62nd Infantry Regiment

Nickname: Anderson's Zouaves; Advanced Zoos

Mustered in: June 30, 1861.
Mustered out: August 30, 1865.

The following is taken from New York in the War of the Rebellion, 3rd ed. Frederick Phisterer. Albany: J. B. Lyon Company, 1912. 

This regiment, Col. John Lafayette Riker, was raised under special authority from the War Department, organized in camp near Saltersville, N. J., turned over to the State in September, 1861, and numerically designated October 19, 1861. It was mustered in the service of the United States for three years June 30 and July I, 1861, and the companies were recruited principally in New York City, a few of the men coming from Brooklyn, Troy, Albany and Saltersville, N. J. At the expiration of its term of service, the men entitled thereto were discharged and the regiment, nine companies only, retained in service.
It left the State August 21, 1861; served at and near Washington, D. C., from August, 1861; in Peck's Brigade, Buell's, later Keyes', Division, Army of the Potomac, from October 15, 1861; in same, 1st Brigade, Couch's, First Division, 4th Corps, Army of the Potomac, from March 13, 1862; in 2d Brigade, 1st Division, 4th Corps, Army of the Potomac, from September, 1862; in 2d Brigade, 3d Division, 6th Corps, Army of the Potomac, from September 26, 1862; in 3d Brigade, 3d Division, 6th Corps, Army of the Potomac, from October, 1862; in the 1st Brigade, 2d Division, 6th Corps, from March, 1864; at Fort Schuyler, New York harbor, from July, 1865; and it was honorably discharged and mustered out, commanded by Col. Theodore B. Hamilton, August 30, 1865, at Fort Schuyler, New York harbor.
During its service the regiment lost by death, killed in action, 2 officers, 56 enlisted men; of wounds received in action, 39 enlisted men; of disease and other causes, 2 officers, 82 enlisted men; total, 4 officers, 177 enlisted men; aggregate, 181; of whom 9 enlisted men died in the hands of the enemy.

The following is taken from The Union army: a history of military affairs in the loyal states, 1861-65 -- records of the regiments in the Union army -- cyclopedia of battles -- memoirs of commanders and soldiers. Madison, WI: Federal Pub. Co., 1908. volume II. 

Sixty-second Infantry.—Cols., J. Lafayette Ryker, David J. Nevin, Theodore B. Hamilton; Lieut.-Cols., David J. Nevin, Oscar V. Dayton, Theodore B. Hamilton, William H. Baker; Majs., Oscar V. Dayton, Wilson Hubbell, William H. Baker. The 62nd, "Anderson's Zouaves," composed mainly of members from New York city, Brooklyn, Albany, Troy and Saltersville, N. J., was organized at Saltersville and there mustered into the U. S. service June 30 and July 1, 1861, for three years. It left for Washington on Aug. 21, 1861, and in October was assigned to Peck's brigade, Buell's division, Army of the Potomac, which in March, 1862, became the 1st brigade, 1st division, 4th corps, Army of the Potomac, and reached the Peninsula in time to share in the operations before Yorktown, the battle of Williamsburg and the battle of Fair Oaks. In the Seven Days' battles the 62nd was closely engaged and suffered heavy loss. It arrived with the corps at Falmouth in time to participate in the battle of Fred-ericksburg, after which winter quarters were established across the river. In the Chancellorsville campaign the regiment met with its greatest losses, having been transferred in the preceding October to the 6th corps, and the 2nd and 3d divisions of which carried Marye's heights in a brilliant assault. The regiment was at this time attached to the 3d brigade, 3d division, with which it served until the reorganization of the Army of the Potomac just preceding the Wilderness campaign. It fought at Gettysburg; moved with the 6th corps through Boonsboro, Funkstown and Rappahannock Station; engaged in the Mine Run campaign, and went into winter quarters near Brandy Station. The original members of the regiment not reenlisted were mustered out at the expiration of their term of service but nine companies of the regiment remained in the service and in March, 1864, were assigned to the 1st brigade, 2nd division, 6th corps, where they served through the Wilderness campaign and the siege of Petersburg. In the opening of the fight in the Wilderness, the regiment lost 72 killed, wounded and missing. It also suffered severely in the first assault on Petersburg and at the Weldon railroad in June, 1864. At the time of Early's raid in July, the 6th corps was ordered to Washington and left its position before Petersburg on July 10. It joined in the pursuit of Early in the Shenandoah valley and was active at Charlestown, the Ope-quan, at Fisher's hill, and Cedar creek, in all of which the 62nd bore an honorable part. Returning to Petersburg in December, the troops established camp near the Weldon railroad and participated in the final assault on the fortifications and the pursuit of Lee's Army after the fall of the city, fighting their last battle at Sailor's creek, April 6, 1865. For a month the regiment was stationed at Fort Schuyler, N. Y. harbor, where it was mustered out on Aug. 30, 1865, having lost during its term of service 98 by death from wounds and 84 from other causes.

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62nd Regiment NY Volunteer Infantry | Flank Markers | Civil War

The 62nd Regiment, or “Anderson’s Zouaves,” mustered into service for three years on June 30 and July 1, 1861. When their three-year term expired,…

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NYSMM Online Resources

Battles and Casualties from Phisterer (pdf)
Battles and Casualties from Phisterer (spreadsheet)

Muster Roll

Unit Roster

Newspaper Clippings

Historical Sketch

Monument at Gettysburg

Search the Museum catalog for this unit

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Other Resources

This is meant to be a comprehensive list. If, however, you know of a resource that is not listed below, please send an email to ng.ny.nyarng.list.historians@army.mil with the name of the resource and where it is located. This can include photographs, letters, articles and other non-book materials. Also, if you have any materials in your possession that you would like to donate, the museum is always looking for items specific to New York's military heritage. Thank you.

Adelman, Garry. "They Did What Was Necessary: The Third Brigade, Third Division, Sixth Corps at Gettysburg." Gettysburg: Historical Articles fo Lasting Interest. N11. (July 1, 1994) pp. 91-101.

Allcot, William P. Papers, 1861-1864. 
Description: 29 items.
Abstract: Correspondence, 1861-1864, of William P. Allcot while he was serving with the 62nd New York Infantry Regiment in various camps around Washington, D. C. and in Virginia ending with his stay in Island Hospital, New York in 1861-62; those from Allcot while he was serving at camps and on battlefields in Virginia and Maryland, 1862-1864; and those from Allcot while he was a patient at Carver Hospital, Washington, D. C., 1864. Their contents describe conditions in camp and on the battlefield (Fredericksburg, Fair Oaks, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg); express Allcot's views on the Civil War; discuss family affairs; and tell of his health and conditions at Carver Hospital.
Notes: Cite as William P. Allcot Papers, Manuscripts and Rare Books Department, Swem Library, College of William and Mary.
Preferred citation: William P. Allcot Papers, Manuscripts and Rare Books Department, Swem Library, College of William and Mary.

Bradford, Barbara Bisbee. After Mayflower History, Starting with Lucian Ira Bisbee & Maria Elizabeth Bowers, Their Son John Frederick Bisbee & Harriet Lucinda Atwood. 11 pages.
Donated by Barbara Bisbee Bradford.
Available online here.

Hamilton, Frank Hastings. Frank Hastings Hamilton papers, 1863-1887.
Description:    200 items. 1 container. 0.4 linear feet.
Abstract:    Correspondence, telegrams, memoranda, memorial resolution, military documents, scrapbooks, clippings, and photographs relating to Hamilton's medical career in the Union Army during the Civil War and his role in the treatment of James A. Garfield before his death by assassination in 1881. Also documents Hamilton's postwar work as a surgeon and professor of medicine. Includes military records concerning Colonel Theodore B. Hamilton of the U.S. Army Sixty-second New York Infantry; Confederate army passes and currency; and personal notes and illustrations of a Confederate soldier and a Confederate guerilla.
Located at the Library of Congress

Lowry, Thomas P. "I felt of Her Bosoms" : Col. J. Lafayette Riker." Curmudgeons, drunkards, and outright fools : courts-martial of Civil War Union colonels. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2003, 1997. 111-115.

McAfee, Michael J. "62nd Regiment, New York Volunteer Infantry; 'Anderson's Zouaves.'" Military Images Magazine (May/Jun 1991) p. 31.

Mead, Walcott A., et al. Walcott A. Mead papers, 1856-1925.
Description:    1 volume
Abstract:    Seventeen year-old Walcott A. Mead of Shoreham, Vermont enlisted in Company D, 14th Vermont Volunteer Infantry Regiment on August 29, 1862. The 14th Vermont was a one year regiment and was mustered out July 30, 1863. Most of Mead's military service was spent at Fairfax Courthouse and Wolf Run Shoals in Northern Virginia in the defense of Washington, D.C., until his regiment was ordered to march with the Army of the Potomac to Gettysburg, Pennsylvannia on June 24, 1863. Most of his letters, written between November 4, 1862 and June 30, 1863, speak of family matters, camp life and his time in an Army hospital due to illness. In addition to his war time letters there is a copy of his Army discharge certificate and a pension certificate. Of particular interest is a short memoir of the grueling march to Gettysburg and events he observed during the battle. In addition to his war time letters, there are many patriotic envelopes and letterheads. Also included in the collection are war time letters of William McAlister of Company K, 62nd New York Infantry Regiment and Edwin C. and Francis Peck of Company G, 2nd Michigan Infantry Regiment. As well there are letters written by Peck family members to Henry W. Peck, giving news of their children who are serving in different regiments. The collection also includes several letters written to Walcott A. Mead by a school friend, John Cooper, dating from 1856 and 1857. Cooper had moved to Parkesburg, Pennsylvania and wrote about the weather, politics, robbers, and his intention to move to Illinois. All of the letters and papers are arranged in a scrapbook with labels by family members.
Located at the Vermont Historical Society.

Military Collection-Civil War Diaries, 1861-1865.
Description:17 items (ca.)
Abstract: Diaries of Corp. Newell Burch, 154th New York Volunteers (battles of Fredericksburg and Gettysburg); James G. Derrickson, 66th Volunteers (imprisoned at Andersonville and elsewhere); Capt. George Harrison, 62nd Volunteers; Orin W. Monroe, 185th Volunteers; Dean A. Pierce, 121st Volunteers; Joel W. Rogers, 64th Volunteers; Sgt. George Smith, 93rd Volunteers; Edward Wales, 121st Volunteers; Daniel M. Holt, Ass't Surgeon, 121st Volunteers (also letters); John L. Hoster, 148th Volunteers (also company roll book); F. Wunderlen, 33rd Volunteers; and John Wright, 2nd Volunteers.
Located at the New York State Historical Association, Library, Cooperstown, New York 13326.

Perine, Abraham T. "In love and friendship, by Marjorie Kerr". Staten Island Historian XVI (1955) 28-30.

Riker, James. James Riker papers, 1660-1989.
Description: 16 linear feet (24 boxes, 39 v.).
Abstract: Papers document colonial New York, the early settlement of Harlem, the history of the Riker family and the literary activity of James Riker. Included are original documents from colonial New York, transcripts and translations of documents, genealogical notes, research notes and memoranda, personal and financial records, correspondence, writings by James Riker and printed matter pertaining to his writings. Highlights include Dutch manuscript records of the town of Harlem (New York City), 1662-1674, in Dutch; Kingston, N.Y., church accounts, 1681-1684, in Dutch; original papers relating to the Harlem Commons; transcripts and extracts of early records concerning Harlem, Newtown, Long Island, Brooklyn and other early communities in New York; maps of Holland and New York; Civil War correspondence and military records of James Riker's brother John Lafayette Riker, who was Colonel of the United States Army New York Volunteer Infantry 62nd Regiment (Anderson Zouaves); and photographs of the Riker family and their descendants.
Notes: available on ten microfilm reels;/ Bio/History: Historian and genealogist James Riker was born in New York City on May 11, 1822. He collected original documents from colonial-era New York, copied extracts from documents in state and local archives and corresponded extensively with historians and relatives. Riker wrote The Annals of Newtown (1852), Harlem (city of New York): its origin and early annals (1881) and Evacuation Day, 1783, with Recollections of Capt. John Van Arsdale, of the Veteran Corps of Artillery (1883). He worked as a teacher in the New York schools, and established the Waverly Library and Museum in Waverly, New York. James Riker died in 1889.
Organization: Eight series: I. Correspondence; II. Colonial Papers; III. Genealogical Papers; IV. Notebooks; V. Miscellaneous Papers; VI. Writings by James Riker; VII. Memoria; VIII. 1997.
More information is at: http://digilib.nypl.org/dynaweb/ead/human/mssjasriker/
Located at the New York Public Library

Sturcke, Roger D. "62nd Regiment, New York Volunteer Infantry, (Anderson's Zouaves), 1861-1865." Military Collector & Historian. 31 :1 (Spring 1983) 32-33.

Tierney, John (Compiler). Anderson Zouaves. http://andersonzouaves.zz.mu/index.php?title=Main_Page
This is an Anderson Zouaves Wiki and is in the process (and will be in a continual process) of being updated. In time it will be the online repository for all things related to this American Civil War Regiment. Wherever possible this wiki will include genealogical information on members of the regiment in the hope of connecting living descendants with their family's Civil War past.

Woods, Alfred Cliifford. Alfred C. Woods Letters, 1861-1864 : 62nd New York Volunteer Infantry.

Woods, Alfred Covell. Papers, 1861-1862.
1 box (0.25 cubic ft.)
Civil War soldier from Crown Point, New York; served in Company C of the 62nd New York State Volunteers, also known as the "Anderson Zouaves."
Papers consist chiefly of two pocket diaries, 1861-1862, detailing the activities and experiences of Alfred Covell Woods service in the army during the Civil War. Also includes carte de viste photograph of Alfred Covell Woods taken while he was in service, and a biographical and historical sketch of the Woods family of Crown Point, New York that was written ca. 1940.
Located at the New York State Library Manuscripts and Special Collections.

 

Unit bibliograhy from the Army Heritage Center

Items in the museum collection are in bold.