USA > New York > Saratoga County > History of Saratoga County, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers. > Part 26
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I .- THE SEVENTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT NEW YORK STATE VOLUNTEERS.
The 77th Regiment New York State Volunteers, also ealled " The Bemus Heights Battalion," was organized in and largely recruited from Saratoga County. Three of its companies had their skeleton organizations outside of the county,-one in Westport, and one in Keeseville, in Essex county, and one in Gloversville, Fulton county. On the 21st day of August, 1861, Hon. James B. MeKean, of Saratoga Springs, then being in Congress as a represen- tative from the Fifteenth (now Twentieth) district, issued the following eircular letter to his constituents :
" FELLOW-CITIZENS OF THE FIFTEENTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT, - Traitors in arms seek to overthrow our constitution and to seize our capitol. Let ns go and help to defend them. Who will despond be- cause we lost the battle of Bull Run ? Our fathers lost the battle at Bunker Ilill, but it taught them how to gain the victory at Bemus Ifeights.
" Let us learn wisdom from disaster, and send overwhelming num- bers into the field. Let farmers, mechanics, merchants, and all classes -for the liberties of all are at stake-aid in organizing companies.
107
HISTORY OF SARATOGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
"I will cheerfully assist in procuring the necessary papers. Do not misunderstand me. I am not asking for an office at your hands. If you who have most at stake will go, I will willingly go with you as a private soldier.
" Let us organize a Bemus Heights Battalion, and vie with each other in serving our country, thus showing we are inspired by the holy memories of the Revolutionary battle-fields upon and near which we are living.
"JAS. B. MAKEAN.
" SARATOGA SPRINGS, Aug. 21, 1861."
This call met with a prompt and patriotic response from every town in the county, and from other parts of the con- gressional district. Company organizations and recruiting stations were established in various localities. Everywhere, indeed, the fife and drum could be heard calling to arms, and enthusiastic young men went from place to place bear- ing the stars and stripes, and urging their fellows to enlist for the war.
Orders were at once issued from the adjutant-general's office at Albany, establishing a branch depot and recruiting- station at Saratoga Springs, and directing all companies organizing for the regiment to assemble there preparatory to being mustered into the United States service.
The county fair-grounds lying a little east of the village of Saratoga Springs were chosen and very soon put in readiness for the reception of the recruits. This rendez- vous was called " Camp Schuyler," and before the Ist of October seven companies, containing over six hundred men, had enlisted, marched into its inclosure, and chosen their company officers, as follows :
Saratoga Company .- Captain, B. F. Judson ; first lieu- tenant, L. M. Wheeler.
Ballston Company .- Captain, C. C. HIill ; first lieuten- ant, N. P. Hammond.
Wilton Company .- Captain, W. B. French ; first lieu- tenant, John Carr.
Northumberland Company .- Captain, Calvin Rice; first lieutenant, James Terhune.
Greenfield Company .- Captain, Lewis Wood ; first lieu- tenant, William R. Carpenter.
Charlton Company .- Captain, A. F. Beach ; first lieu- tenant, N. IL. Brown.
Westport Company .-. Captain, R. W. Arnold ; first lien- tenant, William Douglas.
Then came the Waterford company, Jesse White com- manding; the Stillwater and Half-Moon company, J. C. Green commanding; the Clifton Park company, J. B. An- drews commanding; and the Edinburgh and Providence company, J. J. Cameron commanding ; all of which organ- izations were soon after consolidated into one company, with J. B. Andrews as captain, Jesse White as first lieutenant, and John J. Cameron as second lieutenant, Mr. Green retiring on account of ill health.
The Keeseville company soon after arrived, Wendell Lansing commandin ; also a company from Greenwich, Washington county, Henry R. Stone commanding ; both of which were subsequently consolidated, and chose Wen- dell Lansing captain, and Jacob F. Haywood first lieuten- ant. Gloversville sent a full company, commanded by N. S. Babcock, which was the last, and completed the ten company organizations of the regiment.
Here at " Camp Schuyler" the soldiers had their first
experience of army life. They were fed by R. H. MeMichael, one of the proprietors of Congress Hall, and soon became accustomed to the tin-plate and pint cup, roll- call, reveille, and tattoo. They were instructed in the school of the soldier and guard and camp duty.
The officers, for a while, shared the quarters of their comrades, but afterwards procured accommodations at Con- gress Hall, and there remained, studying military tactics, and receiving instruction in the manual of arms, sword practice, and army regulations, until the regiment moved to the front. Recruits were added daily, and the company officers directed all their energies in obtaining sufficient men to enable them to choose second lieutenants and non- commissioned officers, and thus complete the company or- ganization.
Some changes were made in company officers already chosen. Winsor B. French, who had been elected captain of the Wilton company, and held the rank of fourth cap- tain, at the request of the colonel, resigned and accepted the appointment of adjutant with the rank of first lien- tenant. Wendell Lansing resigned the captainey of the Keeseville company on account of age and ill health, and Franklin Norton, of Greenwich, was elected in his place. James Terhune also resigned the first lieutenancy of the Northmiuberland company, George S. Orr being chosen in his place. At length all the companies, having obtained the requisite number of enlisted men, elected their second lieutenants and completed their organization. The captains then drew by lot their places and rank in the line, as fol- lows : A being first ; B, second, etc.
Company A .- Read W. Arnold, captain; William Douglas, first lieutenant ; James H. Farnsworth, second lieutenant, -Westport, Essex Co.
Company B .- Clement C. Hill, captain ; Noble P. llammond, first lieutenant ; Stephen S. Horton, second lieutenant,-Ballston Spa, Saratoga Co.
Company C .- Benjamin F. Judson, captain ; Luther M. Wheeler, first lieutenant; John Patterson, second lieu- tenant,-Saratoga Springs, Saratoga Co.
Company D .- John Carr, captain ; Winsor B. French, adjutant and first lieutenant; Chester Il. Fodow, second lieutenant,-Wilton, Saratoga Co.
Company E .- Lewis Wood, captain, Greenfield, Sara- toga Co .; William B. Carpenter, first lieutenant, Provi- dence, Saratoga Co .; Halsey Bowe, second lieutenant, Saratoga, Saratoga Co.
Company F .- Judson B. Andrews, captain, Mechanic- ville, Saratoga Co .; Jesse White, first lieutenant, Water- ford, Saratoga Co .; John J. Cameron, second lieutenant, Saratoga, Saratoga Co.
Company G .- Calvin Rice, captain ; George S. Orr, first lieutenant,-Gansevoort, Saratoga Co. Lucins E. Shurtleff, second lieutenant and quartermaster, Galway, Saratoga Co.
Company II .- Albert F. Beach, captain ; N. Hollister Brown, first lieutenant, Charlton, Saratoga Co. George D. Story, second lieutenant, Malta, Saratoga Co.
Company I .- Franklin Norton, captain, Greenwich, Washington Co .; Jacob F. Haywood, first lieutenant ; Martin Lennon, second lieutenant,-Keeseville, Essex Co.
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HISTORY OF SARATOGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
Company K .- Nathan S. Babcock, captain ; John W. McGregor, first lieutenant ; Philander A. Cobb, second lieutenant,-Gloversville, Fulton Co.
Field and staff officers were then appointed as follows : Colonel .- James B. MeKean, Saratoga Springs.
Lieutenant-Colonel .- Joseph C. Henderson, Albany. Major .- Selden Hetzel, Albany.
Surgeon .- John L. Perry, M.D., Saratoga Springs. Assistant Surgeon .- George T. Stevens, M.D., Westport. Chaplain .- David Tully, Ballston Spa.
Adjutant .- Winsor B. French, Wilton.
Quartermaster .- Lucius E. Shurtleff, Galway.
All of which officers were duly commissioned by the governor of the State of New York, and on the 23d day of November, 1861, with the enlisted men, mustered and sworn into the United States service " for the term of the war unless sooner discharged," and on the 28th day of November marched out of camp and started for Washing- ton, D. C. They numbered as follows :
Officers.
Men.
Total. 8
Field and staff. Company A
87
B
3
91
94
D
2
83
F
3
82
85
3
83
88
H
3
80
83
I
3
79
82
K
3
87
90
In all.
864
A few men of each company were left behind on account of absence and sickness, and joined the regiment after- wards, First Lieutenant N. P. Hammond being left in com- mand of the depot.
During the fall about fifty recruits were enlisted by him and sent on to the regiment ; and in the summer of 1862, the regiment having become greatly depleted by losses sus- tained in the peninsular campaign, disease, and resigna- tions, efforts were made to fill it up, and Capt. John R. Rockwell, 1st Lieut. William H. Fursman, and 2d Lieut. Cyrus F. Rich, with a company of eighty-nine men raised at Schuylerville, were added to it. At the same time Lieuts. S. S. Hastings, Joseph Il. Loveland, and John W. Belding organized a company of sixty men and joined the regiment. Lawrence Van Demark, of Stillwater, and Alonzo Howland, of Mechanicville, recruited about sixty-four men, were commissioned first and second lieutenants respectively, and with their men were also assigned places. Maj. W. B. French and Lieut. David J. Caw, and others, while the regiment was lying at Harrison's Landing, were sent home on recruiting service, recruited two hundred and thirty men, and thereafter about fifty men were added to the regiment and six officers appointed from civil life, making in all fifty-two officers and fourteen hundred and sixty- nine men who, from first to last, joined the regiment. Of these a large number re-enlisted in 1864 for three years more.
The regiment thus organized proceeded by rail to Albany, thence by boat to New York city, where the resident sons of Saratoga gave them a splendid collation, and a beautiful regimental banner and guidons. "The banner was an ex-
quisite piece of work, of the richest fabric,-a blue ground, with elegant designs in oil. On one side was represented an engagement, in which the American soldiers, led by Washington, were fighting under the old flag,-thirteen stripes and the union jack. Ou the reverse was pictured the surrender of Burgoyne, at Saratoga, under the new flag,-the stars and stripes,-first unfurled in the goodly city of Albany, and first baptized in blood at the decisive battle of Bemus Ileights, which resulted in the surrender of Burgoyne and the virtual success of the Revolution.
" We had already a beautiful national flag, the gift of the patriotic young ladies of Mr. Beecher's seminary at Saratoga."
. The regiment arrived at Washington on the 1st day of December, and were at once ordered into camp at Meridian Ilill, about two miles north of the city. On the 15th day of February, 1862, the regiment crossed the Potomac and joined the 3d Brigade of the 2d Division, at Camp Griffin, with which organization it remained through the war. It will be interesting to know that, at this first advance of the enemy, it took one hundred and thirty mule teams to move the camp equipage, and that after Chancellorsville but one team was allowed to each regiment for that purpose. The brigade comprised, besides our own regiment, the 33d and 49th New York, and the 7th Maine, and was commanded by Gen. Davidson. Gen. W. F. Smith (" Old Baldy") commanded the division.
Soon after arriving in camp the regiment had its first ex- perience in night marching, having been ordered out on a reconnaissance about six miles towards Vienna and return. The New York papers called it a general advance of the army. The army moved on the Sth day of March to Manassas, but finding no enemy it was decided to proceed against Richmond by way of Fortress Monroe and the Pe- ninsula. Accordingly, the army was embarked and sent down the Potomac to the mouth of the James river, and debarked at Fortress Monroe, the 77th at Hampton. a little deserted village near by. On March 26 a grand advance, or reconnaissance in force, was ordered.
Here began a weeding-out process, graphically described by Dr. Geo. T. Stevens as follows :
" In this advance or reconnaissance of the whole army the qualities of the individual soldiers composing it were brought out in bold relief. The effect on our own division was marked. During the months we had been in winter quarters many officers and men had established marvelous reputations for bravery and hardihood, merely by constantly heralding their own heroism. But from this time these doughty heroes went back. Officers suddenly found cause for resigning, and enlisted men managed to get sent to the rear, and never showed their faces at the front again. On the contrary, some who were really invalids insisted on dragging themselves along with the column, fearful that an engagement might take place in which they would not par- ticipate. A sifting process was thus commenced through- out the whole division, and, to its honor, the poltroons were very soon sifted out ; and from that time forth Smith's division never afforded a comfortable resting-place for men of doubtful courage. 'They went out from us, because they were not of us.'"
3
81
E
3
83
109
HISTORY OF SARATOGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
FIRST ENGAGEMENT.
On April 4 the regiment received its first baptism of fire at a small place on Warwick creek called Lee's Mills. Here the enemy were intrenched, waiting to receive the attack. Their line of earthworks extended across the Peninsula about seven miles, Yorktown being about three miles to the cast of Lee's Mills ; and here began a "sifting process" that came near destroying the whole army.
Frank Jeffords, Company C, was the first of our regi- ment killed. Comparatively few were killed outright in battle, but the more deadly scourge of camp fever held high carnival and swept our ranks as with the besom of destruc- tion. Nearly one-fifth of the regiment was put hors-de- combat at this place. On the 3d and 4th of May the enemy retreated to Williamsburg, where they were attacked and defeated after a long and severe engagement.
The 77th, with Smith's Division, stood in reserve all day ready to be called into action if needed, but was not actually engaged. On the 15th day of May, the army ad- vanced to White House on the Pamunky, where the 6th Corps was organized and the 2d Division made a part of it ; and thereafter during the period of its service the 77th formed a part of the 3d Brigade, 2d Division, and 6th Corps of the Army of the Potomae.
On May 23 the regiment first came in sight of the rebel capital, and from a small eminence received the fire of a battery and the 7th and 8th Georgia Regiments, who stood guard in front of the little village of Mechanicsville. Dr. Stevens describes the affair as follows : " Wheeler's battery responded nobly to the rebel artillery, and presently Gen. Davidson ordered Col. Mckean to charge the village with his regiment. The men rose to their feet and started for- ward with a yelt. Down the hill they rushed impetuously, cheering and yelling ; but the two rebel regiments, the 7th and Sth Georgia, startled by the shouts, seized their mus- kets and ran, firing but one parting salute. Their battery also limbered up and beat a hasty retreat."
From this delightful village the regiment was recalled, and on June 5 transferred to Golden's Farm, on the south bank of the Chickahominy, and their advance on the city of Richmond, towards which they had so long toiled and struggled, forever postponed. The regiment lay here about three weeks, and so near the enemy that riffe-bullets from their picket lines frequently came whistling into camp.
At this time Col. Mckean was compelled on account of sickness to abandon the front and leave the regiment. The terrible hardships of the march, the bivouac, the camp, and the Chickahominy swamp fevers had fearfully scathed the regiment, and many of its bravest officers and men were compelled to yield to the ravages of disease. Many died and many were discharged, the absent and sick often out- numbering those present and fit for duty. Ou June 26 Gen. Lee began the first of the series of battles that drove Mcclellan's once magnificent army from in front of the rebel capital to Harrison's Landing on the James river. The result of the first day's fight was announced as a great victory for the Union army. The joy of the army at this announcement knew no bounds. Bands of music played which had not sounded a note for nearly two months (not
even a roll-call or drum-beat had been allowed, lest the enemy should learn our exact position ) ; but now the air was filled with music, the camps were ablaze with patriotic fervor. All expected to march into Richmond at daylight. All night the regiment was under arms awaiting the hoped- for order to advance. Alas! alas ! the order was passed in whispers from camp to camp, " Leave your tents stand- ing; save a few of your most valuable effects ; destroy the balance; the army must retreat. Be ready to meet any attack on your front and to march instantly on receiving the order." On the next day came the great battle of Gaines' Hill, just across the Chickahominy, in plain view of the regiment, which was all day under arms, and on June 28 the battle of Gaines' Farm.
At three o'clock on Sunday morning, June 29, the 2d Di- vision, as the rear-guard of the army, quietly withdrew and marched to Savage's Station. Then came the battle of Savage's Station, and another repulse of the enemy ; after that a long and terrible night march to White Oak swamp, which was reached about daylight ; then a short rest, when a terrible artillery fire was opened upon the division by the rebels, described by Dr. Stevens as follows :
"Suddenly, like a thunderbolt, seventy-five pieces of artillery belched forth their sheets of flame and howling shells, and in an instant our whole division was thrown into the most perfect confusion by the deadly missiles which flew among us in every direction. Such cannonading had never before been heard by our army, and before our bat- teries could reply with any effect the horses were killed, the gunners dispersed, and the pieces disabled. It was a most perfect surprise; no one was prepared; men ran hither and thither seeking shelter behind any object which seemed sufficient even to conceal them from the view of the enemy."
Theu the retreat was continued. The 77th led; Gen. Davidson directing that Adj. French ride at the head of the regiment and at his side, ready to receive any orders to be given to his " dear 77th," as he always afterwards called it. On the next day occurred the great battle of Malvern Hill. The 6th Corps held the right of the line, and was not actually engaged ; then the further retreat to Harrison's Landing. Dr. Stevens thus speaks of the part the 77th took in this campaign :
"Since the arrival of the army on the Peninsula the experiences of the regiment have been varied. With the other regiments of Smith's Division it has spent a month at Yorktown, within musket-shot of the enemy. At Wil- liamsburg it, with other regiments of its brigade, supported batteries in front of Fort Magruder, and when, in the afternoon, it received the order to go with the 49th to the assistance of Hancock, it started forward with cheers; the men going through the mud at double-quick. But when the two regiments arrived on the field their gallant brothers of Hancock's and of their own brigade had nobly accom- plished the work in which they would gladly have assisted. " We have seen how gallantly the regiment routed the rebels at Mechanicsville, capturing a flag and other trophies; and when on the Chickahominy Smith's Division held the line elosest upon the enemy, it bravely assumed its part of the labor and danger. A portion of the regiment on picket
110
ILISTORY OF SARATOGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
on the 28th of June exhibited sterling heroism ; and we need hardly refer to the noble sacrifice of that brave young soldier, John Ham. Disease and exhaustion had made terrible inroads upon the 77th. Instead of nearly a thou- sand men, with whom we came to the Peninsula, inspection in the middle of June showed only about two hundred and fifty men present for duty. Although this regiment had, from the very beginning, occupied an exposed position in the very front line; although it composed a part of Smith's Division, which had already become famous, both in the Union and rebel armies, for being always in closest prox- imity to the enemy, yet it had thus far lost very few men in battle. All the rest of those now absent had been stricken down by fevers, or worn out by the exhausting labors and exposures of the campaign. Among those attacked by typhoid fever was Col. McKean. After suffer- ing a few days in the vain hope of soon being able to place himself again at the head of his regiment, he was removed from the poisonous atmosphere of the swamps to Washington, and thence to his home in Saratoga. The men looked upon his departure with sincere regret, for they not only respected him as an able commander, but loved him for his never- failing interest in their welfare. Ile had been to the regi- ment in the capacity of commander and father. His leave of the regiment was destined to be final ; for, except as an occasional visitor, he never returned to it.
" Lieut. Bowe, a young man of fine abilities and greatly beloved by his regiment, after several weeks of absence, returned to camp on the 18th of July restored to health. On the very next day, while standing with several officers in a tent, he was fatally wounded by an accidental shot from a pistol, and died soon after.
". Changes occurred among the officers. The lieutenant- colonel and major left the service,-the first by resignation ; the other by dismissal. Adj. French was made major, and afterwards lieutenant-colonel, which office he held during the remainder of the term of the regiment."
THE RETREAT FROM THE PENINSULA.
On the 16th of August came the order to " pack up and be ready to move," and at midday the regiment left with delight its camp at Harrison's Landing. Two days' march brought it to Williamsburg, a third to Yorktown, another to Big Bethel, and a fifth to Hampton, where boats were waiting to transport the army to Alexandria. What a change! Five months before it had debarked on those very wharves, and stepped proudly out, the most splendid army in the world ; now it was broken, dispirited, beaten, and humiliated. Look at the 77th. Then the ranks were full, officers and men healthy, proud, full of esprit de corps, firmly believing that nothing could oppose their onward march. Now, how changed ! Not a field-officer present to command it, many of its bravest and best lying scattered from Hampton to Richmond in unmarked graves, many dying in rebel hospitals and prison pens, and many languishing on beds of sickness ; the remainder bronzed and brown, hardened by war, saddened by defeat, drilled into veterans. ready for victory or for defeat.
The regiment arrived at Alexandria, with the 6th Corps, on the 23d of August. It was not engaged in the second
Bull Run battle, but acted as part of the rear-guard of Pope's retreating army from Centreville to Washington. It participated in the Maryland campaign, and took part in the battles of Crampton Pass and Antietam.
Its share in the latter battle is thus described by Dr. Stevens :
" It was at this critical moment, when Sumner's troops, weary and almost out of ammunition, were for the third time repulsed, . . . that the Sixth Corps, our second di- vision in advance, arrived upon the field. The scene before us was awful. On the left, as far as the eye could reach, the lines of the contending forces, stretching over hills and through valleys, stood face to face, in some places not more than thirty yards apart. The roar of the musketry rolled along the whole extent of the battle-field. The field upon which we had now entered, thrice hotly contested, was strewed with the bodies of friend and foc. Without waiting to take breath, each regiment, as soon as it arrives on the field, is ordered to charge independently of the others. . . . On the right of the 7th Maine come the glorious 49th and our own 77th, Capt. Babcock in command. On the right of all is the old 33d, within supporting distance. The men of the 77th rush forward and receive the fire nobly, and although far ahead of all the other regiments, it stands its ground and returns the fire with spirit, although it is but death to remain thus in the advance. The brave color-bearer, Joseph Murer, falls shot through the head; but the colors scarcely touch the ground when they are seized and again flaunted in the face of the enemy. Volley after volley crashes through our ranks ; our comrades fall on every side ; yet the little band stands firm as a rock, refusing to yield an inch. At this juncture Gen. Smith, riding along the line and discovering the advanced and unprotected position of the regiment, exclaims, ' There's a regiment gone,' and sends an aid to order it to retire. . . . It did so, and re- formed again with a loss of thirty-three killed and wounded. " The advent of the 6th Corps upon the field had decided the contest upon the right of the line, and after the first charge of the 3d Brigade the battle lulled. Of all the brilliant charges made in the army on that memorable day, none was more gallant or more important in its results than this noble charge of the 3d Brigade of Smith's Division."
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