieces, by reason of the peculiar design on one face. They were called two shillings, shillings, and sixpences. It may not be recollected that our present serviceable Ameri- can decimal coinage was not adopted until after the war. Postage stamps were used until they became soiled, sticky; and obliterated, and indi- vidual dealers79 got out fractional currency in vari-
78Captain Morgan had resigned from the One Hundred and Seventh to raise his company. He was killed in Vir- ginia in an engagement with Mosby's men. Captain Whit- ley was a newspaper man, and was part proprietor of the Elmira Daily Press. The first lieutenant of Captain Mor- gan's company, E. V. Coulton, was one of the early school-
masters of the county. He was long remembered as a severe physical disciplinarian with the switch and strap, an exercise that fully prepared him for good service as a cavalry officer. Sam A. Paine, who had already seen service in the One Hundred and Third Infantry, was a member of this company. Since the war he has made an enviable reputation for himself as a crisp, ready, bright newspaper writer.
79One shrewd financier had printed five-cent shinplasters that were payable when presented in sums amounting to five dollars. He issued ninety-nine of these little bills. It was finance of a new character, but it worked.
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ous amounts less than a dollar. The city of Elmira finally issued neatly engraved bills in denomina- tions less than a dollar, so and they were used until the Government printed the convenient postal fractional currency in 1863.
Gateway between the North and South .- The loca- tion of the county of Chemung is peculiar. It has been called, and with considerable reason; the "gateway between the North and South." From time immemorial the aborigines used the Chemung Valleys1 in going on the warpath or on missions of peace from Canada and the northwestern part of the State to the South, and what are now the States of Virginia and North and South Carolina. It was the route that in those unhappy days runa- way blacks took to escape from bondage and reach places of freedom. Elmira became quite a noted station of the "under-ground railroad," where the unfortunates always found rest, recuperation, and assistance on their journey.
It was because of its situation that the valley was chosen, first for a military rendezvous and then for the location of a military prison. It was easy of access from either way, both North and South.
80The idea was conceived and put into practice by S. C. Reynolds, the President, and F. C. Steele, the Treasurer of the Board of Trustees of the village of Elmira. They received much commendation from the citizens and business men of the county for their action, and the artistic character of the bills. A very few of these bills are still in existence and are held of abnormal value.
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