USA > New York > Yates County > The military history of Yates County, N.Y. : comprising a record of the services rendered by citizens of this county in the army and navy, from the foundation of the government to the present time > Part 6
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
59
THE MILITARY HISTORY OF YATES COUNTY.
the troops that surrendered were the members of the Eighty- fifth Regiment, with the exception of those belonging to Company A, who were on detached duty on Roanoke Island. After the surrender they were marched seventy miles to Tar- boro, N. C., and were then transferred in box cars to Ander- sonville, Ga .* They were there imprisoned five months, one month at Charleston, and two months at Florence, enduring all this time starvation and hardship, but at length received their paroles, agreeing not to take up arms against the Con- federate government for one hundred days, unless regularly exchanged. The released soldiers afterwards combined with the members of Company A, who had remained in service, and were together mustered out at Mosby Hall, N. C., July 15, 1865.
Company G, commanded at first by Captain John Raines, took part with the remainder of the regiment in its various battles, and was included in the surrender at the battle of Plymouth. When the battle occurred, the company was under command of Lieutenant Jolin A. Lafler, of Yates County. In Company G were the following officers and men from this county :
George M. Munger,t First Lieutenant; Alonzo S. Miller, Orderly Sergeant; John A. Lafler, Sergeant (promoted to First Lieutenant); George Hainer, John G. Watkins,; Cor- porals; John B. Ingles, musician; Privates, George W. Barnes, Erastus Bucklin, George Black, John Betram, Joseph S. Crouch, Alexander P. Campbell, Frank Danes, Martin Davis, James Dougherty, Benjamin Gay,# Patrick Gill, John W. Green, Wiliam W. Hibbard, David Martin Inscho, George B. Ingles, Amos Jones, Hazard Jones, Samuel Lurch, Henry MeGlaughlin, Henry Norman, George J. Odell, Orrin Shearman, George S. Wells.
Died in Andersonville .- Privates Andrew Carmer, Chester Ellis, Joseph Finger.
*The privates taken in this battle were, as above stated, confined at first in Andersonville, but the officers were confined at Macon. After about three months the officers were transferred to Savannah. From there they went to Charleston, from Charleston to Columbia, and from Columbia to Charlotte, where they were paroled.
į Killed. + Wounded.
60
THE MILITARY HISTORY OF YATES COUNTY.
Died in Charleston .- Joseph D. Tinney, Corporal; Aaron Beard, private.
Died in Florence .- Ebenezer Inscho, wagoner; Privates Robert R. Briggs, Hiram Corey.
Died in Washington .- Privates Nelson Bogart, Nelson Matthews.
Died in Annapolis .- Ebenezer Finch, private.
Died in Wilmington .- Augustus Gordon, private.
THE NINETY-SEVENTH REGIMENT.
The Ninety-seventh Regiment, Colonel Charles Wheelock, was organized at Booneville, and then mustered in the ser- vice of the United States for three years, February 18, 1862. It left the State March 12th, and its first engagement was at Cedar Mountain, Va., on the 9th of August. The regiment then served through General Pope's campaign, and also par- ticipated in the battles of South Mountain, Antietam, Fred- ericksburg. Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg. Its record of service likewise includes the Mine Run Campaign, the Wil- derness, Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, the assault at Peters- burg, the taking of the Weldon Railroad, Hatcher's Run, White Oak Ridge, Five Forks, and Appomattox. The regi- ment was mustered out, under Colonel John P. Spofford, July 18, 1865, near Washington, D. C.
In Companies A and B, of the Ninety-seventh Regiment, were the following Yates County men :
Company A, Zeno T. Carpenter,* George P. Harrison, Jo- seph Sage.
Company B-Thomas Fee, James Nangle.
THE ONE HUNDRED AND SECOND REGIMENT.
The One Hundred and Second Regiment was organized January 27, 1862, under Colonel Thomas B. Van Buren, (formerly of Penn Yan,) and was also known as the "Van Buren Light Infantry." Eight companies belonging to this regiment left New York city for the front, March 10th. Companies I and K left April 7th. The regiment at first served in the Army of the Potomac, participating in the
* Wounded.
61
THE MILITARY HISTORY OF YATES COUNTY.
battle of Cedar Mountain, and in the engagements in Gen- eral Pope's Campaign, also in the battles of Antietam, Chan- eellorsville," Gettysburg, Ellis Ford, and Stevensburg. In the autumn of 1863 the Twelfth Corps, in which the One Hundred and Second Regiment was included, was trans- ferred to Tennessee, and there aided in achieving the grand victory of Missionary Ridge, with the capture of Lookout Mountain. At Lookout Mountain the One Hundred and Second was posted upon the extreme right of Hooker's first line of battle and nobly sustained the high reputation in which the regiment was held by the commanding General. In this action Major Gilbert M. Elliott was killed and Lieu- tenant-Colonel Robert Avery was wounded. The regiment then served in the Army of the Cumberland in the Atlanta Campaign, (May 3d to Sept. 2, 1864,) during Sherman's march to the sea, (Nov. 15th to Dee. 10, 1864,) and in the Campaign of the Carolinas, (Jan. 26th to April 26, 1865.) The One Hundred and Second Regiment was honorably dis- charged and mustered out, under Colonel Harvey D. Chat- field, July 21, 1865, at Alexandria, Va.
Company H, in this regiment, contained the following Yates County enlistments :
Peter K. Deyo, Captain; Aaron C. Frost, First Sergeant ; Charles L. Nichols, Second Sergeant; Privates, Morris Bart- lett, Edward Beardsley, James J. Fox, Lorimore Graham, William Henry Mathrole, Anson Matthews, James Sanders, Charles H. Wheeler.
* The Yates County Chronicle, of May 21, 1863, contained the following account of an incident that occurred at the battle of Chancellorsville : "The 102d N. Y., remained in the rifle-pits with the 60th N. Y., when all the rest of the 3d Brigade, 12th Corps, had retired on account of the ter- rible fire which enfiladed them. The rebels, yelling like devils, rushed down upon them and the 12th Georgia regiment sprang in among the 102d, calling out, 'You are our prisoners.' 'Not by a damned sight,' shouted the boys of the 102d, and they disarmed the Georgia 12th, taking their stand of colors and marching them off prisoners of war in the midst of the fight. While this was going on, a rebel officer jumped in among them, and seeing them mixed-part butternuts and part blue jackets- called out, 'What regiment is this?' 'The 102d N. Y.' 'Hell !' said he, 'I suppose I am your prisoner, then. Well, bully for you. I am a New York boy, myself."
62
THE MILITARY HISTORY OF YATES COUNTY.
THE ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH REGIMENT.
The One Hundred and Fifth Regiment, Colonel James M. Fuller, was organized March 15, 1862. The regiment was formed by the consolidation of seven companies recruited in Genesee County, and three in Monroe County. The One Hundred and Fifth served in the Third Corps of the Army of Virginia, from June 26, 1862, taking part in General Pope's campaign, and afterwards served in the First Corps of the Army of the Potomac. On the 17th of March, 1863, the regiment, then under Colonel John W. Shedd, was consoli- dated into five companies and transferred to the Ninety- fifth New York Volunteers, and was eventually mustered out June 18, 1865, near Washington, D. C.
In Company B were the following residents of Yates County :
Charles F. Rudgers, enlisted First Lieutenant, promoted to Captain; Privates, Asahel Bennett, Thomas Creed, Jacob J. Greening, Ephraim Jones, Benjamin Snyder, Paul Wheeler.
CHAPTER VI.
The One Hundred and Twenty-sixth Regiment of Infantry.
A BRAHAM LINCOLN, President of the United States, received, on the last of June, 1862, a communication signed by seventeen of the War Governors of the North, recommending him to "fill up all military organizations then in the field that had become reduced by the unavoidable casualties of the service, and to create new regiments for the defence of positions gained, by calling on each State for its quota of a body of men sufficient for such purposes." The President's reply, in part, was as follows :
"Fully concurring in the wisdom of the views expressed to me in so patriotic a manner by you in the communication of the 2Stli of June, I have decided to call into the service an additional force of 300,000 men. I suggest and recom- mend that the troops should be chiefly infantry. I trust they may be enrolled without delay, so as to bring this un- necessary and injurious civil war to a speedy and satisfae- tory conclusion."
The call for troops, made as above by the President, was dated July 1st, and on the 2d a proclamation was issued by the Hon. Edwin D. Morgan, Governor of New York, for the raising of the quota of the State. Governor Morgan subse- quently issued an order fixing the quota of the several coun- ties, and requiring a regiment to be raised in each senatorial district, which for the time was re-named, "Regimental Dis- trict." For each district a war committee was appointed to take charge of the recruiting of the regiment of that district, and to recommend the proper persons to officer such regi- ment. The war committee appointed by the Governor for the Twenty-sixth Senatorial District held the first meeting at Geneva, on the 11th of July, said committee being com- posed of certain prominent citizens from the counties of On- tario, Seneca, and Yates. From the last named county the
64
THE MILITARY HISTORY OF YATES COUNTY.
members of the war committee were as follows : Hon. William S. Briggs, County Judge, Morris Brown, Esq., Stafford C. Cleveland, Editor of the Yates County Chronicle, Charles S. Hoyt, M. D., Meletiah H. Lawrence, Esq., Hon. Darius A. Ogden, and General Alexander F. Whitaker.
Recruiting immediately commenced, and on the 4th of August the rendezvous for the regiment to be raised in this district was opened at Camp Swift, Geneva. The position of commandant of this post was first offered to the Hon. Charles J. Folger, of Geneva, and then to the Hon. Darius A. Ogden, of Penn Yan. Each having in turn declined, the Hon. Eliakim Sherrill, of Geneva, was chosen and was com- missioned Colonel of the Regiment upon its organization. War meetings were held in all parts of the senatorial dis- trict, particularly in our county of Yates, where great enthu- siasm was manifested, and recruiting went on rapidly. Com- pany A, recruited entirely in Yates County, was the first company in the new regiment to rendezvous at Camp Swift. The second was Company B, recruited principally in Yates County. Recruits from this county were also in companies C, D, E, F, G, H, I, and K. On August 20th the regiment, which was called the One Hundred and Twenty-sixth New York Volunteers, was organized, and on the 22d it was reg- ularly mustered into the United States service for three years .*
* Colonel Ephraim M. Whitaker, of Penn Yan, one of Yates County's patriotic citizens, having conceived the idea of presenting the new organ- ization with a stand of colors, by his own personal efforts collected the money and made a trip to New York to procure the material for a flag, which was made and wholly finished by the ladies of Penn Yan.
Made of heavy silk, surrounded by an elegant fringe, inscribed with heavy silk embroidery, and mounted upon a staff, upon which rested a splendid silver eagle with spread wings, a more beautiful and elegant flag never swung to the breeze, the total cost of which was $250.00. It was designed that the presentation should be made by the Rev. Frederick Starr, Jr., pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, on behalf of the Sol- diers' Aid Society, of Penn Yan, of which Mrs. Morris Brown was then President, but, upon reaching Geneva, it was found that some of the peo- ple of that place were a little sensitive in regard to allowing so much glory to Penn Yan, so the Penn Yan folks, with that modesty which al- ways characterizes them, consented to have the presentation made on be- half of the ladies of the Senatorial District, which was done.
65
THE MILITARY HISTORY OF YATES COUNTY.
On that date the One Hundred and Twenty-sixth Regi- ment comprised 39 officers and 956 enlisted men, or a total of 995. The regimental and line officers at the time were as follows :
Officers .- Colonel, E. Sherrill, Geneva; Lieutenant-Col- onel, James M. Bull, Canandaigua; Major, W. H. Baird, Geneva; Quartermaster, J. K. Loring, Waterloo ; Surgeon, Fletcher M. Hammond, Penn Yan ; First Assistant Surgeon, Charles S. Hoyt, Potter; Second Assistant Surgeon, Pierre D. Peltier, Canandaigua; Chaplain, T. Spencer Harrison, Dundee ; Sergeant-Major, D. C. Farrington, Geneva ; Quar- termaster-Sergeant, John Stevenson, Jr., Seneca Falls ; Com- missary-Sergeant, Richard Macey, Geneva ; Sutler, J. D. Cobb, Geneva.
Line Officers .- Company A, Captain, T. N. Burrill ; First Lietenant, S. A. Barras; Second Lieutenant, G. D. Carpen- ter ; Company B, Captain W. A. Coleman; First Lieutenant, R. A. Bassett; Second Lieutenant, M. H. Lawrence, Jr .; Company C, Captain, W, Scott ; First Lieutenant, T. R. Lounsbury ; Second Lieutenant, A. W. Porter; Company D, Captain, P. D. Phillips ; First Lieutenant, C. A. Rich- ardson ; Second Lieutenant, S. F. Lincoln ; Company E, Captain, H. D. Kipp; First Lieutenant, George C. Pritchett; Second Lieutenant, J. H. Brough; Company F, Captain,
The event took place on August 22d, the same day on which the Regi- mient was mustered into the United States service. A procession of citi- zens was formed under direction of Colonel E. M. Whitaker, of Penn Yan, as Marshal, escorting the flag to Camp Swift. Arriving upon the ground, the Regiment was formed in a hollow square, preparatory to re- ceiving the flag. From 8,000 to 10,000 people were present to witness the ceremony.
The following ladies from Penn Yan comprised the committee on pre- sentation : Mrs. Captain T. N. Burrill, Mrs. Colonel E. M. Whitaker, Mrs. F. H. Griggs, Mrs. C. G. Judd, Mrs. J. V. Van Alen.
The flag fell into the hands of the enemy by the surrender of Harper's Ferry, and was taken to Richmond. At the close of the war, it, with others, was brought to Washington and stowed away in the War Depart- ment. Fourteen years afterward, through the efforts of the Hon. E. G. Lapham, then Member of Congress, it was brought back and presented to the 126th Regiment Association at its Annual Reunion held at Grove Springs, and has since been sacredly guarded by that Association.
66
THE MILITARY HISTORY OF YATES COUNTY.
Isaac Shimer ; First Lieutenant, Ira Munson ; Second Lieu- tenant, T. E. Munson ; Company G, Captain, J. F. Aikens ; First Lieutenant, Frederick Stewart; Second Lieutenant, S. H. Platt; Company H, Captain, O. J. Herendeen ; First Lieutenant, G. N. Redfield; Second Lieutenant, A. R. Clapp ; Company I, Captain, B. F. Lee ; First Lieutenant, G. Skaats; Second Lieutenant, G. L. Yost; Company K, Captain, Charles M. Wheeler ; First Lieutenant, H. C. Law- rence ; Second Lieutenant, I. A. Seamans.
The regiment left Geneva for the front, August 16, 1862, and arrived at Baltimore the next day. By orders given by the veteran, General John E. Wool, who commanded the Middle Department, the One Hundred and Twenty-sixth proceeded to Harper's Ferry, reaching there the 28th. The regiment had been directed to report for instruction and duty to Colonel D. H. Miles, then commanding at Harper's Ferry, and which, on its arrival, was already occupied by the Thirty-ninth and One Hundred and Eleventh Regiments New York Volunteers, the Thirty-second Ohio Volunteers, the Twelfth New York State Militia, the First Rhode Island Battery, and a portion of the Fifth New York Heavy Artill- ery. The forces at Harper's Ferry were augmented, Sep- tember 2d and 3d, by the arrival, from Winchester, of troops under General White, consisting of the One Hundred and Fifteenth New York Volunteers, the Ninth Vermont, the Six- tieth Ohio, the Sixty-fifth Illinois, and some other regiments. On the 13th, 14th, and 15th of September, Harper's Ferry was invested by three divisions of the Confederate army, commanded, respectively, by Generals McLaws, Walker, and "Stonewall" Jackson. Early in the morning of the 13th, the One Hundred and Twenty-sixth Regiment advanced from Harper's Ferry to Maryland Heights. It there re- ceived the main force of the enemy's attack, and made, under very disadvantageous circumstances, a brave and ereditable defence. Its loss in this engagement was thirteen killed * and forty-two wounded. Among the latter was Colonel Sherrill, who, receiving a severe wound in the face, was for
* Lieutenant Alfred R. Clapp, of Company H, was killed in this action, being the first officer killed belonging to the regiment.
67
THE MILITARY HISTORY OF YATES COUNTY.
some time disabled from active service. On the 15th the garrison at Harper's Ferry surrendered on parole. The causes which are said to have brought about this disastrous result need not here be stated, other than to mention that there was then, and has since been, a difference of opinion as to who should be charged with the responsibility or the blame .* Having marched to Annapolis, the One Hundred and Twenty-sixth Regiment was transferred to Camp Doug- las, Chicago.f At this place were located for two months its far from desirable quarters, where the accommodations and sanitary arrangements were alike injurious to the health of all and fatal to many. Adjutant J. Smith Brown, of Colonel Berdan's United States Sharpshooters, here joined, on the 17th of November, the One Hundred and Twenty- sixth, having accepted the adjutancy of the same. The reg- iment was exchanged November 19th, and proceeding to Washington, was re-armed. The winter of 1862-63 was passed in camp at Union Mills, Va., doing picket duty along the banks of the famous Bull Run. On the 27th of January, 1863, Colonel Sherrill having sufficiently recovered, rejoined the regiment, which, during his absence, had been under the command of Lieutenant Colonel James M. Bull. The camp was moved, March 2d, to Centerville, Va., where the One
* The nnnecessary fall of this place awakened the deepest indignation, and the blame was laid, now on Halleck, and now on Miles, and again on MeClellan. Colonel Ford, who commanded the Heights, also came in for his share of the blame. The disgraceful affair, however, is surrounded by no difficulties. Colonel Miles was not a fit man to command the place, as had been fully shown in his conduct at the first battle of Bull Run, and should not have been put there. His death, after he had hoisted the white flag, saved him from further disgrace .- Headley's History of the Great Rebellion, l'ol. 2.
+ On the ridiculous idea of using the 126th to fight the Indians in Miun- esota, the regiment was sent in ronghi box cars to this camp, which, as a place of residence, was the most abominable. Mrs. A. M. Willson, in her book, " Disaster, Struggle, Triumph," says: "The camp had been crowded with rebel prisoners from Fort Donelson, and elsewhere, who had been recently exchanged, and left it empty of everything but filth, rats, and other vermin not to be mentioned to ears polite, which Burns called 'crawlin' ferlies,' and the Union soldiers dubbed 'gray-backs.'"' Passenger cars were kindly provided to bring back the 126th to Wasliing- ton.
68
THE MILITARY HISTORY OF YATES COUNTY.
Hundred and Twenty-sixth united with the balance of a brigade, composing the Thirty-ninth, the One Hundred and Eleventh, and the One Hundred and Twenty-fifth New York Volunteers, and commanded by Brigadier General Alexan- der Hays, who had won distinction in the Peninsular cam- paign. On the 24th of June the regiment joined the Army of the Potomac, then marching to intercept Lee, who was making a second attempt to invade the North. The One Hundred and Twenty-sixth now became a part of the Third Brigade of the Third Division of the Second Army Corps, under Hancock. Brigadier General Hays was at this time assigned to the command of the Third Division, and was succeeded as commander of the brigade by Colonel George Lamb Willard, of the One Hundred and Eleventh New York Volunteers.
After a most fatiguing march from Centerville, the One Hundred and Twenty-sixth arrived in the early morning of the 2d of July on the battlefield of Gettysburg. Toward night it took part, along with the brigade, in a glorious charge that resulted in the defeat and dispersion of the op- posing forces of Southerners. As this charge was being made, Colonel Willard, the brigade commander, was killed, while on the side of the enemy fell Barksdale, who had com- manded a Confederate brigade at the taking of Harper's Ferry. During the terrific connonading between the two armies, with which began the engagement of the day follow- ing, volunteers from the One Hundred and Twenty-sixth Regiment came forward and manned the guns in the batter- ies where the regular artillerymen had been killed or wounded. When, a little later, Pickett's grand assault was made against the Federal lines held by the Second Corps, the One Hundred and Twenty-sixth acted well its part to- wards the repulse of the foe. Five stands of colors were taken by the regiment on this occasion. Captain Morris Brown, Jr .. of Yates County, captured, with his own hands, one of these standards, on which was inscribed, "Harper's Ferry," and the names of eleven other battles. The surren- der of Harper's Ferry was redeemed at Gettysburg. The brave Colonel Sherrill, who, when Colonel Willard fell, had
69
THE MILITARY HISTORY OF YATES COUNTY.
succeeded to the command of the Third Brigade, was mor- tally wounded, expiring the next day, and most fittingly on the anniversary of American Independence. Four other commissioned officers* and fifty-five enlisted men belonging to the One Hundred and Twenty-sixth Regiment were killed in this one of the most important battles of the war, while eight commissioned officerst and 172 enlisted men were wounded. Among the slain were the non-commissioned offi- cers, Sergeant-Major Henry P. Cook, and Color-Sergeant Erasmus E. Bassett, both of Yates County, the latter of whom fell during the fight of July 2d while bravely carrying the regimental colors .; An active part was taken by the regiment, after the battle, in the pursuit of the enemy.§
From Gettysburg until the close of the war, the One Hun- dred and Twenty-sixth participated in twenty different bat- tles and skirmishes. In the autumn of 1863 the regiment won additional honor for its conspicuous gallantry in the battles of Auburn Ford and of Bristow Station, which were fought, respectively, in the morning and afternoon of Octo- ber 14th, and in which the loss in killed and wounded was 41. Severe skirmishing also took place along Mine Run on the 27th, 28th, 29th, and 30th of November. The services of the regiment were again called upon in the grand recon- noissance made February 6, 1864, by the Army of the Poto- mac at Morton's Ford on the Rapidan. On the 24th of March, Lieutenant-General U. S. Grant arrived and estab- lished his headquarters at Culpepper Court House. The regiment having been transferred to Barlow's division, en-
* Captains Isaae Shimer, Orrin J. Herendeen, and Charles M. Wheeler, and Lieutenant Rufus P. Holines.
+ Captains John H. Brough, Henry B. Owen, and Charles A. Richardson, Lieutenants Sidney E. Brown, Pratt Dibble, Ashbralı Huntoon, Jr., Mel- etialı H. Lawrence, Jr., and Jacob Sherman, the last officer, mortally.
¿ A second stand of colors had been received from the Government upon the return of the Regiment to Virginia after its exchange.
¿ The Regiment went into the battle with 30 officers and 425 enlisted inen bearing arms. Its loss was 231, as stated. There were but four reg- iments in the engagement that lost a greater number in killed and wounded than did the 126th N. Y., and one of those, (the IIIth N. Y.,) formned a part of the same brigade.
70
THE MILITARY HISTORY OF YATES COUNTY.
tered the spring campaign of 1864 with less than 300 men, of whom 100 were on duty as provost guard at corps head- quarters. The Army of the Potomac crossed the Rapidan on the 4th of May, and was afterwards engaged in the following battles, in all of which the One Hundred and Twenty-sixth Regiment took part : May 6th and 7th in the Wilderness,) in this battle Brevet-Major General Alexander Hays was killed while gallantly rallying his brigade,) May 10th at Po River, May 12th to the 18th at Spottsylvania, where the Second Corps, to which the One Hundred and Twenty-sixth Regi- ment belonged, made a grand charge on the enemy's works, capturing 400 prisoners, 20 guns, and 30 stands of colors, to- gether with the Confederate Generals Edward Johnson and G. H. Stewart, who were taken to the rear and put under guard of colored soldiers. From the 23d to the 31st, sharp skirmishing occurred along the North Anna River and along the Tolopotamy Creek. The One Hundred and Twenty- sixth Regiment then took part in the terrible battle of Cold Harbor from the 1st to the 12th of June. On the 16th the regiment moved to the front of Petersburg, and in the en- gagement on that day, Colonel William H. Baird was killed. Heavy fighting also occurred here on the 17th and 18th. The Second Corps, on the 21st, advanced to the left of Pe- tersburg, and on the 22d was attacked by the enemy in force and on the left flank. The One Hundred and Twenty- sixth Regiment was at this time commanded by Captain Morris Brown, Jr., of Yates County, who fell with others of merit in the heat of the action.t
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.