Dutchess County 's Role in the Civil War

Members of Company A. 150th Regiment of the New York Volunteers, the "Dutchess County Regiment". Bottom row, left to right: James R. Mabbett, Henry Gridley, William Wattles.

Top row, left to right: William H. Bartlett, John G. Borden, William Reed, Dr. J. Curtis Smith, Miles Lewis.

DUTCHESS COUNTY'S ROLE IN THE CIVIL WAR:

Enrollments, Enlistments, Bounties, and the Draft

William S. Benson Jr.

A review of the enrollments and quotas on a county-wide basis leads to an estimate of the number of men, by town, who served in the Civil War. William Benson is President of the Town of Clinton Historical Society.

Fort Sumter fell on April 13, 1861, and two days later President Lincoln issued a call for 75,000 men _for three months service. On the following day, April 16, 1861, meetings were held in Poughkeepsie for organizing volunteers. On the 17th, the Poughkeepsie Eagle said:

We have ascertained that there are one hundred volunteers ready to answer the Governor's call.

On the 18th of April, the group resolved " ... we hereby form ourselves into a volunteer company to be offered to the Governor of this State ... ". Thus the first v.olunteers from Dutchess County were organized. The newly formed company was not accepted immediately as a company, and so James E. Schram, anxious to get started, left Poughkeepsie on April 24, 1861, to become a member of the 7th Regiment -Militia Infantry, thereby probably becoming Dutchess County's first volunteer under the President's call and the State's quota.

Gn the same day, Alfred Way and Alfred Dunlop left Poughkeepsie to join with the-13th Regiment Militia in Brooklyn. Twenty others left to join with the 20th Regiment Militia in Kingston. Over the next few days, thirty others left to join the 5th Regiment, Colonel Abram Duryee's Zouaves, in New York City. On May 4, 186:L, under the leadership of Captain Harrison Halliday, one hundred and one men left Poughkeepsie for Albany to become Company E of the 30th New York Volunteers. And so Dutchess County had supplied at least these 154 men within nineteen days of the President's call.

Over the next few weeks, "war meetings" were organized and held all across Dutchess County to promote the war effort and volunt·eer enlistments. The first of these meetings was held on May 11, 1861, in Beekmanville. This was followed by meetings in

William S. Benson Jr.

Wappingers Falls, LaGrangeville, Hughsonville, School District #9 in Stanford/Washington towns, the County Court House, Hyde Park, Clove Hollow, Arthursburg, Fishkill Plains and Pleasant Valley. Among the earliest volunteers outside of Poughkeepsie were sixteen men from Red Hook who joined the 20th Regiment Militia in Kingston. Others joining the 20th Militia were seven from Milan, nine from Rhinebeck, seven from Stanford, and others not specifically recorded. f

Enlistment activity continued throughout the summer and fall of 1861. Many of the enlistment_s came as a result of representatives from units already in the field coming to Poughkeepsie to find replacements to fill their: r~nks. Other recruits were enticed for more "exotic"·. duty, such as the cavalry and mounted rifles. Some surely were excited just by the name of the prospective unit seeking their services, such as the Clinton Guards, People's Ellsworth Regiment, Putnam Rifles, and the cavalry's Ira Harris Guard.

Full companies were organized as well. Fishkill Landing was the recruiting center for a company of men for the 19th Reiiment. Recruitment in Poughkeepsie drew full companies for the 30th Regiment, the 47th Regiment, the 74th Regiment, and the 1st Regiment of the Clinton Guards. Names recorded in various sources according to Regiment and enlistment date, plus the formation of full companies, indicates that approximately 1,100 men had left Dutchess County to serve by the end of 1861. James H. Smith's "History ·of Duchess County" states that "In these and various other organizations, the bone and sinew of the yeomanry of Duchess were represented in detached fragments, but exceeding in the aggregate a thousand men".

In early 1862, recruiting was all but discontinued as the Government suspended the formation of new regiments, seeing the prospects for an early peace. Heavy losses, however, caused President Lincoln to issue a new call on July 2, 1862, for 300,000 men, of which New York's quota was 59,705. The DutchessColumbia War District was formed and called upon to raise a regiment of 1,010 men, to be· allocated as 585 from Dutchess and 425 from Columbia Counties. Recruiting officers and committees were established, and towns were assigned quotas based on population. This effort resulted in the 128th Regiment, mustering at Hudson, N.Y., for three years service on September 4, 1862. The following table shows the population base,

the quotas assigned, the enlistments recorded in James H. Smith's "History of Duchess County", and the enlistments as recorded in the muster roll of the history of the 128th Regiment.

The actual muster roll shows that 611 men enrolled by September 4, 1862, compared to James H. Smith's source which lists 571 men. So the Dutchess quota of 585 for the 128th Regiment was met with a surplus of 26, but fell far short of the Dutchess share of the War District quota of 1,004 men. Some towns met their full quota with 128th Regiment enlistments alone, as in the case of Clinton and Pawling, while others fell far short, as in the case of Beekman, Pleasant Valley, Poughkeepsie and Red Hook. Then, to even amplify the shortage situation, a call of August 4, 1862 resulted in identical quotas, so the towns' share of the quota were doubled.

It became obvious that with a double quota, more funds were needed for bounties. Men who joined the 128th Regiment were paid $300 National and State bounties which varied by town. Towns then raised additional monies for bounties to help raise recruits for the new August 4th call as well as to fill shortages which still existed from the July 2nd call. It

William S. • Bens·on Jr.

was ai~o obvious that the ne~ doubled County quota of 2,008 could only be filled by rai~ing a full regiment. On August 22, 1862, War Committeeman Alfred B. Smith travelled to Albany for permission· to raise a Dutchess County Regiment, and on August 26, 1862 ·the committee selected -John H. Ketcham of Dover for Colonel of the new regiment. It.would b~come the· 150t~ Dutchess County Regiment.

The doubled town quotas, the enlistments in the !28th-and 150th Regiments, and the status of towns relative to their. quotas is shown in the following table.

*All listings show the Town and City of Poughkeepsie combined.

Following the enlistments in the 128th and 150th Regiments, only Clinton and Dover showed a positive condition of having met their quotas. Several other towns show a reasonably close condition, while Beekman, East Fishkill, Fishkill, LaGrange, Milan, Pleasant Valley and Red Hook were still far short of meeting their quotas.

Over the next few months activity was low, and not very well recorded. Some enlistments continued to take place, but activity was not seriously increased until

President Lincoln ordered a draft to start on July 23, 1863. Enrolling officers were appointed in each town, bounty money was raised to promote enlistments, and the work of enrolling citizens was begun. The draft was officially ordered for September 7, 1863. The quota for the War District was 2,013 (1,202 Dutchess, 811 Columbia) and then raised fifty per cent to cover exemptions, etc. This raised the Dutchess draft to 1,781 men.

The enrollment ill Dutchess County totalled 6,393 men, or approximately ten per cent of the population. The quotas set for each town totalled 1,186 men, a little short of the needed 1,202 for quota, but the draft was exactly 1,781 as required. The draft, actually conducted at 7 Union St. in Poughkeepsie, was not very successful at supplying the needed men. Exemptions and commutations for those drafted caused a serious shortfall all across the country. The result was another call on October 17, 1863, with a new quota, and an order that it be filled by January 5, 1864. The additional quota for Dutchess County was 904 for ·a total of 2,106 for the two calls. The following table depicts the enrollment, draft, and quotas by town for these two calls.

William S. Benson Jr.

At this point, it is worthwh~le to review the conditions concerning the War. Obviously any youngman who wanted to serve iri the Un.ion Army was already doing so. Quotas were now being filled by offering attractive bounties, and so men were really being "bought" to serve. There was sharp competition to fill quotas, and National, State, County, and local Bounty money could total up to $1,000 for an enlistment. Dutchess County would even pay an additional $25 to any person bringing a recruit to Dutchess County to help fill the quota.

From James H. Smith's "History of Duchess County":

The payment of these large bounties, if generous, was unwise and unjust, and, though it stimulated enlistments, attracted a rabble element, and was a vice which pandered to base passions, fostered corruption and extortion, increased in its enormity as the war progressed, and seriously interfered with the levies for such an army as should have been the dependence and defense of our noble Republic.

The County was to some extent victimized by bounty jumpers operating in Poughkeepsie, and desertions of whole squads were of frequent occurrence during this period, necessitating the employment of strong guards, with loaded muskets, as the recruits were removed from the recruiting station to the 'Soldiers Rest' (at 394 Main Street), or to other places of rendezvous in the city, which were infested with sharpers, whose pressure and operations compelled the officials to be constantly on the alert.

The previous calls which totalled 2,090 were supplemented by a so-called "deficiency call" on February 1, 1864, and raised the quota to 2,211 men. The Pou~hkeepsie Eagle of February 20, 1864 says:

We are officialiy requested to make public the ·.tact that ..... our quota under the caU for 500,000 men is 2,211; volunteers credited to the district up to January 31st, 1,121; drafted men who served or corronuted, and substitutes, 92?; total to be credited, 2,048, leaving 163 to be raised. Since February 1st there have been mustered in 310 men, so that we have raised one hundred and forty seven men over our quota.

Throughout 1864, large bounties were paid, drafts were held, and quotas were set and monitored. While a draft would fill a quota, it would often come up short due to exemptions and commutations, and so a

town would have to again __ off set a deficiency. Drafts, quotas, and status of the towns during this period are shown in the following table.

From the previous table it can be seen that Amenia, Beekman, North East, Pine Plains, Poughkeepsie, Union Vale and Washington took care of their quota problems internally, while East Fishkill, Fishkill, LaGrange, Red Hook and Rhinebeck received considerable attention from the County draft officials. The quota-filling was finally completed as shown in the table onJuly 14, 1864, only to see it all start all over again, for a new call was issued just four days later on July 18, 1864. Town quotas, and their success at filling their quotas, is shown in the following table.

William S. Benson Jr.

Bounties increased, and towns took advantage of a February 9, 1864 act by the State Legislature which allowed towns to issue bonds to repay loans for bounty money. This money could also be used to help families of volunteers, provided those payments in aid did not exceed $15 at one time.

On December 4, 1864, still another call was made for men, volunteers if possible by February 15, 1865, and then a draft for the remainder on that date. Again excessive ·bounties were provided locally, to avoid the potential draft. There were so many local bounty abuses that the New York State Legislature passed a provision for State bounties of $300, $400, and $600 for one, two and three year volunteer enlistments, and prohibited payment of all local bounties. Drafted men who mustered would receive $250. These amounts would also be refunded to counties and towns which previous to the new law had filled their quotas for the December 19, 1864 call. Then to avoid all brokers and middlemen, the bounty had to be paid directly to the volunteers in person.

The call of December 19, 1864 was fo~ 300,000 men nationally.· Although town quotas are not specified, this call probably followed the same distribution as the July 18, 1864 call by town, but since the July call was for 500,000 men, the December call would have been approximately sixty per cent of the previousone. The distribution and status is shown in the following table.

On April 8, 1865, just a few days before the end of the war, the last man to fill the quotas was mustered in and credited to Red Hook. And so the work of securing bounty money and volunteers, and the work of administering the dreaded draft, came to an end.

The question of how many men served in the Civil War from Dutchess County is a most difficult one to answer. A count of early volunteers followed by an assumption that all quotas were actually filled by local mustered-in residents would put the total at approximately 8,000 men. This, however, is much too high.

Early volunteers on three-month enlistments returned home, and many of them re-enlisted to help fill the local quotas. It is not clear whether the payment of bounty money to the government in lieu of service· did in fact satisfy the quota requirement, but it probably did. Many of the later quotas were filled by itinerants and others who sought the bounty money but had no connection to Dutchess County. Also, as previously stated, many whole squads of bounty jumpers were involved.

James H. Smith's "History of Duchess County", 1882, contains a section on the history of each town,

William S. Benson Jr.

compiled locally, and within that section, a history of that town's participation in the "War.of the Rebellion." Although this compilation took place only seventeen years after the end of the Civil War, the records are poor at best, except for the towns of Dover, LaGrange, North East, Pawling, Pleasant Valley, Red Hook and Union Vale. Of these, LaGrange and Pleasant Valley list names only, without a Regimental affiliation. Red Hook's records are far superior to any other town, and_indicate that approximately six per cent of the 1860 population count had served in the Civil War. This is also a reasonable number for the other towns mentioned above with quite good records. Therefore, since the population of Dutchess County was 64,941 in 1860, it is reasonable to expect that six per cent of that number, or approximately 3,900 Dutchess County residents served in the Civil War. The following table shows, by town, the population, the expected enlistments, names recorded in Smith's "History of Duchess County", and the town's comment on its records.

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It can be seen in the previous table that the towns which kept good records do in fact approximate the six per cent level of names. These are LaGrange, Pawling, Pleasant VaLley, Red Hook and Union Vale. Residents of these towns should feel a large measure of pride in their heritage, for it is only through recordedhistory that the heritage can be felt and enjoyed.

Footnote

The.author has for some time been engaged in extensive research of various sources in an attempt to produce as many names of the expected 3,895 Civil War volunteers as possible. In contrast to the 1,877names found in Smith's "History of Duchess County", the author has found nearly double that number and now has a list of 3,297 names of Dutchess County volunteers in the Civil War. The six per cent level has now been achieved in the towns of Dover, Pine Plains and Poughkeepsie in addition to those shown previously. The towns of Fishkill, Hyde Park, and Stanford have been significantly improved. Research will continue, and hopefully this list of names can be published in the near future.