1st Engineer Regiment

Nickname: Serrell's Engineers; Engineer's And Artisans; New York Volunteer Corps Of Engineers

Mustered in by companies: October 11, 1861 to February 19, 1862
Designated 1st Regiment of Engineers: June 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 was organized under Col. Edward W. Serrell at New York city and accepted by the State September 27, 1861. The companies were mustered in the United States service for three years at New York city, A, B, C, D and E October 11, 1861 ; G, K and I December 2, 3 and 13, 1861, respectively; F in January, and H February 19, 1862. The original Company L became the 4th N. Y. Volunteer Battery in October, 1861. In January, 1864, 205 enlisted men of the Enfants Perdus and two officers and forty enlisted men of the 4th N. Y. Volunteer Battery were assigned to the regiment by transfer; Company L was reorganized of men of the 4th Battery and Company M in April, 1864, from recruits in the field. Company M was, however, not fully organized until April, 1865, up to which time the incompleted company was commanded by details of officers of other companies. At the expiration of its term of service the men entitled thereto were discharged and the regiment continued in the service.

The companies were recruited principally: A, B, D, H and L at New York city; C at Athens, Hudson and Cooperstown, Newark, N. J., and in Pennsylvania; E at Kingston, Pa., Newark, N. J., Sing Sing, Poughkeepsie, New York city and in Ulster county; F at New York city, Brooklyn, Rochester, Canandaigua and Newark, N. J. ; G at New York city, Canandaigua and in Otsego county; I at New York city, Newburgh, Schuyler's Falls, Mooers Forks, Goshen, Saranac, Piermorat, Plattsburgh, Centreville and Ellenburgh; K in New Jersey, at Newton, Dover, Paterson, Morristown, Stanhope and Rockaway, and M at New York city, Brooklyn, Tompkinsville, Kingston and Tarrytown.

Companies A, B, C, D, and E left the State for Port Royal, S. C., under Colonel Serrell, ; G, I and K December 14, 1861, and F and H in February, 1862; and the regiment served in the Department of the South, 10th Corps, and, from May, 1864, Companies B, D, E, F, H, K, L and M with the Army of the James. The regiment, commanded

by Col. James F. Hall, was honorably discharged and mustered out, Companies A, C, G and I at Hilton Head, S. C., the other companies June 30, 1865, at Richmond, Va.

During its service the regiment lost by death, killed in action, 16 enlisted men; of wounds received in action, 2 officers, 8 enlisted men; of disease and other causes, 5 officers, 114 enlisted men; total, 7 officers, 138 enlisted men; aggregate, 145; of whom 3, enlisted men died in the hands of the enemy.

1stEngMarker02.94.jpg

1st Regiment Engineers, NY Volunteers | Flank Markers | Civil War

This pair of blue silk presentation flank markers include painted inscriptions and 2" fringe. Adjutant General William Irvine deposited the flank…

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NYSMM Online Resources

Unit Roster

Newspaper Clippings

Autobiography of Hubert W. Mealing, Drummer, Company F

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.

[Butler, Benjamin Franklin]. Official documents relating to a "Chaplain's campaign (not) with General Butler," but in New York. Audi alteram partem. Lowell, MA: Charles Hunt, printer, 1865.

Dalrymaple, Henry M. Capture of Fort Pulaski. In War talks of Morristown veterans, Morristown, N.J., 1887.

Gridley, Ross F. Civil War Biography of Hubert W. Mealing.

Harry Chapman's last battle. Victory, July 10, 1890. Newark: Geo. H. Wilson, printer, 1890.

Hudson, Henry Norman. A Chaplain's campaign with Gen. Butler. Printed for the author. New York: 1865.

Hudson, Henry Norman. General Butler's campaign on the Hudson. Second edition. With an appendix. Boston: Printed by J. S. Cushing & co., 1883.

Roster of the First regiment N.Y. veteran vol. engineers, mustered into the U.S. service, Oct. 10th, 1861, mustered out of the U.S. service, June 30th, 1865. New York: George F. Nesbit & CO., printers, 1865.

Swift, Jerome. Letter, 31 March 1865.
4 pages.
Letter, 31 March 1865, from Jerome Swift (b. ca. 1845), 1st New York Engineers, at Reams Station, Virginia, to his brother. He writes about his regiment’s long marches around Petersburg and Hatcher’s Run, his duties unloading the dead and wounded from ambulances at Reams Station, the transport of captured prisoners, and the heavy fighting that is taking place.
Accession 42334. Located at the Library of Virginia in Richmond, Virginia.
Thank you to Ed Worman for pointing out this resource.

Webster, Dow M. Papers, 1864-1865, 1891.
38 leaves and 94 pages.
Papers, 1864-1865, consisting of the Civil War correspondence from Dow M. Webster (1826-1904), 1st New York Engineers, in camp in Chesterfield County, Virginia, to his wife Amanda Rosette Webster (1828-1910) in Ostego County, New York. Topics include family matters and their three children Ella, Ida May, and Ralph Dow Webster, adjustments to life on the home front, camp life, the Siege of Petersburg and Richmond, military engineer duties, troop movements, women’s education, and a description of his living quarters. There are also letters written from Amanda Rosette Webster to her husband concerning family matters, home life and farm work. Transcripts for the letters from Webster to his wife are also contained herein. There are also two letters, 14 and 24 October 1891, from a Webster family member in Washington, D. C., to Ralph Dow Webster (1864-1913) in New York containing a brief Webster family history and genealogy.
Accession 39710. Located at the Library of Virginia in Richmond, Virginia.
Thank you to Ed Worman for pointing out this resource.

Westervelt, John. Diary of a Yankee Engineer: The Civil War Story of John H. Westervelt, Engineer, 1st New York Volunteer Engineer Corps. New York: Fordham University Press, 1996.

 

Items in the museum collection are in bold.