Union Blue and Militia Gray: The Role of the New York State Militia in the Civil War - Chapter 2 - 1861: Active Service
By the turn of the year 1861 genuine public anger exploded as news came in during January of states seceding and the seizure of government forts, arsenals and other property. In this atmosphere, the Board of Officers of the 7th Regiment met on 14 January to discuss the situation. It was resolved to offer the services of the regiment should exigencies arise. Brevet Lieutenant General Winfield Scott, the army's general-in-chief, courteously turned down the offer three days later in a letter to Governor Edwin Morgan. Two weeks later, however, another scare, caused by the counting of the electoral votes in the recent presidential election, prompted Major General Charles Sandford, commanding the First Division in Manhattan, to assemble the officers of the regiment to brief them on Governor Morgan's plan to dispatch eight hundred militia to Washington D.C. should the need arise. [1]
The fall of Fort Sumter, on 12 April, removed all uncertainty and the involvement of the state militia began as soon as President Lincoln's proclamation, calling for the mobilization of 75,000 troops, was announced on 15 April. In Albany the legislature was still in session and it acted promptly to create a State Military Board composed of the governor, lieutenant-governor, the secretary of state, the comptroller, the state engineer and the state treasurer. The board acted to accept into service of the state, in addition to and as part of its militia, 32,000 volunteers for two year enlistments. That operation, however, would take time, and Governor Morgan now had to decide how best to carryout the president's immediate requirement for seventeen militia regiments from New York. [2]
On 16 April the legislature passed that act, entitled "An Act to Authorize the Embodying and Equipment of a Volunteer Militia and to provide for the Public Defense." In this first increment, only eleven regiments of the state militia mobilized with an aggregate total of 7,334 officers and men. [3]
Some weighty problems presented themselves to the board, since only two militia organizations (the 5th and 7th Regiments) were ready to march. The remaining units were generally insufficiently uniformed and equipped. The 69th, scheduled to depart on 23 April, for example, had only 380 uniforms for 1,050 men. [4] Even the 7th Regiment required assistance, and on 17 April the merchants of New York City met in their Chamber of Commerce, where thirty-one gentlemen each pledged $100 for the "equipment of the Regiment for active service." At this meeting, the New York Stock Exchange also contributed $1000. The designated militia regiments (see Appendix #1) were gripped by great excitement. Regiments turned away significant numbers of willing recruits as the war fever overwhelmed the city, already dazzled by a number of mass patriotic rallies. [5]
Colonel Marshall Lefferts of the 7th Regiment directed his unit's departure for 19 April following a requisition for additional camp equipage, baggage and sufficient ammunition to furnish each man with twenty-four rounds. [6] The regiment's marching orders required each man to assemble in full gray fatigue uniform and sky-blue greatcoat with knapsack with one rolled blanket. Each soldier carried suitable underwear, an extra pair of boots, mess utensils, waist belt and cap pouch. All ranks provided themselves with one day's rations. [7] In one of its first official duties, the veterans of the 7th Regiment, the forerunners of the State Home Guard Force, assembled to guard their armory in the regiment's absence.
On 18 April the 6th Massachusetts Regiment arrived in the city and breakfasted at the Astor House en route to Washington. Also on that day, the U.S. S. Baltic arrived in New York Harbor bearing Major Robert Anderson and his paroled Fort Sumter garrison.
On 19 April the 8th Massachusetts Regiment marched through the city accompanied by Benjamin F. Butler, brigadier general of all Massachusetts troops. At about 3:00 P.M. startling news arrived from Baltimore that the 6th Massachusetts had been attacked by a pro-Southern mob in that city. The regiment sustained some casualties and had to fight its way across town to the railroad depot. That afternoon, to tumultuous acclaim, the dandy 7th Regiment marched down Broadway, to embark at the ferry slip for Jersey City and the first leg of its journey to Washington.
The 7th boarded a train for Camden, New Jersey where, on 20 April, it was ferried across the Delaware River to Philadelphia. Two weighty problems now presented themselves. Mindful of the recent riots in Baltimore, Lefferts began to explore alternate routes to Washington to avoid that trouble spot. He eventually decided to avoid the overland route by boarding the steamer Boston which would carry the unit to Annapolis, Maryland. Lefferts considered it prudent not to sail any further south since Confederate naval forces threatened the Potomac River.
At Philadelphia a bitter feud erupted between Lefferts and Butler, The general was a brilliant, highly talented attorney, but his career was marked by a series of quarrels and wrangling's due to his aggressive manner and obstinacy. Butler believed that under the Articles of War, the senior officer present should command when two or more units of troops occupied the same location. However, neither the 8th Massachusetts nor the 7th New York Regiments had been mustered into Federal service. They still operated under the orders of the governors of their respective states and therefore they could with justification disregard orders from higher ranking officers on their way to Washington. [8]
Lefferts resolved to maintain his own independence. Arriving at Annapolis on 23 April, the regiment bivouacked on the grounds of the Naval Academy. Lefferts had already used his own funds and credit to purchase supplies and charter the steamer. Having discovered that local pro-Southern sympathizers had torn up the rails and bridges on the proposed route, Lefferts planned to march his regiment the forty miles to Annapolis Junction, where it could board a train for the last leg of the journey to Washington. Just before leaving, they cheered the arrival of the Baltic and several other vessels at Annapolis, carrying the 6th, 12th and 71st Regiments. With reinforcements not far behind, the march could proceed. [9]
The 7th pushed forward with the thermometer above 90 degrees. The heat had great effect upon the young and inexperienced soldiers, already debilitated by confinement on the steamer Boston, by the change of diet, and by the lack of rest. [10]
Meanwhile in Washington, General Scott managed to assemble a motley array of government clerks, laborers, foreign residents and even War of 1812 veterans, plus a few companies of regulars, to hold off any enemy attack. The 6th Massachusetts had arrived at the capital with some Pennsylvania militia, but it was the arrival of the 7th at the railroad depot that electrified the city. Having been ordered to report to the president, Colonel Lefferts paraded his regiment down Pennsylvania Avenue where they were reviewed at the White House by the chief executive and an admiring group of cabinet members and an enthusiastic crowd.
On Friday afternoon, 26 April, the regiment formally mustered into the service of the United States by Major Irvin McDowell, soon to be a brigadier general of volunteers. The regulations for mustering into Federal service had been issued in 1848 and covered in precise detail the entire procedure for making up muster rolls, interview of candidates, inspection and enumeration of companies, and administration of the oath. Although the troops called for under the president's proclamation were supposed to be mustered for three months, the 7th received special consideration since they departed for Washington immediately upon notification. Because of the special urgency of the situation, the entire regiment had dropped everything, with little or no opportunity to arrange personal affairs. Members anticipated that they would serve for one month until their place could be taken by other volunteer units. [11] Even so, a number of their members left by early May to accept commissions elsewhere. First Lieutenant Noah Farnham of the Second Company accepted the post of lieutenant-colonel in the 11th New York Volunteers (Fire Zouaves). Schuyler Hamilton, who had served as aide-de-camp to General Scott in the Mexican War, and was currently a private in the Sixth Company, was again appointed military secretary to that officer on 9 May. After their arrival, the New York regiments quartered themselves in various government installations around the city. The 7th shared accommodations with the 6th Massachusetts at the capitol building, and the 25th Regiment (from Albany) under Colonel Michael Bryan occupied the Casparis House, following its arrival on 29 April. The 71st Regiment guarded the Washington Navy Yard where it spent its time in drill and other training. Colonel Butterfield's 12th Regiment garrisoned the Assembly Rooms, and in their spare time marveled at the inventions on display at the nearby Patent Office. [12]
The 69th Regiment initially engaged in guarding the railroad between Annapolis and Annapolis Junction where they made a favorable impression on the local populace. Following their arrival in Washington, Scott sent ten West Point cadets to drill the regiment at their bivouac on the campus of George Washington University in Georgetown. [13] They mustered-in as a three-month regiment on 9 May. Sixteen soldiers refused to be mustered, and were ceremonially drummed out of camp. Most of their members were laborers or mechanics, and their families suffered in their absence. A family fund for their relief had collected $1,663 by 13 May. [14]
The 79th Regiment, a unit claiming Scottish heritage and commanded by James Cameron, brother of the secretary of war, received a beautiful silk regimental color from the Union Relief Committee on 30 April, prior to its departure from New York. After their arrival in Washington, they cheerfully went into bivouac where they were plagued by frequent alarms in camp, nervous sentries and boisterous officers. [15] The 9th Regiment had been furnished knapsacks, blankets, equipment and uniforms. On 22 May their 840 members paraded down Broadway, fully equipped, but without weapons. Fortunately, they were not molested en route through Baltimore, and they arrived in Washington on 30 May where they marched to the Federal arsenal to receive Harper's Ferry model muskets. [16]
The 20th Regiment had volunteered for three month's service in the first quota of eleven regiments. Four local banks had offered to put up a total of $8,000, since that unit was so deficient in equipment. [17] They left Kingston on 28 April aboard the steamer Manhattan, and arrived in Baltimore where they formed part of the garrison to calm secessionist tendencies.
On 16 April, Morgan established 38 new regiments of war-time volunteers for two years. Raised by recruiting throughout the state, these two-year regiments mustered into service by the Federal government, at which time their character changed from militia to "Volunteers." These infantry regiments, numbered in a new sequence commencing with "1st," began the volunteer series that totaled 194 numbers in the end. The resultant duplication of regimental numbers between militia and volunteers caused some confusion and much vexation, especially in those pre-war militia regiments that were forced to give up their old designations when they volunteered for three-year service. [18] The following chapter will describe the raising of the war-time volunteers, however it is now appropriate to explain this idiosyncrasy since a number of the new volunteer units were beginning to arrive in Washington. For purposes of this study, old-style embodied units will be referred to as "Militia" (and after April 1862 as National Guard), while the new war-time raised units will bear the designation "Volunteers." Thus, for example, the 8th New York Militia served alongside the 8th New York Volunteers at First Bull Run. The confusion that situation caused can be easily imagined. [19]
On 21 May, Major General Charles Sandford arrived in Washington with his staff. He reported immediately to the president and General Scott, and by general orders of the following day accepted command of all militia and volunteer regiments from New York State. [20] Some thought had been given to bestowing overall command of Union forces in Washington and Virginia on Sandford, but he was disqualified because of his status as a militia general. An attorney in civilian life, he had been commissioned in 1837, and devoted most of his attention and spare time to the state militia. As commander of the First Division troops in Manhattan, he held an important position, and we shall encounter him repeatedly throughout the Civil War years.
To provide greater protection of the capital, General Scott decided to occupy Alexandria, Virginia and the southern approaches to the city. Sandford described this operation in his after-action report:
I accompanied the center column which crossed the Potomac by the Long Bridge on the morning of the 24th instant assuming the command of the troops on the Virginia side.
On the right, the 69th New York State Militia (N.Y.S.M.), which crossed the Potomac Aqueduct, was posted near the canal culvert. The other two regiments of that wing (the 28th N.Y.S.M. and the 5th N.Y.S.M.) were thrown forward on the road to Leesburg, about two miles from the river. In the center, the 7th N.Y.S.M. was placed at the head of the Long Bridge. The 25th N.Y.S.M. was posted at the toll-gate and Vose's Hill, on the Columbia Turnpike. Three regiments of the New Jersey Brigade, under Brigadier-General Runyon, together with the 12th N.Y.S.M., occupied the Alexandria road as far as Four-Mile Run; the pickets of the 12th extending as far as the point where the canal crosses the Alexandria Road. The left wing, consisting of the 11th New York Volunteer sand the 1st Michigan Regiment, occupied the city of Alexandria, supported by the U.S. steamer Pawnee. [21]
Having pushed a short distance into the countryside to give themselves some room to maneuver, the troops immediately began to entrench. The 69th set to work with such enthusiasm that by 1 June they had constructed a major fortification which they named Fort Corcoran after their colonel. [22] The movement into Virginia was claimed a great success and Colonel Samuel Heintzelman, inspector general of the Department of Northeastern Virginia, claimed that the "movement had been made so quietly, that the troops had stacked arms an hour before the inhabitants were aware that we had crossed the river. The rebel troops occupying Alexandria, some 700 infantry, had received notice of our coming and escaped on the Orange and Alexandria Railway, burning the bridges behind them." [23] The only unfortunate incident of the operation occurred when Colonel Elmer Ellsworth of the 11th New York Volunteers (Fire Zouaves), was shot by the proprietor of a hotel in Alexandria when Ellsworth attempted to take down a Confederate flag flying over the building.
Sandford occupied Arlington, and with it the Custis-Lee mansion overlooking the Potomac. It was at that time the residence of Robert E. Lee of the Virginia state forces, and a brigadier in the new Confederate army. Sandford made the home his headquarters in order to protect it from possible vandalism. [24]
By 28 May, Irvin McDowell took command of the new Federal Army of Northeastern Virginia, and began his preliminary planning of operations (see Appendix #2, Order of Battle). He soon came under intense political and public pressure to mount a major offensive toward Richmond, the Confederate capital Claiming a shortage of supplies, and especially a lack of training and organization for his amateur troops, he attempted to resist these pressures as long as possible to gain the maximum amount of time to turn his 35,000 man force into an effective and cohesive force. No one in the army had ever managed such a large body of troops, certainly no one with McDowell, and even Scott had never commanded such a large force in the field. [25]
On 19 April Major General Robert Patterson of the regular army had received command of the new Department of Pennsylvania. He soon moved his headquarters to Chambersburg where he began organizing a force for the invasion of Virginia. After an advance across the Potomac River to Martinsburg, at the northern end of the Shenandoah Valley, he sent urgent requests to Scott for reinforcements. [26] Patterson received directions to take such steps as necessary to prevent Confederate General Joseph Johnston, who commanded in the Shenandoah, from reinforcing Brig. Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard at Manassas in northeastern Virginia. On 15 June Johnston evacuated Harper's Ferry, and fell back to a position north of Winchester. After some skirmishing with Confederate forces, Patterson settled down again at Martinsburg to await developments.
On 7 July, perhaps to ensure that a "good account" did come out of the Shenandoah, Scott sent Sandford with two New York militia regiments (5th and 12th) to assist. The 19th and 28th New York Volunteers had already arrived and Sandford assumed command of the 3rd Division (7th and 8th Brigades) under Patterson. [27] The 9th Militia Regiment had arrived earlier after being mustered-in on 8 June for three years service. Sandford formally reviewed the various New York State units at Harper's Ferry. Owing to the variety of uniforms, all troops received a strip of white cloth to be worn as a recognition symbol on their left sleeve, and to serve as a bandage in case of wounds. [28]
By 15 July Patterson had advanced to Bunker Hill, but the next day, instead of turning toward Johnston at Winchester, he moved west and marched to Charlestown, Virginia, leaving Johnston free to leave the Valley and reinforce Beauregard's Confederate army. Johnston arrived at Manassas in time to participate in the battle there on 21 July. Sandford had been briefed earlier by Secretary of State Seward on the possibility of succeeding Patterson should that officer prove too slow and hesitant in engaging Johnston. Yet Patterson let slip this opportunity, and he was relieved from duty on 25 July. Sandford, who had had considerable excitement during this period, relinquished command on 29 July at his own request, and returned to his post at Washington where he continued until the expiration of his term of service on 15 August. He then returned to New York to resume command of the First Division. [29]
McDowell finally got his army on the move on 16 July toward Manassas. The historian of the 79th Militia Regiment was later to describe their progress:
At 2:00 P.M. in "light marching order" the march began; our knapsacks containing our uniform jackets and tartan pants, as well as other extras, having been packed and left in camp. Light marching order consisted of arms and accoutrements while our blankets with a single change of underwear rolled therein were slung over the shoulders. There was considerable straggling and aides were dispatched up and down the column to enforce discipline. [30]
Their corps of engineers, uniformed in reddish gray flannel blouses, led the 69th Militia Regiment. Ten drummers, the oldest being twenty and the youngest only eight, provided the music with three fifers. The regiment moved down the Columbia Turnpike past Falls Church until they were four miles from Fairfax when they turned left and hastened to Vienna where they bivouacked in a swampy field by simply wrapping themselves in their blankets. The soldiers had already experienced considerable discomfort from thirst. [31]
Because of inexperience, indiscipline and hot weather, it took the Union forces until the morning of 18 July to reach Centreville, seven miles from the Confederate base at Manassas Junction. The concentration of troops and the arrival of the supply wagons required a lengthy halt (see Map #1).
While McDowell set off from Centreville to reconnoiter to his left, he directed Brigadier General Daniel Tyler to send a detachment from his First Division to demonstrate toward Blackburn's Ford on Bull Run Creek. Beauregard had already arranged his forces in an arc, six miles long, behind Bull Run. On that hot afternoon (18 July), Colonel William Tecumseh Sherman moved his brigade forward in a reconnaissance-in-force. The 69th Militia Regiment doffed their heavy coats and knapsacks, and moved forward. They were ordered to lie down under artillery fire before they were driven from the fields around the ford after a sharp skirmish. [32]
A new problem arose on 20 July. Along with stifling heat, the expiration of the enlistment of some of the militia units arrived. The 1st Rhode Island volunteered to remain with the army in active service until the campaign was concluded. Two other units, however, the 4th Pennsylvania and the artillery battery of the 8th New York Militia, refused to extend their terms of service. Their enlistments expired on 21 July, and they would not stay a moment longer. McDowell later blamed their action on the repulse at Blackburn's Ford. The two units prepared to return to Washington on the following day. [33]
In his battle plan for 21 July, McDowell planned to use Tyler's division to demonstrate in front of the Stone Bridge that carried the Warrenton Turnpike over the Bull Run Creek. Tyler would initially place Sherman's brigade on the right of the pike and Schenk's brigade on the left, both facing west. Hunter's division, followed by that of Heintzelman, would lead a turning movement to the right.
Hunter was prepared to march by 2:00 A.M. to the north, crossing Bull Run at Sudley Springs, and then falling on the Confederate left flank. Hunter, however, was delayed by Tyler's troops in front and his leading brigade did not arrive at Sudley Springs Ford until 9:30 A.M. Miles' division remained near Centreville during the day, and did not take part in the battle.
Colonel Nathan Evans, commanding a Confederate brigade at the Stone Bridge, observed McDowell's movements to his left and, recognizing Tyler's activities as a feint, marched northward to meet Hunter and Heintzelman. [34]
Shortly after reaching Sudley Springs, Colonel Ambrose Burnsides's brigade advanced south on the road to Manassas. After proceeding about one mile, he came under fire from Evans's brigade.
An officer of the 79th New York, while waiting for orders to make a forward movement, climbed to the top of a tree on the edge of the woods that overlooked that part of the battlefield occupied by the 71st Regiment (Burnsides' brigade). He never felt such a glow of pride for the City of New York, as when he witnessed the terrible fire of this regiment or the coolness with which it advanced in line of battle and hastened to deliver its fire. At each discharge he could see numbers of the opposing enemy regiment fall, never to rise again. [35]
Heavy fighting continued along the Federal right flank with both armies feeding reinforcements into the line. By 10:00 A.M. parts of Bee's and Barlow's brigades that had arrived from the Shenandoah Valley marched to Evans' assistance. About noon the Confederate line gave way and retired south of the Warrenton Turnpike to the vicinity of the Henry House Hill.
About the time of Evans' collapse, Sherman's brigade crossed Bull Run and moved onto the battlefield. Captain James Kelly of the 69th New York described his regiment's advance:
The Regiment numbered one thousand muskets and was attended by one ambulance only, the others having broken down. The 69th had good reason to complain that whilst other regiments of other divisions were permitted to have baggage and other wagons immediately to the rear, the regiment was peremptorily denied any facilities of the sort. The consequence was that the 69th arrived on the field of action greatly fatigued and harassed, and but for their high sense of duty and military spirit, would not have been adequate to the terrible duties of the day. [36]
Colonel Sherman continued the narrative:
Early in the day, when reconnoitering the ground, I had seen a horseman descend a bluff to a point across the stream (Bull Run) and show himself in the open field. I sent forward one company as skirmishers and followed with the whole brigade, the 69th leading. We found no difficulty in crossing over and met with no opposition in ascending the steep bluff, but it was impassable to the artillery. Advancing slowly with the head of the column to give time for the regiments in succession to close up. .Lieutenant Colonel Haggerty of the 69th rode over without orders and was shot down while trying to intercept the retreat of an enemy party. [37]
While Evans, Bee and Bartow retreated before the advance of Hunter and Heintzelman, Thomas J. (later "Stonewall") Jackson's brigade of Johnston's army arrived on the Henry House plateau. A new line was anchored on that high ground.
Between 1:00 and 2:00 P.M. a lull settled over the fighting as McDowell's troops advanced south and then reformed along the Warrenton Turnpike in preparation for an attack on the Henry House Hill. Colonel Andrew Porter's 8th New York Militia, which had already been badly broken in the earlier fighting, turned back and took no further part in the battle that day. [38]
On the Federal right, a force consisting of the 11th New York Volunteers (Zouaves), 14th New York Militia (popularly known as the 14th Brooklyn) and the 27th New York Volunteers was sent to support the artillery batteries along the turnpike. A Confederate cavalry charge down the Sudley Springs road routed the 11th New York. A flank attack by the Confederate 33rd Virginia fired into the remnants of the 11th New York and the 27th New York, and drove them off. The 11th retreated through the ranks of the 14th Brooklyn, and that regiment was also broken when it was brought up in line. Colonel Wood, the regimental commander, was wounded and later captured while riding in an ambulance. [39] For the next two hours, there was heavy and confused fighting on the plateau, largely for possession of Griffin's and Rickett's Federal artillery batteries.
Meanwhile, Sherman, on the Federal left, had begun putting his regiments into the fight. He left his position on the turnpike and started up the Henry House Hill towards the Robinson House. Sherman attacked with one regiment at a time and each in turn would be driven back and forced to take shelter under the crest of the hill.
Sherman had first sent the 79th New York Militia to the top of the hill where they traded volleys with the enemy. Colonel James Cameron, brother to the secretary of war, was killed in the hottest fire while attempting to rally his regiment. [40] The Highlanders halted, then began to fall back. "As we passed down we saw our Colonel lying still in the hands of Death." [41]
This left the 69th New York. Twice they charged up the slope. Twice they were repulsed, in part they claimed, because of the demoralization of the Highlanders before them. With two companies dressed in gray, they received fire from other Federal units. Confederates captured the 69th's National Color, but it was re-taken by Captain Wildly of the 11th New York Volunteers. Their Colonel Corcoran, who had been separated from his regiment after falling from his wounded horse, was made a prisoner around 3:30 P.M. [42]
By 3:45 P.M. the Confederates launched a final attack and within an hour the last of McDowell's troops withdrew from the field. The Federal withdrawal began in fairly good order, but it soon generated into panic-stricken flight. Colonel Henry Martin of the 71st New York Militia described how his "Regiment retired in line of battle in common time - and not one man running." Colonel Fowler of the 14th Brooklyn, however, later described how "leaving the battlefield at Bull Run was not a retreat or a falling back, it was a stampede." [43]
The regimental historian of the 79th Highlanders later related that "Rain soaked us to the skin and a more bedraggled, demoralized and woebegone looking lot of men I never saw before nor since than we who plodded along through mud and slush towards our haven of rest." Sherman's brigade and Sykes' battalion of regulars were detailed to cover the retreat of the army, and at one point they formed square to repel Confederate cavalry. [44] By 7:30 P.M. the last of the fugitives had finally passed through Centreville and streamed in disorder through Fairfax Courthouse toward the Potomac.
No one substantially faulted McDowell's generalship or his battle plan. He had devised an excellent plan, missing only the strong defensive position open to the enemy at the Henry House Hill line and this McDowell could not know because of the faulty maps available. Except for the inexperience of the troops and excessive delays, the outcome might have been far different. [45]
Certainly, the New York militia had acquitted itself as well as could be expected under the circumstances. No others had done better, and the casualties were a measure of their efforts. The 79th New York alone lost 198 men, 115 of them captured or missing. Besides their colonel and second-in-command, the 69th sustained losses of 41 officers and men killed, 85 wounded and 60 prisoners. [46]
Coming to the end of their three-month tour of duty, it now remained for the militia regiments to muster-out, and return to their inactive duty status. The 7th Regiment had already been released on 3 June after transferring all their camp equipage to the 9th Regiment. [47] The battle that was considered a disaster in the North did not stop the return of the three-month units. On 26 July the 8th New York Militia arrived by ferry at Cortland Street with one of the Confederate Black Horse Cavalry horses as a trophy. Later the same day, the 71st Regiment arrived on the steamer John Potter. Crowds jammed the piers on the Hudson River and traffic came to a halt on West Street. The 8th Regiment's Washington Grays Home Guard fired a welcome with six howitzers. The uniformed juvenile corps of the Ellsworth and Anderson Zouaves joined Governor Morgan in the reception that gave the appearance of the return of victorious rather than defeated troops. The wounded of the 71st were carefully placed in carriages, and the regiment marched up Broadway. Flags flew from almost every window, and as the troops passed Barnum's Museum, the Barnum Band played "The Bold Soldier Boy." Members of the various Irish societies met at the Hibernia Hall to plan a warm welcome for the 69th, but the regiment did not show up until the following day. Crowds repeated their greeting as the Irish marched up Broadway to Union Square and down Fourth Avenue and the Bowery to their headquarters at the Essex Market Armory. The shabby men wore a variety of hats and shirts and carried heavy knapsacks. [48]
The 69th did not officially muster-out until 23 August. Each soldier received $29.88 wages after waiting for a month. The soldiers also discovered that the government had deducted $2.20 for a new pair of boots and forty-eight cents for two pairs of socks from the pay of each man. Patriotic fervor, however, still remained strong since on 30 August nearly every officer and soldier volunteered for three-years duty in the newly-raised 69th New York Volunteers. An inspection of the militia unit on 18 October at its armory revealed that 252 members were either absent on active service or casualties at Bull Run. The inspector removed 300 muskets from a heap where they had been thrown on the return of the regiment in July. Those remaining in the pile were in such a rusted condition as to be unserviceable. [49]
The defeat at Bull Run convinced Northerners that the Civil War was not to be short-lived. It now remained for the Federal government and, more importantly, the state governments to mobilize their resources to fight it. That effort by the New York State Militia establishment will be the subject of the next chapter.
Chapter Two Footnotes
1. William A. Swinton, History of the Seventh Regiment, National Guard (New York: Charles T. Dllingham, 1876), 23.
2. William J. Roehrenbeck, The Regiment That Saved the Capital (New York: Thomas Yoseloff, 1961), 51.
3. New York State, Annual Report of the Adjutant General (Albany, NY: 1863), 8. Hereinafter cited as: AG.
4. Roehrenbeck, Regiment That Saved the Capital, 53.
5. Swinton, Seventh Regiment, 24.
6. Ibid., 27.
7. Roehrenbeck, Regiment That Saved Capital, 61.
8. Ibid., 71.
9. Ibid., 105.
10. Ibid., 111.
11. Ibid., 157.
12. Frank J. Welcher, The Union Army 1861-1865, The Eastern Theater (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1989), I: 160. This volume contains much valuable information on the organization and administration of the Union Army. It also covers campaigns and military districts.
13. Daniel P. O'Flaherty, "History of the 69th Regiment N. Y.S.M.," (Ph,D diss., University of Michigan, 1966), 240.
14. Ibid., 243.
15. William Todd, The 79th Highlanders, New York Volunteers 1861-1865 (Albany, NY: Press of Brandow, Bartow & Co., 1886), 12.
16. John Jaques, Three Years Campaign with the 9th Regiment (New York: Hilton & Co, 1865), 11.
17. Theodore Gates, Ulster Guard (20th Regiment N. Y.S.M.) (New York: Benjamin H. Tyrell, Printer, 1879), 75.
18. Frederick Todd, Military Equipage 1851-1872 (Providence, RI: Company of Military Historians, 1977), 1031.
19. Ibid., 1011.
20. AG, 1862, 110.
21. U.S. War Department, The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies (Washington D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1880-1901), Series I, Vol. II, 38. Hereinafter cited as: OR.
22. O'Flaherty, "History of the 69th," 252.
23. OR, Series I, Vol. II, 4L
24. William C. Davis, Battle at Bull Run (Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Co. Inc., 1977), 9.
25. Ibid., 77.
26. Welcher, Union Army, 73.
27. Davis, Bull Run, 87.
28. George Hussey, History of the 9th Regiment N. Y.S.M. (83rd Volunteers) (New York: J.S. Ogilvie Press, 1889), 61.
29. AG, 1862, 111.
30. Todd, 79th Highlanders, 20.
31. O'Flaherty, "History of the 69th," 31.
32. William Root, 69th Regiment in Peace and War (New York: Blanchard Press, 1905), 12.
33. Davis, Battle at Bull Run, 154.
34. Welcher, Union Army, 633.
35. AG, 1862, 122.
36. OR, Series I, Vol. II, 372.
37. Ibid., 369.
38. Welcher, Union Army, 635.
39. Charles Tevis, History of the Fighting 14th Regiment NGSNY (New York: Brooklyn Eagle Press, 1911), 21.
40. Todd, 79th Highlanders, 42.
41. Davis, Battle at Bull Run, 218.
42. Root, 69th in Peace and War, 13.
43. Henry Whittemore, History of the 71st Regiment N. G.S.N. Y. (New York: Willis McDonald & Co., 1886), 56; Tevis, Fighting 14th Regiment, 233.
44. Todd, 79th Highlanders, 47; O'Flaherty, "History of the 69th," 289.
45. Jaques, Campaign with the 9th Regiment, 22.
46. Todd, 79th Highlanders, 47; O'Flaherty, "History of the 69th," 302.
47. Jaques, Campaign with the 9fh Regiment, 22.
48. Ernest A. McKay, The Civil War and New York City (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1990), 91.
49. O'Flaherty, "History of the 69th," 302; Root, 69th in Peace and War, 18; AG, 1862, 125.
| Back to Chapter One |