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 25
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While these events were in progress in the centre, the skirmishing support had approached the fort, and used their terrible rifles in picking off the gunners in the works, and demoralizing the defense. Lieutenant-colonel Ni- chols, with the One Hundred and Eighteenth, after being distinguished " for his cool conduct of the skirmish lines in the general assault, captured two redoubts on the right
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MILITARY AND POLITICAL HISTORY.
of the fort, during the main assault. Lieutenants N. J. Gibbs and H. J. Adams, were the first men in the redoubts, and promptly turned the captured guns upon the retreat- ing enemy. Surgeon F. G. Porteous, of the One Hun- dred and Eighteenth, was officially noticed with strong recommendations for bravery and attention to duties, being the only surgeon in the brigade, advancing with his regiment in the charging column."1 The second brigade now moved upon two entrenchments in front, and captured them successfully, driving the enemy back upon their third and last defense on this line of works. Fort Harrison had thus been snatched from the jaws of the Confederate army, which lay in great force immedi- ately contiguous, and was too important a position to be relinquished without a desperate struggle. The last line captured by the Union troops was exposed to the fire of the enemy's gun-boats and to assault, and it was deemed expedient to fall back upon Fort Harrison. The enemy vigorously pursued, and in this movement both Colonel Donohoe and Lieutenant-colonel Nichols were severely wounded. The night and the succeeding morning were assiduously employed in extending and strengthening the works, which now acquired the form and strength of an enclosed fortification. A second and third time the onset was repeated, and met in the same courageous spirit, and with similar results. On the last assault, those of the assailants who survived the withering fire of the federal troops, threw down their arms and surrendered. About noon the next day, rebel troops had been massed in three heavy columns, and covered by two batteries, rushed upon the new federal lines with heroic impetuosity. The One Hundred and Eighteenth and Tenth New Hampshire were stationed at salient points in the works, and the fatal power of their new weapons was frightfully demon-
1 These notices of the One Hundred and Eighteenth, I extract from the address of General Butler to the army of the James. He also refers with warm approbation to the conduct of Corporal . Michael Finnigan, and Pri- vate Frank Jandrew, of the regiment.
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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY.
strated upon the Confederate ranks. Gun-boats were constantly, but with trifling effect, shelling the Union position. This formidable assault was repulsed by mus- ketry alone, and the rebels falling back to cover, aban- doned their numerous dead and wounded upon the field.
In the critical period between the two first assaults, a gallant act occurred that reflected the highest credit upon the bravery and zeal of Captain Brydon of the One Hun- dred and Eighteenth.1 Twenty-two pieces of cannon, several battle flags and numerous prisoners were among the results of this enterprise which secured to the Union army an important position that was never relinquished. The confederate loss was known to be very large. Cling- man's North Carolina brigade was almost annihilated. The federal loss amounted to nearly one-fifth of their combat- ants engaged. Besides Lieutenant Colonel Nichols, Cap- tain Dobie and Lieutenant Treadway of the One Hundred and Eighteenth were wounded.
The One Hundred and Eighteenth moved with its division from the quarters near Fort Burnham where it had re- mained since the capture of that work, on the 26th of October, to a position within about three miles of Fort Richmond, erected on the former battle ground of Fair Oaks. The regiment at that time was composed of two hundred and five men for duty including supernumeraries. At dawn the succeeding morning it advanced. That part of the regiment embracing more than half which was
1 " Finding that my ammunition was getting low - I had a few minutes before sent a staff officer with orders to bring up a wagon from my ord- nance train : the wagon came just at the right time, during the second as- sault, and was driven up to the sally-port of the fort by Captain John Brydon, One Hundred and Eighteenth New York Volunteers. A. O. O., of the division, and kept there until the action was concluded. It was in full view and but short musket range from the enemy, yet Captain Brydon gal- lantly held his mules, three of which were killed and three wounded while he was thus occupied, while Lieutenants Burbank and Cook of my staff dis- tributed the ammunition to the command."- General Stannard's Report. For this gallant feat Captain Brydon received from the governor, with words of warm encomium, the brevet of major.
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armed with Spencer rifles, was thrown in front as skir- mishers, and the remainder held in reserve. Passing a covert of woods, the skirmishers entered upon a cleared field, which extended to the fort a distance of about one- fourth of a mile. Over this space, they made a rush upon the work, in the face of a terrible fire, and succeeded in approaching it within about one hundred yards. The enemy's lines at this moment were only slightly manned, but the entrenchment was heavy and formidable, and wholly unassailable by the feeble skirmishing force. Major Dominy, an officer conspicuous for his fighting qualities, commanded the regiment, and at this time passed an order for the troops to lie down, seeking any cover that presented itself, for protection against the irresistible tempest of shot and balls that was hurled upon them. Soon after, they were directed to fall back singly to an excavation on a road in the rear. The regiment made no further advance, but after the repulse of the assaulting column mentioned in the notice of the Ninety-sixth regiment, retreated to its former encampment.
The losses of the regiment were greater in proportion to its strength than on any previous occasion. The skir- mishing party entered into action with nine officers : three of these, Major Dominy, Lieutenants McLean and Gibbs returned in safety, but Captain J. R. Seaman, Company A, was seriously wounded. Lieutenant M. J. Dickinson was wounded and taken prisoner, with Lieutenants Saunders, Potter, O'Connor, and Bryant. Captain M. V. B. Stetson in the reserve was also wounded while aiding to remove Colonel Moffitt of the Ninety-fifth from the field. When the regiment reached its former quarters, scarcely forty men had gathered to its standard, but others returned until the aggregate was increased to nearly one-half the number who had marched out the day preceding. The One Hundred and Eighteenth remained in camp through the winter, and on the march upon Richmond the ensuing spring, its relics were engaged on picket duty and advanced as skirmishers, cover- ing the third division of the twenty-fourth corps. It was
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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY.
the first organized Federal regiment that entered Richmond. The One Hundred and Eighteenth bore the noble inscription upon its national flag: "Suffolk-South Anna-Coal Harbor-Fort Harrison-Bermuda-Swift Creek-Peters- burg - Fair Oaks - Drury's Bluff- Crater - Richmond." This attests its military glory, but its high moral quali- ties are still more illustrated by the remarkable fact, that not a single member of the regiment was known to have deserted to the enemy. In more authoritative language than I can use, General Devens, in recapitulating its services, pronounces this eulogium upon the One Hundred and Eigh- teenth at Drury's Bluff : "This regiment distinguished itself for great valor and pertinacity, and won the reputation it has since enjoyed, of being one of the most resolute regiments in the service." He adds : "With this weapon (the Spencer rifle) they will return to your state armed, and it is a most appro- priate testimonial of their efficiency."1 I have been guided essentially in the brief survey of the operations of the One Hundred and Eighteenth by official documents. I owe my acknowledgments, also, to a series of articles first published in the Glen's Falls Republican as to other authentic newspaper correspondences, but particularly to officers of the regiment from whom I have derived the most valuable information; among these I may enumerate Colonel Nichols, Majors Livingstone and Brydon, and Lieutenant McLean.
Officers of the One Hundred and Eighteenth Regiment, when mus- tered out of the service, June 13th, 1865.
Col. George F. Nichols, brevet General U. S. V.
Lt. Col. Levi S. Dominy, brevet Col. N. Y. V.
Major John L. Cunningham, brevet Lt. Col. U. S. V.
Surgeon William O. Mansfield. Asst. Surg. J. C. Preston.
Chaplain Charles L. Hagar. Adjutant Clifford Hubbard.
Q. M. Henry J. Northrup, brevet Captain N. Y. V.
Company A. Capt. Joseph R. Seaman, brevet Major U. S. V. 1st Lt. J. W. Treadway, brevet Captain N. Y. V., from Co. E. Company B. Capt. George F. Campbell, brevet Major N. Y. V., from Co. C.
1 General Devens to Governor Fenton.
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MILITARY AND POLITICAL HISTORY.
1st Lt. Jas. A. Garrett, brevet Captain N. Y. V., from Co. A. 2d Lt. Merril Perry, brevet Cap- tain N. Y. V., from Co. A. Company C.
Capt. C. W. Wells, brevet Major N. Y. V., from Co. K.
1st Lt. L. S. Bryant.
2d Lt. N. H. Arnold, from Co. E. Company .D.
1st Lt. Daniel O. Connor, Asst. Hospital Steward.
2d Lt. Charles A. Grace, from Co. A.
Company G. Ist Lt. James H. Pitt, from Co. H.
Company H. Capt. David F. Dobie, brevet Major N. Y. V.
Capt. John W. Angell, from Co. 1st Lt. F. Saunders. E.
Company I.
2d Lt. Philip V. N. McLean, from Co. K.
Company E.
Capt. Henry S. Graves, from Co. I.
1st Lt. George H. Potter, from Co. A.
2d Lt. William T. Bidwell, late Hospital Steward.
Company F.
Capt. Robert W. Livingstone, 2d Lt. George Vaughan, from brevet Major N. Y. V. Co. I.
Officers connected with Essex County Troops who resigned or were discharged.
Samuel T. Richards, Col., July 8th, 1863.
Colonel, Oliver Keese, Jr., re- Jacob Parmerter, discharged signed Sept. 14, 1864. Nov. 15, 1864.
Captain James H. Peirce, dis- charged Feb. 9, 1865.
1st Lieutenant Nathan S. Wash- burn, discharged February 14, 1863.
2d Lieutenant George M. But-
rick, discharged February 14, 1863.
1st Lieutenant John S. Boynton, resigned March 12, 1864.
Ist Lieutenant Sam Sherman, discharged Oct. 19, 1864. 2d Lieutenant Henry M. Mould, resigned Aug. 1, 1863.
Brevet Commissions issued by the Governor to Enlisted Men of this Regiment.
Sergeant Cass C. La Point, 2d Sergeant Major Ashley S. Prime, lieutenant.
2d lieutenant.
Capt. Martin V. B. Stetson, Major N. Y. V.
1st Lt. Nelson J. Gibbs, brevet Captain N. Y. V., from Co. F.
Company K.
Capt. John Brydon, brevet Major N. Y. V.
Ist Lt. John W. Calkins, from Co. K.
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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY.
Sergeant Joseph A. Hastings, Sergeant Freeman D. Lindsay, 2d lieutenant.
2d lieutenant.
Enlisted Men of this Regiment to whom Medals of Honor have been awarded by the Secretary of War.
Private Franklin Jandro.
The One Hundred and Fifty-third Regiment N. Y. Volunteers.
This regiment was recruited from various sections of the state, and mustered into service October, 1862. Tho- mas Armstrong of Clinton county received the appoint- ment of lieutenant-colonel at its organization, and resigned February, 1863. A large part of a company which was attached to the One Hundred and Fifty-third as Company I, was enrolled by John F. McGuire of Keeseville, from Clinton and Essex counties, and in it he was appointed second lieutenant. By the successive resignations of the superior officers he was promoted in December, 1863, to the command of the company. The regiment immediately after its organization was ordered to Alexandria, and sub- sequently at Washington was employed in provost duty. Company I was specially detached in that service. Early in 1864 the One Hundred and Fifty-third was transferred to Louisiana and incorporated with the nineteenth army corps. It was engaged in the Red river expedition and participated in all the hardships and disasters of that cam- paign. When the Union forces, after the battle of Sabine Cross Roads, fell back, Company I was the rear company in the retreat of the army. The nineteenth corps sailed from New Orleans on the 3d of July, with sealed orders; but its destination proved to be the Chesapeake. The One Hundred and Fifty-third and four companies belong- ing to other regiments, the advance of the corps, on their arrival at Fortress Monroe, were instantly ordered, with- out disembarking, to the defense of Washington, then menaced by Early's incursion. These troops were has- tened through the city amid the deep excitement and alarm of the people, to a position at Fort Stevens, where they went into immediate action. After the repulse of the
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MILITARY AND POLITICAL HISTORY.
rebels, the One Hundred and Fifty-third joined in their pursuit across the Potomac into the Shenandoah valley, but was suddenly recalled to the vicinity of the capital to oppose another apprehended advance of the enemy. The regiment was soon after engaged in the battle of Winches- ter, and Company I here sustained some slight casualties . It participated in the engagement at Fisher Hill and in the pursuit of the Confederates from that field.
The Nineteenth corps was at Cedar Creek and suffered heavy losses incident to the surprise and early catastrophies of that eventful day. The One Hundred and Fifty- third formed part of the picket line that enveloped Washington after the assassination of Mr. Lincoln, and discharged guard duty at the arsenal on the military trials that succeeded. In June, 1865, the regiment was ordered to Savannah, where it performed provost duty until its discharge. Captain McGuire of Company I, brevet ma- jor N. Y. V., during that service acted as adjutant provost marshal of the city. In the succeeding October, the One Hundred and Fifty-third was disbanded at Albany.
Brevet commissions issued to enlisted men of this regiment. Sergeant James C. Bullock, 2d lieutenant. Private Melchior H. Hoffnagle, 2d lieutenant.
The Second New York Cavalry.
The last organized company in Essex county was en- rolled in Ticonderoga in the summer of 1864, of which William H. Sanger was appointed captain, James McCor- mick first, and George B. Coates, second lieutenant, each on the 8th of September, 1864. They had both belonged to the Thirty-fourth New York Volunteers. It was attached to the Second New York Cavalry as Company E,1 with the army of Sheridan, and performed excellent services in the Shenandoah valley, attended him in the perilous march to
1 When the original members were mustered out, and the veterans and recruits were organized into four new companies.
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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY.
the James, and was engaged with his command in the bat- tles that preceded the surrender of Lee. This regiment was ultimately associated with the Fifth in the achievements of the Shenandoah campaign. Lieutenants McCormick and Coates were both wounded, the former very seriously at the battle of Cedar Creek. Lieutenant McCormick was discharged May 1st, 1865. Coates was promoted to first lieutenant but not mustered in as such, and remained with the regiment until it was disbanded June 5th, 1865. Cap- tain Sanger was made brevet-major New York State Volunteers and discharged May 15th, 1865.
Medals of Honor were awarded to the following enlisted men :
Frank Miller.
J. S. Calkins.
List of brevet commissions, second lieutenant issued to enlisted men.
Private John J. Morse. Private Burnet Galloway. Sergeant Fred. A. M. Ball.
An approximation only can be reached of the number of troops contributed by Essex county to the Union army. The official military records and the census returns which are known to be imperfect, are far below the reality, ex- hibits a total of one thousand and three hundred and six. These records do not embrace the large numbers who were mingled in the various other organizations of the state, and the census returns must most inadequately exhibit the true amount. Many other residents of Essex county, estimated at the time to amount to several hundred in the aggregate, were enlisted by the active zeal of agents from several of the New England states. The excess of seven dollars per month pay, offered by Vermont, allured large numbers of the youth of the county, who enlisted into the line of that state. The archives of New York show that from the recruits credited on the quota of Essex county, three hundred and sixty-six deaths occurred on the field of battle from wounds, accidents, and diseases incident to the exposures of the service. The actual casualties among the
295
MILITARY AND POLITICAL HISTORY.
citzens of Essex were far heavier, and can never with any degree of accuracy be computed.
An attempt to ascertain the expenses and disbursements in their infinitely varied forms, is still more difficult and unsatisfactory. The amounts actually authorized by the board of supervisors to be raised by the county and the several towns, at different sessions and without the accu- mulation of interest reached a total of $553,871.47. This great sum does not include the vast amounts realized by the liberal contributions derived from personal and local efforts, nor the money expended in recruiting and equip- ping the early volunteers. Nor the supplies of provisions, clothing, medicines and other subscriptions essential to the health and comfort of the troops. Heavy sums were ag- gregated by the individual payment of the $300, by an early act authorized to avoid the draft, and by the pur- chase of substitutes. Private liberality and patriotic zeal expended in silence and secrecy vast amounts which were unknown and incomputable. The magnitude of all these contributions and expenditures can never be known, nor will human pen ever record the extent and value of these efforts.
The following tabular statements exhibit interesting statistics illustrative of the devotedness and responsibilities incurred by the towns of Essex county : 1
Table No. 1. Number enlisted by several towns.
Chesterfield,
92
North Elba, . 27
Crown Point,
192
North Hudson, 24
Elizabethtown, 105
St. Armands, 19
Essex,
60
Schroon 94
Jay, ...
93
Ticonderoga, 128
Keene
47
Westport, .. 58
Lewis,
115
Willsborg',
43
Minerva,
50
Wilmington,
64
Moriah,
157
Newcomb,
8
Total, 1306
1 I have obtained these materials through the research and courtesy of Major R. W. Livingstone.
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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY.
Table No. 2. Died, etc.
Chesterfield,
28
North Elba,.
6
Crown Point,
44
North Hudson,
Elizabethtown,
19
St. Armands,.
7
Essex,
16
Schroon, 28
Jay,
25
Ticonderoga,
45
Keene,
9
Westport, ..
24
Lewis,
35
Willsboro',
17
Minerva,
12
Wilmington,
16
Moriah,
34
Newcomb,
1
Total,
366
Table No. 3. Town Indebtedness.
Chesterfield, ..
$16,192 33 | North Elba,
Crown Point,
North Hudson,
$1,100 00
Elizabethtown,
3,777 91
St. Armands,
2,000 00
Essex,
1,275 00
Schroon,
200 00
Jay, ..
12,300 00
Ticonderoga,
Keene,
Westport,
2,600 00
Lewis, .
6,600 00
Wilmington,
900 00
Minerva,.
3,500 00
Willsboro',
3,858 00
Moriah, .
9,860 00
Newcomb, .
600 00
Total,
$64,763 74
The towns which appear blank in the above statement, made separate provision for their local liabilities.
CHAPTER XV.
GRANTS AND PATENTS.
I have reviewed in preceding pages, the circumstances connected with the grants of territory contiguous to Lake Champlain, in accordance with the ordinance of the king of France, in the year 1676. The action of the colonial government, under the British proclamation of October 7, 1763, authorizing grants of land to be made in such colonies as they might prefer, to the reduced officers and soldiers who had served in the regular army, in the Canadian campaigns ; and transactions connected with such grants, I have fully discussed. The purchasers of these rights
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MILITARY AND POLITICAL HISTORY. 297
usually located their lands in the names of the grantees, but not apparently in all cases. William Gilliland em- braced in one body, the entire tract from the Boquet to Splitrock, under several distinct rights, and other pur- chasers pursued the same course. All these locations, many of which were established as early as 1765 and 1766, and authenticated by appropriate legal formalities, have been perpetuated and still exist, under the names of the original grantees. In many instances, the officers and soldiers located and perfected the titles themselves to these lands.
The history of the grants and the change of policy con- nected with them possess no inconsiderable value and de- mands a brief attention. The quantity of these grants contemplated by these proclamations was the concession of five thousand acres to a field officer; to a captain three thousand acres; to a subaltern staff officer two thousand acres ; to a non-commissioned officer two hundred acres, and to a private fifty acres. These grants were conferred by parchment patents, under the great seal of the colony and impressed with the royal arms. They reserved to the king " all mines of gold and silver, and all pine trees fit for masts of the growth of twenty-four inches diameter and upwards of twelve inches from the earth." These grants were held for ten years " in free and common socage ex- empt from all quit rents, and after the expiration of that term, rendering and paying in the custom house in New York, at Lady Day, the yearly rent of two shillings and sixpence sterling, for each and every hundred acres of the granted land." The farther conditions imposed the settle- ment " of as many families on the tract as shall amount to one family on every thousand acres thereof," and " to cul- tivate at least three acres for every fifty acres susceptible of cultivation." Both of these conditions were to be performed within three years from the date of the grant. "No waste was to be committed on the reserved timber; the grant to be registered at the secretary's office and docketted at the auditor's office in New York." A neglect to perform either
.
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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY.
of these conditions worked a forfeiture of the grant. We may trace in the land papers serious consequences result- ing from these delinquencies. The council seems to have possessed certain powers to control the nature and form of these proceedings. In February, 1765, it adopted a rule, that no soldier was entitled to a grant " unless disbanded on the reduction of the regiment." By minutes in 1770, 1771, it required grants to be taken out in three months after the petition had been presented, and in the last date ordered names of delinquents to be stricken from the list of grants. Most of these grants were located in the vicinity of Lake Champlain, and a large proportion upon the east- ern side, upon what is now the territory of Vermont. In the confusion of the agitated period that preceded the re- volution, numerous cases of these petitions remained in an inchoate condition ; and in others, although the proceedings had been regular and ample, were not consummated by patents from the colonial government. In most of these instances the succeeding state government refused to ratify the proceedings of the claimants, and large estates, as we have seen illustrated in the notice of Gilliland, were lost. The state constitution of 1777, by a provision which has been incorporated in the constitutions of 1821 and 1847, abrogated all royal grants after October 14th, 1775.
Deep interest attaches to those ancient grants, the rewards of military services, while strong romance has gathered about a portion of them. We recognize the peculiar justice and appropriateness, that conferred on the gallant men who participated in the terrible scenes, which impressed on the region its gorgeous historic associations, these acknowledgments of their services from the territory won to their country by their blood and sufferings.
A small part only of the great area of Essex county was occupied in the location of these grants. Since the revo- lution, large tracts of unappropriated lands, belonging to the state, have been patented to individuals. The re- mainder, at an early period of the present government, was run out into tracts and townships by the state, and
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MILITARY AND POLITICAL HISTORY.
subdivided into lots, which have been sold in any amount desired by the purchaser. These lands were devoted to the accumulation of an educational fund, and the proceeds of the sales have been appropriated to that beneficent pur- pose. The state yet retains a large extent of this domain. Much of it possesses considerable value from the wood and timber forests it embraces, but other portions, constituting as they do, the rocky upheavals and mountains of the Adirondacs, are worthless, except for the mineral wealth that may be hidden in their recesses.
I am indebted for most of the materials upon which I have founded the following account of the grants and patents of the county, to the zealous and careful investiga- tions of a learned legal friend, whose professional studies have constrained a thorough research into the land titles of the district. With such aid I have made the notices I now present, of the origin and history of these patents and grants as accurate and complete as I believe so intricate a subject admits, but I am aware that the execution is necessarily imperfect. The long list of the patents I have endeavored to make full and correct, but it may be found defective.1 The magnitude of many of these grants will attract attention. Land was at that period the most abundant of all commodities, and the government felt that it controlled a "whole boundless continent." In the voluminous Land Papers, documents frequently occur, referring to surveys of "that small piece of land," some- times embracing five hundred and often two thousand acres.2 The Southier Map, to which I shall make frequent reference, was prepared under the direction of Governor Tryon, and published in London, 1779.
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