USA > New York > Essex County > The military and civil history of the county of Essex, New York : and a general survey of its physical geography, its mines and minerals, and industrial pursuits, embracing an account of the northern wilderness > Part 21
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Matthew L. Teller,
James W. McCoy, 66
Oliver D. Peabody, Capt., brevet Major and Lieut. Colonel.
Lucius E. Wilson, Captain.
Daniel Burgey, 66
Benj. F. Wickham, Captain.
Austin W. Holden, Assist. Surg., brevet Major N. Y. V.
Henry J. Bates, Chaplain.
Addison L. Easterbrooks, Capt.
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MILITARY AND POLITICAL HISTORY.
Perforated by forty-six bullet holes, and its staff wounded by a ball, it is an eloquent witness to the perils and endurance of the regiment.
The Thirty-fourth Regiment New York Volunteers.
This regiment, to which the company raised in Crown Point, commanded by Captain Doolittle, was attached as company H, was organized on the 24th of May, 1861, by the elections of William La Due, colonel, James A. Suitor lieut. colonel, and Byron Laffin, major. The original offi- cers of Company H left the service at an early period. Capt. Doolittle resigned October, 1861. Lt. Buck was not mustered in, and Lt. Wright, having been promoted to fill these vacancies, 1st lieutenant May 11th, and captain November 11th, resigned on the 28th November, 1861. James McCormick of Crown Point was appointed 2d lieutenant, September 29th, 1862, and promoted 1st lieute- nant May 8th, 1863. Simeon P. McIntyre was appointed 2d lieutenant January, 1863, and George B. Coates Decem- ber, 1862. Each of these officers was mustered out with the regiment June 30th, 1863. The Thirty-fourth arrived at Washington the 5th July, 1861. It was soon after assigned to duty on the upper Potomac. It was attached to the brigade then commanded by General Stone. The regiment was ordered to Ball's Bluff, but only arrived in time to aid in the removal of the wounded. Until the following spring it was occupied in continual harassing marches, and par- ticipated in all the hard services, which were at that period encountered by most of the army. The regiment at this time became attached to the first brigade commanded by General Gorman and the second division of the second corps, and remained in this organization during its subse- quent services.
The Thirty-fourth landed at Hampton at the initiation of the peninsula campaign on the first of April, 1862. It was actively engaged in the siege of Yorktown, and was the first regiment in the enemy's works at Winne's mills. At Fair Oaks it was eminently distinguished, and was warmly
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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY.
engaged for nearly three hours, with a loss of ninety-four killed and wounded. The Thirty-fourth participated in most of the operations of this campaign, and at Glendale and Malvern Hill lost more than one hundred men, and was compelled in the first action to abandon its killed and wounded to the enemy. It was now subjected to a series of the most vigorous picket and field duties, and on the withdrawal of the army of the Potomac from the peninsula, the regiment endured the terrible forced march from Harri- son's Landing to Newport News. The Thirty-fourth was transferred from that point by water to Alexandria, and was at once advanced to the front, encamping without tents or shelter, amid a furious storm of wind and rain. On the eventful 30th of August it was efficiently engaged in covering the retreat of Pope's army. At Antietam the Thirty-fourth entered the field on a double quick, and was moved directly to the front, where it was exposed to a wasting fire from infantry, in front and on both flanks, and by artillery on its left; but maintained its position, al- though abandoned by a supporting regiment, until ordered to fall back by General Sedgwick personally, who received two wounds while giving the command. In another period of the action, the regiment was again exposed to a destructive cannonade. During this bloody day, the Thirty-fourth sustained a loss of one hundred and fifty men, amounting to one-half of the effective strength with which it went into action. Through the remainder of the cam- paign, the regiment was employed in constant and arduous services, in severe marches, reconnaissances and picketing. On the 11th December, it led the van of the brigade, at that time commanded by General Sully in the passage of the Rappahannock at Fredericksburg, when the enemy were driven from the town. The regiment lost on this occasion more than thirty men from the fire of the enemy's batte- ries. After this action, the Thirty-fourth remained in camp during the winter, its repose being frequently inter- rupted by picket duty. At Chancellorville and Fredericks- burg the ensuing spring it was present, but only slightly
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MILITARY AND POLITICAL HISTORY.
engaged. On the expiration of its enlistment the regi- ment was mustered out at Albany on the 30th June, 1863. The Thirty-fourth had participated in seventeen battles and numerous skirmishes. In all these scenes, Company H had sustained a conspicuous and honorable attitude, and worthily received, in common with the regiment, the official encomium " that it never failed in duty to its country, or devotion to its flag."
The Thirty-eighth New York Volunteers.
This regiment, under Col. J. W. Hobart Ward, was mustered into service at New York, in June, 1861. The company enrolled in Essex county, of which Samuel B. Dwyer was elected captain, William H. Smith first lieu- tenant, and A. C. Hand Livingston second lieutenant, was incorporated with the regiment as Company K. The Thirty-eighth regiment left the state on the 19th, and reached Washington on the 21st of June, and was soon after attached to Wilcox's brigade, and Heintzelman's division. It advanced with the Union army to Bull Run, on the 21st of July, and was engaged in that battle, suffering a loss in killed, wounded, and missing of one hundred and twenty-eight men. It was distinguished by its heroic bearing. During four hours it was in close action and exposed for a long time to a deadly fire of artillery both in front and on its flanks. Such an exposure affords the severest test to the constancy and courage of fresh troops. The regiment bore the heat and dust with all the suffering of the early part of the engagement, with the highest sol- dierly resolution, and when confronted with the enemy, it firmly met and successfully repulsed the attacks of his in- fantry. When compelled by the disasters of the day to abandon the field, the Thirty-eighth retreated in compara- tive order, and returned to the encamping ground from which it had marched in the morning. Company K, in this action, was in charge of Lieutenant Smith and Lieutenant Livingston, owing to the absence from sickness of Captain Dwyer. In this initial battle of the war, Com-
16
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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY.
pany K was the only organization from Essex county engaged, and although none were killed on the field, it seems proper to record the names of the wounded and captured. Orlando R. Whiting, captured and died in prison ; James A. Coburn, Henry Van Ornan, killed at Chancellorville; Patrick Waters, Pitt A. Wadhams, killed at Fredericksburg ; Loyal E. Wolcott, John M. Gladden, George Boutwell, James McCormick, died in prison ; and Wesley Sumner, killed at Fredericksburg. Lieutenant Smith resigned August 2d, 1861, Lieutenant Livingston, four days afterwards. The officers who subsequently served in this company, were Fergus Walker, second lieutenant August, 1861, promoted first lieutenant May 1862, promoted captain August, 1862; and William Warren second lieu- tenant May, 1862, promoted first lieutenant December, 1862.
Until the opening of the peninsula campaign the Thirty- eighth was employed in pieket duty and the construction of field works for the defense of Washington. In August, the regiment was assigned to Gen. Howard's brigade. This brigade, known as the third brigade, was successively commanded by Generals Sedgwick and Birney. Upon the organization of the army of the Potomac, the division to which this brigade was attached constituted the first division of the third corps, and these various designations were retained during the subsequent service of the regi- ment.
The Thirty-eighth was at the siege of Yorktown and sustained in the operations before the works some slight casualties. Its bearing at the battle of Williamsburgh was highly conspicuous, and it encountered there a loss of eighty-six men. In this engagement, the gallant Captain Dwyer, of Company K, fell mortally wounded, and died a few days afterwards at St. Johns Hospital in Phila- delphia. His body, claimed by the popular enthusiasm, was borne to the village of Elizabethtown, in his native county, of which he was a prominent citizen, and there buried with the imposing and touching obsequies due to his patriotic devotion.
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MILITARY AND POLITICAL HISTORY.
The regiment was engaged in all the battles that imme- diately followed on the peninsula. It also fought at second Bull Run, Chantilly, Fredericksburg and Chancellorville. On the 21st December, 1862, the remnants of the ten com- panies of the Thirty-eighth regiment was consolidated into six companies, and marked from A to F inclusive, while the Fifty-fifth New York Volunteers was also consolidated into four companies, enumerated from G to K, and annexed to the Thirty-eighth regiment. A large proportion of the regi- ment reenlisted, embracing a considerable part of Company K, and when it was mustered out on the expiration of the term of service June 22d, 1863, these men were transferred to the Fortieth New York Volunteers. This regiment, both before and after the consolidation, was ranked among the most distinguished regiments of the state volunteers. In noticing the departure from the field of the Thirty-eighth regiment, the commander of the third corps in a special order paid the highest tribute to its service and reputation.
The Forty-fourth Regiment New York Volunteers.
A happy inspiration suggested the idea of forming a regiment to be composed of chosen men to be selected from the various towns and wards of the state, and organ- ized and known as The Ellsworth Avengers. The design proposed at once to appropriately commemorate the name of the young hero, who was the earliest martyr to the Union cause, and to animate a just and patriotic mili- tary spirit throughout the state. Essex county promptly responded to the invitation, and most of the towns sent their representatives to the regiment. It was mustered into the service on the 24th September, 1861, as the Forty- fourth New York Volunteers. The services of the Forty- fourth were active and conspicuous in the varied operations of the army of the Potomac, and it is believed that its name and associations rendered it to the rebels an object of peculiar hostility and vindictive assault. The gallantry of the Forty-fourth was eminently conspicuous at Hanover C. H., where four times its flag was cut down by balls,
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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY.
and as often triumphantly raised. When the color-bearer fell, the standard was promptly raised by another hand. In the midst of the fierce and terrible conflict, which the Forty-fourth in connection with the Second Maine : " How many men," was demanded of a captain of the former, "will follow me to the charge." "Every man," was the Spartan reply, " save the dead." Such was the character and spirit of this regiment. The staff of the torn and faded flag, deposited in the military bureau, had about eighteen inches with the eagle and top shot away at Spott- sylvania. When the Forty-fourth was mustered out of service, October 11th, 1864, the veterans and recruits were transferred to the One Hundred and Fortieth and One Hun- dred and Forty-sixth regiments, New York Volunteers.
The Seventy-seventh Regiment New York Volunteers.
This regiment was mustered into service November 23d, 1861, for three years at Bemis's Heights, Saratoga, and by the suggestions of the spot appropriately num- bered seventy-seventh. At this organization, James B. Mc- Lean was elected colonel, Joseph A. Henderson, lieut. colo- nel, and Selden Hetzel, major. Two companies attached to the seventy-seventh, designated A and I, were principally enrolled in Essex county. Company A was recruited in the towns of Westport, Jay, and Keene. It was inspected on the 15th of September, and two days later proceeded to Saratoga. The company was organized by the election of Renel W. Arnold captain, William Douglass first and James H. Farnsworth second lieutenant. It originally mustered ninety-five men and received fifty recruits, chiefly nonresidents of Essex county, during its service. Lt. Farnsworth resigned January 5th, 1862, and Charles E. Stevens was promoted to second lieutenant. Captain Arnold resigned April 3d, 1862, and was succeeded by 1st Lt. George S. Orr of Company G. In December fol- lowing, Lt. Stephens was appointed first lieutenant and Orderly Sergeant William Lyon was promoted to his post. Captain Orr of Company G was wounded at Cedar creek
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MILITARY AND POLITICAL HISTORY.
and mustered out with the regiment at the expiration of its term. Lt. Stevens was promoted to the captaincy of consolidated Company E, October 15th, 1864. Lt. Lyon was killed at Spottsylvania May 10th, 1864. Charles H. Davis was promoted second lieutenant October 16th, 1864, and appointed first lieutenant Company E, November 15th, 1864, and captain, April 25th, 1865. Company I was recruited in the northern towns of Essex and the adjacent towns in Clinton county. Mr. Wendell Lansing was largely instrumental in the enrollment of this company, but on its organization was transferred to the commissary department, in which he served about one year. The com- pany officers on its organization were Franklin Norton cap- tain, Jacob F. Hayward and Martin Lennon firstand second lieutenants. Capt. Norton was promoted August 18th, 1862, to lieut. colonel of the One Hundred and Twenty-third New York Volunteers, and died on the 12th of May, 1863, of wounds received in the battle of Chancellorville, on the 10th December, 1862. Lt. Lennon was appointed captain of Company I, and January 3d, 1863, Lt. Hayward was pro- moted to quarter master and remained in that capacity until the term of enlistment expired. John W. Belding was made first lieutenant, March 17, 1863, was promoted to the captaincy of Company K, but never mustered in as such, and died October 27th, 1864, from wounds received in action. On May 19th, 1863, Orderly Sergeant Carlos W. Rowe was appointed second lieutenant. Lt. Rowe entered the service as corporal in Company I. At the organization of Co. I, William E. Merrill was corporal. He was made a sergeant July following, and orderly sergeant February, 1863. He reenlisted in February, 1864, was severely wounded at Spottsylvania, was made second lieutenant September 19th, 1864, and promoted to first lieutenant April 22d, 1865, and was mustered out with the regiment, at the close of the war.
Immediately after being organized, the Seventy-seventh started for the field of active service, and reaching Wash- ington in December, 1861, went into camp on Meridian
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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY.
hill. The regiment was incorporated with the army of the Potomac on its first organization, and continued con- nected with it until its disbandment; it participated in all the fortunes of that army, from the commencement of McClellan's campaign to the close of the war. Its earliest experience of battle was in the charge upon the enemy's works, at Mechanicsville, in which a youth from Keese- ville, Clifford Weston, a private in Company I, was killed, the first offering of the regiment to the country to be succeeded by a long and heroic line of sacrifices. The Seventy-seventh was conspicuous throughout these services, and no part of it was more distinguished than the two companies from Essex county. The regiment belonged to the immortal sixth corps, and its torn and fragmentary flags and guidons, and their shattered staffs deposited among the archives of the state, prove its worthiness of the association.
I do not possess the materials from which to form a narrative of the specific services of the Seventy-seventh, nor indeed could its movements be properly separated from the general operations of the army. That its services were severe is attested by the records of thirty distinct battles, and that they were gallantly performed is evident from the bloody decimation of its ranks. One or two instances will illustrate the character and endurance of the regiment. In the battle of White Oak swamp, the division to which the Seventy-seventh was attached, was suddenly assailed by a superior force of the rebels. The regiment was stationed some distance from its brigade, and could not be approached owing to the severity of the enemy's fire. Although not directly exposed to this fire, it was in imminent danger, from its position, of being cut off. "Not proposing to move without orders," as one of its gallant members writes, the regiment maintained its post. A slight suspension of the action enabled an aid to reach it, with orders to change its ground. This order was promptly executed, but only in time to save the regi- ment from capture.
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MILITARY AND POLITICAL HISTORY.
Atthe battle of Spottsylvania, May 10th, 1864, the Seventy- seventh was selected with several other regiments to form an assaulting column, to charge the enemy's lines. The attack continued scarcely more than fifteen minutes, but was of the fiercest and bloodiest character. The position assailed was extremely formidable, and the attacking column was not sufficiently strong to maintain it. They were compelled to fall back and abandon the position with their dead and severely wounded to the mercy of the enemy. Twenty members of the Seventy-seventh were left upon this field. In the terrible conflict at Spottsylvania, the regiment lost seventy-four men, about one-fourth of its strength engaged. Lt. Lyon of Company A was killed in the charge, and Lt. Rowe of Company I was taken prisoner.
The regiment participated in the eventful scenes on the peninsula. At Mechanicsville it captured a guidon be- longing to a Georgia regiment ; it was at Gaines's Mills, Savage's Station, and in all the operations before Richmond, which terminated at Malvern Hill. Transferred from that field it was engaged at second Bull Run, Crompton Pass and Antietam, closing the services of that year at
1 Lt. Rowe made his escape. The story in its detail is full of interest from its romantic incidents and the adroitness and courage by which success was secured. The fifth day after his capture, he began a march with about twelve hundred prisoners, in the direction of southern prison houses. On the second day of the march, they were compelled to ford a stream, which was waist deep. In effecting the passage the line became scattered. The guard was comparatively small, and in the confusion, Rowe was able soon after crossing to plunge into a thicket and secrete himself behind a heavy cluster of bushes. He was concealed in this covert until the whole detach- ment had past. He had procured a map from a fellow prisoner, and aided by this and a pocket compass, he deliberately marked out the route he should pursue to regain the Union lines. Pursuing for a while nearly the course of the party from which he had escaped, he at length diverged and crossing the Richmond and Gordonsville rail road and then the Gordonville and Lynch- burg, proceeded by a long circuitous route. He traveled in seven days and principally in the night, a distance of one hundred and fifty miles, and suc- ceeded on the thirteenth day after his capture in joining the Union forces at Fredericksburg. In his perilous journey he encountered innumerable hair- breadth escapes, endured extreme suffering, and had no other subsistence than he secured from his own efforts and the kindness and charity of the negro people.
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Fredericksburg on December 13th. In January, 1863, it encountered the horrors of the "mud campaign." At Marye's Height, on the 3d of May, it captured the flag of the Eighteenth Mississippi; it fought at Fredericksburg, Gettys- burg, Rappahannock station and Robinson's tavern. In the campaign of 1864, it was at the Wilderness, Spottsyl- vania, Coal Harbor and Fort Stevens. Transferred to the Shenandoah valley, it was engaged in the battle of the 19th September in which Captain Lennon, of Company I, and Lieutenant Belding were mortally wounded, and died, the former on the succeeding 1st November, and the latter the 29th October. It was at Fisher Hill September 22d, and at Cedar Creek on the 19th of October, gallantly aiding in the achievement of that crowning victory. In this en- gagement Captain Orr of Company A was severely wounded.
In November, 1864, at the expiration of its term of enlist- ment, the regiment was mustered out of service; but it left in the field a battalion composed of veterans who reenlisted, formed from the original organization and new recruits. This was designated the 77th Battalion New York State Volunteers. The relics of Companies A and I were consolidated into a new company designated C, and attached to the battalion. This company embraced eighty-five men and was formed of nearly equal proportions of the original companies. The officers of Company C consisted of Charles E. Stevens captain, appointed major but not mustered in as such; 1st lieutenant Charles A. Davis, and 2d lieutenant William E. Merrill. The battalion was engaged in the final siege of Petersburg and in the assault of the 2d April its flags and guidons were the first colors on the enemy's works.1 It was mustered out, in June 27th, 1865. The regiment had fourteen hundred and sixty-three on its rolls, of whom seventy -three were killed in battle, forty died of their wounds and one hun- dred and forty-eight of disease.
The different banners of this regiment in their torn and shattered condition, which are deposited in the Bureau of
1 Flag Presentations.
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MILITARY AND POLITICAL HISTORY.
Military Records at Albany, are invested with deep and peculiar interest. In the charge up Marye's Height, one of the color guards of the regimental flag was killed, and the banner torn into shreds by a shell. A national flag borne in many fields, is half gone, its ends ragged, its field in ribbons. The top of its staff was shot off at the battle of the Wilderness. In the battle of Chancellorville its field was torn by an enemy's shell. Among its bearers in battle, Corporal Joseph Murray was killed at Antietam, Michael Mc Williams in the Wilderness. Corporal Horicon of the color guard was killed at Cedar Creek, and Corporal Myers shot through the hand in the Wilderness. Its in- scription was placed upon the flag by the order of General Sheridan.
Officers of Seventy-seventh mustered out on expiration of original term of enlistment, Dec. 13th, 1864.
Lt. Col. Winsor B. French. Joseph H. Loveland.
Major Nathan S. Babcock.
1st Lt. Alonzo Howland.
Surgeon George T. Stevens. 66 Lewis T. Vanderwarker.
Asst. Surg. Justin T. Thompson. 66 William W. Worden.
2d Lt. David Lyon.
Chaplain Norman Fox, Jr.
Carlos W. Rowe.
Captain George S. Orr. George W. Gillis.
Officers mustered out on discharge of Battalion, Seventy-seventh New York Volunteers.
David J. Caw, brevet Col. U. S. V. Capt. George M. Ross.
Q. M. Charles D. Thurber, brevet Capt. U. S. V.
1st Lt. William E. Merrill.
Thomas S. Harris.
Surgeon John G. Thompson.
6. Adam Flansburgh.
.6 Robert E. Nelson.
66 James A. Monroe.
Capt. David A. Thompson.
66 Charles E. Stevens, ap- pointed major but not mustered in as such. !
2d Lt. Sorrell Fountain.
66 William Carr.
William H. Quackenbush.
. Thomas M. White.
1 I am under peculiar obligations for the facts I have embodied in the account of the Seventy-seventh to Major Stevens, Lt. Rowe, and Mr. W. Lansing. My researches, not only in respect to this, but every other
€
Q. M. Jacob F. Hayward.
Henry C. Rowland.
Wm. A. Delong.
Capt. Isaac D. Clapp, brevet Major U. S. V.
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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY.
Brevet Commission issued by Governor to Enlisted Men. Hospital Steward Alexander P. Waldron, 2d Lieutenant.
The Ninety-sixth New York Volunteers.
This regiment was wholly enrolled in the northern section of New York. Only a single company, as appears from the documents which I have been able to collect, originally or- ganized, belonging to the Ninety-sixth, was enrolled in Essex county, although large portions of other companies were recruited in the county, and towards the close of the war, numerous drafts from the county joined this regiment. Essex was therefore largely represented in the organiza- tion. Captain Alfred Weed enlisted principally in Ticon- deroga, a company which he commanded, and of which Thomas W. Newman was second lieutenant. This com- pany was attached to the Ninety-sixth as Company G, George W. Hinds, of Au Sable, was captain, February 18, 1862, and promoted to major, March, 1865. Earl Pierce of Jay, originally attached to Company K, of the One Hundred and Eighteenth, was appointed first lieutenant of the Ninety-sixth, January 27, 1864, and promoted to captaincy, January 20, 1865. The regiment was organized at Plattsburg, and departed for the field, March, 1862, under the command of James Fairman, Colonel Charles O. Grey, lieutenant-colonel, and John E. Kelley, a veteran of the regular army, major. Nathan Wardner of Jay was appointed chaplain of the organization, John H. Sanborn, quarter-master, and Francis Joseph D'Avignon, of Au Sable Forks, surgeon. The Ninety-sixth, in the early stages of its services, was severely depressed, through the unfavor- able auspices by which it was surrounded, but after the brave and accomplished Grey was placed in command, the regiment rapidly attained a very high reputation. It had been precipitated by ill-advised councils into active ser-
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