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 THE JAMES VERNER SCAIFE 
 
 COLLECTION 
 
 CIVIL WAR LITERATURE 
 
 THE GIFT OF 
 
 JAMES VERNER SCAIFE 
 
 CLASS OF 1889 
 
 1919 
 
Cornell Unhrwsfty Library 
 E523.5 127th .M14 
 
 The history of the 127th New York Volunt 
 
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 3 1924 030 912 137 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924030912137 
 

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THE HISTORY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 127th New York Volunteers 
 
 MONITORS" 
 
 TVeGaMoButJ 
 
 TKcmVCcTS '"tcWdti 
 
 IN THE WAR FOR THE PRESERVATION OF 
 
 THE UNION— SEPTEMBER 8TH. 1862, 
 
 JUNE 30TH, 1865. 
 
 MATERIAL COLLECTED AND ARRANGED BY 
 
 Franklin McGrath, Co. A. 
 
INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 "A POEM." 
 
 The gulf of two and thirty years 
 We stretch our welcoming hands across ; 
 The distance but a pebble's toss 
 
 Between us and our youth appears. 
 
 For in life's school we linger on 
 The remnant of a once full list, 
 Conning our lessons undismissed, 
 
 With faces to the setting sun. 
 
 And some have gone the unknown way; 
 And some await the call to rest; 
 Who' knowest whether it is best 
 
 For those who went, or those who stay? 
 
 And yet, despite of loss and ill, 
 If faithful hope and love remain, 
 Our length of days is not in vain 
 
 And life is well worth living still. 
 
 Dear comrades, scattered near and far, 
 Send from their homes their kindly word, 
 And dearer ones, unseen, unheard, 
 
 Smile on us from some heavenly star. 
 
 Soul touches soul; the monster roll 
 Of life eternal has no gaps ; 
 And after one-third a century's lapse, 
 
 Our war time ranks are closed and whole. 
 
 Adaptation from Whittier. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The aim of the committee to whom the comrades intrusted 
 the collection of material and the preparation and publication of 
 a History of the service of the Regiment in the "War for the 
 Preservation of the Union" has been to confine themselves to 
 such line of official orders and correspondence and to the com- 
 rades' diary record and war time letters as would afford an in- 
 telligent, reliable and interesting record of the regimental service, 
 and as would not only be valuable for reference as to marches 
 and movements, but as would also explain the reasons for many 
 such that at the time seemed aimless, and that would also enable 
 a comrade, in imagination, again to go over the camp life, 
 marches, bivouacs, battles and experiences from the date of mus- 
 ter in, September 8, 1862, to the date of the return to. New York, 
 City, July 7, 1865. 
 
 The committee extend their cordial thanks to the following 
 comrades, all of whom, either by the furnishing of diary or war 
 time letter record, have rendered valuable service, viz.: Com- 
 rades Woodford, Allison, Fisk, Long, Abercrombie, Garret F. 
 Eaton, Eldridge, Stevenson, Wessells, Payne, Underhill and 
 Bodine. 
 
 To Comrade Woodford, specially for valuable aid in secur- 
 ing from the War Department, Washington, copies of the mem- 
 bership rolls of the field and staff and of four companies of the 
 regiment that could not otherwise have been secured, and to 
 Comrade Fisk for the large encouragement extended the work 
 and for the removal of obstacles that at times seemed to imperil 
 the work; and the committee express the hope that the result 
 which the above-named comrades have aided to produce will be, 
 in some degree, a recompense for the labor and trouble which 
 their aid involved. 
 
 FRANKLIN McGRATH, 
 A. S. BODINE, 
 REV. WM. A. BRONSON, 
 WM. P. JESSUP, 
 Committee on Regimental History. 
 
Gen'l. WM. GURNEY. 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 
 
 Chapter i. 
 THE FORMATION. 
 
 The heavy losses sustained by the Union forces in the swamps 
 of the Southwest and in the disastrous Peninsular campaign of 
 General McClellan in the early summer of 1862, led to the Gov- 
 ernors of twenty of the loyal states requesting the President to 
 issue a call for additional volunteers to aid in the restoration of 
 the Union. 
 
 In response to this request the President, on July 1st, 1862, 
 issued a call for 300,000 volunteers to serve for three years or dur- 
 ing the war; and on the 2d of July, Governor E. D. Morgan of 
 New York issued a proclamation appealing to the citizens of that 
 state to come forward and promptly fill its quota. He said : "The 
 appeal is to each citizen. Let the glorious example of the Revo- 
 lutionary period be our emulation. The time has come when all 
 must aid. The insurrection is in its death throes and a mighty 
 blow will end its monstrous existence." 
 
 Under this call Captain William Gurney of the 65th New 
 York Volunteers, who had been in the field since the commence- 
 ment of hostilities, was authorized to recruit a regiment, which 
 when completed was to be designated the 127th New York Vol- 
 unteers. Recruiting progressed rapidly, and on the 22d of Au- 
 gust he was commissioned Colonel; Stewart L. Woodford, at that 
 time an assistant U. S. District Attorney, and who had actively 
 aided in the work of recruiting, was commissioned Lieutenant 
 Colonel, and Captain Edward H. little, of the 65th N. Y. Vols., 
 who had also been in active service in the field under General Mc- 
 Clellan, was on September 1st commissioned Major. 
 
 Six companies, viz., A, B, C, D, F and G, were recruited in 
 New York City and the country adjacent thereto, and four com- 
 panies, viz., E, H, I and K, were recruited on Long Island. Com- 
 pany E was raised in Huntington and its vicinity. Company I 
 chiefly from Babylon and Canarsie, Company H from Orient, 
 Greenport, Southold, Cutchogue and Mattituck, and Company K 
 from Sag Harbor, East Hampton, Amagansett, Riverhead, 
 Bridgehampton and Good Ground. 
 
6 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 Both Colonel Gurney and Major Little had, previous to their 
 service in the 65th New York Volunteers, been members of the 
 Fourth Company of the famous 7th Regiment, New York State 
 Militia, as had also the following, who were commissioned as 
 officers in the regiment: Captains Howland, Allison, Smith and 
 Henry, and Adjutant John L. Little. Captain James Gurney of 
 Company E and Lieutenant A. W. Fisk of Company C had al- 
 ready served thirteen months in the 65th New York Volunteers, 
 and Lieutenant John A. Bogart of Company B had been at the 
 front since the commencement of the war with the 9th N. Y. 
 Vols., known as the Hawkins Zouaves. Lieutenant James F. 
 Haviland of Company A, Sergeant-Major George J. Collins and 
 Orderly Sergeant Bodine of Company B had been members of 
 the New York State Militia, Lieutenant Haviland and Bodine 
 having been with the 71st Regiment at the first Battle of Bull 
 Run. Orderly Sergeant Proulx of Company F and Drum Major 
 Corneen had served five years or more in the U. S. regular army. 
 
 Company A. The first, recruits for this company, which was 
 to be the nucleus for the regiment, were secured in response to 
 an appeal made by Stewart L. Woodford at a patriotic meeting 
 held on the evening of July 28th, in the basement of the Thir- 
 teenth Street Presbyterian Church of New York City. At this 
 meeting it was stated that an independent company was to be 
 formed, to be known as the "Monitor Company" and to be com- 
 posed of young men of good moral character, each of whom was 
 expected to exert a "monitorial" restraining influence over the 
 others, that the demoralizing influences of camp and army life 
 might thereby be minimized. William Howland, a former ser- 
 geant in the 7th Regiment, New York State Militia, and who was 
 then a teacher in the Sabbath school of the said church, was to be 
 its Captain. In response to this appeal the following members of 
 the congregation and Sabbath school enrolled themselves as 
 members of the company, viz. : James F. Haviland, John C. Stev- 
 enson, Charles H. Wessells, Levi Farr, Alonzo Bookstaver, 
 David C. Lewis, Thomas B. Tabor, Rufus Shipman and Frank- 
 lin McGrath. 
 
 Advertisements were inserted in the New York daily papers of 
 August nth, in which the prospectus of the Company was set 
 forth and a call made for recruits. So attractive was the plan to 
 men of moral standing that by the end of ten days the quota was 
 
PATRIOTS, COME FORWARD! 
 
 The undersigned, by the advice and encouragement of numerous 
 friends, is enrolling a company of young men of good moral character, 
 and such as prefer such companionship, to serve for "three years of 
 the war," to be known as the 
 
 "MONITORS." 
 
 The company is now rapidly filling up under the auspices of 
 several of the most prominent and energetic of our citizens, and bids 
 fair to equal in the character of its men, and facilities for seeing 
 service, any company yet enrolled. The members pledge them- 
 selves to avoid, as far as possible, the prominent sources of im- 
 morality and discord usually connected with camp life, and when 
 they become soldiers not to forget their obligations as gentlemen. 
 The bounties, public and private, equal those offered by any other 
 organization. Recruits can be mustered in at once, and go into 
 quarters in one of the most beautiful locations on Staten Island. 
 
 In the present critical state of our country, will young men still 
 wait to be drafted ? 
 
 Will Parents withholding their sons because they dread the im- 
 moral influence of the camp, longer excuse themselves, and expose 
 them to the caprice of fortune when drafted ? 
 
 Come voluntarily, young men, and choose your associates in the 
 performance of a most sacred duty. Who would not rather be a 
 Volunteer than a drafted man in such a glorious cause ? 
 
 HEADQUARTERS 308 BROADWAY. 
 
 Drill every evening at Jefferson Market Hall. 
 
 Recruits in this company will receive in addition to all other boun- 
 ties, Five Dollars each from private sources. 
 
 A Number of friends to the enterprise are pledged to furnish the 
 necessary funds to forward it, over $i>00 being already subscribed 
 for that purpose. 
 
 WM. HOWLAND, Capt. 
 
 REFEBSNCES. 
 
 Lt. Col. PRICE, 7th Regt,, N. G. Present and Ex-Officers Co. C, 7 th Rest. 
 
 Rev. Dr. BURCHARD. Rev. J. H. BURTIS. 
 
 W. H. ANfHON, Judge Adv. Gen. N. Y. STEWART L. WOODFORD, A. U. S. D. A. 
 
 R. G. PARDEE. ROBERT CARTER 4 BROTHERS. 
 
 S. W. STEBBINS, Pree't N. T. Y. M C. A. FAIRBANKS & CO. 
 
 com avriTTiciE:. 
 GEO. W. BEALE - - 13th St. Pr. Oh. Dr. Burchard. 
 
 GEO. W. COOPER - - 50th " Rev. W. Jamison. 
 
 LEVI ONDERDONK - Greenwich R. D. C, Dr. Strong. 
 
 DAVID JACOBUS 
 WM. J. VALENTINE - - Presb. Ch., 15th Street. 
 
8 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 completed at the recruiting office, which had been opened in the 
 store of Fowler & Wells at 303 Broadway. The officers were as 
 follows: Captain, William Howland; First Lieutenant, Henry J. 
 Weston (a clerk in the store of Fowler & Wells) ; Second Lieu- 
 tenant, James F. Haviland (the assistant librarian in the Sabbath 
 school of the Thirteenth Street Church), and Orderly Sergeant, 
 Henry A. Batterson (also a clerk with Fowler & Wells). 
 
 Company B. The success met with in the formation of the 
 first company induced George W. Cooper, a brother-in-law of 
 Captain Howland, and at that time a teacher in one of the public 
 company on the same plan, which he did on the 14th of August. 
 In five days the company was complete and officered as follows: 
 Captain, George W. Cooper; First Lieutenant, John A. Bogart; 
 Second Lieutenant, John Osborn. 
 
 Company C. On the same day Cornelius Cooper, a brother 
 of George W., started a third company on the plan which had 
 met with so much favor, and on the 30th of August its quota was 
 completed with the following as officers: Captain, Cornelius A. 
 Cooper; First Lieutenant, Alonzo W. Fisk; Second Lieutenant, 
 Horace H. Gardner, formerly of the 9th N. Y Militia. 
 
 Company D. Recruiting was commenced in New York City 
 on the 25th of July and completed on August 30th. The officers 
 were as follows : Captain, Frank K. Smith, formerly attached to 
 the 9th New York Militia ; First Lieutenant, Edward W. Schauf- 
 fler; Second Lieutenant, Charles A. Benjamin. 
 
 Company E. This company was also started as an independ- 
 ent organization on the 16th of August at Huntington, L. I., by 
 Hewlett J. Long and George S. Sammis, but on the 20th, acting 
 upon the advice of Captain Howland of Company A, it was de- 
 cided to unite the company with the "Monitor" Regiment, and 
 on the 26th it was assigned as Company E, with the following 
 as officers : Captain James W. Gurney ; First Lieutenant, Hewlitt 
 J. Long; Second Lieutenant, George S. Sammis. The recruits 
 were largely in excess of the required number, and this excess 
 was transferred to other companies then forming. 
 
 Company F. Recruiting for this company was commenced in 
 New York on July 5th. It completed its quota by August 25th 
 and was officered as follows: Captain, Joseph S. Cook; First 
 Lieutenant, William L. Conant; Second Lieutenant, William B. 
 Dean. 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 9 
 
 Company G. Recruiting was commenced in New York City 
 on the 25th of July, and the company was completed by August 
 30th and officered as follows: Captain, Edmund S. Henry, for- 
 merly of the 7th N. Y. Militia; First Lieutenant, Sheldon A. Hull; 
 Second Lieutenant, John S. Gardner, formerly of the 9th N. Y. 
 Militia. 
 
 Company H. Recruiting for this company was commenced 
 by Stewart L. Woodford on August 16th at Greenport, L. I., and 
 continued on the morninf of the 18th at Riverhead. and on the 
 evening of the same day at Southold, at which place twenty-three 
 recruits were secured. On the 20th a meeting was held in the 
 Mattituck Church, on the 21st at the Greenport M. E. Church, 
 and on the 22d at the Orient Presbyterian Church, on the 23d at 
 South Hampton and again at Riverhead on the same day. These 
 meetings resulted in a large number of recruits being obtained, 
 and on the 24th farewell services were held in the M. E. Church 
 at Greenport. On the 25th the recruits were taken to 308 Broad- 
 way, New York City, and there mustered into the State service. 
 
 Company I. The recruits for this company were obtained 
 from the vicinity of Babylon and Canarsie, and the overflow of 
 Company E, which had recruited a greater number than Army 
 regulations allowed to a company. To the command of this com- 
 pany Orderly Sergeant Richard Allison of Company B, 7th Regi- 
 ment, New York State Militia, was called; H. B. Dennison as 
 First Lieutenant, and George H. L. Coggeshall, Second Lieu- 
 tenant. 
 
 Company K. This company was formed at Sag Harbor, L. I., 
 by Stewart L. Woodford from recruits that had been secured by 
 A. DeBevoise, J. G. Raynor, Charles P. Cook and Dr. Charles P. 
 Dayton from Sag Harbor, Springs, East Amagansett, Good 
 Ground, West Hampton, Riverhead and East Hampton. A. De- 
 Bevoise was commissioned Captain; J. G. Raynor, First Lieuten- 
 ant; Charles P. Cook, Second Lieutenant, and Dr. Charles P. 
 Dayton, Orderly Sergeant. Dr. Dayton, shortly after the regi- 
 ment reached the field, was appointed Second Assistant Surgeon, 
 and continued with the regiment in that capacity until its muster 
 out at the close of the war. 
 
 The religious and patriotic enthusiasm in which the men of a 
 great part of the regiment joined is indicated by the fact of the 
 churches having been, in so many instances, the places from 
 
io REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 which the appeal for their services was made ; and the enthusiasm 
 which prevailed is well indicated by the following- extracts from 
 the editorial and advertising columns of the Suffolk Times of 
 August 21st, 1862, which paper was published at Greenport, L.I., 
 and was edited and owned by John J. Riddell, who was after- 
 wards a sergeant of Company H, and finally commissioned Lieu- 
 tenant. His editorial was as follows: "OLD SUFFOLK 
 AROUSED. The patriotism of our township has finally been 
 aroused; her sons are flocking to the recruiting offices, leaving 
 the plowshare buried in the furrow, and the stately corn fields to 
 some other harvester. Good farmers give great attention to their 
 fence, and a weak' post or rail must be replaced that the 'herd' 
 may be kept from devastating the ripening crops. The herd is 
 aroused, wild and hungry, trying every ingenious plan to break 
 down the fence that divides a generous from a desolating people! 
 The decayed posts and the weak rail must be strengthened. All 
 who desire that the crops of peace and love shall be harvested in 
 abundance must turn out and repair damages. The good old 
 town of Southold desires her sons to be volunteers for the army, 
 and many of our best men have already rallied around the stand- 
 ard, 'The Stars and Stripes.' A company is now being formed. 
 All who can carry a musket should now come forward. Let no 
 man skulk from his duty!" 
 
 In another part of the same paper appears the following ad- 
 vertisement: "TO THE PUBLIC: The undersigned having 
 volunteered his services as a United States soldier in defence of 
 his country would respectfully request all persons indebted to 
 him, either for subscription, advertising or for work, to make im- 
 mediate payment; and all persons having claims against him will 
 please present the same without delay. John J. Riddell, Green- 
 port, August 19th, 1862. Company Southold Volunteers." 
 
 In unselfish patriotic devotion to the needs of his country, 
 Comrade Riddell was but a type of a large number of those who 
 enlisted in the Monitor Regiment, whose influence for good was 
 marked not only during their service, but on their return to civil 
 life; and to many such could fittingly be applied the words of 
 Comrade Riddell's daughter, vho replied to the writer's request 
 for his record of service by saying: "Father entered eternal rest 
 June 9th, 1894." 
 
 The recruits, when mustered into the State service, were ren- 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. n 
 
 dezvoused at Camp Washington, Staten Island, where there was 
 a fine camp ground and commodious barracks. The following is 
 a good description as given by one of the members of the- regi- 
 ment: "After arriving at camo we were escorted to the barracks, 
 which consisted of wooden buildings covered with clapboards, 
 containing numerous racks of bunks, three in a tier, one above 
 the other. When the drum beat the call for supper, we were or- 
 dered to fall in and close up, right dress, right face, and forward 
 march! As this was new work, the movements were not very 
 gracefully executed. After waiting impatiently until the other 
 companies had filed by in alphabetical order and taken their ra- 
 tions, we, in accordance with military discipline, were marched to 
 the great cook house and were given our cup of tea and slice of 
 bread, when we retired to make room for others. 
 
 "I think that this, our first supper in camp, and the various at- 
 titudes presented by us as we sat upon the ground, sipping our 
 tea, would have formed an interesting picture for the pencil of an 
 artist. There was the hardy son of toil side by side with the deli- 
 cate student, clerk, teacher and professional man, coming from 
 the various departments of society, and from the laps of ease and 
 luxury, to engage in the exposure and hardship of active mili- 
 tary life. After we had finished our meal and returned our cups 
 and plates to the cook house, we were permitted to return to our 
 barracks without military parade, for which we were very thank- 
 ful. We passed our first night in camp lying upon the hard side 
 of the barrack floor, and I guess the soundest sleepers that night 
 were under the floor, as it did not give a bit. We were so closely 
 packed in our barrack bedstead that our extremities occasionally 
 came in contact with the body of a comrade, occasioning a grunt 
 of more emphatic remonstrance from the unlucky recipient of our 
 nightly gymnastics. We were called up in the morning at day- 
 break, and before receiving our breakfast were compelled to stand 
 in line to answer roll-call, to enable them to determine whether 
 any adventurous hero had "run the guard" during the night. Gen- 
 erally some ten or twelve were missing, the most of whom turned 
 up during the day and were sent to the guard-house charged with 
 being absent without leave, and perhaps other violations of army 
 regulations. 
 
 "After roll-call we were divided into squads and set to work 
 policing (cleaning) camp. This being ended, we were called to 
 
12 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 breakfast, which consisted of a cup of coffee, a piece of boiled beef 
 and a chunk of bread." 
 
 Another comrade describes the daily drill in camp as "hard" 
 and the camp fare "still harder." "The food," he said, "was fur- 
 nished by a contractor and was as follows, viz.: Breakfast, beef 
 stew and a villainous coffee; dinner, boiled ham, two chunks of 
 bread and a bowl of vegetable soup; supper, a few chunks of 
 bread, sliced raw onions and coffee." In a letter to his relatives 
 he expressed the opinion that it was not to be wondered at that 
 some of the men, after partaking of such rough fare so near home, 
 were so unfavorably impressed with the prospective hardships of 
 camp life as to change their mind about being mustered into the 
 United States service, and had taken "French leave," while as 
 yet such action did not constitute an offence against the general 
 government. It should be stated that six months after being in 
 active service the writer was greatly pleased to have such fare 
 given to him, and considered soft bread a pudding! 
 
 Quoting from a characteristic letter, a member wrote : "After 
 breakfast those detailed for camp guard were duly notified and 
 stationed at their posts, nwiskets in hand; a very important, but 
 not a dangerous position just then. We had been on the island 
 but a short time when we received our outfit of thick woolen ma- 
 terials, which during such warm weather as then prevailed made 
 us sweat to look at. It consisted of overcoat, pants, blouse, two 
 woolen shirts, two pairs of woolen drawers, two pairs of heavy 
 woolen socks, heavy cowhide shoes, woolen blanket and a rubber 
 blanket with a slit in the middle, so that by thrusting the head 
 through the opening it might be used for a cape for protection 
 against rain. As the men varkd largely in their physical build, 
 the appearance of many of them after being dressed in this uni- 
 form caused much mirth on the part of their comrades, as they 
 sallied forth in the hot sun with the perspiration dropping over 
 their faces. At a later time the services of the regimental tailor 
 were utilized by some in having their coats and pants altered into 
 a closer fit. The citizen's clothing was now packed up and ex- 
 pressed back to the dear old homes that many would never see 
 again." 
 
 Companies A and B occupied adjoining barracks, and as many 
 of the men were church members, nightly devotional meetings 
 
(Jen'l. STEWART L WOODFOKD 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 13 
 
 were held, which were largely attended by the members of these 
 and of other companies, and were of much interest. 
 
 On the 28th of August a visit to Huntington was made by 
 Companies A and E in response to an invitation from the resi- 
 dents of that village. A light rainstorm proved no other obstacle 
 than slight discomfort to the men, who marched up Broadway to 
 Chambers Street and thence to James Slip ferry. A member said: 
 "Upon reaching Huntington we met with a most cordial recep- 
 tion from the citizens of that village, who together with those 
 from the surrounding country turned out en masse to greet us 
 with words of cheer and the good things of this life. The tables 
 were loaded with the bounties of Providence, prepared by loving 
 hearts and willing hands. The scene then witnessed will long be 
 remembered by all who were present. The fact that Company E 
 had been recruited from this town and from the surrounding 
 country caused the meeting to be a solemn one for many. Friend 
 parted from friend, good-byes were repeated and hands were 
 clasped perhaps for the last time, while the nearest and dearest 
 ties of humanity were sundered, for aught we knew, forever upon 
 the shores of time." 
 
 One pleasant incident of our visit was the presentation of a 
 handsome flag to Company E by the ladies of the town, the pre- 
 sentation speech being made by Lawyer Wells and being re- 
 sponded to by Captain Gurney, who accepted the colors and gave 
 them into the hands of Sergeant John Moore, the color bearer of 
 the company. We then left our native village and returned to 
 New York, crossing into the city over the 34th Street ferry, from 
 which point we marched down Broadway, reaching our camp on 
 Staten Island at 10 p. m." 
 
 On September 1st the necessary regimental documents and 
 commissions for William Gurney, Stewart L. Woodford and Ed- 
 ward H. Little as Colonel, Lieutenant-Colonel and Major, respec- 
 tively, of the 127th New York Volunteers, were received from 
 Governor Morgan at Albany. 
 
 On September 2d the regiment crossed to New York and 
 marched up Broadway to the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Stickney 
 on East 12th Street, where it was presented with a handsome 
 stand of colors. After enjoying the lunch served by Mrs. Stickney 
 the regiment returned to camp. 
 
 On September 6th accoutrements and knapsacks were issued 
 
14 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 to the regiment, the flanking companies, A and B, being armed 
 with Springfield, and the other eight companies with Enfield 
 rifles. 
 
 On September 8th the regiment was mustered into the United 
 States service by First Lieutenant Alfred Foot of the 14th U. S. 
 Regular Infantry, and the men were ordered to hold themselves 
 in readiness to march at an hour's notice. 
 
 Amid the sad farewell of relatives and friends, at 6 p. m. of 
 September 10th the regiment left Camp Washington, Staten Isl- 
 and, and boarded the steamer "Kill Von Kull," bound for Eliza- 
 bethport, N. J., where it arrived at 8 p. m. Passenger cars of a 
 style long since discarded by all railroad companies of the North 
 awaited the regiment here, and when knapsacks, haversacks and 
 accoutrements, besides the two days' rations which had been is- 
 sued to the men, were stowed in between the crowded seats, little 
 rest or sleep was possible during the night. 
 
 Early on the morning of the nth the train passed through 
 Phillipsburg and Easton and through the coal and iron districts 
 of Pennsylvania, affording many of the men their first glimpse of 
 iron furnaces in operation. Trains of coal cars that seemed to be 
 of interminable length were constantly met with, and the numer- 
 ous signs of industry were in striking contrast to what we were so 
 soon to see further South. Later we passed through York and 
 reached Harrisburg at noon, where a stop long enough to fill our 
 canteens with hot coffee was made. The journey was then re- 
 sumed, and at 4 p. m. the train crossed the state line into the 
 "land of Dixie." Baltimore was reached at 6 p. m., where we left 
 the train and marched through Cathedral, North Biddle and West 
 and Eutaw street to the rooms of the Union Relief Association, 
 where a clean, excellent supper was furnished us, after which we 
 boarded old baggage cars of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad 
 bound for Washington. The train was delayed in Baltimore un- 
 til 9.30 p. m., and while waiting we were entertained with a Union 
 speech by an old gentleman named Oldham, who claimed that the 
 majority of the people of Baltimore were Union in sentiment and 
 not "Secesh," and to which the men responded by singing "The 
 Star-Spangled Banner" and "My Country, 'Tis of Thee." The 
 train at 9.30 p. m. ran out a few miles beyond the Relay House 
 and lay there all night, for what reason we could not learn except 
 that the track ahead was reported blocked. The night was any- 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 15 
 
 thing but comfortable, as it rained hard and the roofs of the cars 
 were by no means water tight. 
 
 General Lee's army was at this time in the vicinity of Hagers- 
 town, Maryland, and one rumor was that we might be ordered up 
 to join McClellan, who was also in that vicinity. 
 
so* 
 
 
 5- 
 
 
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 © 
 
 
 ^ 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 17 
 
 Chapter II. 
 
 IN THE DEFENCES OF WASHINGTON. 
 
 Sept. 12th, 1862, to April 15th, 1863. 
 
 We left the Junction at 10 o'clock a. m. Sept. 12 and arrived 
 at Washington at 1 p. m., and then lay around in the sun the bal- 
 ance of the afternoon, after which coffee and bread were issued to 
 the men at the Soldiers' Retreat. At 6 p. m. we took up our 
 march for Fort Ethan Allen, about eight miles distant. The route 
 was up Pennsylvania avenue, past the "White House," through 
 George town, and over the Chain Bridge into Virginia. As the 
 men had been two nights practically without sleep and were heav- 
 ily burdened with many articles they then thought indispensable, 
 as well as with their regular accoutrements, the march was a try- 
 ing one, and many dropped out before the final halt was made, 
 content to ?pend the night by the roadside and find the regiment 
 in the morning. At about 1 1 o'clock the regiment halted and bi- 
 vouacked near Fort Ethan Allen. A member of Company D, 
 Christopher Corblay, in his effort to maintain his place in the 
 ranks ruptured a blood vessel and was placed helpless in one of 
 the carriages that accompanied the regiment as ambulances. 
 When the regiment halted it was found that life was extinct and 
 he was quietly buried the following morning, the first of the regi- 
 ment to die while performing his duty. 
 
 The next morning at 9 o'clock we were ordered to pack knap- 
 sacks and were then marched about a mile back and up the Po- 
 tomac, where we camped on ti.e top of a hill near Fort Marcy and 
 between the banks of the Potomac and the Georgetown and Lees- 
 burg Pike, with the Chain Bridge just to our left. The men were 
 at once set at work clearing away the undergrowth with which 
 the camp site was covered. No shelter tents having as yet been 
 furnished, we bivouacked in the open air, exposed to the heavy 
 night dew, with which our woolen blankets were almost saturated 
 by morning. This, our first camp, was named "Morgan" in hon- 
 or of the War Governor of New York State. 
 
18 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 The next day. our first Sabbath in camp, no religious services 
 were held, and the men, excepting those detailed for camp guard, 
 were allowed to do about as they pleased. Some busied them- 
 selves in setting up their tents, which were given out that morn- 
 ing. These "shelter tents" consisted of pieces of cotton twilling 
 five feet by six, with buttons and button holes on each edge to 
 permit of being joined together. Two pieces thus joined when 
 thrown over a cross bar, with a third piece drawn around one end, 
 afforded protection from wind and weather for three men. The 
 men were thus formed into groups of three, as tentmates in camp 
 and comrades on the march. The friendships thus formed con- 
 tinued, in many cases, during the three years' service, and in not 
 a few others continued throughout life. On September 15th camp 
 routine commenced in earnest and the men had but little spare 
 time. Reveille roll call at sunrise was followed by policing the 
 company streets and parade ground; breakfast at 7 a. m.; squad 
 drill 7:30 to 8:30; guard mount at 9; company drill 9:30 to 11; 
 dinner at 12 m. ; squad drill 2:jo to 3:30 p. m. ; company drill 4 to 
 5:30; dress parade at sunset; supper at 6:10 o. m. ; tattoo roll call 
 at 8:30 p. m., and taps at 9, at which time all lights were to be 
 extinguished. 
 
 This order was at first closely obcen"- J I -it as the men be- 
 came more used to camp life various devices to evade it were in- 
 dulged in. In one company a private who had left his college du- 
 ties to serve his "Uncle" and who cesired to avail himself of the 
 time after 9 p. m. obtained an empty cracker or "hard tack" box, 
 and, removing one end, arranged a curtain ar rand the opening. 
 When taps sounded he placed his lighted candle in the further 
 end of the cracker box, and, thrusting his head in the open end 
 and drawing the heavy curtain about his shoulders, he was able 
 without fear of detection to continue his studies long into the 
 night. This comrade after the close of the war became a respect- 
 ed minister of the Gospel, exhorting his hearers to refrain from 
 hiding their talents under a bushel, but urging them to let their 
 lights so shine as to be seen and known of all men. The same 
 tent also covered another private whose mental recreation con- 
 sisted in reading "Butler's Analogy" and who after the close of 
 the war became a successful practitioner of law. 
 
 The heights upon which our camp was situated were some 
 distance back from and above the level of the river or "run" 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 19 
 
 emptying into the Potomac, the bank of which was steep and dif- 
 ficult of ascent. It was our custom to go down to the "run" ev- 
 ery morning in charge of a non-commissioned officer for the pur- 
 pose of bathing and washing our clothing. The current at this 
 point was very rapid, making it dangerous for other than strong 
 swimmers to venture far from shore ; but notwithstanding that all 
 were warned-to exercise due caution, Private Thomas Murphy of 
 Company F on the 16th got beyond his depth and was drowned. 
 
 The distance and the roughness of the road we had to travel 
 in going to and from the river made good exercise for us and in- 
 creased our appetite, which a change of food and climate had 
 somewhat abated, but we were getting used to Uncle Sam's ra- 
 tions, which, though not delicate, were plentiful and of good qual- 
 ity, and were as follows, viz. : Fresh bread four times a week and 
 "hard tack" the other days; boiled fresh beef some days and 
 boiled salt pork or salt beef on others; bean, rice or pea soup 
 three or four times each week ; occasionally boiled rice with a ta- 
 blespoonful of molasses for flavoring and plenty of good coffee. 
 A comrade said "The only article of food that proved too much 
 for me was the soup made from peas, which occasionally was fla- 
 vored by burning some of the savory sauce on the bottom of the 
 iron mess kettle." 
 
 The men varied this fare by buying condensed milk or butter 
 from the sutler, or what was beginning to be regarded as delica- 
 cies from the colored folks and country people who were allowed 
 to approach and sell across the camp guard line. In anticipa- 
 tion of the time when some of its members might be in the camp 
 hospital and unable to obtain these luxuries, Company A, by tax- 
 ing each of its comrades one dollar, raised a fund to provide deli- 
 cacies for their sick comrades. 
 
 On the 16th ten men were detailed from each company to dig 
 rifle pits commanding the Leesburg Pike near our camp. Com- 
 pany E were sent on picket with line extending from the Potomac 
 to the Leesburg Pike, and men were compelled to stay up all 
 night in anticipation of an attack; but there was probably no ene- 
 my within twenty miles. At night Company A occupied the rifle 
 pits, and as it rained all night the men had their first sample of 
 the clayey Virginia mud which so much delayed the forward move- 
 ment of General McClellan's army. An officer while making the 
 rounds got inside the picket line and had to stand before the 
 
20 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 pointed rifle of a green and nervous picket until relieved by the 
 sergeant of the picket squad. 
 
 On the 18th the picket line was established from the Potomac 
 on the right to where our line joined General Siegel's on the left 
 
 On Sunday, September 21st, Chaplain Francis preached from 
 the text, 133d Psalm, 12th verse: "Behold how pleasant for breth- 
 ren to dwell together in unity." As the existing conditions were 
 suggestive of war rather than peace the presumption was that the 
 intent of the kindly chaplam, who was a Universalist in belief, 
 while the men represented almost every other denomination, was 
 to urge upon all the desirability of overlooking for the time all 
 doctrinal differences and accepting Christianity as an uplifting 
 moral power. 
 
 On September 24th two hundred men were detailed from the 
 regiment to cut down treees in the front of Fort Ethan Allen to 
 afford greater range for the guns of that fort, and many still re- 
 member the feeling's of regret that the circumstances seemed to 
 require the destruction of the splendid grove. While engaged in 
 this work Private Tallman, of Company A, was struck by a fall- 
 ing tree which he had been cutting and severely injured. A few 
 weeks later he was discharged from the army on account of dis- 
 ability arising- from said injuries. The same day the bclance of 
 the regiment had their first battalion drill, and at night furnished 
 a strong detail for picket duty. The picket posts were lo- 
 cated at distances of two to three hundred feet in the woods along 
 the edge of the Leesburg Pike. The men had no ihelter except 
 as could be improvised by pine trees or boughs which some fash- 
 ioned into "lean-tos" and others into primitive huts, which afford- 
 ed excellent protection from the sun, but none whatever from the 
 rains. While here the men who cared to indulge their appetites 
 had the opportunity of obtaining an excellent dinner at a farm 
 house just inside the picket line with a bill of fare of "chicken pot 
 pie," boiled ham, biscuit, lima beans, stewed peaches and pie, at 
 fording an agreeable change from the fare furnished by "Uncle 
 Sam," who, however, mad« no allowance for the outlay of cash 
 which this change in diet involved. 
 
 On September 29th Captain Howland, of Company A, report- 
 ed in camp, he having remained in New York to settle private 
 business matters. The same day the regiment had a battalion 
 drill of two hours' duration in heavy marching order. 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 21 
 
 On October 3d the men were vaccinated, and on Sunday, the 
 5th, regimental inspection was the order for the forenoon, and 
 church services were held in the afternoon. Regular prayer 
 meetings were also held on Wednesday and Friday evenings. 
 
 October nth General Abercombie was appointed to the com- 
 mand of the division, of Which the 127th New York, 127th Penn- 
 sylvania and 40th Massachusetts formed a brigade, commanded 
 by Colonel Jennings of the 40th Massachusetts. 
 
 Sunday morning, October 12th, company inspection; church 
 service was again held in the afternoon. Halsey Moore of the 
 13th Street Presbyterian Church and the wives of Lieutenant Col- 
 onel Woodford and Captain Smith were among the visitors to the 
 camp. 
 
 On October 17th the regiment struck tents and at noon 
 marched six miles to Miners Hill, which was about two miles 
 north of Falls Church, and there bivouacked. A number of old 
 log huts were still at this place which one year before had been 
 occupied by General McClellan's troops for winter quarters, but 
 which for sanitary reasons we were not allowed to use. The next 
 day the men were set at work removing the huts and clearing 
 ground for camp, the location, although exposed to the high, cold 
 winds, was excellent in other respects. 
 
 In the evening many of the men gathered around a large 
 camp fire, joking and singing. A comrade entertained the men 
 with his inimitable rendering of his one hundred verse song, de- 
 scribing "the death of the grasshopper that was snapped off the 
 sweet potato vine by the hungry turkey gobbler that came up be- 
 hind," and after working off half a dozen verses, all of which were 
 exactly alike, the men managed to squelch him; but the song had 
 served the purpose of driving off for the time being the depress- 
 ing effect of homesickness, which we all felt to a greater or less 
 extent. 
 
 Monday, October 20th, the regiment spent in drilling and in 
 getting in readiness to again change camp to Uptons Hill, a much 
 more favorable location. The next morning at 10 a. m. the regi- 
 ment broke camp and marched through Falls Church to Upton's 
 Hill, near Fort Ramsey, a distance of three miles, where our new 
 camp was laid out. The hill took its name from Colonel Upton, 
 a Union man, of whose farm it was a part and whose house was 
 just back of headquarters. Our camp was pleasantly located, but 
 
22 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 wood and water for the cooks had to be brought about half a 
 mile, and the wood and water squads saw no appropriateness in 
 the name of "Bliss," which was given to the camp, possibly in 
 honor of Colonel Bliss, the District Attorney of New York, with 
 whom the Lieutenant Colonel had been legally associated before 
 entering the army. 
 
 Colonel Gurney was now assigned the command of the bri- 
 gade, which was composed of the 127th, I42d, 143d and 144th 
 New York Volunteers, and was designated the 3d Brigade, Ab- 
 ercrombie's Division, Defences of Washington. 
 
 We still had only our shelter tents, to enter which it was nec- 
 essary to crawl on hands and knees, and our rubber blanket was 
 the only protection from the ground, which was frequently cold 
 and wet. However, in a day or two we had our camp as com- 
 fortable and attractive as circumstances would permit. The fall 
 rains had set in and severe storms were not infrequent. On the 
 27th one of unusual severity visited us and by night had increased 
 so that half of the camp guard was relieved from duty, the men 
 drawing lots by aid of white and black beans to determine who 
 should serve and who be relieved. The Sibley guard tent leaked 
 so badly that the men when not on duty spent the night around 
 a fire in the open air with their rubber blankets about their shoul- 
 ders, and by morning all were thoroughly chilled and wet. Mat- 
 ters were enlivened somewhat during the night by a drunken cav- 
 alryman confined in the guard tent, who blew out the candle and 
 then passed out of the tent as one of the guard, but being detect- 
 ed made a run across the camp pursued by the guard, whose 
 threats to shoot had little effect, as the escaping prisoner prob- 
 ably knew as well as the guard that the muskets were empty. This 
 episode was repeated once or twice during the night. 
 
 The pegs of many of the shelter tents in camp yielded to the 
 storm toward morning, and the disgusted men crawled out from 
 beneath the wrecks and "ran the guard line" in large numbers, 
 taking refuge in the barns and sheds of neighboring farmers. Just 
 after daybreak Major Little was seen wearing a slouched hat 
 and weather stained overcoat and looking like a professional 
 tramp, making the rounds of the camp guard line to see whether 
 the sentries were alert. The storm cleared off early and the men 
 of the guard, who had been up all night and were thoroughly 
 drenched, were ordered to fall in and go with the rest of the reg- 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 23 
 
 iment on division review to Bailey's Cross Roards, about three 
 miles distant, where it was reviewed by Geenral Abercrombie. 
 Most of the camp guard on duty during this storm afterward suf- 
 fered from chills and fever. The Lieutenant Colonel command- 
 ing, although of kindly disposition, was a strict disciplinarian and 
 many lectures were delivered to various line and non-commis- 
 sioned officers that had been summoned to his tent and who as 
 they were about to make some reply were abruptly dismissed 
 from the august presence by the polite "Good morning, lieutenant 
 or sergeant," as the rank might be. The number of "Chinese ora- 
 tions" delivered by the lecture recipients as they took their way 
 from the headquarters' tent were not supposed to be for the edifi- 
 cation of the general public. 
 
 On the 30th the regiment was drilled in firing, blank cart- 
 ridges being used. 
 
 On November 1st it became known that volunteer infantry- 
 men could if they chose enter the New York regular cavalry. Pri- 
 vate B. determined to make the change and got leave to visit 
 
 Washington. B. was suspected and Corporal Van was di-" 
 
 rected to go with him and to be sure to bring him back. The pair 
 "did" Washington and while returning to camp in a wagon about 
 three miles from the regiment B. jumped out and calling out 
 that he had joined the regular cavalry, ran away. A few days 
 afterward one of the staff officers of the 127th took a guard and 
 went to arrest B., but the New York officer of cavalry, whose 
 squadron he had joined, refused to give him up, and the regi- 
 mental infantry officers had to go back without the alleged desert- 
 er, who was borne on nis company rolls as a deserter until the end 
 of the war, but finally was righted, and, it proved, had done faith- 
 ful duty as a cavalryman. 
 
 November 2d heavy firing was heard in the direction of Cen- 
 treville. During the preceding week a large number of cavalry 
 and a few batteries of artillery passed our camp, going toward 
 Fairfax Court House, and our regiment was ordered to be ready 
 to move in the support of the cavalrymen should this be neces- 
 sary. General Pleasanton was said to be making some demon- 
 tration before the enemy, which was the cause of the unusual ac- 
 tivities. 
 
 On November 7th, 1862, snow fell so heavily all day that by 
 night there was a depth of six inches on the level, and the men 
 were kept busy during the whole of the following day removing 
 
24 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 it from the company streets and parade ground. Of this storm a 
 comrade writes : "I well remember our first snow storm in Vir- 
 ginia. We were all in our little shelter tents, each of which was 
 surrounded by a shallow ditch just sufficient to prevent the water 
 flowing to the inside. We had no fire except the one where the 
 company rations were cooked, and that was out of doors, like ev- 
 erything else in the army. So we had to brush the snow from our 
 feet and crawl into our tents, with our overcoats on, cover up with 
 our woolen blrnkets to try and keep warm; and right glad were 
 we to get even such protection from the cold and storms. 
 
 "But even if the snow did fall the men must have their mus- 
 kets and equipments ready to fall in at the first tap of the drum, 
 for the indispensable dress parade, at which the regiment after 
 being drawn up in line of battle was put through a few move- 
 ments in the manual of arms by the Colonel, after which the drum 
 corps, followed by the members of the commissioned staff, includ- 
 ing the chaplain, decorously marched up and down in front of 
 the regimental line. The movements concluded with the Orderly 
 •Sergeant of each company stepping to the front of the regiment 
 and going through the formality of reporting all members of his 
 company present or accounted for, after which the regiment was 
 dismissed, each company returning to its street to await the more 
 satisfactory order to 'fall in for rations.' 
 
 "In such weather a fire was greatly to be desired, and some of 
 the men tried to build chimneys in their tents of old bricks or of 
 clay and twigs, but as the draft was necessarily defective and fuel 
 (owing to the close watch kept by the cooks on their wood pile) 
 hard to get, their efforts to keep warm met with little success. 
 
 "This scarcity of wood sometimes caused one of the ten com- 
 mandments to be badly strained. One dark evening a negro 
 servant had a large stick of cord wood on his shoulder, and, arriv- 
 ing in front of a tent, dropped the stick and went inside. Just as 
 he did this Orderlv Sergeant Batterson, who was passing, quietly 
 shouldered the stick and goin^ off in the darkness placed it on 
 the cook house wood pile of his company. The darkev quickly 
 reappeared, ax in hand, prepared to convert the stick into more 
 convenient shape for burning, but no stick was there, and getting 
 no answer to his soliloquy of 'Whar dat wood?' he finally con- 
 cluded that he had seen the last of it, and so he put up his ax and 
 started off to recoup his loss from some ungarded wood pile." 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 25 
 
 The commissioned officers did not have such a struggle to 
 keep warm, for at Camp Morgan they had been furnished with 
 canvas wall tents, and after reaching Camp Bliss many of them 
 had obtained a stove, and, with their negro servant to find wood, 
 they had been much more comfortable than the enlisted men; but 
 as this was merely the fortune of war there was little feeling of 
 envy. 
 
 On the 24th Lieutenant Zebulon H. Brower of Company H 
 resigned and returned north, the first commissioned officer to 
 leave the regiment. On the 25th Captain Cornelius Cooper of 
 Company C died of typhoid fever, and the regiment were at once 
 required to strike tents and air the ground on which they stood. 
 
 The next day was observed as Thanksgiving, and the "boxes" 
 which had been received clearly proved that the boys, though ab- 
 sent, had not been forgotten. These boxes came to Washing- 
 ton by express, from which place they were brought to camp by 
 the regimental baggage wagons, their coming occasioning an in- 
 terest second only to the arrival and distribution of the letters 
 from home. The boxes contained roast turkeys and other choice 
 edibles, and the many recipients were greatly pleased. 
 
 On the 28th the regiment took part in a brigade drill at Bai- 
 ley's Cross Roads, under the command of Colonel Gurney. The 
 manoeuvres consisted in marching and countermarching around a 
 large field of some one hundred or more acres for the purpose of 
 developing the skill of the men in changing formation and lines 
 of battle preparatory to entering active service. 
 
 On the 29th a storm set in which continued three days, and 
 the men on picket duty had an experience far from delightful or 
 even comfortable. 
 
 The death and resignation among the officers made changes 
 necessary and the following about this time were announced: 
 First Lieutenant A. W. Fisk to be Captain of Co. C, to rank from 
 November 26th, 1862; Second Lieutenant H. H. Gardner to be 
 First Lieutenant of Co. C; Sergeant Major George J. Collins to 
 be Second Lieutenant of Co. H ; Orderly Sergeant A. S. Bodine 
 to be Second Lieutenant of Co. B ; Sergeant J. H. Young to be 
 First Lieutenant of Co. H. 
 
 On the 30th of November the chaplain preached a sermon on 
 the recent deaths of Captain Cooper and Privates Sayres and 
 
26 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 Halsey of Company K. Funeral services of Halsey were held at 
 Mr. Upton's house. 
 
 On December 4th the regiment again took part in a brigade 
 drill at Bailey's Cross Roads. Drill lasted from n =30 a. m. until 
 4 p. m. with an interval of one hour for dinner. 
 
 December 5th it snowed all day. Captain Howland of Com- 
 pany A, whose health had been completely broken by the expo- 
 sure of camp life, resigned his commission, and together with Pri- 
 vate Luff of Company A, who had received honorable discharge, 
 returned home. 
 
 By the resignation of Captain Howland Company A became 
 the junior company and compelled the exchange of its Springfield 
 for Enfield rifles, that the two flanking companies of the regiment 
 might be armed with the former. 
 
 December 6th the weather was very cold, and as we still had 
 only shelter tents, sleep at night was almost impossible. Snow 
 had again fallen, and on December 9th the regiment indulged in 
 a snowball fight, the right wing of the regiment under command 
 of Lieutenant Young against the left wing under Captain Gur- 
 ney. This same day the regiment received A or wedge tents, 
 which were most acceptable, as the indications were that we would 
 spend the remainder of the winter at this camp or in its vicinity. 
 
 Early in December the following promotions of commissioned 
 officers were announced: Adjutant John L. Little to be Captain 
 of Co. A; First Lieutenant Schauffler of Co. D to be Adjutant; 
 Second Lieutenant Dean of Co. F to be First Lieutenant of Co. 
 D; Quartermaster Sergeant Dodge to be Second Lieutenant of 
 Co. F. Dodge was a refugee from Tennessee and enlisted as a 
 private in Co. C. He finally became First Lieutenant and Quar- 
 termaster of the regiment. 
 
 On the 20th the regiment commenced to arrange winter quar- 
 ters. For the protection of the cooks of each company a shed of 
 boards was fitted up, the front part of which was left open for the 
 fireplace to allow the smoke to escape, but the smoke was often 
 obstinate and would frequently go the wrong way, almost blind- 
 ing those within. Some of the cooks were greatly affected, near- 
 ly losing their eyesight, so that they had to go under the sur- 
 geon's charge. 
 
 The men also commenced setting up their canvas wedge- 
 shaped (A) tents upon sidings of chestnut slabs eight feet square 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 27 
 
 and three feet high, which were cut from the neighboring woods 
 by men detailed for that purpose. The tents were also floored 
 and fitted with bunks of same. Some of the tents were sided and 
 and floored with boards which were bought in Washington by 
 the men, and many of the tents were warmed by small sheet iron 
 camp stoves obtained from Washington. 
 
 One squad of Company A, consisting of Stevenson, Votey, 
 Howland, Jarvis and McGrath, with John C. Merritt as non-resi- 
 dent brevet member, whose presence always added pleasure as 
 well as "Merritt" to the group, obtained boards and camp stove 
 from Washington and by the mechanical skill and handiness of 
 J. C. Howland, who before his enlistment had worked at car- 
 pentry, fitted up one of the most comfortable tents in the regi- 
 ment with board floor, three feet high siding of boards, hinged 
 door and bunks for five men. This tent when heated with a 
 sheet iron camp stove was patronized to its full capacity by differ- 
 ent members of the company on cold and stormy evenings. The 
 enjoyment of its comfort was occasionally somewhat impaired by 
 conditions of draft suggestive of the pipe being on the wrong end 
 of the stove, and an investigation generally resulted in finding 
 that Drummer "Daddy" Lake had been utilizing the outer end of 
 the pipe as a receptacle for old clothes. Lake, when his attention 
 was called to the matter, always regretted his error and was for- 
 given until his weak memory again caused him to repeat his er- 
 ror. The dude of the squad was William H. Jarvis, whose nat- 
 ural neatness was supplemented by a skill in the polishing of 
 rifles and brass breast plates and in the blacking and polishing of 
 belts and shoes that caused him to be frequently picked from' the 
 camp guard to act as Orderly at the Colonel's marquee. In the 
 tent his droll wit and sunny disposition helped keep away the 
 blues from all the members of the squad during the winter. Never 
 very strong, he finally succumbed to camp dysentery and was 
 transferred to the hospital on David's Island, New York, where 
 he died almost within sight of his home. 
 
 December 25th, Christmas, the regiment in camp indulged in 
 the following sports, viz. : A greased pole was erected in camp on 
 top of which a sum of money was placed, which was to be the 
 property of the lucky man who might climb high enough to reach 
 it. It was amusing to see the men try this slippery exercise. 
 Wearing old clothes and with their pockets full of sand, they 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 29 
 
 would sand the pole as they climbed till both sand and muscle 
 were exhausted, when the effort would be relinquished only to be 
 taken up by another. 
 
 This method failing to produce the desired result, permission 
 was finally given to use any available means of getting to the top. 
 A long plank was quickly obtained and after one had reached the 
 highest altitude possible he was propped with the plank and thus 
 helped to the top. Whether the climber or pusher reaped the re- 
 ward is immaterial. 
 
 Another object of amusement was a slushed pig, with his tail 
 shaved and greased, and which was turned loose to be caught by 
 the slippery appendage. The men formed a circle with the pig 
 placed inside, together with those who desired to have a hand or 
 foot in the chase. The animal was very fat and could not run 
 fast, but seemed to have little difficulty in eluding a capturing 
 grasp. After being chased thus for some time the pig became 
 weary and Sergeant Moore of Company E stepped up and caught 
 him by the tail. This ended the pig chase, and Company E that 
 night made a sumptuous dinner on the pig, which was roasted 
 whole, together with a hundred pies and many other good things. 
 
 The sack races, which also took place on this day, were also 
 amusing. The contestants were each tied up in bags, leaving only 
 their hands exposed. They could not run, but had to jump. As 
 the race progressed some were unlucky enough to fall and of 
 course were out of the race. 
 
 Another sport indulged in was a three-legged race. The 
 men were in pairs, with one leg of each man tied together, and 
 the efforts made by each pair of men to get a progressive gait on 
 by using the three legs was most ludicrous. In the evening we 
 had a visit from a squad of men from one of the other regiments 
 in the brigade who came to join in the sport. Boxing and jump- 
 ing were added to the programme, but none were able to equal 
 the distance jumped by Sergeant John Moore of Company E, 
 who was the champion runner and jumper of the brigade. 
 
 We now had been in the field a little more than three months, 
 and though we had seen comparatively little real service some 
 were getting homesick or found the duties too trying for their 
 health, and Captain DeBevoise of K, Captain Cook of F and 
 Lieutenant Gardner of Company G resigned their commissions 
 and returned home. 
 
30 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 On December 28th at 10 p. m. that portion of the regiment 
 which were on picket duty were relieved and returned to camp, 
 where considerable excitement prevailed. Cooks were issuing ra- 
 tions and sergeants distributing ball cartridges to the men, orders- 
 having been received for the regiment to take part in some expe- 
 dition. Tents were left standing, and those men who had recently- 
 received boxes from home containing extras for Christmas were 
 glad to divide what was unconsumed among their best friends, 
 with the result that here and there might be seen a comrade with a 
 r^ast chicken fastened on the outside of his already full haversack. 
 
 After falling in column with the rest of the brigade the regi- 
 ment marched out about six miles to a small hamlet called Ah- 
 nandale on the Alexandria and Fairfax Court Hou^e Pike, where 
 at 4 a. m. it was drawn up in line of battle across an open plain 
 and bivouacked behind stacked muskets. The night was quite 
 cold, and as no fires were allowed the men were obliged to make 
 themselves as comfortable as possible under their woolen blank- 
 ets until daybreak, at the earliest sign of which large fires were 
 started, and the men soon had steaming coffee with which to 
 warm their chilled blood. The object of the movement had been 
 to repel a suspected raid by Stuart and Mosby upon the Union 
 lines at this point. After waiting through the following day for 
 the enemy, who was probably miles away, the troops were at sun- 
 set marched back to camp, we reaching ours about 8p. m. 
 
 On December 30th the regiment received orders to be ready 
 to march at a moment's notice, but whether simply in line of dis- 
 cipline or in anticipation of some movement it was not known. No 
 movement followed, however, and on the 31st the camp was 
 dressed in holiday attire. 
 
 Companies E and I erected arches of greens over the end of 
 their company streets; these arches were decorated with stars and 
 the figures 1863 in greens, and many of the men in the regiment 
 also decorated the front and top of their tents with greens. On the 
 next day, January 1st, 1863, the New Year was observed by set- 
 ting up a tall flag staff and firing a "national salute" by the 4th 
 Massachusetts battery, after which speeches were delivered by 
 Lieutenant Colonel Woodford and Honorable Charles Upton; a 
 prayer by Chaplain Francis and the singing of "Columbia" and 
 "The Dear Old Flag" by four comrades. At night the boys cele- 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 31 
 
 brated with a Calathumpian band and mock drills ; but at taps the 
 camp settled down to its usual quietude. 
 
 January 7th: Weather was very cold, and on the 9th snow 
 fell, the storm lasting all day. This was followed on the 10th by 
 rain, affording extremes of weather most trying to those on guard 
 and picket. About this time our camp was inspected by the med- 
 ical officers of the division, and the regiment was reported as 
 standing first in the division for cleanliness and good order of the 
 camp, which perhaps reconciled to some extent those who had 
 persistently "kicked" against what they had decided was unneces- 
 sary work in "policing" the camp. • 
 
 On January nth J. J. Abercrombie, a son of Major-General 
 Abercrombie, commanding our division, was commissioned Sec- 
 ond Lieutenant in the 127th. January 15th the regiment received 
 brass epaulettes or shoulder "scales," which later was the cause 
 of more kicking in which all joined who were compelled to wear 
 them. 
 
 Sunday, January 18: Sabbath in camp was now spent as fol- 
 lows: Inspection of companies at 8 a. m., church service in the 
 Colonel's tent at 10:30, dinner at 12 o'clock, inspection of tents 
 at 3:30 p. m., when the men were expected to have everything 
 dean and in order, and dress parade at 4:30 p. m. 
 
 On the 25th the regiment received and raised a forty-two-foot 
 regulation flag, which had been presented to it. On the 28th and 
 29th of January there was again a heavy fall of snow, covering the 
 ground to a depth of twelve inches on the level and in places 
 drifting to the depth of three feet. The regiment were busied the 
 next day in cleaning snow from the company streets and parade 
 ground. OnJanuary3isttheregimentwas inspected by Lieutenant 
 Colonel Curtis of the I42d New York. As the men turned out in 
 their new suits of dress coats and dark blue pants and wearing 
 black felt (Kossuth) hats turned up on one side, where they were 
 fastened with a brass ornament in the shape of a shield or an 
 eagle and trimmed with a turkey feather, and as the brass shoul- 
 der scales and belt plates and buttons on the dress coats had been 
 polished up for the occasion and the cross belts and shoes black- 
 ened and polished, the men answered the Western soldier's de- 
 scription of a "gilt-edged, paper collar regiment." 
 
 The evident purpose of fitting up the men with dress coats,, 
 felt hats and shoulder scales was an endeavor to bring it in drill. 
 
32 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 discipline and soldierly appearance to compare favorably with the 
 regular troops; but the amount of labor necessary to clean mus- 
 kets and equipments and to polish these shoulder scales and belt 
 plates and blacken cross belts and shoes for guard mount and 
 daily dress parade used up about all of the daytime not required 
 for drilling and fatigue work around camp. As the rifles and 
 equipments must need be kept in a state of cleanliness and polish 
 up to the inspecting officer's standard, any falling below being 
 punished by extra duty, the introduction of more work yet in 
 these shoulder scales caused them to become very unpopular with 
 the men, and they watched for an opportunity to get rid of them. 
 
 In preparing for the winter at tnis camp a number of the offi- 
 cers fitted up two wall tents end to end, which, floored and 
 framed, made very comfortable quarters, particularly as they 
 could be fairly well heated with stoves or fire presses. Several of 
 the officers had their wives in camp with them. Those who were 
 either wifeless or whose wives were not in camp added to the hap- 
 piness of the more fortunate ones by occasionally on a cold or 
 stormy night changing the set of the hood on their stove pipes, 
 thus causing the draft of the stove to be to the inside of the tent 
 and compelling the married officer to go out into the storm and 
 rearrange stove pipes. 
 
 Others of the officers occasionally spent their evenings at a 
 conference meeting, which was held at Sutler Bedford's marquee, 
 while some preferred to pass their spare evenings with the regi- 
 mental chaplain. It was this exclusive association of the chap- 
 lain with only the officers, together with his apparent inability to 
 render himself helpful to the men c f the regiment, which caused 
 his unpopularity. 
 
 It was while at this camp that we became thoroughly ac- 
 quainted with that famous substance "Virginia mud," whose ad- 
 hesive qualities were of wide renown. It was interesting to ob- 
 serve the government wagons drawn by six mules trundling 
 along the miry roads, hub deep in the slush and loaded with two 
 bundles of hay of about five hundred pounds weight; but we did 
 not think it so interesting when we had to wade ankle deep 
 through it ourselves with our heavy brogans when going to and 
 from the picket line. Another interesting performance was our 
 occasional method of fording streams of water. When no other 
 way of crossing offered we would fell a tree and over this we 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 33 
 
 would walk in single file. With knapsacks and accoutrements on 
 it was not always easy to get safely across these rough bridges 
 with the water flowing madly below, and it was rather amusing to 
 witness the efforts of some, who, thinking it unsafe to walk over, 
 would get astride the trunk and hitch along the whole distance, 
 a process hard on the trousers, but more satisfactory than it 
 would have been to have fallen into the cold streams. 
 
 February 3d and 4th more snow fell, and on the night of the 
 7th it froze hard ; but it was quite warm in the sun on the follow- 
 ing day. However, as the camp was now well fitted up for winter 
 quarters these radical changes of weather were less trying to the 
 men. The men had recently built a new guard house, a new mess 
 room for officers and cook houses for each of the companies, and 
 the outlook for passing the balance of the winter in comfort was 
 promising; but one of the perplexities of a soldier's life is that he 
 never knows when or where he is going nor how long he will 
 stay in one place, and this now proved to be the case, as the reg- 
 iment on the 1 2th received orders to break up their comfortable 
 winter quarters and prepare to march. Tents were struck at 9 
 in the morning, and in a light rain storm that caused the roads to 
 be slimy with mud the regiment marched to a ooint near Fairfax 
 Seminary and made temporary camp on a low, level, muddy piece 
 of ground which by reason of its condition the men named Camp 
 Misery or Mud. Many of the men whose tents had been floored 
 and sided with boards paid neighboring farmers to move the 
 boards and stoves to the new camp. 
 
 Our old quarters at Upton's Hill were occupied by the 4th 
 Pennsylvania Reserves (Bucktails), who had seen hard service 
 under General McCall with the Army ofthePotomacand had been 
 sent into the "Defences" to recruit. They had only about one 
 hundred men in line and one company. At 8 a. m. of the 14th we 
 again broke camp and marched to a point on the Little River 
 turnpike, about three miles from Alexandria, where we pitched 
 tents. Fort Ward was a short distance east of us and Cloud's 
 Mills stood on a hill just west. "Four-mile run," which flowed 
 near the camp, furnished an abundance of clear, frood water, and 
 there. was also a good supply of wood near at hand. Many of the 
 men again paid to have their boards and stoves moved to the 
 new camp, which was called "Gurney," and by the 15th the men 
 
34 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 had once more made themselves as comfortable as the means at 
 hand would permit. 
 
 Several changes now occurred in the regiment, Corporal Farr 
 of Company A being discharged on account of rheumatism, and 
 the following receiving promotions, viz.: First Lieutenant John 
 A. Bogert to be Captain of Company F, First Lieutenant H. H. 
 Gardiner transferred from "C" to "B," Sergeant-Major George 
 N. Little to be Second Lieutenant of Company K, and Orderly 
 Sergeant Batterson of "A" to be Sergeant-Major. 
 
 On February 17th we had a fall of several inches of snow, 
 followed on the 18th by rain, which cleared away the snow. The 
 2 1st was warm and pleasant, but at night a snow-storm set in, 
 which continued most of the following day and resulted in leav- 
 ing about 12 inches of snow on the ground, so that comfortable 
 tents were now doubly appreciated. 
 
 On the 27th, as it was reported that the enemy were in force 
 towards Manassas Junction, shelter tents were again issued to 
 the regiment and other preparations made for a forward move- 
 ment. The cavalry had a skirmish with the enemy at Union 
 Mills the preceding night. 
 
 On Sunday night, March 1st, a detail from each brigade in 
 the division was ordered out to reconnoitre. The 127th was 
 ordered to be in readiness to march at a moment's notice, and all 
 was excitement and expectancy. On March 3d the 127th and 144th 
 N. Y. were sent on fatigue duty, which consisted in digging rifle 
 pits near Fort Ward. The weather made this very disagreeable, 
 as, although the forenoon was clear, both snow and rain fell in 
 the afternoon. The anticipated forward movement failed to take 
 place and the time of the men was, instead, largely taken up with 
 work on fortifications, and cutting down trees to afford fuller 
 range for the guns of the forts. 
 
 It was interesting to observe the plan followed in felling trees, 
 which was as follows: One man would go along and cut a half 
 a dozen or more trees about half-way through, and then, going 
 to the windward of this half-cut row, he would select a large tree 
 opposite, which was called the "driver," and, cutting this down, 
 would cause it to fall against the first of those partially cut, which 
 in turn fell against the next, and thus the whole row of half-cut 
 trees was brought down almost at once. 
 
 These trees were cut about three feet from the ground, mak- 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 35 
 
 ing an impassable barrier against either infantry or cavalry. Our 
 army thus destroyed an immense amount of fine pine timber, be- 
 sides marring the face of the country with immense rifle pits and 
 earthworks. 
 
 Regimental inspection, of large interest generally, took place 
 about once a month. Not only must the muskets and accoutre- 
 ments be absolutely clean, but the inspecting officer examined 
 the clothing of the men, so that the cleanliness of the troops 
 should be assured. It was not a pleasant or slurred-over in- 
 spection, and to await for it for hours sometimes in heavy march- 
 ing order was most fatiguing. 
 
 On March nth a detail of 38 men was sent to the Arlington 
 House, which was then the headquarters of some of our Generals. 
 This place before the war had been the residence of General 
 Robert E. Lee, and was the property of his wife, Nellie Custis, 
 a granddaughter of Mrs. George Washington. 
 
 On the 23d a detachment from the regiment was sent out 
 about six miles from camp on the Loudon and Hampshire road 
 to load pine wood. Here the darkies could be seen driving their 
 six-mule teams with one rein, which they seemed to do as easily 
 as it was for us to drive one horse with two reins. We occupied 
 most of the day in loading on the cars pine wood, which the col- 
 ored men brought. 
 
 March 28th was rainy, but the time for the long-expected 
 advance seemed to have arrived, and the regiment was ordered 
 to get ready to march with three days' cooked rations. At 6:30 
 p. m., leaving tents standing, we fell in and marched over very 
 muddy roads to Falls Chnurch, where at 10 p. m. we bivouacked 
 in a piece of woods where formerly we had performed picket duty. 
 The ground was wet, but we could not stay up all night on that 
 account, so we turned in and slept like pigs in a clover lot. 
 
 The next day was cold, and about 7 a. m. the regiment fell in 
 and marched to Vienna, a small hamlet on the Loudon and Hamp- 
 shire Railroad, about five miles west of Falls Church, to repel 
 an expected attack by rebel cavalry under Stuart and Mosby. 
 We arrived at Vienna about n a. m., and after eating dinner 
 pitched our shelter tents. After foraging around for boards and 
 fence rails we turned in, as was supposed for the night, but at 9 
 p. m. we were suddenly aroused and ordered to fall in, taking 
 only our woolen blankets. We were then marched about one- 
 
36 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 quarter of a mile, and halting, formed a line of battle on the brow 
 of a hill, where we lay down behind our musket stacks. The 
 weather was so cold that the troops could not sleep, and no fires 
 were allowed. 
 
 At first sign of daybreak fires were kindled, which soon 
 warmed us up, and at 7 a. m. we returned to camp. After break- 
 fast Companies A and E were ordered to get ready for picket, and 
 went off expecting to be away during the day only, but were com- 
 pelled to stand all night in the woods without being relieved, 
 which was hard duty in itself, but made harder because of the 
 snow which fell during the night. 
 
 The part of the regiment not on picket duty at 3 p. m. of the 
 30th moved the tents to the west side of the railroad, and then 
 were set at work digging rifle pits. The 6th Michigan Cavalry 
 scouts reported the rebel Generals, Stuart and Mosby, at Addie, 
 and Colonel Gurney asked to be reinforced by another regiment, 
 but his request was not complied with. 
 
 On the 31st the companies on picket returned to camp and 
 found that in moving the tents in their absence part of their ef- 
 fects which they had not taken with them had been so carelessly 
 handled that everything was soaked with the rain and snow; but 
 they speedily cleared away the six inches of snow yet on the 
 ground, and after tearing down some sheds and barns, with the 
 materials thus obtained made their tents fairly comfortable. 
 
 On April 1st, 2d and 3d the men were busy digging rifle pits. 
 On April 5th the snow was 10 inches deep and still falling; but 
 many of the shelter tents had board floors, which made drier bed- 
 ding than the wet ground. Yet, notwithstanding, it was said the 
 camp presented a "scene of squalid misery." 
 
 On the 7th we had a heavy fall of rain, which helped clear off 
 the snow. On this date the following promotions were an- 
 nounced : First Lieutenant Weston to be Captain of Co. F ; Sec- 
 ond Lieutenant Haviland to be First Lieutenant of Co. A; Ser- 
 geant-Major Batterson to be Seconod Lieutenant of Co. A. 
 
 When the regiment first reached Vienna we were short of ra- 
 tions and discovered and killed some sheep belonging to a neigh- 
 boring farmer, who claimed to be a loyal man. Upon his making 
 complaint, the Colonel ordered every man found with mutton 
 in his possession to come before him and pav the man the full 
 value of the sheep. 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 37 
 
 April 10th, at 2 p. m. ( tne enemy not Having put in an ap- 
 pearance the regiment struck tents and started on their return 
 to Camp Gurney, a distance of 18 miles, reaching there at 9 p. 
 m., the roads being very muddy. The next day was spent in 
 cleaning up camp, and on the following day, Sunday, April nth, 
 the regiment was insoected and mustered for <->av. 
 
 Orders were read stating that the 127th, 142, 143d and 
 144th New York, 40th Mass., 22d Conn., 17th New York and 
 9th Mass. Battery were to take the field on the 13th. These 
 orders had been issued at the request of General Peck, in com- 
 mand at Suffolk, who represented that General Longstreet was 
 before that place with 30,000 troops, while he (Peck) had but 15,- 
 000, and he requested that another division be sent him. 
 
 The "Richmond Whig" of the 14th reported Suffolk com- 
 pletely invested by General Longstreet, and under date of April 
 15th the War Department ordered General Abercrombie's Di- 
 vision transferred to the 7th Army Corps. 
 
 Shortly after daybreak of the 15th the regiment broke u...^ 
 at Cloud's Mills, and, in a drizzilng rain, marched to Alexandria, 
 where we embarked on the steamer Utica, the men being so 
 closely crowded together on the deck as to make it difficult for 
 them to lie down. 
 
38 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 SUFFOLK AND WEST POINT, VA. 
 
 April 15th, 1863, to June 1st, 1863. 
 
 It was 3 in the afternoon before the steamer left Alexan- 
 dria on her journey down the Potomac. Off Maryland Point, at 
 7:30 p. m., it grounded on a bar and the men were transferred to 
 a canal boat while the steamer was being pulled off by four tug- 
 boats. At 3 p. m. of the 16th the steamer resumed her way and 
 arrived off Fortress Monroe at 9 a. m. of the next day, where Col- 
 onel Gurney received orders to proceed to Norfolk. We reached 
 there at 1 130 p. m., and on landing were immediately embarked on 
 open-platform cars for Suffolk, a place about twenty miles dis- 
 tant, where we arrived at 5 p. m. ; the day was warm and Spring- 
 like, and the fruit trees were in blossom. The railroad ran 
 through the edge of the Dismal Swamp, and the water which in 
 many cases lay at the base of the trees, all of which were of good 
 height, made the place look very gloomy. 
 
 Arriving at Suffolk, the regiment bivouacked in a beautiful 
 piece of pine woods about one-quarter of a mile from the Nanse- 
 mond River, which, with an average width of three hundred feet, 
 flowed for about seven miles between the contending lines. 
 
 The enemy held a belt of woods that surrounded the town, in 
 front and flank, from the Nansemond River on the right to the 
 Dismal Swamp on the left; their rifle pits covered the line far to 
 the front, while their sharpshooters annoyed not only our gun- 
 ners, but also the men in camp. The defences of Suffolk con- 
 sisted of an inner and outer line of entrenched works protecting 
 the front, strong enclosed works protecting the flanks, while the 
 whole was connected by a line of entrenchments for infantry, 
 strengthened by ditches and abattis. The woods had been 
 cleared for half a mile in front, and r.fforded full sweep to the 
 Union Artillery. 
 
 General Corcoran's Brigade and Hawkins' Zouaves, 9th N. 
 Y. V., of New York City, were with the troops at Suffolk. The 
 sounds of the shelling of the woods on the opposite side of the 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 39 
 
 river by the Union batteries and gunboats continued during the 
 day and night, it being known that General Longstreet was press- 
 ing on the river, cutting new roads and building batteries for the 
 purpose of driving the gunboats out of the river, and thus ren- 
 dering more feasible his attempt to throw pontoon bridges over 
 for the purpose of crossing his troops. 
 
 On the 18th our regiment broke camp and moved one mile 
 south and camped. On Sunday, the 19th, there was heavy firing 
 all day. A part of the regiment were detailed cutting down 
 trees, and several of the men took an involuntary bath while try- 
 ing to cross a felled tree improvised for a bridge. They were 
 hauled out both wetter and wiser men, and the tendency to con- 
 tract cold was counteracted by a dose of quinine and whisky. 
 Notwithstanding the watchfulness of the Union forces the enemy 
 succeeded in locating a battery at Hill's Point, toward the mouth 
 of the Nansemond, which gave the Union gunboats great trouble, 
 and on the 19th Commander Wheeler notified General Peck that 
 unless the battery was either silenced or captured the Union gun- 
 boats would be shut out of the river. Late in the evening a de- 
 tachment of three hundred men from the 89th New York and 8th 
 Connecticut, led by General Getty, crossed the Nansemond on 
 the steamer "Stepping Stones," assaulted and captured the bat- 
 tery of six guns, taking two hundred prisoners of the 44th Ala- 
 bama and destroying the battery. After this successful venture 
 the detachment withdrew. 
 
 The regiment was now compelled to turn out under arms at 
 3 o'clock each morning and remain with equipments on until day- 
 break, in readiness to repel any attack which the enemy might 
 make on the works. On the 20th Lieutenant-Colonel Woodford 
 arrived in camp and assumed command of the regiment, Colonel 
 Gurney being temporarily in command of the Brigade. The regi- 
 ment was then doing duty on General Harland's front, and about 
 one-half the men were on night detail, cutting down, trees and 
 building earthworks. The night of the 21st was stormy, but about 
 one-half of the regiment was kept at work under command of 
 Captain Cooper building a five-gun fort under protecting gun- 
 boats, which kept up a continual firing. General Dix notified 
 General Hooker that Longstreet was delaying his attack until the 
 arrival of General Hill's Division from North Carolina. General 
 Peck and staff visited our camp on the 23d, the same day that a 
 
40 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 avy thunderstorm occurred, setting the camp afloat; the 
 ounds were low and flat, and even the ditches dug around the 
 tits did not keep the water out. New fortifications were being 
 nstructed, and about one-half the regiment was detailed at this 
 Drk. 
 
 On the 24th it rained all day, but at 2 p. m. the regiment fell 
 with three days' cooked rations, prepared to march, but after 
 inding about an hour, were allowed to take off equipments. 
 T c had been awaiting the result of a reconnoissance that was be- 
 g made by Generals Foster and Corcoran with five thousand 
 fantry, five hundred cavalry and ten pieces artillery on the en- 
 ay's right, on the Edenton and Sommerton roads, but the 
 lemy were found in too great force, and our troops returned 
 ith a loss of six killed and twenty-nine wounded. 
 
 The 25th was a splendid day, and the regimont was turned 
 it at 3 a. m. and remained under arms until daybreak. The 
 onfederates had cut a new road down to the river the night he- 
 re between Jericho Creek and Fort Connecticut, but the guns 
 : the Union fort "Onondaga" fully commanded tne road and no 
 tempt to cross was made by the Confederates. 
 
 On the 27th chopping parties of the enemy were broken up by 
 le Redan and Mansfield batteries, and a reconnoissance in force 
 as made on the Confederate's right on the Edenton and Som- 
 ierton roads. After some skirmishing they were driven back 
 pon the main line. The 127th were ordered to strike tents, and 
 ith three days' cooked rations, to report to Colonel Foster of 
 le 13th Indiana on the Sommerton road. We arrived there at 9 
 , m .and bivouacked back of the 165th New York. At night the 
 lemy made a movement of troops, with artillery, down the river 
 1 front of General Getty, indicative of crossing. 
 
 At 8 a. m. of the 28th our regiment was moved back on Som- 
 lerton road near the railroad depot, and at 2 p. m. occupied the 
 fle pits at the right of Fort Union, and next to the camp of the 
 3th Indiana. This regiment was noted for its bravery at Mill 
 pring, Kentucky, where it lost thirty per cent, of its number in 
 illed and wounded. 
 
 On the 29th our regiment formed line of battle at 3 a. m. and 
 :mained under arms until 7 a. m. General Hooker notified Gen- 
 ral Peck that he was about to cross the Rapidan, and that he, 
 'eck, had better watch Longstreet closely, and the Richmond 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 41 
 
 War Office the same day notified General Longstreet to report 
 with his troops back to Richmond and join General Lee. There 
 had been firing each day between the rebel batteries and our gun- 
 boats, but at sundown of the 30th there was heavy firing by the 
 fort near our camp, and the 127th was formed in line of battle in 
 the rifle pits to the left of Fort Union. The official reports at this 
 time showed 23,975 Union officers and men present at Suffolk, 
 and the 127th was reported as being in Hughson's Brigade, Gur- 
 ney's Division, 7th Army Corps. 
 
 April 30th the regiment was mustered for pay, and on May 
 1st it was again busy throwing up rifle pits. General George H. 
 Gordon, a graduate of West Point, who had seen active service 
 in the Mexican war, and who had served with credit with General 
 Banks when that officer fell back before "Stonewall" Jackson's 
 advance in the Summer of 1862, was placed in command of our 
 division. General Peck made a reconnoissance in front of Fort 
 Nansemond, sustaining a loss of forty killed and wounded. 
 
 On May 2d the Confederate General Hill reported the arrival 
 of his division of troops and asked General Longstreet for orders. 
 He had arrived too late, however, to take any part in an assault 
 on the Union line9, as General Longstreet, on April 29th, had 
 received orders to return with his troops at once to Richmond, 
 and he had already commenced the removal of his heavy guns 
 to Petersburg. 
 
 Orders were this day issued by him to his Division Command- 
 ers to move back to the right bank of the Blackwater on the night 
 of the 3d, Major-General French by the South Quay road, Ma- 
 jor-General Pickett by the Sommerton road and Major-General 
 Hood by the Blackwater road. 
 
 All of the light batteries were ordered to move back at sun- 
 set to a point where their movements could not be heard by the 
 Union troops, and there await further orders. General Dix noti- 
 fied General Halleck that the Confederates had been "felt of" 
 the day before and found in considerable force. At 9 p. m. the 
 long roll sounded and the 127th fell in, getting in position within 
 six minutes, and after waiting an hour stacked arms in the com- 
 pany streets and slept with equipments on, expecting to be or- 
 dered out at any moment; but the night passed wihout further 
 alarm. 
 
42 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 At 9 a. m. of Sunday, May 3d, five thousand of Generals Get- 
 :y's and Harland's troops crossed the drawbridge under the fire 
 3f Forts Onondaga and Mansfield. While Suffolk was filled with 
 noving troops, artillery and ambulances, in front, across the 
 ■iver, could be seen three regiments of infantry deployed as skir- 
 nishers, and shell bursting in all directions. The Union skir- 
 nishers dislodged the Confederates out of one ravine, but the 
 lext could not be carried so easily, the approach being made by 
 1 narrow road across a swamp, commanded by a rebel battery 
 vhich checked the advance of the Union forces. 
 
 The regiment which was camped next to the 127th took part 
 n this movement, and the 127th was held in readiness to follow. 
 General Getty, after advancing his troops two miles, found the 
 :nemy entrenched in force and fell back with a loss of sixty killed 
 md wounded. The battle at Chancellorsville was at this time 
 aking place, and our movement was supposed to be for the pur- 
 >ose of delaying the departure of rebel troops from this place. 
 
 Another movement to be made on the enemy's right was 
 ilanned for the day following, but in the meantime the Confed- 
 rates were slipping away and at 2 a. m. our regiment, with the 
 12th N. Y. V., fell in with the rest of Colonel Foster's com- 
 riand and started in pursuit, marching out about fifteen miles on 
 he Sommerton road to a point beyond Leesville. For the first 
 ive or six miles the troops were "double-quicked," and as the 
 lay was extremely warm the march proved very trying to the 
 nen, many of whom in the effort to maintain their place in line 
 hrew away woolen and rubber blankets and overcoats, strewing 
 he roadside with clothing. 
 
 As the cavalry, Dodge's Mounted Rifles, in their advance had 
 ired a number of houses along the road, from which they had 
 ireviously been fired upon when they fell back before Long- 
 treet's advance on Suffolk, the scene in the early morning was 
 nost exciting. 
 
 At 6 a. m. the Union advance under Colonel Foster, was so 
 losely pressing a superior force of the enemy near Leesville that 
 hey were ordered to await the arrival of General Corcoran's 
 roops from the Edenton road, after which they were unable to 
 gain overtake the enemy before they crossed the Blackwater. 
 Colonel Foster had before starting received instructions to be care- 
 ul and not allow himself to be drawn into a position where his 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 43 
 
 troops would be badly cut up; but he was a pushing, brave offi- 
 cer, and made a strong effort to strike and delay the rebel column. 
 
 As the Confederates had commenced their retreat at 9.30 
 p. m. of the previous night and had obtained too much of a start 
 of the Union troops, who did not get under way until some four 
 hours later, the only result of the pursuit was the capture of a 
 few hundred prisoners. These prisoners were all conscripts, and 
 were from Longstreet's retreating corps, and they were glad 
 enough to be captured. The troops returned to camp thorough- 
 ly exhausted, having marched about thirty miles, and at times 
 having waded through creeks the waters of which were badly 
 roiled with sand which worked into the men's shoes, compelling 
 many of them to remove them and finish the march barefoot. 
 
 Notwithstanding the extreme fatigue of this forced march, a 
 number of General Corcoran's troops returned carrying chickens 
 and sweet potatoes, and in some cases young pigs in sacks. They 
 had seen enough service to know what would make a tired soldier 
 feel better after once reaching camp. 
 
 The 127th reached camp at 7:30 p. m., where they were re- 
 freshed with hot coffee which had been made for them by some 
 of their comrades who had been left in camp. The severity of 
 the march was evidenced by a comrade, a strong, athletic fellow, 
 well built for marching, who, when asked upon his return what 
 he had done with a $10 rubber overcoat which he had recently 
 received from the North, replied that he carried it as long as he 
 could and finally hung it on a fence post and returned to his place 
 in the column; but he had held his place in the line even if the 
 overcoat had to be abandoned. 
 
 At 9 o'clock the following morning Gordon's Division, whici 
 had been designated by General Peck to carry out a movement 
 which General Halleck had ordered to be made as soon as Gen- 
 eral Longstreet should withdraw from before Suffolk, was 
 marched to the railroad depot and lay there all day awaiting trans- 
 portation. 
 
 At 8 p. m. the 127th were embarked on open platform cars 
 and in a heavy thunderstorm proceeded to Norfolk, reaching 
 there at 11 p. m., and after standing an hour in a pelting rain, 
 went aboard the steamer Express. Again the enlisted men were 
 crowded on the lower deck like so many sheep in a pen. The 
 men made the best use of the room at their disposal, some sitting 
 

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127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 45 
 
 and some lying down, and with the steam rising from their wet 
 clothing, the condition of comfort can be better imagined than 
 described; however, there was but little grumbling, as the men 
 were getting more used to the roughing required in active mili- 
 tary service. 
 
 At 8 a. m. of the 6th the steamer sailed for Fortress Monroe, 
 anchoring off the fort at noon, and lay there all night awaiting 
 the arrival of some batteries of light artillery which had been as- 
 signed General Gordon. 
 
 At daylight of the 7th the expedition started for Yorktown, 
 arriving off that place at 9 a. m., and after waiting two hours the 
 journey up the York River to West Point, at the confluence of 
 the Pamunkey and Mattapony rivers, was resumed, and at 2.30 p. 
 m. one hundred of the 6th New York Cavalry were landed, who 
 at once pushed forward and burned the bridge over the Pa- 
 munkey at White House. 
 
 At 3 p. m. the infantry landed. Each man having been fur- 
 nished with a shovel, or pickaxe, our regiment marched about 
 one and one-half miles up the Richmond & York Railroad, where 
 we halted and stacked arms in the edge of a fine piece of woods 
 fronting an open plain about one mile wide, which was situated 
 between the Richmond & York Railroad and the County road 
 to Richmond, and at once commenced throwing up a line of en- 
 trenchments. The 40th Massachusetts Infantry were posted as 
 pickets on the further side of the open plain. The men worked 
 until IO p. m. in a drizzling rain, digging and carrying railroad 
 ties with which to face the works. The rain made the work dif- 
 ficult and the men were ready for a rest when the order was given, 
 even if they were not quite prepared for the advance of an enemy. 
 It did not take them long to spread their rubber and woolen 
 blankets, and, covered with another set of woolen and rubber 
 blankets, which lying in couples permitted, they were soon asleep 
 and the discomforts of soldiering were for the time forgotten. 
 The men had no time to put up shelter tents and had to spread 
 rubber blankets on the wet ground under trees dripping with wa- 
 ter, and with wet feet and muddy shoes turn in and sleep, or lie 
 and listen to the rain dripping from the limbs of the trees over- 
 head. Comrade Eldridge states that he revisited these works in 
 1893 and they were still in fine condition, so that he had no trou- 
 ble in identifying them. 
 
46 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 The next morning at 4 o'clock the regiment was again set at 
 work on the entrenchments and dug until noon. This line of en- 
 trenchments, when completed, extended from the Pamunkey on 
 the left to the swamps bordering the Mattapony on the right, 
 with three earthworks a little in advance, one at the centre and 
 one at each end. 
 
 Our Brigade held the left of the line, the 127th being formed 
 in the shape of the letter L on the County road and behind rifle 
 pits to the left of the road. The ground in front of the works 
 was cleared by pulling down a large granary and by burning 
 eight or ten log slave huts to afford free range for the Union 
 guns. 
 
 Many of the men were engaged in carrying railroad ties with 
 which to revet the works, and also to build platforms for the 
 twenty-pound Parrott guns with which the outworks were armed. 
 Work was resumed the next day and continued until 4 a. m. of 
 the 10th, when rest was taken till 1 p. m., after which the work 
 was continued till 7 p. m. Camp had been moved to the left side 
 of the County road behind the broken rifle pits, but the regiment 
 continued working on the forts till the 13th. 
 
 On that day the Richmond War Office notified General Lee 
 that the Federals had five thousand troops at West Point and 
 were entrenching formidably, and they ordered General Pickett 
 to move forward at once to Hanover Junction and guard the rail- 
 road bridges over the North and South Anna rivers. 
 
 On the 16th the regiment again changed the lay-out of the 
 camp to conform to the views of General Gordon. It was situat- 
 ed in a beautiful piece of pine woods just back of the line of en- 
 trenchments; the shelter tents were pitched on twenty-inch-high 
 platforms constructed of small pine saplings, affording fine ven- 
 tilation, and when covered by the woolen blankets made very 
 comfortable quarters. The cook-houses and officers' tents were 
 embowered in green foliage interwoven like basketwork, and the 
 camp was not only picturesque, but very attractive. 
 
 The Pamunkey River was near enough to afford the men an 
 opportunity to bathe and wash their clothing, which the recent 
 quarters on dirty transport steamers rendered very desirable, if 
 not necessary. Wood says that some of the men expressed the 
 opinion that they would like to spend the balance of their three 
 years at this beautiful camp. 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 47 
 
 Attractive as was the camp of the 127th, still more so was that 
 of the 142c! New York. This regiment was composed largely 
 of men accustomed to the use of the axe, and as their camp was 
 located on ground rather more open than was ours, they had not 
 only embowered their officers' quarters, but had erected over 
 their shelter tents screens of green extending about three feet in 
 front, under which extension they had erected seats. The effect 
 of the company streets thus fitted was attractive in the extreme. 
 
 Sunday, May 17th, was very warm, and General Gordon or- 
 dered all work stopped for the day; and at 4 p. m. Chaplain Fran- 
 cis preached in front of the Marquee, his text being from Prov- 
 erbs, the 30th chapter, 5th verse. At dusk we had a very heavy 
 shower, that deluged our shelter tents. On the 18th our regi- 
 ment formed in the rifle pits and the companies were drilled in 
 skirmishing, and we also had battalion drill by Colonel Gurney. 
 On the 20th Lieutenant Benjamin resigned and returned North. 
 
 On the 2 1st twenty men from Company D left camp at sun- 
 down, and, embarking on a gunboat, went about four miles down 
 the York River, where they landed and scouted about, looking 
 for rebel pickets near the river. They came on a cavalry picket, 
 which fled, leaving blankets behind. Of this special picket duty 
 a comrade says: "We took up our quarters in what had once 
 been a garden of some wealthy planter, who had left. The chim- 
 neys were still standing, although the house had been destroyed. 
 We had a very pleasant time during the few days we remained 
 here. We put up our tents on poles cut from fig trees, which 
 grew finely in this beautiful spot. The bank upon which we had 
 our bivouac was elevated quite a distance above the river, where 
 a gunboat was anchored near by, from which we could hear the 
 bells strike every half hour. Our company remained together 
 during the day, but at night divided into squads and stationed 
 along the bank of the river, on the lookout for any rebels who 
 might venture to show themselves. 
 
 On the 23d, at about 3 p. m., cannonading was heard on the 
 York River, where a recently erected rebel battery had opened 
 on the mail and supply boat "Swan," which plied between York- 
 town and West Point; but the battery was speedily silenced by 
 the United States gunboats Morse and Mystic, and the houses 
 in the vicinity were destroyed by boats' crews sent ashore for that 
 purpose. 
 
48 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 On the 24th General Gordon, having received information 
 that General E. O. C. Ord had been appointed to the command 
 of the troops at West Point, ordered an inspection of all the 
 troops. The 127th were ordered to turn out in full-dress uni- 
 form, with dress coats and brass shoulder scales. The regiment, 
 notwithstanding the loss of its scales, presented a very neat, sol- 
 dierly appearance, and General Gordon expressed himself as 
 proud to command such a fine body of troops. But the discip- 
 linarians were not satisfied, and after the inspection was over 
 those of the regiment who did not have shoulder scales were set 
 at work with axe and shovel digging up the stumps of trees 
 around camp. 
 
 While the commanding officer of the regiment stood in front 
 of the Adjutant's tent enjoying the work of the stump digging it 
 suddenly occurred to him to suggest to the Adjutant's clerk that 
 he, of course, had not thrown away his shoulder scales. When 
 the prompt answer "No, sir," came the lawyer-like doubt caused 
 the further question: "You still have them with you?" and the 
 reply was still the same. When he desired to know how the two 
 contrary statements could be truthful he was informed that the 
 clerk had, when at Suffolk, posted his scales on picket and neg- 
 lected to call them in when the regiment left. The commanding 
 officer then stated that he had quite a disposition to set the clerk- 
 digging stumps, but his kindlier nature prevailed and the clerk 
 dug no stumps. The men after this stump-digging experience 
 dubbed the fort at West Point "Fort Scales." 
 
 On the 26th the regiment left this beautiful camp in the woods 
 and relieved the 40th Massachusetts on picket duty on the edge 
 of the woods at the further side of the open plain. This regi- 
 ment was divided into squads of twenty men to a post, with a 
 commissioned officer in charge of each post. They pitched their 
 shelter tents and spent the time when not on guard fighting mos- 
 quitoes, woodticks and other crawlers, and writing letters home. 
 It was at this place that the gray roan horse, afterward named 
 "Rebel," was captured and brought in, and after being con- 
 demned and appraised, was purchased and ridden by one of the 
 field officers of the regiment. The horse proved a tough, reliable 
 and serviceable saddle horse. 
 
 It was also at this camp that Major Little's negro "Dick" dis- 
 covered his twin brother, and in the later movements of the regi- 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 49 
 
 ment up the Peninusular to White House they helped enliven 
 matters evenings by dancing a double shuffle to the patted time 
 of "Juba" for the pennies and dimes of an appreciative audience. 
 
 The last recollection the regiment has of either of these 
 dwarfed darkies was as they wrestled with each other in the edge 
 of the river while the regiment was awaiting transportation at 
 Yorktown on its way to join Meade's army, when the darkies 
 became so much interested in their wrestling that they got ankle 
 deep in the water. 
 
 The Lieutenant-Colonel had for a servant a yellow darkey 
 called "Walker," who was a man of unusual intelligence for a 
 negro, and of whom the Colonel expressed the opinion that if he 
 in his boyhood had enjoyed educational advantages he would 
 have made his mark in the history of this nation. The last seen 
 of Walker was when he, through the influence of the Lieutenant- 
 Colonel, secured a pass and transportation to North Carolina, 
 where he hoped to be able to find his wife, from whom he had 
 long been separated. 
 
 The Lieutenant-Colonel's servant "Walker" and the Major's 
 "Dick" were prominent regimental characters while they were 
 with the regiment. At this time General Ord visited West Point, 
 and, after inspecting the troops and the place, expressed ap- 
 proval of the defensive works erected, but regarded the position 
 as too much exposed, unless it could be strengthened by at least 
 four thousand additional troops, twenty-eight guns and a thirteen 
 hundred yard pontoon bridge with which to bridge the Pamun- 
 key, and thus afford safe communication with Yorktown. He 
 thought that unless so protected their supplies and reinforcements 
 were liable to be cut off by the erection of rebel batteries on the 
 York River, while being attacked by a superior force in front, 
 and he left for Yorktown to lay his views before General Dix; 
 but upon reaching that place he found an order awaiting him 
 which assigned him to command in the West, and General Gor- 
 don was left in command at West Point. 
 
 General Dix now advised General Peck that the troops at 
 West Point were threatened with an attack and asked for troops 
 and guns. General Peck replied that he would have a Brigade 
 ready, and expressed the opinion that, unless General Hooker 
 moved, the position of the troops at West Point would be very 
 perilous. On the night of May 27th heavy firing was heard on 
 
50 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 the line of the Mattapony. But while General Halleck was advis- 
 ing General Dix that he deemed the position of the troops at 
 West Point unsafe General R. E. Lee was informing General D. 
 H. Hill that he was at a loss to account for the troops at West 
 Point, but thought they might have come from North Carolina, 
 and General Foster be in command. 
 
 On the 30th General Lee informed Jefferson Davis that he 
 feared the movement at West Point might be part of a plan to 
 force him back toward Richmond, and to transfer the Federal 
 army to the James River, which he feared he was not strong 
 enough to prevent. In reply Jefferson Davis expressed regret 
 that he was unable to relieve him from anxiety regarding the 
 movement of Federal troops on the York River, while General 
 Lee was moving to the North and West. 
 
 Possibly it was a case where one was afraid and the other 
 dared not, for while Jefferson Davis and General Lee were thus 
 worried about the purpose of the troops at West Point, the Fed- 
 eral officers had decided to withdraw from that position and lo- 
 cate up the Peninsula toward Diascund Bridge, which was as 
 near Richmond as West Point. The earthworks at West Point 
 were, therefore, disarmed and levelled, the heavy guns loaded on 
 steamers and the troops ordered to be ready to move at a mo- 
 ment's notice. 
 
 On Sunday, May 31st, the 127th New York were reported as 
 being in the 1st Brigade (Gurney's), 2nd Division, 4U1 Army 
 Corps, and the number of troops "for duty" at West Point as 
 four thousand, seven hundred and fifty. At midnight of June 
 1st the regiment was withdrawn from the picket line and marched 
 to the landing at West Point, a small detachment of cavalry 
 bringing up the rear. 
 
127IH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 51 
 
 Chapter iv. 
 
 PENINSULAR AND HAGERSTOWN, MD., TO WAR- 
 RENTON JUNCTION. 
 
 June 2d to August 4th, 1863. 
 
 At 4 p. m. the men embarked on the steamer Belvidere, and, 
 arriving at Yorktown at 7 p. m., marched to a point about one 
 mile to the rear of the town and there pitched their shelter tents. 
 The camp was named "Howland," presumably in honor of Cap- 
 tain Howland, the former Commandant of Company A. The 
 same day the Richmond War Office, which had been keeping a 
 close watch on our troops at West Point, notified General Lee 
 of the evacuation of the place. As soon as we were fairly in 
 camp at Yorktown drills and camp routine were resumed, and 
 on the 5th and 6th of June the regiment participated in a Brigade 
 drill, and was also drilled at target firing. This camp was situat- 
 ed about half a mile from the river and the same distance from the 
 village of Yorktown, a place consisting of a few houses, the most 
 of which are venerable looking; the country about is level and 
 swampy, and gives evidence of the desolation of war; "the river 
 is quite salt here and abounds in fish, oysters, clams, crabs, etc., 
 which were quite a treat to us (when we were lucky enough to 
 get any of them). June 3d the whole of Company H went in 
 bathing in salt water for the first time since leaving old Long 
 Island's sea-girt shore." At 10 a. m. of the 9th the 127th Regi- 
 ment with two brigades of infantry, six batteries of light artillery 
 and some cavalry left Yorktown and marched to within one and 
 one-half miles of Williamsburg, and then filed to the right and 
 camped, about 6 o'clock, within sight of the York river. The 
 day had been excessively warm, and the roads very muddy. The 
 next morning we pitched our shelter tents, expecting to remain 
 at the new camp a few days. 
 
 The Confederates were still closely watching every movement 
 of our troops, and the Richmond war office notified General D. 
 H. Hill that the Federals were about to make a movement to 
 
52 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 cut the railroad between Richmond and the Rappahannock, and 
 perhaps march upon Richmond, and General Lee advised that 
 General Cook's brigade be sent to Hanover Junction, and Jen- 
 kins' brigade to the crossings of the Chickahominy. 
 
 General Gordon having received orders from General Dix to 
 move his Division forward as far as seemed prudent, with a view 
 of locating the Confederates and keeping them on the move, the 
 Division left Williamsburg, soon after daybreak of the nth, in 
 light marching order, leaving tents standing, and taking only 
 rubber and woolen blankets, 60 rounds of ammunition and three 
 days' rations, the march being up the old Richmond post road, 
 the 127th New York leading the way. From about ten miles 
 beyond Williamsburg the right wing of the regiment was de- 
 ployed as skirmishers. At 3 p. m. column halted for dinner at 
 Burnt Ordinary, about twelve miles from Williamsburg. At 
 4 p. m. the 127th New York, accompanied by a company of 
 cavalry and a battery of artillery, were ordered forward toward 
 Diascund Bridge, in front of which a body of Confederates was 
 supposed to be posted in a strong position. The left wing of the 
 regiment, consisting of Companies A, D and I, were deployed as 
 skirmishers. After marching about four miles, as the regiment 
 approached Edward's Mill, several men were seen to run from the 
 mill toward the bridge. After crossing the bridge over the mill 
 stream, one section of artillery and Company H were left to guard 
 the bridge and about one mile further on Company B were posted 
 at a cross road. The balance of the regiment pressed forward 
 for about one-fourth of a mile, when the skirmish line was met 
 by a brisk fire from the Confederates concealed in the woods, 
 and by the time the rest of the troops reached the top of the hill 
 the firing became general. 
 
 Private Bookstaver of A was wounded in the first fire and 
 taken to the rear, as the regiment moved to the front. The mus- 
 ketry fire was kept up by both sides for about an hour, but no 
 further advance was made, and as darkness was approaching 
 and the section of artillery could not be brought into position 
 the regiment was withdrawn and returned to Burnt Ordinary 
 about 11 p. m., and there bivouacked, the men being thoroughly 
 tired and thirsty, as the day had been hot and the water scarce. 
 
 The march had extended over 26 to 28 miles, and when the 
 regiment finally halted, the men were glad to roll themselves 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 53 
 
 in their blankets without waiting to find particularly soft spots 
 to lie on, and they did not permit the shots fired by the pickets 
 at some stray sheep to disturb them. 
 
 On this day Confederate General Jones reported the Federal 
 troops, between two thousand and twenty-five hundred strong, 
 advancing as far as the Burnt Ordinary, and General Wise also, 
 reported the Federals in force at Hickory Neck Academy and 
 also on the Diascund Road. 
 
 While on the skirmish line in the advance toward Diascund 
 Bridge, the second platoon of Company H lost their way and 
 was unable to join the regiment until the following afternoon. 
 While wandering around they visited several houses, possibly 
 with a view of adding to their store of rations, which was not 
 especially inviting. 
 
 Learning at one house that the old man '"had just returned 
 from Richmond," and was at a neighbor's half a mile distant, 
 Corporal Hunting and four men were sent to find him. Each 
 man had his position assigned him, the approach of the house 
 being made from the rear. As the Corporal came in front of 
 the house two supposed Confederates dodged in. He, the Cor- 
 poral, soon saw a double barreled gun pointed at him from a 
 window, to avoid the contents of which he slipped behind an out- 
 building. The gun was fired either at him or at one of the men, 
 and, thinking they had run into the picket line, the squad 
 hastened back to the main body. Then they learned that Jacob 
 Reese was missing, and recollecting having heard a cry they 
 concluded that he had received the shot fired. 
 
 Saturday, the 13th, a force from the 4th Delaware Cavalry 
 was sent to the house, which they burned, and the body of Reese 
 was recovered. He had been shot through the body and had 
 lived three hours and had been buried by the negroes on the 
 place. Men were detailed to recover the body and give it a 
 soldier's burial, the place of interment being near a church about 
 two miles from our camp. The scouts of Holcomb's Confederate 
 Cavalry reported that they killed one of the Federals at Dr. Jen- 
 nings', whose residence it probably was from which the shot was 
 fired. 
 
 Then on the march from Williamsburg a point was reached 
 where a fine stream of clear, cool water flowed alongside the 
 road, and several men quickly stepped out of line and dipped their 
 
54 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 tin cups in the stream ; but they were ordered back in words more 
 forcible than polite. The captain having resumed his place, the 
 temptation proved too great to resist, and the attempt to quench 
 the thirst was again made, and in some cases met partial success, 
 which even the presence of a dead horse discovered in the stream 
 a few feet further on did not materially mar. The water was wet 
 and had cooled the parched throats, and we had long since ceased 
 to be fastidious in supplying our various wants. 
 
 The next morning found the men footsore and ready to rest. 
 The bivouac was moved into the edge of a piece of woods, and 
 most of the men were soon taking advantage of a stream flowing 
 near the camp, washing and getting in trim for the next move- 
 ment. At 2 o'clock the regiment was marched back four miles 
 to Airy Plains, near the Six Mile Ordinary, where it bivouacked 
 without, however, any shelter except what could be improvised 
 with the blankets. 
 
 On June 14th Colonel Porter of the 40th Massachusetts re- 
 ported that he had captured Diascund Bridge without serious 
 opposition, and General Halleck the same day informed General 
 Dix that General Lee's army was in motion up the Shenandoah 
 Valley, and directed him to concentrate all of his available force 
 and threaten Richmond, to seize and destroy the railroad bridges 
 over the North and South Anna Rivers, and to do the enemy all 
 the damage he could. General Dix was unable to promptly com- 
 ply with this order, as the transports necessary to transfer the 
 portion of his force from Norfolk were being used at Acquia 
 Creek by the War Department; still the probability is that the 
 delay made little difference, as General Lee had on the 12th 
 ordered General Hill to move troops forward, and protect the 
 bridges over the two Annas, and also to protect the approaches 
 to Richmond. 
 
 On the 15th the weather was again oppressively warm. The 
 pickets brought in about a dozen prisoners, suspected of bush- 
 whacking, and a wounded Union cavalry man, who had been 
 fired upon from ambush, while picking berries, passed through 
 camp on his way to the rear. The 16th was another very warm 
 day, and as the regiment was camped in an open field with no 
 other shelter than a rail fence the heat was very oppressive. 
 Rations, which consisted of hard tack, pork and coffee, were 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 55 
 
 getting scarce, and the visit of the paymaster afforded no relief, 
 as nothing could be purchased in the neighborhood. 
 
 On the 18th General Dix ordered General Gordon to make 
 his troops as comfortable as possible, and on the 19th we were 
 glad to get our knapsacks and shelter tents which had been left 
 behind at the Williamsburg camp. The regiment had been since 
 the nth in bivouac under such shelter as could be improvised 
 by the use of fence rails and rubber blankets, and the officers 
 had not only fared the same as the men in this respect, but some 
 had been glad to share the men's rations. The Field and Staff 
 occupied a four foot high shelter made of fence rails and rubber 
 blankets, and the dignified Lieutenant Colonel and the gruff 
 Major could, at times, be seen crawling in and out on their hands 
 and knees. The whole situation tended to laxity in dignity, and 
 the customary lectures to delinquent officers, which were usually 
 followed by the "good morning'" style of dismissal, were for the 
 time omitted. The writer recalls seeing General Schimmelfennig 
 and Staff crawl out at reveille from among the bivouac of the 
 rank and file when the troops first reached Newport News on 
 their way to South Carolina, but he never again had the pleasure 
 of seeing any of the Field officers of the 127th regiment roughing 
 it as the enlisted men had to do, though they enjoyed that privi- 
 lege when the regiment marched up the Charleston and Savannah 
 Railroad from Pocotaligo to Charleston. The shelter tents were 
 received and pitched not any too soon, as on the night following 
 their arrival it rained very hard, and we were glad to have even 
 this partial protection. 
 
 The Confederate Field returns on the 20th showed 10,176 
 troops "for duty" in the defenses of Richmond, and on the 21st 
 the Confederate Secretary of War notified General Hill that the 
 Federals were concentrating 20,000 troops at Yorktown for an 
 advance on Richmond, but General Hill expressed the opinion 
 that the Federals were going to attack the bridges over the 
 Annas. On the 23d our regiment was ordered to pack our 
 woolen blankets into the knapsacks that they might be sent back 
 to Fort Magruder to be stored. General confusion now prevailed 
 in camp; cooks were preparing rations, and those men who had 
 received boxes from home were distributing their contents among 
 their best friends, that the good things of this life, which they 
 
56 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 had just received, might be put where they would do the most 
 good. 
 
 At ii p. m. the regiment fell in and marched about eleven 
 miles, reaching Barnesville about three o'clock the next morning 
 (24th), where we bivouacked near the camp of the 144th N. Y. 
 We did not break camp until the 25th, and the men made them- 
 selves as comfortable as possible by the use of small pine poles 
 and shelter tents. Colonel Spear with eight hundred Pennsyl- 
 vania and two hundred and fifty Illinois and Massachusetts Cav- 
 alry started out to attempt the destruction of the Virginia Central 
 Railroad bridge over the South Anna River. 
 
 It rained hard during the night of the 24th and the day of 
 the 25th, and while other troops were still marching by the 
 regiment remained in bivouac until 4.30 p. m., when we were 
 ordered to fall in and follow them. After marching about \\ 
 miles we came to a large piece of woods near Ropers Church, 
 in which the other troops were camped and where we also 
 bivouacked. It was raining hard and the outlook for a com- 
 fortable night was not promising, but the shelter tents were 
 quickly pitched and floored with a rubber blanket, and large 
 fires were soon started at which the savory coffee furnished by 
 Uncle Sam was cooked, and the groups of three could soon be 
 seen sitting in the edge of their tents laughing and joking as 
 they ate their supper of coffee, crackers and pork. The ground 
 outside of the tents was speedily ditched enough to keep out the 
 running water, and it was not long after supper before the men 
 were dreaming of the "good time coming." General Gordon in 
 commenting upon the cheerful bearing of the troops under such 
 gloomy circumstances, said it indicated the ability of the Amer- 
 ican soldier to adapt himself to his surroundings. 
 
 The same day the Confederate Secretary of War notified Gen- 
 eral Hill that the Federals had landed six thousand troops at 
 White House, and he ordered Jenkins' Confederate Brigade 
 (2,632 strong) up to Richmond. At an early hour on the morn- 
 ing of the 26th, the regiment with the rest of the column broke 
 camp and in a drizzling rain resumed the march toward the 
 White House; as the roads were heavy with mud and the clothing 
 and equipment damp, the march was very trying. At 3 p. m. we 
 passed New Kent Court House on our left and arrived at Cum- 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 57 
 
 berland Landing on the Pamunkey River LDout 6 p. m. and 
 bivouacked with many other troops already there. 
 
 The next morning (Saturday) at 8 a. m. the regiment marched 
 for White House. The roads were still heavy with mud and 
 marching was very tedious. The ground at White House has a 
 beautiful flat two miles long, lying about thirty feet above the 
 level of the river, where boats were passing up and down within 
 fifty feet of the bank. This plantation was the property of the 
 Widow Custis when Washington married her, and it was here 
 that the first three months of their married life was spent. The 
 house had been destroyed, but the ruins, including the large 
 chimney, were plainly visible. 
 
 At sunset the steamer John Brooks passed up the river loaded 
 with troops; also a schooner which brought up a locomotive and 
 freight cars. On the next day we had a regimental inspection, 
 followed by a storm in the afternoon; seven transports with 
 troops arrived, among whom were the 13th Indiana that was 
 camped alongside our regiment at Suttolk ; our men cooked sup- 
 per for them, and their officers were entertained by ours. Troops 
 continued arriving all day. Rain had fallen every day from the 
 24th, when the regiment left the Six Mile Ordinary. The con- 
 federate Adjutant General Cooper advised General Lee that the 
 concentration of 20,000 to 30,000 Federal troops on the Penin- 
 sula, either for the purpose of assaulting Richmond or inter- 
 rupting Lee's communication, rendered it impracticable to carry 
 out General Lee's wish to have an auxiliary force concentrated 
 at Culpeper, Virginia. 
 
 On the 29th a conference of Generals Dix, Keyes, Terry, 
 Getty, Gordon, Harlan and Foster was held, at which Colonel 
 Spear of the nth Pennsylvania Cavalry reported that in his raid 
 he had destroyed the Fredericksburg and Richmond Railroad 
 Bridge over the South Anna and had captured General Fitz- 
 Hugh Lee and one hundred prisoners ; he also reported that the 
 available force protecting Richmond was from twelve to fourteen 
 thousand men. It was then decided that the Richmond fortifica- 
 tions could not be successfully attacked with our force of 20,510 
 men, and it was decided to request General Halleck to transfer 
 the troops to General Meade's army. 
 
 On June 30th it was still raining, and troops were still arriving; 
 the regiment was mustered for pay and the lost shoulder scales 
 
58 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 were charged to the men. On July ist General Getty with 10,000 
 troops started to seize and destroy the railroad bridges over the 
 North and South Anna Rivers, while General Keyes with about 
 6,000 men was to cause a diversion in his favor by vigorously 
 attacking the enemy at Bottoms Bridge, with orders to maintain 
 his position two or three days; while General Gordon, reinforced 
 by Spinola's Brigade, was ordered to Tunstalls Station as a re- 
 serve for both columns. The 127th were kept on guard at White 
 House with pickets well thrown out, all the troops but our 
 brigade having marched with these two expeditions. July 2d 
 was very hot; at 4 p. m. firing was heard from the direction of 
 Bottoms Bridge and continued for half an hour and at intervals 
 during the evening and through the night there was both heavy 
 musketry and cannon firing. 
 
 General Keyes, who had been ordered to vigorously attack 
 the enemy at Bottoms Bridge and to hold his position for two 
 or three days, made the attack, but afterwards fell back, and the 
 Confederate General Hill reported to the Richmond War Office 
 that the Yankees had been driven back toward White House, and 
 offered to send up Cooke's Brigade, 2,751 strong, to reinforce the 
 troops defending the bridges over the Annas. It was therefore 
 evident that General Keyes' attack was of little value as a diver- 
 sion in favor of General Getty. 
 
 On July 3d the men of our regiment on picket were relieved 
 at 3 a. m. and were ordered to pack up and be ready to move; 
 wagons were loaded and horses kept harnessed, and it was ru- 
 mored that we were going to Baltimore or Washington; but 
 after waiting all day marching orders were countermanded. 
 
 July 4th, which was another very hot day, was observed by 
 firing a national salute at noon, while the sound of distant guns 
 indicated that General Getty was attacking the bridges over the 
 Annas. Troops in camp kept pretty quiet during the day, but at 
 night we were allowed to build a large fire and addresses were 
 made by General Gordon, Colonel Gurney and Lieutenant Col- 
 onel Woodford. General Gordon read a dispatch from General 
 Halleck announcing General Meade's victory over Lee at Gettys- 
 burg, and our drum corps played patriotic airs. 
 
 On Sunday, July 5th, part of the regiment was on picket on 
 the Railroad, about two miles from camp, thirty-two men and an 
 officer on each post, while others were taking up the rails and 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 59 
 
 loading them on boats. General Dix ordered General Keyes to 
 vigorously attack the enemy toward Bottoms Bridge, and noti- 
 fied him that if he failed to do so he would be superseded by Gen- 
 eral Gordon. The men on picket feasted on blackberries, which 
 were very abundant, and which afforded an agreeable change 
 from the salt horse and pork furnished by Uncle Sam ; they also 
 opened the ice house of a Confederate, who "left in too much of a 
 hurry to be able to take his ice away with him." That portion of 
 the regiment left in camp had nothing to do but amuse them- 
 selves, and the little negro, "Dick," with his brother, furnished 
 an entertainment in the shape of plantation dances which brought 
 them a harvest of small coins. 
 
 On July 6th Confederate General Hill informed the Richmond 
 War Office that a considerable battle had been fought on the 
 North Anna, with musketry and artillery, and that a mere skir- 
 mish occurred at the Bridge over the South Anna, and that the 
 Federals had retired across the Pamunkey River. The Rich- 
 mond War Office also notified General Hill that for the purpose 
 of removing the menace to Richmond, it was desirable that the 
 Federals at White House should be dispersed, chastised or cap- 
 tured. But General Hill in reply stated that the streams were all 
 flooded, the roads impassable for artillery, and that no movement 
 against the Federals could be made. He also expressed the opin- 
 ion that the Federals would probably change their base to Peters- 
 burg or Washington. 
 
 On Tuesday, July 7th, General Getty returned to White 
 House, having been unable to destroy the bridges over the Annas, 
 but he reported having torn up the track of the Richmond and 
 Fredericksburg Railroad for several miles. The picket line was 
 evacuated at midnight, and the 127th returned to camp in a heavy 
 rain. After being furnished with rations, at daylight we started 
 on our way back to Yorktown; the rain was still falling, and the 
 roads were in fearful condition, the mud being deep and slimy, 
 while the corduroy road was broken in places, making the 
 marching most trying. Mud was thick enough to take the shoes 
 off your feet, some of the men actually losing them from that 
 cause. The regiment halted one hour at New Kent Court House 
 for breakfast and rest, and then resumed the march through 
 Slatersville, resting near Barhamsville for supper, after which we 
 again took up the march till we arrived at Burnt Ordinary at 9 
 
60 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 p. m. While on the march we had one alarm, and were ordered 
 to halt and get our traps, i. e., knapsacks and haversacks, ready 
 to throw off in case we were attacked ; but the alarm proved false 
 and the march was continued. General Gordon, who com- 
 manded our Division, says that we marched twenty-four miles 
 through deep mud and over broken roads, while Colonel Bough- 
 ton of the 143d gives the distance as twenty-eight miles through 
 mud six inches deep. But this rapid marching, however difficult, 
 had been necessary to prevent our rear guard being attacked by 
 General Hill. Wood says : 'On this march one of the boys, being 
 in the rear, came across a number of men from another regiment 
 who tauntingly asked 'where is the 127th;' and the reply came 
 
 'ten miles ahead and marching like H .' " He also states 
 
 that although the 127th were called "clam diggers" by the 144th, 
 the main portion of the 127th came into bivouac with their colors, 
 while the majority of the men in the other regiments had strag- 
 gled badly, causing one of the officers to remark "that the 127th 
 could march the 144th to death and then dig clams enough for 
 supper!" It is the writer's impression that the 127th called the 
 144th "Bark peelers," because many of them had before enlist- 
 ment worked at gathering bark for tanning leather. 
 
 At 6 a. m. of the 9th the men, although somewhat footsore 
 from the march of the previous day, fell in and marched to Fort 
 Magruder, arriving there at 3 p. m. On this day General Halleck 
 notified General Dix that another great battle was pending, and 
 stated his wish that Gordon's Division be pushed forward so as to 
 take part. The Confederate scout, Carroll, reported to the Rich- 
 mond War Office that he had been in the Federal camps, and that 
 they were ordered to Yorktown, and were on their way to join 
 Meade's army. At 5 a. m. of July 10th the regiment started for 
 Yorktown, ten miles distant, arriving about 10 o'clock, when our 
 knapsacks were returned us, and after waiting until sundown we 
 were embarked on the steamer John Brooks bound for Washing- 
 ton. The enlisted men had the usual accommodations on the 
 deck, and this time the officers were not only forced to content 
 themselves with the same accommodations, but they were unable 
 to buy meals on board. The boat, having been used so much as 
 a transport, was very dirty, and vermin could be seen in the 
 cracks of the deck, making it next to impossible for the troops to 
 keep themselves and clothing free from them. One of the most 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 61 
 
 unpleasant and trying conditions to soldiers of the better class 
 was this necessity, when in transportation on these steamers, or 
 freight cars, or on picket and the march, of occupying quarters 
 which had previously been used by troops of all conditions of 
 cleanliness. One day these boats or cars would be occupied by 
 men from the very lowest classes found in the large cities, whose 
 uncleanly habits remained the same, and then without being 
 cleaned or fumigated they would be occupied by troops who had 
 come from other walks of life, who retained the wish at least to 
 keep clean. All shared alike, no other bed than the floor of the 
 freight car and the deck of the steamer being provided, but when 
 in an established camp the men were subjected to frequent and 
 close inspection, and those who were so inclined were enabled to 
 maintain the same condition of cleanliness that they had enjoyed 
 at home and others compelled to do so. The regiment reached 
 Washington about noon of July nth, and at 5 p. m. embarked 
 on cars bound for Frederick, Maryland, via Relay House, twenty 
 men of Company A being left behind to unload the steamer. On 
 the way to Frederick we passed several squads of men from the 
 7th regiment, New York State Militia, who were picketing the 
 railroad; and it was quite interesting to notice the radical differ- 
 ence in the outfit of the men on these posts from that of troops 
 in active service. 
 
 The regiment arrived at Frederick about 8 a. m. Sunday, July 
 12th, and after remaining there an hour, during which time the 
 people came out and supplied the men with drinking water, we 
 were then marched about three-quarters of a mile to a wheat field 
 in the outskirts of the town, and there bivouacked near the camp 
 of the 7th New York State Militia, thus affording those of our of- 
 ficers who nad formerly been members of thf: 7th an opportunity 
 of meeting old acquaintances. The 2d Connecticut Light Artil- 
 lery Company from Bridgeport, Connecticut, were also camped 
 here. It rained all the afternoon, and the men were ordered to 
 again turn in their knapsacks so as to be in light marching order, 
 cooked rations were issued to the regiment, and at 10.30 of the 
 13th we started for Boonsboro, Maryland, via Middletown, ar- 
 riving at 7 p. rn., wet and bedraggled, it having rained at intervals 
 during the afternoon. During the march of sixteen miles we 
 passed several regiments whose terms of service had expired, and 
 who were then on their way home. 
 
Fla&ternVa. -fM<L. 
 
 5«aU ?m.Ti I me>i 
 
 i «. j » V * 
 
 y ^*;rwrt«w*« 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 63 
 
 Marching was resumed at 6 a. m. of the 14th, and Funkstown 
 was reached at 12 m., where we joined General Howard's nth 
 Corps, to which our regiment had been assigned. The Brigade 
 under the command of General Schimmelfennig was at this time 
 composed of the 127th, i42d, 41st and 54th New York, the 107th 
 Ohio and the 74th Pennsylvania Vols. Our regiment now num- 
 bered five hundred and sixty-five men present for duty. At 1 p. 
 m. we marched, with the rest of the nth Army Corps, forward 
 through Hagerstown, camping about 5 p. m. at Leisters Mill, on 
 the banks of the Concocheague river, one mile from Williams- 
 port. The people of Hagerstown displayed many Union flags 
 and gave the troops a very cordial reception, placing tubs of cool 
 spring water by the edge of the sidewalk, from which they filled 
 the men's canteens. 
 
 About the time that our Division was approaching Funks- 
 town the rear guard of General Lee's army was crossing the Pon- 
 toon bridge into Virginia, the main body of the Confederate army 
 having gone over during the previous night. General Ewell's 
 corps, which forded the river at Williamsport with the water up 
 to the armpits of the men, reached the other side by 8 a. m., and 
 Longstreet's and Hill's Corps crossed on the pontoon bridge, 
 the last of General Longstreet's column being over by 9 a. m. The 
 official report of the Confederates states that the crossing was 
 much retarded by a severe rainstorm, and a heavy fog prevented 
 the discovery of the movement by the Union Signal officers until 
 late in the morning. The Union Artillery and Cavalry approached 
 the pontoon bridge at n a. m., but were held in check by General 
 Heth's rear guard, which occupied earthworks on the road lead- 
 ing to the bridge. After checking our approach, the Confed- 
 erates withdrew and destroyed the bridge. 
 
 General Meade had issued orders for his Corps Commanders 
 to attack the Confederate line early an the morning of the 15th, 
 but the withdrawal of the "rebs" during the previous night pre- 
 vented compliance therewith. Had Lee's army not succeeded in 
 withdrawing across the river, our regiment would have taken 
 part in a battle that would probably have been as stubbornly con- 
 tested as was that of Gettysburg. General Meade then ordered a 
 pursuit of Lee's army by a flank movement toward Berlin, his in- 
 tention being to march down the Loudon Valley, Virginia, and 
 push his cavalry through the passes of the Blue Ridge, on the 
 
64 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 other side of which General Lee's army was moving down the 
 Shenandoah Valley. He also ordered the 3d Army Corps to try 
 and intercept a portion of the Confederate army by way of Manas- 
 sas Gap. At 4.45 a. m. of July 15th our regiment fell in with the 
 rest of the troops of the nth Army Corps, and marched back by 
 the old Hagerstown road, through Hagerstown, Funkstown and 
 Boonsboro, arriving at Middletown, Maryland, at 8 p. m. The 
 wagons and artillery trains blocked the roads, and for most of the 
 twenty-five miles our route was through fields, which made the 
 march a very trying one. 
 
 At 6 a. m. of the 16th we marched from Middletown through 
 Jefferson, arriving at a point near Berlin about 1 p. m., and were 
 then compelled to wait during the balance of the day for the ar- 
 rival of pontoon trains to bridge the Potomac. We remained 
 here until 5 a. m. of Sunday, July 19th, when we broke camp, and 
 at 6 a. m. crossed the Potomac on a pontoon bridge, 560 paces in 
 length, to float which eighty boats were required. Following a 
 road which ran near the ridge, we marched through Lovettsville 
 and Waterford to a point about one mile east of Hamilton, Va., 
 and camped then at 3.30 p. m. 
 
 Our camp was three miles from Snickersville and five miles 
 from Leesburg. The march here was terribly trying, as besides 
 the bad roads the day was very hot, and many fell out of the line 
 completely exhausted. At night Company E was placed on 
 picket at a bridge near an unfinished railroad near Leesburg. 
 
 At 7.30 of July 20th we left Hamilton and marched fifteen 
 miles over fields and by-roads to Goose Creek, where we 
 bivouacked in the woods near Mountsville, five miles west of Al- 
 die. Our route, which had been by way of Gilead, lay along the 
 ridge of the Kinocton mountains; and on the way we passed 
 three sutler's wagons that had been looted and wrecked. by bush- 
 whackers. 
 
 We had to watch the rebuilding of a bridge over Goose Creek 
 that had been destroyed by Mosby's men. On the march to 
 Goose Creek six of our men — Smith, Bedell, Theodore S. Brush, 
 George H. Painter of Company E, E. W. Tuthill of Company H 
 and Thomas Quidor of Company C were captured by Mosby's 
 men. Bedell and Painter were started immediately for Rich- 
 mond. On their way they were subjected to long marches, but 
 otherwise were as well treated as circumstances would permit. 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 65 
 
 After reaching Richmond they were sent to Belle Isle, and were 
 confined there about two weeks when it was rumored one morn- 
 ing that all of the sick Union soldiers were to report at the gate of 
 the enclosure for exchange. As there had been several previous 
 false rumors of the same character, Bedell did not go, and so 
 missed his chance, as this time the report proved true. Painter 
 answered the call and was exchanged, rejoining the regiment at 
 Morris Island ; but Bedell remain'ed behind, and both he and Tut- 
 hill died the following November. Quidor was also- taken to 
 Richmond and was exchanged. 
 
 The detachment that captured Brush took him to a swamp 
 and left him in charge of one of their men, who, being supplied 
 with plenty of the "ardent," previously captured from a sutler's 
 wagon, soon became oblivious to the fact that they had a pris- 
 oner, and Brush, taking advantage of the opportunity thus 
 offered, gave his captors the slip, and a few mornings afterward 
 came into camp, minus equipages, haversack, canteen, coat and 
 hat, but well pleased to get away with no other loss. 
 
 We filed out of the woods at Goose Creek; the fields seemed 
 literally covered with blackberries; as soon as our arms were 
 stacked and the regiment dismissed we made a charge and cap- 
 tured a large quantity; not many of the berries had the good 
 fortune to escape! We had cleared off the cream of the picking 
 before the other regiments arrived. 
 
 On July 21st, at 6 p. m., a detail of four hundred men from 
 our regiment was ordered back on a scout toward Mount Gilead ; 
 we went as far as the Mountain House, about two miles north of 
 Goose Creek, leaving companies posted in different directions. 
 General Schurtz met a party of Mosby's men and recaptured a 
 number of Union troops who had previously been captured by 
 Mosby. While a portion of the regiment were scouting around 
 under the personal direction of General Schimmelfennig he halted 
 them in the shade and told them to rest while he rode around and 
 took a look; if he found any guerillas he would call them. Re- 
 turning after awhile, he reported that none were to be seen, and 
 he guessed there were none in the neighborhood. It was such 
 acts of thoughtfulne.ss for the comfort of his troops that caused 
 the men to like the brave German. On the 22d the men returned 
 to camp, reaching there at noon, having: marched about fifteen 
 miles, and one squad brought in about sixty farmers of sus- 
 
66 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 pected loyalty, who probably farmed by day and bushwhacked 
 at night. These men were suspected of knowing more of affairs 
 connected with the movements of the Confederates than we did. 
 
 A forage train of nine wagons that started ahead of its escort 
 this same morning was captured by Mosby, but eight of the 
 wagons were subsequently recaptured. At 9 a. m. of the 23d the 
 regiment marched from Mountsville, passing through Middles- 
 burg at 12 m., and at 6.30 p. m. halted at White Plains for sup- 
 per, while the sun was still two hours high. Just before halting 
 considerable heavy firing was heard in the direction of Manassas 
 Gap. At dusk we started again, and passed through Salem, 
 arriving at New Baltimore, near Manassas Gap, about mid- 
 night, having marched about twenty-five miles over rough and 
 muddy roads. We lay still all the next day and refreshed our- 
 selves with blackberries, which we again found in great abun- 
 dance. 
 
 At this camp George Devow and Newton Van Tassel, of A, 
 with a number of the men from other companies, were detailed 
 on recruiting service, and left for New' York, where some re- 
 mained on that service during the balance of their term of service. 
 
 About 4 p. m. of July 25th the regiment marched from New 
 Baltimore, and arrived at Warrentown Junction at 11.30 a. m., 
 a distance of sixteen miles, where we found the Sixth Army 
 Corps. We camped in a piece of large timber, and found water 
 very scarce, but as we here received the first mail since leaving 
 Washington, fifteen days before, we were content with our lot, 
 and did not even grumble at the regimental inspection, held at 
 10 a. m. On the 28th we changed our camp to the woods near 
 the railroad station, but the water was still very scarce, the near- 
 est source being a mile away. 
 
 The regiment laid out the camp in company streets, and drill- 
 ing was resumed. Five long trains, loaded with pontoons, ar- 
 rived and departed for Rappahannock Station, large bodies of ar- 
 tillery and cavalry having gone toward the same point. On the 
 30th the supply of water commenced to give out. One small 
 spring, a full mile away from camp, was so continually patronized 
 by men filling canteens that the water was dipped out as fast as it 
 flowed in. 
 
 When passing through Maryland there seemed to be an 
 ample supply of spring water of excellent quality, but here springs 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 67 
 
 were scarce, and, as the water was very low in them, it was kept 
 continually soiled by the constant dipping of the men filling can- 
 teens. On the 31st the regiment marched about one-half mile 
 further out to a pleasant location in the woods and somewhat 
 nearer a supply of water. The Twelfth Army Corps had moved 
 toward the Rappahannock Station, and it was now rumored 
 that the Eleventh Army Corps was to be disbanded and Gordon's 
 Division was to be transferred to tue Twelfth Army Corps. But 
 this proposed transfer of our Division was not approved by Gen- 
 eral Halleck. 
 
 At 5 a. m. of August 1st our Brigade broke camp and 
 marched about twelve miles to Greenwich, near Broad Run, ar- 
 riving there at 3 p. m. The day was one of the hottest that we 
 had had, and the march was so trying because of the heat that 
 men fell out of the line in large numbers. Arriving at Green- 
 wich, Private Bradford Butler of the One Hundred and Fifty- 
 seventh New York, who had been tried by court marital and 
 found guilty of deserting while in the presence of the enemy, 
 was shot. The troops were drawn up on three sides of .a hollow 
 square, at the open side of which he knelt, blindfolded, on his 
 coffin. Six men of his company acted as a firing party, and after 
 it was over the troops were marched by his body. 
 
 A line of patrols and pickets were now established from New 
 Baltimore to Bristoe Stations, and after the regiment had pitched 
 camp in a locality where plenty of good water and wood was 
 near Companies E and H were sent on picket, getting their post 
 established at 9 a. m. in the woods along the Broad Run, near 
 Greenwich. Sunday, August 2d, was terribly hot — the hottest 
 day experienced while in the service — and the men were per- 
 mitted to lie still all day. Companies E and H were posted as a 
 reserve in the thick woods. The picket line was changed at 
 night, but the reserve had just lain down when orders came to 
 draw in pickets, and the men returned to camp a little after mid- 
 night. 
 
 At this place there was a large house, surrounded by fine 
 grounds, having a sign prominently displayed stating that the 
 property belonged to a British resident, and was under the pro- 
 tection of the British Consulate. The house was furnished with 
 a guard, from whichever side happened to be in posession of the 
 surrounding territory, and the generals when in the vicinity were 
 
68 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 entertained here. That this guard was not unnecessary was 
 proved by the conditions of other estates in the locality, which 
 plainly showed the devastating effects of war, fences and sheds 
 in many cases being totally destroyed, while this property was 
 still well fenced and the ground in fine condition. 
 
 The picket line was found to be too much extended, and the 
 troops were turned out at 2.30 a. m. of August 3d and marched 
 back to Catlett's Station, camping at 10.30 a. m. at Walnut 
 Branch, at the crossing of the Catlett's Station and Greenwich 
 road, where a new and shorter line of pickets was established. 
 
 On the 5th we commenced fixing up camp, which was regu- 
 larly laid out, and the regiment began drilling. At 8.30 p. m. 
 General Gordon received orders to go with his Division to 
 Alexandria, and at 1 a. m. of August 6th the assembly sounded, 
 and the regiment was ordered to fall in and march to Catlett's 
 Station; but as no cars were here, we, at 11 a. m., marched to 
 Warrentown Junction, and at 2.15 p. m. embarked on cattle cars, 
 arriving at Alexandria at 6 p. m., where we marched to a hill on 
 the outskirts of the city, and there bivouacked. At 9.40 a. m. of 
 the 7th General Gordon received a telegram from the War De- 
 partment ordering the Division to go to South Carolina to rein- 
 force General Gilmore, who had lost heavily in his two unsuccess- 
 ful assaults on Fort Wagner, while General Howard and the 
 balance of the Eleventh Corps were ordered west to reinforce 
 General Rosecrans. At 4 p. m. the regiment embarked on the 
 steamer "John Tucker" at Alexandria, and that night sailed for 
 Newport News, arriving at Fort Monroe at 4.30 p. m. and New- 
 port News at 6 o'clock, where we disembarked and bivouacked 
 near the shore, but only to find the mosquitoes so thick as to 
 make sleep almost impossible. The water was fine for bathing, 
 and the men speedily availed themselves of the opportunity to 
 clean up after their marching in Virginia and trip on another 
 dirty transport. The paymaster had accompanied us on the trip 
 from Alexandria, and the regiment had received two months' 
 pay, but here again the money was of little use, except to buy 
 watermelons, which we found plenty and cheap. One officer 
 states that he landed with a pocketful of money, but could not 
 buy anything to eat, and was compelled to put up with army 
 fare. 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 69 
 
 Chapter IV. 
 FOLLY AND COLES ISLAND, SOUTH CAROLINA. 
 August 11, 1863, to April 22, 1864. 
 
 On the nth the regiment embarked on the ocean steamer 
 "Empire City" during a heavy squall, which compelled the 
 steamer to back off to an anchorage until the storm passed over; 
 but at 4 p. m. we proceeded to Fort Monroe, where General 
 Gordon and staff came aboard. The officers were, as usual, quar- 
 tered in the cabin, and were able to obtain a change from army 
 fare by paying two dollars per day for their meals. 
 
 The Seventy-fourth Pennsylvania were also on board. At 1 a. 
 m. of the 12th we started for Charleston, S. G, and when off Hat- 
 teras the steamer was hove to by a shot from a United States 
 blockading steamer ("Crusader" or "Mercedita"), an officer from 
 which boarded us, after which we proceeded on our way. On 
 the 13th we had fine weather, and very few of the men were sea- 
 sick. 
 
 At 8 p. m. the steamer anchored off Charleston harbor, under 
 the guns of the United States steamer "Wabash," from which 
 point the shelling between the Union and Confederate batteries 
 could plainly be seen. At dark of the 14th the transfer of troops 
 from ocean steamer was attempted, but a heavy sea was run- 
 ning, and after nearly losing a man the attempt was given up. 
 At 7 o'clock the next morning, the sea having calmed down 
 somewhat, the transfer was made to the steamboat "Escort," 
 the work affording some little amusement, although attended 
 with some danger. 
 
 The men, carrying knapsack, haversack, rifle, etc., were 
 compelled to descend a rope ladder hung over the side of the 
 ocean steamer, and then jump to the launch as it rose on the 
 crest of a wave. Those who failed to jump at the proper time 
 tumbled headlong to the bottom of the boat, while some took 
 an involuntary bath, but were rescued by the crew of the launch. 
 Still another danger arose of the launch being forced under the 
 
70 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 guards and swamped when we approached the smaller steamer 
 "Escort," which was to land us on the island, but this was finally 
 accomplished with no other loss than of some rifles of the men 
 seated in the bow, which caught under the guards of the steam- 
 boat, and would probably have swamped the boat had they not 
 doubled over as if made of lead and relieved the launch. 
 
 By 3 p. m. all were safely transferred to the "Escort," which 
 then passed through Stono Inlet and up the Folly River to Paw- 
 nee Landing, on the inner side of Folly Island, where the men 
 disembarked. 
 
 The half dozen springs at the base of the bank, and shaded 
 by a cluster of trees of tropical growth, at once attracted the 
 attention of the men, who had grown tired of the stale water 
 that had been furnished them on the steamer, and many a cup was 
 dipped into the attractive springs, only to find the water so brack- 
 ish that few were able to swallow it. 
 
 The regiment was marched across the island to the ocean 
 front and bivouacked within a short distance of the surf. Folly 
 Island is a bank or sand-dune about one-half mile wide, with 
 patches of palmetto and pine, and reaches of meadow and stag- 
 nant water. The only drinking water to be had was obtained by 
 digging about three feet in the sand, and this was so brackish 
 that the thirsty were satisfied with a small quantity. 
 
 Upon the same ridge between the beach in front and swamps 
 or marsh in the rear were crowded camps, which filled the soil 
 with impurities. To the south of and separated from Folly 
 Island by a deep and narrow inlet was Coles Island, a marshy 
 spot crossed by causeways, which were occupied by our forces, 
 and the outlying pickets were so near those of the Confederates 
 on the adjoining islands that they could easily talk with each 
 other, there being only a dividing slough between. On the 17th 
 the Second Brigade of Gordon's Division, composed of the 
 17th Connecticut, 40th Massachusetts, 25th and 75th Ohio and 
 144th and 157th New York, commanded by General Ames, was 
 ordered to Morris Island to assist in the siege of Fort Wagner, 
 while the First Brigade, composed of the 127th, i42d and 41st 
 and 54th New York, 74th Pennsylvania and 107th Ohio were 
 left on Folly Island. 
 
 The bombardment of Fort Sumter commenced in earnest at 
 daylight and continued throughout the day. Camp guard was 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 71 
 
 dispensed with, but the island was picketed. Among the many 
 temptations a private soldier is subjected to is that of appro- 
 priating to his own use whatever may contribute to his com- 
 fort without a too strict construction of rightful ownership, and 
 by some the sutler was looked upon as being legitimate prey. 
 For some reason which they could possibly best explain the 
 officers regarded him with special favor, and he was generally 
 under their protection. Perhaps for this reason, or possibly be- 
 muse of his legal training, the Lieutenant-Colonel felt called 
 upon to investigate the loss of some sutler's supplies, which had 
 occurred while the regiment was en route frcm Newport News 
 to Charleston harbor, and which had been stored in the vicinity 
 of Company G's quarters. The assistance of company officers 
 was sought, but while he had been agreeably surprised to find 
 his mess cook well supplied with canned goods, he had attrib- 
 uted it to the fact of his popularity with the men, and accepted 
 what he chose to consider their contributions without question, 
 and as the sutler and his assistant had kept guard over the store 
 by sleeping on the tarpaulin which covered them, it did not seem 
 at all likely that the goods could have been obtained in any other 
 way than by lawful means. It was quite possible that other 
 messes than Company G's were equally well supplied, for while 
 the sutler and his assistant slept the ends of several boxes were 
 skillfully removed and replaced with equal skill after a portion 
 of the contents of the boxes had been transferred to other guard- 
 ians. The losses were not discovered until the boxes were opened 
 in a less surreptitious way on Folly Island. The records fail to 
 state whether the culprits were apprehended or not, but there is 
 little doubt but that the sutler found some way of recouping his 
 loss. 
 
 On the 2 1 st the camp of the regiment was changed to the 
 south end of the island, and on the 23d we pitched our tents, the 
 floors of which were raised eighteen inches above the sand, and 
 bunks constructed of pine poles covered with wild rice straw and 
 pine boughs, while the fronts and sides of the tents were trimmed 
 with leaves from the palmetto, of which there was a heavy 
 growth on the island. The weather was very warm, but the 
 surf bathing fine, and the heat was tempered by a delightful sea 
 breeze, which was alike beneficial and disagreeable, as it blew the 
 fine sand around so that we got more than the proverbial peck of 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 7$ 
 
 dirt mixed with our ration. Our tents, which had proved fairly 
 good shelter in Virginia, hardly met the requirements of our new 
 location. The yielding sand afforded but a poor anchorage for 
 our tent pins, and the heavy storms, with the high winds after, 
 made sad wrecks of our frail shelter tents. 
 
 A number of details, composed of both officers and men, were 
 made to different headquarters, Adjutant Schauffler being de- 
 tailed on General Shimmelfennig's staff and Lieutenant Collins 
 taking his place temporarily as Acting Regimental Adjutant. 
 The regiment was now required to fall in before daylight, re- 
 maining under arms until sunrise, and religious services were 
 sometimes heard before breakfast. One hundred and fifty men 
 from the regiment were detailed on picket, and were posted at 
 such parts of the island as the Confederate forces could best be 
 observed from. 
 
 On the 25th Quartermaster Dodge left for the North to look' 
 up and forward officers' baggage and men's knapsacks which had 
 been left at Frederick, Maryland, and the same day the regiment 
 received the first mail since leaving Catlett's Station, Virginia, 
 August 6th. On the 28th General Beauregard officially reported 
 the Confederate forces of all arms defending Charleston as 13,368. 
 
 That the same fiery sentiment existed among those here that 
 had in the past precipitated the rebellion was evidenced by one 
 Captain Samuel Leroy Hammond, of the 25th South Carolina 
 Volunteers, who proposed, if furnished with three or four reso- 
 lute men, to take General Gilmore from his bed and transfer him 
 to Charleston. Either the Confederate force lacked the three 
 or four resolute men or General Talliaferro, to whom the propo- 
 sition was submitted, doubted its practicability, and declined to 
 authorize the attempt. 
 
 On the 31st the regiment was inspected and mustered for pay, 
 the inspecting officer complimenting the troops on the good con- 
 dition of their arms and accoutrements. 
 
 On September 1st Company E made a reconnoissance to 
 White House and up Secessionville Creek. On September 5th 
 Lieutenant Coggeshall resigned and returned North. The four 
 "Left"' companies, viz: D, A, H and K left camp at 7 a. m. and 
 were transferred to Coles Island, where they relieved the pickets 
 of the 74th Pennsylvania Volunteers, and on Sunday, , Septem- 
 ber 6th, the other companies of the regiment joined them. 
 
74 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 Our new camp was made in a grove of live oak trees near 
 the landing and in the vicinity of the old shellfort supposed to 
 have been erected by the Spanish. The so-called "Fort" 
 was a circular wall, originally some ten or twelve feet high and 
 five to six feet thick, made of a concrete of oyster shells as solid 
 as masonry. It was useless for our purposes, however, except as a 
 breastwork, which the situation here did not require. We found 
 better water here than on Folly Island, although it was far from 
 appetizing. Owing to the nature of the ground, drilling was prac- 
 tically limited to squads, and the chief duty was on the picket line. 
 Adjoining Coles Island and connected with it by bridges and 
 dykes was Horse Shoe Island, and on the banks of the stream sep- 
 arating this from James Island our picket line was established. 
 The Confederate pickets were on the opposite bank, which at 
 some places were not more than two or three hundred feet dis- 
 tant, and at low tide the intervening space could be crossed with- 
 out difficulty, as the mud was but a few inches deep. 
 
 Cluster or raccoon oysters grew in great abundance along 
 the edges of the creek, and the soldiers of either side gathered 
 them in full view of each other. The stream which divided the 
 ground occupied by our forces and those of the Confederates 
 was bridged with a light trestlework at the extreme left and also 
 at the right of the line. Loose boards were laid lengthwise 
 over the trestlework, so that they could be quickly removed, and 
 at night Union and Confederate sentinels were placed at the 
 respective ends of the bridges. 
 
 There was no disposition on the part of the pickets to fire on 
 each other; but on the contrary a friendly feeling was manifested 
 between them, and visits were exchanged when opportunities 
 offered, the Confederates posting a sentinel in the direction from 
 which their own officers were compelled to approach their picket 
 line so that ample time could be had for their Union visitors to 
 return to their own line. These visits between the line were the 
 rule at one or two posts, and exchange of coffee and salt were 
 frequently made for copies of Charleston papers, which our men 
 were always glad to get. 
 
 On the 6th of September orders were issued for the troops 
 on Morris Island to assault Fort Wagner at 9 o'clock on the 
 morning of the 7th, but the Confederates, realizing that the ex- 
 tension of the Union "sap" into the ditch of the fort had ren- 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 75 
 
 dered it impossible for them to successfully resist the assault 
 of a column of troops approaching the fort through this "sap," 
 quietly evacuated the fort during the night with the loss of a few 
 prisoners, and the Union troops took possession on the morning 
 of the 7th. On this date the enemy was reported as building 
 earthworks, but investigation showed this was not so. 
 
 The greater part of the regiment was now doing picket duty, 
 the details being changed every other day. On September 8th 
 the shells from our batteries on Morris Island exploded a "reb" 
 magazine near Fort Moultrie. On Coles Island the Pioneer 
 Corps and eighty men were sent out to repair the second bridge 
 on the right of the kne, and at night a Confederate force which 
 had landed opposite Legarevills advanced to the north end of the 
 bridge next beyond our left post and destroyed that portion of it. 
 On the 10th word came into camp that a picket had been sur- 
 rounded on our left, but a detail was sent out, and found the re- 
 port incorrect. 
 
 On the left of our line were two small islands connected by 
 bridges. The first, because of its peculiar shape, was called 
 Horseshoe Island. The second, connected with this by a long 
 bridge, was called Battery Island. The creek dividing Battery 
 Island from James Island had orginally been the dividing line be- 
 tween the two forces at this place, but soon after our locating at 
 Coles Island the Union pickets were withdrawn from these two 
 islands. The day following the commanding General desired to 
 learn whether the Confederates had extended their lines so as to 
 occupy those islands, and a Corporal of Company E volunteered 
 to take two men and scour the islands for the purpose of learn- 
 ing whether the change had been made. They started at dusk, 
 crossing at Horseshoe Island, and advanced to the upper end, a 
 distance of some two miles ; then, by the bridge, they passed over 
 to Battery Island and continued their course until they arrived 
 at the upper end of the island, within a few rods of the Confed- 
 erates' picket line. There they remained an hour or two, con- 
 cealed in the bushes, and then they returned to camp. When 
 the report of their trip was made to the Field Officer of the day 
 he ordered another reconnoissance to be made the following 
 morning. The same party started just before it began to grow 
 light, and landed on Horseshoe Island, and again traversed it 
 as they had done the night before without discovering any sign of 
 
76 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 the enemy until arriving at the bridge that led to Battery Island. 
 Here they stopped awhile and reconnoitered, but seeing no signs 
 of Confederates they ventured across the bridge and proceeded 
 about one-third the distance across the island, when a consid- 
 erable number of the enemy appeared about two hundred yards 
 to the right. The Corporal, who was in advance of the others, 
 suddenly found himself within rifle shot of the foe, and giving the 
 alarm they all made quick time for the bridge, getting about half 
 way across before the Confederates appeared at their end of it. 
 No shots were exchanged, and the force of Confederates, which 
 proved to be a scouting party, appeared content to follow no fur- 
 ther. A few days after our line was again extended to its former 
 position. 
 
 On the 12th General Schimmelfennig, with a portion of the 
 staff, visited Post No. 6 on the picket line, and equipped with 
 hip boots waded around in the mud and water and staked out a 
 line of palisades. A detail from the regiment was sent out to 
 construct same. 
 
 Sunday, the 13th, Chaplain Francis preached on the events 
 of the year's service. On the 15th Captain Cooper returned to 
 the regiment, having been absent on sick leave. 
 
 Many times this regiment was turned out at night and in 
 storms through false alarms, which some of the men at times 
 declared were caused by overwatchfulness on the part of com- 
 manding officers, and it was said on one occasion that anti-mala- 
 rial mixture caused the turning out in a bitter storm in the middle 
 of the night of the entire regiment, who suffered from the ele- 
 ments. 
 
 Announcement had recently been made of the acceptance of 
 the resignation of Chaplain Francis. He was a Universalist in 
 belief, and though of a kindly, scho.-.rly temperament, lacked 
 some of the qualifications necessary for an army chaplain in the 
 field, where, at least in the volunteer force, almost every shade 
 of religious views was to be met, which demanded consideration 
 and respect. There were other duties besides those of a strictly 
 religious nature that generally fell to or were assumed by chap- 
 lains of other regiments which our chaplain found incongruous, 
 and from the first he lacked that popularity with the men that 
 would have made his mission a success and made him perhaps 
 contented to remain in the service. However that may be, most 
 
Lt. Col. EDWARD H. LITTLE. 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 77 
 
 will remember the kindly faced chaplain who, in representing in 
 his person the Church Militant, was, in his semi-military dress, 
 a prominent figure on dress parade, and who, in his daily trips to 
 and from Washington to our camp ■ with the regimental mail 
 while in the defences, had been the bearer to so many of the 
 pleasant messages from the loved ones at home. 
 
 The weather was now becoming quite cold at night, and on 
 the 20th the regiment received ninety A canvas tents, and these 
 being set up and arranged with bunks for four men, with beds of 
 moss gathered from the neighboring live oak trees, most of 
 which had this moss hanging from the branches, made much 
 more comfortable quarters for the men. On the 27th Adjutant 
 SchaufHer, who was acting as A. D. C. to General Schimmelfen- 
 nig, brought orders to reinforce the picket line and destroy the 
 two bridges at the left of the line, as a large number of the enemy 
 had been observed moving toward that point. 
 
 The balance of our regiment was held in readiness to repair 
 to the shell fort, but here again the threatened attack failed to 
 materialize, and probably the only object served was to show the 
 Confederates that their every movement was well watched. On 
 October 3d papers were exchanged with the Confederates, and on 
 the 6th General Schimmelfennig, under cover of the guns of the 
 "Pawnee" and "Huron," landed at Legareville with three hun- 
 dred men and reconnoitered, but found nothing threatening in the 
 situation. 
 
 On the 7th the knapsacks, which had been left at Frederick, 
 Maryland, were received at Coles Island, but the contents of 
 many had been stolen while they lay on the wharf at New York, 
 and the enlisted men, whose clothing had thus been lost, were 
 now compelled to buy more from "Uncle Sam." On the 8th 
 Lieutenant- Colonel Woodford left for the North on a twenty-day 
 sick leave. The weather was warm during the day, while quite 
 cool at night, and the sick list of the regiment rapidly increased. 
 On the 12th Sutler Bedford arrived with a stock of sutler's sup- 
 plies. At midnight of the 12th the regiment was again turned out 
 on a false alarm. 
 
 On the 27th a detail of two hundred men from the 107th Ohio 
 came over to Coles Island to do picket and afford the men of the 
 127th needed rest. Not understanding that the pickets had re- 
 frained from firing on each other, and perhaps surprised at the 
 
78 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 way the Confederates exposed themselves to view, they fired 
 upon them, but this was at once stopped, and the comparatively 
 friendly relations were restored. 
 
 On the 28th the regiment raised its large flag to the top of the 
 eighty-three-foot flagstaff, and the Stars and Stripes were now 
 for the first time prominently displayed on Coles Island. The 
 Major was in command of this regiment, and squad drills were 
 resumed under non-commissioned officers. Major Little also 
 renewed the old regime that required the brass belt and buttons 
 to be polished and the cross-belts and shoes to be blackened and 
 polished for guard and dress parade, and every few days there 
 was an inspection, which included knapsacks and their contents. 
 All this tended to check habits of negligence, which the men 
 would have naturally drifted into to their own injury, though it 
 was not so apparent to them then as later, and the Major was 
 frequently blamed for what he was subsequently commended for. 
 The ground was leveled and the camp, which was now laid out 
 in company streets, fifty feet wide, with tents four feet apart each 
 way, greatly improved it. Men were detailed to cut pine logs and 
 raft same to camp, from which were constructed five commodious 
 cook houses for the use of the company cooks, and within which 
 the company rations would be protected from storm. Each house 
 was twenty feet by fifteen, used by two companies, affording each 
 a space of ten by fifteen feet. Each section had a huge fireplace 
 of sods cut from the salt marsh near by, and the chimneys topped 
 off with pork barrels to improve the draught. The men missed 
 the freedom of the former open fire of the company cooks, who 
 had now grown somewhat autocratic, and while some constructed 
 fireplaces opening into their tents, others secured sheet iron camp 
 atoves, which made them independent of the cooks and permitted 
 the cooking of extra dishes as well as nicely warming the tents. 
 
 Several bridges out toward the picket line were widened, so as 
 to enable them, to be used by teams to bring firewood to camp, 
 and the scarcity of wood was thus overcome. Not to be outdone 
 by the men, the officers also had a commodious mess house built 
 for their use, and the whole camp assumed an appearance of per- 
 manency. 
 
 On the 17th the regiment was inspected by the Department 
 and Division A. A. I. Generals, and, as all indications pointed 
 toward the regiment wintering on the islands, a committee, rep- 
 
127TB. REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 79 
 
 resenting the religious and literary portion of the regiment, 
 waited upon and secured permission to build a regimental chapel, 
 to be used on the Sabbath and certain evenings of the week for 
 religious exercises, as well as a reading room, and for the meet- 
 ings of a literary society which it was proposed to form. It was 
 decided to locate it near the flagstaff and facing the parade 
 ground, and the preliminary work was at once begun. 
 
 On the 15th an attack was being made on Kiawah Island, on 
 the opposite side of the Stono, and at 3 p. m. cannon firing oc- 
 curred. The Union troops lost a few killed and thirty wounded. 
 
 On the 19th the steamer "Pawnee" passed up the Stono and 
 threw a few shells into a new battery which the Confederates 
 were building on James Island, but elicited no reply. The same 
 day a new lookout, about sixty feet in height, was erected on 
 Secessionville Creek, near our right picket post. Though this 
 was not specially lofty, yet over this level region around us it 
 afforded an extended view reaching northward over many a 
 creek, marsh, pine and live oak forest to the pile of ruins called 
 Fort Sumter. A little to the left and about half the distance to the 
 fort could be seen the village of Secessionville, and still further 
 to the left, between two pine forests on James Island, could be 
 seen a portion of the doomed city, the passage to which was ob- 
 structed by a line of batteries and rifle pits stretching across 
 James Island. 
 
 On November 22d the second death occurred in Company 
 A — that of Sergeant Daniel Velsor — after an illness of about four 
 months. He was one of those who enlisted from Huntington, 
 Long Island, and until stricken with disease one of the most ro- 
 bust men in the regiment, quiet and unassuming,, yet genial 
 withal, and was highly respected alike by officers and men. The 
 campaign in Virginia had weakened him, and when attacked 
 with camp dysentery he lacked the strength to withstand the 
 long struggle. His funeral, which occurred Sabbath afternoon, 
 at 4 o'clock, was largely attended, and the services were most im- 
 pressive. The chaplain of the 1426 New York officiated, and the 
 funeral procession, which consisted of fifteen commissioned offi- 
 cers, all of the members of Company A and a part of Company 
 D, was headed by the regimental drum corps and the brigade 
 band, which had been brought over from Follv Island for the 
 occasion. The services at the grave consisted of a prayer by 
 
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127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 81 
 
 the chaplain, singing of a hymn by the men, firing of volleys over 
 his grave and the playing of a dirge by the band. 
 
 On November 23d Colonel Gurney returned from the North 
 and assumed command of the regiment. The Colonel had been 
 absent from the regiment the greater part of the previous thir- 
 teen months, having been in command of the Brigade until July, 
 1863, and a few weeks later being, with several other officers, de- 
 tailed to New York on recruiting service. Captain Weston and 
 Lieutenant James H. Young returned with him. On the 24th the 
 officers of the regiment engaged in a shooting match to deter- 
 mine who should pay for the Thanksgiving dinner they proposed 
 having. 
 
 On November 23d two men, Joseph Warner and Francis 
 Green, of Company G, who were on duty at the left post, crossed 
 the bridge at that point to Battery Island for water, and were 
 captured by the enemy. It had been customary for the men to 
 go over the partially dismantled bridge to the island for the 
 purpose of getting good water. As this island was connected 
 by a causeway with James Island, and but a short distance from 
 the enemy's reserve picket post, there was some risk attending 
 the trips, and the guard was required to stand under arms while 
 those getting water were gone. The Confederates, having ob- 
 served our practice, crossed in the night and lay in ambush near 
 the spring. About sunrise the two Company G. men went 
 over. The Corporal, either through ignorance or neglect, 
 did not put the guard under arms, and as the first man, who was 
 several rods in advance, approached the spring, the Confed- 
 erates closed in on him and called upon the other man, who had 
 commenced a rapid retreat, to halt and come to them or receive 
 the contents of their carbines. The "monitors," seeing no pros- 
 pect of succor from our men on post, most of whom were back 
 in the woods and ignorant of what was taking place, gave up and 
 went with them. The party were a few moments later seen on 
 the causeway going with their captives at a double-quick, and 
 thence along the road that skirted the meadow on the other side, 
 where they could be seen by our men on the posts toward the 
 "right," and to whom the exulting shout of the captors was the 
 first intimation of what had occurred. The last heard of our 
 comrades was an item in the next day's "Mercury" stating the 
 fact of their capture and that they had been taken to Charleston. 
 
82 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 A copy of this above mentioned paper was obtained nearly every 
 night at the bridge on the right, where New York papers were 
 sometimes given for them. Such exchanges were usually under 
 the auspices of the Lieutenant in charge of the reserve, but the 
 privates of the two armies very frequently had long chats with 
 each other, though this was against orders, for which reason the 
 meetings were generally held at our end of the bridge, where the 
 vidette was posted. 
 
 Confederate soldiers seen on the other side of our picket line 
 presented an appearance comic and woeful, from the poverty of 
 their apparel, each one wearing such garments as suits his fancy 
 (or necessity.). Yet they are of the elite of the State troops, being 
 a sort of militia composed of planters and merchants. They have 
 remarked that our men seemed to average small in stature, so 
 with the laudable desire to improve the "monitor" reputation, one 
 of the Company A's tall men, when on post nearest the enemy, 
 having on a long overcoat, took gigantic strides back and forth 
 as the "rebs' " tall man (conspicuous by his red pants and height 
 of about seven feet) was accustomed to do. Upon returning to 
 his post behind the trees the tall monitor noticed that the faces 
 of all the "rebs" seated opposite were turned toward him and 
 seemed to be considering the matter. One of the Union men said 
 "sometimes we would play a joke upon the 'rebs' by placing a 
 small man upon the shoulders of a tall man, and then throwing 
 a blanket over them, as a shawl; the small man would shoulder 
 his musket and the combination would march up and down in 
 full view of the enemy, and when the curiosity of the Confeder- 
 ates was at its highest the small Yankee would suddenly throw 
 off his blanket and jump from his seat, and all hands would 
 cheer. With this and other forms of amusement the tediousness 
 of picket duty was lessened and good feeling also caused between 
 the pickets of both sides." 
 
 November 26th, 1863, was observed as Thanksgiving in camp. 
 The best shots in the regiment at 2 p. m. indulged in target shoot- 
 ing for cash prizes of $10.00, $7.00, $5.00, etc., and also for a $9.00 
 pair of boots, and some excellent shooting was done,. Private 
 Shotwell, of F, ranking as best shot. This, with the issue of 
 whiskey and quinine ration after supper, constituted the men's 
 observance of the day. A letter written from camp at this time 
 states "that the Government had for some time been issuing to 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 83 
 
 the troops whiskey with the other rations." This, if it reached 
 the destination intended by Uncle Sam, would afford each sol- 
 dier a gill or two each day, presumably for medicinal purposes 
 and chiefly to guard against the effect of the miasma from the 
 marshes, but much of the whiskey and part of the ration of can- 
 dles was in some way diverted, with the result that the soldier lost 
 his anti-malarial medicine, with the exception of about one gill 
 per month, to his undoubted benefit and the misfortune of those 
 who diverted it. 
 
 The officers celebrated the day with a dinner at 6 p. m. 
 Life on Coles Island as experienced by the enlisted men is de- 
 scribed in a letter dated November, 1863, as follows. The writer 
 says: "I write this morning wrapped in overcoat and blanket 
 and lying under a few boards on outpost picket duty on Cole's 
 Island; the air is damp and chilly, and a storm is coming on. 
 When I left the company for detail duty I had become so accus- 
 tomed to the discomforts of a soldier's life that I did not feel 
 them so keenly, and they seemed mild compared with the dark 
 background of last summer's awful marches. Most of the time 
 I felt contented, but the three weeks I spent in delicious freedom 
 from the disciplinary restraints under which an enlisted man finds 
 himself caused the yoke to seem more trying when resumed. It 
 is not so much the actual hard duty that I mind as the sense of 
 being continually spurred on from one duty to another, with but 
 little interval that one can call his own, and that required for 
 mending and splicing something." 
 
 On November 28th the 107th Ohio were again sent to Coles 
 Island to assist the 127th New York in performing picket duty. 
 On December 4th Lieutenant-Colonel Woodford was appointed 
 Recruiting Officer at New York by Secretary Stanton, and left 
 for New York on that service. The same day a detail of men 
 went to Legareville to get lumber, and while there found and 
 brought back a sailboat, which was afterwards repaired and util- 
 ized by fishing and sailing parties. The detail when at Legare- 
 ville were shelled by the Confederates without, however, any 
 harm resulting. On the 10th Sergeant Eldredge obtained four 
 Charlston papers from the Confederate picket at the slab bridge. 
 On the 1 2th a Lieutenant dressed himself in a private's uniform 
 and went on the bridge at Right Post, where he met a rebel 
 
84 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 picket and exchanged coffee and fresh bread for tobacco, sweet 
 potatoes and Charleston papers. 
 
 On the 16th an interview, under cover of a flag of truce, rela- 
 tive to passing boxes over the lines for Mrs. Anderson and Mrs. 
 Gordon, of Charleston, was held by order of General Gilmore. 
 
 On December 20th the Regimental Chapel, which had re- 
 cently been built, "was dedicated to the Lord." It was about 
 fifty by thirty feet in size, built of pine logs, which had been cut 
 squared and rafted to camp by the men of the regiment. The 
 logs were laid up in the usual manner of building log houses. 
 When the sides had been erected a detail was sent over to Le- 
 gareville and obtained from the houses there shingles for the roof 
 and planks for flooring; they also obtained two doors and three 
 windows, together with seats and pulpit from an abandoned 
 Episcopal Church in the town, and the probability is that they 
 would have brought the preacher over also if he had been found. 
 The building, which would seat about two hundred, was heated 
 by a stove and lighted by six kerosene lamps. It was decorated 
 for the dedication with palmetto leaves and greens and presented 
 ville were shelled by the Confederates without, however, any 
 about one hundred and fifty of the men were present. There 
 were also present Chaplains Palmer of the 142nd New York, 
 Hay of the 112th New York, Fullerton of the 144th New York 
 and Taylor of the 40th Massachusetts, the latter of whom 
 preached the sermon based on the text, Rev. 19th, Ch. 6th and 
 7th verses: "The Lord omnipotent reigneth." Coloney Gurney 
 also made an address and thanked all who had helped in the 
 building and fitting of the chapel, especially the Warner 
 brothers of Company B, Hunting of "E" and Sergeant Conklin 
 of Company H. The following dedication hymn, composed for 
 the occasion by Colonel Gurney, was then sung: 
 
 Be still, ye angry floods, be still, 
 
 And calmed the ocean's swell; 
 Upon this isle of sand we build 
 
 A house, where God may dwell. 
 
 Here Comrades we will gladly meet 
 
 And wisdom's lessons learn; 
 And meekly sit at Jesus' feet 
 
 While still our campfires burn. 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 85 
 
 Though plain and humble it may be 
 
 Yet God will dwell therein; 
 And here accept the humble prayer 
 
 That may be breathed to Him. 
 
 'Tis not the splendor of the house, 
 
 Nor richly gilded aisles 
 That e'er attracts the mighty God, 
 
 Or surely wins His smiles. 
 
 And now to God we dedicate 
 
 The Temple we have raised — 
 Here let our songs and prayers ascend 
 
 And God's great name bo praised. 
 
 The meeting closed with the singing, led by Lieutenant 
 Young, of "All hail the power of Jesus' name, ' and the benedic- 
 tion. 
 
 On the 2 1st Captain Little and Lieutenants Long and Os- 
 born and Sergeants Moore, Reeves and Nichols, who had been 
 detailed on recruiting service, left for the North; arriving at 
 Hilton Head the hotel was found to be full and the officers 
 (Long states) spent the night walking up and down the long 
 wharf, but the enlisted men found sleeping room on the floor 
 of the Provost Marsal's office. This was one of those occa- 
 sions where a man's happiness was measured by his wants, and 
 this time the enlisted men were ahead, as their limited wants 
 and previous experiences enabled them to get a good night's rest 
 even on the hard floor referred to, but when aboard the steamer 
 the conditions were reversed, the officers had cabin accommoda- 
 tions, while the enlisted men were hung up in racks down in the 
 hold, where the smell of bilge water, combined with the odors 
 from many other sleepers made the experience on a stormy day 
 one to be long remembered. 
 
 On the 21st a large party of officers left Folly Island to at- 
 tend the meeting of General Gilmore at Beaufort, South Caro- 
 lina. On Wednesday evening, December 22nd, the Adelphi De- 
 bating Association was organized and the following officers 
 elected, viz.; President, Silas A. Underhill; Vice-President, Ser- 
 geant Conklin; Secretary, Corporal Beers; Assistant Secretary, 
 Wilbur F. Wood; Treasurer, Sergeant Barker. The meeting in 
 other respects was interesting and afforded promise of the suc- 
 cess of the project. 
 
86 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 December 25th, 1863, Christmas, the Confederates joined 
 with our forces in celebrating the day by opening fire at day- 
 light on the United States steamer Marblehead, which was lying 
 in the Stono River near the Legareville wharf, from the con- 
 cealed batteries which they had recently constructed near Legare- 
 ville, and which mounted four eight inch Howitzers, two 30 Pdr. 
 Parrotts, one eight inch rifle gun and three 10 Pdr. Parrotts. 
 The firing was kept up between the rebel batteries and the gun- 
 boats for about and hour, and althougn only at a distance of 
 about one thousand yards the gunboat sustained no damage. 
 The Confederates in their official reports sought to excuse this 
 on the ground that the powder used was of poor quality. Soon 
 after the firing began the United States gunboat Pawnee and 
 two mortar schooners ran up the Kiawah River and opened fire 
 on the flank and rear of the rebel batteries and compelled them 
 to withdraw, leaving two heavy Howitzers behind, which were 
 afterwards removed by boats' crews from the Pawnee. The ob- 
 ject of the rebels had evidently been to capture or destroy one 
 or both of the gunboas, as they, one year previously, had cap- 
 tured the steamer Isaac Smith near the same point. The day 
 was celebrated in camp by target shooting for cash prizes of 
 $10.00, $5.00, $3.00 and $2.00 and a box of cigars. In this con- 
 test Corporal Pigeon of Company G carried off the honors by 
 placing two shots in the bullseye. There were also sack races 
 for a prize of $5.00; a foot race, which was won by Sergeant 
 Bennett of Company E, a blindfold wheelbarrow race, and 
 climbing the greased pole. A writer of Company H, referring to 
 these games, states that the contestants were "Babylon vs. Ca- 
 narsie." Several of the men who had received Christmas boxes 
 from their homes, and their dinner of roast turkey or boiled ham, 
 with other extras, made the day comparatively bright to them 
 and their tent mates. It was not uncommon for these boxes to 
 be lost in transit or delayed so long that most of their contents 
 were useless. 
 
 A comrade in a letter to his relatives of date December, 
 1863, stated "that in a lot of boxes received by the regiment that 
 morning box No. 1 which he had given up was there and what 
 what unspoiled in it he counted as so much gain. The prin- 
 cipal part of two apples was undecayed and the sugar was only 
 wet; the articles in the small box were only moulded a little and 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 87 
 
 the writing paper spoiled. He supposed the other box would 
 come with the next lot." He also expressed pleasure to hear 
 that a mouse trap was on the way and requested that some forci- 
 ble argument adapted to the case of the rats "that nightly jarred 
 his bunk with their gymnastics" be sent him. Later in the 
 afternoon a number of the strong "tickers" in camp indulged in 
 a trial of strength to determine which one could, by a single 
 push of his foot or arms, force one of the sutler's barrels of beer 
 the greatest distance from the sutler's tents; some of the men 
 who were unusually strong succeeded in pushing four barrels 
 of the beer so far into the bushes that they were overlooked and 
 were not returned to the pile. The sentry, who at night was 
 placed on duty guarding the sutler's tents, considered the spot 
 where the four barrels rested as outside his jurisdiction and there 
 was therefore no one responsible or who would account for their 
 total disappearance at daylight. A vigorous search about camp 
 was made bv Sutler Bedford, which resulted in finding only two 
 empty beer barrels in innocent hands, both being in use 
 as water barrels, having been fished out of the creek at day- 
 break by two men who were above suspicion, but the other two 
 barrels could not be found, although the Major caused the sand 
 to be perforated with an iron bar wherever it was thought they 
 might be buried. A Captain of one of the companies a day 
 afterwards noticed the effect of stimulants on some of his men 
 and- a search of the company tents revealed several canteens con- 
 taining beer, as well as a number of the tin wash basins which 
 had been put to the same temporary use. Presumably on the 
 theory that less food is required where alcoholic stimulants are 
 used, the Captain proposed putting his compaany on half ra- 
 tions, but the Major objected to this on the grounds that the 
 men were liable to be called upon at any time for dangerous 
 duty that would require all their strength and that nothing 
 should be done to impair it. On the 29th one barrel of the miss- 
 ing beer was found buried in the sand back of Company F's 
 cookhouse, and the writer's impression is that the other was 
 found buried under one of the tents of Company G. 
 
 As the Army Blue Book forbade the sale of spiritous' or malt 
 liquor to enlisted men and as most of our commissioned officers 
 were supposed to be temperate men, it would seem as if Sutler 
 Bedford had provided himself with an excessive supply of beer 
 
88 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 for his own use. Possibly he expected that some of the officers 
 of the "German regiments" in our brigade might visit Coles 
 Island and utilize some of it; however, each comrade who was 
 on Coles or Morris Island will have to solve this problem as his 
 experience suggests. However, the Major may have felt about 
 the men being deprived of any portion of their rations, he cer- 
 tainly had no scruples against keeping them employed, and was 
 not disposed to allow camp prisoners to be idle during the term 
 of their confinement. A wooden-toothed harrow was con- 
 structed for the entertainment and exercise of the men under 
 arrest, who were required to drag it slowly up and down through 
 the soft sand of the Regimental Parade Ground, but the Major's 
 enjoyment of this received a rude shock when he learned that 
 some careless prisoner had, at night, left the forward end of the 
 harrow standing in the hot ashes of the half extinguished guard 
 fire and burned off the teeth that offered the greatest resistance 
 to the sand, making the task much easier than was intended. 
 This defect the keen eye of the Major soon discovered and the 
 missing teeth were speedily replaced with others. 
 
 January ist, 1864, was a cold, windy day and ice formed from 
 one to one and a half inches thick. The men seemed disinclined 
 to engage in any kind of sport and the day passed as most others 
 did. At night a rebel deserter came into our lines at the left 
 bridge; he had started across to exchange papers and after get- 
 ting half way over was discovered by his officer, then afraid or 
 disinclined to return, he continued across and was taken into 
 camp. 
 
 On the 5th, one of Company I was buried, the company act- 
 ing as funeral escort. The same day Lieutenant-Colonel Wood- 
 ford arrived in camp, being accompanied by the new regimental 
 Chaplain, Rev. Samuel B. Willis, who had been appointed upon 
 the recommendation of the Rev. Samuel D. Burchard of the 13th 
 Street Presbyterian and the Rev. Ralston G. Smith of the 7th 
 Presbyterian churches of New York City. 
 
 By the distribution of papers from tent to tent, by personal 
 sympathy and interest, by his willingness to write letters for 
 those unable to do so themselves, and to help in every possible 
 way, he speedily won the confidence and friendship of the men. 
 The writer recalls seeing him one afternoon, as he sat in his 
 tent writing, approached by an enlisted man, who answered the 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 89 
 
 chaplain's inquiry as to what he could do for him with the re- 
 quest that he should write a letter to his wife. The chaplain told 
 him that he was then busy, but would do it at a later hour, when, 
 noticing the apparent disappointment, he called the man back 
 and, learning he was about to go on picket and could not come 
 at a later hour, he put his own letter aside and at once wrote at 
 the man's dictation the desired home letter. 
 
 Again, when the detail for the expedition to Bulls Bay was 
 leaving Coles Island, the general supposition being that an at- 
 tack on the Confederates' batteries was intended, the worthy 
 chaplain was up and at the landing, pressing the hand, with an 
 earnest "God bless you, boys, and bring you back safe again," 
 indicating a personal interest and friendly sympathy that fully 
 won the confidence and respect of the men. "No shouting of 
 Holy Joe" announced the progress of the chaplain of the 127th 
 through camp, as was the practice in some regiments, but to all, 
 Protestants or Catholics alike, came with the message that the 
 spirit of Christianity was that of a helpful, uplifting, personal 
 service, and furnished practical evidence of it in his own life. 
 
 In a letter dated December nth, 1894, the chaplain writes: 
 "I bless God that I was permitted to live and labor for the 127th 
 New York," and the enlisted men of the 127th whom he so faith- 
 fully and acceptably served heartily reciprocate the sentiments 
 of the chaplain, who from the very first was respected and es- 
 teemed by all. 
 
 On the 6th of January Major Little left for the North on a 
 twenty-day leave of absence. On the 7th Captain Bogart re- 
 ported the rebels cutting timber opposite our Right Post, but 
 whether for fuel or other purposes was not ascertained. On the 
 15th fresh bread was issued to the men in place of the "hard 
 tack," which had become infested with animal life so as to be 
 unfit for food. The experiment of issuing rations of flour to the 
 men had been tried, but in the absence of yeast powders this did 
 not prove successful, and its use apparently increased the cases 
 and severity of camp dysentery, which was quite prevalent. 
 
 On the 1 5th General Gordon reviewed all the troops on Folly 
 Island, and on the 18th the regiment was inspected. The same 
 day two Confederates deserted and came into our lines. 
 
 On the 23rd General Gordon went on our picket line in order 
 to communicate with the Confederates relative to sending a 
 
90 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 steamboat down Charleston Harbor under a flag: of truce. One 
 of General Ramsay's staff ,was escorted to General Gordon 
 where they held a private "Pow Wow." At night one of our 
 officers on his own account met Private Quenten of the South 
 Carolina Cavalry and traded coffee and cheese for sweet pota- 
 toes, tobacco and Charleston papers of late date, and received 
 from him three unsealed letters which he desired mailed to his 
 friends at the North. Quenten offered a silver half dollar, for 
 which he said he had given $10.00 Confederate money, to pay 
 for stamps, but his offer was declined and his letters were taken 
 and, being found to contain no contraband news, were mailed. 
 He had expressed the opinion in his letters that it was useless 
 for the South to longer continue the war and stated that he 
 should give himself up some night soon, and expected to be 
 North about March 1st. On the 28th. Private Hart, a recent 
 recruit that had been transferred from Company I to Company 
 A, deserted to the enemy, leaving his musket standing along- 
 side the bridge; he was afterward heard of peddling in Charles- 
 ton and had apparently reached his destination at the expense 
 of Uncle Sam. 
 
 On the 29th Major Little, Dr. Cutler and Captain Gurney re- 
 turned to the regiment, bringing fourteen recruits with them. 
 The same day Lieutenant J. H. Young returned home, having 
 resigned his commission. The Lieutenant had made himself 
 popular with both his fellow officers and the enlisted men and 
 the former passed resolutions expressing their regret at his 
 resignation and retirement. 
 
 On the 30th a Confederate battery opened on our picket line, 
 firing about twenty shots, but without doing any injury to our 
 men, and on the 2nd of February the gunboat "Pawnee" went 
 up to the mouth of the Secessionville Creek and the "Semerone" 
 up the Stono River and shelled and drove away the Confederates, 
 who were about to throw up an earthwork opposite our right 
 picket post. 
 
 On the 31st one of our officers traded papers with Private 
 Burkhite of the Confederates, who said that he and Quenten, 
 already referred to, would come into our line the next time they 
 should be on picket together. 
 
 On the 6th we completed our own bake house on Coles 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 91 
 
 Island, and our trouble with flour rations and bug infested hard 
 tack was over for a while at least. 
 
 On February 8th General Schimmelfennig. with between 
 three and four thousand troops, made a reconnaissance on John's 
 Island toward the railroad bridge over Rantowles Creek to divert 
 the attention of the rebels from General Seymour's expedition to 
 Olustee, Florida. Our regiment being on picket did not take 
 part. Some prisoners, whose clothing was in the last stages of 
 usefulness and whose shoes were a matter of memory alone, were 
 taken by Schimmelfennig. 
 
 On the evening of February 10th the Adelphi Literary As- 
 sociation, that had been formed for the purpose of exercising 
 and improving the literary ability of its members, met in the 
 chapel and listened to an oration in poetry by Private B. F. 
 Moore of Company H. This was followed by a debate, viz.: 
 "Has the negro received at the hands of the whites more benefit 
 than the Indian," the force of the argument apparently being in 
 favor of the negro. 
 
 The report of Treasurer Brown of Company A created some 
 interest as to the safety of the association's fund of twenty-six 
 cents then on hand, there being no "Trust or Deposit Company" 
 on the Island other than the one of which Sutler Bedford was 
 Treasurer. The only danger to the fund was from a breach of 
 trust on the part of the Treasurer, as the by-laws required that 
 money could only be paid upon an order of the President, coun- 
 tersigned by the Secretary, and as the Treasurer could not very 
 well leave the Island with the fund it was thought safe to leave 
 it in his hands. 
 
 The 22nd of February, being Washington's birthday, was 
 celebrated by the "Adelphi Association." A stand had been 
 erected outside of the chapel, from which the seats were brought 
 out, and the Drum Corps furnished the music. The programme 
 was as follows, viz.: 
 
 1. Music and opening of the meeting by Vice-President 
 Beers. 
 
 2. Invocation by the Chaplain. 
 
 3. Singing of hymn, "My Country, 'Tis of Thee." 
 
 4. Declamation, "Coleridge's Apostrophe to Mt. Blanc," Pri- 
 vate Underhill of Company A. 
 
92 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 5. Essay — Washington and our Country, Private B. F. 
 Moore of Company H. 
 
 6. Declamation — "The American Flag," Private G. A. 
 Webb of Company A. 
 
 7. Music. 
 
 8. Essay — Duties of a Soldier, Private William Osborn of H. 
 
 9. Declamation — "Parting of Marmion and Douglass," Pri- 
 vate Brown of Company A. 
 
 10. Essay — Washington, Private W. F. Wood of A. 
 
 11. Music. 
 
 12. Ode Patriotic — The Monitor Regiment, Private Haynes 
 of B. 
 
 13. Music. 
 
 14. Song — There Is a Good Time Coming. 
 
 15. Address by Colonel Gurney and General Gordon. 
 
 One of the comrades in a letter written home reported 
 that "the celebration answered every expectation, the best being 
 by a private of Company A, who was for a year a student at 
 Princeton College, but that the favorite piece was an "Ode on 
 the Monitor Regiment," by a smart fellow whose witty and 
 humorous satire elicited much laughter and applause. General 
 Gordon, who, with several of his staff, was present, responded 
 to a call from a number of voices and made a pleasing address, 
 praising the regiment and assuring the men that although they 
 had so many times escaped a battle, they would not go home 
 without seeing one, if he continued to command them, as he 
 hoped and expected to do. 
 
 In the evening the Association had a special meeting in the 
 chapel, when Chaplain Willis related many incidents of his life 
 experiences. At the next meeting of the Adelphi the question 
 was to be, Resolved, "that the Republican form of Government 
 is more secure than the Monarchical," and on the following 
 week the question was to be, Resolved, "that soldiers would be 
 the better for receiving the rations of whisky which the Govern- 
 ment allows them." This was a favorite subject with some of 
 the men and also with the officers, and interesting discussion was 
 anticipated, although it was whispered that it would be a failure 
 by reason of the difficulty of proving that the Government al- 
 lowed any except to the Medical Department. 
 
 On the 13th, Private Thomas Jones of Company A, who had 
 
127TH REGT. N. \. VOLS. 93 
 
 for a long time been ill with camp dysentery, died and was 
 buried. Services, which were attended by the whole company, 
 were held in the chapel, at which there were remarks by the 
 chaplain based on the text, John, 14th Chapter, and after a last 
 look at the face of our comrade the company followed him to his 
 burial place. He was a quiet, unassuming man, of high personal 
 character, faithful to his duties as a soldier and helpful in his 
 daily life. Singularly pure in thought and word, he was one of 
 that class who had joined Company A from a high sense of pa- 
 triotic, religious duty, but he was not possessed of the physical 
 stamina to enable him to stand the fatigue, exposure and climatic 
 strain required by the regimental experience. 
 
 On the 16th the gunboat "Semerone," while shelling the 
 rebels, had burst her one hundred Pdr. Parrott gun, and on the 
 17th a loud explosion in the Stono indicated that a rebel float- 
 ing torpedo had struck against the spiles with which the river 
 was obstructed. 
 
 On the 29th the boys on picket at the Left Post played a 
 practical joke upon the Sergeant in charge (Conklin), which 
 caused much merriment. At night a sentry was posted a few 
 rods out on the bridge, he having previously been instructed as 
 to the part he was to play, and then one of the men, Robert Eb- 
 bitts of "H," wrapped a blanket about himself and, pulling his 
 slouched hat well down over his eyes, passed beyond the sentry 
 on the bridge toward the Confederate side. On his return he 
 was challenged, and promptly replied "Deserter." The sentry 
 then called the Sergeant, who took charge of the supposed pris- 
 oner and conducted him back to the picket reserve, where he 
 was questioned as to his name, strength of rebel troops in the 
 vicinity, and also as to whether they had any chaplains in the 
 rebel service. The supposed deserter gave the name of Quimby, 
 and the Sergeant, after obtaining satisfactory replies to his ques- 
 tions and learning that his prisoner liked coffee, proceeded to 
 make him a cup, which was duly disposed of, together with a 
 ration from the Sergeant's haversack. He was then taken to the 
 Sergeant's tent and given a chance to rest, a sentry being posted 
 at the entrance of the tent to prevent his escape, but an hour later 
 the Sergeant, upon taking a look in the tent, found it empty, the 
 man having crept under the back of the tent and rejoined the 
 guard at the fire. The Sergeant promptly put the sentry at the 
 
94 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 front of the tent under arrest and deployed the guard as skir- 
 mishers in an endeavor to recapture the supposed deserter, but 
 when this stage of the joke was reached some of the guard 
 thought it best to explain the matter to the Sergeant, who sub- 
 sequently was apt to be dull of comprehension when asked if 
 they had chaplains now in the rebel army, or whether the rebs 
 were fond of coffee. During the night two bona fide rebel de- 
 serters (Quenten and Burkhite, of the South Carolina Cavalry) 
 did come in and were turned over to the care of Sergeant Conk- 
 lin, so that the practical joke lost some of its effect. 
 
 On March 6th the regiment had a service of unusual interest 
 in the chapel, and among those present was the wife of a Folly 
 Island sutler, herself quite an object of interest, as the regiment 
 had seen but three white women within the previous six months. 
 
 On the afternoon of the 8th a detachment of the 41st New 
 York came over to Coles Island to relieve the 127th from picket, 
 and at 9 p. m. a detail of two hundred and twenty-five men, made 
 from Companies C, D, E, H and I, and a part of A, and com- 
 manded by Major Little, were transferred to Folly Island, where 
 companies E, C, H and a part of A were embarked on the 
 steamer "Ben DeFord" and Companies I and D on the propeller 
 "Sentinel." There were about seven hundred and fifty men all 
 told on the expedition, the destination of which was at the time 
 unknown to the men. 
 
 Colonel Gurney on the steamer "Nelly Baker" was in com- 
 mand of the expedition, which started at daylight, heading north- 
 west for Bulls Bay, which lay to the northeast of Sullivans Island 
 or Mt. Pleasant in Charleston Harbor. The boats passed well 
 up toward the harbor and the troops were ordered to be on deck 
 so as to be seen by the rebel lookouts on Fort Sumter. On ar- 
 rival at Bulls Bay the transports anchored, while the gunboats 
 drew in nearer shore and shelled the woods, after which about 
 five hundred of the troops were landed on Bulls Island and a 
 portion advanced a mile, deployed as skirmishers. 
 
 Detachments then reconnoitered around for several miles, 
 but nothing was seen, except at one corner of the island, where 
 there was an earthwork, garrisoned by about thirty men, but no 
 artillery. At night it rained hard, and as the water became too 
 rough to allow the re-embarking of the troops they built large 
 fires and made themselves as comfortable as possible. The men 
 
I27TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 95 
 
 on steamers were better protected from the storm, although many 
 were seasick. 
 
 At 7.30 a. m. of the nth, the sea having become less rough, 
 the troops ashore were re-embarked and the expedition returned ; 
 the object had probably been to draw the attention of the enemy 
 away from what was taking place elsewhere in the "Depart- 
 ment." The steamer "Ben DeFord" reached Pawnee Landing 
 at 12.30, but the propeller "Sentinel," with Companies I and D 
 on board, arriving off Stono Inlet, found the tide unfavorable for 
 crossing the bar and stood out to sea. The sea being rough 
 there was lots of fun; the Baldwin boys, with Bennett and Fox, 
 who had always lived about the sea and who were less susceptible 
 to its influence, rather enjoyed the discomfort of those with 
 weaker stomachs and were only too willing to sacrifice their salt 
 pork rations for the benefit of those who at that time had no 
 particular relish for such food. When the tide turned the pro- 
 peller crossed the bar and anchored in the Stono at 7.30 a. m. 
 of the 12th, when the men were transferred to Coles Island and 
 relieved the detail from the' 41st New York, who returned to- 
 their regiment on Folly Island. For some reason it was thought 
 best to strengthen the Right Picket Post, and on the 19th thirty 
 men were sent there for that purpose. Evidently some demon- 
 station on the part of the enemy was expected, and on the 20th 
 the pioneers' corps constructed some Quaker guns and twenty 
 men were sent to mount them. Each gun was nine feet long 
 and presented a formidable appearance at a short distance. 
 
 On March 27th Private Kippax of Company G, who had been 
 converted under Chaplain Willis' preaching, was baptized in the 
 Stono river, in the presence of many of the men. Chaplain Pal- 
 mer of the 142nd New York preached in the afternoon and Com- 
 munion was administered in the chapel. March 28th was clear 
 and warm. At the meeting of the Adelphi Literary Association 
 the subject of debate was upon the renomination of President: 
 Lincoln. On this day Lieutenant H. H. Gardiner returned 
 North, he having found army regulations and life uncongenial. 
 
 On the 31st the position of. the men's tents was changed 
 to air the ground upon which they had stood. On the 4th of 
 April General Grant ordered General Gilmore to rendezvous at 
 Hilton Head such veteran troops in the Department as could 
 be spared, preparatory to their transfer to Virginia. It rained 
 
o6 • REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 unusually hard this day, and an unusually high tide caused the 
 water to rise over the ground nearly to the cook house. There 
 were a great many rat holes in the sand near the camp, and the 
 men took advantage of the existing favorable conditions to wage 
 war upon the rats. Arming themselves with stout cudgels, they 
 wrapped their rubber blankets about their shoulders and posted 
 themselves at the rat holes, while some of their number dipped 
 water from the adjoining stream and flooded the holes; the scene 
 as the rats made their appearance only to meet the cudgels af- 
 forded much amusement and some interest, particularly to those 
 whose shins received the blows intended for the rat. 
 
 On the 6th of April a reconnoitering party of three hundred 
 men went to Legareville, while the gunboat "Sonoma" went up 
 the Stono River and shelled a new rebel battery on James Island, 
 the intention being to capture the guns of the battery, but it 
 was found to be unarmed. 
 
 Among those of the regiment who for striking peculiarities 
 were liable to get into difficulties was one John Shephard, 
 Jr., of Companay D, who, while on Coles Island, was tried 
 by a Court Martial for sleeping on his beat while on picket duty. 
 The sentence of the Court was that Shephard should be shot to 
 death. When the order was announced at dress parade, Shep- 
 hard, who stood in charge of a guard near enough to distinctly 
 hear, merely said as he calmly turned on his heel that "it was too 
 
 d n bad," and walked away. When informed' later that the 
 
 Commanding General had disapproved the findings of the Court 
 and ordered that he be returned to his company, Jack was equally 
 
 indifferent, merely remarking that he "thought it was too d n 
 
 bad to shoot a man for sleeping when mosquitoes were as thick 
 as they were on the salt marsh of the picket line." 
 
 The facts were that Shephard and his fellow picket, being on 
 post together, found the mosquitoes annoying and entered into 
 an agreement that one would climb the tree and with his blanket 
 around his head take a nap while the other kept watch, but Jack, 
 without waiting for his turn to go up the tree, wrapped his 
 blanket around his head and sat down at the foot, and when the 
 rounds were made one man was found asleep at the foot and the 
 other in the limbs of the tree. Jack, however, while reckless, 
 was undoubtedly a brave fellow and afraid of nothing. The 
 writer well remembers seeing Sergeant DeGroot of "D" on one 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 97 
 
 occasion attempt with his foot to help Shephard out of his tent 
 when he did not respond quickly enough to a call for fatigue 
 duty. The Sergeant, who was about six feet tall, was seen im- 
 mediately after apparently pursuing some invisible object among 
 the company tents, followed by Jack's fixed bayonet in close 
 proximity to his coat tails. Jack's pointed intentions, however, 
 were thwarted by a comrade who grabbed and overpowered him, 
 and the musket and bayonet were returned to the tent. DeGroot 
 was too sensible a fellow to make any fuss over the slight mis- 
 understanding. What sort of a record young Shephard would 
 have made for bravery had he lived to go into action up the 
 Broad river is not known, as he died a few months later on Mor- 
 ris Island from the result of sunstroke. 
 
 On the 9th of April a party was detailed on a reconnaisance 
 to James Island, and afterwards a detachment to Kiowah Island 
 to practice handling the Congreve Rockets. They were found 
 very unreliable; some of the rockets after leaving the tube would 
 trip and return toward the sender; they made a good deaj of 
 noise when they exploded and might be useful in scaring horses, 
 but were not thought much of. 
 
 On the nth Sergeant Major Eaton received his commission 
 as Second Lieutenant, and in the afternoon nines from Com- 
 panies A and G played baseball, A winning. At 8 p. m. the 
 regiment was hurried out to the right of picket line to repel an 
 expected attack, which, however, did not take place. Ball play- 
 ing had become a popular amusement with some of the men, and 
 on the 12th nines from Companies A and B played and again 
 won, Company A. with Webb as pitcher and Chapman as catcher 
 generally proving too much for the nines of the other com- 
 panies. 
 
 On the 13th the 1426. New York, which had been brigaded 
 with our regiment since the winter of 1862 and 1863, left its 
 camp on Kiowah Island, bound for the Army of the Potomac; 
 they later, in the attack on Fort Fisher, took a very prominent 
 and creditable part, their Commander, Colonel Curtis, receiving 
 the brevet rank of Major General for gallant conduct. At night 
 Company A again hurried out to strengthen picket line. On the 
 15th two boats went up the Stono river crowded with Congreve 
 Rocket Valleys and landed in the rear of th° middle post, and 
 when the gunboat "Sonoma" commenced shelling the Congreve 
 
98 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 rockets were discharged. The first rocket fired went through the 
 rebel picket fire and caused the horse of a rebel officer to run 
 away. At the same time an extra force of one hundred men was 
 sent to the picket line, half of whom crossed over to Battery 
 Island to investigate and see what the rebs had recently been 
 doing there. The dyke was found planted with torpedoes, one 
 of which exploded, wounding Private George Bloxham of. Com- 
 pany E, Hy Morgan of Company K and Elias H. Miller of Com- 
 pany B. The object of the reconnaissance being attained the 
 party then returned to camp, and the Congreve Rocket party 
 and gunboat also withdrew. 
 
 On the 19th of April Colonel Gurney and the other ex-mem- 
 bers of the 7th New York State Militia, together with several' 
 invited guests, celebrated with a dinner the anniversary of the 
 departure of the regiment for the seat of war in 1861. 
 
 On the 2 1 st a deserter from the Confederates came over the 
 left bridge, having swam the creek that divided Battery Island 
 from our left; he was furnished with a suit of clothes by Lieu- 
 tenant Haviland. He reported four others who wished to get to 
 our lines, and a gunboat went up the Stono the day following, 
 but found only one waiting, who was taken aboard. 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 99 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Life on Morris Island, S. C. 
 April 23rd to October 21st, 1864. 
 
 On the 23rd the regiment received orders to transfer their 
 camp to Morris Island, and men were at once set at work taking 
 down the chapel, which was not rebuilt on Morris Island, and 
 cook house, preparatory to the removal of the timber. The A or 
 wedge tents were given up and shelter tents were again issued 
 to the men. At 8 a. m. of the 24th the regiment was transferred 
 to Pawnee Landing on Folly Island, about five miles up Folly 
 river, and then landed and marched about two miles to the north 
 end of the island, where they were ferried across Lighthouse 
 Inlet on the steamer "John Frazer" to Morris Island, reaching 
 there at 11.30 a. m., and bivouacked near General Gilmore's for- 
 mer headquarters. The day was stormy, with a high wind. 
 
 On the 25th the regiment was divided, Companies C (Captain 
 Fisk) and G (Captain Henry) being assigned to garrison duty. 
 This duty was extra hazardous, the detail being under fire near 
 by daily and nightly from the cordon of Confederate batteries 
 on James anu Sullivan Islands, on which duty they continued 
 until October. Company H was detailed for Provost duty, with 
 Captain Bogart as Provost Marshal, and Companies E, D and 
 K for boat infantry duty in the harbor, with camo at the left bat- 
 teries. They at night with their boats (two of which were armed 
 with Requa or Mosquito batteries, firing twenty-five elongated 
 shot at a time) patroled a line extending from the Swamp Angel 
 to Fort Gregg. The boats used by these and other patrols were 
 trimmed with greens in order to conceal as far as possible their 
 movement along the shore. 
 
 Paine's dock, originally a rebel floating battery, built 
 and used by the Confederates in their attack on Fort Sumter 
 and which was now ashore at the mouth of a creek between 
 James and Morris Islands, was occupied by our pickets at night, 
 while the Confederate outpost was on a point opposite, about 
 three hundred yards away. The remaining companies, A, B, F 
 and I, were to form a regimental camp and reserve guard for 
 
ioo REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 Fort Wagner and perform picket duty between Batteries Gregg 
 and Wagner. 
 
 Colonel Gurney was Post Commander and Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Woodford was in command of the portion of the regiment in 
 camp. A raised platform, one foot above the sand, was pre- 
 pared for each tent of the companies in camp, so as to allow a 
 free circulation of air under the same, and the A tents, which 
 had again been issued to the regiment, were set upon the top 
 of a five foot high siding on the platform and fitted with two 
 bunks, each to accommodate two men. 
 
 On the 26th the four companies again moved their camp to 
 a point nearer Fort Wagner and between it and the Magazine. 
 For three days the men were busy levelling the ground or sand 
 for the new camp, and parts of companies went on guard in Fort 
 Wagner, and at night those off duty slept in the bombproofs of 
 the fort, fifteen or twenty feet under the parapets. 
 
 From this fort a full view of Fort Sumter, Sullivans Island 
 and the harbor and city of Charleston could be had, as well as 
 of the blockading squadron. On the 28th there was a violent 
 gale of wind, which blew the sand about like snow, but the 29th 
 was a pleasant day, and the companies in camp set up their 
 tents. 
 
 On May 1st General Gilmore relinquished the command of 
 the Department to General Hatch. On Mav 2nd the men were 
 divided into squads and sent off as pickets to Fort Putnam (for- 
 merly Gregg) and Battery Chatfield, and some to the Beacon 
 House at the inlet between Morris and Folly Islands. 
 
 The Confederate batteries on Sullivans Island threw about 
 eighty shots at the batteries at Morris Island and Batteries Put- 
 nam and Chatfield replied, but threw their shells into Charleston. 
 In exchanging Coles for Morris Island we had escaped to a con- 
 siderable extent the necessity of wading through water, and 
 while the duties were less monotonous they were more exacting. 
 We had for a while at least gotten rid of the rats, but only to 
 exchange them for smaller pests in the shape of sand fleas, which 
 made life almost a burden. The weather was rapidly growing 
 warm, some days being excessively hot, and on the 5th Sergeant 
 Graham of Company C died of sunstroke. The' remains of 
 Sergeant Graham were interred with all due ceremonies by Com- 
 pany C on the 6th. 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 101 
 
 Deserters from the Confederate forces, as well as negroes, 
 commonly termed "contrabands," occasionally came into our 
 line here as at Coles Island, and on the 7th ten of the latter were 
 picked up by the boat picket. Again, on the night of the 9th 
 seven deserters took advantage of a severe storm and came from 
 Fort Johnson into our line. On Sunday, May 8th, divine services 
 were held in the officers' mess tent. A large hospital tent placed 
 just behind the sand hills was a little later used for religious 
 services, as well as by the regiment band for practice. The band 
 was of recent formation and was composed of men from the 
 different companies who had some knowledge of or taste for 
 music, and was under the competent leadership of Private Edle- 
 man of Company F. A glee club was also formed, with Com- 
 rade S. B. Ritch of Company B as leader, and the religious meet- 
 ings while on Morris Island and at later camps were perhaps 
 made more interesting through the help of this organization. 
 
 On the 10th Company A struck tents, leaving them rolled 
 up in the frames, and went to Folly Island to relieve the men of 
 Company I, who were cutting wood. Shelter tents were set up 
 opposite the saw mill on the north side of Folly Island for the 
 use of the men while on this detail. 
 
 On the 12th Captains Little and Long and Lieutenant Osborn 
 and several enlisted men who. had been on recruiting service re- 
 turned from the North. At 11 p. m. Major Little and one hun- 
 dred and twenty men started in eleven boats, one of them being 
 armed with a Requa battery, with the intention of capturing a 
 rebel picket boat which had been seen in one of the creeks off 
 James Island. A storm arose which probably led to the disap- 
 pearance of the Confederates' boat, and the men returned at day- 
 light, having accomplished nothing except getting themselves 
 thoroughly soaked. 
 
 On the 15th two monitors and a part of the batteries on Mor- 
 ris Island cannonaded Fort Sumter, the Sullivans Island batteries 
 replying, and again on the 14th, four hundred and fifty shots 
 being fired by the Confederate batteries; the Union firing was 
 directed at the sea wall of Fort Sumter. The companies ar- 
 ranged excellent mess tents, which were furnished quite well, 
 although rudely, and from the allowance from rations not drawn 
 dessert of some appetizing character was furnished at each din- 
 ner call. 
 
102 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 On the 18th five or six boats from the left battery approached 
 Fort Sumter and were fired at four times by howitzers from the 
 wall of the fort. On the 21st General Schimmelfennig reported 
 that the Boat Infantry of the 127th were patroling the creeks and 
 marshes between Secessionville and Battery Simkins both day 
 and night, being repeatedly fired upon, and that they had driven 
 the enemy's boats out of those waters. 
 
 At midnight several boats of our regiment went toward Fort 
 Sumter, and several expeditions sailed during the night far points 
 on James Island. Musketry firing was heard about 5 a. m. from 
 the direction of Secessionville, where the Confederates had been 
 attacked by Colonel Von Gilsa, who, after sustaining a loss of 
 fifteen killed and wounded, withdrew from the Island. 
 
 On the 22nd we reconnoitered the dock of Fort Sumter about 
 1 a. m.; the night was bright, making our movements visible to 
 the Confederates, whose boats were seen maneuvering to cut us 
 off, but failing in this the Confederates opened fire on us, the 
 shot striking the water near our boats. 
 
 Another expedition, including fifteen men of our command, 
 having made a reconnaissance toward Secessionville, Colonel 
 Von Gilsa on the 23rd again went to James Island, but the enemy 
 were found on the alert and nothing was accomplished. On the 
 25th General Hatch sent General Birney with fifteen hundred 
 men to cut the Charleston and Savannah Railroad at Ashepoo, 
 but they were unsuccessful and returned to Port Royal on the 
 27th. 
 
 On the 26th the Boat Infantry tried the Rocket batteries, 
 only to find them unreliable and as likely to injure the sender as 
 the object shot at. An attempt was made to tnrow some into 
 Fort Sumter from the five-oared boat, but the rocket when 
 fired failed to leave the boat, and the other rocket was thrown 
 overboard. 
 
 We manufactured a good many torpedoes of different kinds, 
 but the most useful one was made by hanging an unexploded 
 shell in an empty powder barrel and, after attaching and lighting 
 a fuse, letting it float up the harbor with the tide. There was, 
 however, little damage done in this way. 
 
 On May 26th General John G. Foster, a West Point graduate 
 of the class of 1846, who was engineer officer at Fort Sumter in 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 103 
 
 1861, and who rendered valuable service in North Carolina, as- 
 sumed command of the Department, and on the 31st he visited 
 Morris Island and inspected the troops. 
 
 June 3rd a detachment went to the head of Secessionville 
 Creek to learn if it were practicable to land upon the James 
 Island walk, also to examine the walk as to the practicability of 
 its repair, and on the following day they made a reconnaissance 
 to Light House Creek to ascertain whether ground of sufficient 
 firmness existed at a point about one mile from the Confederate 
 Battery Simkins and three-quarters from Battery Cheves for the 
 location of a new battery. 
 
 On the 6th a shell from the rebel battery "Bull of the Woods" 
 on James Island burst near our camp, but did no damage. The 
 following morning a blockade runner was discovered ashore 
 half way between Fort Sumter and Sullivans Island, and by noon 
 she was a wreck from the fire of our guns. On Tune nth Gen- 
 eral Foster asked the War Department to furnish him with three 
 or four Wiard light draught gunboats, such as he used in North 
 Carolina, as he desired to attempt the taking of Sullivans Island 
 in reverse. 
 
 Morris Island offered no facility for ball playing, and the 
 men were scattered on various details, so as to break up the 
 "nines" that existed on Coles Island.. There were other ways 
 in which the men when not on duty could amuse themselves, 
 such as fishing, bathing, boating, etc., and on the 12th a race 
 was rowed between a scout boat manned by a picked crew from 
 the Quartermaster's Department at Lighthouse Inlet and an 
 eight-oared boat, known as the Ripley boat, manned by a picked 
 crew from the Boat Infantry, over a course of two and one-half 
 miles, in which the scout boat was beaten by one hundred and 
 fifty yards. At the finish, as the men in the Ripley boat rose to 
 cheer, it was seen that John Brown, the bow oar, had rowed him- 
 self out of his trousers. 
 
 Again on the 16th, a race over the same course was rowed 
 between an eight-oared boat and the Ripley boat of ten oars, in 
 which the latter again won by two hundred and fifty yards, the 
 time being twenty-one minutes. This being the second anni- 
 versary of the battle of Secessionville, the rebels opened fire at 
 sundown from all of their batteries, but if their fire was intended 
 for anything more than noise it proved a failure. 
 
IC4 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 On June 13th the Confederate General Jones, by flag of truce 
 at Coles Island, notified General Foster that five Yankee general 
 officers and forty-five field officers had been placed in Charleston 
 within range of the Union batteries and would be kept there as 
 long as our forces continued to shell Charleston. The Con- 
 federates were, either at this time or later, notified that the shell- 
 ing would be continued, and that an equal number of their own 
 officers, then held as prisoners, would be exposed to the fire of the 
 Confederate guns until the Union prisoners were removed to 
 some other quarters. A short time subsequently about 600 Con- 
 federate generals and field officers arrived at Morris Island and 
 were located in an enclosed camp that had been prepared for 
 them just north of Fort Wagner. The enclosure was 228x304 
 feet, formed of palisading and pine posts ten feet above ground, 
 supporting a platform from which sentinels could watch the 
 prisoners; the dead line was marked by a rope stretched on posts 
 twenty feet inside the palisading. Good A tents, each to hold 
 four men, were pitched and arranged, forming streets, and bar- 
 rel sticks were provided for the prisoners use. The ground was 
 clean, dry quartz sand. The prisoners were divided into eight 
 detachments, with a non-commissioned officer of the 54th Mas- 
 sachusetts, colored, in charge of each, and were required to police 
 their camp, which meant keeping it clean and in good order; 
 clean straw was provided for each tent and a good blanket given 
 each officer. Three times a day the roll was called and each 
 man accounted for to the officer of the day. At night the camp 
 was made as light as day by a calcium light placed on the para- 
 pet of Fort Wagner. After "taps" no lights were allowed and 
 they were not permitted to go into the streets ; they were allowed 
 to purchase tobacco, writing material, papers and necessary 
 clothing, and letters were forwarded for them after being in- 
 spected; they were also allowed one-half the army ration, to con- 
 form to the amount being furnished our officers in Charleston. 
 They were confined here until the Confederate authorities gave 
 notice that our own officers had been removed from their ex- 
 posed position in Charleston. 
 
 On September 4th General Saxton arrived to take command 
 during the absence of General Schimmelfennig; the 56th and 
 157th New York also arrived. General Foster now advised the 
 
127TH REGT. X. Y. VOLS. 105 
 
 War Department that the health of troops was rapidly getting 
 worse, but he thought that it was nothing more than the usual 
 malarious epidemic peculiar to the climate at that season of the 
 year. On September 7th Captain Hennesy of the 52nd Penn- 
 sylvania relieved Captain Allison on Boat Infantry duty. Early 
 in September two Union officers, who escaped from Charleston, 
 reported that a number of others had escaped from the cars 
 while being carried to Charleston and would probably try and 
 reach the coast, and a number of detachments were sent out to 
 look for them. 
 
 On the 15th Company I was detailed to the Boat Infantry 
 duty and Company B to assist Company H on Provost duty, 
 Companies A and F alone remaining in camp. General Foster 
 this day notified General Halleck that he was watching for a 
 chance to make a dash on Fort Johnson, and that he was build- 
 ing pontoons for that purpose. On the same date General Sam 
 Jones notified the Confederate authorities that the Yankee troops 
 were concentrating on Folly Island and he thought that they 
 would probably attack the Charleston and Savannah Railroad. 
 
 On the 18th General Foster informed the War Department 
 that General Gilmore had left him but few reliable troops in the 
 Department, and that at least four thousand of his colored troops 
 were unused to arms, but that he was about to try and break the 
 Charleston and Savannah Railroad at some point, .and would 
 at the same time make an attack on the defenses of either 
 Charleston or Savannah, and again expressed a wish for half a 
 dozen Wiard light draft gunboats and a regiment like Howard's 
 New York Artillery, one-half of whom were seamen. 
 
 Then men were kept busy making reconnaissances to dif- 
 ferent points, and on the night of the 22nd a detail was landed 
 on the island at the mouth of Lighthouse Creek, and thence up 
 the creek to a point near the piles; another part of the detail 
 started for the wooden building on the island, but were unable 
 to reach it on account of the deep mud, while still another detail 
 went in another direction and nearer Fort Simkins on James 
 Island. 
 
 On the night of the 24th a party from the Boat Infantry be- 
 gan taking away boards from the rebels' plank walk on James 
 Island and transferring them to Morris Island. On the 26th the 
 Union batteries twice shot away the flagstaff on Fort Sumter. 
 
106 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 The Confederates reported that the Yankees shot away the staff 
 on Sumter twice within a few minutes and that the second time 
 it was replaced under a heavy fire. 
 
 General Schimmelfennig, havine received the impression by 
 the examination of his maps that there was sumcient firm ground 
 in the marshes between James and Morris Islands to permit of 
 the passage of an attacking column, had caused a survey of the 
 ground to be made, and not being satisfied with the result of 
 this he, on the night of the 21st, equipped himself in his hip boots 
 and spent tne greater part of the night wading around in the 
 marsh looking for the ground designated on the map. He 
 turned up at daylight, well plastered with mud and completely 
 out of humor, declaring the maps of little value, and on the 28th 
 he notified General Foster that the ground along the edge of the 
 marshes could not be used by an attacking column, as it was 
 not contiguous. 
 
 On the 29th and 30th the officers of the Boat Infantry were 
 ordered to Colonel Gurney's and afterward to General Schimmel- 
 fennig's to receive instruction as to the proposed attack on Bat- 
 tery Simkins. General Foster, having matured his plan of at- 
 twelve hundred men up the South Edisto River, with orders to 
 break the railroad, while at the same time General Hatch with 
 a larger force proceeded up the North Edisto, with orders to 
 land on Johns Island and destroy the ferry and bridge over Ran- 
 towles Creek, and if possible take a position from which James 
 Island could be enfiladed and taken in reverse, and where bat- 
 teries could be established nearer Charleston than any then lo- 
 cated. While these movements were being made General 
 Schimmelfennig, with two thousand troops, aided by the gun- 
 boats on the Stono River, landed on the lower end of James 
 Island on the night of July 1st and assailed and captured a Con- 
 federate earthwork mounting 2-28 pdr. howitzers, but finding 
 the works within grapeshot distance of the batteries of the 
 enemy's inner line of defense, he drew his troops to a less ex- 
 posed position, which he held. While these movements were 
 being made by the Confederate troops from the north end of 
 James Island, Colonel Gurney, commanding Morris Island, was 
 directed to send a night expedition of one thousand men to at- 
 tempt the capture of Forts Johnson and Simkins, important rebel 
 harbor defenses on the north side of James Island, the possession 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 107 
 
 of which would probably have compelled the evacuation of Fort 
 Sumter, as the magazine of that fort was exposed to the guns in 
 Fort Johnson. 
 
 The expeditions of Generals Birney and Hatch were without 
 result, and they were ordered to move to the support of General 
 Schimmelfennig. At 10 o'clock p. m. of July 1st a detail of men 
 from the 127th New York were sent to take boats and pontoons 
 from Lighthouse Inlet to the left battery bridge to be in readi- 
 ness for the proposed attack on Forts Johnson and Simkins. 
 The night was very dark, and after wandering about looking for 
 channels they reached the bridge at 6.30 o'clock the next morn- 
 ing. 
 
 The garrison in Fort Wagner lay at the guns all night, ex- 
 pecting a sortie by the rebel 'ram Chicora, while firing was kept 
 up between our batteries and those of the Confederates on James 
 Island. On July 2nd the Confederate signal officers at Fort 
 Johnson reported the Federals receiving reinforcements at south 
 end of James Island, and also stated that barges could be seen 
 getting ready. 
 
 At daylight fighting Gommenced on James Island below 
 Secessionville, and our men at first gained ground. At 9 a. m. 
 firing ceased at that point, but opened again at noon and was 
 kept up the balance of the day. At 8 p. m. the 127th New York, 
 in command of Major Little and under orders to take part in the 
 expedition to attack Fort Johnson, marched to the left battery, 
 where it embarked on pontoons and moved forward to Paine's 
 wharf, and there lay until 2 a. m. of the 3d; here it was joined 
 by the 52nd Pennsylvania Volunteers and a detachment of sixty 
 men of the 3rd Rhode Island Artillery. These completed the 
 force that was to make the attack and which was under the gen- 
 eral direction of Colonel Gurney, who remained at Paine's wharf. 
 
 Colonel Hoyt of the 52nd Pennsylvania, as ranking officer, 
 had immediate command, and the first division, composed of the 
 52nd Pennsylvania, was to move by the right flank, and when it 
 had gained sufficient ground was to flank toward tne left in line 
 of battle toward the work on Johr son's Point, wiine the 127th, 
 under command of Major Little, was to move by the right flank, 
 passing to the rear of the 52nd, and when it had gained sufficient 
 ground was to flank to the left and advance on Battery Simkins. 
 
 The 127th New York were in three divisions, Captain Gurney 
 
108 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 commanding the right, Captain Allison the centre and Captain 
 Henry the left. The expedition was to have left Paine's dock at 
 high water, which would have made the way over the shoals pos- 
 sible, but delays occurring in embarking the 52nd Pennsylvania, 
 it was 2 a. m. before the expedition got started, at which time the 
 tide had fallen so much that the boats repeatedly grounded, thus 
 causing further delay, and upon reaching the harbor their prog- 
 ress was still further impeded by the inability of the pilot to find 
 an opening through the sand bar, which extended from Simkins 
 toward Fort Sumter, and which was at the time well out of water. 
 An opening was finally found through which the boats contain- 
 ing the first division of the 52nd Pennsylvania passed, and the 
 men effected a landing on the beach near Fort Johnson. 
 
 The balance of the boats of the 52nd, then in command of 
 Major Jayne, made no attempt to land, and in reply to an inquiry 
 of Major Little the answer came that they were awaiting orders. 
 Major Little then ordered the boats of the 127th to pass between 
 the boats of the 52nd Pennsylvania, effect a landing and advance 
 upon Battery Simkins. The whole story is best told in General 
 Foster's general orders, No. 153, under date of Nov. 7, 1864, and 
 in which was published the result of the investigation of the 
 attack and failure, and from which the following is quoted: 
 
 "In compliance with this order the boats of Captains Henry 
 and Weston and of Lieutenants George N. Little and Aber- 
 crombie effected a landing on the snore, but at this time dav was 
 breaking, and the alarm given from Fort Johnson was followed 
 by a heavy fire of grape and canister that swept the beach, mak- 
 ing it untenable for a landing party, and at the same time the bat- 
 teries on Sullivans Island commenced shelling the harbor in 
 front of Forts Johnson and Simkins. The boats of the 52nd 
 Pennsylvania, in command of Major Jayne, immediately re- 
 treated, and the movement being a failure the boats of the 127th 
 withdrew and returned to Paine's wharf; the 127th had two men 
 wounded— Sergeant Wells of Company G and Private Lake of 
 Company A. Colonel Conygham and the one hundred and forty 
 officers and men of the 52nd who landed and pressed forward to 
 attack Fort Johnson were unable to enter the fort and were over- 
 powered and captured. A Department investigation resulted in 
 the severe censure of Major Jayne and some of the officers of the 
 52nd Pennsylvania, but highly complimented Colonel Hoyt, 
 

 
 ml 
 
 * 
 
 
 
 M~m ^' 
 
 
 
 Chaplain, SAMUEL B. WILLIS. 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 109 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Conygham and the one hundred and forty 
 officers and men who landed; it also made favorable mention of 
 the conduct of Major Little, Captains Henry and Weston and of 
 Lieutenants Henry and Little and Abercrombie of the 127th New 
 York." 
 
 On July 4th a national salute was fired by the forts on Morris 
 Island; the morning was very hot and in the afternoon there was 
 heavy thunder without rain. On July 5th General Schimmel- 
 fennig's troops were still engaging the Confederates on the lower 
 end of James Island, but apparently were gaining no ground ; in 
 the evening several shots from the Confederate battery on Sul- 
 livans Island struck near our camp, without, however, doing 
 any damage. On the 7th there was very heavy firing from the 
 rebel batteries toward Secessionville, and on the 8th a feint was 
 made toward Fort Sumter, and also toward Simkins, with a view 
 of drawing the forces from Schimmelfennig's front, but it being 
 evident that the Confederates had received reinforcements, Gen- 
 eral Schimmelfennig on the 9th withdrew to a position near Le- 
 gareville, and on the night of the 10th, taking advantage of the 
 Confederates' attention being drawn to the threatened attack on 
 Fort Simkins, he withdrew the forces from James Island, leaving 
 his pickets advanced to within one mile of Secessionville. 
 
 The same night a rebel deserter, taking advantage of the 
 last of the tide, was enabled to wade part way over the shoals 
 and reached Battery Gregg. The Confederate General Jones had 
 reported to the Confederate authorities that he had made a sharp 
 attack on the Federals on James Island and had lost one hundred 
 men killed and wounded. 
 
 On the 1 2th two members of the 64th New York, who had 
 been captured at Petersburg while being transferred to Alabama, 
 jumped off the moving train near Charleston, and reaching the 
 water front escaped and came into our lines. 
 
 General Foster now notified the War Department that he 
 intended making a breaching cut in the wall of Fort Sumter and 
 would then float down and explode under the wall for the pur- 
 pose of shaking down the top of the wall and exposing the in- 
 terior of the fort to the Union guns, and he ordered a continual 
 fire to be kept up on the fort. 
 
 The Confederates on the 15th threw seven eight inch shells 
 into the camp adjoining ours, killing two of the 54th Massa- 
 
no REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 chusetts and wounding one of the 3rd Rhode Island Artillery. 
 It was evident that the Confederates had mounted some guns on 
 the batteries on Sullivans Island that connected our camp, and 
 the men were set at work building bomb-proofs. On the 14th 
 the "rebs" again attempted to shell our camp, their shot, how- 
 ever, falling about three hundred feet short. 
 
 General Foster arrived and spent a large portion of the day 
 watching the effect of our firing at Fort Sumter, and compli- 
 mented the service of gun No. 15 at Fort Wagner. 
 
 On the 16th six men were wounded by Confederate shells 
 at Battery Gregg. On the 17th the Confederates were busy at 
 Simkins and at the Fort Sumter wharf, evidently preparing to 
 resist an attack. On the 18th there was heavy firing all day from 
 our own and the Confederates' batteries. On the 19th Corporal 
 Finlay of Company A died of typhoid fever and was buried the 
 following day, Sergeant Eldridge having charge of the firing 
 party. Finlay was a man of excellent character and highly re- 
 spected by all who knew him. On the 20th General Foster's 
 headquarters boat came up and anchored off the island. The 
 navy was to have used a torpedo against the wharf at Fort Sumter, 
 but for some reason it was found ineffective and so abandoned. 
 On the 2 1 st our forces were at work enlarging Battery Greeg so 
 as to mount five three hundred-pdr. Parrott guns with which 
 to breach the wall of Fort Sumter, which had now been terribly 
 bombarded for three weeks, 8,806 shots having been fired, of 
 which but 1.830 missed the fort. The side wall toward Fort 
 Wagner had been knocked away so as to expose some of the in- 
 terior of the fort. On the night of the 24th boats of Boat In- 
 fantry reconnoitered the face of Sumter toward Moultrie, and 
 also the harbor obstructions, to see if the latter could be re- 
 moved. 
 
 The gunboats discovered a steamer trying to run out from 
 Charleston, which succeeded in evading their fire and returned, 
 but on the night of the 25th the blockade runners Druid and 
 Prince Albert, according to rebel reports, successfully ran the 
 blockade. The experiment of floating torpedoes against Fort 
 Sumter was continued, and on the 25th another was prepared 
 and started. 
 
 On the 27th a working party in charge of Sergeant Eldridge, 
 while buildings battery between Gregg and Chatfield, was 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. in 
 
 shelled so vigorously from Sullivans Island that very little work 
 could be done. On July 30th Jack Shephard, Jr., of Company 
 D, already referred to, died of sunstroke. Sixty men of the regi- 
 ment were transferred to the navy, all but seven of whom were 
 from Company I; these were a few days later ordered back to 
 the regiment by General Foster. 
 
 The left battery had been separated from Paine's dock by a 
 marsh nearly a mile in extent, and approach to either could only 
 be made by a circuitous route. To remedy this a bridge was 
 constructed by Serrell's engineer across the marsh, timber for 
 the same being obtained from houses pulled down for that pur- 
 pose at Legaresville, and we now had a four foot wide bridge of 
 nearly if not a quarter of a mile in length over the marsh. 
 
 On August 3rd an exchange of prisoners took place in the 
 harbor, the rebel steamer coming down to a point opposite Bat- 
 tery Chatfield. The same day two Union officers, a Captain and 
 Lieutenant of the 3rd Ohio, who had made their escape in a flat 
 boat, safely reached our Boat Infantry. On the night of August 
 2nd Captain Richard Allison, commanding our Boat Infantry, 
 made with the following boats a reconnaissance entirely around 
 Fort Sumter and made a draft of the fort, showing outlines of 
 the wall as seen from the boats: Boat No. 1, Captain Richard 
 Allison, Lieutenant Garrett F. Eaton, ten oars and coxswain; 
 Boat 2, Lieutenant George N. Little, Lieutenant Proul, five oars 
 and coxswain; Boat 3, Captain Long, Ensign Neal, U. S. Navy,. 
 eight oars and coxswain. The boats left Paine's wharf at 7.30 p. 
 m., Fort Gregg at 8 p. m., passing between Forts Johnson and 
 Sumter near the second telegraph pole. This service was for- 
 mally acknowledged by General Foster in following order, viz: 
 
 Headquarters Dept. of the South, 
 Hilton Head, S. C, Aug. 6, 1864. 
 The Major General commanding desires to express his 
 thanks to the officers and men who made the reconnaissance of 
 Fort Sumter on the night of the 2nd of August, and is much 
 pleased with their energy in this enterprise. (Signed) 
 
 Thos. J. Robinson, 
 1st Lt. 2 1 st U. S. C. T. and A. A. A. G. 
 
 The regimental record of the above states that on the back 
 of the fort, on the city face, light shone out through the case- 
 
H2 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 mates, and it looked as if they were busy inside the fort; the next 
 wall was much broken and the loose dirt and stone fallen had 
 covered the casemates; the next wall, facing Moultrie, was quite 
 good yet; three casemates had lights in them; they saw no rebel 
 picket boats, but saw three rebel rams taking their station. Dur- 
 ing the trip the fire from our batteries was kept up, they not 
 having received notice of our reconnaissance. 
 
 The 5th was a very warm day, the thermometer registering 
 102 degrees in the shade; rebels were still shelling our working 
 parties, and several shots passed over the camp of the Boat In- 
 fantry and burst in the camp of the 52nd Pennsylvania. 
 
 Early on the morning of August 9th a blockade runner was 
 discovered aground off Moultrie, and was soon a wreck from 
 the fire of our guns. She was supposed to be the blockade run- 
 ner Fox. General Schimmelfennig notified Colonel Gurney 
 that he had been giving the dangerous work on the island to 
 troops sent from Folly Island, and that he wished such work 
 hereafter given to the 127th New York and 52nd Pennsylvania. 
 On the 10th General Foster notified the War Department that 
 he was building two assaulting arks, to be modern row-galleys, 
 fifty oars to a side, to draw twenty-six inches in water when 
 loaded, to have an elevated tower for sharpshooters and an as- 
 saulting ladder or gang plank fifty feet long to be operated by 
 machinery, to be used for assaulting a fort or for landing troops 
 in shoal water. 
 
 On the nth the Confederates kept up a brisk fire from the 
 Bull of the Woods on James Island, Gregg and Wagner replying 
 and dismounting a gun in the Bull of the Woods battery. On 
 August 12th a new gun was taken to the Swamp Angel and 
 mounted, and one shot was fired from it at 8 o. m. 
 
 On the 13th another torpedo was readv at Paine's dock, but 
 it was too late to get it to Gregg that night, and a portion of 
 the Boat Infantry made n attempt to destroy the boom extend- 
 ing out from Fort Sumter, but were discovered by the rebel 
 picket boat which signaled the ram. The torpedo was started 
 about 2.30 a. m. of the 15th, and got off very well, but missed 
 the boom. It was now ordered to prepare a mine to contain two 
 tons of powder for explosion against the upper side of Fort 
 Sumter. The more or less regular fire kept up by the Confed- 
 erates on our camps and batteries probably led to a suspicion 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 113 
 
 that they meditated an attack, and on the 15th orders were is- 
 sued "that in case of an alarm, which would be by the firing of 
 two rockets and two guns from Fort Strong or Battery Wagner, 
 the troops would assemble on the beach in the rear of the fort 
 in line of battle, in following order, viz: 56th N. Y., 127th N. Y. 
 and 52nd Pa. and 21st U.S. C. T., with the 56th N. Y. on the 
 right of line, the 127th N. Y. to act as reserve and hold Fort 
 Strong." 
 
 The portion of the regiment doing duty as Boat Infantry, 
 with camp at the left batteries, had been in the habit of having 
 for the benefit of such as were not on duty an occasional minstrel 
 performance in the officers' mess tent; these had proved quite 
 enjoyable, but unfortunately on one of these entertainments, 
 which had been continued to a late hour, a new piece of music 
 for the drum, composed by the colored Drum Major of the 54th 
 Massachusetts and to which he had given the name of Wagner, 
 was played by him upon the drum and was greeted with much 
 applause, so much so that Drum Major Corneen, who was an 
 excellent drummer, and who was at the time suffering from an 
 overdose of anti-malarial mixture, became desirous of showing 
 how well he could imitate the colored Drum Major's playing. 
 Seizing the drum he vigorously sounded the "long roll" and 
 caused all the troops on Morris Island to fall in, under the belief 
 that the enemy had made an attack. One officer who was pres- 
 ent states that he quietly passed out in the darkness just in time 
 to miss Major Little, who came ridin? down the causeway to 
 learn what was the trouble, and it was reported that the officer, 
 under whose supervision the entertainment occurred, had con- 
 siderable difficulty in making a satisfactory explanation of the 
 affair to General Foster. 
 
 On the 16th one shot from the new gun in the Swamp Angel 
 Battery struck the Fort Sumter wharf. General Foster's dis- 
 position to accomplish some result against the enemy had been 
 largely paralyzed by the indisposition of the War Department to 
 furnish him with either material or troops, and he had been or- 
 dered to send every man he could spare to reinforce General 
 Grant's army in Virginia, retaining only such troops as were ab- 
 solutely needed to hold h. ; s present positions. 
 
 Conformably to these orders the 103rd N. Y. and the 74th 
 Pennsylvania regiments left for the Department of Virginia on 
 
ii4 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 the 16th. On the 21st General Schimmelfennig went off to the 
 monitor picket boat that he might get a good view of the Moul- 
 trie face of Fort Sumter; there was a heavy sea running and all 
 got very wet. 
 
 On the night of the 20th members of the rebel "Stono 
 Guard" went to Legareville and set fire to the olace, each man 
 setting fire to his own house. This was done to prevent the ma- 
 terial contained in the houses being used by the Union troops. 
 On the night of the 24th they evidently got scared and opened 
 fire from all their batteries on James Island, firing grape and 
 canister up and down the creeks, and after 2 o'clock on the morn- 
 ing of the 25th the Union and rebel batteries indulged in heavy 
 firing until daybreak. On August 27th Quartermaster-General 
 Meigs refused to fill General Foster's requisition for iron with 
 which to cover the outside of his proposed row-galleys, stating 
 that General Grant desired the General to confine himself strictly 
 to defensive operations. A severe storm this day blew down the 
 rebel lookout at Johnson's Point. 
 
 At 9.15 p. m. of the 28th a portion of the Boat Infantry took 
 out a boat fitted up for the purpose, containing about twenty 
 cwt. of powder, and floated it down toward the left flank of Fort 
 Sumter. The garrison were alarmed before the mine reached 
 them, and opened on the boats with musketry, their fire, how- 
 ever, doing no damage. The mine exploded prematurely about 
 fifty yards from the fort. 
 
 Captain Hugenin, commanding at the fort, reported that 
 so far as could be ascertained no damage had been sustained 
 by the fort. The plan had been to float the mine boat, containing 
 4,440 pounds of powder down from the first telegraph pole which 
 was 327 yards from Sumter, and to which it was to be attached 
 by a line that would allow it to drift down in the strong ebb 
 current and reach the wharf at the foot of the fort and explode, 
 but when the pole was reached it was found that the slack tide 
 at that point would prevent the working of this plan, although 
 it had proven practicable on previous trials. It was then decided 
 to fasten the end of the line to an anchor in the bow of the 
 picket boat, and which anchor was to be dropped by bow oars- 
 men when ordered. Both boats then drifted slowly toward the 
 fort, a close watch being kept for the rebel rams and also on the 
 sentry patrolling the wharf. 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 115 
 
 The mine was to be fired by two four feet long submarine 
 three-minute fuses, one being placed in a revolver and ignited by 
 a cap, and the other being placed under Lieutenant Eaton's hat 
 in the bottom of the boat and fired by his foot. As the sentry 
 on the wharf, who had been watching the approach of the boats, 
 was about to challenge the fuse was fired, the sentry at the same 
 time firing upon the boat. The tide had now fallen so much as 
 to prevent the return of the picket boat by the route it came, 
 and it was then pulled in nearer to Fort Sumter, passing near the 
 famous high wall, from which it was fired on by about forty 
 muskets without being struck, and had got well away from the 
 mine boat when the explosion occurred. The various rebel forts 
 at once opened fire, which they kept up for some time. 
 
 On the 30th General Beauregard notified General Tones to 
 renew the obstructions near Fort Sumter, as he thought it prob- 
 able that Admiral Farragut might be sent to Charleston harbor. 
 On the 31st six torpedoes, made by barrel in frames, each barrel 
 containing one hundred pounds of powder, were set afloat on 
 the flood tide southeast of Fort Sumter, with the intention of de- 
 stroying the boom. They probably exploded too soon, and only 
 destroyed two lengths of the boom. The rebels reported that 
 they exploded about three hundred yards from the fort. 
 
 On the 1st of September General Schimmelfennig went North 
 on a thirty-day leave of absence, his health being impaired. The 
 General during his command of the Northern District had exerted 
 himself to keep the rebels continually stirred up, and was never 
 backward about exposing himself in these efforts. He at one 
 time took one hundred men and attempted to cross to Tames 
 Island from Paine's Dock, but after wallowing up to their waists 
 in mud and water he was compelled to give up the attempt, as 
 a deep creek intervened, which could not be crossed without a 
 boat. 
 
 On September 1st, 2d and 3d the enemy shelled Paine's 
 Dock, and threw their canister up the creeks. On the 3d another 
 exchange of prisoners occurred in Charleston harbor, and some 
 of the garrison of Fort Sumter came out on the walls and down 
 to the water's edge to look on. 
 
 A rumor came in to the effect that some I Tnion prisoners had 
 escaped from confinement and reached some part of the island, 
 where they were waiting for an opportunity to get to our lines. 
 
n6 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 On September ioth Companies A and F of the 127th, in 
 command of Captains Little and Weston, boarded the armed 
 transport "Island City" and were taken to Dewees and Long 
 Islands, just north of Charleston harbor, where they landed and 
 explored both islands without discovering either any refugees 
 or escaped prisoners. On the nth the companies on Boat In- 
 fantry were relieved from that duty and returned to regimental 
 camp. The sharpshooters at Fort Sumter kept up a fire on all 
 working squads, and on September 15th their fire was particularly 
 vicious, compelling a fatigue party from Battery Gregg to aban- 
 don their work. 
 
 On September 19th Colonel Van Wyck, of the 46th New 
 York, relieved Colonel Gurney as Commandant of Post. On 
 September 26th the regiment was turned out at 10 p. m. and 
 marched to the front, where they lay all night, expecting an 
 attack, which intercepted signals had indicated that the Confed- 
 erates had intended making, but which did not materialize. On 
 the night of the 28th Batteries Gregg and Chatfield fired a large 
 number of 100 and 200-pd. shots into Charleston. On October 
 6th there was a review of all the troops on the island by General 
 Scammon, who had just relieved General Saxton. 
 
 On the gth of October one of Company G's men was wounded 
 in the arm by a sharpshooter on the wall of Fort Sumter, and on 
 the 19th a member of the 3d Rhode Island received a shot in the 
 breast from the same source. On October 20th Major Little and 
 Chaplain Willis returned from the North. The weather was 
 growing cool, particularly at nights, and the report that the 
 regiment was to be sent to Beaufort was by no means unsatis- 
 factory to the men, as Morris Island was anything but a desirable 
 location for a winter camp. 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 117 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 BEAUFORT AND ATTACK ON THE CHARLESTON & 
 SAVANNAH RAILROAD. 
 
 October 2ist, 1864, to February 26th, 1865. 
 
 On October 21st the regiment broke camp and marched down 
 to the landing en route for Beaufort. Part of the regiment left 
 at 1 p. m. and the remainder at midnight. On reaching Hilton 
 Head they were transferred to the steamer "General Hooker," 
 and arrived at Beaufort at 12 p. m. of the 23rd. 
 
 The change from the islands of Charleston harbor to the town 
 of Beaufort, which had many points of interest, was a most agree- 
 able one, and being so remote from any Confederate batteries, 
 there was little, aside from the presence of our troops, to remind 
 us of the fact that we were in the midst of a desperate conflict. 
 
 Beaufort had before the war been quite a popular summer 
 resort for those living further from the coast, and while its popu- 
 lation was greatly reduced, and so far as the "whites" were con- 
 cerned consisted of non-combatants and alleged Unionists, still 
 there were enough of these to afford a variety that was entirely 
 new to us. The churches, schoolhouses and dwellings, some of 
 which were very old and interesting, all contributed to* a condi- 
 tion that was a most agreeable change from the business of the 
 neighborhood where most of our previous camps had been, and, 
 as it was generally felt that the Confederacy could hold out but 
 a little while longer, we began to hope that we might perhaps 
 spend the balance of our term in comparative peaceful occupancy 
 of the town and vicinity. Su^h hopes, however, were destined 
 to be soon rudely dispelled. 
 
 There was a large number of negro refugees in the town and 
 many more at Port Royal or Hilton Head, and the Government 
 was still enlisting these in the army. Lieutenant-Colonel Woodford 
 was a short time later commissioned as Colonel of the 103rd 
 Regiment, U. S. Colored Troops, and Captain Bogert as Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonel, while several of the non-commissioned officers of 
 
n8 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 our regiment accepted commissions in those of the colored troops. 
 
 Captain Gurney of Company E and Lieutenant Osborn of 
 Company B returned North, both having resigned their commis- 
 sions. On October 30th Rev. Mr. Newcomb of the Freedman's 
 Bureau preached in the Soldiers' Chapel, Beaufort, to a large 
 audience of soldiers and civilians.- The Glee Club of the regiment, 
 which had been formed while on Morris Island, with the assist- 
 ance of some ladies who taught the Freedmen, rendered some 
 good music and added to the interest of the occasion. On the 
 night of the 1st of November the Regimental Drum Corps gave 
 a serenade in the town, which was something of a novelty and 
 which found an appreciative audience. 
 
 The camp of the regiment was just outside of Beaufort and 
 nicely laid out; the tents were floored, and around this was a 
 frame four feet high, which was covered by shelter tents, and in 
 some cases by boards, while the A, or wedge tents, over all made 
 a structure twelve feet to the peak. Each company had a kitchen 
 constructed and a very comfortable mess tent, with tables ac- 
 commodating four men each, where the meals were served to the 
 men. 
 
 On the 12th part of the regiment was assigned to provost duty 
 in Beaufort with Captain Bogert as Provost Marshal. The men 
 had comfortable quarters in one of the houses. The Presidential 
 election passed off quietly at Beaufort, the troops having for- 
 warded to their home their ballots while on Morris Island. 
 
 On the 18th Colonel Gurney returned from the North and 
 assumed command of the regiment. Pickets were sent out quite 
 a distance on the "Shell Road" and patrols in other directions, 
 and the men were kept busily employed in one way or another, 
 so that there was little leisure except in the evenings. 
 
 On the 24th, which was a beautiful day, Thanksgiving was 
 observed. At 10 a. m. religious services were held in a large shed 
 just on the edge of camp and a sermon preached by Chaplain 
 Willis, text, Psalms, 4th Chapter, 8th and gth verses. At noon 
 there was a review by General Saxton. The regiment raised a 
 one hundred foot flagstaff, and the afternoon was spent in sports, 
 consisting of foot races of five hundred yards, sack races, wheel- 
 barrow races, etc. Company A indulged in a Thanksgiving din- 
 ner, purchased from their company fund, with a bill of fare of 
 stewed chicken, sweet potatoes, white potatoes, turnips, boiled 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 119 
 
 onions and pumpkin pie. The other companies also celebrated 
 the day with dinners and sports of various kinds. 
 
 An expedition of some kind against the Charleston and Savan- 
 nah Railroad was understood to be on foot, and the regiment was 
 ordered to be in readiness to move at short notice. On the after- 
 noon of the 28th orders were received to start the following 
 morning. Everything was hurry and bustle, knapsacks were 
 hastily packed, but as the tents were to be left standing, it was 
 thought that a return to the camp woulds soon be made, and the 
 men took only what they thought would be needed for a short 
 trip. Lieutenant-Colonel Woodford, who was acting Judge Ad- 
 vocate of the Department, had made written request to> General 
 Foster for permission to accompany the 127th, and the request 
 was granted. 
 
 HONEY HILL AND DEVAUX NECK, S. C. 
 November 29th and December 6th and 9th, 1864. 
 
 At 4 o'clock in the morning of November 29th the assembly 
 sounded, and at 4.30 the regiment left Beaufort on the Steamer 
 Charles Houghton for Hilton Head at 8.10, and left at 9 a. m., as 
 part of an expedition of 5,500 men, composing the Coast Division 
 and which, as soon as landed, was to be under the command of 
 General Hatch. The Division was made up as follows: First 
 Brigade, Potter's, composed of 56th, 127th, 144th and 157th New 
 York, 25th Ohio and 32nd, 34th and 35th U. S. C. T., was to be 
 in command of Brigadier General Potter; 2nd Brigade, Hart- 
 well's, composed of the 54th and 55th Massachusetts, colored, 
 and 26th and 102nd U. S. C. T., commanded bv Colonel A. S. 
 Hartwell, and a Naval Brigade, composed of sailors and marines 
 from the Navy, commanded by Commander Preble , and Batteries 
 B and F, 3rd New York Artillery, and Battery A, 3rd Rhode 
 Island Light Artillery, commanded by Colonel Ames, and a de- 
 tachment of the 4th Massachusetts Cavalry, commanded by Cap- 
 tain George P. Hurlburt. 
 
 The progress of the expedition was delayed by a heavy fog 
 which hung over the water, causing some of the vessels to go 
 astray up the Chichesse River, the steamer Canonicus having the 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 121 
 
 engineers on board, being one of those that did not arrive at 
 Boyd's until 2 p. m.; much delay was occasioned in getting the old 
 wharf at Boyd's landing in condition to land the cavalry, artillery, 
 etc. As the naval vessels approached the landing at 8 a. m., loud 
 halloas came through the misty atmosphere from a picket of the 
 3rd South Carolina Cavalry, which with a field piece were the 
 only troops in the vicinity. 
 
 These speedily withdrew to give the alarm and at 1 1 .40 a. m. 
 General Bragg teleraphed General Samuel Jones to make every 
 disposition to prevent the enemy ascending Broad River and cut- 
 ting the railroad, and at 7 p. m. he again teleraphed Jones to 
 hurry forward reinforcements to Grahamville, as the enemy were 
 expected there the following morning, the 30th. 
 
 On the 29th at 6 p. m. General Bragg telegraphed Jones that 
 one thousanad South Carolina Reserves had left Augusta to re- 
 port to Hardee and that two thousand North Carolina troops 
 under General Baker were about starting, and authorized Jones 
 to stop and use them in the defense of the railroad. From Boyd's 
 Landing a tortuous wagon road led to Grahamville, distant some 
 eight or ten miles. Two companies of the 54th Massachusetts 
 were first landed and deployed, and after moving forward some 
 distance halted; after which the Naval Brigade, having eight 
 light guns drawn by sailors, landed and advanced up the road 
 two miles to a cross road, which to the right led toward the Bee 
 Creek Battery,, and to the left toward Savannah. The Naval 
 Brigade started toward the right, pushing a small force of the 
 enemy before them. 
 
 In the afternoon the creek was crowded with vessels, General 
 Foster arriving at 2 p. m., and General Potter at 3.30 p. m. The 
 127th landed at 3 p. m., and at 4 p. m. the detachment of Cavalry 
 and a large portion of General Potter's Brigade having landed, 
 General Hatch decided to push ahead without waiting for his ar- 
 tillery to be landed. General Potter's Brigade was pushed ahead 
 two miles and then turned to the right, and after marching about 
 one and one-half miles toward the Bee Creek battery, they over- 
 took the Naval Brigade, and it then being decided that they were 
 on the wrong road, the troops were countermarched to the 
 Boyd's Landing road, at which point the Naval Brigade with its 
 eight guns, were left to guard the crossroads against troops from 
 the Bee Creek Battery, while Porter's Brigade and the Cavalry 
 
122 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 marched a little more than a mile further, reaching a white church 
 (Bolan), in front of which a road led off to the right. 
 
 The guide, who was with the head of the column, pretending 
 to recognize the point, led the column straight ahead toward 
 Savannah, when he should have turned to the right. After march- 
 ing four miles General Potter saw that another mistake had been 
 made, when he countermarched the column back to the church. 
 As it was then about 2 o'clock in the morning of the 30th, and the 
 troops were worn out, having marched fifteen or twenty miles and 
 having been up all of the previous night, he ordered them to 
 bivouac, but no fires were allowed. 
 
 The delay caused by the fog, and the further delay occasioned 
 by the column marching in the wrong direction, was fatal to the 
 success of the expedition, as there were no Confederate troops at 
 Grahamville until 7.30 a. m. of the 30th, at which hour General 
 Colcock arrived with some troops, and at 8 a. m. the First 
 Brigade of the Georgia State Reserves arrived, being followed 
 soon after by the balance of General Smith's troops from Savan- 
 nah. General Colcock was at once sent forward to oppose the 
 Federal advance and to select a position for the balance of the 
 Confederate force. 
 
 At 8 a. m. of the 30th, General Potter's brigade, having been 
 joined by .the Naval Brigade and the Artillery, advanced from 
 Bolan Church up the Grahamville road, the 127th New York in 
 the advance. The road for the first half mile from the church 
 was bordered on each side by dense woods, beyond which there 
 was a corn or cotton field, and beyond this on the left of the road 
 was a thick jungle almost impassable for infantry, and on the right 
 the same, with occasional openings. 
 
 The Cavalry having reported the enemy's artillery, supported 
 by infantry in our front, the 127th New York were deployed to 
 the right and left of the road as skirmishers, Companies B, G and 
 H being on the right of the road. Company C, commanded by 
 Captain Fisk, being in charge of the colors, was ordered to re- 
 main in the rear of the skirmish line, the other companies of the 
 regiment, under command of Captain Allison, being deployed to 
 the left of the road. Company A was formed as flankers, in col- 
 umn of fours, close to the road. 
 
 Upon crossing the cotton field the enemy's light troops were 
 encountered and firing began, the enemy slowly retiring. The- 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 123 
 
 Confederate General, Smith, say's General Colcock advanced with 
 some companies of his Cavalry and a few pieces or artillery, skir- 
 mishing. Our advance had crossed the field when the first can- 
 non shot was heard coming from the enemy's artillery, which, 
 supported by infantry, had taken position on rising ground at 
 the end of a swampy defile, about one and one-half miles from 
 Bolan Church, the road approaching which position was bordered 
 by heavy woods. 
 
 This shot killed Private Jesse K. Piatt of Company A, a fine 
 fellow and a general favorite. His was the unfortunate honor to 
 be the first of the Monitor Regiment killed in action. A section 
 of Battery B, 3rd New York Light Artillery, in command of 
 Lieutenant Wildt, now came into battery in the road, and at a 
 distance of six hundred yards opened on the enemy's artillery. 
 Our skirmishers entered the woods, and the 25th Ohio, 144th and 
 157th New York, and the 32nd U. S. C. T. advanced to. their 
 support; our troops on the left of the road advanced as fast as 
 the almost impassable character of the ground permitted. The 
 advance of the troops on the right of the road was much retarded 
 by the enemy's having fired the tall dry grasses and weeds in front 
 of and to the left of his artillery. 
 
 After Lieutenant Wildt had fired seventy-five rounds and the 
 32nd U. S. C. T. had sustained a heavy loss in an attempt to clear 
 the causeway by charging up the road by the flank, the enemy fell 
 back and our infantry came out into the road and advanced by 
 the flank. A new skirmish line, consisting of the 56th and 127th 
 New York on the left of the road, and the 144th New York on the 
 right of it, was soon thrown out. (Note. — This must have been 
 about three-quarters of a mile from the Honey Hill battery, which 
 was said to be about three miles from Bolan Church.) At a point 
 about three-quarters of a mile back of their former position the 
 enemy's artillery again made a stand, and Lieutenant Wildt's sec- 
 tion of artillery again opened at a distance of eight hundred 
 yards, and after firing twenty rounds drove them back, Lieu- 
 tenant Wildt being mortally wounded as he brought his battery 
 into action. 
 
 Our troops now advanced again and the 56th New York, be- 
 ing attacked, fell back upon the 127th New York, and the firing 
 upon the left began. On the right the 144th New York met the 
 enemy at the same time and, being reinforced by the 25th Ohio, 
 
127TH REGT. N. V. VOLS. 125 
 
 forced them in disorder beyond the wood road, which leads from 
 the right into the Grahamville road just before the bend of that 
 road is reached. At a point where the Grahamville road makes 
 a bend to the left, the heads of the 127th and 144th New York 
 came unexpectedly on the main body of the enemy behind an 
 earthwork, and being met with a severe fire, General Potter 
 ordered them to form in line of battle, the 127th to the left of and 
 at right angles to the road, with its right resting on the road, and 
 the 144th New York on the wood road to the right of the 
 Grahamville road. 
 
 The 1 57th and 56th New Yorks as they came up were ordered 
 into line to the left of the 127th New York, and the 25th Ohio 
 and 32nd United States Colored Troops were placed in line of 
 battle to the right of the Grahamville road. The 127th New York 
 pressed forward, forcing the enemy back toward their works and 
 the right wing also advanced. 
 
 At about 11 a. m. Mesereau's 3rd New York Light Artillery 
 came up and took position at the point where the wood road met 
 the Grahamville road, but the way was so narrow and the ground 
 adjacent thereto was so heavily wooded, that only one section 
 would be brought into action in view of the enemy's works, the 
 other section being masked behind the heavy growth of trees at 
 the bend of the road, this artillery opened and maintained a steady 
 fire upon the enemy's works. 
 
 General Gustavus W. Smith, who commanded the Confed- 
 erates, had taken position on a 30-foot ridge of ground, at a point 
 about three and one-half miles in advance of Grahamville, behind 
 an earthwork, which (although unknown to our forces had been 
 built a couple of years before), and was pierced for four guns. 
 This redoubt was the centre of the enemy's line; to the right and 
 left of this earthwork the enemy had thrown up a line of rifle pits 
 and behind these, with seven pices of artillery, he awaited the 
 Union attack; his left extended into pine woods more or less 
 open, and his right into dense woods; bushes and trees covered 
 the elevation on which the battery was located. About one hun- 
 dred yards in front of the work ran a small stream bounded by a 
 swamp or marsh, covered with dense undergrowth and isolated 
 trees ; this stream was crossed by a bridge, the planks of whictea 
 had been removed. 
 
126 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 The swamp was not impassable, but being completely cov- 
 ered by the enemy's artillery and musketry fire, formed a serious 
 obstacle to the Union advance. The Union approach to this 
 stream was through dense woods, in places impassable to troops 
 in regular formation. From about 1 1 a. m. there was heavy and 
 continuous firing between the two lines; at about noon the 
 Marines and eight companies of the Massachusetts Colored came 
 up and took position with the right wing, and shortly afterward 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Woodford, who was in command of the 127th 
 (Colonel Gurney not having been relieved from command of the 
 general skirmish line) notified General Potter that, if he could be 
 supported by a regiment on the right, he would charge the 
 enemy's works with the portion of the 127th (probably seven 
 companies) then on the field. 
 
 The 55th Massachusetts Colored was at once ordered to 
 charge up the Grahamville road, Colonel Hartwell, the com- 
 mander of the 2nd Brigade, leading five companies in the charge. 
 After passing the bend in the road, they were driven back by the 
 heavy fire and were reformed and again led forward to the stream, 
 but were again met by a heavy fire of grape and canister that 
 swept the road; Colonel Hartwell was twice wounded, and at 1 
 p. m. was carried from the field. The 55th lost about one hundred 
 in killed and wounded in about five minutes and were compelled 
 to fall back, after which they were ordered to reinforce the right 
 wing. 
 
 Simultaneous with the charge of the 55th Massachusetts, the 
 127th New York, in command of Lieutenant-Colonel Woodford, 
 charged forward, taking a direction at about right angles to the 
 direction of the charge of the 55th Massachusetts, crossing the 
 stream and passing the marsh at the foot of the enemy's works, 
 the left wing of the regiment getting within seventy yards and the 
 right wing within one hundred yards of the enemy's works; the 
 ground was boggy, with standing water from ten to eighteen 
 inches deep, and was covered with isolated trees and under- 
 growth. The men held this position for about ten minutes, reply- 
 ing to the enemy's fire from such shelter as they could get, until 
 the repulse of the 55th Massachusetts on their right exposed them 
 to an enfilading fire from our own troops, when they were with- 
 drawn some distance to the rear, where they lay down in support 
 of the artillery, two (2) companies being formed across the Gra- 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 127 
 
 hamville road to prevent stragglers going to the rear. The 102nd 
 United States Colored Troops now came up and were ordered to 
 join the right wing, which was ordered forward in an attempt to 
 turn the enemy's left flank, but they were met with a heavy fire, 
 which, with the impassable character of the woods, made it im- 
 possible to accomplish their purpose. 
 
 At about 2 p. m. Ensign Carter, with twenty men, made a 
 reconnaissance two hundred yards to the right and found no 
 enemy. This was reported to General Hatch, but no further 
 effort was made to turn the enemy's left. At about 2 p. m. Com- 
 pany H was ordered forward (from the point to the right of the 
 road, where they and two other companies, B and G, had been 
 left to guard against the turning of the right flank in the advance 
 up the road), and after marching some distance were ordered to 
 support two brass pieces of artillery. 
 
 At 3.30 p. m. our right was withdrawn to the line of the old 
 dam, just in advance of the wood road; the enemy's fire slackened 
 at this time and as our musket ammunition was running low, and 
 no more arriving from the rear, it was ordered to be used spar- 
 ingly, that we might be ready to repel any attack the enemy might 
 make. As the afternoon wore on the battle stilled down to scat- 
 tering shots, occasionally rising again into crashes of artillery 
 and musketry. General Hatch having received information from 
 deserters and from prisoners that the enemy were receiving rein- 
 forcements (a part of the 32nd Georgia, a battery of artillery, and 
 a company of cavalry arriving at 4.30 p. m.), and being con- 
 vinced that the enemy's position could not be carried, he made 
 preparations to withdraw at dark. The ambulances having in the 
 meantime arrived at the front, one section of Titus' 3rd New 
 York Light Artillery, with the 25th Ohio and 157th New York, 
 were withdrawn and posted half a mile to the rear, and two regi- 
 ments of infantry were withdrawn from the flanks and posted one 
 mile further to the rear, while two other regiments of infantry 
 were detailed to carry the wounded. At dark the withdrawal 
 commenced, the 127th New York and 102nd United States col- 
 ored troops, with one section of Naval Artillery, remaining at the 
 front, keeping up a slow fire with artillery until 7.30 p. m., when, 
 the main body of the command being well on the march, they 
 withdrew and were in turn covered by the 25th Ohio and 157th 
 New York, who then withdrew. 
 
128 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 The whole retrograde movement was executed without loss 
 or confusion, there being no pursuit by the enemy. The 127th 
 New York took position on the Boyds' Neck road just below the 
 Coosawhatchie cross road. General Hatch states that all of the 
 men conducted themselves in a gallant manner, and that only the 
 strength of the enemy's position and the want of ammunition 
 prevented them achieving success. General Potter says special 
 mention may be made of the good conduct of the 127th New 
 York, Colonel Gurney. General Hatch in his report also names 
 Lieutenant Colonel Woodford as having shown individual gal- 
 lantry in this action. 
 
 The total loss in killed,. wounded and missing in this affair 
 was seven hundred and forty-six officers and men, of which Gen- 
 eral Potter's Brigade lost five hundred and eight, and the 127th 
 New York lost fifty-seven killed and wounded, and two missing. 
 
 Killed : Enlisted Men — Private Jesse K. Piatt, Co. A ; James 
 Armstrong and Cornelius Bogart of Co. C; William Bedell of 
 Co. F; Lyman Hedges, John McMahon and Harrison Norton of 
 Company K. Wounded: Officers — Lieutenant Henry A. Bat- 
 terson of Company A; Lieutenant George E. Proulx of Co. F. 
 Wounded: Enlisted Men — Private George Howell, George F. 
 Haswell and Edward Kennedy of Co. A; Corporal Ed. A. Hoag 
 and Private James Bagley of Co. B ; First Sergeant A. S. Wash- 
 burne and Privates John Barry, John S. Hedges, David Durand 
 and John Fitzpatrick of Co. C ; Sergeant C. A. Sammis, Corporal 
 Stephen Bloxham and Privates Ezra Pearsall, Thomas Moore, 
 G. W. Lewis, Andrew Chichester, Charles A. Hellems and Rob- 
 ert B. Bennett of Co. E; Sergeants James H. Cocroft and Adolph 
 Klein; Corporals Alex. McCleary and Privates William Haight, 
 Reuben Lake, James Little, John G. Williams of Co. F; Corporal 
 John H. Renkins of Co. G; Sergeant C. S. Tillinghast and 
 Privates Thomas A. Wiggins and Samuel Asch of Co. H ; Private 
 Joseph C. Wright of Co. I ; Sergeant Egbert C. Corwin, Privates 
 Robert F. Benedict, Thomas Roe, Erastus E. Halsey, Charles L. 
 Brown, Aaron Handy and John Hepsted of Co. K. 
 
 The following incidents of the battle may prove of interest: 
 Lieutenant Colonel Woodford, while the regiment was lying in 
 support of the battery, crossed the Grahamville road, and while 
 doing so he had his attention called to the fact that he was un- 
 duly exposing himself, but he was unwilling to admit the danger 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 129 
 
 until a bullet passed so close to his face as to graze the bridge 
 of his nose, when he decided to place himself in a less exposed 
 position. 
 
 Sergeant Miller of Company I, while lying upon the ground, 
 suggested that the effect of the concussion on the ears caused by 
 artillery firing could be lessened by opening one's mouth, and, 
 while illustrating the matter, had dirt spattered in his face and 
 mouth by a passing bullet striking the ground near him. 
 
 Orderly Sergeant Washburn of "C," although severely wound- 
 ed, refused to take a man from the front to help him off the field, 
 but managed to get to the rear without help. Captain Fisk states 
 that he was promoted to a Lieutenancy for bravery in this action, 
 but never rejoined the regiment, and was never mustered as a 
 commissioned officer in consequence of the severity of said 
 wound. 
 
 Lieutenant Proulx did not leave the field, although severely 
 wounded. Private Fitzpatrick, Co. C, after being wounded had 
 his wound dressed and returned to the front. Private Asch of 
 "H'' was, at the close of the day (when the regiment was cover- 
 ing the withdrawal of the troops), found crawling alongside the 
 road, he having been wounded some hours before. The am- 
 munition boxes, on an artillery caisson that Company I was haul- 
 ing to the rear, were thrown off and Asch placed thereon and 
 borne to the rear. Many other cases of individual courage un- 
 doubtedly occurred of which no record has been furnished. 
 Private E. H. Tichnor and Daniel Drenning were missing at 
 close of action, and were never again heard of. 
 
 The foregoing account of the action at Honey Hill is from 
 the official reports of Generals Hatch and Potter and of Colonels 
 Gurney and Woodford and of the officers commanding the other 
 troops that were engaged, including the Confederate Commander, 
 General Gustavus W. Smith, but the following account, written 
 immediately after the battle by a comrade of Co. H to a relative 
 will have a personal interest to all of the comrades who were 
 present at the battle. His letter is as follows: 
 
 "In the Field, S. C, Dec. 4th, 1864. 
 
 Dr. : 
 
 A few days ago I sent you a hasty note, saying we were on 
 the eve of some movement. I will now use this waste paper to 
 
130 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 try and tell you what we did ; the boys are using all kinds of paper 
 for their letters, as we left almost everything behind at Beaufort, 
 expecting to soon return. Before leaving camp we were ad- 
 dressed by Colonel Gurney, and Chaplain Willis offered prayer; 
 that was a good beginning. At 5 p. m. of the 29th we left Beau- 
 fort for Hilton Head, thence came up Broad River and landed at 
 Boyds' Neck. After supper we marched up one road and then 
 back and up another. Two shots were fired at us by rebel pickets, 
 but we kept on for a while, sometimes double quickening; finally 
 we returned, bivouacking at 1 o'clock a. m. of the 30th. We were 
 awakened by picket firing, and at 8 a. m. we started up the road. 
 The rebels sent a shell down to us, and our regiment deployed 
 on each side of the road, our company on the right side, with 
 two other companies. These companies were soon halted, and 
 remained in that position, ostensibly to prevent the returning of 
 our right flank, until about 2 o'clock, when we were ordered for- 
 ward. The firing now had been very heavy for more than an 
 hour, and other regiments had just been moved forward. While 
 we were marching two miles (double quickening part of the- way) 
 we met many wounded. When we reached the battle ground the 
 rest of our regiment had just been withdrawn from the front, hav- 
 ing finished its fighting, and we were ordered to support a sec- 
 tion of two brass pieces of artillery. The shells and bullets from 
 the enemy were coming pretty fast, and the noise of our cannon 
 and the bursting of the rebel shells, together with the musketry 
 firing, was louder than thunder. 
 
 Occasionally we heard the rebel yell, uid we prepared for 
 their charge on the battery, but they did not come. Meanwhile 
 Colonels Gumey and Woodford were coolly moving about. I 
 felt better when moving forward than when lying still in sup- 
 porting the battery. I saw not a "reb." but I did all that I was 
 called upon or permitted to do. The regiment was the foremost 
 and has won a good name for itself; I always thought it was made 
 of the right stuff, and I am proud to belong to it. At dark our 
 regiment formed in the road and the other regiments came out 
 of the woods and marched to the rear, ours covering the retreat, 
 Company C, Captain Fish, being the last to leave the field, just as 
 the cannon was firing for the last time. Vve returned very quietly, 
 but were unable to find the knapsacks that we left piled by the 
 roadside as we advanced. I lost my overcoat and rubber blanket 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 131 
 
 (the woolen one was left at Beaufort), so I slept three nights with 
 grass under me and grass over me; but last night the company 
 was on picket, and I slept with J. J. E. 
 
 On December 1st Lieutenant Colonel Woodford went with 
 Companies A and K and Captain Hurlburt's cavalry to Bolan 
 church and burned the abandoned property, as well as two 
 bridges. They buried the amputated limbs at the church, which 
 bad been used as a field hospital during the action. They also 
 captured thirty head of cattle and fifteen sheep, when they re- 
 joined the regiment, which had been lying behind their stacked 
 muskets behind an old Dyke. The regiment lay on its arms all 
 night at the Coosawhatchie cross roads, and were called up twice 
 during the night. Early on the morning of the 2d the enemy 
 shelled the camp with four pieces of artillery, several shots falling 
 in and about our bivouac, the 3d New York Light Artillery reply- 
 ing to the enemy's fire. 
 
 The regiment worked all day throwing up intrenchments at 
 the Boyds' Neck and Coosawhatchie road. Private Guyon of Co. 
 G was wounded on this day. Two companies went on picket, 
 but did not get posted until after dark; two Confederate cavalry- 
 men were wounded by the picket. During the night the colored 
 troops on our right kept up a smart fire, causing the other troops 
 to keep in line. The firing was caused by sheep or cattle cross- 
 ing the picket line. 
 
 Our pickets were relieved at 2 p. m. of the 3d, the regiment 
 moved a little to the right and remained quiet all day. At 3 p. m. 
 the 157th New York and the io2d United States Colored Troops 
 advanced and burned a number of plantation buildings in our 
 front; they found the enemy and fell back to our lines, pursued 
 and shelled by the enemy. Our troops lost ten wounded. We 
 opened on the woods and church with two rifled ten pounders. At 
 night firing again began along the front of the colored troops on 
 picket. 
 
 At 8 p. m. the regiment manned the rifle pits, and again at 
 2 a. m. of December 4th. In the afternoon a reconnaissance was 
 made toward Coosawhatchie by the 144th New York and 34th 
 and 35th United . States Colored Troops, driving the enemy's 
 skirmishers to a battery (probably Newhall church, one and one- 
 half miles from cross roads", at which point the rebels had two 
 small earthworks across the road; the Bee Creek Battery was one 
 
132 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 and one-half miles beyond Newhall church); and soon after the 
 troops went out the gunboats opened on the Bee Creek Battery. 
 The troops returned at dark. 
 
 The 25th Ohio went by boat to Blair's Landing and advanced 
 on the Beaufort road and flanked and captured a rebel earthwork 
 mounting two guns, and spiked one gun and brought the other 
 away. Our artillery also fired a few shots at the church. On 
 December 5th all was quiet on the front, only a few shots being 
 fired. Our rifle gun fired a number of shots at Bolan church, and 
 two reconnoitering parties went out, the 55th Massachusetts 
 with two. Naval howitzers to the left as a diversion, at the same 
 time our rifle gun opened on the church, while General Potter 
 with four regiments moved on the battery at Newhall church, 
 which was again cannonaded. 
 
 The 127th New York left the front at 1 a. m. of the 5th, and 
 marched to Boyds' Landing, and at 2.30 a. m. embarked on the 
 steamer Charles Houghton, and at 3.30 a. m. steamed up the 
 Broad River and arrived at the upper landing of Gregory "s planta- 
 tion on the Tulfinney River about daylight. They disembarked 
 between 10 and 12 a. m., Companies D, C, F and H being the first 
 of our companies to land, and these, with part of the 157th New 
 York, 56th New York and 25th Ohio and Xaval Infantry, im- 
 mediately moved up the dirt road, going north toward the Coosa- 
 whatchie and Beaufort Pike, Colonel Gurney and Lieutenant 
 Cplonel Woodford being with this part of the 1 27th New York. 
 
 The rebel pickets were soon encountered about one-quarter of 
 a mile south of the turnpike (the rebel report is that the Federal 
 troops were met about one mile south of the State road), the 
 centre of the line of battle was on the dirt road, the right wing 
 extending into a field at right angles to the road and parallel to 
 the turnpike. The left wing was reformed, and lay about forty- 
 five degrees from northeast to southwest. The four companies 
 of the 127th held the centre of the line; Company I soon came up 
 and was ordered in on the left; the remaining five companies 
 came up, as fast as landed, and were also sent in on the left of the 
 line of battle. The severe fighting was nearly over when they 
 got into position. 
 
 Soon after the firing became general, the rebels advanced the 
 left of their line (which lay upon the turnpike, sheltered by the 
 forest on the north and a heavy skirting of trees and hedge on 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 133 
 
 the south), and endeavored to charge and break our right. The 
 naval infantry, which lay immediately to the right of our regi- 
 ment, was forced back about one hundred or one hundred and 
 fifty yards, leaving our right uncovered. At this movement 
 Colonel Gurney, commanding our regiment, was shot through 
 the arm and compelled to leave the field. With the four com- 
 panies (D, C, F and H) of the 127th which were with him, Lieu- 
 tenant Colonel Woodford charged the rebel line, but before they 
 were reached they broke and retired, part falling back into the 
 woods north of the turnpike and part moving west on the turn- 
 pike, under cover of their entrenchments near the railroad. 
 
 During the charge the color-bearer of the 5th Georgia Regi- 
 ment was struck down by the men of the 127th, and the flag was 
 secured by one of the 56th New York Volunteers, who, having 
 been separated from his command, had temporarily joined the 
 127th. After the battle a commission was appointed to decide 
 which regiment was entitled to the trophy, and the example of 
 Colonel Woodford, whose delicacy kept him from voting in favor 
 of his own command, not being followed by the Commandant of 
 the 56th Regiment, the majority of votes was cast in favor of that 
 regiment, to which the flag was assigned. Within the past year 
 this flag was returned to the survivors of the 5th Georgia, on the 
 occasion of a reunion of its survivors. 
 
 Having seized the turnpike, we subsequently moved upon it 
 a quarter of a mile further west (the distance from the dirt road 
 to either bridge was reported about three-quarters of a mile), 
 when we fell back and bivouacked for the night in a piece of 
 woods south of the turnpike and to the left of the dirt road. The 
 losses of the four companies actively engaged were four killed 
 and nineteen wounded, the entire loss being five killed and 
 twenty-four wounded. 
 
 Killed five: Private Alfred Londy, Co. B; Corporal H. D. 
 Wines, Co. D; Private William H. Telly, Co. D; Neil McMullen, 
 Co. F; John Jacobs, Co. F. 
 
 Wounded — Officers, four: Colonel Williami Gurney, left arm 
 severely; Captain A. W. Fisk, forehead; Captain F. K. Smith, 
 left arm; Assistant Surgeon Dayton, right hand. All were sent 
 to hospital at Hilton Head. 
 
 Wounded — Enlisted men, twenty: Private David Zarr, Co. 
 A; Private J. M. Garrison, Co. C, mortally; Private Robert Kerr, 
 
JJiagra^vii 
 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 135 
 
 Co. C; Private W. Matthews, Co. C; Private Noah Bossen, Co. 
 C; Private John G. Robertson, Co. D; James "G. Goodman, Co. 
 D; John H. Jessup, Co. D; John R. Hewitt, Co. D; George 
 Cuddy, Co. D; John N. Brach, Co. D; William Matthews, Co. D; 
 A. J. Velsor, Co. D; Smith Robbins, Co. E; William Garrett, Co. 
 F; George Sowalski, Co. F; Robert M. Shotwell, Co. F; Michael 
 Doyle, Co. F; Gabrielle LaBelle, Co. I, and Charles C. Fox, 
 Co. I. 
 
 Lieutenant Colonel Woodford, in his official report of the ac- 
 tion, calls the attention of the General to the conduct of Ser- 
 geant Benjamin K. Conklin of Company E, whom he recom- 
 mended for a Lieutenancy in the colored troops, and Privates 
 Joseph I. Kampe of Company E and Oscar Jagger of Company 
 K, who, when General Potter called for volunteers to' go up 
 through the forest to the railroad, at once volunteered. 
 
 At night Company K were placed on picket, and there was 
 sharp fighting on the right of the line at 8 a. m. of the 7th, when 
 the rebels tried to capture our battery; but they were met with a 
 fire of grape and canister and driven back. Company K was re- 
 lieved on picket at 1 p. m. of the 7th by Companies D and F. 
 Cars were running all night on the railroad, which was about 
 three-fourths of a mile distant. The regiment was busy all day of 
 the 7th felling timber and throwing up rifle pits, although it 
 rained hard during the morning. 
 
 We buried thirty-six rebs last night. General Foster at this 
 time notified the War Department that, in getting together a 
 force for the expedition, he was compelled to put citizens on 
 guard at Beaufort and Hilton Head; that he had lost about one 
 thousand men, and requested that if possible more troops be sent 
 him. 
 
 On the morning of the 8th a force of men from our regiment 
 advanced about one mile on our left, to a creek, for the purpose 
 of allowing engineers to make a survey. Our forces were at this 
 time strongly fortified and able to hold their own, heavy guns 
 having been brought up and placed in position. At daylight of 
 the 9th the regiment changed position to the right of the line, 
 and, it having been decided to cut a sixty-foot swath through the 
 heavy woods, which extended about one-fourth of a mile to our 
 front, for the purpose of affording our guns range of the Charles- 
 ton and Savannah Railroad, which was about three-fourths of a 
 
136 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 mile distant, the 127th and 157th New York and the Marines 
 were at 9.10 a. m. formed in one rank in front of the rifle pits, the 
 127th New York having the left, the 157th New York the centre 
 and the Marines the right ; the men were deployed at a distance of 
 two paces from each other, and one company of the 127th were 
 formed on the left as flankers. 
 
 The line covered a front of about three^fourths of a mile, and 
 extended from about one hundred yards to the left of the dirt 
 road, eastward, and was under the immediate command of 
 Colonel Silliman, the whole movement being under the direction 
 of General Potter. The skirmish line advanced under cover of a 
 heavy artillery fire, moving due north. This skirmish line was 
 supported by the main line composed of the 56th and 144th New 
 York, and I02d United States colored troops, behind which 
 came the 25th Ohio, armed with axes, and supported by the 32d, 
 34th and 35th United States colored troops. 
 
 The skirmish line advanced with great regularity for half a 
 mile, and struck the rebel pickets about three hundred and fifty 
 yards from the railroad ; these, after a few shots, fell rapidly back 
 upon their reserves opposite our centre and right, who also re- 
 tired upon their main line, which immediately opened a heavy 
 fire, both with musketry and canister. The rebel pickets upon 
 our left appeared to rally upon their reserves, which were near 
 their lines, and these being sheltered by a heavy growth of young 
 pines, maintained for some time a sharp and well directed fire, 
 which enfiladed our left. Colonel Silliman was shot in the leg 
 soon after the fire opened, his wound being so serious that he 
 was compelled to leave the field. Lieutenant Hill, of the 55th 
 Massachusetts, who was serving on his staff, was killed. The 
 command of the skirmish line then devolved upon Lieutenant 
 Colonel Woodford, as the senior officer present. The line pressed 
 steadily forward, passing the place previously occupied by the 
 rebel pickets and took a position within two hundred yards of 
 the railroad. 
 
 The Marines upon the right approached quite close to a rebel 
 battery and made a gallant effort to flank and charge it, but being 
 exposed to a very severe fire, and becoming entangled in a dense 
 thicket, between the forks of a creek upon the right, they were 
 compelled to fall back upon the reserves, where they reformed 
 and again moved forward, however, before they could again be 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 137 
 
 deployed on the skirmish line. They were, by order of General 
 Potter, detached from Colonel Woodford's command and placed 
 on the left among the reserves. The detachment of the 157th 
 New York formed the extreme right after the Marines were with- 
 drawn. The 127th New York lay in its position to the left of 
 the 157th New York at about the same distance from the rail- 
 road. The left of the regiment, consisting of Companies G, K 
 and B, were exposed to a hot. enfilading fire and suffered severely, 
 Companies G and K particularly so. Captain Henry of Company 
 G, the senior captain with the regiment, was severely wounded in 
 the foot and compelled to leave the field. Captain Long of Com- 
 pany K was also shot through the arm, but remained with his 
 company, which, with Company G, were finally forced into the 
 pines, and, after about an hour, the enemy's fire upon this flank 
 was silenced. These two companies lost five killed and twenty- 
 eight wounded. 
 
 Lieutenant Colonel Woodford in his official report says too 
 much credit can hardly be awarded to the men for their steadi- 
 ness; Captain Long of Company K and Lieutenant Abercrombie, 
 who took command of Company G after Captain Henry was 
 wounded, for their courage and good judgment in handling their 
 men. Captain Long concealed the fact of his having been 
 wounded until the regiment returned to its place of bivouac at 
 night. Lieutenant Sammis, commanding Company E, was also 
 severely wounded while on the skirmish line. The entire skirmish 
 brigade remained in the advance until the sixty feet wide slashing 
 was completed, when, the reserves having fallen back, it was, at 
 2.30 p. m., ordered to retire, and after burying its dead it began 
 falling back. 
 
 When about three-quarters of a mile from our entrenchments 
 the " rebs " attacked the reserves on our left flank, and a fight 
 ensued lasting until dark. During this fight, the skirmishers were 
 formed into line of battle in one rank, also forming the right of 
 the general line. The " rebs " " felt '' of us but once, when they 
 advanced a small skirmishing party against our centre ; we waited 
 until they came fairly into view, when a few well directed shots 
 caused them to retire. After the troops withdrew from the field, 
 we came in, covering their march. Lieutenant Colonel Wood- 
 ford, in his report, compliments very highly the services of Lieu- 
 tenant W. L. Conant and Lieutenant William H. Dodge, both of 
 
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127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 139 
 
 whom acted as aides on his staff. The following is the list of the 
 killed and wounded in this affair: 
 
 Killed — Eight enlisted men — William H. Hattan, Co. A: Wil- 
 liam J. Adams, Co. B ; Merritt L. Williams, Co. B ; Thomas Ryan, 
 Co. G; Thomas McDonald, Co. G; Charles L. Brown, Co. K; 
 Hy. A. Skidmore, Co. K; Silas Halsey, Co. K. 
 
 Wounded: Officers, three — Captain E. S. Henry, Co. G; Cap- 
 tain H. J. Long, Co. K; Lieutenant George S. Sammis, Co. E. 
 
 Wounded: Enlisted men, forty-eight — G. A. Webb, William 
 H. P. Reed, A. Vredenburg and William Cowan, Co. A; Tunis 
 D. Seamen, Thomas Welsh, Joseph Bartram and John DeBaun, 
 Co. B; Dennis Kilfoyle, Co. D; Joseph E. Edwards, Joseph I. 
 Kampe, Michael Gilmartin and William! Bedell, of Co. E; John 
 Powers, Jacob Cooper, George Horton, Philip Bauer and Peter 
 Kirchoff, of Co. F; E. E. Wells, Peter Whipple, Thomas Higgins, 
 James Keenan, Stillman LeCompte, William Meyers, Thomas 
 McLaughlin, George Meservem, Michael Ruan, Edward L. 
 White, George A. Weed and Francis Masset, Co. G; Hy. Gaffga 
 and William P. McNamee of Co. H ; E. T. Nicholl, P. Terry, Ste- 
 phen H. Crowell, George W. Corwin, Charles N. Edwards, John 
 Hempstead, Oscar L. -Jagger, William Jagger, William Jennings, 
 Wilson B. King, Elias R. Payne, Charles B. Haverstite, William 
 N. Halsey, James Farley and James Strong, Co. K. 
 
 This was the most trying day the regiment had yet had. The 
 men, after reaching the final position in the open field, were com- 
 pelled to lie still in the tall grass and were instructed not to reply 
 to the fire of the rebel sharpshooters, who from the pines on the 
 left and front kept picking off the men, Private Hattan of Co. A 
 being killed while lying on the skirmish line. Private William J. 
 Adams of Co. B was wounded in this action, and while being 
 helped from the field was again shot in the head and killed. He 
 at one time previous to his enlistment was a member of the Thir- 
 teenth Street Presbyterian Church Sabbath School, and was the 
 only member of the 127th from that church killed during the regi- 
 ment's service. 
 
 One account states that " the line was formed beyond a clump 
 
 of woods and on the edge of a large field extending up to the 
 
 Charleston and Savannah Railroad. The rebels commenced fir- 
 
 - ing from our left and front. Colonel Woodford had given orders 
 
 not to fire, but seeing a rebel sharpshooter up a tree, to the left 
 
140 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 and front, whose shots wounded one of Company D, an officer 
 took a gun from one of Company D and fired at the fellow, who 
 was seen to fall from the tree." " Shortly afterward the line ad- 
 vanced under a heavy fire from the rebel battery and after advanc- 
 ing a few hundred feet ran onto their skirmish line, which opened 
 on us and then fell back slowly, until we were within about two 
 hundred yards of the railroad, when we were ordered to lie down 
 in the tall grass, where we had to lie still without firing for fear 
 of drawing their fire upon us. In consequence of the wounding 
 of Captain Henry, Lieutenant Abercrombie was ordered to take 
 command of Company G, which he did. The position was a hot 
 one; some yards ahead the 'rebs' were posted behind the pine 
 trees, creating great havoc among our men. As soon as a head 
 or an arm showed above the edge of the ditch where Company 
 G was, a fusilade ensued from the front and right. Keating and 
 McDonald reached the ditch, having been away helping Captain 
 Henry to the rear. Keating dropped on his knees and crawled 
 into the ditch and McDonald was killed. One rebel, located be- 
 hind a tree, stuck out his hat to draw the fire of Company G men, 
 and then, as they raised up to fire, he would fire at them. A little 
 later our men got him, and he dropped his gun not to pick it up 
 again. When the advance was made to bury our dead, the tree 
 was found scarred with bullets and his dead body lay alongside." 
 
 Among the mortally wounded in this action was Gabriel Webb, 
 who was a great favorite in Company A, and who will be readily 
 remembered by many as the pitcher of the Company A baseball 
 nine, who with Chapman as catcher formed a battery that gener- 
 ally defeated the nines of the other companies. 
 
 At 3 145 p. m. of December 9th, Confederate General Robert- 
 son notified General Samuel Jones that the enemy were pressing 
 his men about one mile from Coosawhatchie, and that he had 
 nothing but the 5th Georgia and a regiment of Georgia Reserves, 
 but at 5 p. m. he notified him that the men were fighting splen- 
 didly, and he thought he would hold the road. 
 
 Here is another account of the action of December 6.h and 9th : 
 
 Sunday, December 11, 1864. 
 Day before yesterday we had another brush, in which the regi- 
 ment lost heavily. The night before we got some mail, and the 
 next morning (9th) we moved out of the woods, and lay down 
 
Capt. 'WM. HOWL AND. 
 
127TH REGT. X. Y. VOLS. 141 
 
 behind our outer breastworks. We ate our breakfast lying there, 
 when another mail was received, the letters being passed along 
 from man to man until it reached the one to whom addressed; 
 then we read them and some slept. It was quite cold, but we 
 had to lie still and knock our feet together to keep warm. At 
 about 8 a. m. we went outside of the rifle pits and lay down in 
 the grass, and then our artillery opened a terrible fire right over 
 us, and into the woods on our front. This was kept up for some 
 time, and then we arose : nd advanced through the woods in line. 
 Soon after getting through we came up on the rebel pickets, who 
 fired and ran. 
 
 Before the part of the line where our company was it was clear 
 ground, and they ran, but on the left it was woody, and the rebels 
 held their ground, and poured a terrible fire into the " left " com- 
 panies of the regiment. We advanced still further and lay down 
 in the tall grass; the artillery and musketry fire had already 
 opened from the rebel fort, and they kept it up; the fire of shells, 
 shot, grape and musket balls that fell around and between us was 
 terrible. One shell exploded about twenty feet ahead of where 
 I lay and one of the fragments hit me, but without making any 
 mark. When we were advancing it was enough to terrify one, if 
 he depended on luck. Prince had a bullet through his blanket 
 and haversack, but there we lay still in the grass. There was 
 firing on the left of the line most of the time. We were so near 
 the fort that we could hear the " Johnnies " talk, and give com- 
 mand. The ground was wet and the air was cold, and we lay 
 there (some sleeping) a matter of four or five hours, and then fell 
 back a distance, when we again lay down for about an hour, when 
 we retired, the " Johnnies " following up our left; we fell back out 
 into an open field and lay down again, while our left kept up a 
 sharp contest until dark. 
 
 We fired some at first, but as we were skirmishers, we kept 
 still most of the time. At dark the "rebs" retired and we came in. 
 When we started out in the morning we thought we should have 
 the rebel fort by night, but it was not to be so. We were pretty 
 short of rations that day and when we came in Company H had 
 to go on picket, which was pretty rough. (I did not have to go.) 
 When they came in from picket next morning they were raven- 
 ously hungry, having had no rations yet. I was eating and gave 
 each of them a mouthful of my loaf for a taste; they were never 
 
142 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 so hungry before. That was yesterday; last night it rained hard 
 and to-day it is cold and growing colder. I let my woollen blan- 
 ket do what it wouH toward covering three men besides myself at 
 night. Some of the men are still short of clothing. It is a hard 
 place. 
 
 The ioth was a rainy day and the rebels were quiet. Our 
 troops were employed setting up thirty-pounder Parrott guns for 
 shelling the railroad. Our new line of works were now in readi- 
 ness for occupancy. Lieutenant Colonel Woodford returned to 
 Hilton Head this same day to attend the funeral of his child, Cap- 
 tain Allison being left in command of the regiment. At 9 p. m. 
 firing began on our right and the regiment fell in, but nothing 
 further resulted. The 34th United States colored troops arrived 
 at night, and on the 'following day artillery fire was opened on 
 the railroad. 
 
 Deserters from the Confederates were coming in slowly. Gen- 
 eral Samuel Jones reported the Federals strongly intrenched, with 
 both flanks and rear of works protected by thickly wooded 
 swamps. It was very cold at night, but new shelter tents were 
 issued, which were very welcome, as the troops had been thinly 
 clothed, and many without blankets and without tents had suf- 
 fered from the cold as well as lack of supplies. These latter now 
 came regularly and fresh beef was also issued. Our regiment was 
 at this time employed on fatigue, constructing outer line of breast- 
 works, cutting timber and working in the trenches, the artillery 
 fire being kept up upon the railroad. 
 
 On the 13th the weather was very pleasant. The thirty- 
 pounder Parrotts were firing on the railroad the previous night 
 and the men were kept at work strengthening the breastworks. 
 The Confederate General Samuel Jones reported his effective 
 force at 5,500. 
 
 On the 14th the weather was fine and all was quiet, except that 
 our batteries continued to shell the railroad. After tattoo roll 
 call, the troops turned out and cheered over the news that General 
 Sherman had reached the coast and had met General Foster. On 
 the 15th the weather was fine. The shelling of the railroad was 
 the only demonstration made by the troops. Lieutenant Colonel 
 Woodford and Lieutenant George N. Little arrived from Hilton 
 Head bringing the news of the capture of Fort McAllister. Lieu- 
 tenant Sam mis and Batterson (wounded) left for Hilton Head. 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 143 
 
 Conferedate General Hardee notified General Jones that the 
 rebel occupation of Savannah depended upon his ability to hold 
 the railroad, that whenever he should be unable to do that Sa- 
 vannah would have to be evacuated, and he ordered him to 
 throw up earthworks and make a strong abattis. On the night 
 of the 1 6th one hundred men and two guns were sent out to the 
 Marsh battery, located about 1,000 yards from the railroad, to 
 open on the trains, but none passed that day. On the 17th the 
 Confederates attempted to run one by, but gave it up when the 
 battery opened fire. On the 19th, three small guns were placed 
 about nine hundred yards from the railroad bridge, and dam- 
 aged it so that no trains could pass. General Hatch now placed 
 two regiments over at Mackey's Neck, on the opposite side of 
 the Tulfinny River, as a feint toward Pocotaligo, intending to 
 cross the main force over the Coosawhatchie and assail the fort 
 from the rear. The Confederates report that the Federals had 
 at this time a battery located opposite Dawson's Bluff, at which 
 point the " rebs " had a two-gun battery. Dawson's Bluff was- 
 two miles beyond Coosawhatchie on the road to Grahamville. 
 The regiment had received orders to send the sick to the rear,, 
 and to be in readiness to move, the 54th Massachusetts and 33rd 
 United States colored troops having left the night before. On 
 the 20th, at 3 p. m., quite a stir occurred for some reason, and 
 some of the regiments were sent to the centre and the artillery 
 opened, firing one hundred and fifty shots, and then all quieted 
 down again. During the night, which passed quietly, some of 
 the regiments were moved to the rear. The men in camp had 
 very interesting religious services. 
 
 Sergeant Conklin of Company E and DeGroot of Company 
 D were accepted by Colonel Marple as lieutenants in the 34th 
 United States colored troops. 
 
 Cars came as far as the Coosaw Bridge, and some rebel 
 pickets were captured on Mackey's Neck by the Federals. 
 
 The Confederate troops, with their colors, could be seen at 
 3 a. m. of the 22d moving along the railroad, and were supposed 
 to be from Savannah, which had just been evacuated. General 
 Sherman had notified General Foster that he would furnish all 
 the troops needed to capture the railroad, and he went to meet 
 General Foster to complete the arrangement, but in the interim 
 General Hardee evacuated the city, and seven regiments of Con- 
 
144 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 federate regular troops took position in front of Tulfinny. De- 
 cember 25th, Major Little arrived from New York, having been 
 away on leave of absence. On the 26th Lieutenant Colonel 
 Woodford was assigned to the temporary command of the 26th 
 United States colored troops. The same day the rebels unmasked 
 a battery and fired on our swamp battery, our rifle gun replying; 
 our loss was one killed and three wounded. 
 
 The naval expedition had returned, not being able to reach 
 the point desired on account of the deep marsh, and four rebel 
 deserters coming in reported the Confederates getting ready to 
 move. On the 27th and 28th matters were quiet and the naval 
 infantry left for Port Royal. Our marsh battery opened on the 
 bridge, the enemy returning the fire from their battery three 
 hundred yards away, killing one man and wounding two others 
 A small rebel gun was mired in the marsh, where the Confed- 
 erates had tried to get it near enough to shell our camp. 
 
 On December 29th one hundred and twenty of the 127th 
 New York and 56th New York left camp at 4 p. m., and pushed 
 through the woods and drove the enemy to the railroad. Our 
 own men had a sharp skirmish with the Confederates, in which 
 Sergeants De Groot and Miller and Corporals Latham and 
 Young and Private Keating were wounded. DeGroot was for- 
 merly Orderly Sergeant of Company D, and had, together with 
 Sergeant Conklin of Company E, just received his commission 
 in the 34th United States colored trooos, and had been relieved 
 from duty in the 127th, but volunteered to go into this fight, in 
 which he was mortally wounded. 
 
 On January 1st, 1865 (Sunday), several of the men received 
 boxes from home. The usual religious services were held and 
 a sermon preached by Chaplain Willis from II. Timothy, the 
 fourth chapter, 6-9 verses. The troops were being sent away a 
 few at a time, the 144th New York leaving on the first. On 
 January 2d, 1865, a detachment of the 127th New York relieved 
 the 3rd New York Light Artillery at the battery and began 
 practicing on the Confederate Picket Headquarters, which were 
 in a large house about two miles away. The first shot struck 
 a corner of the house and the occupants speedily ran out, and 
 none too soon, as after firing several shots more the house fell. 
 On the 3rd there was firing from our marsh battery, and on 
 the same day the reports came that the Confederates were re- 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 145 
 
 tiring from our front, at the same time that General Sherman 
 was transferring his right wing from Thunderbolt to Beaufort. 
 About 5 p. m. of this same day, the "' rebs " opened fire on our 
 camp, but in half an hour our guns had silenced them. Their 
 battery was concealed in the woods, directly opposite our camp, 
 and about half way to the railroad. We cut the trees down in 
 front of their battery with our shell, and dismounted one of their 
 guns. 
 
 The Confederate report made by General Debrill was that 
 the Federals had a battery across the river from Dawson's Bluff 
 which had dismounted one of the Confederate guns. After the 
 firing General Potter sent an aide over and complimented the 
 men at the battery for their good shooting. On January. 4th 
 the 17th Army Corps began to arrive. The Western soldiers 
 wore the army felt hat instead of the cap, and the officers wore 
 privates' uniforms with a shoulder strap on the blouse. A scout- 
 ing party was sent out on the 5th, which had one man killed, 
 and a second party followed the next day, which was more for- 
 tunate. 
 
 A flag of truce was raised on the 6th to allow some non- 
 combatants to pass through the line. On the 7th firing was 
 kept up on the railroad, as Confederates were still trying to get 
 trains by. On the 8th men were kept busy building traverses 
 for protection, as during the afternoon a number of their shots 
 reached our camp. It was now arranged that as soon as the 
 17th Army Corps reached Pocotaligo and commenced to destroy 
 the railroad General Foster's small force should be moved to 
 Savannah to guard it. 
 
 On the 9th Secretary of War Stanton arrived at Hilton 
 Head. On the 10th the weather was stormy, and to make mat- 
 ters worse the Confederates were still firing shell at our camp. 
 On the nth two deserters that came in reported the Confed- 
 erates about ready to leave. On the 12th some trains passed on 
 the railroad, our batteries, consisting of three thirty-pounder 
 and two ten-pounder Parrotts, firing on them as they passed 
 Deserters from the Confederates say that their force in our front 
 is strong and well intrenched, with bad approaches. The "rebs" 
 continue to shell our camps, but did comparatively little harm, 
 as the traverses or high banks of earth which we had thrown 
 up protected us from their shells. On the 13th General How- 
 
146 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 ard threw a brigade of the 17th Army Corps across at Port 
 Royal Ferry, and constructing a pontoon bridge six hundred 
 feet long, at daybreak of the 14th the 17th Army Corps and 
 one brigade of the 15th Army Corps crossed and pushed for- 
 ward toward Pocotaligo, reaching that place at sundown, where 
 they found strong works with twenty-four embrasures, protected 
 by an impassable swamp in front. 
 
 The Union skirmish line was pressed close to the fort, which 
 opened a heavy fire and kept it up till dark. 
 
 Confederate General McLaws, realizing that the extension 
 of the Union line to the left would result in the capture of the 
 garrison, and as the Confederates at Coosawhatchie had been 
 safely withdrawn at 7.30 p. m., he withdrew his garrison from 
 Pocotaligo during the night. 
 
 At daybreak the Union troops took possession of the works 
 and General Blair opened communication with General Foster's 
 troops, who had, at 9 a. m., advanced and taken position at the 
 railroad, also occupying the works at Tulfinnv, Coosa, Dawson's 
 Bluff and Bee Creek. At 4 p. m. of the 16th the 127th started 
 for the Bee Creek battery, which was a strong earthwork on the 
 main turnpike, four miles beyond Coosawhatchie, and about 
 five miles from Grahamville, arriving there at 9 p. m. 
 
 On the 20th a detachment of the regiment went to Graham- 
 ville and returned with a good supply of chickens. On the 23d, 
 stimulated bv the success of this expedition, a detachment . of 
 sixty men went into Grahamville and returned to camp just 
 before dark, bringing with them several cattle and more chick- 
 ens, also a pair of horses. 
 
 Other details were kept busy tearing up the railroad, burn- 
 ing the ties and bending the rails, while Grahamville, which 
 had cost us so many lives, was burned by the Union cavalry. 
 The troops were now supplied with plenty of fresh beef and 
 beans, which were left by the " rebs ". On the 24th, at 5 p. m., 
 the regiment left the Bee Creek battery and marched back to 
 the old camp near General Potter's headquarters over roads full 
 of water from recent rains. 
 
 General Hatch's Division, which was now to be a moving 
 column on the coast, was ordered to Pocotaligo to relieve Gen- 
 eral Giles Smith's Division of the 17th Army Corps. On the 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 147 
 
 26th camp was moved about one mile below, near General 
 Hatch's headquarters. The day was quite cold. 
 
 On the morning of the 29th the regiment moved out to the 
 railroad in front of Pocotaligo, where they found the roads 
 blocked by pontoon trains. A. the men passed General Sherman, 
 who, with his staff, was standing on the piazza, they saluted him 
 with a cheer. On the 30th the 17th Army Corps moved to the 
 front. On the 31st the 127th again moved and located back of 
 General Sherman's headquarters, on a beautiful plantation, where 
 the men fixed up a fine camp. Four companies of the regi- 
 ment moved out on the railroad to the Combahee River, on the 
 other side of which the Confederate pickets could be seen. 
 
 On February 1st General Sherman left Pocotaligo and 
 moved to the front. He ordered General Hatch to keep feeling 
 at the Salkahatchie bridge and ferry, and if the enemy let go to 
 follow him as far as the Edisto. General Potter was sent with 
 three regiments to make a diversion toward the railroad near 
 Charleston. On the night of the 3rd Company A went on a 
 foraging raid, but others had probably preceded them and left 
 little for later comers. On the 5th General Hatch effected a 
 crossing of the Salkahatchie in two places, and on the 7th he 
 reported that his division had moved about three miles out on 
 the railroad and a little further on the turnpike, and there in- 
 trenched. 
 
 Our regiment moved out a few miles toward the Salkahatchie 
 and found a fort which the Confederates had abandoned. The 
 men were ordered to barricade the road by felling trees across 
 it; going about a mile through the woods they worked until 
 about 1 o'clock during a hard rain storm while the water was 
 up to the men's knees, when General Hatch came along and told 
 them that they were on the wrong road. The regiment then 
 moved to another road, and built a breastwork across it, a part 
 of the force remaining there on picket, and part going back 
 about one-half a mile to an old house, situated at the cross roads 
 about five miles from Pocotaligo. 
 
 About 2 p. m. a party of the regiment were sent out from 
 the picket post to reconnoitre, when they found the body of the 
 Quartermaster of the 102nd United States colored troops, who 
 had been killed by some Confederate concealed in the woods. 
 Upon the return of this party to the picket post they found the 
 
148 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 balance of the regiment formed there, being on their way to 
 the front, three miles away. On February gth General Foster 
 relinquished command of the department to General Gilmore, 
 who appointed Lieutenant Colonel Woodford Provost Marshal 
 General of the department. The 127th New York and 25th 
 Ohio now marched some five miles further from Pocotaligo, and 
 found the Confederates posted at the end of a narrow dyke, lead- 
 ing across a swamp, where they had thrown up rifle pits. Our 
 troops halted and posted artillery to command the road, remain- 
 ing there three days. 
 
 Two men. McManus of Company H, and N. E. Baldwin of 
 Company I, were wounded at this place by picket firing. Or- 
 derly Sergeant Prince of Company H said that he had cautioned 
 McManus, who relieved Benjamin Moore, telling him to be care- 
 ful, as the rebels would probably shoot at him, but he replied 
 that they could not hit him. A few moments later he was re- 
 ported shot through the body, and he died on the 12th. Gen- 
 eral Potter, with thirteen hundred men, was at this time making 
 a diversion from Bull's Bay. On the icth and 12th General 
 Schimmelfennig landed the 144th New York, together with three 
 colored regiments, on James Island and drove the enemy from 
 some advanced works there, afterward withdrawing. 
 
 The 127th Regiment worked all night of the 12th throwing 
 up an earthwork and rifle pits, but during the night the rebels 
 quietly evacuated their position at the end of the dyke, and the 
 Union forces also fell back. The explanation is that General 
 Hatch on the 10th made a demonstration toward crossing Cut- 
 hole Creek, and by night of the 12th he had finished destroying 
 the railroad and trestles for six miles, after which he fell back 
 part way .to reinforce the troops at Combahee Ferry, prepara- 
 tory to making the next move from there. The regimental 
 diary account says: "We crossed Cuthole Creek on the 13th, 
 and, finding nothing, we then returned and burned three houses, 
 cotton and cotton gins. All the strong positions on the railroad 
 having been evacuated, Colonel Hallowell was ordered to pro- 
 ceed to Ashepoo by way of a road above the railroad leading 
 through Blue House. 
 
 The 127th started on the march from the cross roads at 3 
 p. m., and after marching three or four miles through mud up 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 149 
 
 to their knees, they found that a bridge across the Combahee 
 had been destroyed. 
 
 A point about one mile beyond Blue House was reached at 
 8 p. m., and it being found impracticable to pursue this route 
 further, the troops fell back again, reaching the Salkahatchie at 
 3 a. m., having marched some fifteen miles, part of the way 
 through mud and water up to the men's knees. While this col- 
 umn was manoeuvering and advancing up the line of the rail- 
 road, the Confederate garrisons in the defenses of Charleston 
 were getting ready to move out, as soon as General Sherman 
 should reach the neighborhood of Columbia. On the 15th 
 General Taliafero ordered the Charleston garrison to withdraw 
 on the night of the 17th. On the 16th the 127th New York, 
 at 9.30 a. m., again left camp, and after a very hard march they 
 reached Combahee Ferry at 5.30 p. m. During the march we 
 encountered mud and standing water in places, and at times 
 the wading was knee deep. 
 
 On the 17th the regiment left ComDahee Ferry, marching to 
 Ashepoo Ferry, about eight miles, arrived there at noon and 
 camped over night on the scuth side of the Combahee, which 
 was through the fertile Combahee valley, noted for its rice cul- 
 ture. Foraging parties brought in quantities of corn, sweet po- 
 tatoes, poultry and honey, while refugees and contrabands came 
 into camp in large numbers. The same day General Sherman 
 occupied Columbia and General Schimmelfennig was reported 
 to have crossed with his forces from Coles to James Island. 
 
 At I o'clock on the morning of the 18th the bridge over the 
 Ashley River was seen to be burning, and fires were also seen 
 in Charleston, and at 6 a. m. the magazine of Battery B on 
 Sullivan's Island blew up. At daybreak a heavy fog obstructed 
 the view from Morris Island, but when, at 7.4s a. m. it cleared, 
 no troops could be seen on either James or Sullivan's Islands, 
 Major Hennesy of the 52nd Pennsylvania was sent to Fort 
 Sumter and Lieutenant John Hackett of the 3rd Rhode Island 
 Artillery to Fort Moultrie, and at 9.30 a. m. the rebel flags on 
 those forts were replaced by the Stars and Stripes. 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Bennett, with Lieutenant James F. Havi- 
 land of the 127th New York and three other officers and twenty- 
 two men from Morris Island reached Charleston at 10 a. m., 
 stopping on their way to hoist the Stars and Stripes over Fort 
 
150 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 Ripley and Castle Pinckney, and at i p. m. General Schimmel- 
 fennig crossed the Ashley River to Charleston. 
 
 On the 18th, the bridge over the Combahee River having 
 been repaired, the 127th New York moved to the north side. 
 On the 19th the march was continued for seven miles to Jack- 
 sonborough on the South Edisto River. On the 20th General 
 Gilmore, accompanied by Colonel Woodford, arrived at Charles- 
 ton. 
 
 On the same date the 127th left Jacksonborough at 4 p. m. 
 and, marching six miles, bivouacked near Adams Run. Al- 
 though this was a small hamlet, still it had numerous rough 
 barracks and was an old and important camp of the Confed- 
 erates. Our troops went through the town and burned a lot of 
 ammunition and supplies left by the Confederates. 
 
 On the 2 1 st the regiment marched from Adams Run and 
 camped near Logansville, eighteen miles from Charleston. On 
 the 22nd, a march of about eight miles more through woods, 
 passing here and there a plantation with cultivated fields, brought 
 them to Rantowles, where, after building a bridge, the troops 
 crossed the Stono River and camped near a three-gun fort 
 (which mounted 1 64 pounder and 2 32 pounders) and com- 
 manded Rantowles Ferry. On the 23rd the regiment left camp 
 at 7.30 a. m. and marched back to Adams Run, where a halt 
 of three or four hours was made and the men then marched to 
 an old church some three miles further on, looking for some 
 light guns which were reported as abandoned by the Confed- 
 erates. These were found by the 25th Ohio at Willtown, while 
 a foraging party brought in three mules, a cow, some sheep and 
 chickens. On the 24tn, Colonel Woodford was appointed Chief 
 of Staff to General Gilmore and temporary commandant of 
 Charleston. The 24th found the 127th again at Rantowles, ten 
 miles from Charleston, and while here an officer came in from 
 Charleston and reported that many stores there were already 
 open, and business going on and that the 127th were to do pro- 
 vost duty in the city. 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 151 
 
 Chapter VIII. 
 
 PROVOST DUTY AT CHARLESTON, SOUTH CARO- 
 LINA. 
 
 The Muster Out, Reception in N. Y., Welcome Home Picnic to 
 H. & K. February 26th, 1865, to August 9th, 1865. 
 
 On the 26th at 7 a. m. the regiment left Rantowles and 
 reached the Ashley river at noon. They boarded here a small, 
 crazy-looking steamboat, "The DeKalb," which had formerly 
 been used by the Confederates for carrying provisions to the dif- 
 ferent forts in the harbor, and landed at the foot of Tradd street, 
 Charleston, at 4 p. m., in a heavy rain. The march was up Tradd 
 to Friend and Magazine street, and up that street to the jail, 
 where the regiment was quartered. Much amusement existed 
 among the men on account of their being lodged in jail for serv- 
 ing their country. On the morning of the 27th the regiment was 
 drawn up in the jail yard, and orders read, stating that by Para- 
 graph 7, Special Field Order No. 13, Division of Mississippi, the 
 regiment was designated by General Sherman as permanent 
 garrison of the City of Charleston, and Colonel Gurney was to be 
 permanent Post Commander. 
 
 The regiment was then transferred to the City Work House, 
 which was in the same block with the jail. The Work House was 
 a fine building, and each company had a good large room to it- 
 self. The building was fitted up with cells, and, by knocking out 
 the division walls between each two cells, apartments large 
 enough for the accommodation of four men each were provided. 
 Major Little, who was in command of the regiment, notified the 
 men that the permanency of their duty as Provost guard would 
 depend upon their good behavior, a caution that was, perhaps, 
 necessary, as the men now had much more time to themselves, 
 only one half of the regiment being on duty each day. On March 
 3d, Lieutenant-Colonel Woodford commanding the city, caused 
 a ball that was being attended by lewd and boisterous characters 
 to be broken up, and he arrested those in charge, and afterward 
 fined them $500. 
 
152 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 The ruins of the buildings of the city were just as they fell, 
 and the destruction caused by the shells thrown from Morris Isl- 
 and was beyond description. All of the lower part of the city 
 was damaged and would have to be rebuilt, and there was scarcely 
 a street where grass was not growing, but the upper part of the 
 city, beyond the range of the Union guns, was in much better 
 shape. Most of those left behind when the city was evacuated 
 were old people, women, children and negroes, and there were 
 several large school buildings, and public schools had been 
 opened under direction of Superintendent Redpath of Boston, 
 who had been appointed Superintendent of Public Instruction. 
 
 A number of the negroes in the city having enlisted in the 
 21 st United States colored troops, the regiment, as it marched 
 through the city, was given quite a reception by the people who 
 thronged the sidewalks, crowds of them accompanying the regi- 
 ment, singing old negro songs and waving flags. On the 4th 
 of March, Lieutenant Colonel Woodford received his commis- 
 sion as Colonel of the 103d United States colored troops. On 
 the 5th, by General Orders Xo. 8, Albert Mackay was appointed 
 Military- Inspector of the city, and was charged with keeping the 
 streets of the city clean ; and by General Orders No. 9, Lieuten- 
 ant Haviland was appointed A. A. I. G. and Post Treasurer, with 
 office in the Elliott mansion, on George' street, and rates of li- 
 cense were fixed for all permits to conduct business in the city, 
 the proceeds of which were to be used for cleaning and lighting 
 the streets of the city and defraying the civil expenses of the 
 Post. 
 
 On the 20th a Senatorial party of about seventy visited 
 Charleston and also Fort Sumter in company with General Gill- 
 more. On March 21st the Freedman celebrated "The Burying 
 of Slavery'' by a procession, which was headed by the band of the 
 2 1st United States colored troops, followed by that regiment. 
 Among other features of the parade they had a float upon which 
 was a representation of a once familiar scene — a slave block to 
 Which two negroes were chained, and who were being sold at 
 auction, and this was followed by a hearse with a placard bearing 
 the words: "Slavery is dead. Rebellion killed it." After this 
 came women and children from the Public Schools singing 
 "John P.rown,"' and carrying banners bearing "We Know no 
 Masters but Ourselves." 
 
127TH REGT. X. Y. VOLS. 153 
 
 On the 22d Colonel Woodford transferred the command of 
 the city to Colonel Gurney, and in an order which he issued 
 stated that the churches and stores had been generally reopened, 
 that there were three thousand children attending the Public 
 Schools, and' that four thousand citizens had voluntarily taken 
 the oath of allegiance. On the same day Colonel Gurney issued 
 an order assuming command of the city, as well as announcing 
 the following staff apointments, viz.: 
 
 Second Lieutenant Henry A. Batterson, A. A. A. G. 
 
 First Lieutenant J. F. Haviland, A. A. I. G. and Post Tr. 
 
 First Lieutenant George S. Sammis, Asst. Post Tr. 
 
 First Lieutenant William H. Dodge, Post Quartermaster. 
 
 First Lieutenant George N. Little, A. A. D. C. 
 
 Second Lieutenant William B. Eaton, Asst. Provost Marshal. 
 
 The officers on detached duty and also their clerks were now 
 quartered in private residences, the occupants of which had left 
 the city with the rebel army. The clerks of the Post Treasurer 
 occupied for sleeping room a large room in the Elliott mansion, 
 handsomely furnished with a large mahogany bedstead, with 
 spring hair mattress; a bureau, which was said to have been 
 used by General Lafayette, and a lounge, rocker, arm chair, mar- 
 ble-top centre table and wash stand. The walls of the room were 
 ornamented with fine pictures, affording a radical contrast to the 
 accommodations enjoyed in the recent rough camping experi- 
 ence up the line of the Charleston and Savannah Railroad. The 
 large parlor of the mansion was used for a dining room, and the 
 mess, which was composed of men on detached duty, was sup- 
 plied with a cook and a man to wait on the table. This was in 
 sharp contrast to the scarcity of rations immediately preceding 
 our occupation of Charleston. For example, immediately after 
 one of the actions at the head of Broad River, rations were so 
 scarce that some of the squad picked up grains of corn from 
 where the cavalry horses had been fed, and washed and boiled 
 and ate it for want of better food. 
 
 It is reasonable to assume that when the detached enlisted 
 men were faring so well here in Charleston the officers were not 
 going short of the good things that the city afforded; and many 
 of them, as well as enlisted men, freely mixed in the social life 
 of the city, and a few of them took so strong a liking to the 
 
154 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 place, or some of its residents, that they, after being mustered 
 out of the service, returned there to live. On the 26th of March 
 Chaplain Willis, who had been appointed Post Chaplain of the 
 city, preached a memorial sermon in the Post Chapel (the Citadel 
 Square Baptist Chuch) on the dead of the regiment, basing his 
 remarks on the text, Hebrews, nth chapter and 4th verse. In 
 his remarks he particularly referred to the following men of 
 whose lives and characters he had particularly known, viz., Cor- 
 porals John S. Finlay and Gabriel A. Webb, and Privates 
 William H. Hattan and Thomas Jones of Company A; Privates 
 Thomas Welsh, William J. Adams, Alfred Loudy and Merritt 
 L. Williams, of Company B; Sergeant Graham, of Company C; 
 Sergeant DeGroot, of Company D; Privates William Bedell, of 
 Company F, and Lyman Hedges, Hy. A. Skidmore, Silas Hal- 
 sey and Charles Brown, of Company K, and Corporal Latham, 
 of Company H, most of whom had actively participated in -the 
 regimental prayer meetings, and had recently met their death 
 from wounds received in the actions which took place at the head 
 of Broad River and in the attack on the Charleston and Savannah 
 Railroad. 
 
 He stated that there were many other members of the regi- 
 ment who had fallen by the enemy's bullet, or by disease con- 
 tracted in the line of duty, and he quoted the following verse as 
 being appropriate to all of the regimental dead: 
 
 "Oh, bury the brave in the field where they fell; 
 
 Let them sleep beneath the sod 
 That drank up their blood in the deadly affray, 
 
 When their spirits went home to God. 
 Let their resting place be where their brave deeds were done 
 
 With the banner for their shroud! 
 And its stars shall keep watch as they peacefully sleep, 
 
 Far away from the gathered crowd. 
 Sleep on, and soft be thy repose, 
 
 And green be the turf on thy breast, 
 The glorious stars of our banner shall watch 
 
 O'er the graves where the heroes rest." 
 
 On the 28th Captain Richard Allison was appointed Provost 
 Marshal. The men on provost duty in the city now had good, 
 clean quarters, but the duty was quite severe, as they were com- 
 pelled to stand guard every other day, and when off duty to turn 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 155 
 
 out upon an alarm of fire and maintain order. By April 2d 
 nearly seventeen hundred business licenses had been issued, and 
 Stetson of the Astor House in New York City had opened the 
 Charleston Hotel. 
 
 April 14 being the anniversary of the fall of Fort Sumter, and 
 the day assigned for the raising by General Anderson of the flag 
 which had been hauled down by him before he surrendered the 
 fort, the streets of the city were at an early hour thronged with 
 military officers and civilians. 
 
 All the public and many of the private buildings, as well as 
 the vessels in the harbor, were decorated with flags, and the city 
 had put on a holiday appearance; bands were discoursing music 
 in front of the Charleston Hotel, where a number of distinguished 
 visitors were staying. 
 
 At 6 o'clock a. m. General Gillmore and Staff and a number 
 of visitors arrived from Hilton Head on the steamer Diamond, 
 and were received with the Major General's salute. General 
 Hatch and Staff and Colonel Gurney (the Commandant of 
 Charleston) and Staff, with a large number of visiting officers and 
 invited guests and their families, went on board the steamer Ca- 
 nonicus a little before 10 o'clock, and as they stepped on board 
 they were greeted by the strains of "Hail Columbia" from the 
 band of the 127th New York. At 10 o'clock the steamer left 
 South Atlantic wharf and steamed toward Fort Sumter, being 
 followed by the steamers Blackstone, Oceanus, Delaware, W. W. 
 Coit, Nelly Baker, Golden Gate, Anna Maria and Planter, all 
 crowded with passengers. General Gillmore's flag steamer Dia- 
 mond had already landed a large party from Hilton Head at the 
 fort, where a large platform, surrounded by evergreens, had been 
 erected in the centre of the parade ground, with an- arched can- 
 opy overhead covered with National banners (made by six 
 Union ladies of Charleston), intertwined with wreaths of ever- 
 green and flowers. Seats were arranged in front of and on the 
 platform, accommodating the guests, but many more were 
 grouped on the parade ground and walls, and the old fort was 
 crowded as it probably never had been before. 
 
 The flag staff had been erected immediately in the centre of 
 the parade ground, on either side of which were detachments of 
 maifines and sailors from the naval vessels, under command of 
 Lieutenant Commander Williams. A detachment of the 127th 
 
156 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 New York and the 55th Massachusetts were drawn up in line, 
 presenting a fine appearance. At 11 a. m. Read Admiral Dahl- 
 gren, accompanied by some twenty or thirty naval officers from 
 the squadron, arrived, and was enthusiastically received. At 
 11.30 o'clock the sound of music announced the arrival of Gen- 
 eral Gillmore, accompanied by General Anderson and Miss An- 
 derson, Rev. Henry Ward Beecher and family, Theodore Til- 
 ton, William Loyd Garrison, Major Generals Doubleday and 
 Dix, Adjutant General Townsend, Judge Advocate General 
 Holt, Colonel Stewart L. Woodford, Chief of Staff to General 
 Gillmore ; Rev. Dr. Storrs and others, as well as Sergeant Hart, 
 with the old Fort Sumter flag that he had hauled down when the 
 fort was evacuated in 1861. 
 
 Preceding the regular order of exercises a song entitled "Vic- 
 tory at Last," composed by William B. Bradbury, was sung, the 
 audience joining in the chorus. 
 
 The ceremonies commenced by the recitation of the "Te 
 Deum," followed by a prayer by the Rev. Matthew Harris, who 
 had made the prayer at the raising of the flag, December 
 27th, 1860, when the garrison removed from Fort Moultrie to 
 Sumter. This was followed by the reading of Psalms 126, 47th, 
 98th and 20th verses by the Rev. Dr. Storrs. Major Gen- 
 eral Anderson's dispatch of April 18th, 1861, to the Government 
 announcing the fall of the fort was then read by Adjutant Gen- 
 eral Townsend. Major General Anderson and Sergeant Hart 
 then stepped forward on the platform and unfolded the old flag, 
 which, amid loud and enthusiastic cheering, General Anderson 
 and the Sergeant raised, with an evergreen wreath attached, the 
 occupants on the stage, or as many as could do so, taking hold 
 of the halyards. As the flag reached the top of the staff un- 
 bounded enthusiasm was manifested by all present, and to their 
 cheers was added the music of the bands and a salute of two 
 hundred guns from the fort. Salutes were also fired by the fleet 
 and Fort Moultries' Battery Bee on Sullivan Island, Fort Put- 
 nam on Morris, and Fort Johnson on James Island. 
 
 As soon as the cheering had subsided a short address was 
 made by General Anderson, followed by the singing of the "Star- 
 Spangled Banner'' by the audience, after which the address of 
 the day was made by Rev. Henry Ward Beecher. In this 
 he said: "On this solemn and joyful day we again lift to the 
 
The Major's Horse. 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 157 
 
 breeze our fathers' flag, now again the banner of the United 
 States, with the fervent prayer that God would send it down to 
 our children with all the blessings of civilization, liberty and re- 
 ligion. In the name of God we lift up our banner, dedicating 
 it to Peace, Union and Liberty now and forever more." The 
 address was followed by prayer by the Rev. Dr. Storrs, after 
 which the exercises closed with the singing of the Doxology and 
 the pronouncing of the Benediction. 
 
 The following named officers of the 127th New York were 
 present at the exercises: Colonel Woodford, Chief of Staff to 
 General Gillmore; Captain Smith and Assistant Surgeon Rector, 
 of General Hatch's Staff; Captains Henry and Weston and Lieu- 
 tenants Batterson, Haviland, George N. Little, George S. Sam- 
 mis and Dr. George R. Cutter, of Colonel Gurney's Staff, 
 and many of the men of the regiment in addition to those de- 
 tailed for duty there. 
 
 In the evening General Gillmore gave a supper at the 
 Charleston Hotel in honor of his distinguished guests, at which 
 speeches were made by Adjutant General Townsend, Judge Ad- 
 vocate General Holt, Colonel Stewart L. Woodford and others. 
 A ball was also given by the officers of General Gillmore' s Staff, 
 and a display of fireworks furnished by Admiral Dahlgren com- 
 pleted the day's celebration. 
 
 April 15th the Freedman had a jubilee. Speakers' stands had 
 been erected on Citadel Square, and at 10 o'clock a. m. they ad- 
 journed to the Zion Church, where they were addressed by Hon- 
 orable Henry Wilson, of Massachusetts; Rev. Henry Ward 
 Beecher, William Lloyd Garrison and Theodore Tilton, William 
 Lloyd Garrison being presented with a wreath of flowers by a 
 freedman. On Sunday, 16th, Rev. Henry Ward Beecher 
 preached in the Zion Church to a crowded audience, his text 
 being from Psalms 37th chapter, the 5th, 6th and 7th verses. 
 
 April 19th news of the assassination of President Lincoln was 
 received, and the public and many private buildings were draped 
 with mourning. On the 20th Colonel Gurney granted the re- 
 quest of the loyal citizens of the city for the use of Hibernian 
 Hall for the meeting of citizens to express their sentiments rela- 
 tive to the assassination of President Lincoln. On May 6th 
 Honorable D. S. Codington delivered a eulogy on the late Presi- 
 dent in the Citadel Square Church, Rev. Samuel B. Willis mak- 
 
158 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 ing the opening prayer. All of the 127th that were off duty at- 
 tended. The church was profusely draped for the occasion, in 
 which work several of the ladies of Charleston had assisted. 
 
 On the evening of May 13th Chief Justice Chase was enter- 
 tained by Colonel Gurney, commanding the Post of Charleston. 
 While at dinner the guests were serenaded by the Post Band of 
 Beaufort. The previous day the Chief Justice had addressed a 
 large audience at" the Zion Church, the church galleries being 
 filled by the colored people. On the 19th Colonel Woodford was 
 advised by the War Department of his promotion as Brevet 
 Brigadier General. 
 
 On May 30th the troops comprising the garrison of the city 
 were reviewed by Brigadier General John P. Hatch, command- 
 ing the district, and Brevet Brigadier General Gurney, com- 
 manding the city, a large number of spectators, including ladies 
 in carriages, being present. The 107th Ohio were drawn up on 
 the right, and the 127th New York, under Major Little, on 
 the left, and the 35th United States colored troops in the rear. 
 Upon the arrival of Generals Hatch and Gurney with their Staff 
 the bands struck up martial music while General Hatch rode 
 around the line in review, the troops then passing in review be- 
 fore him. The marching was described as beautiful, the troops 
 going through their various evolutions with remarkable skill 
 and precision. The review was reported in the Charleston 
 Courier as being a delightful treat to the citizens. 
 
 On June 1st the citizens were directed to form ward .commit- 
 tees to co-operate with the military authorities in devising and 
 providing suitable measures for the relief of the aged and infirm 
 poor of the city, and the committees were requested to furnish 
 the Provost Marshal with a list of all able-bodied unemployed 
 persons that they might be placed at work on the streets of the 
 city. 
 
 On June 4th Brevet Brigadier General Woodford was as- 
 signed to the command of Savannah. On this same day the 
 127th New York were presented with a beautiful stand of colors 
 by the Common Council of New York City, the presentation 
 taking place at the Charleston Hotel in the presence of a large 
 number of spectators. The detachment designated to receive 
 the colors, under the command of Lieutenants Sammis and 
 Proulx, with the excellent band of the regiment, proceeded to 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 159 
 
 the hotel, where General Gurney and his Staff were awaiting 
 them, and shortly after 5 o'clock the two beautiful standards — 
 National and State— were delivered into the 'hands of the of- 
 ficers and received by the regiment and saluted, after which the 
 regiment marched back to its quarters. 
 
 On June 9th orders were received ordering all regiments 
 whose term of service expired before September 30th to be mus- 
 tered out as soon as the muster rolls could be completed, 
 and the boys realized that they would soon again enjoy the so- 
 ciety of their relatives and friends and the comforts of civil life. 
 Adjutant Schauffler, who had been promoted Captain, and as- 
 signed to command of Company B, rejoined the regiment on this 
 day, he having been for several months serving as A. D. C. on 
 the Staff of Brigadier General Schimelfennig, during which time 
 he enjoyed the exceptional honor of personally delivering the 
 Confederate garrison flags that had floated over the defenses in 
 Charleston Harbor to Secretary of War Stanton at Washington. 
 
 On the 30th of June the muster out rolls of the regiment 
 being completed, the regiment was mustered out of the United 
 States service, and began preparation for their departure. On 
 July 1st the regimental line was formed at 11 a. m., and left its 
 quarters at 11.55 a - m - Reaching the wharf, Companies A, B, F,. 
 G, H and I were embarked on the steamer Clyde, and sailed for 
 Hilton Head at 2 p. m., Companies C, D, E and K embarking on 
 the steamer Anna Maria at 6 p. m. Arriving at Hilton Head 
 on the afternoon of July 2d 1 , the regiment had a dress parade, and 
 at 7 a. m. of the following day it marched down the wharf, and 
 at 11 a. m. embarked on the steamer Northern Light. For some 
 reason it was 2.10 a. m. of the 4th of July when the homeward 
 journey was begun, and at daylight we were all on our way, and 
 at 2 p. m. of the 5th were off Cape Hatteras. The weather was 
 all that could be wished for, and the voyage uneventful. 
 
 At 7 a. m. of the 7th the steamer arrived at Pier 43, North 
 River, where many friends had gathered to welcome us home. 
 The regiment disembarked and marched up Broadway to the 
 7th Regiment Armory, where they stacked arms, and were dis- 
 missed for the day. They were to assemble again for their final 
 pay and a reception, which was reported in the New York Press. 
 as follows: 
 
160 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 "On Saturday afternoon the 127th New York Volunteers, 
 familiarly known as the Monitor Regiment, was given a formal 
 but hearty welcome by the friends of the regiment at the Armory 
 of the 7th Regiment, New York State Militia, at which good 
 speeches, a splendid dinner and fine singing and music com- 
 prised the interesting exercises of the day. The spacious Armory 
 over Tompkins Market was neatly laid out with four long tables 
 lengthwise, and one placed across the head of the room. Along 
 the walls stood the stacks of muskets carried by the members 
 through their battles and wearisome marches. An amply sup- 
 ply of cold meats and sandwiches, with cakes, lemonade and ice 
 cream in abundance, were supplied by the friends of the regi- 
 ment. At 4 p. m. the regiment was marched in, and took up 
 their positions at the different tables ready for the attack, and, 
 grace having been said, the "Monitors" fell to with a will. Dur- 
 ing the progress of the feast the Seventh Regiment band dis- 
 coursed excellent music. After dinner the following song, writ- 
 ten for the occasion by Mrs. Lydia Baxter, was sung by Mr. 
 Roberts, leader of the choir of the 13th Street Church, assisted 
 by a host of willing amateur voices : 
 
 "Dearest boys, we bid you welcome 
 
 To your homes again; 
 Well fulfilled your soldier mission 
 
 In your long campaign. 
 To maintain your country's honor 
 
 ^-nd her rights to shield, 
 You sustained our starry banner 
 
 On the battle field. 
 
 "Sad the thoughts of comrades lying 
 
 Where they nobly fell; 
 When our flag in triumph flying 
 
 Waved a long farewell. 
 But you laid them down in glory 
 
 In their martyr bed; 
 With the thoughts of friends before you 
 
 Weeping for their dead. 
 
 "Monitors, you guarded bravely 
 
 Treason's infant nest; 
 Sumter's flag that fell so early 
 
 Greeted on her crest. 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 161 
 
 But the 'cruel war is over' — 
 Freedom's dawn is bright; 
 Glory sits upon our banner, 
 God has blessed the right. 
 
 Chorus : 
 "Gladly now we greet you, 
 
 Welcome home again; 
 Yes, welcome! 
 
 Now this 'cruel war is over' — 
 Welcome home again." 
 
 Ethan Allen, Esq., then came forward and formally welcomed 
 the Regiment and referred to its varied and extensive field of 
 duty and service. The Reverend Mr. Armitage and Dr. Samuel 
 D. Burchard also addressed the gathering of veterans with good 
 effect. The appearance of the command was reported as being 
 very fine; the uniforms were good and new, and the equipments 
 in the most perfect order. The proceedings broke up about 6 
 o'clock, and the men departed to their respective homes greatly 
 pleased at the cordial ereetings extended to them. The regiment, 
 which went out with about one thousand men, returned with 
 twenty-five officers and five hundred and thirty men. The losses 
 and casualties sustained by it during its service from September 
 8th, 1862, to June 30th, 1865, being reported by A. G. O. Wash- 
 ington as follows, viz.: 
 
 Commissioned Officers. 
 Died of disease, 1. Wounded, 6. 
 
 Enlisted Men. 
 
 Killed in action, died of disease or wounds in 
 
 Wounded in action 83 
 
 After the return of Companies H and K to their homes in 
 Suffolk County, their friends upon the 9th of August gave a 
 "Welcome Home Picnic" in their honor, which was described in 
 the Suffolk County Press as follows : 
 
 "Upon the 9th of August, 1865, a Welcome Home Picnic was 
 given at Greenport, Long Island, in honor of the returned mem- 
 bers of Companies H and K of the 127th New York Volunteer^. 
 At 12 o'clock the gathering at the grove was called to order by 
 Henry Hunting, Esq., who made a short address of welcome, 
 
162 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 which was followed by a prayer by the Regimental Chaplain, 
 Rev. Samuel B. Willis, after which remarks were made by Rev. 
 L. D. Nickerson and Rev. Samuel Willis, interspersed by the 
 singing of patriotic songs by some sixty young ladies clad in 
 white, after which the orator of the day, Rev. George F. Wiswell 
 of Wilmington, delivered an excellent address. Resolutions ex- 
 pressive of appreciation of the services of, and extending cordial 
 welcome to, the returned volunteers were then adopted, after 
 which there was more singing and the reading of Whittier's 
 poem, 'Barbara Frietchie,' by a soldier; the Rev. C. W. Adams 
 made remarks; dinner was then announced, and the most palat- 
 able duties of the day were engaged in, some two hundred sol- 
 diers and their lady friends sitting down to tables bountifully 
 laden with good things. After dinner a large number of Com- 
 pany H formed line and went through various evolutions. The 
 soldiers then took possession of the stage, and sang several pieces 
 and were addressed by Samuel Gardiner, Esq., of Sag Harbor, 
 after which 'Home, Sweet Home' was sung, and with rousing 
 cheers for the 'old flag' the 'Soldiers' Welcome Home' was ended. 
 The following song, written for the occasion by Rev. B. Whit- 
 taker, to the tune of 'Auld Lang Syne,' was sung during the exer- 
 cises: 
 
 "Ho, valiant men, from camp and march — 
 
 Through shot and shell no more — 
 You come as victors for the right 
 
 To your own sea-girt shore, 
 Chorus — "To your own sea-girt shore, brave boys — 
 
 'l o your own sea-girt shore. 
 You come as victors for the right 
 
 To your own sea-girt shore. 
 
 "We hail you heroes of our land; 
 
 Your blood has wet its sod, 
 And made it sacred everywhere, 
 To Freedom and to God. 
 Chorus — "To Freedom, etc. 
 
 "Secession's dead beneath your sword, 
 
 And slavery in shame; 
 The Union lives forever more, 
 And you exalt its fame. 
 Chorus — "And you exalt, etc. 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 163 
 
 "Then welcome to your homes again, 
 
 Since war and discord cease ; 
 You 'have subdued the rebel foe, 
 
 And made a righteous peace. 
 Chorus — "And made, etc. 
 
 "Your arms have saved a nation's life ; 
 
 We grateful own it here, 
 And to your fallen comrades pay 
 The tribute of a tear. 
 Chorus — "The tribute of a tear, etc." 
 
 The following brief obituary notice of General Gurney will be 
 of interest to many of the comrades: General Gurney was born 
 in Flushing, Long Island, August 31st, 1821, and spent his boy- 
 hood on his father's farm. In 1837 he became a clerk in the 
 wholesale provision house of A. N. Brown & Co. ; at the outbreak 
 of the war he had become the head of t)he house, which was then 
 "Gurney & Underhill." He was actively engaged in many works 
 for the public good, and interested in the work of the Five Points 
 Mission. At the outbreak of the war he was First Lieutenant of 
 the 4th Company, 7th Regiment, New York State Militia, and in 
 April, 1861, he entered the three months' service of that regiment, 
 and after his return accepted a captaincy in Colonel John Coch- 
 rane's (65th) New York Volunteers, known as the fighting Chas- 
 seurs, and served with it through the early campaigns of the war; 
 in 1862 he was appointed an assistant inspector general and 
 examining officer on the staff of Governor Morgan, in which 
 capacity he was required to pass upon qualifications of applicants 
 for commissions in the New York regiments. In July, 1862, he 
 received authority to raise a regiment, and he speedily recruited 
 the 127th New York and returned to the field. In December, 
 1864, he was severely wounded in the arm in the engagement at 
 Deveaux Neck, and when his regiment was appointed Provost 
 guard of the city of Charleston, he was made commandant of the 
 city ; while in Charleston he was promoted Brevet Brigadier Gen- 
 eral, and returned with his regiment to New York in July, 1865, 
 and mustered out. He returned to Charleston in October and 
 located himself as a wholesale grocer and commission merchant, 
 the business gradually changing to the cotton and rice factorage 
 line, and in October, 1870, he was Treasurer of Charleston Coun- 
 ty, continuing such for six years. Was a Presidential elector from 
 
164 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 South Carolina in 1872, was a Past Master of Continental Lodge 
 287, F. and A. M., and was a member of the Morton Com- 
 mandery and Adelphi Chapter. The General returned from 
 Charleston in July, 1877, suffering from Blight's disease, and 
 died on February 2d, 1878. His funeral was held from Masonic 
 Hall, Sixth avenue and 23d street, February 5th, Rev. H. R. 
 Nye of the Brooklyn Universalist Church of Our Father officiat- 
 ing. 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 165 
 
 Chapter IX. 
 
 The following letter of Comrade Wessells is appended, the 
 committee believing it will interest many who have not had the 
 opportunity of visiting the scenes of our old camps and marches : 
 
 Dear Comrade: — 
 
 My first visit to the scenes of our old camp grounds and the 
 localities made familiar by our marches and picket duty during 
 the first six months of our service, was made in the early sum- 
 mer of 1884 or 1885, going by rail from Washington, through 
 Alexandria to Falls Church. 
 
 It was a perfect day in June, and the walk back, of perhaps 
 a mile and a half, made necessary by failing to leave the cars 
 at the right station, caused no regret. The thoughts which 
 arose as memory went back to those dreary winter months of 
 '62 and '63, and the striking contrast in the physical surround- 
 ings and my personal relations to them as it was in those years 
 and as I then found it, can better be imagined than described. 
 From an almost deserted village, composed of a few scattered 
 houses, with the old brick church as a prominent central figure, 
 Falls Church had grown into a delightful suburban settlement, 
 composed of neat and tasteful dwellings. These, with the new 
 stone Presbyterian Church of attractive and modern architec- 
 ture, made it indeed hard to realize that it was the old familiar 
 spot we used as a reserve post for our picket line, and which 
 the few dwellings made not only a popular one, out seemed to 
 me, as perhaps it did to other comrades, a slight connecting link 
 with the civilization we had left. 
 
 The air of perfect rest and peace that seemed to pervade all 
 nature, not only impressed me deeply, but caused such a wish 
 to remain here, that I hardly finished my trip before determining 
 to repeat it in the near future, which I did on two subsequent 
 occasions, and to which I will refer later. 
 
 Reaching the' centre of the village, after a walk that was 
 only too brief in its enjoyment, I found a Mr. George Ives, who 
 had been a resident of the place since before the war, and who 
 was one of the civil magistrates appointed by the Government 
 
166 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 during the time the functions of the State authority were sus- 
 pended. Some, I know, and perhaps many of the comrades will 
 remember his estimable wife (originally from Orange County, 
 N. Y.), who kept a small store, near the old church, stocked with 
 what was at that time considered luxuries by the soldiers, and 
 who, but a short time after our regiment left for more Southern 
 fields, had a narrow escape from the burning building which 
 some of the "irregular" adjuncts of the Confederate Army had 
 fired because of her Union sentiments. 
 
 What had been intended to be but a brief call lengthened 
 into a visit that consumed most of the day, and the primary 
 cause of our march to Annandale, made memorable by the would- 
 be Poet Laureate of the regiment, as well as other incidents that 
 had well nigh been forgotten, were talked over with keen en- 
 joyment, and the hospitable home of George Ives was left with 
 regret. 
 
 A leisurely. walk of about thirty minutes, over the route we 
 had so often tramped in rain and mud, brought me to Upton's 
 Hill, and again memory busied herself with the past, bringing 
 back scenes associated with this spot. The family occupying the 
 old residence of Colonel Upton was absent, but those in charge 
 were only too glad to give information to any who as soldiers 
 had "lived on the place." Cultivation of the ground had 
 changed the appearance so much that it was a little difficult to 
 locate familiar spots; but enough was plain to make the site of 
 our camp certain, and our colored friends finally abandoned 
 their persistent efforts to locate it elsewhere, with the remark, 
 "George, I guess this gen'man's been here afore and knows 
 best." After a stroll over the grounds, with keen regret that no 
 comrade of the 127th was with me to enjoy and help in reviving 
 recollections that had to some extent grown dim, the tramp 
 was again resumed, if not with ardor possibly with less re- 
 luctance than if it had been in answer to the bugle call or the 
 shout of "Forward, march," and the opportunity taken for a 
 short visit to the National Cemetery at Arlington, which I shall 
 not otherwise refer to. 
 
 My appetite for further scenes of our conquest was only 
 whetted and the following morning, taking a horse and wagon, 
 the line of our first march was followed to Camp Morgan. 
 Here, with the exception of a small patch that some "poor 
 
127TH REGT. X. Y. VOLS. 167 
 
 white," or perhaps more enterprising "darky," had attempted to 
 cultivate, the general condition was very much as we left it over 
 twenty years before; though more or less overgrown with 
 brush, that made a diligent search necessary to find the rifle 
 pits our amateurish hands, or spades, had constructed, and 
 which perhaps some had thought might prove untimely graves, 
 while others regarded them only as experiments in a faulty sys- 
 tem of landscape gardening and devised chiefly to keep spades 
 and picks bright and cuticle dull. The pits were there, how- 
 ever, and though sadly out of repair were interesting reminders 
 to one who did not find them any shelter from Heaven's copious 
 showers, which was the only force that assailed us the first 
 night he was called on to assist in holding them against the 
 charges of a distant foe. 
 
 The erection of fences and the ploughing of fields made the 
 distance necessary to travel in order to> reach "Clouds Mills" 
 much greater than we had found it on the occasion of shifting 
 camps, when we followed the course of the crow instead of the 
 wagon road. Leaving the site of Camp Morgan, the first object 
 of interest met was part of the ruins of Fort Marcy, but in such 
 a condition that none but an old acquaintance would recognize 
 them as having once been a fortification. Further, on, as we 
 passed "Bailey's Cross Road" we needed but to close our eyes 
 to see in fancy the boys assembling for brigade drill, and the 
 solitary horseman passing at that moment was readily made to 
 do duty as the "Regular Army General," who had commanded 
 the respect and confidence of the raw recruit. 
 
 The typical country store had here superseded the sutler's 
 establishment, but this received only a passing notice as being 
 entirely too commonplace for connection with the important 
 events incident to our sojourn in that locality. Passing "Fort 
 Buffalo," we were again reminded of fatigue squads and blistered 
 hands, but could view with complacency the lasting effect of 
 our work that stood almost as a monument to those who had 
 labored in its construction, but who had long- since left us. 
 
 Clouds Mills was reached at last, but here again the appear- 
 ance of the country was so changed that we sought the help of 
 a Mr. Gardiner, at whose house we had often visited while in 
 camp near, to locate the spot where our tents were pitched, and 
 which were found generally "unpitched" on our return from the 
 
1 68 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 expedition made from this point in search of the Confederate 
 General Stuart. We were most heartily welcomed at the Gar- 
 diner home, but we were wrong in crediting to the master of 
 the house the assistance given in locating our camp grounds, for 
 it was Mrs. Gardiner who kindly gave the desired help. Again, 
 I know that some comrade's memory will be quickened by the 
 picture of this face, with its accompanying curls (still worn), 
 which probably made a more lasting impression on those whom 
 she nursed through lingering sickness, than on those who found 
 her an attractive companion at the "Masked Ball" given in the 
 vicinity in the early spring of 1863. The camp ground was 
 found and the same stream, which proved such a God-send to 
 the wood and water squad, still "ran purling down with silver 
 waves." Again we tarried until the declining sun warned us 
 that it was three miles or more to Alexandria and that if the 
 last ferry were missed, a ride over the "seven mile run" and 
 Long Bridge, behind a slow horse, was the prospect before us, 
 which later materialized into a fact; but we carried back to 
 Washington and to New York grateful feelings, not only to- 
 wards those who had welcomed us to the homes they had once 
 fought to keep us from, but that we had lived to renew our 
 acquaintance under conditions that have cost so much blood 
 and treasure to restore. 
 
 In June, 1888, the same ground was gone over in company 
 with Comrade John H. Colgate of Company B, a visit to Wash- 
 ington's home at Mount Vernon being added. Interest in this 
 trip was not only increased by having some one to share in its 
 pleasure, but particularly so by the perusal of letters written 
 from the different camps in this locality, which Comrade Col- 
 gate's thoughtfulness had provided. 
 
 Again, in May, 1893, a party composed of Comrades Eldridge 
 of Company A, Colgate and Hulse of Company B, with the writer, 
 went over the ground, and here again the interest was enlivened 
 by comparisons between diaries, the entries in which showed a 
 strong predilection for the surgeon's attendance when heavy 
 fatigue duty was expected, or reconnoitering expeditions pro- 
 jected. In order to have the contrast striking as possible, the 
 party must needs go from Washington in a style resembling that 
 which General Patterson was supposed to favor, and. to show their 
 utter disregard for lessons learned when they were supposed to 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 169 
 
 be of an impressionable age, provided themselves with umbrellas 
 and overshoes. As the day progressed, however, these were dis- 
 pensed with, and the sunbeams again welcomed us as we crossed 
 the bridge to Virginia's sacred soil. 
 
 The site of Camp Morgan was our first objective point, and 
 was again reached by the same route the regiment took in Sep- 
 tember, 1862. After strolling over what was once the company 
 streets and visiting the rifle pits, we found our way by the old 
 path down to the "Run" which had so often refreshed the outer 
 as well as the inner man, and whose swift waters had taken one 
 of our comrades from us. 
 
 Again was a tardy compliance with the order to fall in for 
 a forward movement met, and the commandant's orders to do so 
 had to be supplemented with a promise of a good dinner at 
 Cabin John's before the incipient mutiny was quelled. The drive 
 to this historic spot has little of interest to those of the 127th, as 
 it takes them away from familiar ground. After rations had 
 been consumed, we retraced our steps to the Chain Bridge, and 
 thence to Falls Church, where, after pitching camp, the party 
 repaired to the hospitable home of Mr. Ives, and spent the even- 
 ing correcting the history of that part of the conflict which the 
 127th was specially identified with. The following day an early 
 start was taken, with the intention of driving to all points of in- 
 terest in the vicinity, calling first at the Shrieves home, which 
 many of the "boys" will remember as famous for the meals 
 served to those who were fortunate enough to get in its vicinity, 
 and who had in their pockets, the wherewithal to pay for the 
 service. Mr. Shrieves (who many years since had succumbed to 
 the superior force of his bull), some will no doubt remember, was 
 a strong Union man when the Union troops were near, and as 
 such was given a guard to protect his property from depredations 
 by members (it is needless to say) of regiments other than the 
 127th. We all, however, have great faith in the integrity of Com- 
 rade Hulse, as well as some knowledge of the quantity of 
 his voice, and when he states that while on guard at the 
 said Shrieves house, and in order to test his sentiments, he 
 inveigled the poor man into believing that although a 
 Union soldier he was at heart a Southern sympathizer, not only 
 did he break into singing "Praise God from whom all blessings 
 flow," but in the exuberance of his feelings pitched it so high 
 
170 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 that even Hulse, who had graduated as a leader in camp meeting 
 singing, was unable to accompany him and sing the bass; why 
 we must accept his statement as the truth, particularly when it is 
 vouched for by Comrade Colgate, who added by way of inferen- 
 tial corroboration that they were always afterwards supplied with 
 a featherbed to sleep on whenever stationed at this house. 
 
 The welcome given us, however, by Mr. Shrieves' son and 
 wife was so hearty that we all were satisfied to overlook any of 
 his father's shortcomings, and Comrade Eldridge has no doubt 
 had many misgivings for failing to send Mrs. Shrieves a photo- 
 graph of her house which he supposed was obtained, but which 
 possibly failed to show up in the development. 
 
 Leaving this spot, we proceeded to Vienna, passing here and 
 there evidences of the conflict in the shape of what had been 
 breastworks and small fortifications and reached Fairfax Court 
 House in time to visit the few points of interest before having 
 dinner at the so-called hotel, kept by an ex-Confederate soldier, 
 whose wife expressed to us her regrets that she had not married 
 a Northern soldier. As there was but one in our party who was 
 free from matrimonial entanglements, the conquest was left to 
 him, while the others applied themselves diligently to bacon and 
 cabbage, merely interjecting an occasional remark about the de- 
 sirability of a Northern residence, and where the men were so 
 attractive that the chief source of anxiety to the women was the 
 fear of losing them, even when they were supposed to be securely 
 bound. 
 
 Dinner over, we left our boniface, with his injunction to send 
 some more guests his way, and passing through Annandale, we 
 paused only long enough to allow Eldridge to decide that the sign 
 over the farrier's was too bulky to carry away, and kept on to 
 Clouds Mills. Here, to our regret, we found Mr. Gardiner alone, 
 and so feeble as to be unable to recall either former visits or 
 events incident to our camp. The camp ground was gone over, 
 and some brass ornaments from military hats picked up by our 
 relic hunter, and then the horses' heads were turned again toward 
 camp at Falls Church. After supper, by way of a compromise 
 with our consciences, evening service was attended at the old 
 Baptist Church, which some may recall and which had been used 
 as a hospital in the early stages of the conflict. 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 171 
 
 The old brick church, in which it was said General Washing- 
 ton was married, and which had, in a measure, been restored 
 after the war by the Government, had been visited the day before, 
 and we were shown around by the Superintendent of the Sunday 
 School, who also entertained us with an account of how, as a 
 non-combatant, he had escaped from the Union troops. Contri- 
 butions being delicately hinted at, some of the party felt they 
 owed a debt to the structure, and took this opportunity to dis- 
 charge it. 
 
 The following morning, a visit was made to Upton's Hill, 
 and thence to the old "Slave Pen" and Christ Church at Alex- 
 andria, where the weight of the plate on Washington's pew again 
 baffled the greed of the relic hunting portion of our company, 
 who, however, found solace in a piece of timber from the "Slave 
 Pen," though the scoffer in the party insisted that it was merely 
 part of a modern coalbin. 
 
 The visit to Harper's Ferry, and the ride from there to the 
 house on the Maryland side, which had been occupied by John 
 Brown, as well as the school house where he taught while per- 
 fecting his plans for the insurrection of the slaves, and through to 
 the battlefield of Antietam or Sharpsburgh, which was part of 
 this trip, again takes the narrative away from familiar ground, 
 and will be passed without further reference, that some space may 
 be devoted to descriptions of visits to other points of interest to 
 all. This takes us back to April of 1890, when, accompanied by 
 Colgate and Hulse, a long promised visit to Charleston and vicin- 
 ity was made. The train was boarded at Jersey City, and starting 
 at 9 p. m. we reached Richmond about 8 o'clock the following 
 morning, where we had arranged to stop over for a few hours. 
 After breakfast, we visited the State House, and viewed with 
 some interest the halls where the Confederate Congress had 
 struggled through its brief existence. Our time was too limited 
 to permit of a visit to points of military interest on the outskirts 
 of the city, and we contented ourselves with a ride on the trolley 
 cars to the city limits in one direction, which took us by the 
 cemetery and in view of the unique Confederate Soldiers' Monu- 
 ment, and in another to the old St. John's Church, the scene of 
 Patrick Henry's famous oration, which with the peculiar epitaphs 
 on some of the old tombstones brought the sublime and the 
 ridiculous in close relation. 
 
172 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 Taking the train from Richmond at 3 p. m., we reached 
 Charleston about 8 o'clock the next morning, a hot journal hav- 
 ing delayed us about four hours. It had been our wish to go to 
 Coles Island by way of James Island, as we had been unable in 
 1863 to approach Charleston in a reverse order, and with that 
 object in view had enlisted the services of our old comrade, 
 James Ackerman of Company A, who had found sufficient attrac- 
 tions in Charleston to keep him there, or at least take him back 
 after Uncle Sam had turned us adrift in New York. 
 
 The bridges and dykes having been destroyed, this plan of 
 advance had to be abandoned, but Ackerman proved himself 
 equal to the occasion and demonstrated that Gilmore missed the 
 rght man to capture Charleston when he failed to make his ac- 
 quaintance in 1864. We found him at the depot (where he had 
 been waiting some hours for us) with a "coach and four," and 
 after stoppng only long enough to secure rooms against our re- 
 turn, and a light breakfast, we boarded the yacht that was waiting 
 for us. This we found fully provisioned for the cruise, and 
 manned not only by a commodore but also a "chef," whose talents 
 in some directions fairly qualified him to serve the distinguished 
 English writer who visited us some years ago for the purpose of 
 investiating the mysteries of American mixed drinks. Now, 
 Comrade Ackerman is a pillar in the Total Abstinence Society, 
 but he had spent one season at Coles Island, and while he was 
 most heartily glad to see us, he had no idea of having fever- 
 stricken patients on his hands. He was, moreover, a thorough 
 believer in the theory that an ounce of prevention is better than 
 a pound of cure, and reversing the old formula, directed our chef 
 to see that the preventative was "well taken before shaking," and 
 we were only too grateful for what he had done to offer any oppo- 
 sition to his treatment or hurt the feelings of our chef by any ap- 
 parent lack of appreciation of his talents. 
 
 A strong tide and fair wind soon took us past the battery and 
 through Wahpoo Cut into the Stono River, and thence by a most 
 delightful sail past Secessionville in the distance on one hand, and 
 Legareville on the other (points marking both our former failures 
 and successes) we at last approached the island that had been our 
 home in the winter of '63 and '64, and where some of our com- 
 rades are still resting, and from which one of our party had been 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 173 
 
 carried on a stretcher by comrades who then supposed they were 
 looking on his face for the last time. 
 
 As we sailed by the old shell fort and rounded the point to 
 the landing, the house which had been erected in recent years 
 seemed, with its occupant, to be intruding on what was our do- 
 main, and it required all of our host's (Mr. Hemandes) warm 
 welcome and courteous treatment to dispel the illusion. We had 
 reached the island in time for a good inspection by daylight, but 
 as our old bridges and dykes leading to Horseshoe Island and 
 our picket line had long since disappeared, there was a compara- 
 tively small area to tramp over. The trees which had sustained 
 the flying trapeze, as well as others that had been relied upon 
 as landmarks, had probably long since been turned into fuel, and 
 the only feature that remained unchanged was the old shell fort 
 and perhaps the landing. We had seen Coles Island again and 
 were content to shorten our stay and leave it. 
 
 Supper was served, and after being entertained by our host, 
 we were glad to find sleeping quarters with the beetles in the 
 upper rooms of the house, and gladly yielded to it any prior 
 ■claim to the island we had fancied ourselves possessed of. A 
 violent wind storm arose in the night, and between the "moaning 
 of the harbor bar" and the groans of one of our party whose 
 dreams were doubtless of a retrospective character, the night 
 dragged its weary hours until the sun dispelled the gloom. The 
 gale continued, however, and to our dismay we found our com- 
 modore indisposed to a change of base, though purely on the 
 disinterested ground of fearing least the flying spray should spoil 
 the store clothes of the passengers. Being assured that these 
 were not only waterproof, but might possibly be discarded on 
 reaching Charleston, a start was finally agreed upon, and with 
 close reefed sail we bade farewell to Coles Island and its mon- 
 arch, and after with difficulty making the inlet, turned the prow 
 of our vessel up the Folly River toward Morris Island. As the 
 day advanced, the gale subsided, and all our canvas was spread, 
 and as we sailed along close to the shore of Folly 'RlrVe^, beautiful 
 in its dense foliage, our spirits revived, and the dreariness of Coles 
 Island was in a measure forgotten. 
 
 Being forced to choose between landing at Lighthouse Inlet 
 or the point of Morris Island nearest Charleston, we decided on 
 the latter, expecting to find some portions at least of Batteries 
 
174 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 Wagner, Gregg and Chatfield, and also to visit the site of our old 
 camp and the regimental burying ground where so many of our 
 comrades had been left. Not a vestige, however, of either of the 
 forts remained, except a few piles where Fort Wagner had stood, 
 which were submerged at high water, and the ocean had made 
 such inroad that it was impossible to reach the spot where our 
 regimental camp had been. The tide was out and the sandy 
 bottom was visible most of the way from the island to Fort 
 Sumter. Again had we failed to find what our memories alone 
 had preserved, and after lingering a short time we embarked and 
 made our way to Fort Sumter. Here the only occupants were a 
 lighthouse keeper with his family, and an artillery sergeant, who 
 gave us a soldier's welcome, and with whom we were glad to 
 leave what we had left of "fever preventative." Aside from re- 
 pairs to walls of the fort and the removal of rubbish that was the 
 chief feature of the place when the old flag was again raised in 
 1865, little had been done to give it the appearance of a fortress 
 and as we walked around its walls the wonder was that it had so 
 long and successfully withstood attacks and capture. 
 
 Reaching Charleston in the early evening we found time to 
 visit the Citadel Square Baptist Church, which had served us as 
 a Post Chapel, and also the Zion Colored Church on Calhoun 
 street (it being Sunday), and to call on some friends whose ac- 
 quaintance we had made while quartered in that city. The fol- 
 lowing day a visit was made to the regiment's old quarters (the 
 jail and workhouse) and to Post Headquarters (King's mansion), 
 now occupied as a high school. Further visits to Magnolia 
 Cemetery on the outskirts, and a few other ooints that had been 
 familiar to members of our party, and a drive over the Ashley 
 River to St. Andrew's Parish, fill the day, and at night we took 
 the train for home, satisfied to have made the visit that in some 
 respects had proved disappointing. We regretted, however, that 
 we had not beeen able to extend our visit to Beaufort and points 
 around Pocotaligo, where so many of our brave boys were at last 
 called on to lay down their lives. These grounds yet remain to 
 be gone over. 
 
 A year later (April, 1891), the same party, reinforced by 
 Eldridge, boarded the Old Dominion steamer "City of Atlanta," 
 Captain Jennie, bound for the scenes of our peninsula campaign. 
 Our original intention had been to leave the steamer at York- 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 175 
 
 town, but profiting by the advice of the pilot, who boarded the 
 vessel some distance below that point, the programme was 
 changed, and we continued on to West Point. Our pilot, who 
 was quite a character in his way, had at one time served the Con- 
 federacy as a blockade runner and later had been in the Union 
 service. Knowing of our intention to visit Yorktown he volun- 
 teered to see that we should be properly entertained, and we 
 found him as good as his word, and waiting for us on our arrival 
 there, the second day after. The sail past Yorktown and up the 
 York River brought vividly back to our memory our first visit 
 to the historic spot were Washington lost his British citizenship 
 and Cornwallis his sword. Darkness closed round us before West 
 Point was reached, but the glare of electric lights revealed enough 
 to show a village of some magnitude, where (if our memory is 
 correct) but a solitary house stood when we evacuated the point 
 in the spring of 1863. As we approached the dock our atten- 
 tion was attracted to the sound of running water, and in answer 
 to our inquiries we learned that it was the discharge from an 
 artesian well, and that most of the fifty or more dwellings were 
 supplied with such conveniences. A peculiar feature of these 
 wells, which it was necessary to sink but a slight depth, was, that 
 the pressure of the water on the river bottom when the tide was 
 high added very materially to the force of the flow, and from the 
 pipe on the pier there was a steady stream emptying itself into 
 the river. 
 
 West Point owes its growth and development to its being one 
 of the termini of the Richmond & Danville Railroad system, 
 which penetrates the cotton and mineral section of the South, 
 heavy shipments of its product being made from this point. 
 
 Armed with a letter of introduction we hunted up Mr. Lamb, 
 the agent of the Old Dominion Line of Steamers, who was also 
 agent of the Richmond & Danville Railroad, and to whose cour- 
 tesy we were indebted for our ability to stop off at Whitehouse 
 Landing without being compelled to spend the entire day there, 
 and for our comfort later at Williamsburgrh. 
 
 Mr. Lamb kindly accompanied us in a stroll through the vil- 
 lage and opened his house for our reception, -though his family 
 was absent in Williamsburgh. We returned and spent the night 
 on the steamer and started about sunrise to visit the spot where 
 we had fortified across the point, nearly from the Pamunkey to. 
 
176 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 the Mattipony, but with no idea that we should find a portion at 
 least of the works in a condition really better than we had left 
 them. A walk of about two miles brought us to the rifle pits, or 
 breastworks, over which a beautiful sward had grown and pre- 
 served in nearly their original shape, while at the foot of the ter- 
 race or slope in front was growing a line of symmetrical pine 
 trees, with trunks from ten to twelve inches in diameter, that had 
 the appearance of having been carefully planted. Our theory 
 was that they had grown from seed that had been washed by the 
 rain to the foot of the slope, and had, in that way, received their 
 perfect alignment. Very little of the original shape of the works 
 which had been dubbed "Fort Scales" remained, and a diligent 
 search for the buried treasure (our unpopular epaulettes, the 
 mysterious disappearance of which at this point had led to such a 
 christening) resulted in a failure, and our relic hunter was forced 
 to content himself with carrying away some of the soil he or 
 some comrade had perchance turned over with an army spade 
 many years before. Some of the railroad ties which had been 
 used as a platform for the gun carriages were still visible, but 
 here, even more than was the case at Fort Marcy, some knowl- 
 edge of fortifications would be necessary to enable the observer 
 to understand the original object of the structure. 
 
 On our return walk we were shown the solitary house referred 
 to as standing when we left the spot in 1863, which the residents 
 told us stood during the war of 1776, when it was used as a 
 tavern. After breakfast, which we had on the steamer, we bade 
 good-bye to its genial officers, and armed with a special permit 
 (which had been obtained by telegraph from Richmond) to en- 
 able us to board a freight train at Whitehouse Landing, we 
 started for that point about 9 a. m. There was no station here, 
 andaet, if our memory is correct, no railroad bridge across the 
 Pamunkey in 1863, and we found ourselves at first unable to 
 locate our old camp grounds. The services of a farmer, whose 
 team stood near, were sought, but it proved a case of the blind 
 leading the blind, and we were taken down the river some two 
 miles to the quarters of a shooting club, and after retracing our 
 steps, located our old camp grounds when too late to closely in- 
 spect it. Aside from having our breakfast settled by the ride, 
 which was partly over a corduroy road, in a wagon without 
 springs, the only advantage derived was enjoyed by the relic 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 177 
 
 hunter, who was enabled to add to his collection a block, that 
 had originally held part of the military telegraph wire and which 
 he detached from the trunk of a tree some twenty feet above the 
 ground, where it had been undisturbed for at least twenty-eight 
 years. Taking the cars at Whitehouse Landing about 12 o'clock, 
 we again moved on to Richmond, passing some of McClellan's 
 battlefields and catching glimpses here and there of the breast- 
 works used by. the Confederates. 
 
 Arriving at Richmond, we had only time for a luncheon and 
 short walk before taking a train for Williamsburgh, and as we 
 passed "Diascund Bridge" we strained our eyes in vain to catch 
 a glimpse of the scene of our first skirmish, where our comrade 
 Bookstaver of Company A fell by the writer's side. Gladly 
 would we have stood once more on that spot and even tramped 
 in the woods, a- short distance out of Williamsburgh for that pur- 
 pose, but the itinerary we had laid out and the time at our disposal 
 would not permit. 
 
 Reaching Williamsburgh about 4 p. m., our genial friend Mr. 
 Lamb, who had joined us at Richmond, left us, but not until he 
 had seen us comfortably settled at the hotel. A visit to the 
 William and Mary College, which all will remember as one of 
 the prominent landmarks of this place, and to Christ Church (first 
 built in 1678 and in which is said is still preserve the font used 
 at the baptism of Pochontas), and a walk through the vil- 
 lage, consumed the rest of the day, and had the wind arisen 
 this night as it did at Coles Island, one of the shutters of the 
 church window would probably have rested uneasily on its hinges 
 for lack of a fastening that had gone to swell the collection of our 
 relic hunter. The following day (Sunday) dawned without a 
 cloud to mar its perfection and with an atmosphere that seemed 
 to make the whole world glad. Breakfast over, we started with 
 a team for our drive to Yorktown, over the same route we had 
 twice traveled in June and July of 1863. Our road took us 
 directly through Fort Magruder, a few miles below Wilhams- 
 burgh, and occupying a comfortable home within its outer works 
 we found a typical "Uncle Tom" and his family, the happy posses- 
 sors of twenty acres of land in fee. Our amateur photographer 
 managed to get a fairly good picture of the group, a copy of 
 which we trust the "Aunt Chloe" received after our return home. 
 Here more relics were added in the shape of a bayonet, but as 
 
•178 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 this had been unearthed a few minutes before our arrival by some 
 lads strolling in the neighborhood, it was necessary to make a 
 purchase of the same. We continued on our way with the proud 
 consciousness of being the legitimate owners of at least one relic, 
 ■ and our spirits rising in keeping with our restored manhood and 
 the beauty of the day, we raised our voices in melody until our 
 sable driver concluded we had come from or were bound to one 
 of the "big meetings" and manifested his sympathy by adding 
 'his own tuneful notes. Just outside of Yorktown we stopped and 
 joined for a few minutes in the service at a colored church that 
 was filled with contented and neatly attired negroes, most of 
 whom had probably known the bondage of slavery. As we en- 
 tered the village of Yorktown our old friend the pilot hailed us 
 from an upper window in "Mrs. Brown's Boarding House," and 
 a few minutes later we were engaged with the repast that had been 
 prepared in anticipation of our arrival. Dinner finished, we al- 
 lowed our pilot friend to pilot us to the cave near the water's 
 edge that tradition says was used as a place of concealment by 
 some of Cornwallis' officers, and to the fine monument that has 
 been erected to commemorate the success of the Continental 
 Army. This and a small brick building, used both as a jail and a 
 repository for county records, were the only structures, we be- 
 lieve, that had been erected here since the Civil War. 
 
 Yorktown certainly afforded a striking contrast to West Point 
 in this respect, and had so far disappointed anyone who might 
 have dreamt of its development into a place of any importance. 
 Dispensing with the services of our guide, we wandered over 
 the fields and agreed that we located the spot where our camp 
 'had been. One pair of eyes at least was strained to find some 
 evidence of the former presence of troops, and was rewarded by 
 finding the half of an army canteen, in which one of our own 
 "boys" had possibly prepared a dish of toothsome "Lobscouse." 
 Recollection of the oysters we had found here in '63 suggested the 
 thought that the members of our party from Long Island might 
 demonstrate their right to the title they had borne, but while ad- 
 mitting their ability to "dig clams," they claimed exemption from 
 that or kindred work while the quartermaster was yet in funds 
 to foot hotel bills. Yorktown having been inspected to our sat- 
 isfaction, we took up our line of march, or ride, and crossed the 
 peninsula to Lee Hall, where we took the train for Old Point 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 179 
 
 Comfort, and spent the night at the Hygeia Hotel. The following 
 morning, after a visit to Fortress Monroe, we crossed to Norfolk, 
 and from there made a side excursion to Virginia Beach, a sum- 
 mer resort on the coast. Returning, the rest of the day was de- 
 voted to Norfolk and the Gosport Navy Yard, on the opposite 
 side of the Elizabeth River. The following morning we took the 
 train for Suffolk, and to the delay caused by a wreck on the road, 
 just where it runs through a portion of the Dismal Swamp, we were 
 indebted for the pleasant acquaintance formed with a Mr. Wood- 
 ward, a resident of Suffolk, who, like our friend at West Point, 
 kindly interested himself in our welfare, seeing us comfortably 
 quartered at the hotel, and engaging for us an excellent guide, to 
 accompany the party into the swamp and to Lake Drummond, 
 lying well in its interior. This excursion, however, could not. be 
 made until the following day, and that afternoon was spent in 
 driving through the town, which had grown to one of consider- 
 able size and importance, and a walk along the banks of the 
 "Nansimond," where the lines of breastworks were still visible, 
 though not so clearly defined as in other localities. The road to 
 the Blackwater, over which the retreat of General Longstreet had 
 been followed, we also followed for a short distance, and then 
 retracing our steps, a search in the opposite direction, which com- 
 pelled us to draw to some extent on our imagination, was made 
 for our old camp grounds. 
 
 The horses which General Grant had generously permitted to 
 be returned to their "spring ploughing" had certainly been at 
 work there, and the city had spread its limits so as to demolish 
 or obscure what had in other localities remained to testify of our 
 presence so many years before. At daylight the following morn- 
 ing we started with our guide and an assistant in a huge flat boat 
 into the Swamp through the "Ten Mile Run," along the banks of 
 which our regiment had picketed, but for what purpose it was 
 hard to understand, for certainly nobody, or anything but snake 
 or winged creature, could advance from that direction. Comrade 
 Hulse had no difficulty in locating the exact spot where his "post" 
 had been, when drenched with rain he found it necessary to first 
 construct a shelter under which he would start a fire to make his 
 coffee, and if he had not at that time succeeded in fishing his 
 hatchet out of the stream where it had fallen, we would probably 
 have been compelled to wait for either him or the relic hunter to 
 
180 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 prosecute the search at this time. Our guide's assistant towed 
 the boat as far as the path could be followed and then poling was 
 resorted to for the rest of the way to Lake Drummond, a beau- 
 tiful sheet of water several miles in extent. Although the Swamp 
 is reported to be the home of many wild animals we saw only 
 water moccasms, but these in abundance. The description of the 
 Swamp has been published so often, we will make no attempt here 
 in that direction. A very comfortable house, designed for the 
 convenience of hunting and fishing parties, had been erected on 
 the shore of the lake, and though we had brought provision for 
 a stay overnight, we finally concluded to make the return trip that 
 day. 
 
 A very pleasant meeting was had at the lake with Colonel 
 Smith of the Confederate service, who urged us to stay and share 
 his mess, and pressed upon us a mixture evidently intended to 
 preserve the garden-mint, with which the inside of the glasses were 
 decorated, and which the English writer previously referred to 
 is credited with ordering the waiter at Delmonico's to "keep on 
 bringing him." Consideration for the more susceptible portion 
 of our party compelled the others to decline the hospitality ex- 
 tended, though with regret. Colonel Smith, by the way, seemed 
 to be a thoroughly reconstructed rebel, and claimed that all 
 should be, who, like himself, carried three Union bullets in their 
 anatomy. Suffolk was not reached until well into the night, and 
 we were glad to seek our beds, though it might be only to dream 
 of water moccasms and the weird scenery of the Dismal Swamp. 
 
 After breakfast we bade farewell to Suffolk and our kind 
 friends and tee>k trre Uaiu for Petersburg, and there a team, to 
 visit what remained of the extensive fortifications that were the 
 last to yield to the assault of the Union Army. Forts Sedgwick 
 and Mahone, known by the more expressive but less elegant titles 
 of "Fort Hell" and "Fort Damnation," on account of the deadly 
 execution of their respective fire, were in a state of preservation 
 that was remarkable, though the large trees growing out of their 
 walls bore evidence of the years which had elapsed since they 
 had served the purpose of their designers. The point of most 
 interest to the general visitor, however, was where "Burnside's 
 Mine" had been exploded within the Confederate works, and the 
 line of the tunnel from our own works to this spot was still clearly 
 defined, some portions of the surface having caved in, while at 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 181 
 
 others the appearance of the top soil would indicate that the tun- 
 nel was still beneath. A deep depression within the works marked 
 the spot where the explosion and eruption had taken place, while 
 on either side and but a short distance removed smaller depres- 
 sions marked the spot where the Confederates had sunk counter- 
 shafts in their attempts to intercept the Union sappers, who it was 
 known were making the approach. 
 
 The owner of the farm told us that for some few years follow- 
 ing the war all the help needed in the way of farm hands could be 
 obtained without other compensation than the privilege of retain- 
 ing the lead picked up. The amount he stated that had been 
 thus gathered seemed almost incredible. Near the "crater," as it 
 was termed, a small building was filled with relics picked up on 
 the battlefields, among which were several minnie balls that had 
 met in midair and been thus welded together; another, a rifle, into 
 the muzzle of which a ball had entered just as its own was leaving, 
 the barrel, ruptured by the compressed air, revealing the two bul- 
 lets pointed towards each other and some twenty inches apart. 
 One relic that caused a feeling of sadness was a small shoe, bear- 
 ing the stamp of its English maker, that had evidently been worn 
 by a mere lad, and which still held the skeleton foot. Driving 
 over towards the river and along the road by its banks, we found 
 first two parallel lines of breastworks and then a third, the facings 
 of which mystified us'until a passing horseman explained that the 
 middle line was originally thrown up and occupied by the Con- 
 federates until they were charged and captured by the Union 
 troops, when the former occupants fell back and prepared the 
 third line. We found much in and around Petersburg that was 
 more interesting to us than it might be to those who may read 
 this letter, and the writer has possibly already grown tedious. Our 
 trip was practically ended, as we would take the train here, pass- 
 ing once more through Richmond, but only to change there to 
 the cars for home. 
 
 We had, during our visits to old. camp grounds and spots 
 made more or less familiar a quarter of a century before, lived 
 over in our memories eventful periods of our lives, and while 
 those years had been fruitful in suffering and deprivation, there 
 are few who participated in their trials and discipline who would 
 now wish that they had not done so. 
 
182 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 A word more before closing this already too long letter. No- 
 where have we been that the hand of our former foe has not been 
 extended in hearty welcome to us. Here and there we have met 
 with those whose affliction had been specially grievous, and with 
 such it was but natural that some bitterness of feeling should 
 linger, but never was this allowed to interfere with our cordial 
 reception as individuals, while the general trend of sentiment was 
 that of regret that the country had ever, even for a time, been 
 divided. 
 
 Had it rested with those who on battlefields had faced each 
 other in deadly conflict, the era of sectional distrust would long 
 since have been passed, and North and South would have joined 
 hands in one common purpose to make our country the grandest 
 and greatest the world has ever known. 
 
 Faithfully yours, 
 
 C. H. WESSELLS. 
 
:27TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 
 
 183 
 
 FIELD AND STAFF. 
 
 Names. 
 Col. Wm. Gurney 
 
 Lt. Col. Stewart L. Wood 
 ford 
 
 Lt. Col. Edwd. H. Little... 
 
 Adjt. John L. Little 
 
 Adjt. Edwd. W. Schauffler, 
 
 Qr. Mr.Albert M.Bradshaw 
 Qr. Mr. Wm H. Dodge 
 
 Surg. Geo. R. Cutter 
 
 Asst. Surg. Pierson Rector 
 
 Asst. Surg. Elbert Rowland 
 Asst. Surg. Chas. B. Dayton 
 Chaplain Eben Francis... 
 Chaplain Saml. B. Willis.. 
 
 Mustered in. 
 
 Aug. 
 
 22 
 
 1862 
 
 Aug. 
 
 22 
 
 1862 
 
 June 18 
 
 1865 
 
 July 22 
 
 1862 
 
 Dec. 
 
 3 
 
 1862 
 
 July 18 
 
 1862 
 
 Dec. 
 
 24, 
 
 1863 
 
 July 23, 1862 
 
 Jan. 
 
 25, 
 
 1864 
 
 Sept 
 
 8, 
 
 1862 
 
 Dec. 
 
 4, 
 
 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 
 
 1862 
 
 Dec. 
 
 30, 
 
 1863 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 Wd Deveaux Neck, S. C, Dec. 
 
 6, 1864. 
 Brev'd Brig. Gen. May 19,1865. 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. 0. March 5, 1865. Pro. Col. 
 
 103 U. S. C. T. 
 Mustd. as Major Sept. 22, 1862. 
 
 Pro. Lt. Col. June 18, 1865. 
 Pro. Capt. Co. A Dec. 2, 1862. 
 Mustd. 1st Lt. Co. D, Sept. 8, 
 
 1862. Pro. Adjt. Dec. 3, 1862. 
 
 Pro. Capt. Co. B, May 31, 
 
 1865. 
 Discharged Sept. 8, 1863. 
 From 2d Lt. Co. F. M. O. June 
 
 30, 1865. ' 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. Dec. 21, 1864. Pro. Asst. 
 
 Surg. Vols. 
 Resigned May 7, 1864. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. Sept! 16. 1863: 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 NON-COMMISSIONED STAFF. 
 
 Names. . 
 
 Sergt. Maj. Geo. J. Collins. 
 Sergt. Maj. Hy.A.Batterson 
 
 Sergt. Maj. Geo. N. Little. 
 
 Sergt Maj.Garrett F.Eaton 
 Sergt. Maj. Jno. J. Riddel! 
 Sergt. Maj. Albert S.Wash- 
 burn 
 
 Mustered in. 
 
 Sep. 
 
 12 
 
 1862 
 
 Feb. 
 
 15 
 
 1863 
 
 Feb. 
 
 1, 
 
 1863 
 
 Apr. 
 
 8, 
 
 1863 
 
 July 
 
 9, 
 
 1864 
 
 Dec. 
 
 22, 
 
 1864 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 Pro. 2d Lt. Co. H Nov. 21, 1862 
 From 1st Sergt. Co. A. Pro. 
 
 2d Lt. Co. A July 21, 1863. 
 From 1st Sergt. Co. B. Pro. 
 
 2d Lt. Co. K Feb. 15, 1863. 
 Pro. 2d Lt. Co. K May 31, 1864 
 From 1st Sergt. Co. H. Pro. 
 
 2d Lt. bo. I Dec. 22, 1864. 
 From Co. C. Discharged acct. 
 
 wounds received Nov. 30, 
 
 1864. 
 
184 
 
 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 Names. 
 
 Mustered in. 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 Sergt. Maj. Geo. B. Reeve. 
 
 June 1, 1865 
 
 From 1st Sergt. Co. H. M. O. 
 June 30, 1865. 
 
 Qr. Mr. Sergt. Wm.H.Dodge 
 
 Sep. 12,1862 
 
 Pro. 2d Lt. Co. F Dec. 2, 1862. 
 
 Qr. Mr. Sergt. Wm.H.Cronk, 
 
 
 w 
 
 Jr 
 
 June 3, 1863 
 
 Pro. 1st Lt & Regt. Qr. Mr. 
 103 U. S. C. T. Feb. 1, 1865. 
 
 Qr. Mr. SergtThos.K.Leslie 
 
 Men 11, 1865 
 
 From Sergt. Co. C. M. 0. June 
 30, 1865. 
 
 Hospl. Stwd. Jos. Salem- 
 
 
 
 
 Sep. 11, 1862 
 
 M. 0. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Com'y Sergt. Sylvester J. 
 
 
 
 
 Sept 8,1862 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Prin. Mus. Wm. D. Corneen 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Prin. Mus. Matthew Edle- 
 
 
 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 MUSTER OUT ROLL OF CO. A. 
 
 Names. 
 
 Mustered in. 
 
 Commissioned Officers. 
 
 Capt. Wm. Howland 
 
 Capt. John L. Little 
 
 1st Lt. H. Jas. Weston. . . 
 1st Lt. Jas. F. Haviland. 
 
 2d Lt. Hy. A. Batterson. 
 
 Sergeants. 
 John Henderson, Jr. 
 
 David Moore. 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 Dec. 3, 1862 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 M. O. Phys. Dis. Dec. 3, 1862. 
 Pro. from Adjt M. O. June 
 
 30, 1865. 
 Pro. Capt Co. F Apr. 8, 1863. 
 Musfd 2d Lt. Pro. 1st Lt. 
 
 Apr. 8, 1863. M. O. Jan. 30, 
 
 1865. 
 Must'd Sergt. Pro. Sergt Maj. 
 
 Feb. 1, 1863; 2d Lt. July 21, 
 
 1863. Wounded Honey Hill 
 
 Nov. 30, 1864. M. O. June 
 
 22, 1865. 
 
 Pro. 1st Sergt. Feb. 26, 1863. 
 M. O. Jan. 29, 1865, for com- 
 mission. 
 
 Pro. 1st Sergt. Mch. 1, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
I2/TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 
 
 185 
 
 Names. 
 
 Saml. O'Neil, Jr 
 
 Thos. Garry 
 
 Nelson Sammis 
 
 Geo. H. Cortelyou 
 
 Jaa. W. Eldridge 
 
 Danl. S. Velsor 
 
 Ed. L. Jones 
 
 Corporals. 
 David Lewis, Jr 
 
 Oakley A. Burbank . . . 
 
 Simon Forshay 
 
 Wm. Bevan 
 
 John S. Finlay 
 
 Gabriel A. Webb 
 
 Wm. H. P. Reed 
 
 Levi A. Farr 
 
 Hy. C. Foote , 
 
 Music. 
 Thos. Cusack 
 
 Privates. 
 
 Sewall Adams 
 
 Edwd. H. Ackerman 
 James Ackerman . . . 
 Isaac T. Brewer 
 
 Mustered in, 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Sept 8,1862 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Sept 8,1862 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 Sept 8,1862 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 Sept. 3, 1864 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Sept 8, 1862 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 Pro. Sergt. Aug. 5, 1864. 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Pro. Sergt. Dec. 21, 1863. 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Pro. Sergt. Aug. 5, 1864. 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Pro. Sergt. Men. 1, 1865. 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. 0. Aug. 12, 1864. Com'd 
 
 Lt. 23 U. S. C. T. 
 Pro. Sergt. Feb. 26, 1863. Died 
 
 Coles Is., Nov. 22, 1863. 
 Must'd Sergt. Transf'd to Co. 
 
 C. Oct. 1, 1862. 
 
 Pro. Corpl. Aug. 5, 1864. M. O. 
 
 June 30, 1865. 
 Pro. Corpl. Aug. 5, 1864. M. O. 
 
 June 30, 1865. 
 Pro. Corpl. Nov. 5, 1864. M. O. 
 
 June 30, 1865. 
 Pro. Corpl. Nov. 5, 1864. M. O. 
 
 June 30, 1865. 
 Pro. Corpl. Mch. 21, 1863. Died 
 
 Morris Is., July 19, 1864. 
 Pro. Corpl. Nov. 5, 1864. Wd. 
 
 Deveaux Neck, Dec. 9, 1864. 
 
 Died Dec. 21, 1864. 
 Pro. Corpl. Nov. 5, 1864. Wd. 
 
 Devaux Neck Dec. 9, 1864. 
 
 Dis'd from hospital. 
 Must'd Corpl. Dis'd Phys. Dis. 
 
 Feb. 15, 1863. 
 Must'd Corpl. Com'd 1st Lt. 
 
 104 U. S. C. T. 
 
 M. 0. June 30, 1865. 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Recruit. M. 0. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
1 86 
 
 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 Names. 
 
 Mustered in. 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 Thos. Birdsall 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Geo. W. Brown 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. 0. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Oct. 27, 1864 
 
 From 144 N. Y. M. 0. June 30, 
 
 
 
 
 1865. 
 
 
 Sept 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Alonzo M. Bookstaver 
 
 Sept 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Wd. Diascon Bridge July 11, 
 1863. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Geo. W. Bailey 
 
 Sept 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Died Dis. Hospl. Oct 25, 1863. 
 
 A. B. Butts 
 
 Sept 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Transf'd to U. S. Reg. Cav.. 
 Nov. 1, 1862. 
 
 Cornelius A. Christie 
 
 Mch 31, 1864 
 
 From Co. F. June 22, 1865. 
 
 
 
 
 Transf'd to 54 N. Y. V. 
 
 Wm. L. Crowell 
 
 Mch 
 
 4, 1864 
 
 Recruit. June 22, 1865. Trnsd. 
 to 54 N. Y. V. 
 
 Coriel N. Cannon 
 
 Oct. 27, 1864 
 
 From 144 N. Y. June 22, 1865. 
 
 
 
 
 Transf'd to 54 i,. Y. V. 
 
 
 Sept 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 David J. Christie 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Disch'd Phys. Dis. Feb. 29, 
 1864. 
 
 Cornelius D. Chapman 
 
 Sept 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Disch'd June 6, 1865, from 
 Hospl. Hilton Hd. 
 
 
 Sept 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Detailed on Rec'n'g Service 
 July 24, 1863. M. O. Hart's 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 Is., N. Y., June 16, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept 8,1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Benj. I. Downing 
 
 Sept 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Transf'd Inv. Corps Mch. 23, 
 1864. 
 
 
 Sept 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 John N. Frazer 
 
 Sept 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Wd. Honey Hill Nov. 30, 1864. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8. 1862 
 
 Wd. Honey Hill Nov. 30, 1864. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Wm. H. Hattan 
 
 Sept 
 
 8. 1862 
 
 Killed action Deveaux Neck, 
 Dec. 9, 1864. 
 
 
 Jan. 
 
 1, 1864 
 
 From Co. I. 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Disch'd Phys. Dis. Dec. 5, 1863. 
 
 Wm. H. Hall 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Disch'd Phys. Dis. Jan. 13,1864 
 
I2/TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 
 
 187 
 
 Names. 
 
 Jaa. C Hefferman 
 
 John C. Hewlett 
 
 Geo. W. Hampton 
 
 John Hough 
 
 Saml. P. Jessup 
 
 Albert W. Jones 
 
 Thos. W. Jones 
 
 Win. H. Jarvis 
 
 Rich'd P. Kelly 
 
 Edwd. Kennedy 
 
 Wm. J. A. Lucas 
 
 Armand J. La Vaud 
 
 Wm. H. Lake 
 
 Peter J. Lydecker . . . 
 
 Thos. McBride 
 
 Franklin McGrath. . . 
 
 Geo. W. Marks 
 
 Wm. L. Mead 
 
 John C. Merritt 
 
 Jas. Murray 
 
 Peter McBride 
 
 Hy. Mosher 
 
 Wm. E. Oakie 
 
 Jesse C. Osborne 
 
 David Pierson 
 
 Jesse K. Piatt 
 
 Francis M. Reynolds 
 
 Mustered in. 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 Oct. 1, 1862 
 
 Mch 31, 1864 
 
 Feb. 22, 1864 
 
 Oct. 1, 1864 
 Sept 12, 1864 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 Oct. 1, 1862 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 Oct. 1, 1862 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 Sept. 8.1862 
 
 Sept 14, 1864 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Sept 8,1862 
 Sept 23, 1864 
 Feb. 27, 1864 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Sept. 3, 1864 
 
 Sept 8, 1862 
 
 Sept 8, 1862 
 
 Disch'd Phys. Dis. Mch. 16, 
 
 1864. 
 From Co. B. Disch'd Phys. 
 
 Dis. Apr. 19, 1864. 
 Recruit. June 22, 1865, trans. 
 
 to 54 N. Y. 
 Recruit. June 22, 1865, trans. 
 
 to 54 N. Y. 
 Recruit. M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Recruit. M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Died Dis., Coles Is., Feb. 13, 
 
 1864. 
 Died Dis. David's Is., N. Y., 
 
 Mch. 4, 1864. 
 From Co. B. M. O. June 30, 
 
 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 From Co. B, Oct. 1, 1862. M. 0. 
 
 June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 From Co. C. Left Regt. Feb. 
 
 16, 1863; rejoined Feb. 28, 
 
 1865. June 22, 1865, transf'd 
 
 to 54 N. Y. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Detailed War Dept. Oct. 10, 
 
 1864. M. O., Washington, D. 
 
 C, Aug. 31, 1865. 
 Recruit. M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Recruit. M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Recruit. Transf'd to 54 N. Y. 
 
 V. June 22, 1865. 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Recruit. Disch'd Hospl. May 
 
 24, 1865. 
 Killed Honey Hill, S. C, Nov. 
 
 30, 1864. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
i88 
 
 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 Names. 
 
 John C. Stevenson 
 
 Ruf us Shipman 
 
 Danl. Stott 
 
 Geo. W. Smith 
 
 Wm. H. Spader , 
 
 Peter Tallman 
 
 Tho6. B. Taber 
 
 James Tompkins 
 
 Alfred G. Thomson 
 
 Edward Towney 
 
 Edward Tucker 
 
 Brundage Tompkins . . . 
 
 Silas A. Underhill 
 
 David M. Votey 
 
 Wm. H. Van Buskirk.. 
 Andrew Vredenburg . . . 
 
 Jonas A. Velsor 
 
 J. Newton Van Tassel. 
 
 Edward A. Waterbury. . 
 
 Alfred Waldron 
 
 Chas. H. Wessells 
 
 Geo. W. Wood 
 
 Wilbur F. Wood 
 
 Abram D. Westervelt . . 
 John Ward 
 
 David Zarr 
 
 Mustered in. 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Sept 8. 1862 
 Sept 8,1862 
 Sept 8.1862 
 Sept 8, 1862 
 Sept 8, 1862 
 Sept 8,1862 
 Sept. 3,1864 
 
 Sept. 
 Sept 
 Sept 
 Sept 
 Sept. 
 Sept 
 Sept 
 Sept. 
 Sept. 
 Sept. 
 
 3, 1864 
 8, 1862 
 10, 1862 
 3, 1864 
 8, 1862 
 8, 1862 
 8, 1862 
 8, 1862 
 8, 1862 
 8, 1862 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 Sept 8,1862 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 Sept 8, 1862 
 
 Sept 8,1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Disch'd Phys. Dis. Dec. 22,1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Recruit. Disch'd Phys. Dis. 
 
 G. O. No. 77. 
 Recruit M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Recruit. M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Disch'd for Com. Jan. 13, 1864. 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 On recruiting service July 24, 
 
 1863. TransfM Inv. Corps 
 
 Mch. 23, 1864. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Disch'd for Com. Feb. 25, 1864. 
 Disch'd Phys. Dis. June 8, 
 
 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 MUSTER OUT ROLL OF CO. B. 
 
 Names. 
 
 Mustered in. 
 
 Commissioned Officers. 
 
 Capt. Geo. W. Cooper 
 
 Capt. Ed. W. Schauffler 
 
 1st Lt John A. Bogart 
 
 1st Lt. Hampton Waldron. 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 Sept 8,1862 
 
 Sept., 1862 
 June 6,1864 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 Resigned Dec 8, 1863. 
 
 Pro. from Adjt ,May 31, 1865. 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Pro. Capt. Co. F Dec. 27, 1862. 
 Aptd. by Gov. of New York. 
 
 Never joined regiment. 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 
 
 189 
 
 Names. 
 
 Mustered in. 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 1st Lt. H. H. Gardner .... 
 
 Feb. 
 
 5, 1863 
 
 Transf d from Co. C Feb. 15, 
 1863. Resigned Mch. 2, 1864. 
 
 2d Lt. John Osborn 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Resigned Oct. 25, 1864. 
 
 Sergeants. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Pro. 2d Lt. Co. C Nov. 29, 1862 
 
 Geo. N. Little 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Pro. Sergt. Mag. Feb. 1, 1863. 
 
 
 Sept. 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Disch'd Phys. Dis. Jan. 9, 1863 
 Wd. Dec. 9, 1864. M. 0. June 
 
 T. D. Seaman ' 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 
 
 
 30, 1865. 
 
 Gilbert J. Brown 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. 0. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 186a. 
 
 T. V. W. Warner, Jr 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. 0. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Disch'd for Pro. Oct. 31, 1864. 
 
 Corporals. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Wd. Nov. 30, 1864. M. O. June 
 30, 1865. 
 
 Ed. A. Hoag 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Wd. Nov. 30, 1864. M. O. June 
 30, 1865. 
 
 Chas. H. Warner 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Chas. J. Newton 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Disch'd Phys. Dis. Aug. 9, 1863 
 
 John Farrell 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Disch'd Phys. Dis. June 8, 1865 
 
 A. W. Gurney 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Transf'd to Co. E Oct. 1, 1862. 
 
 Musicians. 
 
 
 
 
 Tobias Philpot 
 
 From Co. C 
 
 
 A. M. Stanberry 
 
 From Co. C 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Wagoner. 
 
 
 
 
 Alex. Whyte, Jr 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Transf'd to Co. F Mch. I, 1863 
 
 Privates. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Disch'd for Pro. Feb. 9, 1864. 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Killed Deveaux Neck Dec. 9, 
 1864. 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Disch'd Phys. Dis. June 3, 1865 
 
 Myron T. Bennett 
 
 Oct. 
 
 1, 1862 
 
 From Co. D. Died Dis. Nov. 4, 
 1862. 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Disch'd Phys. Dis. Nov. 22, 
 1862. 
 
190' 
 
 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 Names. 
 
 Frank M. Beach. 
 Warren Bateman 
 
 John A. Bloom . . 
 Joseph Bartram 
 
 Alex. Conklin 
 
 David L. Conklin 
 John A. Conklin . . 
 
 John H. Colgate . 
 James Creeny . . . 
 James S. Cornell. 
 
 Robt De Vine 
 
 Thos. Dunning 
 
 Chas. W. Edwards. 
 
 Henry C. Kelley. . . 
 John R. Kenny . . . 
 Horace B. Kitchell. 
 Alfred M. Loutrel . . 
 
 Mustered in 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 Nov. 6,1864 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Oct. 1, 1862 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 Theo. Clarkson Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Alvin S. Clark 
 
 Geo. W. Conklin 
 
 Hy. Debaun 
 
 John Debaun 
 
 Rich'd Evans Sept 
 
 Michl. Fagin 
 
 James Friels 
 
 Zeb. W. Garrison 
 
 G. W. Hoffman 
 
 Wm. W. Hulse 
 
 John Hutchinson 
 
 Geo. Horton 
 
 J. C. Hewlett 
 
 Rich'd Kelly 
 
 Peter Ktrchoff 
 
 Joslah Kellogg 
 
 From Co. D 
 
 Jan. 
 
 12, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1882 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1882 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8. 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sept 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sept 8,1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sept 8,1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 From 144 N. Y. M. O. June 30, 
 
 1865. 
 Disch'd Phys. Dis. Mch. 12, 
 
 1863. 
 Wd. Dec. 9, 1864. M. O. June 
 
 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 From Co. K. M. O. June 30, 
 
 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Disch'd for Com. 159 N. Y. 
 
 Dec. 20, 1863. 
 Disch'd Phys. Dis. May 1, 1864 
 Disch'd Phys. Dis. Dec. 3, 1863 
 Recruit. Died Dis. May 8,1864 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Wd. Dec. 9, 1864. M. O. June 
 
 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Transf'd to Co. F Mch. 1, 1863. 
 
 Transf'd to Co. F Mch. 1, 1863. 
 
 June 30, 1865. 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Transf'd to Co. F Mch. 1, 1863. 
 
 Transf'd to Co. A Oct 1, 1862. 
 
 Transf'd to Co. A Oct 1, 1862. 
 
 Transf'd to Co. F Mch. 1, 1863. 
 
 Disch'g'd Phys. Dis. Nov. 28, 
 
 1862. 
 M. O. June 30. 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Transferred to V. R, C. Jan. 1, 
 
 1865. 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 
 
 191 
 
 Names. 
 
 Mustered in. 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Transf'd to Co. A Oct. 1, 1862. 
 
 Alfred Lonely 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Wd. Dec. 9, 1864. Died Dec. 
 20, 1864. 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 
 Jas. L. Le Hommidieu 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. 0. June 30. 1865. 
 
 Jas. W. Lester 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. 0. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Geo. F. Meakings 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Discharged . 
 
 Nathan T. Morgan 
 
 Nov. 
 
 6. 1864 
 
 From 144 N. Y. M. 0. June 
 30, 1865. 
 
 Thos. U. Miller 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 From 144 N. Y. M. O. June 
 30, 1865. 
 
 Chas. T. Miller 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Detailed on Recruiting Ser- 
 vice July 24, 1863. 
 
 Dan'l E. Morrell 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Transf'd to Inv. Corp. Mch. 15, 
 1864. 
 
 John T. Mott 
 
 Sept 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Transf'd to 54 N Y June 22 
 
 
 
 
 1865. 
 
 Elias H. Miller 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Disc. Phys. Dis. May 29, 1864. 
 Disc, for Com. 38th N. J. Vols. 
 
 James B. Minturn 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 
 
 
 Sept. 29, 1864. 
 
 Chas. P. Morrell 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Disc. Phys. Dis. May 22, 1865. 
 
 
 Aug. 2£; IS til 
 
 From 144th N. Y. M. O. June 
 
 
 
 
 30, 1865. 
 
 Wm. O'Connell 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Dischg. Phys. Dis. Nov. 10, 
 1863. 
 
 
 
 
 Isaiah Prescott 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Dischg. Phys. Dis. Apr. 3, 
 1863. 
 
 Joseph B. Peppers 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Died Beaufort, S. C, Oct. 29, 
 1863. 
 
 Wm. (or Robt.) Pattoon... 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Sidney H. Ritch 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Wm. H. Ritch 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 John L. Rutherford 
 
 Sept 
 
 8. 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Nov. 
 
 6, 1864 
 
 From the 144th N. Y. M. O. 
 June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Nov.2s isiu 
 
 Recruit Transf'd to 54 N Y 
 
 
 
 
 V. June 22, 1865. 
 
 Chas. Rogers 
 
 Mch.28, 1864 
 
 Recruit. Transf'd to 54 N. Y. 
 
 
 
 
 V. June 22, 18B5. 
 
 
 Mch. 20 i .'::: 
 
 Recruit Transf'd to 54 N v 
 
 
 
 
 V. June 22, 1865. 
 
 David L. Shiras 
 
 Nov. 
 
 6, 1864 
 
 From 144 N. Y. M. O. June 
 30, 1865. 
 
192 
 
 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 Names. 
 
 John Smart 
 
 Hy. E. Smith 
 
 Ezra Talmadge . . . 
 
 Wm. Taylor 
 
 Bradley I. Ware . . . 
 
 Thos. Walsh 
 
 Merrltt L. Williams 
 John C. Whittaker 
 
 Stephen A. Wood . 
 
 Mustered in. 
 
 Nov. 20, 
 
 1864 
 
 Apr. 
 
 1 
 
 1864 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8 
 
 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8 
 
 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8 
 
 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 
 
 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 
 
 1862 
 
 Nov. 
 
 6, 
 
 1864 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8. 
 
 1862 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 From 144 N. Y. M. O. June 
 
 30, 1865. 
 From Co. F transf'd to 64 N. 
 
 Y. June 22, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Died Nov. 20, 1862 (typhoid 
 
 fever). 
 Fatally wounded Dec. 9, 1864. 
 Killed Dec. 9, 1864. 
 From 144 N. Y. M. O. June 
 
 30, 1865. 
 Dted,Beaufort, S. C, Dec. 20, 
 
 1863. 
 
 MUSTER OUT ROLL OF CO. C. 
 
 Names. 
 
 Mustered in. 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 Commissioned Officers. 
 
 
 • 
 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 Died Nov. 26, 1862 (typhoid 
 fever). 
 
 Capt. A. W. Fisk 
 
 Sept 8, 1862 
 
 Mustd. 1st Lt. Pro. Capt. 
 Nov. 26, 1862. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Wd. Dec. 6, 1864. M. O. June 
 
 
 
 30, 1865. 
 
 1st. Lt. Horace H. Gardner. 
 
 Sept 8,1862 
 
 Pro. 1st Lt Nov. 26, 1862. 
 Transf'd Co. B. Feb. 15, 1863 
 
 lBt Lt. A. S. Bodine 
 
 Sept 8,1862 
 
 Mustd. 1st Sergt. Pro. 2d Lt 
 
 Nov. 29, 1862. 
 Pro. 1st Lt. May 1/, 1864. M. 
 
 O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Non-commiss'nd Officers. 
 
 
 
 Sergeants. 
 
 
 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Pro. Sergt. Maj. Dec. 22, 1864. 
 Wd. Nov. 30, 1864. 
 
 Thos. K. Leslie 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 Pro. Qr. Sergt. Mch. 11, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept 8,1862 
 
 Died disease May 5, 1864. 
 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 Pro. 1st Sergt May 14, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 
 
 193 
 
 Names. 
 
 Alex. Thain , 
 
 Walter Ashfield 
 
 Corporals. 
 
 Rufus G. Boyd 
 
 Isaac Hall, Jr 
 
 W. R. Hyde 
 
 Isaac Hughes 
 
 James E. Murphy . . 
 
 Musicians. 
 Charles W. Kershaw 
 John B. Polhamus . . . 
 
 Privates. 
 James Armstrong... 
 
 Joseph Ackerson . . . 
 Wm. I. Armstrong . . 
 Hy. A. C. Anderson. 
 Augustus Baker 
 
 Wm. T. Burnett 
 
 John Barry 
 
 Noah Bossen 
 
 Cornelius Bogart, Jr. 
 
 Edgar Blanch 
 
 Hy H.Cobb 
 
 Wm. H. Cronk, Jr... 
 
 John D. Cooper 
 
 Edwd. Dann 
 
 David C. Demorest . . 
 David Durand 
 
 Mustered in. 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 Sept 8,1862 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 Sept. 
 Sept. 
 Sept. 
 
 Sept. 
 
 Sept. 
 
 Sept. 
 
 Sept. 
 
 Sept. 
 Sept. 
 Sept. 
 
 Sept. 
 
 Sept. 
 
 Sept. 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 8, 1862 
 8, 1862 
 8, 1862 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 8, 1862 
 8, 1862 
 8, 1862 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 8, 1862 
 8, 1862 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 Transf d to Inv. Corps Jan. 15, 
 
 1864. 
 M. 0. June 30, 1865. 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O^ June 30, 1865. 
 Disch'g'd Phys. Dis. Apr. 23, 
 
 1865. 
 M.,0. June 30, 1865. 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Killed Honey Hill, S. C, Nov. 
 
 30, 1864. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Transf'd to Inv. Corps Men. 
 
 23, 1864. 
 Disch'd Phys. Dis. June 8, 
 
 1865. 
 Wd. Nov. 30, 1864. Disch'd 
 
 Phys. Dis. May 9, 1865. 
 Wd. Dec. 6, 1864. Disch'd 
 
 Phys. Dis. May 24, 1865. 
 Killed Honey Hill, S. C, Nov. 
 
 30, 1864. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Transf'd to I. C. Jan. 15, 1864. 
 Pro. Qr. Mr. Sergt. June 3, 
 
 1863. 
 Transf'd Vet. Res. Corps Mch. 
 
 13, 1865. 
 Disch'd Phys. Dis. Nov. 1, 
 
 1863. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865 
 Wd. Nov. 30, 1864. M. O. June 
 
 30, 1865. 
 
194 
 
 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 Names. 
 
 Mustered in. 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 Wm. H. Dodge 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Pro. Qr. Mr. Sergt. Sept. 12, 
 1862. 
 
 Hugh Dugan 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 
 Cornelius L. Everett 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Com'd 47th N. Y. V. May 29, 
 1863. 
 
 John H. Evans 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. 0. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Wm. A. Flint 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Disch'd. Com'd in 4th N. Y. 
 H Arty. 
 
 John Fitter 
 
 Sept. 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. 0. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Wd. Nov. 30, 1864. M. O. June 
 
 
 
 
 30, 1865. 
 
 Lemuel Freeland 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 
 Peter Gatens 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 
 Wm. Gallagher 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 
 John W. Garrison 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Died Men. 20, 1863. 
 
 James N. Garrison 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Wd. Dec. 6, 1864. Died Dec. 
 17, 1864. 
 
 Patrick Gilgan 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Wm. E. Groht 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Detailed War Dept. May 25, 
 1865. 
 
 John S. Hedge 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Wd. Nov. 30, 1864. M. O. June 
 30. 1865. 
 
 John M. Haynee 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Wm. M. Haff 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Dis'd Phys. DiB. Feb. 11, 1863. 
 
 John H. Hadden 
 
 Sept 8,1862 
 
 Transf'd to Co. E Oct. 1, 1862. 
 
 Herbert H. Hall 
 
 Sept 8,1862 
 
 Transf'd to Co. G Mch. 1, 1863. 
 
 James Hammill 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Sept 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Wm. D. Hammond 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Myron Jarvis 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Comm'd 1st Lt 127th N. Y. V. 
 Sept. 23, 1864. 
 
 Wm. E. Jarvis 
 
 Sept. 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 8, 1862 
 
 
 Ed A. Kirchoff 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Robt. A. Kerr 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Wd. Dec. 6, 1864. M. O. June 
 30, 1865. 
 
 Thoe. Kerr 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Calvin B. King 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Lewis Levy 
 
 Sept 8, 1862 
 
 Transf'd to I. C. June 18, 1864. 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 
 John D. Lathrop 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Disch'd Phys. Dis. Oct 26, 
 
 1864. 
 
 Peter J. Lydecker 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Transf'd to Co. A Oct. 1, 1862. 
 
 John Monzel 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. 0. June 30, 1865. 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 
 
 195 
 
 Names. 
 
 Wm. Matthews 
 
 Hy. McGee 
 
 Thos. Mahon 
 
 David McNeal 
 
 Alfred T. Norman . . . 
 
 Robt. Napier 
 
 James M. Pierson 
 
 Richard H. Parks .... 
 
 Tobias Philpot 
 
 Thos. J. Quidor 
 
 John W. Romaine. . . 
 
 Abrm. L. Romaine . . . 
 
 John Ryan 
 
 Andrew M. Stanberry 
 
 Edgar W. Storms 
 
 John I. Seaman 
 
 John A. Siebert 
 
 Jas. D. Vanderbilt . . . 
 
 Geo. E. Van Blarcom. 
 
 John M. Wandell 
 
 Evart Wenman 
 
 John H. Wortman 
 
 Mustered in. 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 Wd. Dec. 6, 1864. M. O. June 
 30, 1865. 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 June 30, 1865, on duty at Hd. 
 Qrs. Military Telegraph. 
 
 Disch'd for Promotion Apr. 
 
 16, 1865. 
 M. 0. June '30, 1865. 
 Transf'd to Co. B Oct. 1, 1862. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Detailed to War Dept. Aug. 
 
 13, 1864. 
 At Hospl. July 13, 1863. 
 Transf'd to I. C. Sept. 26, 1863. 
 Transf'd to Co. B Oct. 1, 1862. 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Disch'd Phys. Dis. May 24, 
 
 1865. 
 Disch'd Phys. Dis. Feb. 6, 
 
 1864. 
 M. 0. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 MUSTER OUT ROLL OF CO. D. 
 
 Names. 
 
 Mustered in. 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 Commissioned Officers. 
 
 
 
 Capt. F. K. Smith 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 Wd. Dec. 6, 1864. M. O. June 
 30, 1865. 
 
 1st. Lt. Wm. B. Dean 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 Mustd. 2d Lt. "F." Pro. 1st 
 Lt. "D" Dec. 11, 1862. 
 
 Wd. Dec. 9, 1864. Disch'd 
 Disabled Mch. 27, 1865. 
 
 1st Lt. E. W. Schauffler. . . . 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Mustd. 1st Lt. Pro. Adjt. Dec. 
 2, 1862. 
 
196 
 
 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 Names. 
 
 2d Lt. Chas. A. Benjamin. 
 
 Non-Commls'd Officers. 
 Sergeants. 
 Geo. De Groot 
 
 Hy B. Wilson 
 
 J. G. Robinson 
 
 Fred'k Holt 
 
 Morris K. Barker 
 
 Alex. H. Mulligan 
 
 John Sheppard, Sr 
 
 Corporals. 
 
 Baltus Pfleider 
 
 W. K. Skidmore 
 
 Isaac N. Marsh 
 
 Hiram W. Wines 
 
 Musicians. 
 
 Hy. O. Flaherty 
 
 John Cuddy 
 
 Privates. 
 
 Joseph Allen 
 
 Ledger Boon 
 
 John N. Brach 
 
 Robt. Brown 
 
 Andrew Beatty 
 
 John Brod 
 
 H. L. Baker 
 
 James H. Banks 
 
 Myron T. Bennett 
 
 David Briggs 
 
 W. N. Brooker 
 
 Mustered in 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 Sept 8,1862 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 Jan. 30, 1864 
 Jan. 22, 1864 
 
 Sept 8,1862 
 Jan. 22, 1864 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 Disch'd Disabled May 15, 1863. 
 
 Pro. 1st Sergt. Nov. 1, 1863. 
 
 Mortally Wd. Dec. 29, 1864. 
 Pro. 1st Sergt Jan. 21, 1865. 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Wd. Dec. 6, 1864. M. O. June 
 
 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Disch'd for promotion 149th 
 
 N. Y. V. June 2, 1864. 
 Disch'd for promotion 103d U. 
 
 S. C. T. Apr. 12, 1865. 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Transf d to I. C. Men. 29, 1863. 
 Died disease Aug. 29, 1863. 
 Killed Dec. 6, 1864. 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Wd. Dec. 6, 1864. M. O. June 
 
 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Disch'd Disability Jan. 5, 1864. 
 Disch'd Phys. Dis. May 22, 
 
 1865. 
 Transf'd Apr. 1, 1864, to Co. K. 
 Transf'd to 54 N. Y. V. June 
 
 22, 1864. 
 Transf'd to Co. B Oct. 1, 1862. 
 Transf'd to 54 N. Y. V. June 
 
 22, 1864. 
 Transf'd to Co. G Oct 1, 1862. 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 
 
 197 
 
 Names. 
 
 Mustered in. 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 Danl Bebee 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Died while ab. on furlough in 
 1864. 
 
 Chas. Brown 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 
 Geo. Cuddy 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Wd. Dec. 6, 1864. M. 0. June 
 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Disch'd Phys. Dis. Dec. 29, 
 1863. 
 
 Thos. W. A. Cord 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8. 1862 
 
 
 Christopher Corblay 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Died on march, Sept 12, 1862. 
 
 Daul. Cassidy 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 
 Saml. Chillick 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 
 Alvin S. Clark 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Transf'd to "B" Oct. 1, 1862. 
 
 Bartholomew Clancy 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 
 Wm. Collum 
 
 Jan. 
 
 30, 1864 
 
 Recruit. Transf'd to Co. K 
 Apr. 1, 1864. 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 
 
 Sept 8,1862 
 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. 0. June 30, 1865. 
 
 John Donlevy 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. O., N. Y., June 13, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Disch'd Phys. Dis. Mch, 19, 
 
 
 
 
 1864. 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 David Fitzgerald 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Transf'd to Vet. Res. Corps 
 Aug. 10, 1864. 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Transf'd to "Vet. Res. Corps 
 Apr. 28, 1864. 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Transf'd to Co. H Jan. 1, 1863. 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Died Nov. 7, 1863. 
 
 Piatt B. Gildersleeve 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 
 
 Wd. Dec. 6, 1864. M. 0. June 
 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Disch'd Phys. Dis. Nov. 27, 
 
 
 
 
 1863. 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Wd. Dec. 6, 1864. M. O. June 
 
 
 
 
 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Transf'd Oct. 1, 1862, to Co. K. 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Transf'd to Vet Res. Corps 
 
 
 Feb. 24, 1864. 
 
 Isaac W. Hendrickson 
 
 Oct. 
 
 1, 1862 
 
 From Co. B. Transf'd to Vet 
 Res. Corps Feb. 6, 1864. 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Transf'd to Co. G Oct. 1, 1862. 
 
 
 Feb. 
 
 22, 1864 
 
 ■ Transf'd to Co. I Apr. 1, 1864. 
 
198 
 
 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 Names. 
 
 Mustered in. 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 Dennis Kilfoyle 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Wd. Dec. 6, 1864. M. 0. June 
 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Wd. Dec. 6; died Dec. 9, 1864. 
 
 Gottlieb Liebing 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 
 Danl. B. Loper 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Transf'd to Co. K Oct. 1, 1862. 
 
 Ambrose King 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. 0. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Michael Krupp 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Disch'd Phys. Dis. Nov. 27, 
 1863. 
 
 Hy. Mahnke 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. 0. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Wm. Matthews 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Wd. Dec. 6, 1864. M. O. June 
 30, 1865. 
 
 Thos. Moore 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Transf'd to Co. E Oct. 1, 1862. 
 
 Patrick Melville 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Died July 24, 1864. 
 
 Geo. E. Mulligan 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Died Nov. 2, 1862. 
 
 John McCarthy 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 
 Chas. McCarthy 
 
 Oct. 
 
 1. 1862 
 
 
 Andrew Moss 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 
 Wm. H. Newberry 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Wm. H. Nichols 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Prom Co. E. M. O. June 30, 
 
 1865. 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Disch'd Phys. Dis. July 20*. 
 1863. 
 
 Michl Reilly 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8. 1862 
 
 Transf'd to V. R. C. Sept. 26, 
 1863. 
 
 Francis Russell 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Transf'd to V. R. C. Jan. 15, 
 
 1864. 
 
 Samuel Ranger 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Louis Schwartz 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sent to Hospital N. Y. Sept 
 16, 1862. 
 
 Fred'k Schroeder 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Disch'd Phys. Dis. Dec. 31, 
 1864. 
 
 John A. Seybert 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Disch'd Phys. Dis. Feb. 11, 
 
 1863. 
 
 James John Shepard 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Died Morris Is., July 31, 1864. 
 
 Ed. S. Stephens 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Died Dec. 9, 1862. 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 
 Daniel Turner 
 
 Men. 
 
 3, 1864 
 
 Recruit. Transf'd to 54 N. T. 
 V. June 22, 1864. 
 
 William Tuthill 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Transf'd to Co. K Oct. 1, 1862. 
 
 William Tilley 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Killed Dec. 6. 1864. 
 
 Andrew Thompson 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Died Mch-. 14, 1863. 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 
 
 199 
 
 Names. 
 
 Lafayette Terrill 
 James Thompson 
 Andrew I. Velsor. 
 
 John Vance 
 
 James Whittaker 
 Seymour Wright 
 
 Dan'l I. Wood 
 
 Patrick Walsh . . . 
 
 Ed. Warren 
 
 James Wilson . . . 
 Ira A. Wood 
 
 Mustered in. 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Oct. 
 
 1, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Oct. 
 
 1, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Oct. 
 
 1, 1862 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 From Co. F. Mortally Wd. 
 Dec. 6, 1864. 
 
 Died Mch. 18, 1863. Camp 
 
 Gurney. 
 From Co. F. Transf d to V. 
 
 R. C. Aug. 6, 1863. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 From Co. P. Disch'd Phys. 
 
 Dis. Jan. 27, 1863. 
 
 MUSTER OUT ROLL OF CO. E. 
 
 Names. 
 
 Commissioned Officers. 
 
 Capt. Jas. W. Gurney 
 
 Capt. H. J. Long 
 
 1st Sergt. Geo. S. Sammis . . 
 
 2d Lt. Geo. Proulx. 
 
 Non Com'd Officers. 
 1st Sergt. Garritt F. Eaton. 
 
 1st Sergt. Wm. B. Eaton. . . 
 
 1st Sergt. John Moore 
 
 1st Sergt. Ben. K. Conklin. 
 
 Must* 
 
 jred in. 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 6, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 Disch'd Oct. 23, 1864. 
 
 Pro. Capt. Jan. 12, 1864, and 
 
 assigned to Co. K Feb. 23, 
 
 1864. 
 Mustd. 2d Lt. Pro. 1st Lt. 
 
 May 18, 1864. Wd. Dec. 9, 
 
 1864. M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Mustd. Orderly Sergt. F. Pro. 
 
 2d Lt. May 31, 1864. Wd. 
 
 Nov. 30, 1864. M. O. June 
 
 30, 1865. 
 
 Pro. Qr. Mr. Sergt. Feb. 1, 
 
 1863. M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Pro. 2d Lt. Co. H May 31, 1864. 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Pro. 1st Lt. 103d U. S. C. T. 
 
 Jan. 19, 1865. 
 Pro. 1st Sergt. May 1, 1865. M. 
 
 O. June 30, 1865. 
 
200 
 
 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 Names. 
 
 Sergt. Jacob C. Smith... 
 Sergt. Dennis Maloney . . 
 Sergt. Bunce R. Ketchum 
 Sergt. We H. Beers 
 
 Sergt. Chas. A. Sammis.. 
 
 corpl. John H. Smith 
 
 Corpl. Stephen Bloxham. 
 
 Corpl. John Shoemaker . . 
 Corpl. Ed. Valentine 
 
 Corpl. John Pearsall 
 
 Corpl. Geo. W. Flint 
 
 Corpl. Joseph I. Kampe.. 
 
 Musicians. 
 
 Robt. L. Carpenter 
 
 John H. Hedden 
 
 Wagoner. 
 W. G. Painter 
 
 Privates. 
 
 John Allen 
 
 Wm. Alexander 
 
 Ira W. Ackerly 
 
 Louis Becker 
 
 John J. Brown 
 
 Geo. W. jdrown 
 
 Wm. Bedell 
 
 John S. Baylis 
 
 Edgar R. Bunce 
 
 Geo. W. Bloxham 
 
 Geo. H. Bryant 
 
 Robt. Bennett 
 
 Theo. S. Brush 
 
 Geo. E. Betts 
 
 Mustered in. 
 
 Sept. 
 Sept. 
 Sept. 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 8, 1862 
 8, 1862 
 8,1862 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 Sept. 
 Sept. 
 
 Sept. 
 Oct 
 
 Sept. 
 
 Oct. 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 8, 1862 
 
 8, 1862 
 1, 1862 
 
 8, 1862 
 1, 1862 
 8, 1862 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 Oct 1, 1862 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 Sept 8,1862 
 Sept 8,1862 
 
 Sept 8, 1862 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 Sept 8,1862 
 
 Sept 8, 1862 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 Mch. 19, 1864 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Disch'd Phys. Dis. G. O. No. 
 
 77, A. G. O. 
 Wd. Nov. 30, 1864. Died Dec. 
 
 22, 1864. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Wd. Nov. 30, 1864. M. O. June 
 
 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 From Co. F. M. O. June 30, 
 
 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Wd. Dec. 9, 1864. M. O. June 
 
 30, 1865. 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 From Co. C. M. O. June 30, 
 1865. 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Wd. Dec. 9, 1864. M. O. June 
 
 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Wd. by Torpedo Apr. 15, 1864. 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Wd. Nov. 30, 1864. M. O. June 
 
 30, 1865. 
 Disch'd Phys. Dis. Nov. 10, 
 
 1863. 
 Recruit Transf'd to 54 N. Y. 
 
 V. June 22, 1865. 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 
 
 20I 
 
 Names. 
 
 Mustered in. 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 
 Mch.16, 1865 
 
 Recruit. Transf'd to 54 N. Y. 
 
 
 
 
 V. June 22, x865. 
 
 Smith Bedell 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Taken prisoner July 22, 1863. 
 Died Richmond, Nov. 20, 
 1863. 
 
 Elbert Crawford 
 
 Sept. 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. 0. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Charles Chichester 
 
 M. 0. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Hosea V. Carr 
 
 Sept. 
 Sept. 
 
 8. 1862 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 John S. Carr 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Jacob Cornelius 
 
 Sept. 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Andrew Chichester 
 
 Wd. Nov. 30, 1864. Disch'd 
 
 
 
 
 ■ Phys. Dis. May 22, 1865. 
 
 Manuel Cyphers 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Transf'd to V. R. C. Apr. 1, 
 1865. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Sfjpt. 
 
 8. 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Danl. Drenning 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Missing in action Nov. 30, 
 1864. 
 
 Sylvester Day 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Disch'd Phys. Dis. July 3, 
 1863. 
 
 Thos. Duffy 
 
 Apr. 
 
 1, 1864 
 
 From Co. F. Transf'd to 54 
 N. Y. June 22, 1865. 
 
 
 June 
 
 6, 1865 
 
 Recruit. Transf'd to 54 N. Y. 
 June 22, 1865. 
 
 James Donahue 
 
 Sept, 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 
 Thos. Derby 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Left sick at Staten Isl. Sept. 
 10, 1862. 
 
 
 
 
 Joseph S. Edwards 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Wd. Dec. 9, 1864. M. O. June 
 30, 1865. 
 
 Chas. S. iodell 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Transf'd to V. R. C. Mch. 10, 
 1863. 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Wd. Dec. 9, 1864. M. O. June 
 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Oct. 
 
 1. 1862 
 
 From Co. B. M. O. June 30, 
 
 
 
 
 1865. 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Transf'd to V. R. C. Apr. 6, 
 1864. 
 
 
 Sept. 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Alfred A. Hallock 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Transf'd to Co. D Oct, 1, 1862. 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Died disease Sept. 8, 1863. 
 
202 
 
 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 Names. 
 
 Chas. A. Hellems 
 
 Geo. B. Hall 
 
 Richd. Jayne 
 
 Thos. Jones 
 
 Fleet Ketchum 
 
 Geo. W. Lewis 
 
 Ed. Lee 
 
 Thos. Moore 
 
 John McGregor 
 
 James N. McGregor . 
 A. J. McGregor 
 
 Fredk. W. Moddle . . . 
 Thos. Morris 
 
 Jas. H. Miller 
 
 Diogones Morrill . . . . 
 
 Wm. H. Nichols 
 
 Ezra Pearsall 
 
 Richd. L. Place 
 
 Silas C. Pearasall — 
 
 Enoch Pearson 
 
 Jesse Raynor 
 
 Smith Robbins 
 
 Geo. Ryerson 
 
 Albert Richmuller . . . 
 
 Hy. T. Ritchie 
 
 Nelson P. Smith 
 
 Nicholas Shore 
 
 Ferdinand Shore 
 David Shotwell 
 
 Hamilton R. Sprague 
 
 Mustered in 
 
 Sept. 8 
 
 Sept. 8 
 
 Sept. 8 
 Sept. 8 
 Sept. 8 
 Sept. 8 
 
 Sept. 8 
 
 Oct. 1 
 
 Sept. 8 
 Sept. 8 
 Sept. 8 
 
 Sept. 8 
 Sept. 8 
 
 Mch 16 
 
 Sept. 8 
 Sept. 8 
 Sept. 8 
 
 Sept. 8 
 Sept. 8 
 
 Mch. 16 
 
 Sept. 8 
 Sept. 8 
 
 Sept. 8 
 Sept. 8 
 Sept. 8 
 Sept. 8 
 Sept. 8 
 Sept. 8 
 Sept. 8 
 
 1862 
 
 1862 
 
 1862 
 1862 
 1862 
 1862 
 
 1862 
 
 1864 
 
 1862 
 1862 
 1862 
 
 1862 
 1862 
 
 1864 
 
 1862 
 1862 
 1862 
 
 1862 
 1862 
 
 1864 
 
 1862 
 1862 
 
 1862 
 1862 
 1862 
 1862 
 1862 
 1862 
 1862 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 Wd. Nov. 30, 1864. Disch'd 
 
 May 26, 1865. 
 Died Camp Gurney Mch. 13, 
 
 1863. 
 M. 0. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Wd. Nov. oO, 1864. M. O. June 
 
 30, 1865. 
 Transf'd to V. R. C. June 3, 
 
 1863. 
 From Co. D. Wd. Nov. 30, 
 
 1864. M. O.' June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Disch'd Phys. Dis. Aug. 21, 
 
 1864. 
 Transf'd to Co. K May 1, 1864. 
 Transf'd to V. R. C. Jan. 28, 
 
 1865. 
 Recruit. Transf'd to 54 N. T. 
 
 V. June 22, 1865. 
 Died Nov. 13, ls63. 
 Transf'd to Co. D Oct. 1, 1862. 
 Wd. Nov. 30, 1864. M. O. June 
 
 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Transf'd to V. R. C. Feb. 11, 
 
 i8b4. 
 Recruit. Transf'd to 54 N. Y. 
 
 V. June 22, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Wd. Dec. 9, 1864. M. O. June 
 
 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Transf'd to Co. K May 1, 1864. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Wd. Dec. 9, 1864. M. O. June 
 
 30, 1866. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 
 
 203 
 
 Names. 
 
 John W. Secor 
 
 Andrew Stillwell . . 
 Titus Schofield .... 
 
 L. Smith 
 
 Cornl. M. Sammis . 
 
 Ira T. Soper 
 
 Ed. Sprague 
 
 Benj. E. Tichenor . 
 Elias H. Tichenor 
 
 Jacob B. Tillottson 
 Richard Tiemey . 
 Oliver R. Trembly 
 Thos. P. Tuthill... 
 Wm. H. Valentine. 
 
 Oliver Valentine. . 
 
 Geo S. Weeks 
 
 Dan'l Wellmarth. . 
 
 Mustered in 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 Oct. 1, 1864 
 Sept. 10, 1864 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 Sept. 8, 1882 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Men. 9, 1864 
 
 Oct. 1, 1862 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Oct. 1, 1862 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Recruit. M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Recruit. M. 0. June 30, 1865. 
 Disch'd for Promotion June 
 
 22, 1863. 
 Transf'd to Co. K May 1, 1864. 
 Died Coles Is., Dec. 18, 1863. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Missing in action Nov. 30, 
 
 1864. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Transf'd to Co. K May 1, 1864. 
 Recruit. Transf'd to Co. K 
 
 May 1, 1864. 
 From Co. F. Died Nov. 13, 
 
 1862, at Washington. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 From Co. F. M. O. June 30, 
 
 1865. 
 
 MUSTER OUT ROLL OF CO. F. 
 
 Names. 
 
 Mustered in 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 Commissioned Officers. 
 
 
 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Disch'd Phys. Dis. Dec. 27, 
 1862. 
 
 Capt. John A. Bogart 
 
 Dec. 27, 1862 
 
 Must'd 1st Lt. Co. B. Pro.Capt. 
 Co. F Dec. 27, 1862. Transf'd 
 to Co. H Apr. 8, 1863. 
 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Must'd 1st Lt. Co. A. Pro.Capt. 
 Co. F Apr. 8, 1863. M. O. 
 June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. Com'd as 
 Capt. and awaiting muster. 
 
 2d Lt. Wm. B. Dean 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Pro. 1st Lt. Co. D Dec. 11,1862 
 
 2d Lt. Wm. H. Dodge 
 
 1 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Must'd Qr. Mr. Sergt Pro. 2d 
 Lt. Dec. 11, 1862. Pro. 1st 
 Lt. & Reg'l Qr. M. Dec. 3, 
 1863. 
 
204 
 
 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 Names. 
 
 Non-Com'd Officers. 
 1st Sergt. Geo. Proulx 
 
 1st Sergt. Patrick Rogers . . 
 Sergt. Adolph Klein 
 
 Sergt. James H. Cocroft. . . 
 
 Sergt. John D. Black 
 
 Sergt. John L. Blinkhorn . . 
 
 Corpl. John L. Newball 
 
 Corpl. Val'tine Vandewater 
 Corpl. Alex. Whyte, Jr 
 
 Corpl. Chas. Bentley 
 
 Corpl. Cyrus R. Teed 
 
 Corpl. Alex. McLsavy 
 
 Corpl. Hy. A. Atha 
 
 Corpl. Wm. Garrett 
 
 Corpl. Mich'l Nagle 
 
 Corpl. Julius Kralman 
 
 Corpl. John H. Powers 
 
 Corpl. Jacob L. Guernard . . 
 
 Musician. 
 Hy. Lefter 
 
 Privates. 
 
 Phillip Bauer 
 
 Wm. H. Brown 
 
 Algernon Babcock 
 
 James Burns 
 
 Wm. H. Bedell 
 
 Phillip Bradley 
 
 Fred'k Boland 
 
 Ed. Connell 
 
 Cornelius Christie 
 
 Mustered in. 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Sept 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Mch. 1, 1863 
 
 Sept 8, 1862 
 Sept. 8, 18Si 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Sept 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Sept 8, 186: 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Jan. 12, 1864 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 Sept 
 Sept. 
 Sept. 
 
 Sept. 
 Sept. 
 Sept. 
 Sept. 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 8, 1862 
 8, 1862 
 
 8, 1862 
 8, 1862 
 8, 1862 
 8, 1862 
 8, 1862 
 
 Jan. 4, 1864 
 
 Com'd 2d Lt. Co. E May 14, 
 1864. M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Wd. Honey Hill Nov. 30, 1864. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Wd. Honey Hill Nov. 30, 1864. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Transf d to I. C. Nov. 13, 1863. 
 
 From Co. B. Com'd 2d Lt. 128 
 
 U. S. C. T. Apr. 3, 1865. 
 Transf'd to Co. G Oct. 1, 1862. 
 Disch'd Phys. Dis. Oct. 15,1863 
 Wd. Honey Hill Nov. 30, 1864. 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Disch'd Com'd 2d Lt. 47 N. Y. 
 
 V., Mch. 27, 1863. 
 Wd. Dec. 6, 1864. M. O. June 
 
 30, 1865. 
 Disch'd Phys. Dis., Coles Is., 
 
 Oct. 15, 1863. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Wd. Dec. 9, 1864. June 30,1865 
 Recruit M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Disch'd service by order War 
 
 Dept 
 Disch'd Phys. Dis. Mch. 2,1865 
 Killed in action Nov. 30, 1864. 
 
 M. O. July 24, 1865, at Alexan- 
 dria. 
 
 Recruit. Transf'd to Co. A 
 Mch. 30, 1864. 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 
 
 205 
 
 Namea. 
 
 Mustered in. 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 Hy. C. Conklin 
 
 Jan. 21, 1864 
 
 Transfd to 54 N. Y. V. June 
 22, 1865. 
 
 Wm. Carroll 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Disch'd Phys. Dis. Jan. 12, 
 1863. 
 
 Geo. Christiansen 
 
 Sept- 8, 1862 
 
 M. 0. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Sept. 8.1862 
 
 Wd. Dec. 9 1864 June 30 1865 
 
 Patrick Curran 
 
 Absent in Conv. Camp since 
 
 
 
 June 9, 1863. 
 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 Jan. 21, 1864 
 
 M. 0. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Recruit. Transfd to Co. E 
 
 
 
 Mch. 30, 1864. 
 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Wd. Dec. 6, 1864. Died Dec. 17, 
 1864. 
 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Died Dis. Apr. 5, 1863. 
 
 Matthew Edleman 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 Pro. Prin. Mus. Aug. 22, 1863. 
 
 Michael Fagin 
 
 Men. 1, 1863 
 
 From Co. B. 
 
 Andrew Fisher 
 
 Jan. 12, 1864 
 
 Recruit. Transfd to 54 N. Y. 
 
 
 V. June 22, 1865. 
 
 
 Mch 15, 1864 
 
 Recruit. Wd. Nov. 30, 1864. 
 Transfd to 54 N. Y. V. June 
 24, 1865. 
 
 Willard R. Fisk 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Died Hospl. Sept. 17, 1863. 
 
 James Freels 
 
 Mch. 1, 1863 
 
 From Co. B. Died Yorktown, 
 Va., June 28, 1863. 
 
 John Germain 
 
 Oct. 1, 1862 
 
 From Co. K. M. O. June 30, 
 
 1865. 
 
 Adam Giel 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Disch'd Phys. Dis. Feb. 17,1864 
 
 Isaiah W. Goughler 
 
 Jan. 1,1864 
 
 Recruit Wd. Nov. 30, 1864. 
 Disch'd May 23, 1865. 
 
 Geo F Graff 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Transfd to 54 N. Y. V. June 
 
 
 22, 1865. 
 
 
 Dec. 29, 1863 
 
 Recruit. Absent, sick, June 30, 
 1865. 
 
 
 Aug 22, 1864 
 
 Recruit. Transfd to 54 N. Y. 
 
 
 
 V. June 22, 1865. 
 
 Thos. Harper 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Died Coles Is., S. C, Oct. 24, 
 1863. 
 
 Edwd. Hohenthal 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Wd. Nov. 30, 1864. Disch'd 
 June 2, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Mch. 1,1863 
 
 From Co. B. Wd. Deveaux N'k 
 Dec. 6, 1864. M. O. June 30, 
 1835. 
 
206 
 
 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 Names. 
 Peter Kirchoff 
 
 Lionel Keane 
 
 John Jacobs 
 
 John Jacques 
 
 Chas. Lueckin 
 
 Reuben Lake 
 
 James Little 
 
 Jose Meer 
 
 Neal McMullen 
 
 Hugh McGinniss . . . 
 John Monroe 
 
 Robert McWilliams 
 
 Dennis Naayers 
 
 Geo. B. Peters 
 
 Cyrus B. Norton 
 
 Wm. H. Ploss 
 
 Egbert 0. Reeve 
 
 Geo. Sowalski 
 
 Wm. Snediker 
 
 Robert M. Shotwell. 
 
 Otto Stitness 
 
 Michael Sullivan . . . 
 
 Blisha Suydam 
 
 Pred'k W. Schaefer. 
 Hy. E. Smith 
 
 Geo. Smith 
 
 Sylvester I. Sullivan 
 
 Mustered in. 
 
 Mch. 1,1863 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Sept 8,1862 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Jan. 18, 1864 
 
 Mch 14, 1864 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 8. 1862 
 Jan. 21, 1864 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 Sept 8,1862 
 Dec. 30, 1863 
 
 Jan. 6, 1864 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 From Co. B. Wd. Deveaux N'k 
 
 Dec. 9, 1864. M. O. June 30, 
 
 1865. 
 Transf'd to 54 N. Y. V. June 
 
 22, 1865. 
 Killed Deveaux N'k, S. C.,Dec. 
 
 6, 1864. 
 Died Coles Is., Oct. 26, 1863. 
 Disch'd Phys. Dis. Feb. 17,1863 
 Wd. Honey Hiii Nov. 30, 1864. 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Wd. Honey Hill Nov. 30, 1864. 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Died Morris Is., S. C, Aug. 2, 
 
 1864. 
 Killed Deveaux Neck, S. C, 
 
 Dec. 6, 1864. 
 
 Recruit Transf'd to 54 N. Y. 
 
 V. June 22, 1865. 
 Recruit. Transf'd to 54 N. Y. 
 
 V. June 22, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Disch'd Phys. Dis. Mch. 31, 
 1863. 
 
 Recruit. Transf'd to 54 N. Y. 
 
 V. June 22, 1865. 
 Wd. Dec. 6, 1864. M. O. June 
 
 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Wd. Dec. 6, 1864. M. O. June 
 
 30, 1865. 
 
 Dis'd Phys. Dis. Dec. 24, 1862. 
 Disch'd Phys. Dis. Jan. 29, 1863 
 Transf'd to I. C.'Nov. 13, 1863. 
 Recruit. Transf'd to Co B. 
 
 Mch. 30, 1864. 
 Recruit. Wd. Dec. 9, 1864. M. 
 
 O. May 14, 1865. 
 Ajipt. Com'y Sergt. 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 
 
 207 
 
 Names. 
 
 Mustered in 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 Edwd. Tompkins 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 Wd. Honey Hill Nov. 30, 1864. 
 TTansf'd to 54 N. Y. V. June 
 22, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 M. 0. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 
 Edwin Valentine 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 Transfd to Co. E Oct. 1, 1862. 
 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 Transf d to Co. E Oct. 1, 1862. 
 
 
 Jan. 22, 1864 
 
 Recruit. Transfd to Co. I 
 Mch. 30, 1864. 
 
 
 Jan. 18, 1864 
 
 Recruit. Transfd to Co. I 
 Mch. 30, 1864. 
 
 And. I. Velsor 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Transfd to Co. D Oct. 1, 1862. 
 
 Joseph C. Wiggins 
 
 Jan 18,1864 
 
 Recruit. Transfd to Co. H 
 Mch. 30, 1864. 
 
 Daniel Wellmarth 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 Transfd to Co. E Oct. 1, 1862. 
 
 Daniel I. Wood 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 Transfd to Co. D Oct. 1, 1862. 
 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 Transfd to Co. D Oct. 1, 1862. 
 
 John H. White 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 M. 0. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Jas. G. Wilson 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 M. 0. June 30, 1865. 
 
 John G. Williams 
 
 Jan. 15, 1864 
 
 Recruit. Wd. Nov. 30, 1864. 
 Died Dec. 4, 1864. 
 
 
 Mch 14, 1864 
 
 Recruit. Died Hilton Head 
 
 
 
 Sept. 13, 1864. 
 
 MUSTER OUT ROLL OF CO. G. 
 
 Names. 
 
 Mustered in. 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 Commissioned Officers. 
 
 
 
 Capt. E. S. Henry 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Wd. Deveaux Neck, S. C, Dec. 
 9, 1864. M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 1st Lt. Sheldon A. Hull 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Resigned Feb. 7, 1863. 
 
 1st Lt. Jno. J. Abercrombie 
 
 Jan. 12, 1863 
 
 Must'd as 2d Lt. Pro. 1st Lt. 
 Apr. 29, 1865.' M. O. June 30, 
 1865. 
 
 2d Lt. John L. Gardner 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 Discharged Dec. 26, 1862. 
 
 NonvCom'd Officers. 
 
 
 
 1st Sergt. Chas. S. Cregier. 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Sergt. Elliott E. Wells 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Sergt. Michael Redmond.. 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
208 
 
 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 Names. 
 
 Sergt. Stephen Pigeon 
 
 Sergt. Edwin Le Bar. .' 
 
 Sergt. Geo. \V. Tuthill 
 
 Corpl. John W. Renkins . . . 
 
 Corpl- Peter Whittle 
 
 Corpl. Isaac N. HildretU.. 
 
 Corpl. John D. Oakley 
 
 Corpl. Chas. Bentley 
 
 Musicians. 
 
 Augustine Stroberg 
 
 Conrad Christ 
 
 Privates. 
 
 Wm. Andrews 
 
 Win. Burns 
 
 Robt. Bannerman 
 
 Wm. N. Broker 
 
 Jonathan A. Bennett 
 
 Wm. D. Corneen 
 
 Geo. J. Colling 
 
 Geo. Calvin 
 
 Geo. Clark 
 
 John Cassidy 
 
 James Canfield 
 
 Daniel Clark 
 
 Francis Callahan 
 
 Hy. H. Davis 
 
 Adrian De Vries 
 
 David A. Bdsall 
 
 John Blwood 
 
 Daniel Fitzpatrick 
 
 Adam H. Graham 
 
 James H. Guyon 
 
 Patrick Flannigan 
 
 Patrick Farris 
 
 Mustered in. 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Oct. 
 
 1, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Oct. 
 
 1, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8. 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Jan. 
 
 1, 1864 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 Oct. 1, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 Sept. 
 Sept. 
 Sept. 
 Sept. 
 Sept. 
 Sept. 
 Sept. 
 
 Sept. 
 Sept. 
 Sept. 
 Sept. 
 Dec. 
 
 Sept. 
 Sept. 
 Sept. 
 Sept. 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 8, 1862 
 8, 1862 
 8, 1862 
 8, 1862 
 8, 1862 
 8, 1862 
 8, 1862 
 
 8, 1862 
 8, 1862 
 8, 1862 
 
 8. 1862 
 
 9. 1863 
 
 8, 1862 
 8, 1862 
 8, 1862 
 8, 1862 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Disch'd Phys. Dis. May 2, 1863 
 
 Disch'd for Pro. to 2d Lt. 103 
 
 U. S. C. T. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 From Co. D. M. O. June 30, 
 
 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 From Co. F. 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Prom Co. I. Transf'd to 54 N. 
 
 Y. V. June 22, 1865. 
 From Co. D. M. O. June 30, 
 
 1865. 
 Transf'd to Co. K Oct. 1, 1862. 
 Pro. Prin. Mus. Aug. 29, 1862. 
 Pro. Sergt. Maj. Sept. 12, 1862. 
 Transf'd to I. C. Sept 30, 1863. 
 Transf'd to Co. H Oct. 1, 1862. 
 Disch'd Phys. Dis. Apr. 15,1863 
 Disch'd Phys. Dis. Apr. 15,1863 
 Died typhoid fever June 19, 
 
 1863. 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Died Hospl., Beaufort, S. C, 
 Apr. 4, 1865. 
 
 Disch'd Phys. Dis. Apr. 17,1863 
 Dis'd Phys. Dis. May 31, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 
 
 209 
 
 Names. 
 
 Mustered in. 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 Francis Green 
 
 Sept 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Capt'd at Battery Is., S. C; 
 returned to reg*t Apr. 29, 
 1865. M. 0. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. 0. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. 0. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Herbert H. Hall 
 
 Mch. 
 
 1, 1863 
 
 From Co. C. M. O. June 30, 
 
 
 1865. 
 
 Clement M. Hempstead 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Oct. 
 
 1, 1862 
 
 From Co. K. Injured on Ch'tn 
 Savh. R. R. Feb. 10, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Clarence Klppax 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. Aug. 24, 1865, at N. Y. 
 City. 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. 0. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. 0. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Wd. Dec. 9, 1864. M. 0. June 
 30, 1865. 
 
 Thos. Kelly 
 
 Sept. 
 Jan. 
 
 8, 1862 
 1, 1864 
 
 
 Stillman Le uompte 
 
 From Co. I. Transf'd to 54 
 
 
 
 
 N. Y. V. June 22, 1865. 
 
 Francis Lieb 
 
 Sept. 
 Sept. 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 8, 1862 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. 0. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Wm. Meyers 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Thos. McLaughlin 
 
 Wd. Dec. 9, 1864. M. O. May 
 
 
 
 
 11, 1865. 
 
 Thos. McCarthy 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 John McMekin 
 
 Sept. 
 Jan. 
 
 8, 1862 
 1, 1864 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 From Co. I. Wd. Dec. 9, 1864. 
 
 
 
 
 M. O. May 16, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Died Beaufort, S. C, from wds 
 rec'd Dec. 9, 1864. 
 
 Thos. McDonald 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Killed Deveaux Neck Dec. 9, 
 1864. 
 
 Thos. Murphy 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Drowned bathing Potomac 
 River Sept. 16, 1862. 
 
 Thos. Naughton 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. 0. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Tnos. O'Neil 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Disch'd Phys. Dis. Apr. 15,1863 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. 0. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Transf'd to I. C. May 20, 1863. 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Transf'd to I. C. May 20, 1863. 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Christopher Reardon 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
210 
 
 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 Names. 
 
 Mustered in. 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 Thos. W. Ryan 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Killed Deveaux Neck, S. C, 
 Dec. 9, 1864. 
 
 
 Jan. 
 
 1, 1864 
 
 From Co. I. Transf'd to 54 N. 
 V. Y. June 22, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. 0. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Hugh Smith 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. 0. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Walter W. Salter 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Leopold Seitz 
 
 Sept 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Geo. P. Squires 
 
 Oct 
 
 1, 1862 
 
 From Co. K. M. O. June 30, 
 1865. 
 
 Chas. G. Smith 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Abram Shear 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Disch'd with certified copy of 
 record. 
 
 Patrick Shelby 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Disch'd Phys. Dis. Men, 18, 
 1864. 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Disch'd Phys. Dis. May 2, 
 1864. 
 
 Alex. Shaw 
 
 Sept 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 
 Wm. Smith 
 
 SeDt. 
 
 8. 1862 
 
 
 Armenne Terry, Jr 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Transf'd to Co. K Oct. 1, 1862. 
 
 Albert H. Terry 
 
 Sept 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Transf'd to Co. K Oct. 1, 1862. 
 
 James B. Terry . . . 
 
 Sept 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Transf'd to Co. I Sept 1, 1863. 
 
 Nicholas Thompson . . . 
 
 Sept 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Transf'd to Navy Feb. 25, 1864. 
 
 Wm. H. Talmadge 
 
 Sept 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Hy. F. Vail 
 
 Sept 
 Sept. 
 
 8 1862 
 
 Transf'd to Co. K Oct. 1, 1862. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Wm. Walsh 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Ed. L. White 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Wd. Dec. 9, 1864. M. O. May 
 16, 1865. 
 
 Joseph Weiner 
 
 Sept 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Capt'd by enemy at Battery 
 Is., S. C, Nov. 23, 1863; not 
 afterward heard of. 
 
 Reuben Warner 
 
 Sept 
 Sept 
 
 8 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 James Wilkinson 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Geo. a. Weed 
 
 Sept 
 Sept 
 
 8 1862 
 
 M. 0. June 30, 1865. 
 Disch'd Phys. Dis. Aug. 22, 
 1864. 
 
 James Wallace 
 
 8 1862 
 
 
 
 Hy. Wilson 
 
 Sept 
 Sept 
 
 8 1862 
 
 
 John Walters 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 
 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 
 
 211 
 
 MUSTER OUT ROLL OF CO. H. 
 
 Names. 
 
 Commissioned Officers. 
 
 Capt. Oliver B. Vail 
 
 Capt. John A. Bogart 
 
 1st Lt. Zebulon H. Brower 
 1st Lt. Geo. J. Collins 
 
 1st Lt. J. Henry Young... 
 2d Lt. Wm. B. Eaton 
 
 Non Commis'd Officers. 
 1st Sergt. Hy. W. Prince. . 
 
 1st Sergt. J. J. Reddell 
 
 1st Sergt. J. Hy. Youngs.., 
 Sergt. Benj. R. Penny 
 
 1st Sergt. Geo. B. Reeve . . . 
 
 Sergt. Thos. E. Reeve 
 
 Sergt. Horatio N. Booth . . . 
 
 Sergt. J. Addison Corwin. . 
 
 Sergt. Chas. S. Tillinghast. 
 
 Sergt. Ed. P. Hunting 
 
 Sergt. A. W. Turbish 
 
 Sergt. W. W. Sterling 
 
 Corpl. Anthony Heany.... 
 Corpl. Wm. E. Shipman. . . 
 
 Sergt. Robt. Jefferson 
 
 Corpl. Oliver A. Mayo 
 
 Corpl. B. T. Payne 
 
 Corpl. A. Judson Smith . . . 
 Corpl. Jesse G. Case 
 
 Corpl. Chatham Corwin 
 
 Mustered in 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Apr. 8, 1863 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 May 27, 1864 
 
 Nov 24, lo62 
 May 31, 1864 
 
 Sept. 
 Sept. 
 Sept. 
 Sept. 
 
 Sept. 
 Sept. 
 Sept. 
 
 Sept. 
 
 Sept. 
 
 Sept. 
 
 Sept. 
 Sept. 
 
 Sept. 
 Sept. 
 Sept. 
 Sept. 
 Sept. 
 Sept. 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 8, 1862 
 8, 1862 
 8, 1862 
 
 8, 1862 
 8, 1862 
 8, 1862 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 8, 1882 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 8, 1862 
 8, 1862 
 
 8, 1862 
 8, 1862 
 8, 1862 
 8, 1862 
 8, 1862 
 8, 1862 
 8, 1862 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Resigned Men. 9, 1863. 
 Transf'd from "F." M. O. for 
 
 Com. as Lt. Col. 128 U. S. 
 
 C. T. 
 Resigned Nov. 24, 1862. 
 From 2d Lt. Co. H Nov. 21, 
 
 1862, and 1st Lt. "H" May 
 
 27, 1864. 
 Pro. from Sergt. M. 0. Jan. 
 
 26, 1864. 
 From Ord. Sergt. Co. E. M. O. 
 
 June 30, 1865. 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Pro. Sergt. Major July 9, 1864. 
 Pro. 1st Lt. "H" Nov. 24, 1862. 
 Died Cloud's Mills, Va., Apr. 
 
 1, 1863. 
 Pro. Sergt. Maj. June 1, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Disch'd for Com. 66 N. Y. V. 
 
 Aug. 8, 1864. 
 Disch'd for Com. 103d U. S. C. 
 
 T. Mch. 7, 1865. 
 Disch'd for Com. 103d U. S. C. 
 
 T. Apr. 12, 1865. 
 M. O. Oct. 30, 1863. Com'd in 
 
 47th N. Y. V. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Absent on Furlough June 30, 
 
 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Disch'd May 30, 1863 for Com. 
 
 47 N. Y. V. 
 Disch'd for Phys. Dis. Feb. 23, 
 1864. 
 
212 
 
 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 Names. 
 
 Corpl. Barnabas Billard. 
 
 Corpl. Benj. H. Terry. 
 
 Corpl. Geo. E. Lathrop... 
 
 Musicians. 
 Geo. Clark 
 
 Robt. Gurry. 
 
 Wagoner. 
 Franklin B. 
 
 Mustered in 
 
 Goldsmith. 
 
 Privates. 
 Saml. Ash 
 
 James R. Aldrich . . 
 Thos. Alexander. . . 
 
 And. J. Bennett 
 
 Leonard T. Britton 
 Geo. Ju. P. Booth... 
 Chas. H. Belding. . . 
 
 B. T. Billard 
 
 John H. Benjamin . 
 
 Selden J. Bennett . , 
 
 Wm. I. Buckley 
 
 Gilbert A. Brown . . , 
 
 Geo. A. Brown 
 
 John Bourke 
 
 Ascer D. Cahn 
 
 Geo. Culver 
 
 Geo. D. Connell 
 
 Albin W. Case 
 
 A. Wickham Case.. 
 Geo. M. Clark 
 
 Sept. 8, 1S62 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Oct. 1, 1862 
 
 Jan. 1, 1863 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 Feb 11, 1864 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Apr. 12, 1865 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Mch 15, 1865 
 
 Sept. 8, 1S62 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Sept 8, 1862 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Apr. 8, 1865 
 
 Mch. 3, 1865 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Nov 28, 1863 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Feb 19, 1864 
 
 Dischg'd for Phys. Dis. Nov. 1, 
 
 1863. 
 Dischd for Phys. Dis. Nov. 12, 
 
 1863. 
 Wd. Eec. 29, 1864; died Jan. 
 
 12, 1865. 
 
 From Co. G. 
 
 1865. 
 From Co. D. 
 
 1865. 
 
 M. O. June 30, 
 M. O. June 30, 
 
 Diseh'd 
 1863. 
 
 Phys. Dis. Oct. 9, 
 
 Wd. Nov. 30, 1864; June 30, 
 
 1865, ab. in Hospl. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Recruit. Transf'd to 54 N. Y. 
 
 V. June 22, 1865. 
 Transf'd to I. C. June 22, 1864. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June isO, 1865. 
 Recruit. Transf'd to 54 N. Y. 
 
 V. June 22, 1865. 
 Diseh'd Phys. Dis. on Coles 
 
 Isl., S. C. 
 Died Nov. 14, 
 
 ton, D. C. 
 M. O. June 30, 
 M. O. June 30, 
 
 1862, Washing- 
 
 1865. 
 1865. 
 
 Recruit. Transfd to 54 N. Y. 
 
 V. June 22, 1865. 
 Recruit. Transfd to 54 N. Y. 
 
 V. June 22, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Recruit. Transf'd to 54 N. Y. 
 
 V. June 22, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Recruit Transf'd to 54 N. Y. 
 
 V. June 22, 1865. 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 
 
 213 
 
 Names. 
 
 Walter Carpenter .... 
 
 John Collins 
 
 James H. Cox 
 
 John D. Cleveland 
 
 David T. Conklin 
 
 jOuU Dunn 
 
 Wilbur H. Drake 
 
 Fredk. Ewald 
 
 Edwin Edwards 
 
 Robt. Ebbetts 
 
 Smith Ewart 
 
 Ed. Fanning 
 
 Hy. Gaffga 
 
 Jacob A. Garrodita. . . 
 L. Wellington Gillette 
 
 h. M. Gaviston 
 
 Saml. Harris 
 
 Chas. H. Havens 
 
 Hy. 0. Horton 
 
 G. Frank Hommell . . . 
 
 Hy. M. Hallock 
 
 benj. A. Horton 
 
 John Hoff incinek 
 
 Elbert Hutchinson . . . 
 Leonard Jackman .... 
 
 John Kelly 
 
 John H. Kasson 
 
 John W. Kloipp 
 
 Geo. B. Ledyard 
 
 Jonathan C. Merrill . . 
 David Mansfield 
 
 Isaac P. Moore 
 
 Joseph McNamee 
 
 Chas. B. Moore 
 
 Ed. Murphy 
 
 ■Reni. F. Moore 
 
 Mustered in. 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 M. 0. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 M. 0. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Men. 5,1864 
 
 Recruit. Transf'd to 54 N. Y. 
 
 
 V. June 22, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 June 30, 1865, absent ob 
 lough. 
 
 fur- 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 M. 0. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Jan., 1864 
 
 Recruit. Transf'd to 54 N. Y. 
 
 
 V. June 22, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 M. 0. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Wd. Dec. 9, 1864. M. O. 
 30, 1865. 
 
 June 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 Disch'd Phys. Dis. Dec. 5 
 
 1862 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 Disch'd Phys. Dis. Apr. 9 
 
 ,1863 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Died Hospl. Washington, 
 Nov. 14, 1862. 
 
 D.C., 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Transf'd to I. C. Apr. 15, 
 
 1865. 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 M. 0. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Mch 16, 1865 
 
 Recruit. 
 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 Detailed War Dept. Nov. 30, 
 
 
 1864. 
 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 M. 0. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Mch 24, 1865 
 
 Transf'd to 54 N. Y. V. 
 22, 1865. 
 
 June 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Disch'd Phys. Dis. Feb. 27,1864 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Transf'd to I. C. Aug. 10, 
 
 1864. 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 M. 0. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 M. 0. June 30. 1865. 
 
 
214 
 
 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 Names. 
 
 Wm. P. McManus. 
 
 Joseph Newton 
 
 Theo. Overton 
 
 Wm. Osborn 
 
 Ed. Oldrin 
 
 Chas. E. Overton... 
 
 Warren Overton 
 
 Michl. Pennyfeather 
 
 Grover Pease . . . 
 Wm. E. Price . . 
 Sidney B. Petty. 
 Joseph Rafferty . 
 Jacob Reis 
 
 Danl. Smith 
 
 Chas. H. Snedeker. 
 Jeremiah Sullivan . 
 Lyman M. Sutton . . 
 Barton D. Skinner. 
 E. W. Tuthill 
 
 Chas. E. Terry. 
 C. Hy Wells... 
 Geo. C. Wells.. 
 Geo. B. Wells.. 
 Hy. H. Wood.. 
 Hy. K. Wood... 
 John Wright . . 
 
 Theo. A. Wiggins. 
 Joseph C. Wiggins. 
 
 John H. Young. 
 John S. Young. 
 
 Mustered in 
 
 Francis A. Witz . 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Apr 10, 1865 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Sept. 1, 1864 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Sept 8,1862 
 Sept 8,1862 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 Sept 8, 1862 
 Sept 8, 1862 
 Apr 12, 1865 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Apr. 1, 1864 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Sept 8, 1862 
 
 Feb 24, 1864 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 Wd. Dec. 9, 1864, and mortally 
 wd. at Salkahatchie Feb. 12, 
 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Dis'd Phys. Dis. Dec. 14, 1863. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Transf'd to 54 N. Y. V. June 
 
 22, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Died Morris Is., July 6, 1864. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Killed Burnt Ordinary, Va., 
 
 June 12, 1863. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Recruit. M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Capt'd July, 1863, 
 
 Richmond, Va., 
 
 1863. 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Dis'd Phys. Dis. Nov. 1, 1863. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 June 30, 1865. 
 Transf'd to 54 N. Y. V. June 
 
 22, 1865. 
 Wd. Nov. 30, 1864. June 30 
 
 1865. 
 From Co. F. Transf'd to 54 N. 
 
 Y. V. June 22, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Died Oct. 20, 1863, while on 
 
 furlough. 
 Recruit. Transf'd to 54 N. Y. 
 
 V. June 22, 1865. 
 
 and died 
 Nov. 10, 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 
 
 215 
 
 MUSTER OUT ROLL OF CO. I. 
 
 Names. 
 
 Comm'd Officers. 
 
 Capt. Richard Allison 
 
 1st Lt. H. B. Dennison : . . . 
 
 1st lit. Myron Jarvis. 
 
 2d Lt. G. H. L. Coggeshall. 
 2d Lt. John J. Riddell 
 
 Non Com'd Officers. 
 
 1st Sergt. Saml. A. Miller.. 
 
 Sergt. Wm. Southard 
 
 Sergt. Geo. B. Jayne 
 
 Sergt. John B. Albin 
 
 Sergt. Wm. C. Johnson — 
 Corpl. P. B. Ketchum 
 
 Corpl. Jas. Boswick, Jr 
 
 Corpl. Alfred C. Tillotson.. 
 
 Corpl. Chas. W. Bogart 
 
 Sergt. And. J. Ford 
 
 Sergt. Chas. B. Pitts 
 
 Sergt. Geo. Price 
 
 Sergt. Wm. H. Smith 
 
 Musicians. 
 
 Michl. H. Dooley 
 
 Jas. H. Serene 
 
 Wagoner. 
 Geo. Mott 
 
 Privates. 
 
 J. E. Arnold 
 
 Jeremiah Albin 
 
 Uobt. Bannerman 
 
 Geo. A. Baldwin 
 
 John Brown 
 
 Nathl. B. Baldwin 
 
 Mustered in. 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Sept 23, 1864 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 Dec 23,1864 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Sept 8,1862 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 8, 186-: 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 M. O. by G. 0. No. 25, Dept. of 
 
 Bast. 
 Com'd by Gov. N. Y. M. 0. 
 
 June 13, 1865. 
 M. O. July 14, 1864. 
 Pro. from Sergt. Maj. M. 0. 
 
 June 30, 1865. 
 
 Wd. Dec. 29, 1864. M. 0. June 
 
 30. 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. u. June 30, 1865. 
 Died Hampton, Va., Aug. 1, 
 
 1863. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Dis'd Phys. Dis. July 15, 1864. 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Died Reg'l Hospl. Nov. 14,1862 
 Transf'd to Co. G Jan. 1, 1864. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Dis'd Phys. Dis. Apr. 9, 1863. 
 Wd. Feb. 9, 1865. June 30, 
 1865, absent in hospital. 
 
2l6 
 
 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 Names. 
 
 Benj. B. Bennett.. 
 Janeway V. Bogart . 
 
 Geo. Box 
 
 Geo. G. Brown 
 
 Wm. W. Brown 
 
 James P. Bogart 
 
 Chas. Baker. . . 
 Ethel S. Birch. 
 Lucius Balcom. 
 Conrad Bruce . . 
 
 Jas. Carroll 
 
 Martin Uarroll . . 
 Geo. W. Conklin. 
 Joseph Crawford 
 John H. Conk 
 
 Bernard Clark 
 
 John Davis 
 
 Cornelius Denny. 
 
 Harvey Doolittle. 
 Wm. Doorman . . 
 Wallace Dunbar , 
 
 Michl. Dean 
 
 John Edwards 
 
 Ed. Davis 
 
 Alex. J. Fisher... 
 Chas. C. Pox 
 
 James Freeman . . . 
 John L. Ferguson. 
 
 Lewis Furman.... 
 
 John T. Fagan. 
 Emery Frost . . 
 
 Matthias Finch. 
 
 Michl. Galvin. 
 Jas. F. Green. 
 
 Mustered in, 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 Oct. 27,1864 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Sepi. 8, 1862 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Oct. 14,1864 
 
 Sept 8, 1862 
 Sept 8,1862 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Sept 8, 1862 
 Apr 22, 1864 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Oct 27, 1864 
 
 Sept 8, 1862 
 Sept 8,1862 
 Oct 28, 1864 
 Sept 8,1862 
 Dec. 9, 1863 
 Sept 8, 1862 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Sept 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Oct 27,1864 
 
 Sept 8, 1862 
 
 Sept 8, 1862 
 Sept 8, 1862 
 
 Sept 8,1862 
 
 Sept 8,1862 
 Oct. 27,1864 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 From 144 N. Y. M. O. June 30, 
 
 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Transf'd to 54 N. Y. V. June 
 
 22, 1865. 
 M. O, June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Dis'd Phys. Dis. Aug. 20, 1863. 
 Transf'd to 54 N. Y. V. June 
 
 22, 1865. 
 Died Hospl. Beaufort, S. C, 
 
 Nov. 15, 1863. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 From 144 N. Y. M. O. June 30, 
 
 1865. 
 Dis'd Phys. Dis. May 3, 1865. 
 Dis'd Phys. Die. Apr. 15, 1863. 
 Dis'd Phys. Dis. May 3, 1865. 
 Died Coles Is., Feb. 5, 1864. 
 Transf'd to Co. K Jan. 1, 1864. 
 Died Camp Bliss Nov. 9, 1862. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Wd. Dec. 6, 1864. M. O. June 
 
 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 From 144 N. Y. M. O. June 30, 
 
 1865.. 
 Died Yorktown, Va_, June 16, 
 
 1863. 
 Transf'd to Co. K Oct 1, 1862. 
 Died Point Lookout, Md., July 
 
 21, 1863. 
 Died Beaufort, S. C, Oct. 7, 
 
 1863. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 From 144 N. Y. M. O. June 30, 
 1865. 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 
 
 217 
 
 Names. 
 Jefferson Graham. . . 
 
 Geo. W. Gordon 
 
 Alex. Hart 
 
 Chas. A. Jepson 
 
 John Jarvis 
 
 Isaac H. Johnson . . . 
 
 James Johnson 
 
 E. R. Jaquish 
 
 Danl. Lowe 
 
 James H. Leeck 
 
 Gabrielle Labelle . . . 
 
 Stillman Lecompte . 
 
 Martin Lowrie 
 
 Joseph G. Marsh 
 
 Thos. Middleton 
 
 Wm. B. Miller 
 
 Benj. B. Morrison... 
 
 Joshua P Miller 
 
 Francis Massey 
 
 Wm. Murphy 
 
 Hy. W. Mprenus 
 
 Geo. H. Montgomery 
 
 Peter Murphy 
 
 Jacob Mather 
 
 Jesse Munsey 
 
 Joseph Meeker 
 
 John Nolan 
 
 John O'Brien .- 
 
 Owen O'Brien 
 
 John Oakley 
 
 Piatt Pedrick 
 
 Hy. Pope 
 
 Geo. Robbins 
 
 Mustered in. 
 
 Oct 27, 1861 
 
 Aug 29, 1864 
 
 Nov 25, 1863 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Jan. 21, 1864 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Oct. 27,1864 
 
 Oct. 27, 1864 
 
 Sept-8rl862 
 Oct. 10,186-! 
 
 Nov 
 Sept. 
 Sept 
 Sept. 
 Sept 
 Sept 
 Sept 
 Dec. 
 Sept 
 Oct 
 
 27, 1863 
 8, 1862 
 8, 1862 
 
 8. 1862 
 
 8. 1863 
 8, 1862 
 
 8. 1862 
 
 5. 1863 
 8, 1862 
 
 27, 1864 
 
 Oct. 27, 1864 
 
 Sept 8, 1862 
 Dec. 1, 1863 
 
 Sept 8, 1862 
 Oct. 7, 1864 
 
 Dec. 5, 1863 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Sept 8, 1862 
 Sept 8,1862 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 Oct. 27, 1864 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 Prom 144 N. Y. M. O. June 30, 
 
 1865. 
 From 144 N. Y. M. 0. June 30, 
 
 1865. 
 Transf'd to Co. A Jan. 1, 1864. 
 Transfd to I. C. Sept. 16, 1863. 
 M. 0. June 30, 1865. 
 Transf'd to 54 N. Y. V. June 
 
 22, 1865. 
 M. 0. June" 30, 1865. 
 From 144 N. Y. M. O. June 30, 
 
 1865. 
 From 144 N. Y. M. O. June 30, 
 
 1865. 
 Dis'd Phys. Dis. July 9, 1863. 
 Wd. Dec. 6, 1864. Transf'd to 
 
 54 N. Y. V. June 22, 1865. 
 Transf'd to Co. G Jan. 1, 1864. 
 
 M. 0. June 30, 1865. 
 
 M. 0. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Transf'd to Co. K Oct. 1, 1862. 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Transf'd to Co. K Oct. 1, 1862. 
 
 Transf'd to Co. G Jan. 1, 1864. 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 From 144 N. Y. M. 0. June 30, 
 
 1865. 
 From 144 N. Y. M. 0. June 30, 
 
 1865. 
 June 30, 1865. 
 Transf'd to 54 N. Y. V. June 
 
 22, 1865. 
 Transf'd to I. C. Sept 25, 1863. 
 Transf'd to 54 N. Y. V. June 
 
 22, 1865. 
 Transf'd to 54 N. Y. V. June 
 
 22, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30," 1865. 
 Died Camp Bliss Jan. 5, 1863. 
 June 30, 1865. 
 
 Dis'd Phys. Dis. Nov. 30, 1865. 
 From 144 N. Y. M. 0. June 30, 
 
 1865. 
 
2l8 
 
 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 Names. 
 
 Mustered in. 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 M. 0. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 M June 30 1865. 
 
 
 John A. Sammis 
 
 M. u. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 
 Oct. 27,1864 
 
 From 144 N. Y. M. 0. June > 
 
 
 
 1865. 
 
 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Medad Smith 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 Dis'd Phys. Dis. Aug. 5, 
 
 1863. 
 
 Joel B. Smith 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Peter N. Smith 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 
 
 Floyd Tooker 
 
 Dis'd Phys. Dis. Apr. 13, 
 
 1863. 
 
 Geo. Varian 
 
 Men 30, 1864 
 
 From Co. F. Transf'd 
 N. Y. V. June 22, 1865. 
 
 to 54 
 
 Hy. Van Cott 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 
 Mch 30, 1864 
 
 From Co. F. Transf'd 
 N. Y. V. June 22, 1865 
 
 to 54 
 
 Geo. W. Van Houton 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 M. 0. June 30. 1865. 
 
 
 Phillip Van Houton 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 M. O. Oct. 8, 1863. 
 
 
 Angus G. Walker 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Geo. S. Wicks 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 James Wilson 
 
 Dec. 1,1863 
 
 Transf'd to 51 N. Y. V. 
 22, 1865. 
 
 June 
 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 Wd. Nov. 30, 1864. M. O. 
 30, 1865. 
 
 June 
 
 Wm. H. Youngs 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 M. 0. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 MUSTER OUT ROLL OF CO. K. 
 
 Names. 
 
 Mustered in, 
 
 Comm'd Officers. 
 Capt. Abram De Bevoise 
 Capt. H. J. Long 
 
 1st Lit. Jesse G. Raynor. , 
 1st Lt. Geo. N. Little 
 
 2d Lt. Chas. P. Cook 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 Jan. 12, 1864 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Jan. 19, 1864 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 Resigned Dec. 27, 1862. 
 From 1st Lt. Co. E. Wd. Dec. 
 
 9, 1864. M. 0. June 30, 1865. 
 Resigned March 21, 1864. 
 Pro. 2d Lt Co. K Feb. 15, 
 
 1863; 1st Lt Jan. 19, 1864. 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Resigned Feb. 15, 1863. 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 
 
 219 
 
 Names. 
 
 Mustered in. 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 2d. Lt. Garrett F. Baton 
 
 May 31, 1864 
 
 From Sergt. Maj. M. 0. June 
 30, 1865. 
 
 Non Com'd Officers . , , . 
 
 ■ 
 
 
 1st Sergt. David S. Sherrill 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Dis'd for Pro. Nov. 17, 1862. 
 
 1st Sergt. Ed. T. Nicoll.... 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 Wd. Dec. 9, 1864, and dis'd on 
 acct. of wds. 
 
 Sergt Wm. B. Bailey 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 M. 0. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Sergt. Lester S. Hill 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Dis'd Phys. Dis. Oct. 15, 1863. 
 
 Sergt Dennis Lynch 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 June 30, 1865. 
 
 Sergt. Albert H. Terry 
 
 Oct. 1, 1862 
 
 From Co. G. M. O. June 30, 
 1865. 
 
 Sergt. Chas. B. Dayton 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 Pro. Asst. Surg. Dec. 20, 1862. 
 
 Sergt. Albert A. Halsey... 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Sergt. Egbert C. Corwin. . . 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Wd. Nov. 30, 1864. Dis'd May 
 26, 1865. 
 
 Corpl. Theo. P. Gould 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 From Co. G. Died Oct. 20, 
 1862. 
 
 Corpl. Geo. W. Corwin 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Wd. Dec. 9, 1864. M. O. June 
 30, 1865. 
 
 Corpl. Timothy W. Warren 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Corpl. Fredk. H. Rose 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, .1*65. 
 
 Corpl. Erastus E. Halsey.. 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 Wd. Nov. 30, 1864. M. O. June 
 30, 1865. 
 
 Corpl. Theo. F. Harris 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Corpl. Parminus Terry. . . . 
 
 Oct. 1, 1862 
 
 From Co. G. Wd. Dec. 9, 1864, 
 
 J 
 
 
 and died of wds. 
 
 Musician. 
 
 
 
 
 Oct. 1, 1862 
 
 From Co. I. M. O. June 30, 
 
 
 
 1865. 
 
 Privates 
 
 
 
 Kobt. U. Armstrong 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Died Upton Hill, Va., Jan. 9, 
 1863. 
 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Died Folly Is. Sept 22, 1863. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Died Coles Is., S. C, Dec. 23, 
 
 
 
 1863. 
 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 M. 0. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30. 1865. 
 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Wd. Nov. 30, 1864. June 30, 
 1865. 
 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 
 Dis'd Phys. Dis. Dec. 30, 1862. 
 
220 
 
 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 Names. 
 
 uavid B. Brown 
 
 Wm. H. urown 
 
 Ohas. L. Brown 
 
 Jonathan A. Bennett. 
 
 Snas E. Brown 
 
 Nathan M. Bennett. 
 Hy. I... Baser 
 
 Saml. P. Colvin 
 
 Stephen H. Crowell. 
 
 Joseph Corey 
 
 John A. Conklin . . 
 Egbert C. Corwin. 
 Wm. W. solium. . . 
 
 Dwight t: Dunham. 
 
 John Darragh 
 
 James A. Downs 
 
 Orland S. Edwards. 
 
 Silas C. Edwards . . . 
 
 Ed. B. Edwards 
 
 Chas N. Edwards.. . 
 
 James Farley 
 
 John Germain . . . 
 C. A. Fredericks. 
 
 Ripley Harris 
 
 Lester S. Hill.... 
 Wm. P. Harris... 
 
 Oscar A. Hildreth . 
 
 Ripley Havins 
 
 John Hipstedt 
 
 Mustered in. 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Oct. 1, 1862 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Mch. 3, 1864 
 
 Sept. 8,1862 
 Sept. 8. 1862 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Mch 31, 1864 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Mch 19, 1864 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8,1862 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1-862 
 
 Transf'd to Navy June 14, 
 
 1864. 
 Transf'd to V. R. C. Feb. 11, 
 
 1864. 
 Killed Dec. 9, 1864, Deveaux 
 
 Neck, S. C. 
 From Co. I. Died Folly Is., 
 
 S. C, Sept. 13, 1863. 
 Transf'd to Navy June 14,1864 
 Transf'd to V. R. C, 1864. 
 From Co. D. Transf'd to 54 
 
 N. Y. V. June 22, 1865. 
 M. 0. June 30, 1865. 
 Wd. Dec. 9, 1864. M. O. June 
 
 30, 1865. 
 
 Died Hospl. Beaufort, S. C, 
 
 Dec. 1, 1864. 
 Transf'd to Co. B Oct. 1, 1862. 
 Dis'd Phys= Dis. May 26, 1865. 
 From Co. D. Died Morris Is., 
 
 July 9, 1864. 
 Transf'd to V. R. C. Sept. 26, 
 
 1863. 
 Died Riverhead, L. I., Nov. 18, 
 
 1863. 
 Transf'd to V. R. C. Sept. 30, 
 
 1864.. 
 Transf'd to V. R. C. Nov. 28, 
 
 1863. 
 Dis'd Phys. Dis. June 5, 1863. 
 Dis'd Phys. Dis. Feb. 3, 1864. 
 Wd. Dec. 9, 1864. M. O. Apr. 
 
 23, 1865. 
 Wd. Dec. 9, 1864. M. O. June 
 
 30, 1865. 
 Transf'd to Co. F Oct 1, 1862. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Dis'd Phys. Dis. Oct. 16, 1865. 
 Recruit. Died Hilton Hd., S. 
 
 C, Aug. 21, 1864. 
 Dis'd Phys. Dis. Jan. 26, 1864. 
 
 Dis'd Phys. Dis. Apr. 24, 1865. 
 
127TH REGT. N. Y. VOLS. 
 
 221 
 
 Names. 
 
 Mustered in. 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M June 30 1865 
 
 
 Oct. 
 
 1, 1862 
 
 From Co D Wd Dec 9 1864. 
 
 
 
 
 M. 0. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept 24 \rx,:> 
 
 From Co. G. Killed Nov 30, 
 
 
 
 
 1864, Honey Hill, S. C. 
 
 Arthur Humphries 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 to. 0. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Died Upton's Hill, Va„ Nov. 
 29, 1862. 
 
 C. B. Haverstrite 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Wd. Dec. 9, 1864. M. O. June 
 30, 1865. 
 
 Wm. S. J agger 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Wd. Dec. 9, 1864. M. O. June 
 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Died Hilton Hd., S. C, Nov. 
 
 
 4, 1864. 
 
 Oscar L. Jagger 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Wd. Dec. 9, 1864. June 30, 
 1865. 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Transf'd to Co. G Oct 1, 1862. 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Jas. T. Jennings 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Mch 28, 1864 
 
 Died Morris is., S. C, July 9, 
 
 
 
 
 1864. 
 
 Wm. M. Jennings 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Wd. Dec. 9, 1864. M. O. June 
 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 Wd. Dec. 9, 1864. M. O. June 
 30, 1865. 
 
 V. E. King 
 
 Mch 18, i:; 
 
 Recruit. Transf'd to Navy 
 
 
 
 
 June 14, 1864. 
 
 Francis Kappel 
 
 Sept 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 
 Harvey B. King 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. 0. June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept. 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 June 30, 1865. 
 
 
 Sept 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. 0. June 30, 1865. 
 
 Joseph Le Hommidieu .... 
 
 Sept 
 
 8, 1862 
 
 M. O T 'ine30, 1«65. 
 
 Abram B. Loper. 
 Lyman B. Loper 
 Daniel B. Lope 4^. 
 
 idine . .'. .Mi 
 
 COMPANY D. 
 
 18«S. 
 
 Josiah P. Mille Smith, Captain. 
 
 ,'ling 
 
 Hy. Morgan . . Griffing. 
 
 Francis J. Mot Hewitt 
 
 Abram H. Mill mted 
 
 Thos. Marron . 
 
 John A. Monte ^^^^^^^^^^^ 
 
222 
 
 REGIMENTAL HISTORY 
 
 Names. 
 John McMahon 
 
 Nathan J. Miller... 
 Wm. B. Miller 
 
 Harrison Norton . . 
 
 Fredk. W. Moddle. 
 
 Elias R. Payne 
 
 Thos. B. Payne 
 
 Jeremiah Payne 
 
 Hy. R. Pitts 
 
 Thos. Roe 
 
 Hy. T. Ritchie 
 
 James S. Sayre 
 
 James M. Strong. . . 
 
 Geo. H. Sears 
 
 Stephen L. Squires 
 
 Matthew H. Sayre. . 
 
 Ira T. Soper 
 
 Theo. Skidmore . . . 
 Hy. A. Skidmore . . . 
 
 Thos. P. Tuthill... 
 
 Wm. I. Tuthill 
 
 John Ge.u. 
 
 C. A. Fredericks . . . 
 
 Ripley Harris 
 
 Lester S. Hill 
 
 Wm. P. Harris 
 
 Oscar A. Hildreth.. 
 
 Ripley Havins 
 
 John Hipstedt 
 
 Mustered in 
 
 Sept 8,1862 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Sept 8,1862 
 
 May 1, 1864 
 
 Sept 8, 1862 
 
 Sept 8, 1862 
 Sept 8, 1862 
 
 Sept 8, 1862 
 Sept 8, 1862 
 
 May 1,1864 
 
 Sept 8, 1862 
 Sept 8, 1862 
 
 Sept 8, 1862 
 June 2, 1864 
 
 Sept 8, 1862 
 
 May 15, 1864 
 
 Sept 8,1862 
 Sept 8, 1862 
 
 May 1,1864 
 
 Oct ■" 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Men 19, 1864 
 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 Sept. 8, 1862 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 Killed Nov. 30, 1864, Honey 
 
 Hill, S. C. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 From Co. I. M. O. June 30, 
 
 1865. 
 Killed Nov. 30, 18o4., Honey 
 
 Hill, S. C. 
 From Co. E. M. O. June 30, 
 
 1865. 
 Wd. Dec. 9, 1864. M. O. June 
 
 30, 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Died Aug. 7, 1863, at Alexan- 
 dria, Va, 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Wd. Nov. 30, 1864. Dis'd Phys. 
 
 Dis. Mch. 15, 1865. 
 From Co. E. Died Morris Is. 
 
 May 27, 1864. 
 Died at Upton Hill, Va. 
 Wd. Dec. 9, 1864. M. O. June 
 
 30 t 1865. 
 M. O. June 30, 1865. 
 Died Morris Is., S. C, July 12, 
 
 1864. 
 Died Upton Hill, Va., Feb. 12, 
 
 1863. 
 From Co. E. M. O. June 30, 
 
 1865. 
 Dis'd Phys. Dis. Dec. 28, 1862. 
 Killed Deveaux Neck, S. C, 
 
 Dec. 9, 1864. 
 *Tom Co. E. M. O. June 30, 
 
 1865. 
 
 30, 186b, D. M. O. June 30, 
 Transf'd to Cc 
 M. O. June 30, :m. O. June 30, 
 
 Dis'd Phys. Difransrd to 54 N. 
 Recruit. Died ;o, 1865. 
 
 C, Aug. 21, 
 Dis'd Phys. D 
 
 Dis'd Phys. Di 
 
pUrajcrriam* 
 
 Field and Staff. 
 
 William Gurney, Colonel Feb. 2, 1879 
 
 Rev. Samuel B. Willis, Chaplain June 27, 1898 
 
 George R. Cutler, M. D., Surgeon February, 1891 
 
 Pierson Rector, M.D., Asst. Surgeon. . . .January, 1891 
 
 Joseph Salembier, Hospital Steward February, 1898 
 
 COMPANY A. . 
 
 J. F. Haviland, First Lieutenant 
 
 Armand J. LaVaud Dec. 28, 1896 
 
 David Moore , 
 
 Francis M. Reynolds 
 
 Thomas B. Tabor 
 
 William H. Van Buskirk 
 
 Andrew Vredenburg (Knox) Dec. 5, 1893 
 
 J. Newton Van Tassell May 31, 1894 
 
 Abram D. Westervelt Nov. 23, 1896 
 
 COMPANY B. 
 
 John Osborn, First Lieutenant Jan. 26, 1894 
 
 George N. Little, First Lieutenant Sept. 29, 1893 
 
 James S. Cornell Aug. 17, 1895 
 
 George Hoffman 
 
 James B. Minturn 
 
 Elias H. Miller 
 
 William O'Connell Jan. 2, 1892 
 
 W. W. Warner Jan. 3, 1893 
 
 COMPANY C. 
 
 Noah Bossen June 20, 1893 
 
 David Durand 1884 
 
 John B. Polhemus 
 
 John W. Romaine April 19, 1896 
 
 COMPANY D. 
 
 Frank K. Smith, Captain 
 
 John Dowlirag 
 
 Sydney S, Griffrng 
 
 James R. Hewitt 
 
 O. M. Hempted 
 
^Ltmoxmm. 
 
 A. H. Mulligan 
 
 Samuel Ranger 
 
 A. J. Velsor 
 
 COMPANY E. 
 
 George H. Bryant 1893 
 
 Charles S. W. Fodell Dec. 11, 1896 
 
 Charles Huntington 
 
 James N. McGregor - Jan. 20, 1894 
 
 Thomas Moore 
 
 Thomas Morris 
 
 John W. Secor February 24, 1891 
 
 Titus Schofield 
 
 COMPANY F. 
 
 Joseph S. Cook, Captain '. 
 
 Henry Dyer 
 
 William H. Haight 1896 
 
 Richard Hands April 18, 1893 
 
 COMPANY G. 
 
 William P. Burns July, 1895 
 
 James Canfield Nov. 7, 1889 
 
 F. Callahan 
 
 D. Clark 
 
 C. S. Cregier 
 
 Conrad Christ April 25, 1874 
 
 Herbert H. Hall Oct. 8, 1896 
 
 C. M. Hemsted 
 
 C. G. Smith Aug. 3, 1892 
 
 Nicholas Thompson 
 
 William H. Talmage 
 
 Peter Whittle 
 
 COMPANY H. 
 
 Oliver E. Vail, Captain February, 1891 
 
 George J. Collins, First Lieutenant April 13, 1893 
 
 Zebulon Brower, First Lieutenant 
 
 A. J. Bennett 
 
 William Berkley July 12, 1893 
 
Vffiltmoxmm. 
 
 Jesse G. Case 
 
 John Collins 
 
 John Dunn 
 
 Benjamin F. Moore June, 1897 
 
 E. Murphy 
 
 D. Mansfield Aug. 16, 1892 
 
 Grover Pease 
 
 Joseph Raff erty .' 
 
 Daniel Smith 
 
 L. W. Sutton 
 
 Thomas A. Wiggins 
 
 Joseph C. Wiggins 
 
 COMPANY I. 
 
 John J. Riddell, First Lieutenant June 9, 1894 
 
 George Box 
 
 Martin Carroll 
 
 Henry Doolittle Dec. 15, 1895 
 
 William Dorman 
 
 Michael GalVin • Aug. 27, 1896 
 
 Stillman Lecompte 
 
 Joseph G. Marsh 
 
 Thomas Middleton 
 
 August G. Walker 
 
 COMPANY K. 
 
 George L. Baber June, 1898 
 
 Andrew Bechtel July 8, 1896 
 
 Silas E. Brown 
 
 Stephen H. Crowell Oct. 12, 1896 
 
 George W. Corwin 
 
 Egbert C. Corwin 
 
 James Farley 
 
 John Hempstead 
 
 Henry R. Pitts 
 
 George H. Sears 
 
 Henry F. Vail 
 
 HONORARY MEMBER. 
 R. T. Goldsmith 
 
JIIIIIIIIIII 
 
 '■ 
 
 HHH 
 
 
 §■ 
 
 ■ 
 
 mzm