Civil War History - General DiscussionFor Discussions on Civil War Era Personalities, Politics, Issues, Campaigns, Battles, and more. Serious Civil War Discussions Only Please! All other posts will be deleted.
Since I asked the question, I'll throw myself at your mercy first. They would be the 6th New York Heavy Artillery. Why would I pick such a non-descript regiment you may ask? Well, it is because it enriched my life and immeasurably increased my knowledge of the Civil War soldier. The 6th Heavies initially were formed as the 135th New York Volunteers, Infantry. Most of the way through their training, they were infantry, then they were "elevated" to the artillery arm. from late 1862 to late 1863 they were at Harper's Ferry guarding the arsenal.They saw very little action until Mine Run which was their first foray into battle. After Mine Run they fought at the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cedar Creek and Bermuda Hundred. I adore these guys because they made me dig into their history and I learned much more about the Union soldier as a result. Here's how! My son as a member of a JNROTC unit was placing flags on graves at Memorial Day in Mount Repose Cemetery. I saw him walk right by a grave that I recognized as a Civil War soldier's grave. the man's name was John Haring and he died on June 22, 1864. there was an American flag carved on the top of the head stone. On the top,over the flag, in very faint lettering was carved "He Died For His Country." I told Sean to put a flag at his grave.Curiosity got the better of me and I researched the name at the local historical society to find out that he had been mortally wounded at the Battle of Harris Farm which was the concluding battle of the Spotsylvania Campaign. I did more research on the 6th Heavies and was in a junk antique shop. I asked the guy if he had anything from the 6th Heavies. He said no but he had something from the 95th NYV. I had written an article for the Historical Society on the 95th years before so I bought John Coleman's discharge. The more research I did on Haring, Coleman's name began to pop up. One day, I went back to the cemetery and did some ruminating by John's Grave. I asked him, What gives? why do you and Coleman seem to be linked? My younger son, Danny, was with me at the time. He nudged me in the shoulder, pointed and said Dad, Look!! Four graves away was the grave of John Coleman!! I nearly freaked. I really had to dig more into this now and I sent away for their records. When I looked up John Haring in the county census, he had a sister named Catherine aged 12 in 1860. I received Coleman's pension records and as I opened them, my eyes fell on a notorized statement " I Catherine coleman aged 48 years........ The date was 1896. Well to put it mildly, I screamed bloody murder. I was yelling Oh $hit over and over again. Sean came running down the stairs thinking something was terribly wrong. I said no nothing's wrong!! Coleman and Haring were brother in laws!!! He was incredulous that I got so excited over a mundane fact such as that. Further research proved it out. Afterwards, I tackled all the boys from Co's I, H and L from Rockland. I learned some incredible things about these men and how they died. the records are chilling, detailing the medications administered in hospitals and the trimming away of gangrenous flesh with scissors, treating them with creosote. It took John Haring almost a month to die. His father Luke went to Washington and brought him home to be buried in Mount Repose. I found an old G.A.R. marker and installed it by his headstone so he would not be forgotten again.
This bit of research got around and I was asked to write a column in the local paper about our Civil War units. this was about the same time we were raising funds to restore the flag of the 95th NYV, consequently, the column did very well. So because of Sean missing John Haring's grave at a ceremony,I had a short (6 month) career as a Civil War newspaper columnist. It was great while it lasted.
Bill, mine has to be the 76th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. The main reason is these boys were raised almost in the county next to mine, Licking County, and mainly from the town of Newark, Ohio.
They left a hell of a record and fought mainly in the West with Grant and Sherman. There's even a book out by one of the regiment titled "A Boy's Service With The 76th Ohio," by Charles A. Willison. You can also go to a neat web site entitled, "Ohio In The Civil War" by Larry Stevens which lists a detailed history of the unit.
These boys went everywhere in the Western Theater, and they were just boys, ordinary folks from the State. My favorite story about them is when the unit reenlisted to become a Veteran unit and they all got to go home on Veteran's furlough in February 1864.
The boys got home by train at Columbus, Ohio at four o'clock Saturday Morning at the North High Street Station. Angered that no one was there to tell them where to go or billet, the Colonel of the regiment, Colonel Woods, formed his columns on the main street of the town and marched his men to the State Capitol. The regiment forced its way into the building, after ejecting the protesting janitors, and took possession, throwing knapsacks and blanket rolls on the floor of the rotunda, where the men slept until daylight.
The men were routed out the next day by 'ceremonious officials' and led back to the depot and a little north to Tod Barracks where they spent the rest of their stay in Columbus!
I like these guys!
YMOS,
Unionblue
(Message edited by unionblue on September 29, 2002)
(Message edited by unionblue on September 29, 2002)
__________________ "The American people and the Government at Washington may refuse to recognize it for a time but the inexorable logic of events will force it upon them in the end; that the war now being waged in this land is a war for and against slavery." Frederick Douglass
"Loyalty to our ancestors does not include loyalty to their mistakes." George Santayana
4th MN VI or the 3rd MN VI both very represenatative of the Union men of the WEstern Army...
For CS 4th AL hands down. Any unit that can say they were at both Gettysburg & Chickamauga plus every major enagagement w/ Longstreet was a "Been there, done that unit"
__________________ Few take the trouble to understand or to view the American scene with perspective. And we Americans love to find ourselves guilty of something. However, it is never I who am guilty, but those other Americans, the past or present government or the other political party. Americans almost never find other countries guilty. It is always ourselves or our fancied influence in other countries. Louis L'amour
Bemont, Ft. Donalson, Shiloh, New Madrid/Island No. 10, Siege of Corinth, Operations against Vicksburg (Central Mississippi Campaign, Grierson's Raid, Chickasaw Bluff, Arkansas Post, Jackson, Champion's Hill, Siege of Vicksburg), Stones River (Murfreesboro), *******n Campaign, Tullahoma Campaign, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge (Chattanooga), Atlanta Campaign (Buzzard's Roost Gap, Resaca, Kenesaw Mountain, Peachtree Creek, Battle of Atlanta, Ezra Chapel, Jonesboro), March to the Sea, Campaign of the Carolinas (Bentonville), Franklin, Nashville.
These boys got around!
__________________ -
"It was a very peculiar time." - Franklin D. Cossitt
Ancestors in USA Army: 6th IA Inf, 11th IL Cav, 1st AL Cav; 122nd NY Inf; 6th MI Cav; 35th MA Inf; 100th IL Inf; 1st CO Inf/Cav; 22nd IN Inf
The First South Carolina Volunteers, a Union outfit made up of freed, or escaped slaves in the Department of the South. It was commanded by literary editor Thomas W. Higginson, who wrote a minor classic "Army Life in a Black Regiment" It wasn't a distinguished unit, saw only a little combat, but it was the first regiment of black troops raised in the war, and its nickname was "The First South."
While it didn't have much of a record, its uniqueness drew a lot of attention, and often brought forth interesting reactions:
"Tell people that they are intensely human," General Saxton said testily when answering the umpteeth inquiry about what black soldiers were like.
"Looking at my hand after drill, I was surprised to see the skin was white," writes Higginson, evoking the intense identification of its officers with their men.
"The creation of negro regiments turns the war from a constitutional to a revolutionary struggle." Karl Marx
The tee totaler Higginson trying to entertain visitors with a molasses favored soft drink. War is hell!
Diarist Charlotte Forten's crush on the regimental surgeon, Seth Rogers.
I could on, boring everyone. I think any collection of 500 men could raise its share of anecdotes.
samgrant,
Yep. He was also Emily Dickinson's editor after the war, wrote a novel. He was one of the Secret Six that supported Brown's raid. His account of his army service is beautifully written, but a little distanced, a little disengaged...if you know what I mean
If a southern regiment could qualify for this list, I'd go with the 15th Alabama Infantry. They made it as far north as Col. Chamberlain's drawn sword on the Little Roundtop at Gettysburg. Not bad for some boys from south Alabama (Pike, Barbour and Dale counties). The 15th surrendered at Appamattox Court House, Virginia. They fought with Stonewall through Antietam and on northward.
Here's my two cents: The 6th USCT
Expedition against Richmond
Skirmish near Williamsburg
Expedition - Yorktown to New Kent CourtHouse
City Point
Petersburg (June 9th 1864)
Butler’s operations against Petersburg and Richmond
Petersburg (assault June 15th 1864)
Petersburg (June 16th, 18th, 1864)
Dutch Gap
Chaffin’s Farm (Fort Harrison)
Fort Fisher (December 1864)
Fort Fisher (January, 1865)
Sugar Loaf Battery, North Carolina
Occupation of Wilimington North Carolina
Skirmish Phillips Cross Roads, North Carolina
CivilWarTalk.com -
A free and friendly Civil War community. 
They would be the 6th New York Heavy Artillery. Why would I pick such a non-descript regiment you may ask? Well, it is because it enriched my life and immeasurably increased my knowledge of the Civil War soldier. The 6th Heavies initially were formed as the 135th New York Volunteers, Infantry. Most of the way through their training, they were infantry, then they were "elevated" to the artillery arm. from late 1862 to late 1863 they were at Harper's Ferry guarding the arsenal.They saw very little action until Mine Run which was their first foray into battle. After Mine Run they fought at the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cedar Creek and Bermuda Hundred. I adore these guys because they made me dig into their history and I learned much more about the Union soldier as a result. Here's how! My son as a member of a JNROTC unit was placing flags on graves at Memorial Day in Mount Repose Cemetery. I saw him walk right by a grave that I recognized as a Civil War soldier's grave. the man's name was John Haring and he died on June 22, 1864. there was an American flag carved on the top of the head stone. On the top,over the flag, in very faint lettering was carved "He Died For His Country." I told Sean to put a flag at his grave.Curiosity got the better of me and I researched the name at the local historical society to find out that he had been mortally wounded at the Battle of Harris Farm which was the concluding battle of the Spotsylvania Campaign. I did more research on the 6th Heavies and was in a junk antique shop. I asked the guy if he had anything from the 6th Heavies. He said no but he had something from the 95th NYV. I had written an article for the Historical Society on the 95th years before so I bought John Coleman's discharge. The more research I did on Haring, Coleman's name began to pop up. One day, I went back to the cemetery and did some ruminating by John's Grave. I asked him, What gives? why do you and Coleman seem to be linked? My younger son, Danny, was with me at the time. He nudged me in the shoulder, pointed and said Dad, Look!! Four graves away was the grave of John Coleman!! I nearly freaked. I really had to dig more into this now and I sent away for their records. When I looked up John Haring in the county census, he had a sister named Catherine aged 12 in 1860. I received Coleman's pension records and as I opened them, my eyes fell on a notorized statement " I Catherine coleman aged 48 years........ The date was 1896. Well to put it mildly, I screamed bloody murder. I was yelling Oh $hit over and over again. Sean came running down the stairs thinking something was terribly wrong. I said no nothing's wrong!! Coleman and Haring were brother in laws!!! He was incredulous that I got so excited over a mundane fact such as that. Further research proved it out. Afterwards, I tackled all the boys from Co's I, H and L from Rockland. I learned some incredible things about these men and how they died. the records are chilling, detailing the medications administered in hospitals and the trimming away of gangrenous flesh with scissors, treating them with creosote. It took John Haring almost a month to die. His father Luke went to Washington and brought him home to be buried in Mount Repose. I found an old G.A.R. marker and installed it by his headstone so he would not be forgotten again. 
Linear Mode
