Officer's frock, shoulder boards, and kepi (with engineer insignia) of Lieutenant Edwin E. Hewitt, Company B, 1st Louisiana Engineers. Mustered in at Port Hudson on August 1, 1863. Commanded Company C beginning September 19, 1863. He would continue his service in the 95th USCT. Uniform items at the Horse Soldier, Gettysburg, PA.
Officer Examining Boards
Officers receiving commissions in the 97th U.S. Colored Infantry, and other USCT regiments in the Department of the Gulf, had to undergo a thorough examination process. Those requirements were further established through General Orders No. 88, July 11, 1864 which are as follows:
"...The examining may be made will not only determine the fitness of the officer for the grade for which he has been examined, but also the order of precedence in that grade. Supernumerary officers who are approved by the boards will be recommended to the Adjutant-General of the Army for appointment in regiments that are now being organized in other departments.
By order of Major General E. R. S. Canby:
C. T. CHRISTENSEN,
Major and Assistant Adjutant-General.
The following instructions are contained in letters from headquarters Military Division of West Mississippi:
The enlisted men of the Seventy-seventh Regiment, Corps d'Afrique (old organization), now stationed at Fort Jackson, will be transferred to those of the new organizations in which vacancies may exist. The officers will be examined in the same manner as the other officers of the Corps d'Afrique.
Boards will be convened at Morganza, Port Hudson, Pensacola, Ship Island, Brazos Santiago, and New Orleans. The board to be convened at Ship Island to proceed first to Forts Pie and Macomb, for the purpose of examining the officers at those posts. * * * An inspector and a mustering officer will also be appointed at every point where boards are convened, who shall make it their special duty to see that the transfers are made with the greatest care, and that the status of the pay and clothing accounts and the general military history of the men is carefully noted on the muster-rolls and on he records of the new organizations, to prevent the possibility of any trouble in future settlement of accounts. Extra copies of the rolls will be forwarded through department headquarters to these headquarters.
* * * * * *
The boards of officers ordered to be convened from headquarters Department of the Gulf, for the examination of officers in regiments of colored troops, will be governed by the following rules:
1. The boards will sit every day, Sunday expected, from 9 a. m. until 5 p. m., the place of sitting to be provided by the quartermaster's department.
2. The boards will make to the assistant adjutant-general, at these headquarters, through department headquarters, for record, reports of all persons examined, whether approved or rejected; the reports will be made weekly, or oftener when specially called for.
3. Boards shall specify for what grades of commission the several applicants are fit, and shall also classify and number them according to merit or proficiency.
4. The report of the boards, if adverse, shall be final, and no person rejected by them shall be re-examined.
5. Each applicant will be examined as to his capacity and fitness for the correct and efficient discharge of the duties of an officer, physical, moral, and mental.
6. Under the first, as regards age, present state of healthfulness, soundness of vision and hearing, freedom from organic disease, and capacity for bearing fatigue and exposure.
7. Under the second, as to habits, past and present, with full and distinct evidence of loyalty to the United States and trustworthiness for employment in their service.
8. All candidates for positions in the infantry under the rank of major, after fulling the requirements of articles 6 and 7, must be examined and pronounced proficient in reading, writing, arithmetic, and geography. They must be thoroughly conversant with the Army Regulations, Articles of War, and with tactics as far as the manual of arms, bayonet exercise, school of the company, battalion, and skirmishers, the duties of guards, sentinels, pickets, and vedettes, and the general of a picket officer; also with the method of enlisting and discharging soldiers.
9. Candidates for promotion above the rank of captain must, in addition to what is required in paragraphs 6, 7, and 8, be familiar with the different kinds and calibers of small-arms used in the service, the Constitution, and Articles of War, and the practice of courts-martial. They must be proficient in all the evolutions of the line, and be able to maneuver brigades and divisions as well as regiments. A general knowledge of the interior economy or management of regiments, and of the duties of adjutant, quartermaster, commissary, and ordnance officer will also be required.
10. All candidates for positions in the engineers below the rank of major, in addition to what is required for same rank in infantry, must be proficient in algebra, geometry, trigonometry, &c., surveying, linear, and topographical drawing, the elements of civil engineering, especially those which relate to building materials and strength of materials such as appertain to bridges, locks, dams, &c., the elements of field fortifications, and manner of making reconnaissance and keeping journal of march, &c., the different styles of pontoon bridges, their equipment, &c., and the manner of laying them down and taking them up, the different styles of raft, flying bridges, &c.
11. For rank above captain, in addition to what is required in infantry and for captain of engineers, they must be proficient in elements of permanent fortifications, theory and practice of steam engines, general principles of architecture, familiar knowledge of all woods in general use, and general theoretical and practical knowledge of bridges, culverts, railroads, &c.: familiarity with military law, Kent's Commentaries and Thackery's Army Organization and Administration will be required.
12. In the case of officers who have seen but a short time in the army, and who show an aptitude for the military service, and a spirit and desire to learn and become good and efficient officers, the boards are authorized to make special reports in their case of they do not come up to the requirements of the preceding articles.
II. In accordance with the above, examining boards, inspector, and mustering officers will be at once appointed from these headquarters for Port Hudson and Morganza.
Major General F. J. Herron, commanding U. S. forces, Texas, will appoint a similar board with an inspector and a mustering officer for Brazos Santiago, and Brigadier General T. W. Sherman, commanding Defenses of New Orleans, will make the proper appointments for the same purpose for New Orleans, Shop Island, and Pensacola.
These boards will enter upon their duties with the least possible delay. All officers of the regiments to be consolidated now on detached duty will at once report through the officers with whom they are serving to the proper headquarters to be ordered before that board of examiners which may be most convenient to their present station.
By command of Major-General Banks:
GEORGE B. DRAKE,
Assistant Adjutant-General."(Serial 084 Page 0118 LOUISIANA AND THE TRANS MISSISSIPPI Chapter LIII)
"...The examining may be made will not only determine the fitness of the officer for the grade for which he has been examined, but also the order of precedence in that grade. Supernumerary officers who are approved by the boards will be recommended to the Adjutant-General of the Army for appointment in regiments that are now being organized in other departments.
By order of Major General E. R. S. Canby:
C. T. CHRISTENSEN,
Major and Assistant Adjutant-General.
The following instructions are contained in letters from headquarters Military Division of West Mississippi:
The enlisted men of the Seventy-seventh Regiment, Corps d'Afrique (old organization), now stationed at Fort Jackson, will be transferred to those of the new organizations in which vacancies may exist. The officers will be examined in the same manner as the other officers of the Corps d'Afrique.
Boards will be convened at Morganza, Port Hudson, Pensacola, Ship Island, Brazos Santiago, and New Orleans. The board to be convened at Ship Island to proceed first to Forts Pie and Macomb, for the purpose of examining the officers at those posts. * * * An inspector and a mustering officer will also be appointed at every point where boards are convened, who shall make it their special duty to see that the transfers are made with the greatest care, and that the status of the pay and clothing accounts and the general military history of the men is carefully noted on the muster-rolls and on he records of the new organizations, to prevent the possibility of any trouble in future settlement of accounts. Extra copies of the rolls will be forwarded through department headquarters to these headquarters.
* * * * * *
The boards of officers ordered to be convened from headquarters Department of the Gulf, for the examination of officers in regiments of colored troops, will be governed by the following rules:
1. The boards will sit every day, Sunday expected, from 9 a. m. until 5 p. m., the place of sitting to be provided by the quartermaster's department.
2. The boards will make to the assistant adjutant-general, at these headquarters, through department headquarters, for record, reports of all persons examined, whether approved or rejected; the reports will be made weekly, or oftener when specially called for.
3. Boards shall specify for what grades of commission the several applicants are fit, and shall also classify and number them according to merit or proficiency.
4. The report of the boards, if adverse, shall be final, and no person rejected by them shall be re-examined.
5. Each applicant will be examined as to his capacity and fitness for the correct and efficient discharge of the duties of an officer, physical, moral, and mental.
6. Under the first, as regards age, present state of healthfulness, soundness of vision and hearing, freedom from organic disease, and capacity for bearing fatigue and exposure.
7. Under the second, as to habits, past and present, with full and distinct evidence of loyalty to the United States and trustworthiness for employment in their service.
8. All candidates for positions in the infantry under the rank of major, after fulling the requirements of articles 6 and 7, must be examined and pronounced proficient in reading, writing, arithmetic, and geography. They must be thoroughly conversant with the Army Regulations, Articles of War, and with tactics as far as the manual of arms, bayonet exercise, school of the company, battalion, and skirmishers, the duties of guards, sentinels, pickets, and vedettes, and the general of a picket officer; also with the method of enlisting and discharging soldiers.
9. Candidates for promotion above the rank of captain must, in addition to what is required in paragraphs 6, 7, and 8, be familiar with the different kinds and calibers of small-arms used in the service, the Constitution, and Articles of War, and the practice of courts-martial. They must be proficient in all the evolutions of the line, and be able to maneuver brigades and divisions as well as regiments. A general knowledge of the interior economy or management of regiments, and of the duties of adjutant, quartermaster, commissary, and ordnance officer will also be required.
10. All candidates for positions in the engineers below the rank of major, in addition to what is required for same rank in infantry, must be proficient in algebra, geometry, trigonometry, &c., surveying, linear, and topographical drawing, the elements of civil engineering, especially those which relate to building materials and strength of materials such as appertain to bridges, locks, dams, &c., the elements of field fortifications, and manner of making reconnaissance and keeping journal of march, &c., the different styles of pontoon bridges, their equipment, &c., and the manner of laying them down and taking them up, the different styles of raft, flying bridges, &c.
11. For rank above captain, in addition to what is required in infantry and for captain of engineers, they must be proficient in elements of permanent fortifications, theory and practice of steam engines, general principles of architecture, familiar knowledge of all woods in general use, and general theoretical and practical knowledge of bridges, culverts, railroads, &c.: familiarity with military law, Kent's Commentaries and Thackery's Army Organization and Administration will be required.
12. In the case of officers who have seen but a short time in the army, and who show an aptitude for the military service, and a spirit and desire to learn and become good and efficient officers, the boards are authorized to make special reports in their case of they do not come up to the requirements of the preceding articles.
II. In accordance with the above, examining boards, inspector, and mustering officers will be at once appointed from these headquarters for Port Hudson and Morganza.
Major General F. J. Herron, commanding U. S. forces, Texas, will appoint a similar board with an inspector and a mustering officer for Brazos Santiago, and Brigadier General T. W. Sherman, commanding Defenses of New Orleans, will make the proper appointments for the same purpose for New Orleans, Shop Island, and Pensacola.
These boards will enter upon their duties with the least possible delay. All officers of the regiments to be consolidated now on detached duty will at once report through the officers with whom they are serving to the proper headquarters to be ordered before that board of examiners which may be most convenient to their present station.
By command of Major-General Banks:
GEORGE B. DRAKE,
Assistant Adjutant-General."(Serial 084 Page 0118 LOUISIANA AND THE TRANS MISSISSIPPI Chapter LIII)
Special thanks and credit due to David Lay who researched multiple biographies and discovered many of the photos on this page of officers. His research may be found on Facebook group, "75th New York Infantry Regiment" which includes additional primary sources for the officers who were once enlisted men in the 75thNY.
Regiment Commanders
Col. Justin HodgeJustin Hodge was born April 21, 1815 in Roxbury, CT, the son of Philo, a Revolutionary War veteran who had fought with Ethan Allen at Ticonderoga and Warren at Bunker Hill. He was a stone cutter early on and commanded the Hitchcockville Light Guard militia as a farmer in Riverton. He raised a company when the Mexican War broke out, was commissioned 1stLieut. and appointed Quartermaster of the 9th U.S. Infantry, fighting with General Scott at Vera Cruz, and under Colonel Thomas H. Seymour around Mexico City. He resigned his commission on May 6, 1848 returned to CT then joined the gold rush to CA in 1849, returning after two years and was appointed Adjutant-General of CT in 1855. He was the shortest serving AG in CT history, being removed by the governor for refusing to disband several companies of the state militia that were composed primarily of Irish immigrants.
He answered his country’s call again at the outbreak of the Civil War, enlisting in the 1st CT Infantry, a 90-day Regiment, on April 18, 1861. He was commissioned 1stLieut. and appointed Regimental Quartermaster on April 23, 1861, fought during the Battle of Bull Run, and was discharged on May 28, 1861 to become Brigade Quartermaster. On August 5, 1861 he was commissioned Captain in the U.S. Volunteers Quartermaster’s Dept. and served on General Augur’s staff in the Army of the Potomac. On January 19, 1863 he was assigned as Assistant Quartermaster on General Bank’s staff in the Department of the Gulf in Baton Rouge, LA. Captain Hodge received Special Orders No. 78 from General Banks on April 1, 1863 directing him to organize and command a regiment of colored engineers which he would command. He was mustered in on June 1, 1863 as Colonel of the First Regiment of Louisiana Engineers. Just before the siege of Port Hudson began, the Louisiana Native Guards were presented with their regimental flag. When Colonel Hodge gave the flag to Color Sgt. Anselmas Plancianois, Hodge charged him with protecting, even die for, the flag, but that it was never to be surrendered. Plancianois responded, ‘Colonel, I will bring these colors to you in honor or report to God the reason why.’ His words were met with cheers from the Regiment. On June 6, 1863 the designation of the First Regiment of Louisiana Engineers was changed to the First Regiment of Engineers of the Corps d’Afrique by General Orders No. 47, General Banks, HQ Dept of the Gulf. On June 10, 1863 Hodges was commissioned Colonel of the 1st Louisiana Engineers Corps d'Afrique, of which he commanded during the Siege of Port Hudson. The regiment also saw service during the assaults on Port Hudson May 27 and June 14 and the surrender of Port Hudson on July 9. They participated in the Sabine Pass Expedition September 4-11, Teche Campaign October 3-27, the Rio Grande Expedition and operations on Coast of Texas October 27-December 2, Arkansas Pass November 17, the expedition against and capture of Fort Esperanza, Mattagorda Island, November 22-30 and duty at Brazos Island, Point Isabel and Brownsville, TX until April of 1864. From January to February 1864 Colonel Hodges was detached commanding U.S. Forces at Point Isabel, TX. From February 29 through July 6, 1864 Colonel Hodges was detached per S.O. No. 5 to command the post at Brazos, Santiago, TX. During this period the Regiment was redesignated the 95th United States Colored Troops (USCT) on April 4, 1864. Colonel Hodge’s resignation was accepted on July 6, 1864 per S.O. No. 178 H.Q. Dept. of the Gulf, after which he returned to the Quartermaster Depot. By October of 1864 Hodge had been promoted Lieut. Colonel, USVs and named Chief Quartermaster of the Sixth Army Corps, first with the Army of the Shenandoah, then with the Army of the Potomac until the end of the war. Beginning in May of 1865, he served as the Assistant Superintendent for Cumberland County, NC with the Freedman’s Bureau until he was mustered out of the Volunteers on October 13, 1866. Upon returning to CT, Hodge he was elected as to the state legislature and served the democratic party until his death in on October 24, 1900 at age 85. Colonel Hodge is buried in Riverton Cemetery, Barkhamsted, CT. Sources: Findagrave.com. Index to Compiled Military Service Records Heitman: Register of United States Army 1789-1903 |
Col. George Dorgue RobinsonGeorge Dorgue Robinson, commander of the 97th U.S. Colored Infantry, was born February 20, 1838. His parents, Joseph and Maria immigrated to the United States from England and owned a farm near Genoa, New York. George was an 1862 graduate of the University of Michigan, and against the advice of the university’s president, he enlisted into the Army. He began his Civil War service as a Lieutenant in the 75th New York Volunteer Infantry.
After a successful screening by the Bureau of Colored Troops he was commissioned as a Major of the newly formed 1st Regiment Engineers, Corps d’Afrique (95th USCT) June 29, 1863. With reorganization, he was then transferred to the 3rd Regiment, Corps d’Afrique (97th USCT) at New Iberia, Louisiana September 1st, 1863 and promoted to Colonel on the 12th when he enrolled with the regiment at Algiers. As Colonel of the 97th United States Colored Troops he was the senior engineer officer and was named commander of the Engineer Brigade (97th USCT and 99th USCT) under General Banks during the 1864 Red River Campaign. The engineer brigade oversaw the construction of batteries, bridges and roads for the movement of U.S. troops. When the U.S. Navy’s Mississippi River Squadron became stranded in shallow waters, Col. Robinson’s Engineer Brigade built Bailey’s Dam which saved the vessels. Col. Robinson served as commander of Dauphine Island from August 26, 1864 by Special Order 14, Headquarters, Federal Forces, Mobile Bay and from September to October, 1864 as commander of Fort Gaines. On November 30, 1864, Col. George D. Robinson was given command of the 1st Brigade consisting of the 82nd, 86th, 97th USCT, and 2nd Maine Cavalry for its mission to destroy the railroad, buildings, and enemy stores at Pollard, Alabama from Fort Barrancas (Dec. 13-19). Attacked by Confederates on the march back, Col. Robinson was severely wounded on the return from the expedition at the Battle of Pine Barren Creek, December 16, 1864. He would be sent to the hospital in New Orleans until February for further recovery. He returned to the regiment by March, 1865 to participate in the Mobile Campaign’s siege of Spanish Fort, Fort Blakeley, and construction of a federal supply depot and batteries 5 miles south of the siege line. At the conclusion of the war, Col. Robinson, 97th USCT would be on detached service beginning August 11, 1865 administering the Amnesty Oath at the Headquarters Department of Alabama. Special Orders 47 placed him serving as Sub-assistant Commissioner with the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands at Mobile, Alabama September 8, 1865. In December of 1865, Col. Robinson, as Superintendent, reported on cases of “outrages perpetrated on the persons and property of colored people” and multiple murders. He mustered out of service while on detached service with the Freedman’s Bureau in February, 1866. He was brevetted Brigadier General, US Volunteers on March 13, 1865 for "gallant and meritorious conduct at Pollard and Mobile, Ala.” After the war, George Robinson relocated to San Mateo, Florida where he married Almira Wade, July 19, 1870. They had one daughter, Georgiana V. Robinson. George D. Robinson passed away April 14, 1873 at the age of only 35. GAR Post No. 230 in Genoa, NY, chartered Oct. 5, 1881 was named in honor of "G & C Robinson". (photo credit to lancasteratwar.com) |
Captain Michael McDonough (Temporary Command)Captain Michael McDonough received an officers commission as a Captain from civil life and was assigned to the 1st Regiment Engineers, Corps d'Afrique on August 1, 1863. He was given command of company M by his muster of August 15. When the regiment was split in two on September 2, 1863 after the siege of Port Hudson, he became commander of Company C, 3rd Regiment Engineers, Corps d'Afrique. On December 21, 1864, Capt. McDonough wrote Lt. Col. Drake reporting that with the regiment's colonel wounded (Battles of Escambia Creek/Pine Barren), it's Lt. Col. on sick leave, and it's major in New Orleans on detached service, there were "not enough officers present to assign even one to each company." As such, he is listed as in temporary command of the regiment as 1864 came to a close. After the occupation of Mobile, He continued his command of Company C as it was placed on garrison duty at Mount Vernon Arsenal until the regiment mustered out of service in the spring of 1866.
Organization of troops in the Military Division of West Mississippi, Major General Edward R. S. Canby, U. S. Army, commanding, December 31, 1864. DISTRICT OF WEST FLORIDA AND SOUTH ALABAMA. Major General GORDON GRANGER. DISTRICT OF WEST FLORIDA. Brigadier General THOMAS J. McKEAN. First Brigade. Lieutenant Colonel GEORGE E. YARRINGTON. 25th U. S. Colored Troops (two companies), Captain Jasper H. Warren. 82nd U. S. Colored Troops, Lieutenant Colonel George Tucker. 86th U. S. Colored Troops, Captain Joseph Chellet. 97th U. S. Colored Troops, Captain Michael McDonough. Second Brigade. Colonel EPHRAIM W. WOODMAN. 1st Florida Cavalry (six companies), Lieutenant Colonel Eugene von Kielmansegge. 2nd Maine Cavalry, Lieutenant Colonel Andrew B. Spurling. Fort Barrancas. 25th U. S. Colored Troops (five companies), Lieutenant Colonel Frederick L. Hitchcock. Fort Pickens. 25th U. S. Colored Troops (three companies), Major James W. H. Reisinger. Barrancas, Fla. 14th New York Cavalry, Company M, Captain Adolph Schmidt. |
Captain, Major, Colonel Arnout Cannon, Jr.Arnout Cannon, Jr. enlisted in the 128th NY Infantry on August 15, 1862, age 23, at Poughkeepsie, NY to serve three years and mustered into Company D as 1stSergeant on August 19, 1862. Demoted to Sergeant on September 1, 1862. He was discharged for promotion on September 1, 1863 by Special Orders No. 218, HQ Dept. of the Gulf at New Orleans, LA to accept commission as 1stLieut. in Third Engineers, Corps d’Afrique and was commissioned into Company K, 97th USCT. On September 16, 1863 he was promoted to Captain of Company G.
From the Amenia Times: “THE 128TH REGIMENT.—We are permitted to make the following extract, which will interest many readers, from a letter written by an officer of the 128th Regiment, under date of Saturday, June 20. There was quite a heavy fight at Port Hudson last Sunday. Our Regiment was deployed as skirmishers on the extreme left, and our loss was one killed and 19 wounded. The wounded in my company are Henry Morris, who had the tip of his elbow taken off with a ball; Andy Silvernail, slightly wounded; Andrew Jackson, shot in the arm; George H. Fitchett, wounded in the arm. The wounds are all reported "slight," so shall expect my men (I can't call them "boys" after going through two such fights) to be as well as ever in a few days. Sergt. Light is sick; Sergt. Nesbitt is wagon master, and Sergt. Cannon is Lieut. in one of the colored regiments. I am getting well fast, and the Docotr says that in two weeks I shall be able to do duty,—that is light duty; but I am anxious to be at Port Hudson when the final assault is made, and so shall not wait two weeks before I return.” On March 1, 1864 Capt. Cannon was placed on special duty with HQ Engineers Brigade of responsibility of clothing and arms. On detached service at Carrollton, LA on July 2, 1864 and then Dauphin Island, AL in November. On March 3, 1865 he was on detached service near Spanish Fort, AL as Acting Engineer, 3rdDivision, 13th Army Corps per S.O. No. 5. He was brevetted Major on March 26, 1865, for faithful and meritorious services during the campaign against the city of Mobile and it’s defenses. He and was promoted Lieut. Colonel on November 12, 1865 and was the final Commander when the Regiment was Mustered Out on April 6, 1866. After the war, Cannon became a successful architect in New York. Many of his structures still stand. The Masonic Temple in Poughkeepsie, NY was designed by him and it is there that he committed suicide after he was diagnosed with debilitating blindness. There is even a street in his hometown named after him. His accomplishments as an architect are cataloged in the PDF file below and in a video provided by the Poughkeepsie Public Library. Sources: Annual Report of the Adjutant-General of the State of New York for the year 1903. New York State Military Museum and Veterans Research Center. Official Army Register of the Volunteer Force 1861-1865. |
Lieutenant Colonel George A. HarmountBio to be added soon. Portion of an article announcing Lt. Col. Geo. Harmount, 97th USCT, being placed in charge of the occupation of Mobile, Alabama. Source: The Black Republican newspaper April 29. 1865. Also includes the seizure of the Confederate hospital for use as a hospital for "our brethren."
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Staff and Field Officers
Surgeon Charles E. WarrenCharles E. Warren was an Apothecary in Boston, MA when he enlisted on October 14, 1862 as a private in Company C. Assistant-Surgeon Heintzelman assumed charge of the regimental hospital at Bayou Gentilly, with Private Charles H. Warren acting hospital-steward. Later was detailed by Captain Leonard to act as medical officer for two companies. “He was a social, jolly, good fellow, with a certain amount of acquired knowledge how to use medicines, but had no diploma as a graduate from any medical institute authorizing him to assume the practice of medicine” (Bosson, 2016).
He was discharged for promotion to Assistant Surgeon of 1stLouisiana Engineers (95th USCT) on June 24, 1863 at Camp Parapet, LA by SO No, 147, Dept. of the Gulf. He was discharged for promotion to Surgeon of the 90th USCT on September 18, 1863 New Orleans, LA, and transferred to the 97th USCT on August 18, 1864. He was mustered out on April 6, 1866. Source: History of the Forty-Second Regiment Infantry, Massachusetts Volunteers, 1862, 1863, 1864, Charles P. Bosson, May 16, 2016 (EBook). |
Assistant Surgeon Herman BauerHenry Bower, aka Herman Baner joined the regiment at Ft. Gaines December 1865 as assistant surgeon attached to post in charge of hospital by S.O. No. 113 dated HQ Department of Alabama, Mobile, Alabama, December 8, 1865.
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Surgeon Elias Lester, Acting Medical Director, Engineer Brigade, Dept. of the Gulf.The Lester Brothers of Genoa, New York both served in the 3rd Engineers, Corps d’Afrique (97th USCT) during the Civil War. Solon’s younger brother Elias mustered in a Surgeon of the 3rd Engineers, CdA on September 18, 1863, and may have recommended Solon for a commission. Elias Lester was born on May 23, 1836 at Genoa, and at 18 he was a schoolteacher at a district near there for three years, when in about 1857 he went west to the Kansas Territory with a party of settlers, returning to NY after one year of homesteading. Upon returning to New York State, he started studying medicine under Dr. Cyrus Powers of Moravia, and after two years Elias entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons in Manhattan. Following one year of studies at college he was appointed a medical cadet in the U.S. Army on August 5, 1861 and assigned to the General Hospital at Alexandria, then five months later at Fortress Monroe, Virginia. After one year of service in the Medical Corps he resigned and returned to New York where he received his medical degree from the College of Physicians and Surgeons in early 1863. Then on January 22, 1863 he mustered in as 1st Assistant Surgeon with the 14th NY Cavalry at New York. He mustered out on August 7, 1863 at New Orleans upon consolidation of the Regiment per Special Orders No. 185, HQ, Dept. of the Gulf.
Elias next mustered in as Surgeon of the 3rd Engineers, Corps d'Afrique on September 18, 1863 at New Orleans on orders from Major General Banks to fill an original vacancy. He was appointed Acting Medical Director for the Engineering Brigade under Colonel Robinson on April 12, 1864 per Special Orders No. 18, HQ, Engineering Brigade and served in that role through the Red River Campaign. Surgeon Lester returned to the 97thUSCT on June 20, 1864 by order of General Emory, and submitted his letter of resignation on July 13, 1864 at Carrollton, Louisiana, citing that he preferred to resign rather than accept the transfer to the 98th USCT and hoped to return to NY to accept a possible position as a surgeon in a NY regiment. The resignation was accepted on July 18, 1864 per Special Orders No. 190, HQ, Dept. of the Gulf. He returned to Saratoga County, New York, married Caroline Foote remaining there until 1866 when they moved to Seneca Falls, purchasing the practice of Dr. Franklin H. Seeley and joining the Seneca County Medical Society. Dr. Lester was a longtime physician in my hometown of Seneca Falls, a world traveler and member of Cross Post No. 78, GAR serving as Surgeon. Surgeon Lester died on July 18, 1920 and was buried at Restvale Cemetery in Seneca Falls, New York. Sources: The history of the descendants of Elder John Strong, of Northampton, Mass., Dwight, Benjamin W., Albany, N.Y.: J. Munsell, 1871. Surgeon Lesters’s obituary in The Post-Standard in Syracuse, NY, Monday, July 18, 1920. Polk's medical register and directory of North America, R.L. Polk, 1898. |
Adjutant, Lieutenant/Captain Lemuel Abijah AbbottLemuel Abijah Abbott was born in Barre, Vermont, on 24 August 1842. His father, a stonecutter, died in 1858 and the 1860 U.S. Census recorded Lemuel and his older brother Charles in Barre, Vermont, sharing the home of their oldest brother "Roy Abbott," age 24, also a stonecutter. Lemuel was educated at Barre Academy and Norwich University (Vermont).
According to his autobiographical sketch in his Abbott genealogy, in 1861 at age 17 during a rally at Barre Academy where he was a student, he responded to President Abraham Lincoln's call for Civil War volunteers by volunteering to join the U.S. Army. He did not actually enlist until 28 July 1862, when he enlisted as a private in Company B, 10th Regiment, Volunteer Vermont Infantry, of Waterbury, Vermont, under the command of Captain Edwin Dillingham. He mustered into Company B on 1 September 1862 as a First Sergeant. He was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in Company D in January or February 1863, promoted to First Lieutenant in Company E in June or July 1864, was wounded in the Third Battle of Winchester (Battle of Opequon) on 19 September 1864, and was promoted to Captain in Company G in December 1864 or January 1865. He mustered out of the Army on 22 June 1865, having seen action in several Civil War battles and skirmishes. In 1908 he published an edited version of the diary he had kept as a soldier in 1864. At 24 years of age, he received his commission at Montpelier, Vermont as 1st lieutenant in the 97th United States Colored Infantry, on October 29, 1865. Arriving in Mobile, Alabama during occupation, assigned to Company I, reported strength of 68 men, he applied to be Regimental Adjutant and assumed the duty by S.O. 106. Mustered out with the regiment April 6, 1866, he was entitled to his milage back to Montilier. On 2 July 1867, he was commissioned 2nd lieutenant in the 6th United States Cavalry. He was promoted to 1st lieutenant on 10 May 1869 and served on the staff of General James Oakes as regimental quarter-master, from 25 November 25 until 17 May 1873, at Forts Hays, Harker, Riley and Dodge in Kansas. He later served on many scouting expeditions; later served on the staffs of Generals Miles and Biddle in several Indian campaigns. As a 1st Lieutenant, he was in command of Fort Thomas, Arizona in from July to October, 1878. He was commissioned captain in the same regiment on 3 June 1880, and continued in service in the Department of the West, principally in Arizona. The 1880 U.S. Census, enumerated on 3 June 1880, recorded L. A. Abbott, age 38, as a soldier at Camp Thomas in Pima County, Arizona. He was stationed for some time at Fort Lowell, Arizona (Tuscon), and had command of several scouting expeditions. He retired from active duty on 3 January 1885, on account of wounds and general disability, and retired from the Army with the rank of Major, having been brevetted on 27 February 1890 for "gallant action" against Indians at Big Dry Wash, Arizona, on 17 July 1882. He took pride in having been commissioned by the federal government to make recommendations on "civilizing" Indians. His recommendation to educate Indian children throughout the United States contributed to the development of a system of Indian schools. Major Abbott died unmarried in Aberdeen, Washington on 3 February 1911. He is memorialized on a large stone obelisk in Wilson Cemetery, Barre, Vermont, where he had asked to be buried. Sources: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/107485258 https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Abbott-6785 |
Chaplain Henry BoughtonFather of Lt. Eugene Boughton of company D. At 45 years of age, he would accompany his son into the 3rd Regiment Engineers Corps d'Afrique as a chaplain to fill an original vacancy February 29, 1864 from civil life in New York. on June 3, 1864 he was at Baton Rouge, Louisiana. By July he was in the General Hospital in New Orleans due to intestinal issues that prevented him from keeping up with the army while at Alexandria, Louisiana. With apparently missing paperwork he was listed as absent without leave through October while he was in New York convalescing under the supervision of the local doctor. Arriving back to the Regiment at Barrancas, Florida, he arrived in time for the Pollard Expedition which resulted in the tragic and heroic death of his beloved son, Eugene (see bio of Eugene Boughton). Henry was given a two day leave of absence to go to new Orleans to request permission for a leave of absence to bury his son in New York. His resignation was accepted.
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Major Albert P. ClarkeAlbert P. Clarke was originally a Quartermaster Sergeant with the 114th New York, before he received a commission and was assigned to the 4th Regiment Engineers, Corps d'Afrique (98th USCT) September 12, 1863. Assigned to Chief Engineer and then listed as Engineer in Charge at Port Hudson from April to July 1864. Discharged from the 98th USCT by Special Order 278 paragraph 22 to transfer to the 97th USCT as Major, October 15, 1864. On duty by Special Order 283 ex. 6 Headquarter Department of the Gulf in charge of fortifications at Port Hudson and Baton Rouge from January to February 1864. Major Clark was then with the detachment of companies C and K of the 97th USCT at Fort Blakeley from March to April, 1865. Resigned by Special Field Order 61 Headquarters Army Division of West Mississippi May 31, 1865 due to poor health.
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Major Albert ElfieldAppointed from Civil Life to fill an original vacancy at 47 years old with the 3rd Regiment Engineers, Corps d'Afrique at New Orleans, Louisiana October 2, 1863. Placed on detached service by the Chief Engineer Major D C. Houston directing construction of fortifications at Brashear City. Resigned May 24, 1864. One of several engineer officers that resigned due to the re-designation of the regiment as "infantry" (97th U.S. Colored Infantry). He also cited failing eyesight as an issue.
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First Lieutenant, Adjutant, and Acting Assistant Adjutant-General for Headquarters District of West Florida, Aide de Camp District of Mobile, James William Haight, Jr.James William Haight, Jr. was a private in the 75th New York Infantry when he was commissioned a 1st Lieutenant in the 3rd Regiment Engineers, Corps d'Afrique at Algiers, Louisiana August 31, 1863 to fill an original vacancy by Special Order 231, Headquarters Department of the Gulf. In February of 1864 he was on detached service as Post Adjutant per General Order No. 1, Headquarters Defenses Berwick Bay. He is listed as "in the field" during the Red River Campaign from March 12th and Acting Assistant Adjutant General, Engineer Brigade through March and April per General Order Headquarters Engineer Brigade, March 12, 1864.
When Confederates attacked the U.S. tinclads Covington and Signal who were escorting the transport John Warner on the Red River he was among the 300 US soldiers that were killed, wounded and taken prisoner at Dunn's Bayou. As of May 2nd he was listed as missing and taken prisoner of war aboard the transport John Warner. Wounded, he was sent to the Confederate hospital in Cherryville, Louisiana. His records show that he remained a prisoner of war until he escaped May 29th and arrived in New Orleans June 2nd. He was paroled as a prisoner of war and and reported August 14th, 1864 and his parole was declared unbinding and he was sent to duty with the regiment as per Special Order No. 97, Headquarters, Military Division West Mississippi. During the months of September and October he was absent with leave in New Orleans, Louisiana. November and December he was on detached service per Special Order 301, Headquarters Division of West Florida. On January 19, 1865, James Williams Haight, Jr. was assigned as the Acting Assistant Adjutant General for the Division of West Florida Per Special Order 301 (Jan. 6) and Special Order 33 (Feb. 17, 1865) at Barrancas, Florida. No. 239 of March 19, 1865 has James William Haight, Jr. Aide de Camp. He would hold that post through the Mobile Campaign. Listed as sick in the months of May and in June, he left Mobile to travel back to Barrancas to retrieve the officers trunks in the regiment which held all of their personal belongings. By July of 1865 he was detached for duty on the staff of the General commanding per Special Order No. 37 dated Headquarters Post and District of Mobile, July 25, 1865 where he served as Acting Assistant Adjutant General and Aide de Camp. He held this post through September and his resignation, which he had been seeking for a few months had finally been accepted, on October 4th 1865 through S.O. 527 by the War Department in Washington. Source: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/107492153 |
1st Lieut./ Quartermaster John Newton KnightJohn Newton Knight was born May 9, 1831 in Chatham, Columbia County, New York. John was an Elder in the Presbyterian Church and Superintendent of Sunday School when he enlisted on September 16, 1861 at Huron, Wayne County, New York and was mustered into the Regimental Field & Staff as Commissary Sergeant on October 9th, & re-mustered November 26th.
A contemporary newspaper article reported: The Second Cayuga Regiment, or 75th N. Y. Volunteers, passed through this city about three o'clock Saturday afternoon. The regiment occupied a special train of eighteen passenger and four baggage cars. They expected to arrive in New York by the Knickerbocker from Albany, Sunday morning, and to proceed to Washington, Monday, where it is thought the regiment will be attached to Gen. SUMNER'S Division, on the Potomac. The men were of the right material for the army of the Potomac, tough and intelligent, brave and hardy. They were accompanied by several citizens of Auburn, an escort of honor among the burghers we noticed Mr. ROBINSON, of the Advertiser. The whole number of officers and enlisted men in the regiment is 900. The regimental officers are as follows: Colonel, John A. Dodge; Lieut. Colonel, Robert B. Merritt; Major, Willoughby Babcock; Adjutant, Edward B. Lansing; Quartermaster, Lewis E. Carpenter; Surgeon, Michael D. Benedict; Assistant Surgeon, Cyrus Powers; Chaplain, Thomas B. Hudson; Sergeant Major, Wm. H. Seymour; Quartermaster Sergeant, George L. Howe; Commissary Sergeant, John N. Knight; Hospital Steward, George Beviere; Military Secretary, Robert C. Perry. Company A, Captain Clinton D. MacDougall; B, Captain Truman K. Fuller; C, Captain William H. Cray; D, Captain Charles C, Dwight; E, Captain Luther Goodrich; F, Captain Henry B. Fitch; G, Captain John E. Savery; H, Captain John Choate; I, Captain Lansing Porter. John served with the 75th NY Infantry in Florida and Louisiana, and had a close call on April 12, 1863 during Battle of Fort Bisland along Bayou Teche. Adjutant Edward B. Lansing reported the incident in a letter dated April 16, 1863 to the Auburn Advertiser and Union, May 1, 1863 (Morton, 2006): Sunday last, while we were having the heaviest artillery fighting, I was struck in the leg right above the knee by a piece of shell which has laid me up for a few weeks. I am at Capt. Fitch's house and having splendid treatment and good times in general for a wounded man. Jim Warden is here with me shot through the hand and left side, and though severely wounded, is not dangerous. Just as I was struck the order was given for the Infantry to fall back, and as I could not walk, Sergt. Major Haight and Commissary Sergt. Knight' carried me off the field; and as we could not go as fast as the regiment, were soon far behind. I became so weak that it was almost impossible to move, and seeing two horsemen coming down the road going towards our regiment, I hailed them and asked them to let me ride, supposing they were our men. The officers ordered the man with him to get off, and to help the boys put me on the horse, which they did. He then ordered me and Haight and Knight back to the rebel lines; but I told him I could not see him. He ordered us three times to follow him, but we refused to go, and they not having power enough to take us by force, were suddenly started home by the appearance of one of our batteries coming down the road towards them. They did not even wait for the horse which I was on, and which is a valuable one, and I still have it in my possession. These two men were captured only a short time after by our cavalry and prove to be the Surgeon and Steward of the 1° Texas cavalry. We might have 'gobbled' them, but I was in so much pain and so weak that it took both of the boys to hold me on the horse. The Surgeon offered me a thousand dollars for the horse, to give it to him as soon as he was exchanged; but I had rather keep him and show him some day to the Auburn boys. The Doctor says he raised the horse in Texas, and that he is but five years old and is trained like all the Texan horses. I have his saddle, blankets, lasso and canteen. I am feeling good and expect to be armed again in about four weeks. John was honorably discharged not long after the fall of Port Hudson per part 6 of Special Orders No. 231, HQ, Dept. of the Gulf and commissioned 1st Lieut. / Regimental Quartermaster of the 3rd Regiment Engineers, Corps d’Afrique (CdA) on November 21, 1863 at New Iberia, Louisiana. He had joined for duty on September 12th at Algiers. The Regiment was redesignated the 97th USCT Engineers on April 4, 1864 and he was detailed as Chief Commissary of Subsistence for the Engineer Brigade the same day per General Orders No. 17, HQ, Engineer Brigade. He died on June 4, 1864 at Morganzia, Louisiana of malarial fever contracted during the Red River Campaign. Below is an excerpt of Colonel Robinson’s (formerly 1st Lieut. of Company D, 75th New York Infantry) June 13, 1864 report while in command or the Engineer Brigade on the Red River Campaign, you will recognize many names from the 75th NY: It is just that I should make some allusion to the services of officers during the campaign, and accordingly I mention the following as worthy of particular notice: Lieut. Col. U. B. Pearsall, commanding Fifth Engineers, for his untiring zeal and energy, and for the skill displayed by him in all the engineer operations of the command; Maj. Samuel Pollock and Capt. William H. Morrison, Fifth Engineers, for their skill and energy in constructing roads and bridges; Capts. Arnout Cannon and M. W. Morton, Third Engineers, for able and efficient services in reconnoitering and repairing roads and bridges; Capt. John J. Smith and First Lieut. A. F. Bushnell, of Third Engineers, for their skill and perseverance in the management of the pontoon train; First Lieut. J. William Haight, jr. [formerly Private, Company I, 75th NY], adjutant of Third Engineers, for the able and efficient manner in which he performed his duties as acting assistant adjutant-general; First Lieut. and Quartermaster J. N. Knight, Third Engineers, for efficiency in the management of the engineer train. He died June 3, from disease contracted during the campaign. His remains were brought home in 1865 and reburied at Huron Evergreen Cemetery in Huron, New York. Sources: NYS DMNA Findagrave Fold3 Hall, Henry. Cayuga in the Field: A Record of the 19th New York Volunteers and 3d N.Y. Light Artillery and 75th New York Volunteers. Syracuse, NY: Truair, Smith, 1873. Morton, Donald E., Following the Drum, Donald E. Morton, Dramatic Improvements Publishing, Auburn, NY, 2006. New York State. Annual Report of the Adjutant General of the State of New York for the Year 1901. Albany, NY: J.B. Lyon, 1902. Photos: Commissary Sergeant Knight, 75th NY Infantry (Worthpoint). |
Company Officers
1st Lieutenant John B. Butler (1st Louisiana Engineers)Lieutenant J. B. Butler was killed in action in the trenches during the Siege of Port Hudson, June 21, 1863 before the regiment was split in two parts.
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Company A:
1st. Lieut./Captain Alfred T. BushnellAlfred Bushnell enlisted as a private in the 4th Wisconsin at Hudson City, Wisconsin November 1, 1861. Regiment re-designated as cavalry. Served with Captain Joseph Bailey who would be appointed as Chief Engineer at the Siege of Port Hudson. Appointed 1st Lieutenant 3rd Regiment Engineers, Corps d'Afrique September 12, 1863 to fill an original vacancy at Algiers, Louisiana. Was in charge of the pontoon train attached to HQ from March to April 1864 during the Red River Campaign. Commanded Company B by Special Order May-June 1864. Was promoted to Captain October 24, 1864. On special duty fitting out the pontoon train January to February 1865.
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2nd Lieutenant John A. GilbertJohn H. Gilbert was originally a Sergeant in the Chicago Mercantile Battery, he accepted a commission through Special Order No. 32 dated February 2nd, 1865 into the 97th US Colored Infantry as 2nd Lieutenant effective January 26th, 1865 at Barrancas, Florida. He filled a vacancy due to the departure of Lt. Horace Morse of Company A. From July to August, 1865 he was on special duty commanding Company G. Was promoted October 6, 1865 to 1st Lieutenant in command of Company A with the promotion of Y.A.B. Evans. Mustered out March 31, 1866.
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Captain Moses WashburnMoses Washburn was one of the Sergeants from the 42nd Mass Vol that supervised and drilled emancipated men at Camp Parapet Contraband Camp and was promoted to Captain of the 1st Louisiana Engineers, later designated the 1st Regiment Engineers Corps d' Afrique. He had commanded the men at the Siege of Port Hudson. The men from Company A, I, M, etc were split away from the 1st to form the 3rd Regt Engineers, Corps d'Afrique. Captain Moses Washburn was apparently living the good life while the rest of his company were in misery during the Sabine Pass expedition, clearing obstructions from the Bayou Teche, and work at Berwick City.
Captain Moses Washburn, 3rd Regiment Engineers, Corps d'Afrique (97th USCT): Court Martial. Captain Washburn was ordered to Algiers, Louisiana to attend to the sick and wounded men of the regiment there and to assure the issuance of rations at the Convalescent Camp September 4, 1863. Off the man goes... The proximity to New Orleans, however, and its tempting red light district, were too much for the young man. Neglecting his duty, Capt. Washburn spent day after day with a young woman he found quite delightful and entertaining. On December 24th, Col. George D. Robinson, after becoming aware of the issue at hand, did formally charge Captain Moses Washburn with disobedience of orders and absence without leave and sent a telegram for his arrest. The telegram read "Captain Pickering, Provost Martial, You will cause the arrest of Captain Moses Washburn of Co. A 3rd Regt. Eng. CdA. He will probably be found at the house of a lewd woman Clara Fisher on Common Street opposite University Hospital. Report him to Maj. D.C. Houston, Chief Engs as a deserter." Upon his arrest and arrival at the Chief Engineers office, Maj D.C. Houston reported that "Captain Washburn was arrested by Captain Pickering and found at the place written mentioned." He was subsequently court martialed. |
2nd Lieutenant Horace MorseHorace Morse (June 5, 1830 – Jan 13, 1900) of Haverhill, Massachusetts married Elizabeth Ladd (1824 – Aug 24, 1904) in 1853. They would have seven children together. Their first-born son would die before his second birthday. Four more children would be born before he would muster into Company C (Shipley’s Brigade) of the 2nd Battalion Cavalry Massachusetts Volunteers in early 1862 as a private at Camp Chase, Lowell, Massachusetts. Leaving his young family behind, his service included Ship Island, the Battle of Baton Rouge, operations in the Lafourche District, and Port Hudson. In June of 1863, while at the Siege of Port Hudson, the regiment merged with the 41st Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry and became the 3rd Massachusetts Cavalry and Company C of the old regiment became Company L of the new. Horace soon had the opportunity to advance as the 1st Louisiana Engineers arrived short of officers.
At thirty-three years of age, Horace Morse mustered into the engineer regiment on June 24 effective back to May 9th 1863. He was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant of Company A of the 1st Regiment Engineers, Corps d’Afrique. With the formation of the 3rd Regiment Engineers, Corps d’Afrique (97th USCT) he was responsible for the clothing, camp, and garrison equipage which entitled him to an additional $10.00 per month. In February 1864 he was on duty at the regimental headquarters. In the spring, during the Red River campaign, he returned to duty with the regiment on the march. During his time in Louisiana his six year old daughter Nelle and one year old son George passed away. Tendering his resignation in a letter to Maj. Gen. Drake, A.A.G. Department of the Gulf dated July 11, 1864, Horace stated, “Since I have entered the service, my family has twice been visited by Death taking two of its members which, together with my own absence from home has so fearfully told upon my wife’s health as to prostrate her upon a bed of sickness, and I consider it a duty imperative that I return to my family in this their most trying hour.” His resignation was accepted and he was discharged on July 19, 1864. Sources: https://www.rocksvillage.org/families/morse-family/ https://www.nps.gov/civ.../search-battle-units-detail.htm... https://catalog.archives.gov/id/107496871?objectPage=15 |
Company B:
Captain John J. SmithJohn J. Smith enlisted on April 28, 1863 age 30, at Camp Parapet, LA and was mustered in as Captain of Company B, First Louisiana Engineers on May 9th at Alexandria, Louisiana by Special Orders No. 111, HQ Dept. of the Gulf to fill an original vacancy.
Captain Smith was placed in charge of the transfer of Company K of the 42nd Massachusetts Infantry's (on engineer service) pontoon bridge from May 9, 1863 to the Siege of Port Hudson. Leaving Alexandria, Louisiana to the northern side of the siege, the pontoon bridge was laid at 4 am on the Sandy Creek (Bayou Sandy) and a short footbridge by pioneers while "one colored regiment was on the other side skirmishing with the enemy in a cool, collected manner." It was the bridge the 1st and 3rd Louisiana Native Guard crossed at 5 am in its famous charge of May 27, 1863. After the first assault, the bridge was taken up, loaded on wagons, for rapid placement anywhere on the siege lines. On June 4th the pontoon bridge was taken to Gen. Banks headquarters and transferred to the First Louisiana Engineers on July 20, 1863 under charge of Captain J. J. Smith with "one company of the Frist Louisiana (colored) Engineers [Company B]." Special Orders No. 218, HQ Dept. of the Gulf at New Orleans, LA issued September 1, 1863 placed him with Company B in Third Engineers, Corps d’Afrique (97th USCT). Captain Smith was on detached service as Commander of Pontoon Bridge Train by Special Orders, HQ Dept of the Gulf since January 1, 1864. He was discharged February 21, 1865 by S.O. No. 49. On February 28, 1865 Captain Smith was mustered into command of the 1st Company Pontoniers, U.S. Volunteers and was part of Brigadier General Joseph Bailey’s Engineer Brigade with the 96th & 97th USCT during the Mobile Campaign and the sieges of Spanish Fort and Fort Blakeley. The 1st Company Pontoniers, U.S. Volunteers were mustered out May 12, 1866. Other 97th USCT officers transferred to create the pontoon company were 1st Lt. Thomas Manchester and 1st Lt. Archelus M. Conrad. |
1st Lieutenant Archelus M. ConradArchelus M. Conrad was a carpenter from Tompkins County, New York. He enlisted in Company D, 75th New York Volunteers in September 1861 and was mustered in as a Private on November 26, 1861. He transferred on September 1863, and was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant of Company B, 3rd Regiment of Engineers Corps d'Afrique (re-designated 97th USCT Engineers on April 4, 1864), commanded by Colonel George D. Robinson (brevet Brigadier General, and formerly 1st Lieutenant of Co. D, 75th NYVI). In September 1865, he was honorably discharged as commanding officer of the 1st Co. Pontonniers, 97th USCT Engineers with the rank of 1st Lieutenant. He married Helen M. Lee Sept. 1865 in Lansing, N Y. By 1886, they had moved to Kansas where he died sometime between 1886 and 1890.
The above was taken from the Archelus M. Conrad Papers, Louisiana and Lower Mississippi Valley Collections, LSU Libraries, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. |
1st Lieutenant Cassius M. FernaldCassius M. Fernald, born in Saco Maine in 1843, originally enlisted in the 1st Regiment US Engineer Battalion (Regular Army) on Nov 20, 1861 at the age of 18 at Portland, Maine. He was previously a cabinetmaker. He stood 5' 6 1/2" tall and had blue eyes and dark hair. He was originally assigned to Company B of the US Engineer Battalion and was later transferred to Company D after it was created in April of 1862. He rose from Private to Artificer.
The US Engineer Battalion drilled and trained in Washington D.C. with the 15th and 50th NY Vol Engineers on constructing batteries, fortifications, bridge building, and laying pontoon bridges. They participated in the Peninsula Campaign, Seven Days Battles, Antietam Campaign, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg Campaign, Operations on the Rappahannock, the Wilderness, Spotsylvania Courthouse, the March to the James, and the Investment of Petersburg. Cassius was then transferred out of the Battalion as an Artificer on June 30, 1864 and promoted to 2nd Lieutenant by Special Order 205 and sent to the Department of the Gulf. Cassius is one of several enlisted men in the US Army that applied for officer commissions in the USCT and received them. USCT officers were required to be veterans, pass an exam and review board, be "intelligent white men...of high moral standards...with a commitment to uplifting the black race" and, having come from the US Engineer Battalion, he also had knowledge of the material in Duane's Manual for Engineer Troops. Only 1 in 4 of the nearly 9,000 applicants received commissions. The first time a screening process was used for officers in the volunteer army during wartime. He was assigned to the 97th USCT (originally designated 3rd Regiment Engineers Corps d'Afrique) (also, G.O. 88 then had the 97th and 99th consolidated to form the 82nd USCT Sept 1864), one of three colored regiments specifically designated as engineer regiments. Cassius reported to Company B, relieving Lt. Bushnell. Interestingly, colored companies limited their number to about 48 men to lower the ratio between enlisted men and officers. The 97th USCT was assigned to Mobile Bay by the time 2nd Lt. Cassius M. Fernald arrived to his new post. There, the regiment made repairs to Fort Barrancas near Fort Pickens. Later actions included destroying the railroad between Mobile and Montgomery, repairing bridges, burning enemy stores, Battle of Pine Barren Creek, duty at Dauphin Island, Campaign against Mobile and its defenses, and the Siege of Spanish Fort and Fort Blakely. After the war, the 97th USCT maintained public order as the relationship between whites, blacks, Unionists and former Confederates deteriorated in the region from Mobile to New Orleans. On August 17, 1865, Cassius M. Fernald was promoted to 1st Lieutenant before being mustered out of service in March of 1866. He died in 1904 at the Age of 61, the result of a sickness after taking a fall. He was married and had 5 children. |
1st Lieutenant/Captain Thomas ManchesterThomas Wilbur Manchester (1841-1928) of Providence, Rhode Island. He was the son of Thomas and Sally A. (Carpenter) Manchester.
His first experience as a soldier was in Co. A, First Rhode Island Infantry. This regiment was raised in April after the firing on Fort Sumter and saw action at the Battle of First Bull Run on 21 July 1861. The regiment soon returned home to be mustered out on 2 August 1861. He married Martha (“Mattie”) Elizabeth Nean on September 1st. Four months later Thomas enlisted in Company L, 1st Rhode Island Cavalry where he became the commissary sergeant with the regimental supply wagons. In late May, after spending some six weeks or more visiting family and friends in Philadelphia, New York, and Providence, Thomas returned to his regiment in Virginia and was immediately arrested by his commanding officer. Thomas summed up the event by simply stating, “Was arrested by Lt. Col. Thompson in morning. Released in one hour.” Thomas did not stay with the regiment but returned to Washington D. C. to await his discharge papers from the First Rhode Island Cavalry, which were dated 31 May 1863. Not long after, however, he appealed to Governor James Y. Smith of Rhode Island for a commission in the 3rd Rhode Island Cavalry, a unit being raised by his close friend, Willard Sayles (formerly of the First Rhode Island Cavalry). By 19 August 1863, it appears he must have received confirmation of his intended appointment and given authority to assist Sayles in raising troops for the regiment. Less than a month later, however, on 12 September 1863, he inexplicably withdrew his appointment in the 3rd Rhode Island Cavalry. He finally did enlist in the 3rd Rhode Island Cavalry at Providence on 28 February 1864. He seems to have served with that regiment as First Sergeant until 2 August 1864 when he was promoted to 1st Lieut. of Co. G, 97th U.S. Colored Infantry replacing Lt. Julius Caprile. Also, in 1864, his only son Charles was born. From January to March 1865, he was on special duty at Regimental Headquarters as acting adjutant, but by April he was back with his company. He remained with them until August, stationed in Mobile, Alabama, when he went on medical leave for about a month, but he returned in late September 1865 when he was promoted to Captain of Co. B, 97th USCT replacing Capt. John J. Smith who had transferred to the 1st Company Pontoniers. From February to March he served on a Military Commission in Mobile, Alabama and remained with the regiment until April 1866 when he resigned his commission and returned home. Source: https://thomasmanchesterblog.wordpress.com/ |
1st Lieutenant Peter A. PonsPeter A. Pons was commissioned August 31, 1863 as a 1st Lieutenant to fill an original vacancy in the 3rd Regiment Engineers, Corps d'Afrique. A few weeks later, he was listed as being sick in New Orleans. By November he was reported as being "absent without leave" in New Orleans. In a note from Capt. William Melvin dated December 19, 1863, Peter Pons was examined by the Board and found "not qualified to hold a commission in the Corps d'Afrique" and was given permission to resign. He tendered his resignation on December 23, 1863.
In 1871, Peter A. Pons, living in Ocean Springs, Jackson County, Mississippi, was recommended to be appointed as Constable for the 4th District. By 1872, Peter A. Pons was shipping oysters to New Orleans and Mobile. In 1875, Peter A. Pons was held in prison for a misdemeanor for violating a Mississippi liquor law and petitioned the governor of the state for clemency stating, "if I am made to pay this bond it will only gratify the petty malice of my political ene-mies who have never forgiven me for being a Republican." Sources: National Archives Service Records, The Civil War & Reconstruction Governors of Mississippi website https://cwrgm.org/item/mdah_786-972-03-08 City of Oceans Springs Mississippi website https://oceansprings-ms.gov/180/Industry-Developments |
Company C:
Lt./Captain Youngs A. B. EvansYoungs A. B. Evans served as a corporal in the 6th Michigan Artillery at the Siege of Port Hudson. Received a commission as as a 2nd Lieutenant to fill an original vacancy in company C of the 3rd Regiment Engineers, Corps d'Afrique September 12, 1863. Promoted to 1st Lieut. of Company A in 1864. Promoted to Captain of company G October 1865. Acting Adjutant from May to June 1865. Discharged due to chronic diarrhea being 10 months weakened and emaciated.
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Captain Michael McDonoughCaptain Michael McDonough received an officers commission as a Captain from civil life and was assigned to the 1st Regiment Engineers, Corps d'Afrique on August 1, 1863. He was given command of company M by his muster of August 15. When the regiment was split in two on September 2, 1863 after the siege of Port Hudson, he became commander of Company C, 3rd Regiment Engineers, Corps d'Afrique. On December 21, 1864, Capt. McDonough wrote Lt. Col. Drake reporting that with the regiment's colonel wounded (Battle of Escambia Creek/Pine Barren), it's Lt. Col. on sick leave, and it's major in New Orleans on detached service, there were "not enough officers present to assign even one to each company." As such, he is listed as in temporary command of the regiment as 1864 came to a close. After the occupation of Mobile, He continued his command of Company C as it was placed on garrison duty at Mount Vernon Arsenal until the regiment mustered out of service in the spring of 1866.
Organization of troops in the Military Division of West Mississippi, Major General Edward R. S. Canby, U. S. Army, commanding, December 31, 1864. DISTRICT OF WEST FLORIDA AND SOUTH ALABAMA. Major General GORDON GRANGER. DISTRICT OF WEST FLORIDA. Brigadier General THOMAS J. McKEAN. First Brigade. Lieutenant Colonel GEORGE E. YARRINGTON. 25th U. S. Colored Troops (two companies), Captain Jasper H. Warren. 82nd U. S. Colored Troops, Lieutenant Colonel George Tucker. 86th U. S. Colored Troops, Captain Joseph Chellet. 97th U. S. Colored Troops, Captain Michael McDonough. Second Brigade. Colonel EPHRAIM W. WOODMAN. 1st Florida Cavalry (six companies), Lieutenant Colonel Eugene von Kielmansegge. 2nd Maine Cavalry, Lieutenant Colonel Andrew B. Spurling. Fort Barrancas. 25th U. S. Colored Troops (five companies), Lieutenant Colonel Frederick L. Hitchcock. Fort Pickens. 25th U. S. Colored Troops (three companies), Major James W. H. Reisinger. Barrancas, Fla. 14th New York Cavalry, Company M, Captain Adolph Schmidt. |
Company D:
1st Lieutenant Eugene F. BoughtonTransferred from the 75th New York by Special Order 231 Department of the Gulf to fill an original vacancy into the newly organized 3rd Regiment Engineers, Corps d'Afrique at Port Hudson, September 1863. His father, Henry Boughton (Bonghton) would become the regiment's Chaplain from February 1864 to December 1864. Lt. Boughton was assigned to Company F and Acting Adjutant from January to August 1864. He was listed as under arrest for a short time but charges were not pressed. He took command of Company D in October 1864 by Special Order No. 64. While leading his men back from the Pollard Expedition he was Killed in action at the Battle of Pine Barren (Escambia) Creek December 17, 1864.
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Captain Thomas MelvinService record to be added soon.
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1st Lieutenant James F. UsherService record to be added soon.
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Company E:
Captain John Newton ChamberlinBorn October 23, 1837 in Windsor, Vermont, John N. Chamberlin grew up on a family farm near Sennett, Cayuga County, New York. He enlisted at age 24 on September 24, 1861 at Sennett, NY to serve three years and was mustered in as Corporal of Company 1 of the 71th NY Infantry on November 26, 1861 later promoted Sergeant. While stationed In New Orleans, he wrote home February 22, 1863, “Four Regiments of negroes have been organized or are in the process of organization and they are more of a dread to the Rebels I believe than the same number of our white troops…” He was discharged on September 12, 1863, to accept commission in 3rd Louisiana Engineers, Corps d' Afrique. He had declined a commission to 2nd Lieut., 75th NY on August 22, 1863, with rank from June 14, 1863, vice Luther T. Hutchinson killed in action. He was commissioned Captain of Company E, 97th USCT on August 26, 1863 at New Orleans, La. Writing home in the Fall of 1863, “I have never asked anyone for any promotion or Commission of any kind since I have been in the service. When the 75th were at Donaldsonville, Maj. Robinson (who was then at Port Hudson) sent a list of names to Mr. Knight – the commissary Sergt. Of the 75th, asking him to see those men and ascertain whether we could accept commissions in the Reg’t. he was to organize. I went to Port Hudson the next day and made arrangements with the Maj. That I should have the man I wanted for 1st Lt. and went back and waited for the result. I didn’t have any objection to having Corning recommend me for a Commission, for I thought I might deserve one or the other at any rate.”
"HEAD QUARTERS DEPT. OF THE GULF. NEW ORLEANS, AUGUST 31, 1863. SPECIAL ORDERS No. 216. "Extract" The following named Enlisted Men are detailed for Special Service in the Corps d'Afrique and will at once report for duty to Maj. Robinson, 1st Engineers Corps d'Afrique at Algiers, La. Sergeant John N Chamberlain 75th N.Y. Vols. By Command of Maj. Gen. Banks [Signed] G Norman Sciber A. A. A. Genl. Official D. C. Houston Maj. and Chief Engr. Official M. M. Hosman 2nd Lieut & Act Adjutant 75th N.Y. Vols." After being mustered out with the rest of the regiment in the Spring of 1866, he returned to New York. On October 9, 1866 he married Annie Bullock who he had written letters to during the war, and moved to Waterloo, Iowa. Together, they had five children in the following decade. He received a license to teach a Common School for at least one year. By the late 1870's his health deteriorated due to contracting malaria while in the South. He had liver issues and suffered bouts of depression. On November 9, 1880 he hanged himself in his barn. His widow and surviving children then moved to Nebraska and homesteaded using Chamberlin's soldier's right to 160 acres there. He is buried in the Weedsport Rural Cemetery in Cayuga County, New York. Source: Bisbee, John (Editor), Captaining the Corps d'Afrique: The Civil War Diaries and Letters of John Newton Chamberlin (2016) |
2nd Lieutenant Augustine A. FletcherAugustine Fletcher was born October 18, 1844 in Boxborough, Massachusetts of a distinguished New England family. Enlisted into the 97th US Colored Infantry in 1864. Mustered out as a second Lieutenant in 1866. Shortly thereafter married Margaret Boyd of Nashville, Tennessee and settled in Marietta, Georgia. Became a well known cotton merchant and warehouseman. Was postmaster for 12 years. After the death of his first wife he married Maud Cole. In a partnership with George Gress, in Atlanta and he established the Georgia Pine Lumber Company. Entered the Insurance business in 1898 and later a wholesale merchant and broker. He dealt in fish and oysters until his death on December 1, 1920.
Source: Campbell County, Georgia Cemetery Records, 1857-1933 Obituary Abstracts. |
1st Lieutenant Salon LesterThe Lester Brothers of Genoa, New York both served in the 3rd Engineers, Corps d’Afrique (97th USCT) during the Civil War. Solon Lester was born March 22, 1834 in Genoa, New York and was a farmer when he appeared before the Board of Examiners per Special Orders No. 11, HQ, Dept. of the Gulf dated January 13, 1864. He was commissioned 1st Lieut. of Company E, 3rd Engineers, CdA, replacing Lieut. Homer O. Stafford who was promoted to Captain of Company H, mustering in on April 4, 1864 at Natchitoches, Louisiana. He was present at the Battle of Pleasant Hill, Louisiana on April 9th. Just over a month later, Lieut. Solon Lester died of typhoid fever on May 12, 1864, age 30, of at the General Hospital in New Orleans and was buried at Chalmette National Cemetery in Chalmette, St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana with a cenotaph also placed in Maplewood Cemetery in Genoa, New York.
Solon’s younger brother Elias had been mustered in a Surgeon of the 3rd Engineers, CdA on September 18, 1863, and may have recommended Solon for a commission. |
Company F:
1st Lieutenant Alfred Surraneous EatonAt 21 years of age, Alfred Eaton joined the 10th New Hampshire Infantry August 9, 1862. He rose through the ranks as a corporal and sergeant before being discharged in March, 6, 1864 to accept a commission in the U.S.C.T. Accepted a 1st Lieutenant's commission at Bradford, New Hampshire into Company H of the 32nd US Colored Infantry. With the 32nd USCT, "...he commanded the color company, seventeen men in which were killed in a single volley of the enemy's fire. Fie received a slight wound from a bullet which had passed through the body of one of his comrades. At [the Battle of] Honey Hill he took from the pocket of a Confederate soldier who had fallen in the fight, a Testament, upon the fly leaf of which he found a note requesting the finder to forward it to his family in Alabama. This commission the Major was careful to carry out, and in due time had the satisfaction of receiving an acknowledgment of its received by the family. He had many other thrilling experiences, which cannot here be enumerated."
Eaton transferred into the 97th U.S. Colored Infantry September 30, 1865 to replace Lieut. Boughton who was killed at the Battle of Pine Barren, Dec. 17, 1864. Reported for duty October 20, 1865 to command Company F. Discharged when the regiment mustered out April 1, 1866. After the war he married Elmira A. Brown in Black River Falls, Wisconsin October 12, 1868. They had three daughters, Viola A., Freddie Helen and Genevieve. They lived in Black River Falls where the family operated a tin and hardware shop, but it burned in 1871 and all of the stock, amounting to $24,000, was lost. The family then moved to Greenwood, Wisconsin and opened a new hardware store where he carried a large stock of $7,000 by 1881 and did a business of $20,000 a year. Mr. Eaton was active and respected in community affairs. He served as town treasurer, notary public and postmaster. "Major Eaton", as Alfred was called, was a former State Commander of the G.A.R. He was also active in Masonic circles. He was commander of the Post during his residence at that place, and for ten years past has served as quartermaster of Alonzo Ralmer Post No. 170, at Superior. He is also prominent in the Masonic fraternity, and besides being identified with the local Lodge and Chapter, he is captain general of Superior Commandery, No. 25, Knights Templar. Among other organizations in which he holds membership are the Knights of Honor and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. Few men can point to more honorable business or military careers, and none are held in higher regard by their associates. Source: https://www.wiclarkcountyhistory.org/4data/90/90676.htm https://civilwardata.com/active/hdsquery.dll?SoldierHistory?U&631395 |
Captain Daniel Perrine VanLiewDaniel Perrine VanLiew, Jr. (aka Van Liew) was born October 18, 1839 and raised in the Town of Scipio, Cayuga Co., New York. His family lived on a farm about 1.4 miles northeast of Scipio Center. He was a Carpenter by trade.
Van Liew enlisted on September 30, 1861, Daniel enlisted at Scipio as a Private in Company D, 75th Regiment, New York Infantry. He mustered in as a Corporal on November 26, 1861 and promoted to 1st Sergeant on February 14, 1862. He was discharged for promotion on January 2, 1863. He was commissioned a 2nd Lieut. in the 95th USCT and later promoted to Captain of Company E, 97th USCT. The 97th was formed from the 3rd Corps de Afrique Engineers on April 4, 1864. The 97th USCT participated in the Red River Campaign in Louisiana, largely performing engineering functions through May 1864, then served briefly at New Orleans before being sent to Mobile Bay, Alabama through February 1865. In March and April of 1865, the 97th Regiment participated in the Campaign against Mobile and its Defenses. They served at various fortifications on the Gulf until mustered out on April 6 1866. Van Liew mustered with the Regiment, having served 4 years, 6 months, 24 days. He returned to Scipio, Cayuga Co., New York after his Civil War service and married his close neighbor, Phebe Jane Post, on December 19, 1866. Daniel and Phebe remained in Scipio for about 1 year before moving to Auburn, New York where Daniel resumed work as a Carpenter. He was active in support of "The Boys in Blue," working to re-elect Ulysses S. Grant as President in 1872. Van Liew then purchased an 88 acre farm in Fleming, New York. He was elected Town Assessor of Fleming in 1880. Daniel attended veterans' reunions of the 75th Infantry Regiment, New York Volunteers over a period of years where he served as Vice-President for Company D. He applied for his military pension as an invalid in 1890. Van Liew died December 8, 1894 in Fleming, NY at age 55 and is buried at Sand Beach Cemetery (findagrave.com). |
Company G:
1st Lieutenant Julius CaprileJulius Caprile was commissioned 1st Lieutenant from civilian life February 2nd, 1864 at Berwick City. Caprile resigned June 30 1864.
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1st Lieutenant Thomas L. Jones1st Lieutenant Thomas L. Jones was originally a private in Company D of the 128th New York Volunteer Infantry. At 22 years of age, after participating in two assaults at the siege of Port Hudson, he received a commission to fill an original vacancy in the 3rd Regiment Engineers, Corps d'Afrique (97th USCI) when the regiment was formed in September 1863. He was assigned to Company G. He was present during the failed Sabine River expedition, at Algiers, New Iberia, and the work done clearing obstacles from Bayou Teche and the construction of works at Berwick City. In late December he was called to New Orleans to go through the officer's examination board. He was not able to pass his examination. He tested "...far below..." the expectation. The "...examination has not proved you qualified for the position you now hold..." as an officer in the engineer service. He was given the choice to resign and did so. He was honorably discharged January 30, 1864.
Source: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/107494264 |
2nd Lieutenant August Kruger (aka Augustus Krieger)Thirty-six year old August Kruger was another veteran enlisted man from the 2nd Rhode Island Cavalry that mustered into the 97th U.S. Colored Infantry as an officer. Discharged from Company C of the cavalry regiment on March 18th , he had a month to report to the 3rd Regiment Engineers, Corps d’Afrique, which he did, at Grand Ecore, Louisiana on April 16th . By this date, his new regiment’s designation had been changed to the 97 th U.S. Colored Infantry. Attached to
Bailey’s Engineer Brigade, under command of Col. George Robinson, 97th USCI, the regiment was overseeing the construction of pontoon bridges and defenses as Maj. General Nathaniel Banks army was falling back to Alexandria. Newly commissioned Second Lieutenant Kruger joined Company G, reporting to Captain Arnot Cannon and 1st Lieutenant Julius Caprile who were in the process of directing the men in chopping wood, digging entrenchments, and building defensive works in order to protect Admiral Porter’s Mississippi Squadron anchored in the Red River. With the falling water level, the fleet became stranded and the regiment marched into Alexandria and tore apart fences, buildings, and other structures in order to obtain materials needed to build the bottom portion of what would be known as “Bailey’s Dam.” 2 nd Lt. Kruger would have been an active participant in the issuance of orders and supervision of the men in Company G as they then transitioned to building the top portion of the dam alongside the 99th U.S. Colored Infantry. The dam was a success, the majority of the vessels saved, and the Federals marched out of Alexandria with the city in flames. 2nd Lt. A. Kruger supervised the men as they bridged the bayous south of Alexandria to Morganza, where the regiment would be stationed temporarily cutting embrasures into the earthworks fortifying the position during the summer of 1864. Apparently, Kruger had several incidents with the enlisted men where he had pulled a weapon on them for minor offenses. Lt. Col. Harmount, as commanding officer of the regiment, had remined him “never to draw a weapon on any enlisted man of his regiment for a trivial offense” yet did so, drawing his sabre and revolver repeatedly. On several occasions, such as the 10th of June, Kruger was repeatedly absent from his company without leave from his commanding officer. On June 15th 1864, Kruger drew his saber and struck Private William Robinson, Company E, and Private Victor Manuel, Company G “without just cause or provocation.” When Captain John Chamberlain, Company E, told him to put his sabre away, 2nd Lt. Kruger “did grasp the handle of his revolver and draw it partially from the holster in a threatening manner.” As he was in motion, Kruger said, “If it weren’t for the law, and [if] you were a man, you would go out and fight me with any weapon you might choose and not fall back on your rank and abuse me in this manner!” Kruger was placed under arrest the next day and charged with five counts; disobedience of orders, absence without leave, conduct prejudicial to good order and military discipline, and contempt and disrespect for his commanding officer. He remained under arrest until his court martial. Special Orders No. 23 [Extract], Headquarters District of West Mississippi and South Alabama, issued at Fort Gaines, September 30, 1864 called for a court martial trial to held at Mobile Point, Alabama at 10 AM Monday, October 3rd , 1864. Detailed for the court were the following officers: Major A. H. Pettibone, 20th Wisconsin Vol. Infantry Major H. E. Clarke, 3rd Maryland Cavalry Captain George B. Olsen, 94th Illinois Vol. Infantry Captain W. S. Trask, 6th Michigan Heavy Artillery 1st Lt. G. W. Bennett, 3rd Maryland Cavalry 1st Lt. W. S. Harrison, 94th Illinois Vol. Infantry 1st Lt. Thomas Manchester, 97th U.S. Colored Infantry 2nd Lt. A. C. Stanton, 96th U.S. Colored Infantry With Captain E. G. Miller, 20th Wisconsin Vol. Infantry as Judge Advocate. Found guilty, 2nd Lt. August Kruger was dismissed from service November 22, 1864. Source: National Archives Military Service Records https://catalog.archives.gov/id/107494763?objectPage=14 |
Company H:
Captain Homer Olin StaffordHomer Olin Stafford enlisted at Fleming, NY on September 21, 1861 at the age of 21, and was mustered in as Private in Company D, 75th NYVI on November 26, 1861, and was subsequently promoted Sergeant. On September 12, 1863, Homer received an honorable discharge by Special Orders No. 231, HQ Dept. of the Gulf in order to accept a commission as 1st Lieutenant of Company E, 3rd Regt. Engineers Corps d'Afrique (later redesignated the 97th USCT). On February 9, 1864 he was promoted to Captain of Company H in Berwick City, LA. Homer resigned his commission in 1864 on a Surgeon’s Certificate (G. Briggs, M.D.) due to the long-term effects of malaria. The War Dept., AAG, issued Special Orders No. 31, granting Captain Stafford an honorable discharge on January 20, 1865.
Following the war Homer moved to Ohio, joined the GAR, married, and passed away on April 18, 1903. Captain Stafford was buried at Oakland Cemetery in Sandusky, OH. Sources: American Civil War Research Database. Fold3. New York State. Annual Report of the Adjutant General of the State of New York for the Year 1901. Albany, NY: J.B. Lyon, 1902. |
1st Lieutenant Edwin B. GiffordEdwin Gifford enlisted at the age of 32 and originally served as a private in Company D of the 114th New York Volunteer Infantry. Commissioned as a Lieutenant by Special Order 236 September 25th, 1863 to fill an original vacancy at Brashear City, Louisiana. Commanded Company H of the 3rd Regiment Engineers, Corps d'Afrique. On detached service with Ordinance at New Orleans from May, 1864 to January 1865. February Absent without Leave. Referred to medical officer January 15th, 1865 to determine if he would qualify for a medical disability discharge. Doctor recommended that he have a leave of absence to return to a better climate in the North. The surgeon's report stated that he had "obstinate intermittent fever and daily nocturnal seminal emissions, each of two months duration." He applied for a 60 day leave of absence but, instead, was dishonorably discharged for "having tendered his resignation in consequence of disability, caused by dissipation and immorality" by Special Order 147 dated March 10, 1865.
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1st Lieutenant Joseph R. McFieldService record to be added soon.
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1st Lieutenant James R. MullikenService record to be added soon.
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Captain Alfred H. PurringtonService record to be added soon.
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Company I:
Captain James Gilbert HillJames Gilbert Hill was a 21-year-old student when he enlisted from Ware, Massachusetts, on September 5, 1862 and mustered in as 1st Sergeant in Company K, 42ndMassachusetts Militia Infantry on October 14, 1862. On March 26, 1863 he was detailed by Special Orders No. 81, Dept. of the Gulf for special duty assisting with the organization of the 1st Regiment Louisiana Engineers at Camp Parapet.
On May 28, 1863 Hill was honorably discharged from the 42nd MA by order of Major General Banks to accept a commission as 1stLieut. in the 1st Regiment Louisiana Engineers. He was promoted to Captain on September 12, 1863. Captain Hill mustered out of the 97thUSCT on April 6, 1866. He passed away on April 2, 1901 in Lowell, Massachusetts and was buried in Newton Cemetery in Newton. Contributors: David Lay |
1st Lieutenant Charles C. HoytService record to be added soon.
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1st Lt. Stanley M. HalsteadStanley M. Halstead enlisted at age 18 on September 23, 1861 at Poplar Ridge, NY to serve three years and mustered in as Private of Company A, 75th NY Infantry on November 26, 1861. He was promoted Corporal on February 4, 1863 and discharged on September 14, 1863, at Algiers, La., to accept commission as 2nd Lieutenant of Company I, 3rd Regiment Engineers, corps d'Afrique at Algiers, Louisiana. He mustered in as 1st Lieut., Company I, on May 1, 1864 at New Orleans. Halstead resigned his commission on July 3rd at Bayou St. John, Louisiana and was mustered out of the 97th USCT per Special orders No. 64, HQ, Dept. of the Gulf on July 28, 1864.
Source: https://civilwardata.com/active/hdsquery.dll?SoldierHistory?U&1967517 |
Company K:
1st Lieutenant Frederick D. BurnhamBorn August 11, 1846 in Exeter, New Hampshire. Seventeen year old Harvard student Frederick Dennett Burnham's gave up his studies and sent a letter of request to receive a commission in the US Colored Troops as an engineering officer in the Department of the Gulf.
"Cambridge, Mass., Mar 15, 1864 Maj. Houston, Respected Sir, Learning a colored regiment of Engineers, Sappers and Miners is to be raised in your department, I wish to apply for the commission of Lieutenant in that regiment, and hereby transmit my qualifications and recommendations. I am conversant with all branches of mathematics through the Integral Calculus and have been connected as a student with the Lawrence Scientific School of Harvard University for one year. Your most obedient servant, Frederick D. Burnham Maj Houston U.S. Engineers, New Orleans." He stood 5' 11" and was commissioned as a 1st Lieutenant June 24, 1864 replacing Lt. Edward Pease. He was wounded in action at the Battle of Pine Barren (Escambia), December 17, 1864. A biographical sketch stated, "an expedition was fitted out at Barrancas, Fla., for the destruction of the stores and munitions of war at Pollard, Ala., and Lieutenant Burnham, then on 'sick leave,' volunteered to accompany the expedition, and was placed in command of Company A [K], United States Colored Troops. The expedition was successful, but on the return the Union forces were met by the rebels at the Escambia River Bridge, and a sharp fight ensued. It being deemed necessary to carry the bridge by storm, the 97th, under command of Colonel George D. Robinson, was ordered forward, and charged the bridge under a terrific fire of musketry. Colonel Robinson fell wounded at the first fire, and the regiment was led across the bridge by Lieutenant Burnham, who, while cheering on his men, fell severely wounded, and disabled from further service. For this act of daring Lieutenant Burnham was especially mentioned for gallantry in the report to the commanding officer, and promoted to be captain by brevet." Medical records show that the wounds he received were from a single engagement. Both wounds were "buck" in the left leg between the knee and ankle when he was shot on December 17th, 1864. The surgeon reported him as being at risk of a "permanent disability". He was reassigned to the War Department in the Adjutant Generals Office in Washington D.C. April, 1865 after the regiment mustered out of service. "At the close of the war, Captain Burnham was appointed assistant on the United States Improvement Surveys in the north-west, but in consequence of a fall from his horse, in Iowa, that re-opened his wounds, he was obliged to abandon the profession of engineering, and is now practicing law." In 1871 he was residing in Newburyport, Massachusetts, where his brother resided, and applied for a passport to Europe and Asia Minor, perhaps to join his brother Sylvester, a well established educator and linguist proficient in multiple modern and classical languages. Frederick Burnham never married and had no children. He died at the age of 27 of tuberculosis (consumption and oedema of the lungs) on April 16, 1874 and is buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in Newburyport, Massachusetts. His sword, pictured here, will be on display at the Atlanta History Center beginning June 18, 2023 as part of their Juneteenth display. Also featured will be the I.D. Disc of a 97th USCT veteran. Sources: National Archives Service Records North American Family Histories, 1500-2000, Burnham, pg. 406-407. Massachusetts Death Records, 1841-1915 Ancestry.com |
1st Lieutenant Peter ThompsonService record to be added soon.
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Unassigned:
1st Lieutenant Stanley HalsteadCheck back later please.
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H.Q. Engineer Officers, Department of the Gulf
Several officers of the First Louisiana Engineers (95th and 97th USCT) were assigned to the Hd Qrs Engineers, Dept. of the Gulf. These include Major Albert P. Clark, 97th USCT, and others.
Major Albert P. ClarkService record to be added soon.
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Brigadier General Joseph BaileyBrigadier General Joseph Bailey, Chief Engineer, 19th Army Corps. In gratitude of his actions in building the Bailey Dam on the Red River, Admiral Porter gave Bailey a $700 sword. The navy presented him with a silver vase. The U.S. Congress formally thanked him and promoted him two grades to the rank of brigadier general. In his report Porter wrote, "The highest honors that the Government can bestow on Colonel Bailey can never repay him for the service he has rendered the country. He has saved the Union a valuable fleet, worth nearly two million dollars, and he has deprived the enemy of a triumph which would have emboldened them to carry on this war a year or two longer."
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Major David Crawford Houston, U.S. Corps of EngineersChief Engineer Department of the Gulf...
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Commanders of the Department of the Gulf
Major General Nathaniel Prentice BanksMajor General Nathaniel Prentice Banks was the commander of the Union forces in which the future 97th US Col Inf would originally muster as part of the 1st Regiment Engineers, US Colored Volunteers (Corps d'Afrique) at Fort Parapet, Louisiana. General Banks assumed command of the Army of the Gulf, or the Union XIX Corps, in December, 1862, succeeding General Benjamin Butler.
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