New York in the Civil War

United States    U.S. Civil War    New York    New York Military    New York in the Civil War

The famous New York Seventh Militia, just after reaching Washington in April 1861

Introduction

New York contributed about 465,000 soldiers to Union armed forces, more than any other state. Over 50,000 of them died. Over 20% of all the men in the state and over 50% of men under the age of 30 served during the Civil War. More than 130,000 were foreign-born, including about 20,000 from Canada, 51,000 from Ireland, and 37,000 from Germany. The War Department credited New York with 404,805 white soldiers, 39,920 sailors and marines, and 4,125 colored soldiers.

New York eventually provided 27 cavalry regiments, 15 artillery regiments, 8 regiments of engineers, and 248 infantry regiments.

4,125 free blacks from New York served in the Union Army. Three infantry regiments of United States Colored Troops were raised in New York-- 20th Regiment, 26th Regiment, and 31st Regiment.

New York Military Units

Most units were numbered, however, some were named. See the table below for lists of the regiments, battalions, batteries, and unassigned companies.

The information in the lists of New York Military Units comes from the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors web site. This web site can also be searched by the name of a soldier.

New York Units by Number or by Name

Union Units

1st-5th

6th- 12th

13th- 22nd

23rd- 37th

38th- 68th

69th- 102nd

103rd- 150th

151st- 194th

A to Z

New York Units by Type of Unit

Union Units

Infantry

Cavalry

Artillery

National Guard

Militia

Engineers

Other

Unit Histories

Many published histories of the individual regiments with unit rosters exist, and some are on microfilm at the Family History Library.

• Military sketches of regimental officers and organizations are available in Frederick Phisterer, compiler, New York in the War of the Rebellion, 1861 to 1865, Third Edition, six volumes. (Albany, New York: Lyon, 1912; Family History Library book 974.7 M2p, except Volumes 3 and 4 which the library does not have; films 1486494–96). Volume one (pp. 72–77) has a listing of the units raised in particular counties.

• A similar listing arranged by county and town is C. E. Dornbusch, compiler, The Communities of New York and the Civil War: The Recruiting Areas of the New York Civil War Regiments(New York, New York: The New York Public Library, 1962; Family History Library book 974.7 A1 no. 308).

• Books/Monographs/Book on Fiche.Presentation of flags of New York volunteer regiments and other organizations : to His Excellency, Governor Fenton, in accordance with a resolution of the Legislature, July 4, 1865.(Bethesda, Maryland : University Publications of America, c1992) FHL Fiche 6083554

• Books/Monographs/Book on Fiche.A complete army list of the state of New York : comprising the General staff of the state; staff of the various departments; list of the field and staff officers of each militia regiment; list of the commissioned officers of each volunteer regiment, arranged according to seniority. published 1862. (Bethesda, Maryland : University Publications of America, c1992) FHL Fiche 6083553

• New York. Adjutant General's Office. Annual report of the Adjutant General of the State of New York for the year 1861. (Bethesda, Maryland : University Publications of America, c1992) FHL Fiche 6083494and Annual report of the Adjutant General of the State of New York for the year 1862.(Bethesda, Maryland : University Publications of America, c1992) FHL Fishe 6083495 and Annual report of the Adjutant General of the State of New York for the year 1863. (Bethesda, Maryland : University Publications of America, c1992) FHL Fiche 6083496, 6083497 and Annual report of the Adjutant General of the State of New York for the Year 1864.(Bethesda, Maryland : University Publications of America, c1992) FHL Fiche 6083498, 6083499, and Annual report of the Adjutant General of the State of New York for the year 1865. (Bethesda, Maryland : University Publications of America, c1992) FHL Fiche 6083500, 6083501, 

Records and Resources

Service Records

• The Compiled Service Records ($) (Fold3.com) of volunteer Union soldiers who served with the 1st New York volunteer engineers are available online. Records for other soldiers from New York are not yet available. For more information see Union Service Records. In the future, these records will be made available at no charge through the National Archives web site. They can also be found on the FamilySearch Catalog, starting with the film # 1488560 for the state of New York. The compiled service records consist of an envelope containing card abstracts taken from muster rolls, returns, pay vouchers, and other records. Service records may provide rank, unit, date of enlistment, length of service, age, place of birth, and date of death.
  

• New York, Civil War Service Records of Union Soldiers (FamilySearch Historical Records) describes the collection with a link to the database.
  

• New York. Adjutant General's Office. A record of the commissioned officers, non-commissioned officers and privates, of the regiments which were organized in the State of New York : and called into the service of the United States to assist in suppressing the Rebellion caused by the Secession of some of the Southern States from the Union, A. D. 1861, as taken from the muster rolls on file in the Adjutant General's Office, S. N. Y. (Bethesda, Maryland : University Publications of America) FHL Fiche 6083502 through 6083509
  

• A helpful index to New York Civil War soldiers is United States, Adjutant General's Office, Index to Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Union Soldiers. New York, New York. (Washington, D.C.: National Archives, 1964; Family History Library films 882057–213;). Gives regiment, company, and rank. This information can help locate pension records.
  

• The Family History Library has indexes to federal service and pension records of Union Army soldiers. They are listed in the FamilySearch Catalog Place Search under UNITED STATES - MILITARY RECORDS.

Pension Records

Civil War Pension Index Cards - An Index to Pension Applications of veterans who served in the US Army between 1861-1917 is available on FamilySearch. Each card gives the soldier’s name, application and certificate numbers, state of enlistment, and might include rank and death information. The majority of the records are of Civil War veterans, but the collection also includes records for veterans of the Spanish-American War, the Philippine Insurrection, the Indian Wars, and World War I. For more information see Union Pension Records.

Muster Rolls

During the 1870s and 1880s, New York began making abstracts of various War Department records. These are available only at the state archives and include:

• Abstracts of Civil War Muster Rolls for New York State Volunteers, 1,231 Volumes. These are printed forms arranged by unit number and then alphabetically by the names of officers and enlisted men (excluding naval personnel). The abstracts were published as New York Adjutant General, Registers of New York Regiments in the War of the Rebellion (supplemental volumes to the Annual Report of the Adjutant-General of the State of New York, 1893–1905) Serial number 1–43 (Albany, New York: James B. Lyon, 1894–1906; 1897 and 1901 in Family History Library book 974.7 M2n; 1897 on film 1320818 item 4).

The series is arranged by regiment and then alphabetically by soldiers' names. There is a seventeen-volume name index (not at Family History Library). The books have most but not all of the information found in the original abstracts. The Library only has volumes for the 15th and 16th Artillery and 81st to 87th Artillery. May show name, age, date, and place of enlistment, unit, or death or discharge date or place.

• Abstracts of Muster Rolls for New York State Militia Units Mustered into Federal Service During the Civil War, 1861–1865. 92 Volumes. These are arranged by unit and then alphabetically by name. The archives has a separate index to them.

• Abstracts of Muster Rolls for Men Who Served in the United States Navy During the Civil War, 1861–1865. 96 Volumes. These are arranged by U.S. Regular officers, volunteer officers, and enlisted men.

• Goerlich, Shirley Boyce.Military service roster, Civil War, town of Masonville, Delaware County, New York. (Bainbridge, New York : RSG Pub., c1999) FHL Book 974.736/M3 M2g

• Wilt, Richard A.New York soldiers in the Civil War : a roster of military officers and soldiers who served in New York Regiments in the Civil War as listed in the annual reports of the Adjutant General of the state of New York. (Bowie, Maryland : Heritage Books, c1999) FHL Book 974.7 M2wiL Volumes 1 & 2

• Williams, Sam E. Roster of 50th and 15th Regiments New York State Volunteer Engineers, Army of the Potomac. (Bethesda, Maryland : University Publications of America, c1992) FHL  Fiche 6083644

Compilations at the State Archives

• Town Clerks' Registers of Men Who Served in the Civil War, ca. 1865–1867. Albany, New York: New York State Archives and records Administration, 1991. These registers, arranged by county and town, give the individual's full name, residence, birth date and place, rank, length of enlistment, place of enlistment, race, amount of bounty paid, marital status, previous occupation, parents' names (including mother's maiden name), and promotion dates. Not all the elements are filled in. Birth date and parents' names are usually missing. The registers for New York City, Troy, and other cities are missing. Visit the New York county pages under the Military section for a listing on which Town Clerks' Registers still exist.

The original registers are at the New York State Archives in Albany, New York. Microfilm copies are found at the Family History Library (FHL Film 1993401-37) and can be ordered for viewing at your local Family History Center. They are also indexed and available at Ancestry.com ($).

• Return of Officers and Enlisted Men Who are Now in the Military or Naval Service. Three Volumes. 1865. They are arranged by county and then alphabetically by town and include such genealogical information as name, age, color, place of birth, marital status, occupation, and status as voter or alien.

• Return of Officers and Enlisted Men Who Have Been in the Military or Naval Service, 1865. Similar in content and arrangement to the first-mentioned volumes.

• Deaths of Officers and Enlisted Men, Which Have Occurred While in the Military or Naval Services, 1865. One Volume.

• Dornbusch, C. E. The communities of New York and the Civil War : the recruiting areas of the New York Civil War regiments. (New York, New York : New York Public Library, 1962) FHL Book 974.7 M2dce

New York 1865 State Census

New York State 1865 Census Soldier’s Mortality Schedule. This schedule includes those soldiers whose death occurred while in the military or naval service of the United States, or from wounds or disease in said service since April, 1861, reported by the families to which the deceased belonged when at home in their town of N.Y.

• Contents of the entries: Name, age, marital status, citizenship status, enlistment date, original regiment, original rank, regiment at death, rank at death, promotions, death date and place, manner of death, surviving associates, and burial place.
• Images available online at New York State Census, 1865. Click on the link to go to the page, then click on the ‘Browse through images’ link and select your county, then select a soldier's town and browse to the end of the population schedule until you find the Marriage, Mortality, and 1865 soldier mortality schedules.
• Also on microfilm. See the Family History Library line in the State Census Chart on the county page that the town is located in. These can be ordered through any Family History Center.

US 1890 Veterans Census

1890 Census Veterans Schedules - The "Special Schedules of the Eleventh Census (1890) Enumerating Union Veterans and Widows of Union Veterans of the Civil War" (NARA M123) (FHL films 338204–16) are available online for the state of New York. The schedules list Union veterans and their widows living in New York in 1890 and gives the soldiers' regiments and companies. For more information on the 1890 Veterans Schedules see Union Census Records.

An index is also available 974.7 X22dv

Soldier Homes

For records of national old soldier homes, including the homes in Bath and Oxford, New York, see:

• United States. Veterans Administration. Registers of Veterans at National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, 1866–1937. Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1988. (On 282 Family History Library films.) Includes general indexes for each of the twelve homes, but some volumes are indexed separately.

These Historical Registers may list the soldier's name, date and place of enlistment, rank, military unit, length of service, date and place of discharge, place of birth, age, physical description, religion, occupation, previous residence, marital status, nearest relative, pension, soldier home admission and discharge dates, disability, death date, or cause of death.

Grand Army of the Republic (GAR)

Grand Army of the Republic founded in 1866 - 1956, was a fraternal organization members were veterans of the Union Army, US Navy, Marines and Revenue Cutler Service who served in the American Civil War. The group supported voting rights for black veterans, and lobbied the U.S. Congress to establish veterans' pensions. In 1890 the membership was 490,000.

In 1888 there were 558 post with 37286 members in New York

New York G.A.R. Posts

The FamilySearch Catalog lsit records of theNew York Grand Army of the Repbulic.

Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War

With the death of the last member of the Grand Army of the Republic the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War was formed.

List of camps in the state of New York

Other Sources

• Books/Monographs/Book on Fiche. A complete army list of the state of New York : comprising the General staff of the state; staff of the various departments; list of the field and staff officers of each militia regiment; list of the commissioned officers of each volunteer regiment, arranged according to seniority. (Bethesda, Maryland : University Publications of America, c1992), FHL fiche 6083553 and Presenation of flags of New York volunteer regiments and other organizations : to His Excellency, Governor Fenton, in accordance with a resolution of the Legislature, July 4, 1865. FHL Fiche 6083554.

This website requires a paid subscription for full access. Some subscription websites are available for free at your local FamilySearch Center or Affiliate Library.

National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, D.C.

Family History Library (FHL); now called, FamilySearch Library (FSL)