Union Blue and Militia Gray: The Role of the New York State Militia in the Civil War - Chapter 1 - Antecedents and Organization
The militia forces of the United States have traditionally assumed three roles in the service of the nation and their respective states. They must first organize and prepare to conduct conventional military operations against any external threat. Internally, the militia trained to assist the appropriate authority to suppress riots, protests and other forms of civil disobedience. Lastly, the militia mobilized to control the effects of natural disasters and to assist their fellow citizens. In the era of the Civil War the militia of New York State performed all these duties besides shouldering the major burden of raising the main war-time combat forces.
The militia owed its existence to conditions in the colonial period. The Revolutionary War militia had a very varied experience and in the Federalist period of the 1790s reforms were attempted to impose some degree of uniformity and efficiency for all militia forces in the United States.
During his first term as president, George Washington relied on Secretary of War Henry Knox to prepare a comprehensive proposal for the national use of the militia. The final result was "An Act more effectively to provide for the National Defense by establishing Uniform Militia throughout the United States" on 8 May 1792. This law gave the militia whatever slight central direction it was to have for the next 111 years. It stated that all free able-bodied white men (blacks and women were excluded), aged 18-45, owed military service to both state and nation. It directed the eligible males to furnish themselves with proper firearms and accoutrements. Certain categories of men were exempt from service and the law authorized the states to expand further their own list of exemptions. The law also directed that the militias were to be divided into brigades and regiments "if convenient" and provided for the existence of specialized infantry, including riflemen, light infantry and grenadiers. Volunteers within brigades filled the cavalry and artillery. [1]
Each state maintained an adjutant general, the key person among each militia charged with upholding uniformity. He reported the condition of his forces once per year to the governor and the president. The act did create select corps but provided for the organizing, and training of all able-bodied men. Since they numbered in the vicinity of half a million, this provision proved unrealistic, made more so because there were no penalties for failure to comply. The act therefore included no sanctions against either states or individuals.
On 28 February 1795 Congress passed another statute vital to the future of the militia. It was entitled "An Act to Provide to call Forth the Militia to Execute the Laws of the Union, Suppress Insurrection and Repel Invasions." Upon invasion or its threat, it empowered the president to summon as many troops as he deemed necessary. Unlike the Uniform Militia Act, this law provided sanctions for failure to answer a summons from the president. The act confirmed long-standing custom in limiting the compulsory term of all militiamen in Federal service to three months in a year. [2]
The crisis of the first decade of the 19th Century left behind the Act of April 1808 appropriating $200,000 annually for arming and organizing "the whole body of the militia of the United State s.. .by and on account of the United States." The assessment of the militia as well as its organization, thus theoretically became a Federal responsibility. Neither the constitutional nor the military consequences of this seemed important at the time, but these three acts provided the framework on which the militia and the war-time volunteers were to be raised and administered in the 1860s. [3]
One of the popular ways of enforcing attendance at training periods was by means of fines. A man could plan beforehand for an absence and pay a sum for the privilege of so absenting himself. Placing fines and commutation fees and collecting them proved to be two very different matters. It seems that at no time within the period between 1846 and 1860 did the states succeed materially in collecting either. [4] In some states the fines were exceedingly high for non-attendance. In New York the fine amounted to twelve dollars, quite a sum for an average laborer.
After the War of 1812 New York State sought to collect fines from militiamen who had dodged war service. State tribunals assessed fines of $200,000 against 4000 militiamen, but so indifferent was the public that collection costs exceeded income by $25,000. [5]
Commutation funds from those who did not wish to serve came in easier. In 1850 New York collected over $41,000. [6] The availability, or lack of commutation funds for the support of the state militia became a cause celebre in the years before the Civil War.
In his 1858 Annual Report of the Adjutant General, Brigadier General Frederick Townsend suggested:
The system known as the commuting system, were it enforced in accordance with the spirit of the law, would, it can hardly be denied, provide a sufficient organization, from the burdens under which it is at present struggling. While it is not desired that the force should be wholly sustained from this system, like a necessary one, it is nevertheless consonant with reason and justice that men volunteering to perform a duty which all, with few exceptions, are required by the laws of Congress to discharge, should be at least assisted in some of their expenses, as for music, armory rent and horses for guns, by those who are thereby relieved of such duty. [7]
In financially strapped circumstances, commanders and staff officers at all levels in the militia forces came to espouse the commutation system for the support of their units. In the 15 April 1860 edition on the (State) Military Gazette, the editor exclaimed:
The Legislature of 1846 reduced the commutation fee to fifty cents for non-performance in hopes that the great bulk of eligibles would be glad to rid themselves of this duty at so small a loss while there would remain a sufficient number of citizens who from military zeal would go to the expense and trouble to become effective soldiers. After thirteen years however, this system was found to be a failure. [8]
It is impossible to set an exact date for the beginning of the decline in interest in the militia but it is certain that the decline began many years before the Mexican War. The causes for it were many - lack of military necessity; rarity of drill days; expense and the commutation fees and fines. As the memory of the War of 1812 faded gradually from the public mind, the military spirit also declined. Militiamen in most cases only drilled on one day each year, and that usually in April or October. [9] In 1846 New York (and Connecticut) abolished compulsory service. Five other states did likewise in the coming decade. In place of the obligatory militia training, new laws provided for volunteer companies. Some states collected a small commutation fee in lieu of military duty and in New York this amounted to seventy-five cents. The money thus collected supported the volunteer independent corps. The Niles National Register became jubilant over the abolition of the compulsory militia law in New York: "We congratulate the people of this commonwealth warmly and heartily upon this emancipation from mock military duty. The Bill which cuts up the miserable system of militia oppression has become a law." [10]
As the compulsory system of universal military training waned, volunteering waxed. In some people, the martial spirit combined with a love of colorful uniforms, ceremonials and martial music, was ever present. Affluent volunteers saw in volunteer units instruments by means of which they could defend what they owned. The wealthier among them joined the cavalry which was exclusive because it was expensive, while clerks and shopkeepers enrolled in grenadier, light infantry and other elite infantry companies. All volunteers had to be able to afford their affiliation: as much as $72 for the uniform, an initial investment in armament, and various levels of dues. [11] Despite costs, volunteer units proliferated and as these volunteers became the only reliable part of the militia system, the states began to offer them more support.
Festivals would have been drab without the volunteer militia, the units of which were easy to involve in public appearances. They conducted target shoots and marched with much ceremony to visit neighboring units. The encampments occasioned by these visits involved themselves and the host communities in gargantuan feasts, much fancy drill and sham battles.
The volunteer militiamen made themselves useful to state and local officials in maintaining law and order. They guarded prisoners to prevent lynchings and prisons where unpopular executions were being carried out, and they enforced quarantines. Riot duty formed an integral part of their service, for riots were endemic to the cities. During the troubled election of 1834, the famous 7th Regiment of the New York State Militia stood under a hail of bricks and stones, but managed to withhold its fire. The following year, the city suffered a great fire and this regiment policed the streets to stem looting. When stevedores rampaged in 1836 the 7th helped to put them down, and at the height of the Panic of 1837, with the streets full of hungry people demanding food, the 7th took up its arms to protect property. [12]
On 10 May 1849 the 7th Regiment assembled to put down the Astor Place Riots and this marked the first occasion in which militia forces fired into a crowd. On that date a mob of Irishmen attacked the New York City Opera House because a famous English actor was playing there. Before order was restored, the casualties totaled 22 killed and 36 wounded with the mob taking the greater punishment. [13] The city's Summer violence in 1857 had its roots in a legislative measure placing the municipal police under state control. The participants included discharged members of the municipal police, Irish and German immigrants and members of street gangs such as the Dead Rabbits, Blackbirds, Bowery Boys and the Roach Guards. Apart from gang rivalry, the anger of the mobs seemed to be directed against the new metropolitan police and the Sunday closing of grog shops. The 8th and 71st Regiments were called in over a period of two weeks to restore order in what had degenerated into guerrilla warfare. [14] A small howitzer captured from the Dead Rabbits gang by the 71st Regiment is on display at Camp Smith, New York to this day.
To the military reformer, Emory Upton, writing in the 1870s, the Mexican War (1846-48) brought a revolution in the nation's military policy because it marked the effective end of the enrolled militia system as a serious reliance, even in theory, for major war, and the substitution of the volunteer principle that was thereafter generally to rule. The militia played little part in the struggle; with their three-month term and their constitutional protection against foreign service, they were of small help in a war of this character, while the great distances over which operations had to be conducted ruled out the large armies and mass mobilizations which the militia system was supposed to produce. Since volunteers poured out with adventurous enthusiasm in quite adequate numbers, the war could be safely left to them. Though summoned under Federal authority, they retained their state designations and their officers, when not elected by the men, were appointed by the governors. Congress decreed that they were to serve for "twelve months or until the end of the war." [15] In that conflict, New York provided two volunteer regiments. [16]
With the successful conclusion of the Mexican War, steps were taken to foster the professionalism of the volunteer units comprising the state militia. As early as 1847 the adjutant general of New York suggested a complete reorganization because so many of the companies of both infantry and artillery had been reduced to small numbers.
The reorganization was immediately effected and there was a continued change to larger units and less detail. [17] In 1848 the legislature acted to provide the adjutant general with $1,000, "or part thereof as needed" to furnish the commissioned officers with books is of tactics. [18] By 1848 New York had organized a corps of engineers and brigade inspectors were appointed in 1849. The legislature enacted new militia laws in 1851; and in 1853 the laws were codified. [19] In 1849 the adjutant general declared that "the legislature of this state has enacted the best militia law of which any of the United States can boast." [20]
In the latter 1850s the militia operated under the state Military Regulations, promulgated under General Order No. 30 on 6 April 1858. The governor, as commander-in-chief, supervised the whole military establishment in all its various departments. He maintained responsibility for ordering the various parades, encampments and drills of the militia forces, and to meet any special exigencies of the state. [21]
The governor was assisted by a general staff of ten officers and their respective departments. The adjutant general (brigadier general) acted as the chief-of-staff to the commander-in-chief and he provided for the day to day administration of the militia forces. He also supervised the collection of commutation fees and fines and reported on an annual basis to the legislature on the state of the forces to include strength, weapons and equipment, and the readiness of the units He also prescribed programs of training and instruction.
The Inspector General normally visited each unit and regimental district every two years to inspect all types of state military property and to report upon the qualifications of persons named to the governor for appointment to military offices. [22] All money and property accounts remained under the supervision of the inspector general until these disbursements were placed under the direct control of United States Officers in September and October 1861. He also audited claims and accounted for sums due to regiments or members of the militia for clothing and equipment lost or destroyed on active service.
The Commissary General and his assistants were specifically charged with the preservation, issue and transport of arms, equipment and other military property belonging to the state. By 1862 however, this office was renamed the Commissary General for Ordnance, becoming responsible for arms and equipment. The Commissary General of Subsistence thereafter provided the troops with food. This administrative arrangement continued for the remainder of the Civil War and for some years thereafter.
The Department of Engineers consisted of the Engineer-in-Chief, division engineers, brigade and regimental engineers, and one sergeant and nine sappers and miners to each regiment. Their duties consisted of reconnoitering and surveying for military purposes and for the superintending of defensive works, movement and operations of armies in the field and the laying-out of camp grounds. [23]
The objective of the Quartermaster General's Department insured an efficient system of supply for the troops and provided transport for the movement and operations of the forces on active service. This department also provided fuel, straw and forage for encampments, and for the provision of tentage and camp equipage. Once hostilities began, this department would shoulder the major burden in the raising of the volunteer forces.
The Military Regulations of 1858 failed to discuss the Paymaster General's responsibilities since during peacetime the position was nominal.
Although the Surgeon General's office had been in existence since 1818, the position was honorary and without any real duties. Upon the outbreak of war in April 1861 the office assumed several important additional responsibilities. Besides conducting physical examinations for recruits, qualifications for medical personnel had to be determined and certified. In addition, hospitals were established for sick and disabled soldiers in each of the receiving depots at Albany, New York City and Elmira, as well as the vaccination of soldiers prior to their departure for active service.
Besides a Judge Advocate General to advise and act on legal matters, three aides-decamp and a military secretary assisted the governor in administrative functions.
The Military Regulations provided direction for officers on the conduct of operations and instruction in tactics. Guidance also provided for the administration of prisoners of war.
Finally, detailed regulations prescribed the uniform and dress of the militia forces. Generally, uniforms followed closely those of the regular army of the United States except for insignia such as buttons, badges and cap devices, which bore the arms of New York State. Infantry regimental officers and men wore a dark blue frock coat, sky blue trousers and a rigid blue shako, all with branch piping and pompon. These regulations prescribed uniforms for those units of the militia which had not adopted their own regimental uniform approved by the commander-in-chief. [24] This provision (Para. 1544) allowed for the profusion of unique, distinctive and often gaudy dress worn by militia units in the early part of the war.
The Regulations did provide for a fatigue uniform consisting of a jacket of cadet gray cloth, single breasted with standing collar, to extend from 5-6 inches below the waist, trimmed and faced with black. Trousers were to be sky-blue, as per the regular army, and the outfit was complemented by a cadet gray cap (kepi) with a band of black cloth and chin strap and flat visor of black leather. Numerous New York militia regiments went on active service in a form of this uniform between 1861-63, and it will be seen how closely this outfit resembled the regulation field uniform of the Confederate army.
It must also be stressed that in accordance with their role as volunteers, militiamen were required to provide uniforms at their own expense.
On 7 January 1862, Governor Edwin Morgan, in his Annual Message, reported that he was forwarding
.. .a carefully prepared report, the result of systematic inquiry and correspondence with the active military men of the State thru the Adjutant General and the Judge Advocate General. It proposes to retain the main features of the present Militia system; to abolish, with two exceptions, the elective system; to return to the method of enrollment prescribed by the Act of 1792, to require yearly drills and thus provide a well-trained nucleus in every locality, to limit the durations of commissions and to terminate, within a given period, those now in force, to require candidates to be examined and the enactment of a series of Articles of War, for the government of troops of the State in time of war, based on those in force in the Army. [25]
The results of that inquiry and report later resulted in the passage of the new "Militia Law" by the legislature on 23 April 1862 and remained in effect throughout the remainder of the Civil War. It provided the direction upon which the state militia was administered and operated during this period.
The act delineated persons subject to military duty and allowed exemptions. It also excused militia members from conscription for Federal active duty. It provided for division of the enrolled militia into two classes based on age, and still required an annual parade with a fine of one dollar assessed for non-attendance.
Company strength was fixed at a minimum of 32 non-commissioned officers and privates and a maximum of 100, however the commander-in-chief received authorization in an emergency to draft men from the enrolled militia of the first class to achieve required strength. Members were still required to furnish their own uniforms.
In a throwback to much earlier times, elections for officers were still retained. Companies elected their own officers and non-commissioned officers. Field grade officers and especially regimental staff stood for election whenever at least six uniformed companies could be assembled. Brigadier generals and brigade inspectors were elected within their brigade districts. The governor nominated all major generals and the commissary general, with the consent of the Senate. The Law of 1862 gave detailed instructions for the conduct of these elections and even provided for an appeals process. The commander-in-chief did reserve the right to appoint examining boards to determine the fitness and competence of any commissioned officers.
Besides an annual parade for inspection to be held between May and November each year, the Law provided for six drills or parades per year by regiment or battalion and six monthly drills by each company. To foster training, a camp of instruction was ordered annually in each of the division districts, not to exceed ten days. Soldiers enlisted for a term of seven years during which they were exempted from jury duty and the payment of highway taxes. Each became eligible for a deduction in the assessment of any real or personal property in the amount of $500.
Pay rates, in peacetime, ranged from one dollar per day for a private, to three dollars for a company commander, and up to eight dollars for a major general. In time of war, militia members were entitled to the same pay, rations and allowances for clothing as established by law for the United States Army (Para. 173-174).
Except for a few purchased privately, the small arms and accoutrements carried by New York units before 1861 were those that had been issued annually to the state by the general government. In common with other states, New York's supply of muskets, rifles and other weapons was inadequate, irregular and of generally poor quality. Such comments as "the arms of this company are not fit for use," or "the cavalry company is in want of carbines," or "there have been none of the new pattern muskets issued to any of the regiments of this brigade," fill the reports of all brigade inspectors as late as 1860. Deficiencies in accoutrements (belts, cartridge boxes, knapsacks, etc.) proved easily as great as in arms. [26]
In his annual report on 2 February 1858, the adjutant general reported that:
The State has stored in its various arsenals and in the hands of its troops a large number of exceedingly worthless weapons, a considerable portion of which have apparently come down from the War of 1812. It nevertheless owns a very considerable quantity of serviceable muskets of quite recent patterns, altered from flint to percussion, and also a large quantity which have been rendered unserviceable simply by the careless manner in which they have been altered. [27]
The 7th Regiment, the crack regiment in the state, possessed influence and wealth beyond the dreams of other corps and probably was the best armed regiment in New York City; at least all its members paraded with the same model weapon. Yet the 7th carried flintlock muskets until October 1854, when they were exchanged for "very inferior conversions." The regiment had purchased its own cartridge boxes and white buff leather belts (these boxes were the first to carry the cipher "NG") and in January 1855 adopted and wore percussion cap pouches for the first time. In November 1858 new Springfield Model 1855 Rifle-Muskets, with the Maynard Priming System, were issued, but only after "a long and vigorous effort." In fact, the regiment sent a committee to Washington DC, armed with letters from prominent New Yorkers, and accompanied by Senator William H. Seward to see Secretary of War John B. Floyd and demand rifles "in the most earnest and peremptory manner." Only the 7th could have accomplished this piece of effrontery.
Contrast this record with that of the 9th Regiment which had been completely reorganized in 1859. In 1861 - one month before the outbreak of the Civil War - its adjutant was forced to write the adjutant general:
Dear Sir:
I had the honor of addressing you about a month ago on the subject of a stand of arms for the 9th Regt. to which communication I am not in receipt of any reply.
In that letter I represented to you the utterly useless character of the arms that we have - worn, broken, & in many instances incapable of repair - And in addition - we have no less than four varieties of musket amongst our five companies - & if we were called into service would require four different kinds of sizes of cartridge. When we were organized in August 1859 we were promised by Genl. Townsend a new stand of arms out of the quota of 1860 - that came - was distributed & we were put off to the quota of 1861. That quota has, it seems, been distributed, & the 9th Regt. neglected again. [28]
Most of the regiments stood somewhere between the 7th and 9th. On 2 January 1861 the Military Gazette, reporting on the "Necessity of Arms," described how the 12th Regiment, commanded by Colonel Daniel Butterfield, went to Staten Island for target practice during the previous Autumn. Some of the companies had only ten or a dozen muskets that could be fired, and each company used them in rotation. The 2nd Regiment reportedly leased weapons from arms dealers on the occasion of its parades. [29]
On 7 January 1862, Governor Morgan, in his annual message to the legislature, declared:
It was obvious that our Militia was in no condition either as respected discipline or equipment for imminent duty. Among other things it was shown that the great body of the organized Militia was unsupplied with reliable arms. I especially referred to that existing deficiency in the military stores, which I recommended to the Legislature to take early measures to supply, urging that in order to be prepared for any emergency, a suitable appropriation should be made from the Treasury and placed at the discretion of the Military Department. The final consideration of this subject did not take place until 12 April 1861 when a bill passed appropriating $500,000 for the purpose of arming the Militia and providing for the public defense. There have been purchased in Europe, under this Act, 10,000 PI 853 Enfield Rifle-Muskets, of which about 6,000 have been delivered to New York. [30]
The 1858 returns for weapons on hand indicated a total of 123 howitzers and cannon of all calibers. Of that number, 98 were of the brass six-pounder variety often assigned to the artillery batteries of infantry regiments. Fortunately, the artillery maintained an excellent reputation. [31]
During the antebellum period, very few of the militia companies had quarters of their own of any kind. Most companies rented meeting rooms in taverns and hotels, on the upper floors of stables, and in Masonic halls arid Odd Fellows meeting houses. For company parties, regimental balls, and other festivities, the volunteers hired theatres and music halls. In mild weather, the militia drilled on the Washington Square parade ground in New York City, and on other large open spaces. When it turned cold, the infantry units rented the so-called "long rooms" in local taverns, many of which were not big enough for company drills, much less for regimental maneuvers. The cavalry units leased nearby riding academies. Not only were these quarters unimposing, but, as a result of periodic fires and changes in ownership, they often proved temporary as well. [32] The effect these conditions had on training and combat readiness can only be imagined.
It became plain that taverns, hotels and quasi-public halls were not suitable places to store arms and ammunition. Volunteers feared that their units would not thrive unless they acquired their own quarters. Once the volunteer militia became involved in suppressing civil disorder, they needed permanent quarters to serve as rallying points, where the militia could assemble in an emergency, dress, arm themselves and prepare to move out. [33]
The volunteer militia appealed to their local communities, a few of which were willing to accommodate them. In the 1830s several militia units obtained the use of three large rooms on the second floor of the recently constructed public market on Centre Street. By the Civil War, the 6th, 8th, 11th, and 71st Regiments shared the Centre Markets drill rooms. [34] Beginning in 1858 Brooklyn's 13th Regiment met in the four-story Henry Street Armory along with several of the city's other military units. Brooklyn's 14th Regiment had to share the armory and Fireman's Hall with the fire commissioner, chief engineer and other officials of the fire department.
In 1860 the 7th Regiment moved into its new quarters in the Tompkins Market building where they occupied the second and third floors of the armory, which consisted of eleven company rooms, a band room, two company drill rooms and a regimental drill hall that the New York Times called the "handsomest and largest" in the United States. The first floor, however, was a public market, crammed with butchers, green-grocers, fishmongers and other shopkeepers. [35]
In February 1863 the city supervisors passed a resolution agreeing to pay $4000 per year rent for land for an armory for the 22nd Regiment. First constructed was a one-story building, fifty-feet wide on 14th Street and afterward used as a gymnasium. The regiment constructed, at its own expense, a two-story building with a tower for company rooms and a regimental headquarters. This building cost $20,000. Company A used the last room on the ground floor, and spent $250 to fix it up. There were, however, no provisions for lighting the open lots surrounding the initial building and drills were therefore held in that structure. [36] The continued need for drill halls, armories and other expanded quarters led the state inspector general to later recommend enlarging the annual allowance for the rental fee for each company drill hall from $250 to $500 per year. [37]
Equally important for the storage of arms and equipment were the state arsenals. By far, the most important one was located in New York City until 1859 at 5th Avenue and 64th Street. In that year, a new and larger arsenal opened at 7th Avenue and 35th Street. [38] This building became the principal storehouse for ordnance, and was the headquarters of the commissary general. Arsenals were also located in Brooklyn, Buffalo, Rochester, Auburn, Syracuse and Utica, and smaller repositories were constructed in Kingston, Corning, Dunkirk and Batavia. All these structures were procured in the late 1850s. Their maintenance and upkeep, however, varied considerably, and storage facilities were considered inadequate except in New York City. Conditions became so bad that the inspector general, after a series of inspection visits, recommended the consolidation of all surplus weapons at the main arsenal in New York. He explained that many of the roofs were leaking and much durable equipment consequently ruined. [39]
Ranking first in population and wealth among the states of the Union at this period, New York maintained the nation's largest and most carefully organized state army. In 1850 the New York State Militia contained 51 active uniformed regiments and a number of independent companies. By that time the state had completely eliminated its enrolled militia structure, and by a wide and radical reorganization in 1846-48 forced hundreds of hitherto independent companies into regimental groupings. [40]
By 1858 the militia forces had increased to 67 regiments assigned to 28 brigades assembled into 8 divisions. The composite strength was 16,434 officers and men. Additionally, there were 36 general officers to command this force. [41] By January 1861 this total had risen to 19,189. [42]
The administration of this force required a command and staff of 532 officers, including, for example, an inspector general and 32 division and brigade inspectors.
The regiments of New York numbered until 1865 in a single series that included all branches. They varied considerably in strength and effectiveness; those in the First Division in Manhattan had, as a rule, from six to ten active companies, while some regiments located in predominately rural areas were little better than paper organizations.
A New York regiment of the 1850s consisted on paper of eight battalion companies (lettered A through H after 1857). By 1860 some regiments had begun to letter their companies A through K, omitting J. Except for four (1st, 3rd, 4th and 70th) all the regiments served as infantry of some sort, although tradition, armament and the kind of drill manual employed indicated seeming variation. Thus one finds regiments described in the annual adjutant general's reports of the 1860s as "Rifles doing duty as Light Infantry" or "Artillery doing duty as infantry" or merely "Artillery" only to discover that they were all essentially in the same branch of service.
By further complication, these infantry regiments often contained one or more companies (and not always the elite flank companies) of a different branch than the others. Thus the 8th Regiment (Washington Grays) had eight infantry companies and one of cavalry. These variations were, of course, holdovers from the days of the independent
company, and they tended to multiply the kinds of uniforms and armament in a single regiment. [43]
The 20th Regiment (Ulster Guard) is fairly typical of a regiment raised outside a large city. This unit is the oldest military organization in New York State with a continuous history. It traces its lineage to the "Trainband of Wiltwick" which was raised in Kingston in 1660. (It still survives as the 1st Battalion, 156th Field Artillery Regiment, New York Army National Guard.) Ulster and Sullivan counties were designated as the regimental district and by April 1861 eight companies were in existence. Of that number, each attempted some degree of individuality by adopting company titles. One infantry company (G) was composed of Germans as was the "Jefferson Dragoons." Company R ("Lexington Artillery") performed regular infantry duty. On 1 March 1858 the regiment received orders to perform as light Infantry using William J. Hardee's Rifle and Light Infantry Tactics manual, but it continued to function as line infantry using Winfield Scott's obsolete Infantry Tactics. The regimental or brigade commander decided when the regiment would perform the duties of one or the other. [44]
New York regiments deviated widely in such characteristics as wealth, traditions and national origins. At the top, the crack 7th Regiment (National Guard) recruited conservative, affluent Protestants, The older corps tended to be native-American in composition and many took their membership from the wealthier classes of society. Regiments more recently formed, especially in New York City, were often heavily or completely foreign in personnel, language and institutions. William H. Russell, correspondent of the London Times, visited the 12th Regiment (Independence Guard) in its camp in Washington DC following the outbreak of the war. He examined some statistics compiled by Colonel Butterfield, and discovered that of twelve soldiers, selected at random, that only two were native-born Americans. The rest were Irish, German, English or generally European-born. [45]
Fraternalism is understandable among immigrant groups but in one instance a deeper purpose was involved: during the 1850s distinct New York regiments were raised to specifically train Irishmen as soldiers so they could fight for Irish freedom. Both the 9th and 69th Regiments fell into this category. The 9th was organized in New York City on 29 May 1850, and marched in its first St. Patrick's Day Parade the following year. Many people believed that the bulk of this unit were Irish rebels disguised and organized into a secret society known as the "Silent Friends." [46] The New York Herald later suggested "that the Irish are organizing a Party to oppose the Know-Nothings (Native American Party). It would be a great mistake to form such a party to foist their views on the country and it might give power to the Know-Nothings for a whole generation." [47] The "Green Coated Rabble" and the "Irish Mob" became popular nicknames of derision for these Irish units [48] and Colonel Michael Corcoran of the 69th Regiment was widely believed to be a member of the Fenian Brotherhood, actively engaged in raising funds to counteract such discrimination.
On 6 October 1860 the 69th Regiment held a mass meeting to protest the visit of Britain's Prince of Wales, and resolved not to parade the following day or at any other time before this personage. The press directed considerable vehemence at the regiment over this incident. Colonel Corcoran was formally charged with dereliction of duty, and his court-martial opened on 20 December at the divisional armory at Elm and White Streets. Corcoran based his defense on the fact that the regiment had already served its annual quota of drills and therefore could not parade. The public showed a great deal of interest in his case until the outbreak of hostilities on 12 April 1861, and on that day formal orders were promptly issued releasing Corcoran from arrest and restoring him to command. More important matters had fortuitously intervened. [49]
A movement had been initiated in the late 1850s to amalgamate these two regiments and thus lessen their political impact, however by 1860 both units continued to thrive. The Military Gazette had this to say of the 9th Regiments Company C at artillery practice:
The "City Guard" is composed of young men of the best families but they were thought to be rather too slim and too nice to manage barrette and casemate guns. But Captain Lovell has shown that his young men are of the right kind and not too weak and effeminate for the service of heavy artillery. [50]
Many Americans, in and out of the militia, resented and feared the rapidly growing influence of these foreign soldiers. Workmen and mechanics feared the loss of their jobs to immigrants willing to work for much lower wages. Of the nineteen regiments of all branches of the service in Manhattan and Brooklyn, at least seven were predominately foreign in personnel, while several of the others contained a sizeable number of foreigners. The so-called Native American movement held great appeal, and in the 1850s this movement reached its peak with the organization of the American or Know-Nothing Party. Plans to raise a regiment composed only of native-born Americans resulted in the four original companies of the 71st Regiment (American Guard) in October 1850, Being chiefly men of the mechanic class, they avoided the conservative gray uniforms of the 7th and 8th Regiments, and opted for the more modern dark blue frock coat. [51] The 71st continued to maintain its reputation as an "American Regiment." When several foreigners attempted to enlist, great dissension ensued. A mass meeting was held in protest, and the regimental commander, Colonel Abram Vosburgh, attempted to defuse the situation by assuring the members of the unit of his determination to maintain the nationality of the regiment. [52]
Despite an intense rivalry, common duty forced the 69th and 71st Regiments to serve together. In October 1858 the 71st relieved the 69th on garrison duty at the immigrant "Quarantine Camp" on Staten Island. [53] Change for the better occurred in June 1861. While garrisoning Washington D.C., the 69th Regiment marched en masse in the funeral cortege of the 71st's Colonel Vosburgh who had died following the fall from a train on 30 May. That gesture helped to heal their mutually bad relations, and ushered in a new era of good will. [54]
Chapter One Footnotes
1. John K. Mahon, History of the Militia and the National Guard (New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1983), 5.
2. Ibid., 53.
3. Walter Millis, Arms and Men (New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1956), 65.
4. Paul Tincher Smith, "Militia in the United States from 1846 to 1860" Citizen Soldiers: A History of the Army National Guard (Fort Leavenworth, KS: Combat Studies Institute, US Army Command & General Staff College, 1989), 152.
5. Mahon, History of Militia, 81.
6. Smith, "Militia 1846-1860," 152.
7. New York State, Annual Report of the Adjutant General (Albany, NY: 1858), 26. Besides rosters of personnel, these reports contain after-action reports for units on active service. The annual reports also contain recommendations by the incumbents for the reorganization and improvement of the militia forces. Hereinafter cited as: AG.
8. G.G. Stone, ed., (State) Military Gazette 15 April 1860, 115. This journal contains much valuable information for the four years (1858-1861) during which it was published. In the first year it was published in Albany, and thereafter in New York City. It was the only publication of its kind on the militia forces in the nation.
9. Smith, "Militia 1846-1860;' 134.
10. Lena London, "The Militia Fine 1830-1860," Citizen Soldiers: A History of the Army National Guard (Fort Leavenworth, KS: Combat Studies Institute, US Army Command & General Staff College, 1989), 127.
11. Mahon, History of Militia, 83.
12. Ibid., 85.
13. Hill, Minute Man, 41.
14. Kenneth M. Stampp, America in 1857, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1990), 209.
15. Millis, Arms and Men, 105.
16. Hill, Minute Men, 24.
17. Smith, "Militia 1846-1860," 145.
18. AG, 1859, 562.
19. Smith, "Militia 1846-1860," 156.
20. AG, 1859,459.
21. New York State, Military Regulations (Albany, NY: Adjutant General's Office, 1858), 6.
22. Ibid., 142.
23. Ibid., 147.
24. Ibid., 212.
25. New York State, Messages from the Governor to the Legislature, Charles F. Lincoln, ed. (Albany NY:J.B. Lyon & Co., 1909), V: 383.
26. Frederick Todd, Military Equipage 1851-1872 (Providence, RI: Company of Military Historians, 1977), 1026. In this multi- volume work, Todd describes the full range of clothing, equipment and weapons utilized by the regular, volunteer and state forces of both armies. He also provides detailed information on the organizations of the various forces and also useful references on maritime (naval and marine corps) subjects. This work has become the definitive work on this wide-ranging subject.
27. AG, 1858, 9.
28. Todd, Military Equipage, 1026.
29. Military Gazette, 2 January 1861.
30. Governor's Messages, 1 January 1862, 392.
31. AG, 1858,6.
32. Robert M. Fogelson, America's Armories (Cambridge, MA: Howard University Press, 1989), 8.
33. Ibid., 9.
34. Ibid., 10.
35. Ibid., 11.
36. History of Company A and the 22nd Regiment NGNY (New York: Styles & Cash, 1897), 28.
37. New York State, Inspector-General's Report (Albany, NY: C. Wendell, Legislative Printer, 1865), 21. Hereinafter cited as: IG.
38. Todd, Military Equipage, 1026.
39. IG, 1864, 35.
40. Todd, Military Equipage, 1007.
41. AG, 1858, 5.
42. AG, 1862,30.
43. Todd, Military Equipage, 1008.
44. Seward R. Osborne, "20th New York State Militia: The Early Years," Military Collector & Historian, Vol. XXXVIII, No. 2 (Summer 1986), 71.
45. William H. Russell, My Diary, North and South (New York: n.p. 1863), 143.
46. Daniel P. O'Flaherty, "History of the 69th Regiment N.Y.S.M." (Ph.D. diss., University of Michigan, 1966), 13.
47. New York Herald, 4 December 1855.
48. O'Flaherty, "History of 69th," 164.
49. Ibid., 200,208,216.
50. Military Gazette, 16 May 1860.
51. John P. Severin and Frederick P. Todd, "71st Regiment, New York State Militia 1857-1861," Long Endure 1852-1867 (Novato, CA: Presidio Press, 1982), 20.
52. Henry Whittemore, History of the 71st Regiment N.G.S.N. Y. (New York: Willis McDonald & Co., 1886), 25.
53. Ibid., 21.
54. Ibid., 249.
| Back to the Glossary |