History of the Dewitt guard, company A, 50th regiment National guard, state of New York Part 1

History of the Dewitt guard, company A, 50th regiment National guard, state of New York.

by Unknown.

PREFACE.

Our object in giving to the public a full, true, and concise history of Company A, 50th Regiment National Guard, State of New York, better known to the citizens of Ithaca as the DeWitt Guard, is to show as honorable a record as can be produced by any similar organization--so far as the members.h.i.+p of this Company was connected with the army and navy of the United States during the late rebellion. We shall show that the total members.h.i.+p of the Company from the time of its organization, in December, 1851, to the present time, has been two hundred and two, of which eighty-two served either in the army or navy during the war against eighty-eight who did not; twenty-nine names appear on the Company roll, of whom it is not known to the writer whether they were or were not in the army, and nine who died previous to the war. We have undertaken a brief personal history to each, which we believe will be interesting to the reader.

We also wish to show that the Company has been, from the time of its organization to the present, a self-supporting and self-sustaining inst.i.tution, until recently receiving nothing from the State but arms, and that the individual members have contributed the sum of two thousand seven hundred and twenty dollars and fifty-six cents, to which amount should be added a liberal percentage for disburs.e.m.e.nts which do not appear on Company records.

We propose to give the name of each member of the DeWitt Guard from its organization, the date of his enlistment, his profession, with such incidents as we think will be of interest to the reader, after which we shall give the history of the Company collectively. There may be those who have belonged to the Company whose names will not appear in these pages. This must be attributed to the fact of their not signing the muster-roll of the Company, as every name there recorded is introduced in the following history.

HISTORY.

ARCH. H. MCNEIL, Merchant, enlisted November 5th, 1851. At the first election of company officers McNeil was chosen second Lieutenant, which position he honorably and creditably filled to the time of his death, which occurred November 28th, 1855. To Lieutenant McNeil the Company were much indebted. To him more than any other one man, belonged the credit of organizing the Company.

He was loved, respected, and honored by both officers and men, and his death caused a breach not easily repaired. Upon receiving intelligence of his death, the Company were immediately called together and the following resolutions unanimously adopted:

_Resolved_, That in the death of Lieutenant A. H. McNeil the members of this Company have not only lost a commissioned officer in whom a zealous, lively and effective interest for the welfare of the Company always prevailed, but an officer whose military bearing commanded our respect, and a fellow soldier whose conduct and kindness has merited and won our esteem. That we deeply feel his loss, and mourn his untimely departure from our midst,

_Resolved_, That we tender to the widow and relatives of our deceased officer our sincere condolence in this their great affliction.

_Resolved_, That we accompany the remains of our late officer to the depot on the morrow, and that a delegation of seven men accompany his remains to the city of Auburn as an escort and attend his funeral.

_Resolved_, That on all parades we will wear the usual badge of mourning for one year.

At a special meeting held on the return from Auburn of the escort which accompanied the remains of Lieut. A. H. McNeil, and after hearing the report of the officer commanding said escort, the following preamble and resolutions were unanimously adopted:

WHEREAS, An escort from this Company having been delegated to accompany and perform the last sad duties over the remains of our esteemed friend, Lieut. A. H. McNeil, at Auburn, and while there having met with reception and attention which ever characterize the true and tried friend and soldier, be it therefore

_Resolved_, That to General Segoin and Colonel Jenkins, and their respective staffs, to the Auburn City Guard, Willard Guard, and to the delegation from other Companies, we as a Company return them our sincere and heartfelt thanks for the manner in which they cared for them, and the kindness with which they were every where greeted by them while there, and in the admirable arrangements for the funeral made at such short notice, and for the cheerful and handsome manner in which they were carried out; gratified as we are, words can only attempt a description of our feelings of the manner in which they alleviated our sorrows in the burial of our dead. And although the deceased had not resided among them for years, yet like us they appreciated his many virtues and remembered his uniform kindness to all, and when they but learned of his decease, their tears mingled with ours at our irreparable loss.

_Resolved_, That in future, should it be possible for us to repay them in any manner that it will be forthcoming, feeling, as we do, that no sacrifice will be too great in attempting a return of their kindness in the hour of our affliction, and as individuals, as citizens and as soldiers, we hope that the choicest of Heaven's blessings may be theirs, and that their respective staffs and Companies may ever meet with prosperity.

GEORGE H. COLLINS, Merchant, enlisted November 5th, 1851. Mr. Collins was permitted to serve but a short time as a member of the Company, as he was selected by the Colonel and commissioned Adjutant of the Regiment, which position he held for many years. Changing his residence to the city of New York, his connection with the 50th Regiment was dissolved.

BEN. B. WILc.o.x, Hotel keeper, enlisted November 5th, 1851. Served with the Company but a short time; removed to Owego; was for a time proprietor of the Ah-Wa-Ga House, but more recently of a hotel at Saratoga Springs.

WILLIAM M. SMITH, Brewer, enlisted November 5th, 1851. Served but a short time.

H. F. RANDOLPH, Shoe Merchant, enlisted November 5th, 1851. Mr. Randolph had more than served his time, and reached the rank of Captain, in the old militia before joining this organization. He was an officer of no common attainments--prompt, active and generous. The interest he had always manifested, and now felt, in military matters, compelled him to join this new enterprise; he enlisted as a private, and is to this day an honorary member of the Company. He has accompanied them on many an excursion, and is always invested with the command of the honorary members. The Captain has now attained the age of sixty-three years, and is still as smart, hale and hearty as a lad of sixteen.

J. C. MCWHORTER, Merchant, enlisted November 5th, 1851. Remained but a short time with the Company, but the soul-stirring strains of music, as rendered by him on the snare drum while he was a member, will long be remembered by those a.s.sociated with him during his short military experience.

FRED. S. LAMOUREUX, Musician, enlisted November 5th, 1851. Was a very valuable member for a very short time; for while resting from the fatigue of drill, Lamoureux always furnished the music for the _light foot_ portion of the Company.

WILLIAM S. ALLEN, Carpenter, enlisted November 6th, 1851. Was a faithful and exemplary member for a few years, and undoubtedly his connection with this Company gave him the position he has honorably filled since his removal from us--that of policeman in New York city. He was consequently transferred as Sergeant from this Company to Sergeant of police in that city.

K. MORRIS, Clothing Merchant, enlisted November 7th, 1851. Served but a short time.

S. NEWMARK, Clothing Merchant, enlisted November 10th, 1851. Served faithfully for a short time and was granted an honorable discharge.

J. G. CONRAD, Clerk, enlisted November 8th, 1851. Mr. Conrad faithfully performed the duties of a member of this Company for a short time.

L. R. KING, Merchant, enlisted November 9th, 1851. At the time of the organization of the Company, Mr. King was elected fourth Sergeant, and by promotion filled each office up to first Lieutenant, and was in command of the Company for some time. Lieutenant King, by his kind and pleasing way, and the interest he ever manifested in the welfare of the Company, commanded the respect and admiration of every man who served under him. He held the commission of first Lieutenant from May 28th, 1856, to August 25th, 1862. Upon his resignation being accepted, he was voted an honorary members.h.i.+p for life. He is one of the enterprising firm of Treman, King & Co., large manufacturers. We believe that Mr.

King can look back upon the years spent in the DeWitt Guard as not altogether unprofitable.

W. B. HATFIELD, Clerk, enlisted November 15th, 1851. Mr. Hatfield was a good soldier; was in the employ of L. H. Culver, Esq.; retained his connection with the Company and his employer until his removal to the West.

SPENCE SPENCER, Book Merchant, enlisted November 15th, 1851. Retained his members.h.i.+p but a short time, but with the liberality which was always a prominent characteristic of Mr. Spencer, he donated to the Company a complete uniform, which is the first recorded gift made to the DeWitt Guard. He is still a citizen of Ithaca, and has of late attached no small degree of honor to his name by publis.h.i.+ng the book ent.i.tled, "The Scenery of Ithaca."

L. MILLSPAUGH, dealer in Harness, Trunks, &c., enlisted November 15th, 1851. Mr. Millspaugh was an old soldier before joining this Company, having held the commission of Lieut. Colonel in the old militia, issued by Gov. Seward in 1842; but feeling a deep interest in the organization of a new Company, enlisted as a private. On the 29th day of January, 1852, he was elected first Corporal, which position he held but a short time, as he was gradually promoted until he had filled nearly all the grades of non-commissioned offices. He always declined accepting a commission, and when it seemed to be the unanimous wish of the Company, his prompt reply was "No." He continued an invaluable member until long after he had served his time, (seven years,) when he was granted an honorable discharge. Our friend, by his emphatic "No," has not been as successful, however, in a political way, he having repeatedly been called to fill civil offices of honor and trust; and by his being re-elected to most of the offices he has held, is in itself sufficient to show his standing in the community in which he lives. Whether all this would have been so, had he never joined the DeWitt Guard, we leave for a discriminating public to judge.

J. B. TERRY, Merchant, enlisted November 15th, 1851. Mr. Terry filled the office of Secretary of the Company for the first two years of its existence. He was a good soldier, an exemplary and respected citizen, and the community generally mourned his loss when he was removed by death.

JEROME ROWE, Lawyer, enlisted November 18th, 1851. Some unhappy misunderstanding caused the withdrawal of Mr. Rowe from the Company during the early part of its history. He was untiring in his endeavors to establish the organization, and the same energy and devotion which he displayed at that time, has followed him thus far through life. He filled the office of Special County Judge of Tompkins County, with honor to himself and perfect satisfaction to the people. He entered the army of the United States April 1st, 1861, was commissioned Captain of Company A, 32d New York volunteers, same date, and served as such one year.

HUGH MCDONALD, enlisted November 18th, 1851. Was elected Orderly Sergeant Dec. 31st of the same year, which position he filled as long as he was a resident of the village. McDonald was a soldier of much experience, having served in the Mexican war, where he became perfectly familiar with the duties pertaining to the soldier in the field. As a drill-master he was not excelled, and under his instruction the Company soon became very proficient in the manual of arms, and school of the soldier and Company. At the outbreak of the Rebellion he enlisted in a Pennsylvania Regiment, was very soon promoted to Captain, and again to Major. We should be glad to give a full history of his life through the war, but have been unable to obtain it. This much we can say, he was a patriotic citizen, a true soldier, and a faithful officer.

N. H. CURTIS, Upholsterer, enlisted November 19th, 1851. Was long connected with the Company; filled the posts of Corporal and Sergeant.

After a long residence in our village, he removed to the West, where he survived but a few years.

DANIEL PLACE, Jeweler, enlisted November ---- 1851. Mr. Place joined the Company in order that the number required by law might be secured, so as to enable them to proceed with the election of officers. He never served as an active member.

LUCIUS F. PEASE, Painter, enlisted November 20th, 1851. Mr. Pease well and faithfully performed the duties required of him as a member of the DeWitt Guard for the full term of his enlistment, (seven years,) and was granted an honorable discharge. He is still living in Ithaca, an industrious mechanic, and a good citizen.

CHRISTOPHER WHALEY, Druggist, enlisted November 21, 1851. Was discharged on Surgeon's certificate soon after his enlistment.

WILLIAM GLENNY, Clerk, enlisted November 21st, 1851. December 31st was elected fourth Corporal; March 3d, 1853, was elected Secretary, which office he most creditably filled, as the records of the Company show, up to January, 1857; was elected fourth Sergeant Jan. 14th, 1857; May 17th, 1861, second Sergeant, which office he held at the time of his enlistment in the United States army.

The subject of this sketch reflects great credit upon the Company to which he formerly belonged, and in the perilous hour honored his const.i.tuency, as well as himself, to a degree unparalleled in the history of the Rebellion. Having in his former life been a warm and ardent supporter of the inalienable rights of man, and an exponent of a free government, the first attempt by traitors to destroy its fair fabric, bought by the blood of our fathers, and to trample under foot the time-honored and beloved emblem of our free and independent nationality, so enraged his sense of right and justice, that he at once expressed his determination to fulfill his public declarations to the effect, that when traitors should thrust the bayonet at the nation's life, he would be found among those who were willing to peril their lives in its defence.

Being met with opposition and the remonstrance of friends, that there were single men, and those more inured to hards.h.i.+p, sufficient for the emergency, whose duty it was to go first, his plans were for a time delayed, and until a second or third reverse of our arms, when he could no longer be restrained, went earnestly at work, and by his persistent efforts succeeded in raising a sufficient number of volunteers for the basis of a Company; which, by authority of the commandant of the Elmira rendezvous, in accordance with orders from the Adjutant General of the State, was organized at Ithaca Sept. 10th, 1861, and by him conducted to Elmira, where, by a unanimous vote of the Company, he was elected its Captain, and so commissioned by Gov. Seymour, commission bearing date Sept. 13th, 1861.

Captain Glenny then went earnestly at work and recruited his Company to the minimum standard, and by vote of its members united its destinies with the 64th Regiment N. Y. Volunteers, commanded by Col. Thomas J.

Parker.

On the 10th of December the Regiment moved to Was.h.i.+ngton, and a month later crossed the Potomac and camped with the main army three miles west of Alexandria, and was brigaded under General O. O. Howard, who commanded the first Brigade, first Division, second Corps. Early in the spring of 1862, the Brigade moved one week in advance of the main army for the purpose of repairing the Orange & Alexandria Railroad. A short distance beyond Fairfax Station signs of the enemy were discovered, and for safety to the command, two Companies from the 64th, under command of Captain Glenny, (his own being one of the number) were sent some considerable distance to the front as an extreme outpost. Here the first blood of the opening campaign was drawn by shooting a rebel scout by one of Captain Glenny's men.

The main army soon after advanced to the famous fields of Mana.s.sas, but only to find the enemy beating a hasty retreat, leaving every conceivable ruin in their track.

At this juncture the army changed its base to the Peninsula and Chickahominy swamps, where, after the siege of Yorktown, and on the first of June, was fought the terrific battle of Fair Oaks, in which Captain Glenny, while leading his men in a charge, received a wound, which, for a time, was thought to be mortal, a minnie ball pa.s.sing through his left shoulder.