84th Infantry Regiment

Nickname: Fourteenth Militia; Brooklyn Phalanx; Brooklyn Chasseurs; Chasseurs A Pied

Mustered in: May to August, 1861.
Mustered out: June 6, 1864.

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

The 14th State Militia, failing to be ordered to the front under the first call for troops, organized, under Col. Alfred M. Wood, and special authority from- the War Department, as a regiment of volunteers; it was recruited in Brooklyn, mustered in the service of the.
United States for three years between May and August, 1861, turned over to the State in September, 1861, and received its numerical volunteer designation December 7, 1861. Its engineer company was mustered out August 21, 1861. The men not entitled to be discharged with the regiment served from May 21, 1864, with the 12th Battalion Infantry, and were, June 2, 1864, transferred to the 5th Veteran Infantry.
The regiment left the State May 18, 1861, except Companies I and K, which joined it in July, 1861; served at and near Washington, D. C, from May 19, 1861; in Andrew Porter's Brigade, Army N. E. Virginia, from June, 1861; in Keyes' Brigade, Division Potomac, from August 4, 1861; in same, 1st, Brigade, McDowell's Division, Army of Potomac, from October 15, 1861; in 3d Brigade, McDowell's Division, Army of Potomac, from February, 1862; in Augur's, 1st, Brigade, King's Division, 1st Corps, Army of Potomac, from March, 1862; in same brigade and division, Department Rappahannock, from May, 1862; in 1st Brigade, 1st Division, 3d Corps, Army of Virginia, from June 26, 1862; in 1st Brigade, 1st Division, 1st Corps, Army of Potomac, from September 12, 1862; in 2d Brigade, 1st Division, 1st Corps, Army of Potomac, from June, 1863; in 2d Brigade, 4th Division, 5th Corps, from March, 1864, and, May 21, 1864, it was ordered to New York city, and there, under Col. Edward B. Fowler, honorably discharged and mustered out June 14, to date June 6, 1864.
During its service the regiment lost by death, killed in action, 5 officers, 83 enlisted men; of wounds received in action, 3 officers, 61 enlisted men; of disease and other causes, 74 enlisted men; total, 8 officers, 218 enlisted men; aggregate, 226; of whom 17 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. 

Eighty-fourth Infantry.—Cols., Alfred M. Wood, Edward B. Fowler; Lieut.-Cols., Edward B. Fowler, William H. DeBevoice, Robert B. Jourdan; Majs., James Jourdan, William H. DeBevoice, Charles F. Baldwin, Robert B. Jourdan, Henry T. Head. The 84th (the 14th militia), recruited in Brooklyn, left the state for Washington, May 18, 1861; was there joined by Cos. K and I in July, and between May and August was mustered into the U. S. service for three years. The regiment served in the vicinity of Washington until the battle of Bull Run, in which it fought gallantly in Porter's brigade, with a total loss of 142 killed, wounded or missing. It then served near Ball's crossroads and Upton's hill, Va., and in March, 1862, was assigned to the 1st brigade, King's division, 1st corps, with which it served in northern Virginia, while the campaign on the Peninsula was carried on under Gen. McClellan. Active in the fighting which culminated in the battle of the second Bull Run, the regiment lost. 129 men. It was engaged at South mountain, Antietam and Fredericks-burg with the 1st brigade, 1st division, 1st corps, to which it was attached on Sept. 12, 1862. After passing the winter in camp near Falmouth, the regiment was active at Chancellorsville in May, 1863, and was prominently engaged in the battle of Gettysburg, where it received the highest official praise for its gallantry in action. It served during this battle with the 2nd brigade, 1st division, 1st corps, and suffered a total loss of 217. It then moved southward with the Army of the Potomac, shared in the Mine Run movement, wintered near Culpeper and at the opening of the Wilderness campaign, was assigned to the 2nd brigade, 4th division, 5th corps. On May 21 the term of service expired. It was mustered out at New York city, June 14, 1864, when the veterans and recruits were transferred to the 5th N. Y. veteran infantry. The total enrollment of the regiment was 1,305, of whom 153 died from wounds and 74 from other causes. Few regiments could boast such a distinguished reputation as the 84th, which served with unfailing bravery through the most severe tests of courage

14thInfReg.jpg

84th Regiment NY Volunteer Infantry | Regimental Color | Civil War

All that remains from this flag are silk fragments featuring a stylized version of the Arms of the State of New York. The inscription along the bottom…

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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

Monument at Gettysburg

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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.

14th Regiment War Veteran Association. Souvenir of the dedication of the Brooklyn fourteenth regiment monument on the battlefield of Gettysburg, Pa., October 19th, 1887. New York: Henry Bessey, printer, 1887.

Battillo, Anthony. "Red-Legged Devils From Brooklyn." Civil War Times Illustrated. (FEB 1972) 10-17.

Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.). Common Council. Special Committee on Claims for Supplies to Volunteers. Report of the Special Committee on Claims for Supplies to Volunteers: with the evidence taken, and schedule of accounts audited. Brooklyn [N.Y.] L. Darbee & Son, printers, 1861.

Brooklyn Academy of Music. Grand promenade concert, in aid of the charity fund of the 14th Reg't Veteran Society, at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Tuesday, Feb. 2, 1864. [Brooklyn, N.Y.] : Bruce & Dugard, printers, No. 1 High Street, near Fulton Street, Brooklyn., 1864
Description:    1 sheet ([1] pages) ; 27 x 35 cm
Held at the New York Historical Society

Brooklyn Eagle. Hidden by weeds. [Brooklyn Eagle], 1952.
Description:    1 photographic print : black and white ; 10 x 8 in.
Abstract:    Man in suit standing by overgrown bushes in front of obelisk inscribed "Brooklyn Fourteenth" at the Civil War battlefield of Manassas or Bull Run. Caption on verso: "Assemblyman Lewis W. Ollifee of Brooklyn shows how monument honoring Brooklyn soldiers who fell in the Civil War's second Battle of Bull Run, Va., was neglected, so that he felt compelled to introduce his bill to protect and preserve four historic markers there."
Held by the Brooklyn Public Library

Brown, John C. Civil War Miscellaneous Collection 
(Enlisted man's letter, Mar 24, 1862)
Located at the Military History Institute in Carlisle, PA.

Callenda, Frank. The 14th Brooklyn Regiment in the Civil War : a history and roster. Jefferson, North Carolina : McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2013.

Clemens, Thomas G. "Iron Brigade from the Empire State." Civil War Times Illustrated. 48 :2 April, 2009. 54-59.

Company of Military Historians. Military Uniforms in America. Vol. 3: Long Endure: The Civil War Period, 1852-1867. Novato, CA: Presidio, 1982.
See pp. 60-61 (2 photocopied pages) for a sketch and description of the unit uniforms.

Condrad Freitag : 1845 - 1894.

Curtis, Patricia. "Brooklyn's War." America's Civil War. 23 :2 May 2010. 58-64.

Doak, George F. and William H. Doak. Doak brothers papers, 1861-1904.
Description:    26 items
Language:    English
Abstract:    Letters from and to brothers George F. Doak and William H. Doak during and about their service in the Union Army, mentioning also news from home and the family stationery business. Other correspondents include Benjamin Marlow, William N. Marcus, Jr., and Wilson Plato. Military pass for George Doak, 1862. Military commission for William Doak, Oct. 15, 1862. Military discharge certificate for William and George Doak. Petition signed by William Doak and 67 others, protesting their treatment in the army, July 30, 1864. Masonic apprenticeship certificate for George Doak. Application letter for pension from the U.S. Army from George Doak, May 8, 1904.
Held by the New York Historical Society

Edie, James CWTIColl
(Enlisted man's memoirs, Sep 14, 1910)
Located at the Military History Institute in Carlisle, PA.

Egolf, Lieut. John. Way down in Pennsylvania. Washington: Gideion & Pearson, printers, [1864]. Song. ?

Grube, Harry Thomson and George Woodbridge. "14th regiment New York state militia, 1861-1864." Military Collector & Historian. X (1958) pp. 80-1.

Harnickell, Albert F. A. Papers, 1862-1918, 1862-1887 (bulk). 1862-1918.
Abstract:    Contains materials related to Harnickell's activity in military and veterans' affairs, including correspondence, 1862-1881; receipts of military ordnance, 1862-1865; tickets and memorabilia from veterans' events; draft rules for 14th Regiment Veterans' Association; and news clippings. Also contains petition to nominate General Edward B. Fowler as Republican candidate for Kings County sheriff, 1878; an account book, 1862; and photographs of Company F, 14th Regiment, Captain Harnickell, and Harnickell's son, Lt. Henri Harnickell, 1918.
Held by the New York State Historical Documents Inventory

Herdegen, Lance J. "For the Truth of History: July 1, 1863: the charge on the railroad cut." The Gettysburg Magazine 20 (1998), 81-88.

History of the 14th Regiment : Galley proofs of the History of the 14th Brooklyn & 187th Artillery, published in 1947. New York: 1947.

Houghton, Charles A. The Charles A. Houghton papers, 1858-1865.
Description: 1 box.
Abstract: Contains the following type of materials: correspondence. Contains information pertaining to the following wars: Civil War -- Eastern theater, -- Atlantic coast, -- Western theater, --Northern interior. Contains information pertaining to the following military units: 141st New York Infantry Regiment; 72nd New York Infantry Regiment; 86th New York Infantry Regiment; 84th New York Infantry Regiment. General description of the collection: The Charles A Houghton papers include soldiers letters, 141st, August 1862-June 1865; campaigns: Suffolk Peninsula, 1863, Gettysburg, Wauhatchie, Chattanooga, Resaca, New Hope Church, Atlanta, march to the sea, Savannah, and Carolinas; served: Laurel, Maryland, Arlington, and White House Virginia; Shell Mound, Tennessee, Nickajack, Georgia, Stanton General Hospital, District of Columbia; cattle herd; longs for home, Lindleytown, NY; letters, 72nd,1863; 86th,1861-1864; and 84th, 1862-1865.
Located at the Military History Institute in Carlisle, PA.

Howard, Henry Ward Beecher. "During the Civil War, 1861 - 1865." : The National Guard." The Eagle and Brooklyn: the record of the progress of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, issued in commemoration of its semi-centennial and occupancy of its new building : together with the history of the city of Brooklyn from its settlement to the present time. [Brooklyn, N.Y.] Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 1893. http://archive.org/details/cu31924092229339

Low, Seth. Address delivered by Seth Low, at Gettysburg, October 19, 1887, at the dedication of the soldiers' monument to the Fourteenth regiment of Brooklyn. New York: Henry Bessey, 1887. https://archive.org/details/addressdelivered00lows

Martin, Michael; Jepersen, Hal. "258th Field Artillery (NY)." Brotherhood that binds the brave : contemporary units of the army national guard and regular ... army derived from units that fought at Gettysburg. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Dorrance Pub Co. 2015. 83-84.

McAfee, Michael J. "14th Regiment, New York State Militia." Military Images Magazine (Jan/Feb 1992): pp. 26-27.

McLean, James L. Cutler's Brigade at Gettysburg. Baltimore, Md. Butternut and Blue, 1987.

Michell, Harry W. "The Fighting Fourteenth." Brooklyn advance XI (1885) 253-6; XII (1885) 116-20.

Murray, RL, ed. New Yorkers in the Civil War. Wolcott, N.Y. Benedum Books, v. 6 c2006.

Norton, (Patrick) John Civil War Times Illustrated
(Enlisted man's letters, Jul 1861)
Located at the Military History Institute in Carlisle, PA. 

Nadal, Bernard Harrison. The Christian boy soldier. The funeral sermon of Joseph E. Darrow, preached in Sands street Methodist Episcopal church, Brooklyn, on the 27th October, 1861. New York: Steam print house, 1862.

New York State. Dedication of monument to the Fourteenth Brooklyn, N.Y.S.M. (Eighty-fourth N.Y. Vols.) Albany: J.B. Lyons co., 1916.

New York (State). Monuments Commission for the Battlefields of Gettysburg, Chattanooga and Antietam. Dedication of monument to Fourteenth Brooklyn, N.Y.S.M. (Eighty-fourth N.Y. vols) Antietam, Md. September 17, 1915. Albany: J.B. Lyon Co., printers, 1916.

Ostrander, Peter Wilson. A narrative of the work of the Commission appointed by an Act of the Legislature of the State of New York, passed in the session of 1906: In purchasing a site and erecting thereon a monument in memory of the men who fell in the battles of the First and Second Bull run, Gainesville and Groveton, by Peter W. Ostrander, one of the Commissioners. Read before the 14th regiment war veterans' association and published by the Association. Brooklyn: Eagle press, 1907.

Pettiner, Joseph. "A New Yorker at Antietam." Civil War Times Illustrated. 19 :8 December, 1980. 29.

"Remembering the Red Legged Devils." New York State and the Civil War. 1 :1 July 1961. 5.

Reed, Thomas J. The original Iron Brigade. Madison [N.J.] : Fairleigh Dickinson University Press ; Lanham, Md. : Rowman & Littlefield Pub. Group, 2011

Schoenfeld, Martin. "The 14th Brooklyn: Uniform Analysis." Military Images Magazine (Sep/Oct 1987): pp. 24-25.

Souvenir of the dedication of the Brooklyn Fourteenth regiment monument on the battlefield of Gettysburg, Pa., October 19th, 1887. New York: Henry Bessey, 1887.

Stevenson, Charles G. Baptized by fire, an account of the participation by the famous 14th regiment of Brooklyn in the first battle of Bull Run written from military records. New York Civil War centennial commision, 1961.

Stevenson, Charles G. "Red-legged Devils at Gettysburg." Gun Report (October 1958) 14-16.

Stevenson, Charles G. State Judge Advocate, New York National Guard. Brooklyn's Red-Legged Devils at Gettysburg 12 p.

Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909. "History of Military Organizations in Kings County." History of Kings county and the city of Brooklyn from 1683 to 1884. Munsell, 1884. http://archive.org/details/cu31924088998061 1193-1206.

Tevis, C., and D.R. Marquis, compilers. 14th Brooklyn State Militia. The History of the Fighting Fourteenth. “Red Legged Devils”. Baltimore, Md.: Butternut and Blue, 1994.(Expanded reprint of 1911 edition).

Tevis, C. The history of the fighting Fourteenth. Published in commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the muster of the Regiment into the United States service, May 23, 1861. New York: Brooklyn Eagle press, 1911.

United States. Army. New York Infantry Regiment, 14th. United States Army New York Infantry 84th Regiment court martial proceedings, special order no. 14. 1861

Vliet, John. [Three letters dated July 23, 1861; July 2, 1863; May 14, 1864]. In Brooklyn and the Civil War, by David M. Cory. Journal of Long Island history II 1 (Spring 1962) 1-15.

Woodbridge, George and Harry T. Grube. "14th Regiment, New York State Militia, 1861-1864." Military Uniforms in America. Vol. 3: Long Endure: The Civil War Period, 1852-1867. Novato, CA: Presidio, 1982. 60-61.

 

Unit bibliography from the Army Heritage Center

Items in the museum collection are in bold.