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; AND ALSO THE MILITARY ANNALS OF THE FORTRESSES OF CROWN POINT AND TICONDEROGA., continued ...
By WINSLOW C. WATSON.
CHAPTER XIV. The Volunteers., continued ...
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, Gettysburg, Rappahannock station and Robinson's tavern.
In the campaign of 1864, it was at the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, 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 engagement Captain Orr of Company A was severely wounded.
In November, 1864, at the expiration of its term of enlistment, 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; Ist 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. 7
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 hundred and forty-eight of disease.
The different banners of this regiment in their torn and shattered condition, which are deposited in the Bureau of 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 McWilliams 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 inscription was placed upon the flag by the order of General Sheridan.
7 Flag Presentations
TO BE CONTINUED ...
THE HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY
Re: THE HISTORY OF 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; AND ALSO THE MILITARY ANNALS OF THE FORTRESSES OF CROWN POINT AND TICONDEROGA., continued ...
By WINSLOW C. WATSON.
CHAPTER XIV. The Volunteers., continued ...
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 organized, 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 organization.
Captain Alfred Weed enlisted principally in Ticonderoga, a company which he commanded, and of which Thomas W. Newman was second lieutenant.
This company 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 unfavorable 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 service, without the advantages of any adequate drilling, and was hurried into the peninsula campaign before the habits of the troops were adapted to field duty, and while they were yet unacclimated.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
By WINSLOW C. WATSON.
CHAPTER XIV. The Volunteers., continued ...
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 organized, 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 organization.
Captain Alfred Weed enlisted principally in Ticonderoga, a company which he commanded, and of which Thomas W. Newman was second lieutenant.
This company 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 unfavorable 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 service, without the advantages of any adequate drilling, and was hurried into the peninsula campaign before the habits of the troops were adapted to field duty, and while they were yet unacclimated.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: THE HISTORY OF 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; AND ALSO THE MILITARY ANNALS OF THE FORTRESSES OF CROWN POINT AND TICONDEROGA., continued ...
By WINSLOW C. WATSON.
CHAPTER XIV. The Volunteers., continued ...
Company G marched from Fortress Monroe, comprising more than seventy combatants, and when it entered the conflict at Fair Oaks, it retained only eighteen men fit for duty.
The remainder had been stricken down by diseases incident to hard service and a malarious climate.
This fact illustrates the general condition of the regiment, the efficiency of which was also deeply impaired for a season, by dissensions among its officers.
A number of the subordinates had resigned from this and other causes.
Captain Weed, immediately previous to Fair Oaks, was compelled by severe sickness, to relinquish his command, and Lieutenant Newman, who was discharged in May, 1862, had already left the regiment. 8
The company for a time was in charge of Orderly Sergeant Patrick English, and was ultimately consolidated with Company C of Clinton county.
Major Kelly was killed in a picket skirmish, immediately before the battle of Fair Oaks.
In that action the losses of the Ninety-sixth regiment were extremely severe.
The services of the regiment, throughout the peninsula campaign, were marked by great perils and hardships, and elicited from General Peck, the commander of the division, warm and unusual encomiums.
It was afterwards ordered to Suffolk, enduring all the trials and sufferings of that field, and was subsequently engaged in the North Carolina expedition, and gallantly participated in all the hard services of that vigorous campaign.
In the battle of Kingston, December 14th, 1862, Colonel Grey, who had already, although a youth of twenty-four, achieved a brilliant fame, was killed while charging at the head of the regiment over the bridge on the Neuse, and in the act of planting its standard upon the enemy's works.
Three weeks before, in presenting a new flag to the Ninety-sixth, he had uttered a glowing and eloquent tribute to its old flag, and now this enveloped his coffin, as his remains were borne from his last battle-field to its resting place among his familiar mountains.
That venerated flag is deposited in the military bureau.
After this event the Ninety-sixth regiment was for a short term under the command of Colonel McKenzie.
8 Lieutenant Newman afterwards joined a Maryland regiment, and remained in the service during the war. Captain Weed, after his health was restored, enlisted as a private in the Ninety-third New York Volunteers, and did not return to civil life until the spring of 1865.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
By WINSLOW C. WATSON.
CHAPTER XIV. The Volunteers., continued ...
Company G marched from Fortress Monroe, comprising more than seventy combatants, and when it entered the conflict at Fair Oaks, it retained only eighteen men fit for duty.
The remainder had been stricken down by diseases incident to hard service and a malarious climate.
This fact illustrates the general condition of the regiment, the efficiency of which was also deeply impaired for a season, by dissensions among its officers.
A number of the subordinates had resigned from this and other causes.
Captain Weed, immediately previous to Fair Oaks, was compelled by severe sickness, to relinquish his command, and Lieutenant Newman, who was discharged in May, 1862, had already left the regiment. 8
The company for a time was in charge of Orderly Sergeant Patrick English, and was ultimately consolidated with Company C of Clinton county.
Major Kelly was killed in a picket skirmish, immediately before the battle of Fair Oaks.
In that action the losses of the Ninety-sixth regiment were extremely severe.
The services of the regiment, throughout the peninsula campaign, were marked by great perils and hardships, and elicited from General Peck, the commander of the division, warm and unusual encomiums.
It was afterwards ordered to Suffolk, enduring all the trials and sufferings of that field, and was subsequently engaged in the North Carolina expedition, and gallantly participated in all the hard services of that vigorous campaign.
In the battle of Kingston, December 14th, 1862, Colonel Grey, who had already, although a youth of twenty-four, achieved a brilliant fame, was killed while charging at the head of the regiment over the bridge on the Neuse, and in the act of planting its standard upon the enemy's works.
Three weeks before, in presenting a new flag to the Ninety-sixth, he had uttered a glowing and eloquent tribute to its old flag, and now this enveloped his coffin, as his remains were borne from his last battle-field to its resting place among his familiar mountains.
That venerated flag is deposited in the military bureau.
After this event the Ninety-sixth regiment was for a short term under the command of Colonel McKenzie.
8 Lieutenant Newman afterwards joined a Maryland regiment, and remained in the service during the war. Captain Weed, after his health was restored, enlisted as a private in the Ninety-third New York Volunteers, and did not return to civil life until the spring of 1865.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: THE HISTORY OF 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; AND ALSO THE MILITARY ANNALS OF THE FORTRESSES OF CROWN POINT AND TICONDEROGA., continued ...
By WINSLOW C. WATSON.
CHAPTER XIV. The Volunteers., continued ...
Early in 1864, the regiment was transferred to the army of the James before Petersburg, and attached to the same brigade with which the One Hundred and Eighteenth was connected.
It was incorporated with the eighteenth and afterwards with the twenty-fourth corps.
The Ninety-sixth was engaged in all the subsequent operations of the eighteenth corps.
At Coal Harbor, and the assault on Fort Harrison its casualties were appalling.
In the attack upon Fort Harrison, the Ninety-sixth and the Eighth Connecticut formed the assaulting columns, with the One Hundred and Eighteenth New York, and Tenth New Hampshire on their flanks as skirmishers.
The division approached the works in close order, and in a distance of fourteen hundred yards was exposed to a plunging and galling fire of artillery and musketry. 9
It steadily advanced to the base of the hill, which was crowned by the enemy's work.
Here the column, exhausted by its rapid progress, paused.
The enemy perceiving the point of attack were meanwhile pouring reenforcements into the menaced works.
The crisis was imminent, and General Stannard commanding the division sent an earnest order for an instant assault. 10
The head of the column charged up the hill, and scaling the parapet, drove the enemy from their guns.
Sergeant Lester Archer of the Ninety-sixth and the color bearer of the Eighth Connecticut, simultaneously planted their respective regimental flags upon the ramparts.
The Rev. Nathan Wardner, chaplain of the Ninety-sixth, charged with his regiment in the advancing columns, prepared to administer spiritual consolation on the very field of carnage. 11
The captured guns of the fort were turned upon the retreating enemy with terrible effect.
The Ninety-sixth was conspicuous in opposing the repeated, resolute and desperate attempts of the rebels to recover this important position. 12
The death or wounds of four superiors, placed Colonel Cullen of the Ninety-sixth, at the close of this sanguinary battle, in command of the division.
9 Gen. Stannard's Report.
10 General Stannard claims that this order was carried by Captain Kent his aid. Other authorities state that it was communicated from General Burnham by Lieutenant Campbell, of the One Hundred and Eighteenth, who was on his staff. Perhaps the orders were coincident. — Butler's Address to the Army of the James.
11 Butler's Address.
12 I more particularly describe these events in noticing the services of the One Hundred and Eighteenth on the occasion.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
By WINSLOW C. WATSON.
CHAPTER XIV. The Volunteers., continued ...
Early in 1864, the regiment was transferred to the army of the James before Petersburg, and attached to the same brigade with which the One Hundred and Eighteenth was connected.
It was incorporated with the eighteenth and afterwards with the twenty-fourth corps.
The Ninety-sixth was engaged in all the subsequent operations of the eighteenth corps.
At Coal Harbor, and the assault on Fort Harrison its casualties were appalling.
In the attack upon Fort Harrison, the Ninety-sixth and the Eighth Connecticut formed the assaulting columns, with the One Hundred and Eighteenth New York, and Tenth New Hampshire on their flanks as skirmishers.
The division approached the works in close order, and in a distance of fourteen hundred yards was exposed to a plunging and galling fire of artillery and musketry. 9
It steadily advanced to the base of the hill, which was crowned by the enemy's work.
Here the column, exhausted by its rapid progress, paused.
The enemy perceiving the point of attack were meanwhile pouring reenforcements into the menaced works.
The crisis was imminent, and General Stannard commanding the division sent an earnest order for an instant assault. 10
The head of the column charged up the hill, and scaling the parapet, drove the enemy from their guns.
Sergeant Lester Archer of the Ninety-sixth and the color bearer of the Eighth Connecticut, simultaneously planted their respective regimental flags upon the ramparts.
The Rev. Nathan Wardner, chaplain of the Ninety-sixth, charged with his regiment in the advancing columns, prepared to administer spiritual consolation on the very field of carnage. 11
The captured guns of the fort were turned upon the retreating enemy with terrible effect.
The Ninety-sixth was conspicuous in opposing the repeated, resolute and desperate attempts of the rebels to recover this important position. 12
The death or wounds of four superiors, placed Colonel Cullen of the Ninety-sixth, at the close of this sanguinary battle, in command of the division.
9 Gen. Stannard's Report.
10 General Stannard claims that this order was carried by Captain Kent his aid. Other authorities state that it was communicated from General Burnham by Lieutenant Campbell, of the One Hundred and Eighteenth, who was on his staff. Perhaps the orders were coincident. — Butler's Address to the Army of the James.
11 Butler's Address.
12 I more particularly describe these events in noticing the services of the One Hundred and Eighteenth on the occasion.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: THE HISTORY OF 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; AND ALSO THE MILITARY ANNALS OF THE FORTRESSES OF CROWN POINT AND TICONDEROGA., continued ...
By WINSLOW C. WATSON.
CHAPTER XIV. The Volunteers., continued ...
The Ninety-sixth continued near Fort Harrison in camp with its brigade, after the capture of that work, until the 24th of October, when the entire division, marched against Fort Richmond, at Fair Oaks.
It bivouacked that night, about three miles from the fort.
While the skirmishing party of the One Hundred and Eighteenth was engaged in the perilous and hopeless assault of the enemy's line, the next morning the Ninety-sixth, in common with the remainder of the division, stood idle spectators of the slaughter of those troops, although little doubt now exists, that a combined and energetic attack of the fort, when the One Hundred and Eighteenth advanced and while it was occupied by a force wholly inadequate to its defense, would have secured a glorious success.
A designed feint had been converted into a real and sanguinary assault, and the character of this bloody field, conspicuous for its profitless and murderous losses, was only redeemed by the valor of the troops.
For two long and trying hours, after the repulse of the One Hundred and Eighteenth, the residue of the division stood under arms, in front of the enemy's lines, with no orders, either to advance or retreat, while the rebels were observed, eagerly rushing troops into the fort, on foot and upon horseback.
Horses were constantly perceived hurrying up at their highest speed, bearing three riders, and as they approached the works, two leaping from the horse would enter the fort, while the third returned at the same speed, to bear back another freight of defenders.
At length, when the lines by this delay had been rendered impregnable to an attack, the division was madly hurled upon the works.
It was bloodily repulsed.
The casualties of the Ninety-sixth were in the highest degree severe.
Its last colonel, Stephen Moffit, of Clinton county, who continued in the command until the regiment was disbanded, lost a leg in this action, while gallantly leading in the fruitless and disastrous assault.
He was borne from the field by Captain Earle Pierce of the Ninety-sixth, and Capt. M.V.B. Stetson, of the One Hundred and Eighteenth, the latter of whom was wounded in the generous act.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
By WINSLOW C. WATSON.
CHAPTER XIV. The Volunteers., continued ...
The Ninety-sixth continued near Fort Harrison in camp with its brigade, after the capture of that work, until the 24th of October, when the entire division, marched against Fort Richmond, at Fair Oaks.
It bivouacked that night, about three miles from the fort.
While the skirmishing party of the One Hundred and Eighteenth was engaged in the perilous and hopeless assault of the enemy's line, the next morning the Ninety-sixth, in common with the remainder of the division, stood idle spectators of the slaughter of those troops, although little doubt now exists, that a combined and energetic attack of the fort, when the One Hundred and Eighteenth advanced and while it was occupied by a force wholly inadequate to its defense, would have secured a glorious success.
A designed feint had been converted into a real and sanguinary assault, and the character of this bloody field, conspicuous for its profitless and murderous losses, was only redeemed by the valor of the troops.
For two long and trying hours, after the repulse of the One Hundred and Eighteenth, the residue of the division stood under arms, in front of the enemy's lines, with no orders, either to advance or retreat, while the rebels were observed, eagerly rushing troops into the fort, on foot and upon horseback.
Horses were constantly perceived hurrying up at their highest speed, bearing three riders, and as they approached the works, two leaping from the horse would enter the fort, while the third returned at the same speed, to bear back another freight of defenders.
At length, when the lines by this delay had been rendered impregnable to an attack, the division was madly hurled upon the works.
It was bloodily repulsed.
The casualties of the Ninety-sixth were in the highest degree severe.
Its last colonel, Stephen Moffit, of Clinton county, who continued in the command until the regiment was disbanded, lost a leg in this action, while gallantly leading in the fruitless and disastrous assault.
He was borne from the field by Captain Earle Pierce of the Ninety-sixth, and Capt. M.V.B. Stetson, of the One Hundred and Eighteenth, the latter of whom was wounded in the generous act.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: THE HISTORY OF 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; AND ALSO THE MILITARY ANNALS OF THE FORTRESSES OF CROWN POINT AND TICONDEROGA., continued ...
By WINSLOW C. WATSON.
CHAPTER XIV. The Volunteers., continued ...
The ground upon which these unfortunate operations occurred had been signalized by the sanguinary battle of Fair Oaks, during the peninsula campaign.
The works erected by McClellan were still discernible, and as the federal troops moved to the assault, they disturbed and trampled upon skulls and bones and other ghastly memorials of the former conflict.
The Ninety-sixth participated in the brilliant closing scenes of the war around Richmond and its final consummation.
I should not close this notice, which I regret is so inadequate, of this gallant regiment 13 without referring to the memory of one of its members, who was alike distinguished for the ability and zeal with which he performed his official duties, and his warm hearted and generous sensibilities.
Francis Joseph D'Avignon was placed at the head of the medical corps of the Ninety-sixth at its organization.
His skill and courage early attracted attention, and led to his promotion.
He was made surgeon-in-chief to a division, was captured at Drury's Bluff and remained a prisoner for several months.
He was confined for a short term in Libby Prison and encountered its rigors, but was soon released from confinement and allowed with slight restraints to mingle freely with the Union prisoners, and minister to them his professional services.
He was mustered out on the expiration of his term of service, March 14th, 1865.
Surgeon D'Avignon had been a Canadian patriot, and was involved in the perils of 1837.
He fled into the states from the scaffold, and yielding to his republican instincts became an American citizen.
He married and permanently resided at Au Sable Forks. 14
13 I have made every effort to obtain information, but generally with very unsatisfactory results.
14 A brother officer in the regiment, himself - as well as Surgeon D'Avignon, since deceased, remarks of the latter: "He stood very high in the army, and was beloved by both officers and privates."
TO BE CONTINUED ...
By WINSLOW C. WATSON.
CHAPTER XIV. The Volunteers., continued ...
The ground upon which these unfortunate operations occurred had been signalized by the sanguinary battle of Fair Oaks, during the peninsula campaign.
The works erected by McClellan were still discernible, and as the federal troops moved to the assault, they disturbed and trampled upon skulls and bones and other ghastly memorials of the former conflict.
The Ninety-sixth participated in the brilliant closing scenes of the war around Richmond and its final consummation.
I should not close this notice, which I regret is so inadequate, of this gallant regiment 13 without referring to the memory of one of its members, who was alike distinguished for the ability and zeal with which he performed his official duties, and his warm hearted and generous sensibilities.
Francis Joseph D'Avignon was placed at the head of the medical corps of the Ninety-sixth at its organization.
His skill and courage early attracted attention, and led to his promotion.
He was made surgeon-in-chief to a division, was captured at Drury's Bluff and remained a prisoner for several months.
He was confined for a short term in Libby Prison and encountered its rigors, but was soon released from confinement and allowed with slight restraints to mingle freely with the Union prisoners, and minister to them his professional services.
He was mustered out on the expiration of his term of service, March 14th, 1865.
Surgeon D'Avignon had been a Canadian patriot, and was involved in the perils of 1837.
He fled into the states from the scaffold, and yielding to his republican instincts became an American citizen.
He married and permanently resided at Au Sable Forks. 14
13 I have made every effort to obtain information, but generally with very unsatisfactory results.
14 A brother officer in the regiment, himself - as well as Surgeon D'Avignon, since deceased, remarks of the latter: "He stood very high in the army, and was beloved by both officers and privates."
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: THE HISTORY OF 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; AND ALSO THE MILITARY ANNALS OF THE FORTRESSES OF CROWN POINT AND TICONDEROGA., continued ...
By WINSLOW C. WATSON.
CHAPTER XIV. The Volunteers., continued ...
Enlisted Men of the Regiment to whom Medals of Honor have been Awarded by the Secretary of War.
Sergeant Lester Archer.
The archives of the state present the following brilliant record of the services of the Ninety-sixth: Gainesville, second Bull Run, South Mountain, Antietam, Mine Run, Fredericksburg, Chancellorville, Gettysburg, Wilderness, North Anna, Mattapony, Spottsylvania, Bethesda Church, Petersburg, Weldon Rail Road, Chapel House, Hatcher's Run, Yorktown, Williamsburg, Fair Oaks, Seven Days' Battle, Blackwater, Kingston, Whitehall, Goldsboro, Siege of Newbern, Drury's Farm, Port Walthall, Coal Harbor, Battery Harrison, Charles City Road.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
By WINSLOW C. WATSON.
CHAPTER XIV. The Volunteers., continued ...
Enlisted Men of the Regiment to whom Medals of Honor have been Awarded by the Secretary of War.
Sergeant Lester Archer.
The archives of the state present the following brilliant record of the services of the Ninety-sixth: Gainesville, second Bull Run, South Mountain, Antietam, Mine Run, Fredericksburg, Chancellorville, Gettysburg, Wilderness, North Anna, Mattapony, Spottsylvania, Bethesda Church, Petersburg, Weldon Rail Road, Chapel House, Hatcher's Run, Yorktown, Williamsburg, Fair Oaks, Seven Days' Battle, Blackwater, Kingston, Whitehall, Goldsboro, Siege of Newbern, Drury's Farm, Port Walthall, Coal Harbor, Battery Harrison, Charles City Road.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: THE HISTORY OF 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; AND ALSO THE MILITARY ANNALS OF THE FORTRESSES OF CROWN POINT AND TICONDEROGA., continued ...
By WINSLOW C. WATSON.
CHAPTER XIV. The Volunteers., continued ...
Fifth New York Cavalry.
At the opening of the war of the rebellion, the government suffered severely from the absence of an efficient cavalry arm.
In this force, the rebels were far superior, both in numbers and efficiency.
A wide defection among the cavalry officers of the army, in one instance, embracing almost an entire regiment, and the peculiar equestrian habits of the southern people, which rendered most men expert riders from early youth, combined to furnish materials for an immediate and powerful organization of mounted troops.
Directly after Bull Run, the government addressed itself to the task of remedying this deficiency.
Agents appeared throughout the north, arousing the chivalric spirit of the country, and urging everywhere the formation of cavalry companies and regiments.
This appeal reached the town of Crown Point, which, as I have mentioned, had but recently, by private munificence, equipped an infantry company, and was responded to with an ardor and promptness that has few parallels in all the incidents of enthusiasm that characterized the times.
The fervid zeal that was inspired could not be restrained to await the formal preparation of enlisting papers, or for a regular mustering in, by the usual machinery of the department.
But a written compact was at once prepared, by which each man was pledged to serve the government for three years in the mounted service, and in an incredibly short period it received the signatures of one hundred and twenty-seven of the youth of that town and its immediate vicinity. 15
They constituted the bone and muscle of the community.
To each name is attached the age and occupation of the signer.
Nearly all were between the ages of twenty and thirty years, and most of them were either farmers or mechanics.
Almost every signature was an autograph; thus affording evidence of an intelligence and education rarely found in a body of soldiers hastily recruited.
Of such materials, Cromwell formed his memorable Ironsides, and these young men of Essex carried with them into the service, the resolute qualities and the exalted spirit that made the troopers of the English enthusiast invincible on every field.
15 This instrument, so novel and remarkable in its character and so illustrative of the patriotic ardor that pervaded the country, is worthy of the choicest preservation. This is its exact language: "We, the undersigned, hereby agree to serve the government of the United States in the mounted service for three years, unless sooner discharged, subjecting ourselves to all the rules and regulations governing troops in that branch of the regular service."
TO BE CONTINUED ...
By WINSLOW C. WATSON.
CHAPTER XIV. The Volunteers., continued ...
Fifth New York Cavalry.
At the opening of the war of the rebellion, the government suffered severely from the absence of an efficient cavalry arm.
In this force, the rebels were far superior, both in numbers and efficiency.
A wide defection among the cavalry officers of the army, in one instance, embracing almost an entire regiment, and the peculiar equestrian habits of the southern people, which rendered most men expert riders from early youth, combined to furnish materials for an immediate and powerful organization of mounted troops.
Directly after Bull Run, the government addressed itself to the task of remedying this deficiency.
Agents appeared throughout the north, arousing the chivalric spirit of the country, and urging everywhere the formation of cavalry companies and regiments.
This appeal reached the town of Crown Point, which, as I have mentioned, had but recently, by private munificence, equipped an infantry company, and was responded to with an ardor and promptness that has few parallels in all the incidents of enthusiasm that characterized the times.
The fervid zeal that was inspired could not be restrained to await the formal preparation of enlisting papers, or for a regular mustering in, by the usual machinery of the department.
But a written compact was at once prepared, by which each man was pledged to serve the government for three years in the mounted service, and in an incredibly short period it received the signatures of one hundred and twenty-seven of the youth of that town and its immediate vicinity. 15
They constituted the bone and muscle of the community.
To each name is attached the age and occupation of the signer.
Nearly all were between the ages of twenty and thirty years, and most of them were either farmers or mechanics.
Almost every signature was an autograph; thus affording evidence of an intelligence and education rarely found in a body of soldiers hastily recruited.
Of such materials, Cromwell formed his memorable Ironsides, and these young men of Essex carried with them into the service, the resolute qualities and the exalted spirit that made the troopers of the English enthusiast invincible on every field.
15 This instrument, so novel and remarkable in its character and so illustrative of the patriotic ardor that pervaded the country, is worthy of the choicest preservation. This is its exact language: "We, the undersigned, hereby agree to serve the government of the United States in the mounted service for three years, unless sooner discharged, subjecting ourselves to all the rules and regulations governing troops in that branch of the regular service."
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: THE HISTORY OF 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; AND ALSO THE MILITARY ANNALS OF THE FORTRESSES OF CROWN POINT AND TICONDEROGA., continued ...
By WINSLOW C. WATSON.
CHAPTER XIV. The Volunteers., continued ...
Under this compact, to which all implicitly adhered, the company, without officers and without any other restraint, proceeded to New York, and were there regularly mustered into the service.
The entire body of men were accepted as privates, nor were their officers elected until the company joined the regiment on Staten island.
John Hammond was commissioned captain, September 14, 1861; major, September, 1863; lieutenant-colonel, March, 1864; colonel, July, 1864, and brevet brigadier-general, May 22, 1866.
Jonas A. Benedict was commissioned first lieutenant, and James A. Penfield second lieutenant of the company, the 22d of October, 1861.
Lieutenant Benedict died in the next December, and was succeeded by Penfield, who was appointed captain in July, 1863, and resigned in May, 1865.
John G. Viall was appointed second lieutenant, December, 1861; first lieutenant, September, 1862, and captain, April, 1864.
Elmer J. Barker was appointed second lieutenant, September, 1862; first lieutenant, November, 1863; captain, March, 1864; and major, November, 1864.
Eugene B. Hayward was appointed second lieutenant, November, 1863; first lieutenant, March, 1864; and captain, November, 1864.
Lucius E. Kenne, appointed first lieutenant, November, 1864; and Clark M. Pease, second lieutenant, November, 1864.
This catalogue embraces all the changes in the officers of the company during its service.
The company was collected mainly by the zeal and earnest exertions of John Hammond, of Crown Point.
The father of Mr. Hammond, Charles F. Hammond, Esq., advanced the funds for the purchase of all the original horses, amounting to one hundred and eight, supplied the company.
These horses were selected with extreme care, in reference to their adaptedness to the service, and were probably superior to those of any troop in the army. 16
16 These animals were delivered in New York by contract, at one hundred and thirteen dollars each; but such was the spirit of the men, that they frequently paid from their own means, from five to twenty-five dollars in addition to secure to themselves a horse they particularly desired.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
By WINSLOW C. WATSON.
CHAPTER XIV. The Volunteers., continued ...
Under this compact, to which all implicitly adhered, the company, without officers and without any other restraint, proceeded to New York, and were there regularly mustered into the service.
The entire body of men were accepted as privates, nor were their officers elected until the company joined the regiment on Staten island.
John Hammond was commissioned captain, September 14, 1861; major, September, 1863; lieutenant-colonel, March, 1864; colonel, July, 1864, and brevet brigadier-general, May 22, 1866.
Jonas A. Benedict was commissioned first lieutenant, and James A. Penfield second lieutenant of the company, the 22d of October, 1861.
Lieutenant Benedict died in the next December, and was succeeded by Penfield, who was appointed captain in July, 1863, and resigned in May, 1865.
John G. Viall was appointed second lieutenant, December, 1861; first lieutenant, September, 1862, and captain, April, 1864.
Elmer J. Barker was appointed second lieutenant, September, 1862; first lieutenant, November, 1863; captain, March, 1864; and major, November, 1864.
Eugene B. Hayward was appointed second lieutenant, November, 1863; first lieutenant, March, 1864; and captain, November, 1864.
Lucius E. Kenne, appointed first lieutenant, November, 1864; and Clark M. Pease, second lieutenant, November, 1864.
This catalogue embraces all the changes in the officers of the company during its service.
The company was collected mainly by the zeal and earnest exertions of John Hammond, of Crown Point.
The father of Mr. Hammond, Charles F. Hammond, Esq., advanced the funds for the purchase of all the original horses, amounting to one hundred and eight, supplied the company.
These horses were selected with extreme care, in reference to their adaptedness to the service, and were probably superior to those of any troop in the army. 16
16 These animals were delivered in New York by contract, at one hundred and thirteen dollars each; but such was the spirit of the men, that they frequently paid from their own means, from five to twenty-five dollars in addition to secure to themselves a horse they particularly desired.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: THE HISTORY OF 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; AND ALSO THE MILITARY ANNALS OF THE FORTRESSES OF CROWN POINT AND TICONDEROGA., continued ...
By WINSLOW C. WATSON.
CHAPTER XIV. The Volunteers., continued ...
This body of men was organized as Company H of the Fifth New York Cavalry, commanded by Colonel Othniel De Forest of New York.
The regiment employed the winter of 1861 - 62, at camp Harris near Annapolis in constant and thorough drilling, and acquired the discipline and proficiency, that rendered its subsequent service so efficient and so valuable to the country.
This narrative proposes to trace the movements of Company H distinctively and the operations of the regiment, where that company or the soldiers of Essex were prominently connected with them.
In April, this company was detached to Luray Valley on special service.
Here, in frequent skirmishes it gradually prepared for the toils and the scenes of peril and hardships which were approaching.
It rejoined the regiment in May, and did not participate in some of its earlier achievements, but was with it in the disastrous campaign of General Banks, and the terrible retreat through the mountains, incident to it.
A part of the regiment, including Company H, acted as flankers to the army in this retreat, and was exposed perpetually to severe fighting. 17
Throughout the month of July, the regiment was engaged in frequent skirmishes, and was in constant motion, often suffering severely from the want of rations and forage.
17 A single incident will illustrate the character of this service. Captain Hammond, while in the advance with ten men, marching upon the flank, noticed a superior body of rebels in front, and immediately pursued. Leading his men he soon personally came up to their rearmost man, a strong and completely armed soldier. They exchanged several shots, which were without effect, owing to the great speed with which they were riding. Captain Hammond's pistol had become foul and useless, while his antagonist had two chambers undischarged. Hammond lost his in attempting to strike him with the butt, but determined to secure the rebel he seized him by the collar with both hands and tore him from his horse. In the struggle, Hammond's horse also went from under him, and they both fell to the ground. Hammond above, one hand grappling the throat of the rebel and the other hold of his pistol hand, while the rebel was attempting to shoot Hammond. At this moment a private of Company F came up and by Hammond's order fired at the rebel. The ball grazing his head, brought him to surrender.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
By WINSLOW C. WATSON.
CHAPTER XIV. The Volunteers., continued ...
This body of men was organized as Company H of the Fifth New York Cavalry, commanded by Colonel Othniel De Forest of New York.
The regiment employed the winter of 1861 - 62, at camp Harris near Annapolis in constant and thorough drilling, and acquired the discipline and proficiency, that rendered its subsequent service so efficient and so valuable to the country.
This narrative proposes to trace the movements of Company H distinctively and the operations of the regiment, where that company or the soldiers of Essex were prominently connected with them.
In April, this company was detached to Luray Valley on special service.
Here, in frequent skirmishes it gradually prepared for the toils and the scenes of peril and hardships which were approaching.
It rejoined the regiment in May, and did not participate in some of its earlier achievements, but was with it in the disastrous campaign of General Banks, and the terrible retreat through the mountains, incident to it.
A part of the regiment, including Company H, acted as flankers to the army in this retreat, and was exposed perpetually to severe fighting. 17
Throughout the month of July, the regiment was engaged in frequent skirmishes, and was in constant motion, often suffering severely from the want of rations and forage.
17 A single incident will illustrate the character of this service. Captain Hammond, while in the advance with ten men, marching upon the flank, noticed a superior body of rebels in front, and immediately pursued. Leading his men he soon personally came up to their rearmost man, a strong and completely armed soldier. They exchanged several shots, which were without effect, owing to the great speed with which they were riding. Captain Hammond's pistol had become foul and useless, while his antagonist had two chambers undischarged. Hammond lost his in attempting to strike him with the butt, but determined to secure the rebel he seized him by the collar with both hands and tore him from his horse. In the struggle, Hammond's horse also went from under him, and they both fell to the ground. Hammond above, one hand grappling the throat of the rebel and the other hold of his pistol hand, while the rebel was attempting to shoot Hammond. At this moment a private of Company F came up and by Hammond's order fired at the rebel. The ball grazing his head, brought him to surrender.
TO BE CONTINUED ...