64th New York Infantry Regiment


The 64th New York Infantry Regiment, the "First Cattaraugus Regiment", was an infantry regiment of the Union Army during the American Civil War.

Service

The regiment was organized on November 13, 1861, in Elmira, and there mustered in the service of the United States for three years, in December, 1861. The 64th State Militia formed the nucleus of the regiment.
The companies were recruited principally:
The regiment left the state December 10, 1861. Between December 1861 and July 1865, the regiment was a part of the Army of the Potomac in the eastern theater of the Rebellion. It served in the major campaigns of that theater.
In its initial duty, it provided security near the capitol and in January, it became part of the provisional brigade of Casey's division. During McClellan's building of the AoP, on March 13, it joined the 1st brigade, 1st division, II Corps, and went to the Peninsula with the army. The regiment was present during the siege of Yorktown, but received its first real test at Fair Oaks, where it behaved with great steadiness under a fire which killed or wounded 173 of its members. It was active in the Seven Days' battles and then went into camp at Harrison's landing.
In the Virginia Campaign, it arrived at Second Bull Run too late to participate in that battle. It was on the left flank of II Corps at Antietam, in Caldwell's brigade where MGEN Richardson was killed and Hancock succeeded to the command of the division. At Fredericksburg, in the famous assault of Hancock's division on Marye's heights, the loss of the regiment was 72 in killed and wounded and immediately afterward it went into camp near Falmouth.
At Chancellorsville in May, 1863, the 64th was placed on the skirmish line under COL Nelson A. Miles and shared in the stubborn defense made by the regiments under his command, for which they won the highest commendation. The regiment moved in June to Gettysburg, where the division, under Caldwell, fought brilliantly on July 2, in "The Wheatfield" and on the July 3, defended its position stubbornly against Pickett's assault. At Gettysburg, it suffered 98 killed, wounded or missing out of 205 engaged. The II Corps fought in October at Auburn and Bristoe Station, where the 64th suffered severe loss. It participated in the Mine Run movement and established winter quarters near Brandy Station.
During the winter of 1863-64 a sufficient number of the regiment reenlisted to secure its continuance in the field as a veteran organization, but after the original members not reenlisted were mustered out in the autumn of 1864 it was necessary to consolidate it into a battalion of six companies, for which new people were recruited, A, B, D, E, G and H. It served through the Wilderness campaign, throughout the siege of Petersburg and in the pursuit of Lee's Army to Appomattox, losing 16 in killed and wounded at Farmville.
Out of a total enrollment of 1,313, the regiment lost during service 182 by death from wounds and 129 from other causes. The division in which it served saw the "hardest service and suffered the most heavy losses of any in the army and the 64th was one of the finest fighting regiments in the war. It bore without flinching the severest trials and won fame and glory for itself and the state." It was mustered out at Washington, July 14, 1865.

Affiliations, battle honors, detailed service, and casualties

Organizational affiliation

Attached to:
  • Casey's Provisional Division, Division of the Potomac, to January, 1862.
  • Howard's Brigade, Sumner's Division, AoP, to March, 1862.
  • 1st Brigade, 1st Division, II Corps, AoP, to June, 1862.
  • 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, II Corps, AoP, to August, 1862.
  • 1st Brigade, 1st Division, II Corps, AoP, to April, 1863.
  • 4th Brigade, 1st Division, II Corps, AoP, to July, 1865.

List of battles

The official list of battles in which the regiment bore a part:

Detailed service

1861

  • Left New York for Washington, D.C., December 10.
  • Duty in the Defences of Washington, DC, until March, 1862.

1862

  • Advance on Manassas, VA, March 10–15.
  • Ordered to the Peninsula March 27.
  • Siege of Yorktown April 16-May 4.
  • Battle of Fair Oaks, Seven Pines, May 31-June 1.
  • Seven days before Richmond June 25-July 1.
  • Gaines' Mill, June 27.
  • Peach Orchard and Savage Station June 29.
  • White Oak Swamp and Glendale June 30.
  • Malvern Hill July 1.
  • Harrison's Landing July 8. At Harrison's Landing until August 16.
  • Moved to Fort Monroe, thence to Alexandria and Centreville August 16–30.
  • Cover Pope's retreat from Bull Run August 31-September 2.
  • Maryland Campaign September 6–22.
  • Battle of Antietam September 16–17.
  • Moved to Harpers Ferry September 22, and duty there until October 29.
  • Advance up Loudon Valley and movement to Falmouth, Va., October 29-November 17.
  • Battle of Fredericksburg December 11–15.
  • Duty at Falmouth, Va., until April 27, 1863.

1863

  • "Mud March" January 20–24.
  • Chancellorsville Campaign April 27-May 6.
  • Battle of Chancellorsville May 1–5.
  • Gettysburg Campaign June 11-July 24.
  • Battle of Gettysburg July 1–4.
  • Pursuit of Lee July 5–24. Duty on line of the Rappahannock till October.
  • Advance from the Rappahannock to the Rapidan September 13–17.
  • Bristoe Campaign October 9–22.
  • Bristoe Station October 14.
  • Advance to line of the Rappahannock November 7–8.
  • Mine Run Campaign November 26-December 2.
  • At and near Stevensburg until May 1864.

1864

  • Demonstration on the Rapidan February 6–7.
  • Campaign from the Rapidan to the James May–June.
  • Battles of the Wilderness May 5–7.
  • Spotsylvania May 8–12.
  • Po River May 10.
  • Spotsylvania Court House May 12–21.
  • Assault on the Salient May 12.
  • North Anna River May 23–26.
  • On line of the Pamunkey May 26–28.
  • Totopotomoy May 28–31.
  • Cold Harbor June 1–12.
  • Before Petersburg June 16–18.
  • Siege of Petersburg June 16, 1864, to April 2, 1865.
  • Jerusalem Plank Road June 22–23, 1864.
  • Demonstration north of the James July 27–29.
  • Deep Bottom July 27–28.
  • Strawberry Plains, Second Battle of Deep Bottom, August 14–18.
  • Ream's Station August 25.
  • Reconnaissance to Hatcher's Run December 9–10.

1865

  • Dabney's Mills, Hatcher's Run, February 5–7, 1865.
  • Watkin's House March 25.
  • Appomattox Campaign March 28-April 9.
  • Dabney's Mills, Hatcher's Run, February 5–7, 1865.
  • Watkins' House March 25.
  • Appomattox Campaign March 28-April 9.
  • Hatcher's Run or Boydton Road March 29–31.
  • White Oak Road March 31.
  • Sutherland Station April 2.
  • Fall of Petersburg April 2.
  • Sailor's Creek April 6.
  • High Bridge and Farmville April 7.
  • Appomattox Court House April 9. Surrender of Lee and his army.
  • At Burkesville until May 2.
  • March to Washington May 2–12.
  • Grand Review of the Armies May 23.
  • Duty at Washington until June 30.

Casualties

The regiment lost a total of 294 men during service; 14 officers and 147 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded, 133 enlisted men died of disease.

Armament

Soldiers in the pre-existing militia companies were armed with 480 Model 1842 Muskets. The State of New York also purchased Enfield Pattern 1853 rifle-muskets. Some of these had been manufactured by contract in 1856 in Windsor, Vermont by the Robbins and Lawrence Armory. They also imported P1853 Enfields that had been manufactured in Liege, Belgium. The 64th New York was an 1861, Army of the Potomac, three-year volunteer regiment built around a core of prewar militia, that greatly increased the number of men under arms in the federal army. As with many of these volunteers, initially, there were not enough Model 1842s to go around so the new volunteer companies received 480 Pattern 1853 rifles, both R&L and Liege. As the service continued, the 1842 muskets were gradually replaced by imported French Fusil d'Infanterie Mle 1842 rifle muskets. By the end of the first full year of hard campaigning, the regimented reported possession of 344 Enfield P1853s, 424 Mle 1842, and 62 Prussian Potsdam smoothbore percussion muskets.

Uniform

The men of the regiment were initially issued the standard gray militia uniform. In early 1862, they received standard blue sack coats, sky blue infantry trousers, and the sky blue infantry winter overcoat. One company, K, were known as the Irish Zouaves and wore a Zouave uniform with dark blue jackets with red trim and sky-blue zouave pantaloons with a red stripe on the outseam. This company wore a dark-blue, red-trimmed kepi. The Hardee hat and black slouch hat seemed to be more common than the kepi, or forage cap, among the remainder of the regiment.

Commanders

  • Colonel Thomas Jefferson Parker - November 15, 1861, to July 12, 1862.
  • Colonel Daniel Galusha Bingham - July 12, 1862, to February 10, 1864.
  • Colonel Leman William Bradley - February 10, to August 1, 1864.
  • Colonel William Glenny - August 1, 1864, to July 14, 1865.