Union Blue and Militia Gray:
The Role of the New York State Militia
in the Civil War -
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. 
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. 
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. 
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. 
Even the 7th Regiment required assistance, and on 17 April the merchants of
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. 
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. 
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.
 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
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
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
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. 
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. 
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. 
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.  Even so, a number of their members left
by early May to accept commissions elsewhere. First Lieutenant Noah Farnham
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. 
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.  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. 
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.  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. 
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
since that unit was so deficient in equipment.  They left Kingston on 28
April aboard the steamer Manhattan, and arrived in Baltimore where they formed
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.  The
following chapter will describe the raising of the war-time volunteers, however
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. 
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.  Some thought had been given to bestowing overall
command of Union forces in Washington and Virginia on Sandford, but he was
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
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
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.  The movement into
Virginia was claimed a great success and Colonel Samuel Heintzelman, inspector
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."  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. 
By 28 May, Irvin McDowell took command of the new Federal Army of Northeastern
Virginia, and began his preliminary planning of operations (see Appendix
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. 
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.
 Patterson received directions to take such steps as necessary to prevent
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
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.  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. 
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. 
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. 
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. 
Because of inexperience, indiscipline and hot weather, it took the Union
forces until the morning of 18 July to reach Centreville, seven miles from
base at Manassas Junction. The concentration of troops and the arrival of the
supply wagons required a lengthy halt (see Map
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
fire before they were driven from the fields around the ford after a sharp
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
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. 
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
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,
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. 
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. 
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
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. 
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. 
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. 
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.  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
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.
 The Highlanders halted, then began to fall back. "As we passed down
saw our Colonel lying still in the hands of Death." 
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. 
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
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." 
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.  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. 
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
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.
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.  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. 
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
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
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. 
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
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:
4. Roehrenbeck, Regiment That Saved the Capital, 53.
5. Swinton, Seventh
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,
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,
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,
17. Theodore Gates, Ulster Guard (20th Regiment N. Y.S.M.) (New
York: Benjamin H. Tyrell, Printer,
18. Frederick Todd, Military Equipage 1851-1872 (Providence, RI:
Company of Military Historians,
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,
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),
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),
49. O'Flaherty, "History of the 69th," 302; Root, 69th in Peace
and War, 18; AG, 1862, 125.
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New York State Division of Military and Naval Affairs: Military History
April 6, 2006