Category: Civil War

Off to War: Two Paths Two Different Experiences

Daniel was the first to leave New York state. The 130th infantry regiment of New York headed south to Suffolk, Virgina. Their destination was deep behind enemy lines. Roughly 1,000 men departed on train from Portage, New York on September 6, 1862. The train stopped at Elmira, New York and the troops received their Enfield rifles and other equipment. However, the equipment was not issued until they reached Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. [1]

At Harrisburg, the troops made their first acquaintance with shelter, tents, and ‘army gray-backs’. Army gray-backs’ was another name for body lice. Body lice proliferated wherever armies gathered during the war and were so prevalent that they simply were accepted as a consequence of war. Whenever troops had downtime they deloused as best as they could. Discarding infected clothing became known as ‘giving the vermin a parole’ and turning one’s clothing inside out was a ‘flanking movement’. The insects knew “all the bugle calls”. The first use of the word ‘lousy’ can be traced to the civil war. [2]

They then made their way via train to Baltimore, Maryland. While part of the Union, Maryland was a slave state and public opinion against the Confederacy was not an unilateral position among locals.

“Public sentiment was divided; while some scowled and manifested extreme hatred, we found others intensely outspoken in their loyalty. Some who purchased and drank milk there became sick, leading to the belief that it had been purposely poisoned.” [3]

Proceeding to Washington, DC, the 130th regiment encamped for a few nights. During the war, the nation’s capital city filled with people and at times swelled to 200,000. In May 1861, troops, weapons, horses, and supplies began pouring into Washington. [4] Given its fragile, swampy environment, the military camp conditions quickly became muddied areas, susceptible to sickness. In September 1861, General George McClellan issued standing orders that soldiers in the Army of the Potomac be given hot coffee immediately after roll call as a “preventative of the effects of malaria”. Such orders did not appear to be effective. [5] Troops from the 130th referred to their camp in Washington, DC as being on ‘the border of a dried up goose pond’.

Map is part of a larger 1837 map: John Mcclellan. Map exhibiting the route of communication between Philadelphia & Charleston. [N.P, 1837] Map.

From Washington, the regiment embarked on an Union transport boat and traveled down the Chesapeake Bay to Fort Monroe. Fort Monroe was a military installation located in Hampton Roads, Virginia, on the Peninsula overlooking the Chesapeake Bay. It was the only federal military installation in the Upper South to remain under United States control throughout the Civil War and as such provided a strategic transport and control point for supplies. The regiment then traveled by train to their final destination on September 13, 1862 to Suffolk, Virgina.

“This place is about fifty miles southeast from Peterburg, and eight or ten miles from the North Carolina line. Here was being collected an offensive army to threaten the rebel capital from the south. This proved to be our army home for about nine months, as well as our training school for the severe and trying ordeals we were to pass through later on.” [6]

Meanwhile, Daniel’s brother William and the 153rd regiment left the state of New York on October 18, 1862. They may have had travel experiences similar to the 130th as they made their way southward to the nation’s capital. Unlike the 130th regiment, however, the trip to Washington D.C. was their final destination as Provost Guards in Alexandria, Virginia.

While their respective initial assignments to Suffolk and to Alexandria, Virginia were different, they were similar in terms of their shared experiences as being assigned military duty in cities in occupied Confederate territory. Suffolk was occupied by Union Troops from May, 1862, until the end of the Civil War.  Alexandria was occupied the day after Virginia seceded in May, 1861. 

“For the first two years of the war, Union commanders advancing into Confederate territory were without a clear understanding of how and when martial law should function and what relationship the army should have toward civilians, slaves, and private property.” [7]

“For most of the soldiers on occupation duty …, this was their first exposure to a real “secesh” (secessionist), to blacks, and to the physical landscape of the South. Most of them felt their surroundings to be alien and unfriendly. For their part, the people of Alexandria looked with disfavor upon the troops in their midst. They bridled at requirements for oath-taking (civilians were required to sign oaths of allegiance to the Republic when requesting to travel in and out of the city) and resented nearly all the laws and regulations imposed by the military. By the end of the war, Unionist sentiment had been nearly eradicated.” [8]

Daniel’s First Half of His Tour of Duty: Engagements & Skirmishes in Virgina and a Transition to the Calvary

Daniel’s infantry regiment was assigned to the 1st Division, VII Corps of the Army of the Potomac. The 1st Division was commanded by Gen. Michael Corcoran. In the ensuing months, the 130th New York regiment ‘cut their teeth’ in battle and were engaged in the major encounters of the Battle of Deserted House and took part in the Siege of Suffolk in April and May 1863. During his first year and a half of service, Private Daniel Griffis witnessed and possibly participated in 10 major engagements in northern Virgina. His regiment was in the thick of the war at the time. After the engagement at Manassas Plains, he possibly was a wagon master and may not have been on the picket lines or the leading edge of skirmishes:

• Blackwater, VA December 2, 1862
• Near Blackwater, December 28, 1863
• Deserted House (or Kelly’s Store), VA January 30, 1863
• Siege of Suffolk, April 11 – May 4, 1863
• South Quay Road, VA April 17, 1863
• South Quay, VA June 12, 1863
• Franklin, VA, June 13, 1863
• Blackwater, VA, June 16-17, 1863
• Baltimore Cross Roads, VA July 4, 1863
• Manassas Plains, VA October 17, 1863
• Culpepper Courthouse, VA November 20, 1863
• Barnett’s Ford, VA December 2, 1863
• Barnett’s Ford, VA January 20, 1864
• Barnett’s Ford, VA February 6-7, 1864 (This is when Daniel Wrote a letter to his father Joel)

After the battle of Deserted House in January 1863, aside from numerous skirmishes along the picket lines where they may have camped, the regiment was not under fire until the Siege of Suffolk. The two intervening months of February and March were consumed with work on building fortifications around Suffolk and picket line duty under the direction of Major General Peck. The trenches and fortifications that Daniel and his fellow troops built around Suffolk spanned about 15 miles in the shape of a horseshoe with the open end toward Norfolk and the Great Dismal Swamp. The Nansemond River curved like a snake to form the natural north boundary.

Nearly 60,000 men faced off across the Nansemond River beginning April 11, 1863 when Confederate troops under Lt. Gen. James A. Longstreet attacked the heavily fortified Union stronghold in Suffolk. (Drawing on the left: Union Signal Corps tower: “Pine-Tree Station” was one of many Signal Corps towers erected to protect the Union lines in Suffolk.)

Despite Confederate Longstreet’s efforts to surround Suffolk by land and water, he abandoned the takeover attempt of the city based on Union Major General Peck’s preparation of building forts and rifle pits surrounding the city and having gunboats in the Nansemond River. Instead he and the Confederate troops settled down to a regular siege that lasted until May 4, 1863.

“On the afternoon of April 11, our pickets were rapidly driven in or captured, and from Terry’s front, on the west, where our camp was located, we beheld long lines of rebel infantry as they came up and filed off to the right and the left of the South Quay road. At the same time two other columns were marching on other roads to strike us from both the north and south… . The whirl of the long roll was heard in every camp, and in all directions troops were seen scurrying to the forts and rifle pits. Our brigade, under General Terry, immediately took position in the trenches, where we remained under the siege. All through the first night our ears caught the sound of picks and shovels, and what was our surprise in the morning to see before us, just across the river, a long line of rifle pits full of rebel sharpshooters…. The popping up of heads and dodging down when we saw a puff of smoke reminded one of woodchuck hunting.” [9]

While there were numerous skirmishes during the siege of the Union encampment in Suffolk, there were interesting incidents that occurred along the front, reflecting the basic essence of what it is to be human even during war, as described below. The trading of goods and swapping of stories were essentially a ‘courtship ritual’ when picket posts were in place and the troops occupied an area for an extended period of time. Within the life situations soldiers were placed, basic trust developed and humans reached out to other humans on the other side and soldiers opened up about the war, their families, and life in general. [10]

“Sometimes, however, the monotony was broken by an armistice between the two hostile lines, when the men on both sides would swarm out of the entrenchments and enjoy a season of friendly intercourse, telling stories, cracking jokes, or singing for each other’s entertainment. Occasionally they would cross over and exchange hardtack, coffee, salt, and other things for tobacco. It was quite a fashion to exchange coat buttons.” [11]

After the siege, the regiment engaged in a six day reconnoissance on the Blackwater where they participated in a number of skirmishes at South Quay and Franklin “where we had more skirmishing… Comrade A.F. Robinson relates that as we entered the captured pits, one of the regiment found a violin, and while the fight was in progress, commenced playing and dancing.” [12]

After their 20 mile home march back to Suffolk on June 18, they struck up their tents, packed up and left Suffolk on June 19, 1863. “we bade farewell to our camps, and to the tune of “The Girl I left Behind Me”, we marched to the cars.” [13] They took a train to Norfolk, boarded a boat and arrived at Yorktown the following day.

The 130th regiment marched from Yorktown to White House Landing. During their three weeks of ‘masterly inactivity’ they recorded victories with a force of 1,050 calvary within rebel lines to Hanover Courthouse, destroying bridges, capturing or killing 125 of the enemy, securing horses, mules wagons, supplies and “$15,000 of Confederate bonds’. Among their prisoners was the son of General Robert E. Lee, Brigadier General William F. Lee.

Leaving Yorktown July 11, they arrived in Washington the following day; and then to Federick City, Maryland on the 16th when Colonel Gibbs reported to General Meade. The regiment then marched to Warrenton on July 25th.

Daniel Assumes Wagon Master duties

“The strenuous efforts of Colonel Gibbs had at length been rewarded with success, and our regiment was the recipient of honors bestowed upon no other in the history of the war. There were regiments of mounted infantry, but no other instance in which an absolute transference from infantry to calvary occurred. The special orders from the war department touching this transfer, bear date July 28, 1863… .” [14]

Special Orders Number 205, dated August 2, 1863, signed by General Meade, directed the 130th New York Volunteers to proceed to Manassas Junction and form a camp of instruction for the purpose of ‘being recognized and receiving its arms and equipments. … The regiment is attached to the calvary corps, and reports and returns will hereafter be rendered accordingly.’

Daniel’s regiment was converted to a cavalry regiment on July 28, 1863, and designated as the 19th Regiment New York Volunteer Cavalry. The 19th Cavalry was officially re-designated as the 1st Regiment New York Dragoons on September 10, 1863. It was probably during this period that Daniel became a wagon master.

While infantry units had wagon masters and teamsters to manage supplies and ambulance units, Daniel’s military files suggest he did not become a wagon master until the regiment was transformed into a calvary unit. This was a massive transformation for the regiment and for the individual soldiers. Everyone in the regiment was personally impacted and undoubtably given new assignments. His role as wagon master, as documented in pension records, is evident in January and February 1864. [15]

The work required of wagon masters and teamsters was stressful, backbreaking and often dangerous. One infantryman admitted that all the drivers labored in “one of the most wearing departments of the service.” Wagon masters maintained the wagons and the teams of horses or mules, directed the teamsters who drove individual wagons and may as well have driven wagons. Regulations required wagon masters and teamsters to grease the axles or repair the wheels; feed, water, and curry the horses; and possibly to load and unload cargo. [16] Union military orders indicated there should be one wagoner for an infantry or calvary company of approximately 100 soldiers. [17]

Daniel probably managed a six mule wagon along with the others duties associated with a wagon master. The standard wagon utilized during the Civil War was a six mule or horse wagon. The six-mule wagon was the “coin of the realm of Civil War logistics”. [18] The origin of the six mule wagon can be traced to the military demands for a standardized four mule transport wagon in the late 1830’s. Constructed along the same lines as the earlier four mule wagon, the six-mule wagon was built using the same basic specifications with the exceptions of heavier wheels, larger axles and increased dimensions to the lower side rails on the body.  The wagons weighed about 2,000 pounds and could carry approximately the same load. However, with the addition of more pairs of draft animals, the loads could be more easily transported over long distances without wearing out the team as quickly. [19]

The first actual contract for the Six-Mule Wagon was on February 9, 1855. [20] By 1858, with all the reports received back on the design, the final Quartermaster specifications were printed. These specifications would remain unchanged until the end of the Civil War. Based upon knowledge gained during the Civil War, a new set of Six-Mule Wagon Specification were prepared in 1865.

A six-mule team “was hitched in three spans. The largest mules, the wheel pair, were hitched closest to the wagon. The swing pair was in the middle. The leaders, probably the smallest and supposedly the smartest, were in front. Wagons were driven by a muleskinner who rode the left-hand mule (i.e., facing forward) nearest to the wagon. This position was occupied by the near-side wheel mule, also called the near-pole mule. The left file of mules … was the near-side and the right file was the off-side. The near-side leader was connected to the off-side leader by an iron pole. The mules were steered by a single rein running back from the near-side lead mule. The team turned to the left when the driver yelled “Haw” and pulled steadily on the rein. A shout of “Gee”, accompanied by quick jerks on the rein, caused the team to turn to the right. Shouting “Yay” sent the team straight ahead.”[21]

As indicated in the above quote and indicated in Earl Hess’ incisive work, this drawing by Edwin Forbes provides an accurate depiction of how mule driven wagon teams were driven in the Civil War. The driver is seated on the left rear mule rather than on the box of the wagon. The driver controlled the other mules by means of using the reins and a whip. [22]

During most of the war, each regiment had, on average, six wagons that were dedicated to its immediate needs. [23] One of the wagons hauled the surgeon’s medical stores. Another carried the tents and the baggage of the field and staff officers. The third wagon carried the baggage of the line officers. The fourth wagon hauled the pans and kettles of the line companies. The fifth and sixth wagons carried rations. Brigades, divisions and army corps were apportioned additional wagons to carry baggage, rations, forage, hospital supplies, ammunition, entrenching tools and quartermaster supplies.

The mobility of the army depended on the carrying capacity of its wagons. Toward the end of the war, the Army of the Potomac carried ten days of rations and ordnance stores for an entire campaign. The number of wagons per regiment varied depending on circumstances and military campaigns and there are a variety of Union military General Orders that qualify the use and deployment of wagons. [24]

As the war progressed, experience varied and fine tuned the army‟s knowledge of the carrying capacity of a six-mule wagon. For example:

“An army wagon will carry conveniently, with what forage is usually added, about 2,500 pounds, making with the forage 3,000 pounds, which is about the greatest capacity over moderately good roads; even this amount will be found very great if the march is continued long each day or requires to be at all rapid.” [25]  “…I have found that an army wagon will haul from 700 to 800 complete rations, if well packed, and 1,200 of the ordinary marching ration.” [26] Brigadier General Ingalls, the Chief Quartermaster of the Army of the Potomac, said that “One wagon will carry 1,200 rations hard bread; 2,000 rations coffee (1 barrel); 1,800 rations sugar (1 barrel); 300 rations (two-eights pound) pork (1 barrel, 1 box, 25 pounds); 1,200 rations salt (1 box, 45 pounds); 36 rations (9 pounds to ration) oats (3 sacks); gross weight, 2,674 pounds.” [27]

Wagon masters and teamsters generally worked under the quartermaster. Quartermasters had little patience with incompetence or mistakes, and these hard pressed supply czars often vented their frustration on those driving the teams, who in turn cracked their whips, alternately eased and yanked the leather reins, and made “the air blue with profanity addressed to their mules, individually or collectively, so that the anxiety to get through was felt by all the moving forces in the train,” as one observer put it. [28] Brigadier-General Butterfield said: “The quartermaster should have his train thoroughly disciplined and under his control to move it with as much facility as a battery of artillery can be moved.” [29]

Soldiers may have considered driving wagon as an escape from the front lines. However, teamsters and wagon masters transported all sorts of valuable goods and were under constant danger of capture or worse, even when they had large escorts of armed troops. The ponderous size of wagon trains made them inviting targets and easy to find. [30]

“Among the teamster and wagon man’s many enemies were shoddy, stump-filled roads, sucking mud that threatened to swallow up teams and wagons whole, and lame or otherwise injured animals. Drivers often found themselves down in the dirt, digging out their wagons or helping mechanics with repairs. They were also responsible for the care of their hard-working teams and constantly fed their animals from the sacks of forage they lugged in each 2,500- to 2,800- pound wagonload.“ [31]

Daniel: Manassas to Mitchell’s Station

The regiment moved by rail August 3, 1863 from Warrenton Junction to Union Mills and on August 6, 1863 established their first camp at Manassas Junction to start their training as a calvary unit. They received their horses September 13, 1863 just one month before they were to break camp. For a short period after their transfer, the regiment was known as the 19th New York Calvary. Their quartermaster Abram Lawrence suggested the name “First New York Dragoons” which was adopted and confirmed by the governor of New York. The order announcing the change was read on October 10, 1863 during a dress parade.

“During our two month’s sojourn in camp of instruction at Manassas, we were almost incessantly always annoyed by the notorious guerrilla, Mosby, and his band of thieving cut-throats, who were always prowling about the outskirts of our camp, like a pack of hungry wolves, ready to pounce upon and capture or kill our men and horses. Notwithstanding our strong picket line and the exercise of vigilance, we suffered from his depredations. If suppressed on one side of the camp, he bobbed up serenely on the other. He was the new version of Paddy’s flea – ‘Put yer hand where he is, and he ain’t there.’ “ [32]

After breaking training camp at Manassas, the regiment rejoined the Army of the Potomac and had their first engagements a calvary unit October 13, 1863 at Manassas Plains.

“Since breaking camp have been in our saddles from fifteen to twenty hours every day, not stopping two nights in one place. One night we rode for hours in a terrific storm: in fact, it was a rainstorm and hurricane combined, as we were almost blown off of our horses. For three days we have traveled in our water-soaked clothing, but today, by sun and fire, we have dried off somewhat. Most of the time we have subsisted on hardtack and raw pork, and having opportunity to cook or make coffee.” [33]

The First Dragoons had a major engagement at Culpepper Courthouse November 20, 1863.

“On the 14th and 15th (of December) we had another long and tiresome chase after Mosby, who had run off an infantry wagon and the mules. Starting at sundown we rode rapidly all night, scarcely stopping until we had made nearly forty miles; but nary a Mosby did we get…we followed the trail, the tracks became fresher and more distinct until the prize seemed almost within our grasp, when suddenly, as if the earth had opened and swallowed it up, in some inexplicable and mysterious manner all traces were lost. Even Major Scott, who had the sagacity of an Indian was completely nonplussed.” [34]

At the end of 1863 and the beginning of 1864, notwithstanding the continued demands of outpost duty and scouting expeditions in the Virginia countryside, Daniel and the Dragoons were able have a ‘four month sojourn’ in permanent quarters at Mitchell Station, Virgina. Around December 20, 1863, the regiment was directed to construct winter quarters near Culpepper, Virginia. After a week’s worth of work they were ordered to move their camp five miles nearer the front at Mitchell’s Station which was on the Orange and Alexandria Rail Road line. ” To say that there was no grumbling, or even profanity, indulged in, would be such a stretching of the truth. “ They started making their camp on December 27th, 1863 at their new location.

“After assurances that this would be our permanent camp for the winter, the men went to work with renewed energy, devoting all the time spared from picket duty to the construction of winter habitations where, during our period of hibernation, we could have better protection that that afforded by our little shelter tents. … Though not permitted, woodchuck like, to snugly cuddle down until spring, it was nevertheless no small consolation to have comfortable burrows to crawl into when returning, cold and wet, from our severe turns of picket service on the Rapidan.” [35]

William’s First Year: Guarding Prisoners & the Nation’s Capital and Chronic Sickness

Within the capital itself, President Lincoln initiated a comprehensive program of security measures and government reforms that he dubbed “cleaning the devil out of Washington.” [36] The nation’s capital was in between Maryland, a slave state, and the northern border of the Confederate state of Virgina. The Union army used the city to mobilize and supply the Army of the Potomac, defend the eastern seaboard, and launch military thrusts toward Richmond. Believing that the loss of the Union’s capital would lead to immediate defeat, the Confederacy targeted Washington throughout the war. During the winter of 1861-62, work began on a 37 mile ring of fortifications around the city. This defensive ring eventually had 68 forts connected by twenty miles of trenches and 800 cannons clustered in 93 artillery positions. [37] The government’s fear for the security of the nation’s capital kept thousands of troops, much to the dismay of army leaders in the field, within the capital’s defense for the remainder of 1863, including the 153rd New York Infantry Volunteers.

To enforce martial law and suppress anti-government subversion and dissent, the Union army established an extensive provost guard. Lincoln empowered the provost guard to enforce both military and civil law in Washington and Alexandria and, among other duties, to arrest civilians upon suspicion of disloyalty and subversion. [38] As part of this national strategy, the 153rd New York Volunteers were deployed to the capital to be part of this effort to protect the capital area as provost guards.

“Provost Marshall troops or the Provost Guard, as they were also known, were the military police of the Union Army during the American Civil War. They had a separate chain of command from the regular and volunteer troops answering only to the Provost Marshall of each Division or Corps. While in the field they acted as the security detachment for Division and Corps Headquarters. They protected Headquarters units and provided men to guard captured Confederates on their way to the rear. They provided security against Confederate guerrillas and raiders. They were often the only law enforcement available to civilians after the Union Army arrived. It was vital that the Union Army provide men willing to be fair and honest in their dealings with the soldiers and the local civilian populace.”[39]

The responsibilities of the provost guard were:

• “Suppression of marauding and depredations, and of all brawls and disturbances, preservation of good order, and suppression of disturbances beyond the limits of the camps.
• Prevention of straggling on the march.
• Suppression of gambling-houses, drinking-houses, or bar-rooms, and brothels.
• Regulation of hotels, taverns, markets, and places of public amusement.
• (Executing) Searches, seizures, and arrests. Execution of sentences of general courts-martial involving imprisonment or capital punishment. Enforcement of orders prohibiting the sale of intoxicating liquors, whether by tradesmen or sutlers, and of orders respecting passes.
• (Guarding) Deserters from the enemy.
• (Guarding) Prisoners of war taken from the enemy
• Countersigning safeguards.
• (Issuing) Passes to citizens within the lines and for purposes of trade.
• (Managing) Complaints of citizens as to the conduct of the soldiers.” [40]

From their inception as a regiment and up to October 18, 1862, the 153rd New York Volunteers were under the command of Colonel Duncan McMartin. Between October 1862 and February 1863, the regiment was assigned guard and provost marshal duty in Alexandria, Virginia. They were under command of Colonel Clarence Buell of the 169th New York volunteers who headed the Provisional Brigade, Abercrombie’s division, Defenses of Washington.

The regiment was subsequently transferred on February 2, 1863 to the District of Alexandria, Defense of Washington to continue their provost guard duties in the nation’s capital and were under the command of Brigadier General John Slough. During this detail they were residing in Camp Slough which was west of Alexandria. Specific locations that they performed their duties were: Alexandria City Patrol, Hunting Creek which included guarding a bridge across the Potomac River, General Slough’s office (City Provost Marshal Office – photograph below) [41] , Alexandria Jail [42] , the Contraband Depot [43] , and the Water Battery [44] .

Guard and Provost Marshal Duty Locations of the 153rd New York Volunteers Under General Slough

Water Battery – Battery Rodgers, Alexandria, VA, Library of Congress

Old City Jail or Alexandria Jail was one of five Union prisons that were used in Alexandria, Virginia during the Civil War. Two were previously used as prisons: the Old City Jail on Saint Asaph Street and the Birch Slave Jail at 1315 Duke Street. The other three prisons were large buildings housing the former Green furniture factory at Prince and South Fairfax Streets, the Odd Fellows Hall at 218 North Columbus Street, and the massive Mount Vernon Cotton Mill at 515 North Washington Street, renamed the Washington Street Military Prison. [45]

William Griffis arrived in Alexandria, Virgina on October 22, 1862. A fellow Company A soldier and Mayfield neighbor, John Dye, recalled on their day of arrival that “…the night was very cold. We had no tents to protect us from the inclemency of the weather. (William) caught a heavy cold and was sent to (the Arlington) Jail to do inside duty not being able to do outside duty.“[46]

Based on available historical records, William Griffis spent most of his time at the end of 1862 and the following four months in 1863 guarding prisoners at the old Jail in Alexandria. In January, 1863 William had contracted a cold that turned into chronic laryngitis. He was diagnosed as having ‘catarrhal laryngitis’. Catarrhal laryngitis in civil war era parlance was ‘inflammation of the mucous membranes’ with no specific cause. He may have also had pneumonia. [47] He was assigned guard duty at the Old City Jail for light duty and reported to the regimental hospital for medicine on a recurrent basis.

William’s sickness was not unique. With a sea of army tents surrounding the Capitol for a radius of three miles, massive numbers of soldiers coming from all Union states, and the absence of modern water and sewage systems, infectious diseases were endemic in Washington, DC. During the war, epidemics of smallpox, typhoid fever, and measles plagued the wartime city. In December 1862, the Colonel of the 153rd ordered the vaccination of the entire command for smallpox. [48] Around this time Sarah Wakeman, who was a soldier of the regiment, wrote home to indicate that two men died in her company and 30 in her regiment also died purportedly due to measles and “there is quite a number sick”. [49] The human toll was heart rending and included the Lincolns’ 11-year-old son Willie, who succumbed to typhoid fever early in 1862. Lincoln himself nearly died from smallpox in the weeks that followed his Gettysburg Address in mid 1863. The likelihood of succumbing to disease was very high when stationed in the nation’s capital.

As indicated in the muster roll documents in William’s military file (below), William was detailed to the Alexandria Jail pursuant to an Order by Brigadier General Slough on February 25 or 26, 1863. William was assigned to the Jail for guard duty from end of February through June of 1863. He was stationed at Camp Slough, Alexandria, Virginia with the regiment but his duties were detached from the regiment’s assigned duties.

In anticipation of expected draft riots in Washington City , a special order was issued to transfer the 153rd regiment from Alexandria to Washington City. [50] In July 1863, the 153rd was transferred to Washington City and placed under the commend of Brigadier General John Henry Martindale. The regiment moved into the barracks on Capital Hill as unattached troops in the 22nd Army Corps, Department of Washington. As private Rosetta Wakeman wrote in an undated letter to her father, the regiment’s living quarters were perhaps an improvement from Camp Slough in Alexandria.

“Dear Father,

“I will Write a few lines today and let you know What kind of quarters we have got. We are in Barracks. They are good ones.

“My Co. and Co. C is in one building. The buildings is two story high. The place for sleep is upstairs and down below is a room for to do the Cooking and a place to eat. We can get good Water to drink outside of the guard. It is Well Water. We Can get Water to Wash With inside of the guard. It is Water that comes from the river. The river Water is a little salty, for the tide sit up the river as far as George town.

“I can’t think of any more to write Present so good-by.“ [51]

When the regiment was transferred to Washginton, D.C. on July 21, 1863, William Griffis followed 14 days later and was assigned to the Railroad ‘Washington’ Depot detail. This reassignment of the regiment was undoubtably a swift military reaction to the New York draft riots.

The New York city draft riots (July 11 – 16, 1863) were the culmination of the sentiment among working class whites and proslavery supporters of the Democratic Party. The enactment of the Emancipation Proclamation in January 1863 capped two years of increasing support for emancipation in New York City. From the time of Lincoln’s election in 1860, the Democratic Party had warned New York’s Irish and German residents to prepare for the emancipation of slaves and the resultant labor competition when southern blacks would supposedly flee to the north. The Emancipation Proclamation was confirmation of their worst perceived fears. In March 1863, stricter federal draft laws added fuel to the fire. All male citizens between twenty and thirty-five and all unmarried men between thirty-five and forty-five years of age were subject to military duty. The federal government entered all eligible men into a lottery. Those who could afford to hire a substitute or pay the government three hundred dollars could avoid enlistment.  Local events came to a head in July.

When recruiting for the army began in July 1863, a mob in New York wrecked the main recruiting station. Then, for three days, crowds of white workers marched through the city, destroying buildings, factories, streetcar lines, and private property. They marched through the streets, forcing factories to close, recruiting more members of the mob. They set the city’s colored orphan asylum on fire. They shot, burned, and hanged African Americans they found in the streets. Many people were thrown into the rivers to drown. On the fourth day, Union troops returning from the Battle of Gettysburg came into the city and stopped the rioting.[52]

Based on the letters of Sarah Rosetta Wakeman in September 1863, [53] the 153rd Regiment was responsible for guarding five locations in the Washington, D.C. area: the 153rd regimental camp, Carroll prison, the Railroad Depot where William Griffis was assigned, City Hall, and City guard. City Hall was where the military draft operations and physical examinations were conducted.

Provost guard duty at the Washington Depot must have provided William Griffis with a wide variety of daily interaction with troops coming from and going to a multitude of places. In a letter to her father, Sarah Wakeman, who was from Company H of the 153rd, wrote,

“Our regiment has to guard Carroll Prison and the Depot and City Hall. When I am down to the Depot and see so many men and women agoing North it makes me homesick”. [56]

From late April 1861, the arrival of Union troops at the Washington Depot was constant. 

“During the Civil War, there were scenes which it is to be hoped will never be witnessed again – troops passing through the city by thousands, most of them debarked a few yards north of the New Jersey Avenue Station.” [57]

The federal government erected a ‘Soldier’s Rest’, a precursor of a USO station, near the rail depot to provide temporary accommodations and meals for arriving troops. 

“Meals were prepared and served to soldiers, and at one time no less than sixteen regiments and smaller bodies of troops were furnished with meals within twenty-four hours.” [58]

The Washington Depot also witnessed dramatic increases in rail transport of livestock and supplies. Incoming freight increased from an average of eight cars per day in 1860 to more than 400 cars per day between October 1861 to March 1862.  In October 1861 a new freight warehouse, measuring 20 by 300 feet, was constructed just north of the depot.  To further accommodate the increased traffic, a Y, to turn engines, and additional side tracks were laid in the depot yard in 1864. [59]

Carrol Prison originally was called The Old Capitol (or “old brick Capitol“) and was constructed in 1815 as a temporary meeting space for Congress after the British burned the U.S. Capitol in 1814. During the Civil War, the Old Capitol was repurposed as a prison for Confederate prisoners of war, spies, blockade runners, and Union army officials convicted of insubordination. The warden of the prison was William P. Wood, and during the prison’s service, Wood commented that 30,000 prisoners passed through its gates. Following his service as warden, Wood became the first chief of the Secret Service. [62]

John D. Brownell served with William Griffis in Company A of the 153rd regiment. Brownell mustered in as a private in Gloversville, New York on August 30, 1862 and was made a second lieutenant the following day, August 31, 1862. Within Union volunteer regiments, enlisted men elected many of their officers and governors appointed the rest. The practice of electing officers was reduced to a small scale by 1863. Brownell evidently was well liked or known to be elected as an officer. Brownell was promoted to first lieutenant on July 7, 1863. [64] Brownell indicated in a letter after the war that William Griffis was plagued with recurrent medical issues associated with “disease of the lungs” throughout his military career. He indicated he was present with William in February 1863 in Alexandria when he was sick

“…with disease of the lungs he having contracted the same from exposure while in the line of duty and was on the sick list and absent from the regiment for about five months (he was detailed to the Alexandria Jail ) … he was then sent to do light duty at the Rail Depot at Washington … subsequently he was again taken sick and was sent to (the) regimental hospital on Capital Hill and from there was sent home on sick furlough.”[65]

Brownell’s statement contains a number of historic observations about William and what it was like at that historic time period. “Disease of the lungs” or pneumonia was often a deadly illness in the 1800’s. Sir William Osler, considered by many to be the father of modern medicine, described pneumonia in the late 1800s as “the most fatal of all acute diseases.” [66] During the Civil War, the illness had a mortality rate of 24%, making “inflammation of the lungs and pleura” the third most common cause of death from disease during the cvil war conflict. [67]

It is not known how frequent William’s bout with the ‘lung disease’ prevented him from performing his military duties. We also do not know if William was the exception or the rule when it came to dealing with this and other physical maladies in his regiment. However, the sickness, incapacitation, and reduction of troops capable of performing was significant on an enduring basis.

“(T)he stark reality was that even for the victorious the average soldier was about twice as likely to die of a disease contracted in camp than of a wound acquired in battle. The chief culprits in order of prevalence were diarrhea and dysentery (euphemistically referred to by its victims as “the Tennessee trots” or “Virginia quickstep”), accounting for more than 1.3 million cases and some 35,000 deaths; malaria, typhoid, and assorted camp fevers came next; then respiratory ailments (catarrh, bronchitis, and so-called lung inflammation [pneumonia]); and, finally, assorted digestive disorders.” [68]

The physical impact of environmental, health, and other factors on the well being of and anticipated management of soldiers was encoded in military operations and logistics. Having 1,000 men on the regimental roles, the aggregate strength (also known as the rationing strength), was not the same the same thing as having those men on the battle line, which was referred to as the effective strength of the unit. [69] A Colonel commanding 1,000 men could count on over 35% of his troops being absent at any given time.

“The “absent‟ were not present with the armies at the front, but were generally in rear of the base of supplies; and even of the “present‟ (‘present’ or ‘absent’ was noted on individual muster rolls for soldiers) we had to estimate at least one-third as detached, guarding our long lines of supply, sick in hospital, company cooks, teamsters, escorts to trains, and absent from the ranks by reason of the many causes incident to war.”  [70]

William Griffis utilized the services of the ‘regimental hospital’ to assist in his issues with lungs and respiratory system. In theory, every regiment had a hospital (a regiment was 10 companies of 100 men each). Armies on the march typically had field hospitals with supplies carried along in wagons and they set up wherever they could and were organized around ranks of tents. Armies that were encamped had post hospitals created out of tents or wooden barracks. The post hospitals were organized at the regimental or brigade (3 to 6 regiments) level. The Nation’s capital hosted huge camp hospitals for troops moving through the city. [71]

It is not known when William was at the regimental hospital at Capital Hill. He was there for six weeks and then sent home on a medical furlough. The furlough ended February 4, 1864 and he returned to duty in Washington.

Looking Ahead

At the beginning of 1864, William Griffis was convalesceing at home in January 1864. His older brother Daniel was adapting to his winter quarters at Mitchell’s Station, Virginia. At the beginning of February, 1864, William arrives back in Washington to resume provost guard duty. His brother is 60 miles to the south west at Mitchell’s station, near the Orange And Alexandria Railroad, five miles from the front where the Army of Virgina is across the Rapidan River, engaged with picket duty and working with his mules and wagon. Only 60 miles separate the brothers but they live and experience two totally different worlds.

Sources

Featured photograph: E. Sachse & Co., Lithographer. Camps of U.S. troops around Washington City, from S. to W. / Lith. by E. Sachse & Co., Balto. Md. United States Arlington Washington D.C. Virginia, ca. 1861. Washington, D.C.: publ. by C. Bonn. Photograph

[1] James Riley Bowen, Regimental History of the First New York Dragoons, Page 10.

[2] Browning, Judkin and Timothy Silver, An Environmental History of the Civil War, Capel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2020, Page 26

[3] James Riley Bowen, Regimental History of the First New York Dragoons, Page 11.

[4] Winkle, Kenneth, Washington: Capital of the Union, Essential Civil War Curriculum. September, 2016

[5] Browning, Judkin & Silver, Timothy, An Environmental History of the Civil War, Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2020, Page 29

[6] James Riley Bowen, Regimental History of the First New York Dragoons, Page 14.

[7] Berler, Anne Karen, A Most Unpleasant Part of your Duties: Military Occupation in Four Southern Cities, 1861-1865, PhD Dissertation, Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina, 2011, Page 3

[8] Ibid, Page 11-12

[9] James Riley Bowen, Regimental History of the First New York Dragoons, Pages 71-72.

[10] Carmichael, Peter S., The War for the Common Soldier: How Men Thought, Fought, and Survived in Civil War Armies, Chapel,Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2018, Page 246

[11] James Riley Bowen, Regimental History of the First New York Dragoons Page 75-76.

[12] Ibid, Page 81

[13] Ibid, Page 81

[14] Ibid, Page 89

[15] February 4, 1878 Correspondence from the Pension Office, Department of Interior to Pension Examiners, Request for Furnish Full Medical History of Daniel Griffis, 1st Reg. NYD. Based on the information from the Office of Adjutant General of the U.S. Army, Daniel was documented as present in January and February 1864 as a wagon master.

[16] Butterfield, Brigadier-General Daniel. (1862). Camp and Outpost Duty for Infantry. Originally published in New York NY by Harper & Brothers, Publishers and republished in Mechanicsburg VA by Stackpole books (2003); Velo, James, contributor to the Essential Civil War  Curriculum Project , What was the function of a Wagon master in the American Civil War?, Jul 24, 2019 Quora

[17] General Orders 110, Organization of the Volunteer Army of the United States April 29, 1863. The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, III, Series III

[18] Lindmier, Thomas, The Great Blue Army Wagon: The History of Wheeled Transportation in the Frontier Army, Lexington, KY: Carriage Museum of America, 2009; See also History of the Army Wagon, Wheel and Wagon Shop, Page accessed January 4, 2021 ; Hess, Earl J, Civil War Logistics: A Study of Military Transportation, Baton Rouge: Louisiana University Press, 2017

[19] Lackey, Rodney C., Notes on Civil War Logistics: Facts and Stories, United States Army Transportation Corps and Transportation School, Fort Lee, Virginiano date, Accessed December 15, 2020.

[20] Lindmier, Thomas, The Great Blue Army Wagon: The History of Wheeled Transportation in the Frontier Army, Lexington, KY: Carriage Museum of America, 2009

[21] Lackey, Rodney C., Notes on Civil War Logistics: Facts and Stories, United States Army Transportation Corps and Transportation School, Fort Lee, Virginiano date, Accessed December 15, 2020.

[22] Forbes, Edwin, Artist. Study of a Mule Team and Wagon, With Driver. United States Virginia Culpeper Court House, 1863. Sept. 30. Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2004661595/. ;

Hess, Earl J, Civil War Logistics: A Study of Military Transportation, Baton Rouge: Louisiana University Press, 2017 Page 221

[23] O.R., Series 1, Volume 11, Part 3, pp. 365-366: General Orders Number 153, dated August 10, 1862.

[24] Lackey, Rodney C., Notes on Civil War Logistics: Facts and Stories, United States Army Transportation Corps and Transportation School, Fort Lee, Virginian, date accessed December 15, 2020.

[25] Captain. N. J. Sapington in How to Feed an Army: Published By Authority of the Secretary of War for use in the Army of the United States, Washington, Government Printing Office, 1901, Page 60.

[26] Carpenter, Lieutenant Colonel C. C. (1901) in How To Feed An Army. United States War Department, Washington DC. Government Printing Office, p. 79.

[27] O.R., Series 1, Volume 29 (Part 2), p.472

[28] Ethier, Eric, Behind the Horsepower of Civil War Armies, Civil War Times May, 2007

[29] Butterfield, Brigadier-General Daniel, Camp and Outpost Duty for Infantry. Originally published in New York NY by Harper & Brothers, Publishers (1862) and republished in Mechanicsburg VA by Stackpole books (2003) Page 47.

[30] Ethier, Eric, Behind the Horsepower of Civil War Armies, Civil War Times May, 2007

[31] Ibid

[32] James Riley Bowen, Regimental History of the First New York Dragoons, Page 99.

[33] Ibid, Page 101

[34] Ipid, Page 108

[35] Ibid, Page 112.

[36] Roy P. Basler, ed., The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, 10 vols. (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1953), 6:226.

[37] Winkle, Kenneth, Washington: Capital of the Union, Essential Civil War Curriculum. September, 2016;

The Fortification System, National Park Service, U.S. Department of Interior, Page updated Aug 27, 2020, page accessed Jan 10, 2021

[38] Winkle, Kenneth, Washington: Capital of the Union, Essential Civil War Curriculum. September, 2016

[39] Steel, Johan, Provost Guard, Civil War Talk, July 31, 2003

[40] The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Prepared under the direction of the Secretary of War, by Bvt. Lieut Col. Robert N. Scott, Third U.S. Artillery and published pursuant to Act of Congress Approved June 16, 1880, Washington, Government Printing Office, 1881, Series I Volume 5, page 30

[41] Amy Bertsch, former Public Information Officer, and Lance Mallamo, Director, on behalf of the Office of Historic Alexandria, How sweet it is: from military HQ to bank to bakery, Alexandria Times July 21, 2011

[42] Amy Bertsch, Amy and Lance Mallamo, Out of the Attic: Alexandria cotton mill that became a Civil War torture chamber, Office of Historic Alexandria City of Alexandria, Virginia, Alexandria Times, May 11, 2017.

[43] As the number of African American former slaves, known as contrabands, grew, health became an issue. In February 1863, Military Governor John Slough ordered one part of the building to be turned into a hospital for contrabands. Contraband Hospital and School, Page updated on Mar 8, 202, page accessed Feb 3, 2021.

[44] Water Battery (40 Pounder), “No. 30” handwritten in pencil in top left corner Alternate title derived from captioned print, Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division: LOT 4336, no. 62., 1864, City of Alexandria, The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens, Huntington Digital Digital Library;

Battery Rodgers, Wikipedia, page was last edited on 24 July 2018Accessed January 30, 2021

Office of Historic Alexandria, Out of the Attic Battery Rodgers Alexandria Times June 3, 2010 

[45] History of the Sheriff’s Office, City of Alexandria Website, Page updated on Jan 8, 2019

[46] File 280.194, William J. Griffis Claim for Increase, Bureau of Pensions, letter in reply to a September 11, 1900 Bureau of Pensions request for additional information on facts related to the request for pension increase. This is one example of many affidavits that touch on the chronology of events. The chronology of events is difficult to follow in the letter. In his attempt to be brief and fit his description of William’s physical maladies, John Dye, a fellow soldier and neighbor after the war, strings various events together:

• William had a heavy cold in October 1862 and sent to perform light duty at the Jail.
• When the regiment was transferred to Washginton, D.C. on July 21, 1863, William followed 14 days later and was assigned to the Railroad Depot detail.
• He became sick again was sent to the camp hospital and was there for six weeks and then sent home on medical furlough and returned in February 1864.
• William performed light duty in New Orleans ‘not being able to do picket duty to the close of the war’.

[47] RG 94, Regimental Order Book, 153rd New York Infantry, National Archives

[48] Wakeman, Sarah Rosetta and Lauren Cook Burgess. An uncommon soldier : the Civil War letters of Sarah Rosetta Wakeman, alias Private Lyons Wakeman, 153rd Regiment, New York State Volunteers. Pasadena, Md: The Minerva Center, 1994. Page 23

[49] Goellnitz, Jenny, Common Civil War Medical Terms, Civil War Battlefield Medicine, Ohio State University, e-history, Department of History

The most common symptom of chronic laryngitis is hoarseness. For the condition to be truly chronic, this hoarseness persists for at least two weeks. Evidently William Griffis exhibit hoarseness or the loss of his voice on recurrent occasions during and after the Civil War. Correspondence from his neighbors indicated at times he talked in a whisper. Depending on the cause of chronic laryngitis, other symptoms can include: 

• A low, raspy voice 
• A voice that tires easily, “breaks” or “cracks” 
• The sensation of a lump in the throat or a dry throat 
• A constant urge to clear the throat 
• Heavy mucus in the throat 
• Chronic cough or postnasal drip 
• Discomfort during swallowing

Marion Thrasher, Marion, M.D., Chronic Catarrhal Laryngitis, Read by title in the Section of Laryngology and Otology, at the Forty-second Annual Meeting of the American Medical Association, Washington D.C., May 1891.

[50] RG 94, Regimental Order Book, 153rd New York Infantry, National Archives; Special Order No 139, Judy 20, 1863, National Archives

[51] Wakeman, Sarah Rosetta and Lauren Cook Burgess. An uncommon soldier : the Civil War letters of Sarah Rosetta Wakeman, alias Private Lyons Wakeman, 153rd Regiment, New York State Volunteers. Pasadena, Md: The Minerva Center, 1994. Page 40-41

[52] Kelly, Kate, The Civil War Draft Riots Brought Terror to New York’s Streets, Smithsonian Magazine, September 21, 2017;

Harris, Leslie M., In the Shadow of Slavery: African Americans in New York City, 1626-1863, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004;

New York City draft riots, Wikipedia, This page was last edited on December 27, 2020, Page access January 11, 2021;

Schecter, Barnet (2007). “The Civil War Draft Riots“. North & South. Civil War Society. 10 (1): 72.

Fry, James Barnet (1885). New York and the Conscription of 1863. G.P. Putnam’s Sons.

Cook, Adrian (1974). The Armies of the Streets: The New York City Draft Riots of 1863. University Press of Kentucky.

[53] Wakeman, Sarah Rosetta and Lauren Cook Burgess. An uncommon soldier : the Civil War letters of Sarah Rosetta Wakeman, alias Private Lyons Wakeman, 153rd Regiment, New York State Volunteers. Pasadena, Md: The Minerva Center, 1994. Page 46

[54] Washington Depot, with U. S. Capitol in the Distance (1872). From Cushings & Bailey (publisher),Part Of: Photographic views of the Baltimore and Ohio Rail Road and its branches from the lakes to the sea, Southern Methodist University, Central University Libraries, DeGolyer Library http://digitalcollections.smu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/nam/id/317

[55] Architect of the Capital, Capital Dome

[56] Wakeman, Sarah Rosetta and Lauren Cook Burgess. An uncommon soldier : the Civil War letters of Sarah Rosetta Wakeman, alias Private Lyons Wakeman, 153rd Regiment, New York State Volunteers. Pasadena, Md: The Minerva Center, 1994. Page 47

[57] Washington Topham, Washington, First Railroad into Washington and its Three Depots, Records of the Columbia Historical Society, Washington, D.C., Vol. 27 (1925), pp. 175-247 (79 pages) Published by: Historical Society of Washington, D.C. Page 232

[58] Ibid, Page 232

[59] Ibid, Page 230

[60] Desilver, Charles.Cushings & Bailey, (1859) Original Map from the Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division Washington, D.C. See also: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Detail_of_a_1859_Map_of_Washington,_DC_showing_the_B%26O_Railway.png

[61] Hess, Earl J., Civil War Logistics: A Study of Military Transportation, Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University, 2017, Page 120

[62] Brammer, Robert, Old Capitol Prison and the United States Supreme Court, Library of Congress, Law Library, Jan 24, 2020

[63] Wakeman, Sarah Rosetta and Lauren Cook Burgess. An uncommon soldier : the Civil War letters of Sarah Rosetta Wakeman, alias Private Lyons Wakeman, 153rd Regiment, New York State Volunteers. Pasadena, Md: The Minerva Center, 1994. Page 44

[64] Rosters Of The New York Infantry Regiments During The Civil War. Rosters were compiled by the New York State Adjutant General Office. They were published as a set of 43 volumes between 1893 and 1905. Their official titles are Annual Report of the Adjutant-General of the State of New York for the Year … : Registers of the [units numbers]. 

Infantry in the American Civil War, Wikipedia, This page was last edited on 22 January 2021, page accessed 12 Feb 2021

[65] File 280.194, William J. Griffis Claim for Increase, Bureau of Pensions, Department of Interior, Sep 3, 1883 letter by John Brownell

[66] William Osler, The Principles and Practice of Medicine, 3rd ed. (New York, 1898), 108-137; Smart, Charles, ed. The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion (Washington, D.C., 1888), pt. 3, vol. 1, 751-810

[67] Lively, Mathew, “The Most Fatal of All Acute Diseases:” Pneumonia and the Death of Stonewall Jackson May 13, 2013, Civil War Monitor

[68] Michael A. Flannery, Michael A., Civil War Pharmacy: A History. Carbondale, IL: South Illinois Press, 2004, Page 22

[69] Phisterer, CPT. Frederick. (1883 and 2002). Statistical Record of the Armies of the United States. The 2002 edition was published in Edison NJ by Castle books. p. 63.

[70] Sherman, General W. T. , The Grand Strategy of the War of the Rebellion. The Century, Vollume 35, Issue 4, Feb. 1888, p.54. 

[71] Lawrence, Susan, Organization of the Hospitals in the Department of Washington, Civil War Washington, directed by Susan C. Lawrence, Elizabeth Lorang, Kenneth M. Price, and Kenneth J. Winkle, is published by the Center for Digital Research in the Humanities at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln 

Lawrence, Susan C., Military Hospitals in the Department of Washington, Civil War Washington, directed by Susan C. Lawrence, Elizabeth Lorang, Kenneth M. Price, and Kenneth J. Winkle, is published by the Center for Digital Research in the Humanities at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln 

Introduction

William James Griffis, and his older brother, Daniel Griffis, fought in the American Civil War.  William is my great great grandfather. This is a story of two brothers, Daniel – the oldest sibling in the family and the William – the youngest male sibling in the family. Both had blue eyes, dark hair and were similar in height.

The tragedy of the Civil War is often summed up in the phrase “brother against brother.” Americans fought against Americans. Notably in the borderline states between the north and south, families had individuals who fought on both sides of the conflict. Moreover, Northern soldiers and Southern soldiers were very much alike — from their backgrounds, to their education, to their courage and loyalty to their local areas.  So in a more general sense, ‘brothers fought against brothers’. This story, however, is not a story of a brother against another brother.  It is a story of two brothers, Daniel and William who volunteered to fight for the Republic cause in the Civil War.  Perhaps for different reasons, both Daniel and William volunteered to fight for the Union cause at the same time.

Both of their stories are different yet may be viewed as “two sides of the same coin”.   One brother, William, during one of his assignments in his three years of duty, guarded confederate prisoners.  The other older brother Daniel was captured and became a prisoner of the confederates. The individual who captured Daniel, John Singleton Mosby, ‘the grey ghost’, was a prisoner for 10 days in July, 1862 in a prison that William’s regiment subsequently had guard duty responsibilities in the District of Columbia in October of that year.

For William, his experience in the Civil War largely involved provost guard and garrison duty in the Nation’s capital and a few experiences with actual battle in Louisiana. While his infantry unit fought in Louisiana, his brother Daniel was engaged in a number of major battles and minor skirmishes in northern Virginia. Daniel, enlisted in an infantry division that later became a calvary unit.   As a wagon master in a calvary regiment,  Daniel was captured by Mosby’s raiders.  He ultimately was transferred from Richmond, Virginia to one of the largest confederate prisons – Salisbury Prison in North Carolina.  At the prison, he became ill and died.  

It is interesting to note that I did not know of Daniel’s involvement in the Civil War with the First Dragoons until I inadvertently found a pension file under the name of Joel Griffis, his father. His life at such a young age was a dead end in terms of ancestry research. I could not find him in U.S. Census records after 1860. Upon receiving copy of Joel Griffis’ Civil War pension request as a dependent, I discovered Daniel’s military history and untimely death. [1]

This story is created through the use of a variety of historical sources. In addition to the typical family ancestry sources of the U.S. Census, I have relied upon Civil War pension records, Library of Congress records related to Civil War Regiments, published historical accounts related to each of William and Daniels’ regiments, scholarly accounts on various facets of the Civil War and ‘non-academic’ historian’s accounts on the mundane aspects of the Civil war military and the common soldier. Hopefully, by combining these various sources, in absence of personal accounts in letters or other artifacts, I have been able to construct a story of what the two brother’s witnessed as soldiers. We may not know what they looked like, who they actually were and how they felt about things but perhaps putting them into a wider historical context of what they witnessed will give family members, and those interested in the common man in the civil war, a glimmer of who these two brothers were. I only wish we had photographs of their faces.

While I started this story with the intent of interweaving the accounts of two brothers in the Union Army, I found that the story was getting a bit long so I have broken the story up into three major parts and side stories related to Daniel’s capture and imprisonment and William’s post military life.

Daniel and William: Their Lives Up to the War

The brothers were the sons of Joel Griffis and Margerie Gilespie [2]. Joel and Margerie were married in Watervliet, New York in 1831. [3] There were seven children in the family, four sons and two daughters. Daniel was the oldest (born 1832), followed by Stephen (1834), Joseph H. (1836), Margaret Mary (1838), William James (1843), Ruth Addie (1845) and Francis (1850). Based on the birth locations of the children, it appears the family moved from the Schenectady, New York area to Mayfield, New York around 1835. The two older sons were born in the Watervliet – Albany New York area while the remaining children were born in Fulton County where Mayfield is located. It appears that Joel and Margery along with other Griffis family members, notably his father Daniel Griffis (1777 – ) and brother William Gates Griffis (1805- 1860), migrated westward [4] to the rural areas of Mayfield in 1835 to live life as farmers.

In 1840, Joel and Margery’s family of six had one male under 5 (Joseph), two males 5 through 9 (Daniel and Stephen) and another male 30-39 (Joel). There was one female under 5 (Margaret), 1 female between the ages of 20-29 (Margerie). Four of the family members were employed in agricultural activities. [5]

By 1850, the household grew to include William, Ruth and Francis. However, at the age of 39, Margery passed away on May 1st in 1850 [6]. It is not known what was the cause of death. Her youngest child, Francis, was born in 1849. Joel, a widower, undoubtably had his hands full with a household of six children ranging from Daniel at 18 to Ruth at one year of age. All but Stephen were living with Joel. [7] Stephen, at the age of 16, was living with his uncle William and grandfather Daniel [8].

Five years later, Joel is still single and has three older children, Stephen (21), Joseph (19), Margaret (17); and two younger children, William (12) and Ruth (9), in the household. The youngest, Francis, passed away at the age of 5. There are no records of her cause of death. The eldest, Daniel, moved out of the house around 1853 and was living in a boarding house, working as a laborer in Johnstown, New York [9].

Daniel, at the age of 24, married Augusta Bristol, the same age, at the Mayfield Central Presbyterian Church a the end of January, 1856 [10]. They may have been childhood sweethearts or long time neighbors that finally fell in love. The 1855 New York census indicates that she lived in Mayfield for the past 19 years and her home was close to Joel’s family farm. Daniel and Augusta must have known each other as they grew up. Augusta’s household was the 23rd house that the New York census taker visited. The Griffis household was the 33rd that the census taker visited while conducting the census on June 5th, 1855. [11] Augusta was living with her mother and sister Emily and two other women. Augusta listed her occupation as a glover maker.

Sometime after June 1855, Joel Griffis remarried. He married Anna Marie Ostrom. Not much is known about Anna or ‘Hannah’. In 1856, they started their family with the birth of Mary Griffis in 1856 and Oliver Griffis in 1859. Joel C. (Charles?) Griffis follows in 1862 and Amelia in 1865. Although the family is not documented in the 1860 census, it is assumed that William and Ruth are living with Joel and his new wife and their half sister and half brother.

The future for Daniel and his wife Augusta was cut short with her untimely death at the age of 27 in 1861 [12]. The death undoubtedly had a profound effect on Daniel. The cause of death is not know. We do not know if she died in child birth or other causes. Since she was buried in Mayfield, New York, it is assumed they were living in the Mayfield area.

It was during this year that the Civil War began in April. Initially, President Abraham Lincoln called for 75,000 men to serve for three months. Later that summer, Congress approved the enlistment of 500,000 men for three years.

William Griffis was 18 in 1861. It is not known where he was living. He was a laborer when he entered the service.

In August, 1862, both Daniel and his brother William enlisted in the Union Army. It is not known if the brothers discussed their mutual decisions. Perhaps both were caught up in the national patriotic fervor or lured into service for the sense of adventure or monetary gain [13]. Perhaps both brothers simply desired to get away from Mayfield and their respective pasts.  Most of the Civil War soldiers were between the ages of 18 and 39 with an average age just under 26. The majority of soldiers North and South had been farmers before the war. [14]

Two Brothers Enlisting in the Union Army

The brothers enlisted within two weeks of each other. Daniel enlisted at the age of 30 on August 12, 1862 and quickly mustered into service on August 19th. William, at 19, enlisted August 28, 1862 and quickly was promoted to corporal and mustered into service on October 17th, 1862.

The timing and quick turnaround between enlistment and mustering into service for both of the brothers reflected the nation’s urgent need for recruits. By the middle of 1862 the Civil War was into its fourteenth month. Both sides initially thought the ‘strife’ would not last long. However, high casualties and the failure of Major General McClellan’s Peninsular Campaign places pressure on the Union side for the need for more troops to turn the tide against the Confederacy. In 1862, rather than institute a politically sensitive draft, President Lincoln requested 300,000 more men and assigned each state a quota. The states could meet their quota in any manner they saw fit. Most states offered cash incentives, known as bounties, to gain recruits. The urgency for recruits is reflected in the rapidity of creating volunteer regiments and putting them into action. [15]

As reflected in the Muster Roll record below [16], Daniel enlisted in Springwater, New York as a Private. Springwater is approximately 200 miles west of Mayfield, NY, south of Hemlock Lake in the finger lake area of New York. The distance is considerable given the the era. Daniel moved to this area after the death of his wife and before he enlisted. He was providing assistance to Oscar Bristol, a farmer, before he enlisted. [17] While a family connection could not be documented, I believe Oscar Bristol was a second cousin of Augusta Bristol, Daniel’s former wife. Daniel listed his occupation as a Blacksmith. Perhaps he was providing blacksmith services to Oscar Bristol and trying to figure out his life after Augusta’s death.

Daniel enlisted for a three year assignment in the 130th New York volunteers infantry regiment.  He enlisted in Company “G”. Each of the companies for the regiment were based on geographical areas from which they recruited soldiers. The “G” company recruited from the Stillwater, New York area. [18]

While perhaps he thought he would be in the infantry, his short military career was transformed from infantry duties to calvary and wagoner duties after a year in service. The 130th infantry regiment of New York had the distinction of being the only Union army volunteer regiment which was converted entirely from infantry to cavalry during the Civil War.  [19] It was converted to a calvary unit on July 28, 1863 and renamed as the 19th regiment of New York volunteer calvary.  In September of that year they were officially renamed as First New York Dragoons. The term dragoon generally refers to mounted infantry or light calvary. 

“The history of the First New York Dragoons is, in one respect, unique, it having as an unbroken organization served in two distinct branches of military service, one year in infantry, and two in calvary. During the first year we were known as the One Hundred and Thirtieth New York Volunteer Infantry, and had abundant experience as ‘dough boys’ in fighting on foot, as well as in long and exhausting marches with blistered feet and aching joints. As cavaliers we also had our turn of pitying the poor boys who still had ‘hoof it’. We also learned full well that, though riding our prancing steads, the mounted service was not all fun, especially under such vigorous leaders as Sheridan.” [20]

While Daniel was quickly getting his affairs in order to muster into service in August 19, 1862, his younger brother William was enlisting in Fonda, New York on August 23rd. Fonda is on the Mohawk River, just south of Johnstown, New York. William mustered into service October 17, 1862 for the standard three year enlistment term in the New York 153rd Infantry Volunteers, Company “A”. Perhaps based on bounty incentives, it appears he was quickly promoted to corporal August 28, 1862 in Johnstown, New York. [21]

The 153rd New York Infantry Regiment was recruited in the counties of Fulton, Montgomery, Saratoga, Clinton, Essex and Warren. It was organized at Fonda and there mustered into the U. S. service on Oct. 17, 1862, for three years. The companies were recruited principally: at Johnstown (Company A); at Mohawk, Palatine and Root (Company B); at Glen, Florida, Root and Charleston (Company C); at Johnstown and Mayfield (Company D); at Minden and St. Johnsville (Company E); at Ephratah, Canajoharie, Oppenheim, Clifton Park and Lassellsville (Company F); at Mooers, Altona, Essex and Plattsburg (Company G); at Greenfield, Milton, Gal-way, Clifton Park, Ballston Spa, Moreau, Root and Wilson (Company H); at Champlain, Chesterfield, Plattsburg and AuSable (Company I); and at Queensbury, Ellenburg, Altona and Mooers (Company K). [22]

An interesting side note about the 153rd regiment is the existence of a woman, Sarah Rosetta Wakeman, who fought in Company H. Her military experience and ‘tour of duty’ mirrored William’s. However, as a woman in the military, her experience undoubtably was harrowing, fraught with constant worry of being outed as a woman, facing hostility and possible imprisonment. An estimated 400 young women disguised themselves as men and finessed their way through or around the physical exam to become soldiers. [23]

Coming from a large, poor farming family, she left home disguised as a man purportedly to make better wages than as a domestic servant. Wakeman signed on as a boatman doing manual labor on a coal barge traveling on the Chenango Canal. Shortly after making her first trip, she encountered recruiters from the 153rd New York Infantry Regiment. The offer of a $152.00 bounty was too good to refuse, and on August 30, 1862, Wakeman enlisted under the name of Lyons Wakeman. One point of interest in Wakeman’s service is her time spent as a guard at Washington’s Carroll Prison. During her time there, one of the three women held at the prison was arrested for a crime Wakeman herself was committing: impersonating a man to fight for the Union. [24] The aftermath of the Red River Campaign resulted in her contracting chronic diarrhea of which she eventually died on June 19, 1864, in the Marine USA General Hospital in New Orleans.

 Union privates were paid $13.00 per month until after the final raise of 20 June 20, 1864 when they received $16.00. In the infantry and artillery, officers at the start of the war received varying amounts based on rank: colonels, $212; lieutenant colonels, $181; majors, $169; captains, $115.50; first lieutenants, $105.50; and second lieutenants, $105.50. Soldiers were supposed to be paid every two months in the field, but they were fortunate if they received their pay at four-month intervals. [25]

Unless you are an history buff of the Civil War, military organizations might seem a bit mystifying. [26] The regiment was the basic ‘maneuver unit’ of the Civil War at the beginning of the war. As the war progressed, the brigade began as the major maneuvering unit in terms of initiating strategic attacks and defenses.  

Regiments were recruited from among the eligible citizenry of one or more nearby counties and usually consisted of 1,000 men when first organized.  The attrition of disease, combat, and desertion would rapidly reduce this number as the war progressed.  Replacements to regiments were rare for both sides. If a regiment was decimated through heavy casualties, the troops usually were transferred to other regiments. Regiments were usually led by colonels.  

A volunteer regiment was made up of ten companies, each company was commanded by a captain and two lieutenants. A company was often filled with men from a single town or county and they elected their officers. Once all ten companies had been organized, they were assigned to a regiment and given a specific number by the state where they lived.

Two or more regiments would be organized into a brigade.  A typical brigade consisted of between three and five regiments and was led by a brigadier general. One of the most significant themes in the evolution of Civil War armies was the gradual separation of the three branches.  At the outset of the war, it was not uncommon to see a brigade that consisted of infantry regiments, cavalry regiments, and artillery batteries. As the war went on, it became apparent that it was more efficient to have similar regiments (i.e. infantry, calvary) in the same brigade.

Two or more brigades were organized into a division.  Divisions tended to be slightly smaller in the Union army–usually two or three brigades.  Confederate divisions could include as many as five or six brigades.  Divisions were led by major generals.  

Two or more divisions would be organized into a corps.  A corps typically included infantry, cavalry, and artillery units, the idea being that a corps was a formation that could conduct independent operations.

Two or more corps would be organized into an army which was commanded by a general. During the Civil War the Union most commonly named its armies after rivers or waterways (eg. the Army of the Potomac) while the Confederacy designated its armies after states or regions (eg. the Army of Northern Virginia).

First Stop Washington D.C.

Daniel’s brother William and the 153rd regiment left the state of New York on October 18, 1862. Both brothers may have had similar experiences traveling to the nation’s capital. The trip to Washington D.C. for the 153rd New York Volunteer regiment was their final destination as Provost Guards. The 130th New York Volunteers had a longer journey deep into Confederate territory.

Daniel and William’s lives were to be profoundly changed.

“The life of a soldier in the 1860s was an arduous one, and for the thousands of young Americans who left home to fight for their cause, it was an experience none of them would ever forget. Military service meant many months away from home and loved ones, long hours of drill, often inadequate food or shelter, disease, and many days spent marching on hot, dusty roads or in a driving rainstorm burdened with everything a man needed to be a soldier as well as baggage enough to make his life as comfortable as possible. There were long stretches of boredom in camp interspersed with moments of sheer terror experienced on the battlefield. For these civilians turned soldiers, it was very difficult at first getting used to the rigors and demands of army life. Most had been farmers all of their lives and were indifferent to the need to obey orders. Discipline was first and foremost a difficult concept to understand, especially in the beginning when the officer one had to salute may have been the hometown postmaster only a few weeks before. Uniforms issued in both armies were not quite as fancy as those worn by the hometown militias, and soldiering did not always mean fighting. There were fatigue duties such as assignments to gather wood for cook fires. Metal fittings had to be polished, horses groomed and watered, fields had to be cleared for parades and drill, and there were water details for the cook house. Guard duty meant long hours pacing up and down a well-trod line, day or night, rain or shine, always on watch for a foe who might be lurking anywhere in the hostile countryside.” [27]

Sources

Featured photograph: 153rd Infantry, Library of Congress, photographed between 1862 and 1865, printed between 1880 and 1889, Gift of Col. Godwin Ordway; 1948, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA 

First photograph in story: Membership medal in possession of William Griffis commemorating duty in the 153rd Regiment during the Red River Campaign

[1] Pension Claim Number 231.631 Joel Griffis, Kingsboro, Fulton Co., NY, father of Daniel Griffis, Application filed May 31, 1877, Adandoned May 8, 1887, U.S. Department of the Interior, Pension Office

[2] Joel Griffis was born October 14, 1807 in Albany , NY and died October 18, 1882 in Gloversville, NY; Margery Gillespie was born 30 Jan 1897 in Schenectady, NY and died 01 May 1850 in Mayfield, NY.

[3] Newspaper announcement: The Schenectady Cabinet, Marriage and Engagement Notices, 2 Mar 1831.

[4] Based on U.S. Federal Census and New York State census data, the father of Joel, Daniel Griffis, possibly Daniel’s sister Esther, and Joel’s brother William Gates Griffis and his family also migrated westward to Mayfield. This household lived close by on another farm. In the 1855 New York Census, Fulton County, Mayfield, Election District 1, Page 499, Line 27, Column 13, Daniel Griffis indicated he had lived in Mayfield for the past 20 years.

Between 1820 to 1840, Mayfield witnessed almost a 30 percent growth in population from 2,025 to 2,615. For historical background of Mayfield, New York, see: History of Mayfield, NY from History of Fulton County, Revised and Edited by Washington Frothingham, published by D. Mason & Co. Syracuse, NY 1892

[5] 1840 United States Federal Census, Mayfield, Fulton County, New York, National Archives and Administration, image 14 of 29 filmstrip.

Enumerators of the 1840 census were asked to include the following categories in the census: name of head of household; number of free white males and females in age categories: 0 to 5, 5 to 10, 10 to 15, 15 to 20, 20 to 30, 30 to 40, 40 to 50, 50 to 60, 60 to 70, 70 to 80, 80 to 90, 90 to 100, over 100; the name of a slave owner and the number of slaves owned by that person; the number of male and female slaves and free “colored” persons by age categories; the number of foreigners (not naturalized) in a household; the number of deaf, dumb, and blind persons within a household; and town or district, and county of residence.

[6] Headstone Inscription: “WIFE OF JOEL GRIFFIS” “IN HER 39 YR” Burial: Riceville Cemetery Mayfield Fulton County New York, USA Created by: Katherine MacIntyre Record added: Aug 08, 2012 Find A Grave Memorial# 95024757

[7] 1850 United States Federal Census, Mayfield, Fulton County, New York, National Archives and Administration, page 28, lines 31-37

[8] 1850 United States Federal Census, Mayfield, Fulton County, New York, National Archives and Administration, page 38, lines 6-10

[9] 1855 New York Census, Johnstown, Fulton County, Election District 2, Sheet 369, Line 15, June 1855

[10] Mayfield Central Presbyterian Church Records, contributed by James F. Morrison and transcribed by Mary Beth Johnson, January 31, 1856.

[11] New York State census, Mayfield, Fulton County, New York , June 5, 1855 Page 502, line 1.

[12] Headstone Information – Birth: unknown Death: 1861 Inscription: “WIFE OF DANIEL GRIFFIS” “AGE 27” Burial: Riceville Cemetery Mayfield, Fulton County New York, USA Created by: Katherine MacIntyre , Find a Grave

[13] Baptism of Fire A Call to Arms: Recruiting and Enlistment of the Civil War Soldier, Manassas National Battlefield Park, National park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior

[14] Civil War Soldiers: Information and Articles About Soldiers in the Civil War, history.net

[15] John Sacher, Conscription, Essential Civil War Curriculum, Virginia Center for Civil War Studies at Virginia Tech, (Online) May, 2012

[16] New York Civil War Muster Roll Abstracts, 1861-1900, 1st Dragoons, Page 609

[17] In a September 28, 1877 affidavit from Joel Griffis for obtaining a pension from Daniel’s military service, it was also indicated that the 70 dollars “he had earned by his labor just before enlisting and left it with him at time of his departure with said Bristol at Springwater” (September 28, 1877 Affidavit of Joel Griffis, Claim No. 231.631 filed by J. Reck. Ally, Johnstown, NY)

[18] First Dragoons Regiment, Civil War New York State Military Museum and Veterans Research Center, NYS Division of Military and Naval Affairs, Last modified: February 8, 2018 

[19] James Riley Bowen, Regimental History of the First New York Dragoons: Originally the 130th N. Y. Vol; Infantry; During Three Years of Active Service in the Great Civil War, originally published by author 1900, Reprinted by Forgotten Books, 2012, Page 89.

[20] Ibid, Page 7

[21] New York Civil War Muster Roll Abstracts, 1861-1900, 153rd Infantry, Page 257

[22] 153rd Infantry Regiment, Civil War New York State Military Museum and Veterans Research Center, NYS Division of Military and Naval Affairs, Last modified January 24, 2018

[23] Wakeman, Sarah Rosetta and Lauren Cook Burgess. An uncommon soldier : the Civil War letters of Sarah Rosetta Wakeman, alias Private Lyons Wakeman, 153rd Regiment, New York State Volunteers. Pasadena, Md: The Minerva Center, 1994. Page xi

[24] Tsui, Bonnie, She Went to the Field: Women Soldiers of the Civil War. Guilford: Two Dot, 2006, Page 46-47

[25] Boatner, Mark M. III (1959). The Civil War Dictionary. New York, N.Y.: David McKay Company. 

[26] See: Civil War Army Organization, Americancivilwar.com, original source was from National Park Service, Gettysburg National Military Park, Gettysburg, PA;

Civil War Army Organization, American Battlefield Trust;

From Regiment to President: The Structure and Command of Civil War Armies, National Park Service, updated August 14, 2017;

Armies in the American Civil War, and Union Army, Wikipedia;

Heiser, John, credited author, Gettysburg National Military Park, Anchor: A North Carolina History Online Source, Appendix K: Organization of Civil War Armies ;

Wolfe, Brendan, Military Organization and Rank During the Civil War, Encyclopedia Virgina, Library of Virginia, 27 Oct. 2015. Web. 11 Jan. 2021, First published: October 5, 2009, Last modified: October 27, 2015; Faust, Patricia L., ed. Historical Times Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Civil War. New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1986; reprint, New York: HarperPerennial, 1991

Armies in the American Civil War, Wikipedia, This page was last edited on 14 November 2020 and accessed on December 28, 2020

[27] Tanner, Robert G. Life of the Civil War Soldier, thomaslegion.net. Page accessed January 10, 2020.

[28] Washington City: Defenses Surrounding the City, American Battlefield Trust