111th Infantry Regiment

Mustered in: August 20, 1862
Mustered out: June 4, 1865

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

July 19, 1862, Gen. Jesse Segoine, as Colonel, received authority to recruit this regiment in the counties of Cayuga and Wayne; it was organized at Auburn and there mustered in the service of the United States for three years August 20, 1862. The men not to be mustered out with the regiment were transferred, June 4, 1865, to the 4th Artillery.

The companies were recruited principally: A at Marion, Palmyra, Ontario and Walworth; B at Clyde and Savannah; C at Auburn, Palmyra, Rose Valley, Victory, Montezuma, Summer Hill and Sterling; D at Lyons, Sodus, Galen and Williamson; E at Arcadia, Sodus, Williamson, Marion and Palmyra; F at Port Byron, Auburn and Weedsport; G at Auburn and Genoa; H at Auburn, Cato, Ira, Conquest and Sterling; I at Moravia, Venice, Locke, Ledyard, Niles, Sempronius and Scipio; and K at Union Springs, Springport, Genoa, Aurora, Moravia, Scipio and Ledyard.

The regiment left the State August 21, 1862; served in the Middle Department, 8th Corps, from August 24, 1862; at Harper's Ferry, W. Va., where it was surrendered, in September, 1862; at Camp Douglas, Chicago, Ill., from September 28, 1862; in the defenses of Washington, in the 3d Brigade, Casey's Division, 22d Corps, from December, 1862; in the 3d Brigade, 3d Division, 2d Corps, Army of the Potomac, from June, 1863; in the 3d, and for a time in the Consolidated, Brigade, 1st Division, 2d Corps, Army of the Potomac, from March, 1864; and it was honorably discharged and mustered out, under Lieut. Col. Lewis W. Husk, June 4, 1865, near Alexandria, Va. During its service the regiment lost by death, killed in action, 8 officers, 150 enlisted men; of wounds received in action, 2 officers, 65 enlisted men; of disease and other causes, 2 officers, 177 enlisted men; total, 12 officers, 392 enlisted men; aggregate, 404; of whom 2 officers and 74 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. 

One Hundred and Eleventh Infantry.—Cols., Jesse Segoine, C. Dugald McDougall, Lewis W. Husk; Lieut-Cols., Clinton D. Mc-Dougall, Seneca B. Smith, Isaac M. Lusk, Aaron P. Seeley, Lewis W. Husk, Sidney Mead; Majs., Seneca B. Smith, Isaac M. Lusk, James H. Hinman, Lewis W. Husk, Joseph W. Corning, Sidney Mead, Reuben J. Meyers. No regiment sent out by the state saw harder service than the gallant 111th. It was organized at Auburn from companies recruited in the counties of Cayuga and Wayne,— the Twenty-fifth senatorial district-and was mustered into the U. S. service, Aug. 20, 1862. It left the city the following day for Harper's Ferry, where it had the misfortune to be surrendered with that ill-fated garrison the following month. The men were paroled at Camp Douglas, Chicago, and in Dec., 1862, were declared exchanged and went into winter quarters at Centerville, Va. Later the regiment was assigned to the 3d (Alex. Hays') brigade, Casey's division, 22nd corps, where it remained until June, 1863. Col. Fox, in his account of the three hundred fighting regiments, speaking of the 111th, says: "On June 25, 1863, the brigade joined the 2nd corps which was then marching by on its way to Gettysburg. The regiment left two companies on guard at Accotink bridge; with the remaining eight companies, numbering 390 men, it was engaged at Gettysburg on the second day of the battle, in the brilliant and successful charge of Willard's brigade, losing 58 killed, 177 wounded, and 14 missing; total, 249. The regiment did some more good fighting at the Wilderness, where. it lost 42 killed, 119 wounded, and 17 missing; total, 178—over half of its effective strength. Its casualties in the fighting around Spottsylvania amounted to 22 killed, 37 wounded, and 13 missing. From Gettysburg until the end, the regiment fought under Hancock in the 2nd corps, participating in every battle of that command. While on the Gettysburg campaign, and subsequently at Bristoe Station, Mine Run and Morton's ford, the regiment was attached to the 3d brigade, 3d division (Alex. Hayes'). Just before the Wilderness campaign it was placed in Frank's (3d) brigade, Barlow's (1st) division. This brigade was composed entirely of New York troops, the 39th, 111th, 125th, and 126th, to which were added in April, 1864, the 52nd and 57th, and later on, the 7th N. Y.; all crack fighting regiments." The regiment lost 81 killed and wounded during the final Appomattox campaign. It was mustered out near Alexandria, Va., June 3, 1865. The regiment bore an honorable part in 22 great battles. Its total enrollment during service was 1,780, of whom 10 officers and 210 men were killed and mortally wounded; its total of 220 killed and died of wounds is only exceeded by four other N. Y. regiments—the 69th, 40th, 48th and 121st—and is only exceeded by 24 other regiments in the Union armies. It lost 2 officers and 177 men by disease and other causes—total deaths, 404— of whom 2 officers and 74 men died in Confederate prisons.

111thGuidon02.132.jpg

111th Regiment NY Volunteer Infantry | Guidon | Civil War

This silk swallowtail guidon, used as a marker to assist in battlefield maneuvers, conforms to the “stars and stripes” pattern described in General…

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NYSMM Online Resources

Muster Roll

Unit Roster

Battles and Casualties -Table from Phisterer (PDF format)

Battles and Casualties -Table from Phisterer (MS Excel format)
 

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@mail.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.

Baker, John. Letter from John Baker : 111th New York Volunteer Infantry.

Campbell, Eric A. ' "Remember Harper's Ferry!" : The degradation, humiliation, and redemption of Col. George L Willard's Brigade - Part Two.' Gettysburg: Historical Articles of Lasting Interest. 8 (January 1993) 95-110.

Contant, George W. Each bee was a bullet. Dover, Del. : Grand Army Historic Publications, 1998. 60 p. : ill. ; 21 cm.

Dardswell, Thomas. Letter, 1863 July 5. 
Letter describing action at the Battle of Gettysburg, Pa., including "Pickett's Charge. 1 item (3 p.)
Located at Navarro College.

Drummond, Robert Loudon. The religious pray, the profane swear: a Civil War memoir personal reminiscences of prison life during the war of the rebellion. Aurora, CO : Davies Group, 2002. x, 108 p. : ill. ; 22 cm.

Drummond, Robert Loudon. Recollections. 
Recollections of an Auburn, N.Y., lawyer of his service during the Civil War with the 111th New York Infantry Regiment, contained in an address, 1914, given at Salisbury, N.C., where he had been imprisoned; and other speeches and a letter about his war service and imprisonment.7 items. 
Located at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

"Every man dropped I pointed at." Neighbor’s Home Mail. 1879. 135.

Failing, Charles M. Civil War Miscellaneous Collection 
(Pvt's service hist, discharge paper & letter from U.S. Grant, 1862-1902)
Located at the Military History Institute in Carlisle, PA.

Hall, Henry. History of Auburn. Auburn, NY: Dennis Brothers & Co., 1869. pp. 429-435.
In vertical file.

Hinman, Wellington. Diary of Mr. Wellington Hinman of Summer Hill, Cayuga County, New York, Private of Co. C 111th N.Y. Vols. Unpublished.
Original in Cortland County Historcal Society.

Holcomb, Edward. Diary, 1863. 
Diary contains details of this common soldier's life, January 1-December 31, 1863. 1 item. 
Located at Auburn University.

Hudson, Joel H. "Extracts from the Journal of Joel H. Hudson." Neighbor's Home Mail.

Husk, Martin W. The 111th New York Volunteer Infantry: a Civil War history. Jefferson, N.C. : McFarland & Co., 2010.

Hutchins, Daniel B. Daniel B. Hutchins journals, 1864 - 1866.
2 volumes.
Abstract: Daniel B. Hutchins was raised in Wayne County, N.Y., and worked as a school teacher prior to the outbreak of the Civil War. In 1864, Hutchins was enrolled as a sergeant in the 111th New York Infantry, serving in eastern Virginia. In two pocket diaries, covering the years 1864 and 1866, Hutchins recorded his singularly awful experiences as he was transported through a succession of Confederate prison camps, including Libby, Andersonville, Charleston, S.C., and Florence. 
Located at the William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan.
Thank you to Jason Longo for pointing out this resource.

Laekner, Simeon. Correspondence, 1863-1864. 
Letters addressed to Simeon Laekner of Puttneyville, Wayne County, New York from friends or relatives serving in the Union Army during the Civil War. They were written in Dutch, which presents a problem in verifying information and names with the official records. One of the items was written by Lieut. Andrew Camp, 111th Infantry, Company D, informing that David Laekner, a son, was wounded and in a Washington D.C. hospital. Letters seem to discuss how the unnamed company went from Albany to Washington, and then to camp near Culpeper, Virginia. 3 items. 
Located at the New York State Library Manuscripts and Special Collections.

Lightfoote, W. G.  Proceedings of the reunion of the veterans of the 111th and the 126th reg'ts N.Y. Canadaigua, N.Y.:Times Book and Job Print. House, 1886. 38 p.

Monroe, Joel H. "Gen. Clinton D. MacDougall." Historical Records of a Hundred and Twenty Years. Geneva, NY: W.F. Humphrey, 1913.
In vertical file.

Murray, R.L. and David Hickey (ed.). The redemption of the "Harper's Ferry Cowards" : the story of the 111th and 126th New York state volunteer regiments at Gettysburg. 1994. [E 523.5 126th .M]

New York Assembly. Proceedings of the Assembly of the State of New York, in relation to the death of James Haggerty, held at Capitol, January 20, 1888. Troy: Troy press co., 1888.

New York (State). Monuments Commission for the Battlefields of Gettysburg and Chattanooga. "Oration of Gen. Clinton D. MacDougall." Final report on the battlefield of Gettysburg. Albany: J.B. Lyon Co., printers, 1902. 799-805.

Parks, James Madison. James Madison Parks papers. 1856-1867. 
Diary describing his Civil War experiences; also correspondence of Parks and his wife, Laura Gorsline Parks.  1 folder. 
Located at Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan.

Paylor, John. Civil War Diary - 1862. Unpublished.
Transcript furnished by Donald Chatfield.

Sentell family. Diaries and letters, 1856-1897. 
Diaries (December, 1862-October, 1864) of Edward H. Sentell and letters (1856-1897) of various family members. Diaries include detailed entries by Edward Sentell while serving as Lieutenant in the 160th N.Y.S.V. He describes his voyage to Fort Jefferson, Florida and New Orleans, activities on the Red River in Louisiana, his voyage on the steamer Leary to Virginia in July, 1864, and his stay in Maryland and Virginia until October, 1864 when the entries stop. One box of letters are mostly Civil War letters of William H. Sentell while a sergeant in the 44th N.Y.S.V. in Virginia and as major in the 160th in Louisiana; and Charles Sentell, a soldier in the 111th N.Y.S.V. in Virginia. The postwar letters concern such matters as farming, relatives in Wisconsin, private affairs, etc. 4 v. 97 items.
Located at the New York Historical Society, New York, NY.

Six colored views : Camps of New York regiments during the Civil War.
[6] leaves of plates : chiefly col. ill. ; 27 x 37 cm.
Contents: Fort Ethan Allen, Garrisoned by the 4th N.Y. Heavy Artillery. Col. D. Doubleday, Commdg. -- Camp Pomroy, 111th Regiment, New York. Col. J. Segoine, Commdg.-- Camp Chase, 147th Regt. N.Y.S.V. Col. A.S. Warner, Commdg. -- Fort Pennsylvania, Head Quarters of the 113th Regt. N.Y.S.V. Col. O.L. Morricee, Commdg. -- Camp Seward, 170th N.Y.V. 2d Regiment, Corcoran's Legion, Col. Peter McDermott, Lieut. Col. J.P. McIvor -- Camp Hathaway, 141st Regt. N.Y.S.V.S.G. Hathaway, Col. Commanding.
Located at the Massachusetts Historical Society.

Thompson, Benjamin W. "Narrative of Experiences of Civil War." Civil War Times Illustrated Collection.
Original located at Military Heritage Institute, Carlisle, PA.

Thompson, Samuel. Miscellaneous Civil War letters and records from Oswego, Cayuga, and Oneida counties, New York. 1861-1865. 
The collection consists of miscellaneous letters, diaries, and records written by residents of Oswego, Cayuga, and Oneida counties, who partook in the Union effort to put down the rebellion in the South. Descriptions of military life and Civil War battles are included in the collection.
1 folder (16 items). 
Located at State University of New York at Oswego.

United States. Army. 111th New York Infantry records,1862-1865. 
Records consisting mainly of muster rolls, with a few other miscellaneous papers, including allotments of pay with related correspondence, a power of attorney, receipts, and bills for hospital dues.
0.8 linear feet (2 boxes).
Located at the New York Historical Society, New York, NY.

United States. Army. New York Infantry Regiment, 111th (1862-1865). Roster of survivors of the 111th Reg't N.Y.S. Vol's. September, 1903. 15 p. ; 16 cm. 
Located at the National Archives.

 

Items in the museum collection are in bold.