USA > New York > The first hundred years : records and reminiscences of a century of Company I, Seventh Regiment, N.G.N.Y., 1838-1938 > Part 2
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55
"The news of this transaction," says Colonel Clark, "produced a great com- motion; and the indignation of the officers and members of the 27th, caused by this secret attempt to deprive it of a part of its numerical strength, was ex- pressed in language more forcible than polite. There was a great to-do over the whole business and a bloody paper battle ensued. But a complete victory was won by the 27th and the Troop remained a part of their organization."
New York City having at last been supplied with the finest drinking water in the world, celebrated the completion of the Croton water system on October 14, 1842. As usual, the Troop took part in the vast parade, reviewed by the Honor- able William H. Seward, Governor of the State. The following year, on June 12, 1843, the regiment turned out to welcome President John Tyler on his way to attend the inauguration of the Bunker Hill monument. The Troop evidently did not go to Boston with the battalion of the 27th which took part in the parade in that city.
On November 25, the regiment was reviewed at City Hall Park by Marshal Bertrand of the Grand Army of the Emperor Napoleon.
In 1844, the Troop appears to have been thirty-five strong at the annual in- spection. During the summer it went on an excursion for target practice to the Abbey Hotel on the Bloomingdale Road. This, I believe, is the first record of preparation for those unusual honors in rifle shooting which the company has won and preserved down to the present day. About this time an era of company balls, popularly known as "soirees," began. These were subscription affairs usually held at Niblo's saloon, the Apollo rooms, or the Chinese and City assembly rooms. The year closed with another "anti-rent" war in Rensselaer
Camp Schuyler, near Albany, July 4, 1845. The 27th Regiment, National Guard, with the Troop on the right of the line
11
THE EARLY YEARS
and Columbia counties. Two companies of cavalry were sent from New York City to the seat of the trouble but our Troop was not one of them.
Another great parade occurred on June 24, 1845, during the public funeral of ex-President Andrew Jackson. The regiment took part and survived the extreme heat of the day, pronounced the most severe and oppressive within the recollection of the oldest soldier.
This year also marks the regimental encampment near Albany known as "Camp Schuyler." An old lithograph which pictures the regiment in front of its tents on dress parade, while a circle of officers surround the colonel in the fore- ground, is memorable in Ninth Company history as the first picture extant of the National Guard Troop. The horsemen were formed on the right of the line. History also states that the gallant Troop was subjected to "overwhelming mortification" during this tour of duty. It seems that they had arrived at Albany two days after the regiment and had been mounted on horses hired for the occasion. "As an integral part of an infantry regiment," says Colonel Clark, "a troop of cavalry is necessarily a nuisance." He endeavors to take the sting out of this statement by saying that the men, if not the horses, were enthusias -. tically received. Upon invitation of the Troy Citizens' Corps our cavaliers visited that city and were hospitably entertained. The Troop's crowning honor, however, was in being assigned as escort to Governor Silas Wright and the Patroon. It was to see that these distinguished personages got safely from Albany to "Camp Schuyler" on July 10. In the hour of its triumph some jealous infantry staff officer was doubtless responsible for the following insult: while all the infantry companies were reviewed by Governor Wright, the Troop by inadvertence (so it was said) was not awarded this honor.
"When the infantry companies wheeled into column to pass in review, the Troop manifested its indignation by leaving the line and returning to its quarters and at once commenced preparation to depart for New York. At the conclusion of the review the Commander-in-Chief waited upon Captain Brinck- erhoff and apologized for the unintentional military error. Colonel Vermilye and Lieutenant-Colonel Bremner also addressed the Troop in the most concil- iatory terms and finally succeeded in restoring peace and receiving forgiveness. But this circumstance, if forgiven, was not soon forgotten by the gallant troopers of the 27th."
After an interval of ten years New York tried to burn itself up again on the morning of July 19, 1845. The fire spread with fearful violence and rapidity, wiping out nearly three hundred large buildings in the wholesale district below Wall Street and east of Broadway. In the afternoon the Troop of the 27th Regi- ment was ordered out for patrol duty and on the following day the whole regiment was on guard to protect the immense quantities of goods that had been taken from the burning buildings.
At the annual inspection in October the Troop mustered forty-four men.
In the history of the National Guard the year 1846 stands out as a period of great stress. The State Legislature passed the worst militia law of its entire career as a law-making body. Practically all the uniformed militia were dis- banded and the city and state were divided into military districts. All persons
12
THE FIRST HUNDRED YEARS OF COMPANY I
liable to military duty were attached to the company or regiment of their respec- tive districts. The law raised a wild storm of protest with the officers of the 27th leading the attack. The Governor was forced to delay the enforcement of this silly legislation; and while drills and parades were voluntary and no penalties could be enforced for non-attendance, the regiment seems to have come out pretty well. It maintained its discipline and membership.
On the 4th of July the Troop took part in the parade as escort to Brigadier- General Hall is it did on many other occasions during this era.
There was a target excursion in August arranged by the Troop at Macomb's Dam.
Early in 1847 the remains of the soldiers killed on the battlefields of Mexico began to arrive in New York. The Troop and the Regiment were called out for military escort and paraded on May 7 to celebrate the brilliant victories of "Palo Alto," "Monterey," "Vera Cruz" and "Buena Vista."
THE SEVENTH REGIMENT
This year the most objectionable part of the militia law was rescinded and in reorganization the regiment became part of the 3rd Brigade and lost its numeral "27." The orders read: "The regiment heretofore known as the 27th Regiment of Artillery, National Guard, under the command of Colonel Bremner, is to be hereafter called and known as the 7th Regiment of New York State Militia." This was under date of July 27, 1847.
The regiment paraded for the first time as the 7th Regiment at Tompkins Square and the following month participated in the ceremonies connected with the laying of the cornerstone of a monument to the memory of Washington. This took place in what was then known as Hamilton Square, between 66th and 69th Streets and Third and Fourth Avenues, and almost on the very ground now covered by the 7th Regiment armory.
The Troop changed commanders in 1847. Captain Brinckerhoff resigned and was succeeded by Lieutenant Lewis H. Watts. His commission as Second Lieu- tenant, signed by Governor Wright, is preserved in the archives of the present company.
The old order book of the Troop contains under date of November 26, 1847, a call for assembly "in fatigue dress with side arms, for improvement in sword exercise at the Eagle Drill Room, corner of Christie and Delancey Streets." The order also discloses the fact that the regular monthly meetings for the transaction of business were held at Military Hall, the Bowery, and the further information that "members who have incurred any penalties for absence from parade since the 10th of July and have any excuse to offer, can do so to Colonel Bremner at his office, corner of Hester and Elizabeth Streets. Signed L. H. Watts, Commandant."
The following month the Troop assembled in full uniform at Tinkham Hall, corner of Avenue C and 4th Street, for the purpose of presenting a token of respect "to our late Commandant, A. B. Brinckerhoff."
Nothing of great importance occurred the following year, 1848, except the parade in honor of ex-President John Quincy Adams whose body, after his
13
THE EARLY YEARS
SEVENTH REGIMENT N. Y. S. M.
J. A. Fraetas & Co., 7 Spruce-street.
NATIONAL GUARD TROOP.
New-york, November 25th, 1848.
ORDER No. II.
The Troop will assemble in fatigue dress, with side arms, for drill at Vauxhall Garden, on every Tuesday Evening at 7 1-2 o'clock until further orders, commencing on Tuesday Evening, the 28th Inst.
The drills on the first and third Tuesday Evenings in each month, will be regular company drills, with the usual fine for non-attendance.
The others will be voluntary, but the Commandant hopes that every member will feel it not only his duty, but a privilege to be present on every occasion.
Punctual attendance of every member is particularly requested at the regular Monthly Meeting at Military Hall, on Thursday Evening, December 14th, 1848.
By order of
CAPTAIN L. H. WATTS,
SERGEANT.
14
THE FIRST HUNDRED YEARS OF COMPANY I
sudden death in the Halls of Congress, was brought to New York in March and lay in state in the Governor's room at City Hall.
When General Winfield Scott returned to the United States in May, after his brilliant campaign in Mexico, New York gave him a rousing welcome. It was during the parade in his honor, when the steady lines of the 7th Regiment . marched past in review that he remarked that it was the finest regiment of soldiers he had seen.
During this year the Troop was continually assigned to escort duty. It mus- tered forty-one men. On July 25, there was a parade for the purpose of receiv- ing the 1st Regiment, New York Volunteers, on their return from Mexico.
The orders of 1848, preserved in the company's scrap book, are most inter- esting and very distinguished looking documents. They were printed by C. C. Childs, of 80 Vesey Street, each headed by a woodcut vignette displaying a white marquee in the background, flanked by stands of the national colors, and in the foreground a piece of artillery on which the American eagle stands with wings outspread. But Order number 11, November 25, 1848, contains a new picture and probably the first and only distinct representation of the Troop uniform of that period. The woodcut was done by C. G. Morton for J. A. Frae- tas and Company, 7 Spruce Street. It represents five dashing Troopers riding as escort to a piece of light artillery drawn by four horses. The uniform pre- sented is, evidently, white breeches, short-tailed jackets of gray, with full white facings, sleeves and collars and a busby bearing a large plume.
At the beginning of 1849 it appears that the Troop assembled at Vauxhall Garden Drill Room and in March, we find that three members were expelled for non-payment of dues and fines and the whole troop warned that their uni- forms must be altered with the resolution adopted on the 8th instant.
THE ASTOR PLACE RIOT
All the minor parades and duties of 1849 were overshadowed by the great Astor Place riot and the part played in it by the 7th Regiment.
Without going into the history of the quarrel between Macready, the English actor, and Edwin Forrest, it is sufficient to say that the friends of the American actor had determined that Macready should not be allowed to appear during his farewell engagement in New York City. On the evening of May 7, a mob of Forrest sympathizers had forced its way into the Astor Place Opera House and broken up the performance of "Macbeth." Macready determined to leave the country at once but was persuaded by a large number of "respectable citizens" of New York to appear again on Thursday, May 10. They promised that peace and order should be preserved. During the day, however, such indi- cations of further rioting presented themselves that three hundred special policemen were detailed for duty in Astor Place and the 7th Regiment was ordered to assemble in its Center Market armory and to be in readiness in case its services were needed.
By seven p.m., thousands of people had congregated in front of the theater and the situation was soon out of the control of the police. An attempt at firing
15
THE EARLY YEARS
LP Share
Astor Places Prot in 1849.
The Astor Place Riot, 1849
the theater failed; but stones were thrown through the windows and the per- formance again broken up. The police were powerless. More than twenty thou- sand people crowded into Astor Place and 8th Street. At nine o'clock the 7th Regiment arrived preceded by the Troop and a company of cavalry. The mounted men turned from Broadway into Astor Place and, ten abreast, made the first attempt to clear the street. Naturally, they were an excellent mark for the stones and missiles showered upon them by the mob. Several were knocked from their horses. The animals became unmanageable and their passage from Broad- way through Astor Place resembled a flight rather than a victorious march.
They were compelled to scamper away in disorder toward Third Avenue, amid the jeers and laughter of their assailants. With the cavalry eliminated from the contest, the rioters turned their attention to the infantry which, in column of companies, succeeded in forcing its way through Astor Place to Fourth Avenue. Colonel Duryee then moved to the left into 8th Street and cleared the mob from the rear of the theater.
16
THE FIRST HUNDRED YEARS OF COMPANY I
During this movement, Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew B. Brinckerhoff, former Captain of the Troop, was knocked down by a stone and severely injured. He never fully recovered. It is interesting to note in passing that the cup presented to him in 1851 is now at the City Museum at Fifth Avenue and 104th Street.
The progress of the regiment was disputed at every inch by showers of brick- bats and paving-stones which, unfortunately, street repairers had left in large piles in the immediate neighborhood. By the time the 7th had worked its way around to the front of the theater again and had formed in line on the sidewalk, it had lost fifty men. Human nature could stand no more. The order to fire was given reluctantly by the authorities and after one volley over the heads of the rioters which proved ineffective, a second volley delivered with fatal effect sent the mob reeling, bleeding and panic-stricken from the street. Astor Place was soon cleared.
While the National Guard Troop cannot be said to have covered itself with glory at this time, it is well to remember that this type of duty is the most difficult, trying and least glorious of any service to which the citizen soldier is called. No one desires to trample down or shoot his fellow countrymen, no matter how mistaken they may be; and the 7th Regiment during these riots estab- lished a record for long-suffering patience and fine discipline worthy of the veterans of many battlefields. The Troop was armed only with sabers, their horses suffered seriously from cuts and blows and it is a marvel that none of the riders was killed.
The feeling ran so high against the 7th Regiment in certain quarters for the honorable part they had played in preserving the peace, that the usual parades on July 4 were dispensed with.
At the annual inspection at Tompkins Square on October 29, the Troop mustered twenty-nine men and it is presumed they took part in the public funeral of General Worth which was held on the 15th of November.
Whether or not the Troop accompanied the six infantry companies of the 7th on the excursion to Newport in July 1850, the records do not show. During this tour occurred the death of President Zachary Taylor. New York City honored his memory with the usual ceremonies on July 23. The regiment took part in the great parade which was more than three hours in passing the reviewing stand.
The Troop also turned out on August 2 to welcome and escort General Jose Antonio Paez, a distinguished ex-President of Venezuela. In October the Boston Lancers visited New York. They were received by the Troop and escorted to Fifth Avenue and 23rd Street. Here their tents were pitched and their fine horses picketed for the night in a field in the rear of Corporal Thompson's famous cottage which later became the site of the Fifth Avenue Hotel. The next day the whole regiment received the Lancers and after a march through the streets entertained them at the Apollo Saloon. It is interesting to note that at the conclusion of their visit, the Troop escorted the Bostonians to the City Hall ยท for a review by the Mayor; but His Honor did not arrive until some five
17
THE EARLY YEARS
minutes after the indignant Troopers had left the park! Mr. Woodhull was evidently the Jimmie Walker of his day. The visit of the Boston Lancers was a marked success but it entailed an assessment of $2.50 per man to cover the expenses of entertaining them.
In 1851, the 7th Regiment was the observed of all observers due to its parad- ing down Broadway on Washington's Birthday in heavy blue overcoats-a startling new feature of its uniform. What the Troop wore on this occasion, if anything, is not a matter of record.
President Millard Fillmore visited New York, May 13, 1851, and the 7th Regiment Troop, as usual, was detailed as Presidential escort. A heavy rain spoiled the military display but the President was entertained at a corporation dinner at the Irving House and he left the next day for Dunkirk to celebrate the completion of the Erie Railway.
The last month of 1851 was marked by a great to-do over the visit of Louis Kossuth, the Hungarian patriot. The military turned out to parade, there was a mass meeting at Castle Garden and tremendous cheers and enthusiasm greeted the hero. The Kossuth excitement, however, was too violent. It rapidly quieted down "with no important or practical result in aid of the eloquent exile or his suffering country."
Among the large colored lithographs of this period is one by Boetticher of "The Parade of the Seventh Regiment at the Washington Parade Grounds, 1851." In this picture eight companies of foot are formed in column around the square followed by a small group of mounted men, possibly all of the Troop that turned out for that parade.
In May 1852, Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew B. Brinckerhoff resigned his commission and Major Lefferts was elected to succeed him. Andrew B. Brincker- hoff was born in New York in 1815. He had been the prime mover in the organization of the 1st National Guard Troop, as we have seen. Colonel Duryee in announcing his resignation emphasized his long and faithful service, his promptness in duty, his prudence and moderation in council and the sincere and deep regret of all at his withdrawal from the regiment. He was a man of fine soldierly bearing, an excellent cavalry officer, and "the Troop during his ad- ministration was a large and well disciplined military organization."
In June, Captain Lewis H. Watts, of the Troop, also resigned and was succeeded by Lieutenant Isaac Tomlinson.
The annual encampment of the 7th Regiment took place this year in July at New Haven. Another lithograph of Boetticher's represents "Guard Mounting, eight a.m., Camp Trumbell, New Haven, July, 1852." At the left of the picture appears the National Guard Troop in dark gray coats and trousers and dragoon helmets. (There is a copy of this picture in the Museum of the City of New York.) The regiment was royally entertained by the New Haven Grays and the National Blues and Camp Trumbell was pronounced one of the most en- joyable and successful encampments of the 7th Regiment, notwithstanding the fact that two companies were conspicuous by their absence.
During the summer the regiment also turned out to take part in the funeral ceremonies in honor of Henry Clay whose death took place in July. This duty
18
THE FIRST HUNDRED YEARS OF COMPANY I
was no sooner over than they were called upon again for similar duties at the funeral of Daniel Webster, November 16.
On October 12, the annual inspection of the regiment took place at Tompkins Square, after which it escorted the Boston Light Artillery to the City Hall for review by the Mayor. This was the first time in its history that the regiment paraded five hundred men and this was a subject of general congratulation. The Troop mustered forty men on this occasion.
On July 14, 1853, the regiment turned out for the reception of Franklin Pierce, President of the United States, who visited the city to open the great exposition in the Crystal Palace in Bryant Park. Accompanying the President was his Secretary of War, Jefferson Davis.
In November, the National Guard Troop lost its fourth commanding officer, Captain Isaac Tomlinson, by death. He was an excellent cavalry officer and much beloved and respected by his company. Lewis H. Watts who had resigned in 1852 was again elected to command the Troop. It numbered at this time thirty-seven.
In 1855, the summer encampment took place at Kingston, New York. Camp Worth was located on Rondout Creek and an old lithograph of that year. picturing a dress parade of the regiment in front of its white tents, shows the Troop formed on the right of the line.
The record for 1856 mentions the Troop as still installed for drills and meet- ings at the Mercer House. Captain Watts resigned during the year and was succeeded by Alexander Lytle. Captain Watts had served the Troop with great distinction for nearly ten years and left the command with the universal respect of officers and men.
A new series of riots ushered in the year 1857. History does not state that the Mounted Corps took part in suppressing the conflict at the City Hall on June 16 when the 7th Regiment on its way to take the steamer for Boston was diverted from its line of march to quiet the row between Mayor Fernando Wood and his police force and the new guardians of the law who had been foisted upon the City of New York by the State Legislature. It was a lively affair while it lasted but the presence of the regiment brought order out of the confusion and the 7th proceeded on its way to Boston where it took part in the inauguration of the Warren Monument and was royally entertained.
The disorganization of the police in New York City had encouraged the dis- orderly classes to further lawlessness. On July 4 a small war broke out in Mowbray and Bayard Streets and the Bowery between the "Dead Rabbits" and the "Bowery Boys." The riot raged with great fierceness during the day and was renewed later at Five Points. The Regiment was called out late in the after- noon, but by the time it reached the scene of disturbance the rioters had dis- appeared.
Again on the evening of July 13 the 7th was called upon to suppress a riot in "Mackerelville" in the 17th Ward where several lives had been lost and many people injured by a violent attack upon the metropolitan police. This affair was settled without the active intervention of the military and quiet was gradually
19
THE EARLY YEARS
restored. After their experience in the Astor Place riots it is doubtful whether the "Cavalry" took part in these affairs as a mounted unit.
The outstanding event of 1858 was the trip of the 7th Regiment to Richmond, Virginia. It went as escort to the body of ex-President James Monroe which was being taken back to his native state for interment. In 1831, the regiment had formed the escort of honor when he had been buried in the Second Street cem- etery. The trip was made on the steamer Ericsson.
Another historic celebration in which the Regiment participated on the 1st of September was that in honor of the completion of the Atlantic cable, a great enterprise that was doomed to failure, for the time being at least, shortly after the city and country had made such a fuss over it.
The annual inspection in October showed that the Troop mustered about twenty-nine members. During the year it had taken up quarters together with the 7th Company at Tilford Hall, a new building at the corner of 7th Street and Hall Place. Captain Alexander Lytle resigned during the year and was succeeded by Edwin T. Cragin.
The purchase of the Mount Vernon estate, proposed by the Ladies' Mount Vernon Association, and led by that sterling patriot, Miss Anne Cunningham, was a subject of national interest in 1859. It is gratifying to remember that the officers and members of the 7th Regiment subscribed two thousand dollars to this worthy cause and thus substantially helped to save the home of Washington.
At a regimental field day at "Fashion Course," Long Island, on May 16, a large crowd of spectators was entertained by some unusual drills.
"The most exciting movement of the day," says Colonel Clark, "was the charge of the Troop upon the infantry companies in square and the disorderly retreat of the troopers, whose untrained horses were madly ungovernable under a discharge of blank cartridges."
Colonel Abram Duryee resigned during the summer. He had served in the Regiment since 1828. In the Civil War Colonel Duryee won distinction as com- mander of the 5th Regiment, New York Volunteers (Duryee's Zouaves), rose rapidly in rank and was brevetted Major-General in 1865 for faithful and distinguished service.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.