USA > New York > History and personal sketches of Company I, 103 N.Y.S.V., 1862-1864 > Part 6
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a copy of the "tactics," and by hard study and a close attention to drilling, soon became one of the best drilled members of the regiment, and fitted to occupy a more ex- alted position than "high private in the rear rank."
February, 22nd, 1862, Lieut. Dudley was discharged to accept the position of First Lieutenant in company I. 103rd Regiment, N. Y. Vols., then being organized by Captain Wm. M. Crosby, in Elmira, and joined the com- pany on the 27th.
He at once took charge of the drilling, and when the company left for Washington, March 21st, it was highly complimented for its appearance and marching.
The regiment sailed for Newberne, N. C , March 28th, on the steamer Ericson, and arrived there April 1st. May 21st, after a week's picket duty at Evans' Mills, company I, with companies E and K, of our regiment, was sent to Hatteras Island, N. C., and went into camp about three miles up the island, at Camp Winfield. June 1st Lient. Dudley was taken with typhoid fever, and was sent to the hospital June 6th, where he remained until July 6th.
August 8th, he left for the North on the steamer Al- bany, with the remains of his brother, 2nd Lieut. William I .. Dudley, who died Aug. 5th, of typhoid fever, and ac- companied them to Elmira, N. Y., where they were laid at rest in Woodlawn Cemetery.
Sickness from chills and fever prevented the subject of this sketch from returning to Hatteras until September. and when he arrived there, on the 9th, the company had left for Washington. Dudley followed at once, through the ship canal to Norfolk, thence to Baltimore, and think- ing that the company had joined the regiment in Mary- 'und. started at onee for Antietam, via Frederick, Md .. aut reached the regiment September 21st. Major Ring- , !!! , commanding the regiment, at once promoted Dud- ley to Captain, and the company not having yet arrived,
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detailed him as Adjutant. Taken with malarial fever, by advice he resigned his commission and returned home.
He again entered the store of Preswick & Dudley, at Elmira, and remained with them until Nov., 1863, when he assisted in organizing company M, 50th N. Y. Vol. Engi- neers, and February 4th, 1864, was commissioned First Lieutenant of the company. This regiment had been in the service since August, 1862. The Colonel of the regiment having received authority to increase it to twelve companies, with a maximum strength of 150 men each, companies L and M were formed The last of Feb- ruary Lieut. Dudley, with his company, joined the regi- ment at Washington, took an active part in the cam- paigns of the Army of the Potomac, commencing May 4, 1864, and ending with the surrender of the rebel Gen- eral Lee, at Appomattox C. H., helping to build the pon- toon bridge at Germania Ford, May 5th, crossing the army into the Wilderness, and also assisting in building at Cole's Ferry the pontoon bridge, about 2,100 feet in length, the longest one ever built with boats.
June 21st, 1864, he assumed command of his company, and until January 9th, 1865, was engaged in construct- ing the line of forts from the Appomatox river to the left of the line in front of Petersburg, Va, among them Forts McGilvery, Hell, Fisher and others.
January 9th, 1865, he was appointed ambulance offi- cer, Engineer Brigade, on the staff of General H. W. Benham, with headquarters at City Point. About noon, April 3rd. 1865, learning that Richmond was onrs, Lieut. Dudley rode up to that city registering at the Spotts- wood Hotel, his name appearing on the opposite page of the Confederate officers who registered on the previous day. Price of board, $50 00 in Confederate money, $3.00 in greenbacks. Remaining over night, the next day, with other officers, he rode to the Rocketts to meet President Lincoln, and accompanied him to the Jeff Davis mansion,
FIRST LIEUT. GEO. T. DUDLEY.
and was there introduced to him. Lieut. Dudley will never forget the hearty grasp of the President's great, broad hand, and his cordial "I am very glad to meet vou." After partaking of a glass of wine from Jeff Da- vis' cellar, he accompanied the President around the city to the Rocketts, where Mr. Lincoln boarded the steamer Malvern to return to City Point. He returned to City Point with the key of the clock, a pair of handcuffs from Libby prison and a pair of anklets from Castle Thunder.
Lieut. Dudley was mustered out of service of the United States with his regiment at Elmira, N. Y., June 13th, 1865.
His choicest possessions are two swords, one presented to him by his "boys." of company I, 103rd Regiment, N. Y. Vols., before leaving Elnura for the front; the other a gift from his "boys," of company MI, 50th Regiment, N. Y. Vols., Engineers, at a cost of $125.00, soon after their arrival in Washington.
It is a great pleasure to Lieut. Dudley that each and every member of both company I and company MI, with but one exception, remember him with affectionate re- gard, for the reason that he never abused them and would not permit others to do so. Ten months' service as a private, under a Captain who soon lost the respect of the best men in his company, who were his superiors in everything except rank, led Dudley to resolve that if he ever did wear shoulder straps he would treat his men like men. This resolve he carried out, and, adopting the saying of the Kentuckian in "Uncle Tom's Cabin," "Treat them like dogs and you'll have dogs' actions, but treat them like men and you'll have men's actions, "he treated his men "white," and at their annual reunions no one meets with a more cordial greeting than Lieut. Dud- Jev.
After muster out of service, he engaged in the mercan- cile business at Addison, N. Y. In November, 1865, he
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was married to Miss Elizabeth L. Lawrence, a member of the Society of Friends, at Trenton, N. J., a daugh- ter of James and Rebecca C. Lawrence, a descendant of that celebrated Quaker, or Friend, John Woolman. In 1867, his health having broken down, he gave up business and spent a year at the home of his wife's parents, near Trenton, N. J. In June, 1868, he engaged in the book business in Trenton, and in 1876 joined his brother James in the same business at St. Paul, Minn.
In 1878 he returned to New Jersey, residing in Trenton and Atlantic City until April, 1881, when he accepted an appointment as examiner in the Pension Bureau at Wash- ington, D. C., and still occupies that position.
Lieut. Dudley has four children, viz .: W. L., editor and publisher of "Golfing," a monthly magazine devoted to the game of golf, in New York City; James L., Superin- tendent of a Boys' Club at Holyoke, Mass .; George L., assisting his brother on his magazine, and Florence E , residing at home.
Lieut. Dudley is a member of the G. A. R., U. V. U., and a Knight Templar, Columbia Commandery No. 2, of Washington, D. C.
WILLIAM LAW DUDLEY
Was born in Elmira, N. Y., Sept. 5, 1838, a twin brother of Jas. Todd, junior member of the firm of Preswick & Dudley, of Elmira, N. Y., and a brother of Lieut. Geo. T. Dudley, of Co. I. 103d Regt .. N. Y. Vols. He was a son of Ward Dudley, who was a prominent merchant in El- mira from 1830 to 1843.
Lieut. Dudley was educated in the public schools of Horseheads and Waverly, N. Y. In the year 1853 hetook a course in bookkeeping at Eastman's Commercial Col- lege, Syracuse. N. Y., and afterward spent a winter in Florida teaching bookkeeping. Upon his return he was employed as a clerk in the dry goods store of W. E. Hart in Elmira.
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SECOND LIEUTENANT WM. T. DUDLEY.
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CAPTAIN GEORGE A, HUSSEY, 1861.
In the fall of 1861 he helped organize a company in Bradford Co., Penn., and was to be one of its Lieuten- ants but upon reaching Harrisburg was taken sick and returned home. He then learned photography.
He was chosen by Co. I as their 2d Lieutenant in March upon the muster of Capt. Crosby as captain completing the organization of the company.
Maj. A. T. Lee, mustering officer of the regular army. thoroughly disloyal and not to be trusted at the front, refused to muster him and he was compelled to return from Newbern, N. C., for that purpose after the company . arrived there in 1862. He rejoined Co. I at Camp Win- field, Hatteras Island, in June, and in the absence of 1st Lieutenant, G .. T. Dudley, who was sick in the hospital at the inlet, took charge of the drilling of the company.
He was taken sick with chronic diarrhoea and typhoid fever about July 1st and died August 5th, '62. His re- mains were taken to Elmira, N. Y., by his brother Lieut. Geo. T. Dudley. and interred in the family burial lot in Greenwood cemetery.
Lieut. Dudley was a general favorite in society and his death was regretted by a large circle of friends as well as by every member of Co. I, who remember him with affec- tionate regard.
GEORGE ALEXANDER HUSSEY.
Sketch of his services during the War of the Rebellion with Company I, 103d New York Volunteers (Seward Infantry.)
His father was George Tuttle Hussey, and his mother was Mary Jane Alexander. Each resided in New York, X. Y
George Alexander Hussey was born December 23, 1843, ri New York, N. Y .. and the completion of his education was stopped by the outbreak of the war in 1861, pre-
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viously having studied in public and private schools in and about Brooklyn, N. Y., and latterly in France and Germany. Was married at Brooklyn, N. Y., November 25, 1875, to Carrie Elizabeth St. John, (her father being Reuben A. St. John, mother Sarah Jane Renoude, resi- dence Brooklyn, N. Y.) There were no children born to them.
First enlisted at New York as private in Company I, 9th Regiment, N. Y. S. M., (83d New York Volunteers) July 17, 1861, serving with the organization in Maryland and Virginia under Generals Banks, McDowell and Pope ;. taking part in engagements to wit: Harper's Ferry, Winchester, Front Royal, Rappahannock, Cedar Moun- tain, Thoroughfare Gap, and Second Bull Run, and at the latter battle, August 30, 1862, he received a wound in left breast. While at home, not quite convalescent, Pri- vate Hussey was introduced to Colonel Frederick W. von Egloffstein, 103d New York Volunteers, who asked him, "Can you recruit a company, as my regiment now has only nine?" To which reply was made, "Am willing to try," and by Special Order 2850, Adjutant General's Of- fice, Albany, N. Y., on October 23, 1862, the authority was given; and at once he began at No. 110 William Street to enlist men for Company C ( 103d New York Vol- unteers. ) By Special Order 349, Adjutant General's Of- fice, Washington, D. C., he was discharged November 17, 1862, to receive a commission in the volunteer service.
Recruiting at this time was not what it had been in the earlier stages of the war, so that it was a slow matter to enroll the needed number of men, but by December 31st the company was sufficiently formed to allow of his mus- ter-in as First Lieutenant by Major J. T. Sprague at Al- bany, N. Y. In this interval squads of recruits had been forwarded to the regiment, then encamred opposite Fred- ericksburg, Va., and what a disappointed, sorry-looking army it was a part of when visited on December 25th, by
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CAPT. GEORGE A HUSSEY. 1865
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reason of the recent disaster, December 13th-15th, when it had met with Lee's veterans and been badly defeated. By order of the government, all volunteer officers were relieved from recruiting duty in early spring, 1863, be- cause of which Lieutenant Hussey was forced to give up further application in forming the company. The enlisted men, some fifty-five, were transferred to the several other companies, and he to Company I, and during February reported himself for duty to the regiment, still stationed near Fredericksburg, Va.
For six months time on, Lieutenant Hussey was with Company I, on the march, the bivouac, in camp and bat- tlefield, and the regiment's history for a year he had a part in making; the pleasant, almost peaceful weeks spent at Newport News, Va., are still a reminiscence with him of Rebellion days; more so, though, the sterner "battle duty" performed in and about Suffolk, Va. where, on May 3, 1863, the 103d was under fire of a gal- lant foe for the whole day; losing, deployed as skirmish- ers. as many comrades as is usual to the average regiment in a pitched battle, and upon this occasion he had every reason to be proud of his membership in Company I. The "boys" stood the unusual test as became veterans of Newberne, Antietam, and Fredericksburg. The death of Colonel Benjamin Ringold, at that time, alone pre- vented the capture of the section of artillery that had so annoyed the regiment with its iron compliments, so freely distributed to all without favor.
The forces of General Longstreet; having disappeared trom in front of the troops of General Peck, the 102d, soon after, went under command of General Getty upon a reconnaissance in force towards Richmond. At Yorktown Lieutenant Hussey having, upon recommendation of Col- sei William Heine, been promoted Captain of Company ', he there parted immediate company from his comrades of Company I, and what follows will tell briefly of the
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record of the regiment until the Captain's final leave- taking :
Who of the whole command present then can forget the fatigues, coupled with good times, from a soldier's stand- point, had upon the sail up the Pamunkey to White House Landing, the hastened march to near Hanover Court House, escape from battle trial there, and the fun had in taking the back track down the Peninsula, over the roads used by Mcclellan in 1862 during his march tow- ards the Capital City of the Confederacy. Rations were that short, to forage, like Sherman's bummers, was the order of each day, notwithstanding "official" orders to the contrary. The officers were " blind " to the sense of what a pig, chicken, or other edible looked like, and the men-of-the-musket were not slow to see and act upon the situation.
A brief relief from the excitement and dangers of the "battle front " was had on the Elizabeth River near Nor- folk, soon rudely to be broken by orders to pack up. Where to? What for, etc., were the questions of the hour. Arriving at Norfolk all was explained by diree- tions to cross the gang plank and seek quarters upon a steamship, but in appearance the craft was more like a canal boat. Soon the vessel moved seaward, and many were the quakes and fears that it would not land its liv- ing freight in safety. Good weather prevailed. Cape Hatteras was rounded without delay, ( where Company I had onee served, ) and in due course of time all arrived off Charleston, S. C., and were promptly transferred to enjoy (?) the barren hospitality of Folly Island, which lies south of the renowned Morris Islard. both in sight of Fort Sumter, Sullivan's Island, and the City of Secession -Charleston. The first meal was taken from Palmetto trees, the tops of which slightly resemble celery, and with salt appeased the gnawing appetite, so perpetual with all soldiers out campaigning.
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CAPT. GEO A. HUSSEY. 1895
Hereabouts war alarms were almost of hourly oc- currence. The big guns of the Navy joined with the smaller ones of the Army in the abortive attempts to en- force the capture of the several Rebel forts, notably Sum- ter, Moultrie, Johnson, and Wagner. Parts of Morris, James and Long Islands were occupied by United States forces, skirmishes took place almost daily, varied by bat- tles, in which little was gained of permanent good. What with these duties, combined with the building of entrench- ments, etc .. the soldiers were fully employed. No spot was to be found twenty feet above the sea level. Thus the water, without boiling, was sure death to drink, causing much suffering to the thirsty. Besides the heat was intense in that Southern latitude, mosquitoes by the million, and taken all in all a very disagreeable place to summer at. The 103d bore its share of these trials. Pa- triotism alone kept the men true to the flag, and for the first time here were seen the defenders of Unele Sam who were of African origin, but ever true blue, and not one but had a firm belief in the final triumph of the Union cause.
In November, 1863, Captain Hussey, because of "pecu- liarities" of the commander of the regiment, asked to be discharged, which was done by order of General Gillmore on the 17th of the month. The parting from the regi- ment was with regret, and ever afterward he held the organization in high regard, especially the members of Companies I and E, who at all times responded to duties. all with a true soldierly spirit.
Neglected business matters were attended to upon ar- rival at New York, so that by the following May, on the 4th, 1864, ex-Captain Hussey again entered upon a soldier's , this time in Company A, 165th New York Volunteers, Man in the field, first going to New Orleans, where the giment was expected soon to arrive from the upper part of Louisiana, and returned with it North at first,
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stopping at the James River; thence on to the Shenan- doah Valley, where the whole of Sheridan's campaign was gone through, in which the 103d also participated; and at Winchester, Va., the Army received the glad news of Lee's surrender in April, 1865.
The time had come to return the troops to their homes. Not so with the 165th New York Volunteers, which was sent to Savannah, Ga. Later it had the pleasure of occu- pying Charleston, S. C., and finally was mustered out of service at Fort Sumter on September 1, 1865.
Again returning to New York ex-Captain Hussey could not yet settle down to the hum-drum of civil life, and going out West to Kansas, gradually drilled himself to the changed circumstances, and for the most part of the past thirty years has been engaged in the banking busi- ness, but now in the employ of the United States Treas- ury Department.
It has been a source of sincere regret to him not to have been able to see more of his comrades of old Com- pany I. who will always have a warm spot in his heart. and wishing them a full and generous part of this life's good things, sends his kindest remembrance; hoping their loval and brave deeds, in behalf of their country's cause, shall not become a dead past, with their passing from earth, but have some permanent form of record, ere too late, and to that end the above is contributed in fra- ternal love.
SIMEON E. L. WILBUR.
Simeon E. I. Wilbur was born November 1st, 1840. near Masonville, Delaware county, N. Y. His father's name was Simeon and his mother Maria (Gilbert ) Wil- bur. In 1848 the family moved from Masonville to a farm near Mt. Zoar. in Chemung county, and not distant
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from Elmira, N. Y. Ten years later they moved to Ridge- bury, Bradford county, Pa.
The subject of this sketch was educated at the common schools and at the Elmira Commercial College, gradu- ating therefrom Jan. 15, 1862. He enlisted January 4th, 1862, at Elmira, in Capt. W. M. Crosby's company I, then being raised for the 103d Reg. N. Y. Vols. He was one of four names enlisted on that date, the first enlisted in the company, and immediately entered enthusiastically into the work of recruiting men for that command.
At the organization of the company he was appointed First Sergeant, a place for which he was eminently fitted and which he filled with credit to himself and the com pany. He was with the company ,performing every duty with the patriotic ardor of his whole soul, but was taken sick on Hatteras Island, N. C., while in com- mand of a detachment of 20 men as guard at Cape Hat- teras Light House and died of meningitis at the Hospital August 11, 1862, less than 5 months after leaving El- mira.
DE WITT C. WILBUR.
De Witt C. Wilbur was born at Veteran, N. Y., Sept. 14, 1837. He was the youngest son of eight children of Stephen and Polly Wilbur, who resided at Veteran, N. Y. The father was a carpenter and the son early learned that trade. He was foreman in the shop of Bar- tholomew for a number of years. He worked mostly at stair-building, being a most efficient workman.
He was married to Mrs. Anna Simpson, adopted daughter of Mr. McKee of Elmira, N. Y., by whom he had two children, viz: Eva of Nebraska and Sybil of Wash- ingron, D. C.
He enlisted Jan. 4, 1862, at Elmira, N. Y., in Capt Wm. M. Crosby's Co I, 103d N. Y. Vols., and was elected 2d
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Sergeant at its organization. He served with his com- pany and was commissioned 2d Lieutenant. He resigned his commission and returned to his home in Elmira, but again went to the front with another regiment. He was taken prisoner and suffered the torture of prison life at Andersonville, N. C., for six months, and was for nine months confined at Libby prison, Richmond, Va.
He died about 1873 at his home in Elmira, N. Y.
ORVILLE SAMUEL KIMBALL.
Orville Samuel Kimball, son of Clark and Hannah (Whittemore) Kimball, was born at Osceola, Tioga Co., Pa., August 4th, 1842. He is the ninth generation di- rect, paternal descent from Richard Kimball, who came from Ipswich, England in 1734, and settled at Wenham, Mass. His father and mother were born in New Hamp- shire and lived there till married. The father was by trade a harness and saddle manufacturer and followed that occupation the earlier part of his life. He was one of the earlier settlers at Osceola, Pa., then included in Elkland township,-and was about the first to open a store at that place. In 1847 he purchased, erected a residence and moved to a farm three-fourths of a mile south of Osceola, at the same time carrying on the busi- ness of both store and farm for many years-in fact until it became necessary to give up both on account of his age. He died February 9th. 1883, aged almost 84 years. His mother died July 31. 1897, aged almost 86 vears.
The subject of this sketch attended the common schools of his home place, also Union Academy near Knoxville. Pa., and later the Osceola High School, which he was at- tending when the civil war broke out. During the winter of 1559-'60, also the following winter, he taught common schools in the vicinity of his home, working on the farm during the cropping season.
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ORDERLY SERGEANT O. S. KIMBALL.
He enlisted at Elmira, N. Y., February 11th, 1862, in Captain William M. Crosby's company I, 103d regiment V. Y. Volunteer Infantry, his next younger brother also enlisting in same company. He served with his company in all its marches, changes, campaigns and actions, never being absent except one week-from August 29th till September 6th, 1862-sick with fever in the hospital at Hatteras Island, N. C.
On the organization of the company he was appointed First Corporal, was promoted Sergeant March 1st, 1863, and was made Orderly Sergeant of his company June 19th following, although he had been acting in both capacities sometime previous to regular appointment by warrant.
He re-enlisted in same company and regiment while in camp at Folley Island, S. C., after two years' service un- der General Orders War Department for three years more and with other re-enlisted men of his company and regi- ment went home on veteran furlough of thirty days. He also was given a twenty day furlough in March, 1865, returning April 2d. In May, 1865, he was detailed as a clerk in the United States Subsistence Department, being stationed in charge of a branch station at Surry Court House, Va., reporting to the Post Commissary at Peters- burg, Va Within a few days from that time he was also detailed by Lieut. Col. E. F. Winger, 2d Pa. Heavy Artil- lery-and Provost Marshal at that point-as clerk in office of Provost Marshal; and attended to the duties of both details, having all the help he chose to call for. The Provost Marshal's office was discontinued at that point in early autumn and the commissary was withdrawn to Peters- burg on October 2d, where Comrade Kimball was still detailed as clerk. From this point he was sent out once in ten days to each of the counties, Prince George and Surry, in charge of a wagon train of commissary stores, which he issued to the troops stationed there, also to
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indigent whites and blacks on order of the Provost Mar. shal. On Dec. 2d, 1865, he was sent by Captain Cooper- post commissary at Petersburg, to City Point with others to open a branch office to feed the troops ordered there for muster out, among them being the 103d Battalion. Hewas employed here till muster out December 7th: 1865.
On December Sth, he took the steamer with the mem- bers of his company for New York city, received final pay at Hart's Island, New York harbor, and on December 16th arrived at his home.
In the spring of 1866 he engaged in farming, the home- stead farm, but a few years later carried on the wagon making business and conducted a repair shop. In 1880 he was commissioned Justice of the Peace and was again elected for five years in 1885 in his native town. From 1892 for several years he was editorially connected with the "Free Press" at Westfield, a local weekly newspaper. and in May, 1894, moved with his family to that place. where he has since resided.
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