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 LIBRARY 0^ CONGRESS. 
 
 
 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 
 
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KIiI^KIja ^JIER^IIrk 
 
DEDICATION 
 
 / 
 
 OF^ THE 
 
 MONUMENT 
 
 TO THE 
 
 V, 
 
 126th regiment 
 
 N. V. INKANTRY 
 
 ON THE 
 
 Battlefield of Gettysburg, 
 
 OCTOBER 3, 1888. 
 
 •t^ REPORTED EY 
 
 W. G. LIGHTFOOTE, 
 
 Canandaigua, N. V. 
 
 • ^.W?. 
 
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 r,^llyf bmrg. 
 
 In June, 1886, when the 111th, and 126th regiments, N. Y. 
 vohinteei'S, united in an excursion to the Battlefield of Gettys- 
 burg, the wish was expressed that within two or three years they 
 might again visit the place for- the purpose of erecting 
 monuments in honor of their respective regiments. 
 
 The excursion of the 126th regiment on the 1st of October 
 was the realization in part of such wish. 
 
 The excursion left Canandaigua at 8:30 o'clock Monday eve- 
 ning, October 1st, 1888, by a special train. 
 
 Owing to the extreme inclemency of the weather, the num- 
 ber of persons was comparatively small, only about sixty uniting 
 in the excursion. The run from Canandaigua was made with- 
 out delay, accident, or special incident, the train arriving at Get- 
 tysburg at half-past six Tuesday morning. 
 
 Breakfast w-as soon in readiness, to which the ]>arty did am- 
 ple justice. 
 
 Everything had been most thoughtfullj' and elaborately ar- 
 ranged for the comfort of the excursionists and to aid them in 
 seeing the most in the shortest possible time. 
 
 At eight o'clock Mr. Ziegler's carriages were at the door of 
 the hotel, and in charge of the well-known battlefield lecturer, 
 Ca]it. James T. Long, of Gettysburg, the party was so )n on its 
 way to view the battlefield. ^ 
 
 ^ \. 
 
5 
 
 The first point of interest was the National Cemetery, on the 
 way to which marks of bullets were pointed out, and houses in 
 which fi'agments of shell were still imbedded. 
 
 In the cemetery the bodies of 3,564 soldiers lie buried — 979 
 of whom are unknown. 
 
 Hard indeed must be the heart which would not be touch- 
 ed by a walk or drive through this beautiful S[)ot, as he passes the 
 many graves of those whose lives were given in defence of home 
 and country, and where the winds through the pines sing a con- 
 stant requiem for the dead. 
 
 At the side of the National Monument, where Abraham 
 Lincoln, dedicating the cemetery, delivered his memorable ad- 
 dress, Capt. Long gave the history of the cemetery, quoting as 
 his closing words those from the lips of Lincoln, inscribed on 
 the monument — "that we here highly resolve that these dead 
 shall not have died in vain, that the nation shall, under God, 
 have a new birth of freedom, and that the government of the 
 people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from 
 the earth." 
 
 Thence to East Cemetery Hill, Culp's Hill, Spangler's 
 Spring, and to the right of the line. Thence by way of the Bal- 
 timore Pike to the Harrisburg Road, to the right of the 11th 
 corps line, to Chambei'sburg Pike, to Pieynold's Grove, to Kat- 
 alysine Springs, to the left of 1st corps line, to Seminary Ridge and 
 back to Gett3'sburg for dinner. After dinner the party, again in 
 company with Capt. Long, visited the Peach Orchard, the Loop, 
 the Wheatfield, the Devil's Den, tiie Valley of Death, Big Round 
 Top, Little Round Top, the Bloody Angle, and Cemetery 
 Ridge to Ziegler's Grove. 
 
 From Cemetery Hill, from the tower on Big Round Top, 
 
and from Seminary Eidge, one has commanding views ot the 
 whole battlefield— and while hstening to the thrilling descriptions 
 of Capt. Ljng, one sees again the two armies drawn up in line of 
 battle, hears the roar of musketry and cannon, sees the armies sway- 
 m<y to and fro, hears the groans and shrieks of the wounded and the 
 dving, sees the sun darkened by the smoke of battle — the Val- 
 ley of Death, covered so closely with the dead and wounded that 
 one can walk its entire length on the bodies which strew the 
 ground — till one grows faint and sick at heart. But w^ho can 
 realize what the struggle was during the three days battle of July 
 1st, 2d, and 3d of 1863 — or w^hat the cost — or how terrible the scenes 
 of suffering were, save those who had a share in it all, and risked 
 their lives as a willing sacrifice to the cause of Eight ! We look, we 
 listen, we ponder, until we find ourselves breathing the prayer 
 that no such bloody days will ever come again to this beloved 
 land as those three days of battle at Gettysburg. Hither for 
 many years, aye for centuries, shall the feet of jiilgrims tend as 
 to a shrine to Liberty. 
 
 The grounds of the battlefield association are constantly be- 
 ing made easier of access by the opening of new avenues, and 
 beautified, and increased in interest by the erection of costly mon- 
 uments. 
 
 Tuesday morning the 125th regiment, N. Y. Y., from Troy, 
 N. Y., with some of its friends, amved on the grounds for the 
 purpose of dedicating a monument on the following day. 
 
 Tuesday evening the members of the 126th regiment held 
 their annual business meeting, at which the following officers 
 were elected for the ensuing year: 
 
 President — John F. Eandolph, Penn Yan. 
 
 Secretary and Treasurer— Henry P. Nichols, Penn Yan. 
 
Executive Committee. "Gilbert W. Peck, Allcu's'Hill, Ontario 
 County; George Doimellj, Waterloo, Seueca County; James Tay- 
 lor, Penu Yan, Yates County. 
 
 The next re-union will be held on the 22d day of August, 18813, 
 in Yates County, at such place as the officers will hereafter 
 designate. 
 
 Wednesday dawned clear and bright. The morning w^as spent 
 in w^alking over portions of the battlefield, in renewing old acquain- 
 tances and associations, in talking over incidents of 25 years ago, 
 still fresh in memory as if happening but yesterday, and in com- 
 pleting arrangements for the interesting exercises of the after- 
 noon — the dedication of the monument to the 126th regiment, 
 with the Sherrill memorial, and the monument to the 125th regi- 
 ment. The monuments for the two regiments stand but a short dis- 
 tance apart on Cemetery Ridge, the 126th, at Zeigler's Grove, and 
 the 125th at the left of the Bryan House. It was decided that the 
 two regiments should unite in the dedicatory services, holding 
 them at the same time at the pavilion erected for that purpose 
 near the 126th monument. A very warm feeling of friendship 
 exists between the two regiments, and as they went to the place 
 of their services the soldiers marched in twos, a man of the 
 125th by the side of a man of the 126th, and formed in a body 
 in front of the pavilion. 
 
 The 126th regiment was accompanied by Mrs. Ellen S. 
 Babcock,of East Orange, New Jersey, and Mrs. Mary S. Dicker- 
 son, of Kansas City, Mo., daughters of Col. Sherrill, and by Mrs. 
 Louisa B. Moore, a daughter of Mrs. Babcock, also of East 
 Orange. 
 
 The exercises were most impressive and appropriate. 
 
 Major Chas. A. Richardson, of Canaudaigua, N. Y., presided 
 
during that part of the exercises in behalf of the 126th regiment, 
 
 and Col. Levin Orandell, of the city of New York, during the 
 
 exercises in behalf of the 125th regiment. 
 
 The services began with music by the Gettysburg band, after 
 
 which Rev. J. R. Duukerly, pastor of the Methodist church of 
 Gettysburg, oflfered a brief, but very comprehensive, prayer. 
 This was followed by a statement of the movements of the 126th 
 regiment at the battle of Gettysburg and a summary of its 
 losses during the war, by C. A. Richardson, and the unveiling of 
 the monument by Mrs. Babcock. 
 
 After listening again to music by the band, Hon. John Raines 
 of Canandaigua, delivered a masterly and eloquent dedicatory 
 address, holding his hearers to the closest attention during the 
 
 delivery. 
 
 At the conclusion of the address, Col. Crandell was called 
 
 upon to preside during the remainder of the programme. 
 
 Hon. Martin I. Townsend, of Troy, was introduced and de- 
 livered an eloquent extemporaneous address. 
 
 Gen. Henry W. Slocum responded to a call and spoke 
 briefly as follows: 
 
 Comrades, Ladies, and Gentlemen: 
 
 I am glad of this opportunity to do justice to one of the gentlemen sitting be- 
 side me on this platform, and who knows something of this monument. 
 
 I happened on this field a few years ago- I found monuments to the States 
 
 of Massachutts, Pennyslvania, and Ohio, but none to our state — the great State of 
 
 New York. 
 
 Two or three days after I was at Canandaigua, I was at a soldiers' re-union 
 
 and mentioned the matter to Major Richardson. He took it up at once, and pre- 
 pared a bill and presented it to Raines, then of the Legislature, who introduced it 
 
 and it became a law. 
 
 It is due to these two men, Major Richardson and Senator Raines, that these 
 
 monuments are erected. 
 
 I knew about the 126th regiment, knew something of its history, but little 
 
 thought so many men had fallen in the battle of Gettysburg as I learn to-day. We 
 
9 
 
 need these monuments; let them stand. The history of our State is a grand one. 
 I wanted to improve the opportunity by speaking these few words, and I thank 
 you for your attention. 
 
 General Josepli B. Carr, who wa« seated on the phitform, 
 was also called for, and said: — 
 
 Comrades, Ladies- and Gentlemen: 
 
 I thank God I am spared to meet with you to-day I feel grateful to your 
 president to be invited here on this occasion. I have much too clever feeling 
 towards you to address you at any length. Vou have placed out here a beautiful 
 monument, to stand for all time. This monument will tell to pilgrims for hun- 
 dreds of years to come your line of position, where your line advanced, and where 
 your gallant Colonel fell. Eloquence is there, as your monument points to 
 heaven, where your brave comrades now are. Eloquenc.:;. as it stands to mark 
 the lines of the 125th and 126th regiments. Col. Crandell was my .\djutant in a 
 regiment before the war. He did good service before the war, and has since. 
 
 Again I thank you for the privilege of being here to-day, and hope as you 
 come here year after year you will find this monument v/ell cared for. 
 
 We hear a great deal of talk these days about the "surplus." I hope the 
 government will use part of its great surplus in e.xtending its work in erecting 
 monuments. This field should be owned by the Government. Make it the Mecca 
 of America. Put its military school here, and educate its young men in loyalty 
 and love of country. Make it the place for visitors- where all who come will be 
 strengthened in patriotism and devotion to our beloved country." 
 
 The benediction was pronounced by Rev. Mr. Dunkerley, 
 after which the band played as its closing selection, "God be 
 with you till we meet again." 
 
 A photograph of the monument, with the members of the 
 regiment and daughters and grand-daughter of Col. Sherrill 
 grouped about it, was taken, after which the monument of the 
 125th regiment was formally unveiled. 
 
 The monument of the 126th regiment is of granite, and 
 stands sixteen feet high, and is eight feet five inches by seven 
 feet five inches at the base. The sub-base and first base is of 
 
10 
 
 Gettysburg granite, the second base and all above is of Quincy 
 granite. It is surmounted by the badge of the Second Corps — 
 the well-known trefoil — ^cut in granite. On its face, or west side, 
 is a bronze medallion, bearing the Coat of Arms of the State of 
 New York. Below is the bas-relief portrait of Colonel Sherrill 
 in bronze, with an oak branch carved in granite above it. On a 
 large die below the portrait is the following inscription : 
 
 "126TH New York Infantry, 
 3D Brig., 30 Div., 2d Corps, 
 July 30, 1S63. 
 
 On the right, or north side, is a bronze tablet on which is the 
 following : 
 
 Colonel Eliakim Siierrill, 
 
 Born February i6th, 1S13. Died July 4TH, 1863. 
 Served as Member of Congress and State Senator. 
 Entered the U. S. Military Service as Colonel of the i26th 
 N. Y. Infantry in 1862. 
 Mortally Wounded July 3D, 1863, while in Command of His Brigade. 
 On the east, or rear side, is a bronze tablet, bearing the fol- 
 lowing inscription : 
 
 The regiment was in position two hundred yards at the left July 2d, until 7 p.m., 
 when the brigade was conducted thirteen-hundred yards further to the left, 
 and the regiment with the iiith N. Y , and 125th N. Y., charged the enemy 
 in the swale, near the source of Plum Run, driving them therefrom and ad- 
 vancing one hundred and seventy five yards beyond, towards the Emmittsburg 
 road, to a position indicated by a monument on Sickles Avenue- At dark the 
 regiment returned to near its former position. In the afternoon of July 3d 
 it took this position and assisted in repulsing the charge of the enemy, cap- 
 turing three stands of colors and many prisoners. 
 
 NO. engaged. killed. wounded. missing 
 
 Officers, --30-- 5''9-- 
 
 Enlisted men, - 425 - - 35 ■ ' 172 - - 10. 
 
 On the left, or .south side, is inscribed the principal battles in 
 which the regiment was engaged, as follows : 
 
11 
 
 The Regiment participated in the following engagements: 
 
 Harper's Ferry, Gettysburg, Auburn Ford, Bristoe Station, Mine Run. Mor- 
 ton's Ford, Wilderness, Po River, Spottsylvania, North Anna, Tolopotomy, 
 Cold Harbor, Petersburg, Deep Bottom. Strawberry Plains, Ream's Station, 
 Boydton Plank Road, Sutherland's Station, Farmville, Appomattox. 
 
 Tlie portrait of Col. Sherrill was modeled b}' C. Bnberle, 
 sculptor, of New York City, and cast in bronze by the Henry 
 I^onnard Bronze Company of the city of New York. The monu- 
 ments of both regiments were constructed by Messrs. Frederick 
 & Field, ot Quiucy, Mass. 
 
 THE CAN4P=F"IRE. 
 
 The interesting events of the two days found an appropri- 
 ate ending in the Camp-Fire held in the Court House, Wednesday 
 evening, in which the two regiments united. The large court- 
 room was filled with an expectant and attentive audience. 
 
 Major Charles A. Eichardson, of the 126th N. Y., in calling 
 the meeting to order, said : 
 
 This town seems like a western Mecca — a Mecca of Liberty to which pilgrims 
 come to get inspiration of patriotism. A little more than two years ago the sur- 
 vivors of the 126th and the iiith regiments of New York Volunteers belonging to 
 the same brigade came here on an excursion and in the evening of their depar- 
 ture held a camp-fire in this room. We have come again; this time the 126th 
 N v., with another regiment of the same brigade — the 125th N. Y. — we have 
 visited the battlefield, have dedicated the monuments to our regiments, and now 
 we come here to have a pleasant time together — to compare notes, and to speak of the 
 feelings which have stirred our hearts to-day, before leaving on our return home 
 
 1 now call upon Hon. John Raines to preside at this camp-fire. 
 
 Mr. Kaines presided in a very happy manner, and with 
 pleasing story and interesting incident, called one and another 
 from the audience until he had seated about him on and near 
 the platfarra. Dr. Chas. S.- Hoyt, of Canandaigua, surgeon of the 
 12Gth N. Y., Col. Levin Crandell, of the 125th N. Y., Calvin 
 
12 
 
 B. Hamilton, of the First PeuDa. Reserves, now a resident of 
 Gett3^sburg, Major C. A. Richardson, of Canandaigua, Captain 
 Joseph Egolf of the 125th of Troy, N. Y., John M. Krauth, Esq., 
 of Gettysburg, secretar}^ of the Battlefield Memorial Association, 
 Capt. W. D. Taylor, of the 125th N. Y., Dr. Henry L. Taylor, 
 principal of the Union School, Canandaigua, N. Y., Capt. J. F. 
 Randolph of the 126th N. Y"., and Col. John B. Bachelder, of 
 Boston, Mass., the Gettysburg Battlefield historian. 
 Mr. Raines then spoke as follows : 
 
 Gettysburg has had many camp-fires, they are no new thing with you here, 
 but the large crowd present speaks the interest which the citizens of this place 
 have in them. ' 
 
 I leave it to you, ladies and gentlemen; comrades to say if we haven't this en- 
 tertainment well organized. I am one who enjoys a meeting of soldiers. I judge 
 the ladies do too. They like the boys, and why shouldn't they like them. Ask 
 any soldier to give a reason whj^ they should not. Ask the soldiers if they endur- 
 ed more than the wives, the mothers, and the sisters who remained at home. I 
 believe the mothers, wives and sisters endured keener anguish and more greatly 
 suffered than the soldiers at the front. Their's was the waiting in suspense and 
 doubt, always so hard to bear. Here we have men from different parts of New 
 York and from Pennsylvania. Soldiers ftom Troy, from Canandaigua, and from 
 all parts of the States reach out their hands in fraternal greeting. 
 
 1 heard quoted in an address the other day, words put into the mouth of 
 Henry V., by Shakespeare, just before the battle of Agincourt which seems so 
 appropriate on an occcasion of this kind that I quote them here" 
 
 "If we are marked to die, we are anow 
 
 To do our country loss; and if to live. 
 
 The fewer men the greater share of honor. 
 
 God's will ! I pray thee, wish not one man more, 
 
 By Jove I am not covetous for gold ; 
 
 Nor care I who doth feed upon my cost ; 
 
 It yearns me not if men my garments wear ; 
 
 Such outward things dwell not in my desires: 
 
 But if it be a sin to covet honor, 
 
 I am the most offending soul alive. 
 
13 
 
 No, 'faith, my coz. wish not a man from England: 
 God's peace ! I wonld not lose so great an honor. 
 As one man more, methinks, would share for me, 
 For the best hope I have. O do not wish one more, 
 Rather proclaim it, Westmoreland, through my host, 
 That he, which hath no stomach to this fight. 
 Let him depart ; his passport shall be made. 
 And crowns for convoy put into his purse; 
 We would not die in that man's company. 
 That fears his fellowship to die with us. 
 
 This day is call'd — the feast of Crispian ; 
 
 He that outlives this day and comes safe home. 
 
 Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam'J 
 
 And rouse him at the name of Crispi.in; 
 
 He that outlives this day and sees old age. 
 
 Will yearly on the vigil feast his friends, 
 
 And say — To-morrow is Saint Crispian; 
 
 Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars. 
 
 And say, these wounds I had on Crispin'^ Day, 
 
 Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot. 
 
 But he'll remember with advantages 
 
 What feats he did that day. Then shall our names. 
 
 Familiar in their mouths as household words, — 
 
 Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter, 
 
 Warwick and Talbot. Salisbury and Gloster, — 
 
 Be in their flowing cups freshly remember'd. 
 
 This story shall the good man teach his son, 
 
 And Crispin, Crispian shall ne'er go by, 
 
 From this day to the ending of the world, 
 
 But we in it shall be lemembered; 
 
 We few, we happy few, we band of brothers: 
 
 For he, to-day that sheds his blood with me, 
 
 Shall be my brother: be he ne'er so vile. 
 
 This day shall gentle his condition; 
 
 And gentlemen in England, now abed, 
 
 Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here, 
 
 And hold their manhoods cheap, whiles any speaks 
 
 That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day." 
 
14 
 
 So he painted in that language the feeling of every boy in blue who shed his 
 blood for the old flag, and in '63 saved the whole north land from a rebel hand. 
 This the same feeling which brought these men together at this time and will 
 bring them together so long as any monuments remain to be dedicated, and to see 
 the spot on which they fought and where their comrades fell. 
 
 Dr. Chas. S. Hoyt, formerly surgeon of the 126tli regiment, 
 and now Secretary of the State Board of Charities of the State of 
 New York, was then introduced, and said : 
 
 I am very much embarassed to speak in this presence, and to follow one so 
 happy in his remarks as the presiding officer of this evening. I am often taken for 
 a serious fellow, and have been called chaplain since I have been here. I know 
 about this excursion. My friend Major Richardson is a near neighbor to me at my 
 home in Canandaigua- This excursion is his child, and the plans for it have been 
 laid before me. Another reason I feel embarrassed in speaking is, the danger that 
 I shall get off on questions of lunacy, pauperism and crime. 
 
 When our war broke out, we had only a small regular army, less than twenty 
 
 thousand men. 
 
 When we came to handle an army of one hundred thousand the medical men 
 
 found a great problem, how to manage their work. The efficiency of the medical 
 
 force was due largely to the experience of the medical men in the regular army. 
 
 The difficulties were met by men ignorant of such work, but who were advised by 
 
 men of experience, and the country doctors were the ones to bring about so much 
 
 that was excellent and valuable in the medical science. 
 
 I am proud that I belonged to the medical class. The causalties of the war 
 were large, but in a short time wounded men were made comfortable. The great 
 auxiliary was the home. The Christain and Sanitary Commissions received aid 
 from every village and from nearly every home. I bear my testimony to the value 
 and efficiency of this service and its help to the medical service. 
 
 I am gratified to be here. Have met old friends and the children of old com- 
 rades. I hope to have the privilege of meeting many times again with you all at 
 this spot. 
 
 Col. Levin Crandell of the 1^5th regiment was next intro- 
 duced, and spoke as follows : 
 
 Ladies and Gen/ L' in en. Comrades of the 121th and \ibth Regiments: — 
 
 The trouble is, tne 126th regiment covers all the giound and leaves notiiing 
 for anyone else to say. I am not a public speaker. I want only to say what you all 
 
15 
 
 know, that a great ileal of sympathy exists between the three regiments, the 126th, 
 ] 25111, and I nth, N. Y. They stood side by side in the great conflict, and when we 
 meet it is with a hearty fraternal feeling. There is no feeling of jealousy between 
 these le^iments, at least if there is I don't know it. It has been my fortune to meet 
 many soldiers, and no matter where, whether in New York. Ohio, Illinois, or 
 Michigan, anywhere, soldiers meet with a degree of friendship existing between 
 no other class of people. 
 
 I want to thank the members of the 126th regiment for their kind invitation 
 to meet with them and for the kind attention they have shown us while here. 
 
 Major Georoe W. Cooney, Secretary of the New York Com- 
 missioners for the Gettj'sburj^-, Mouuineuts was uext called upou 
 aud sang with considerable feeling and spirit the familiar war 
 song, "Tramp, Tramp, Tramp, the Boys are Marching" — the aud- 
 ience joining in the chorus. 
 
 Prof. Calvin Hamilton, of the 1st Pa. Reserves, was the 
 next speaker, and spoke as follows : 
 
 Mr, Chairman. Comrades of the \ltth and liyh—but especially the I2bfk: — 
 
 I esteem it a great privilege as well as a great pleasure to attend a camp-fire 
 of the 125th and 126th New York Volunteers. 
 
 Aside from the Division to which I belonged, which was together during its 
 entire term of service, no other command with which we were brought in contact 
 made so lasting impression on my mind as the i2Cth N. Y. 
 
 It seems hardly possible that it is more than a quarter of a century ago that 
 the 1st Regiment Pa. Reserves — like a disorderly mob — came to your camp at 
 Union Mills, Va.. and marched at the point of your bayonets to clean slaughter 
 houses and work on fortifications, and were the recipients of your hospitality 
 and kindness. It seems but yesterday so vivid is It in my memory. It gives me 
 great pleasure to welcome you to this field, consecrated as it by the blood of so 
 many of your comrades, and I know I express the sentiments of this entire com- 
 munity in extending to you a most cordial greeting. 
 
 Your command did valiant service on this field, losing more men than any 
 other brigade engaged, save two — the Iron brigade of the First corps and Har- 
 row's brigade of your own corps. I congratulate you on the completion of your 
 monuments; may they stand while civil liberty is prized among men and nations 
 exist, a memorial of your valor and devotion to your oountry and your country's 
 
16 
 
 flag. * » * * I close with the hope that you may live to make 
 
 many prilgrimages to this field rendered immortal by your valor and those who 
 fought with you to preserve our union and our liberties. 
 
 In introduciDg the next speaker, the chairman said : A large 
 number of regiments of other States had erected monuments be- 
 fore any were erected by the State of New York. Perhaps General 
 Slosnm did say it would be a disgrace if New York did not erect 
 monuments, but Major Richardson deserves much credit. He 
 got the laws from the different States in reference to the matter, 
 and he drew the bill which was passed, by which two hundred 
 thousand dollars was appropriated for that purpose. I take great 
 pleasure in introducing Major Charles A. Richardson, of Canan- 
 daigua. 
 
 Major Richardson spoke as follows : — 
 
 Air. Chairman: 
 
 It is proper to s ly in reference to the bill that has been referred to, that if it 
 were to become a law it wonld liave to be placed in the hands of the right man in 
 the legislature, and Senator Raines was the man. 
 
 He entered into the matter heartily, and presented the bill and it became a 
 law. And so with the subsequent bills prctaining to the same subject, they all 
 passed through his hands; he introducing them and looked after them and they be- 
 came laws. 
 
 He is to be a member of our next Congress. He will be the man to help us 
 out if we need any help from the general government. 
 
 I remember the facts and incidents given by Prof- Hamilton in his remarks. 
 I remember the condition of his regiment — the First Pennsylvania Reserves — 
 when it first went into camp at Union Mills near us. 
 
 I think he is inclined to speak of them too slightingly. We had heard of their 
 bravery and valor in battle, and their dusty clothes and worn appearance seemed 
 badges of honor rather than of disgrace. I was Officer of the fJay then, and said 
 to Col. Sherrill that they appeared like good soldiers, and I asked the privilege of 
 requesting the officers of the companies of our regiment to supply the correspond- 
 ing companies of that regiment with coffee and rations. Me approved and it was 
 done, and we supposed everything was all right until we received orders to 
 take away their arms. 
 
17 
 
 General Hays then placed the rey;iment under the orders of Col. Sherrill. 
 who, being satisfied of their good character as soldiers, ordered the men from 
 their work on fortihcations back to camp, and restored them their arms. A warm 
 friendship thereafter existed between the two regiments. 
 
 In iutroduciiig Capt. Joseph Egolf, of Troy, thechainaau re- 
 ferred to him as being a great favorite with the ladies, and creat- 
 ed a laugh at the Captain's expense. 
 
 Capt. Joseph Egolf si^oke as follows : 
 
 I.iidiis and Gentlemen, Comrades of the Jury: 
 
 At the opening of this Court I was asked to plead guilty; I would not plead 
 guilty to the gentlemen of the Court, but to these ladies I am willing to plead 
 guilty. 
 
 A few survivors of the 126th and 125th regiments meet here to-night to revive 
 the friendships that during the war had been created between these regiments. 
 Many of the men who meet to-day have never met before since the close of the war. 
 
 Twenty-five years and three months ago to-day was the last day of the fight 
 at Gettysburg. 
 
 Many have met to-day for the first time since they had the privilege of touching 
 shoulders in the bitter struggle for home and country and starry-flag. The bond 
 binding these two regiments together has been welded to-day stronger than ever 
 before . 
 
 We see on these grounds where we have been to-day the turning point of the 
 great struggle. We see the men who went forth to that struggle in the bloom of 
 youth and strength, now lame and halt and gray-headed. We come here to-day 
 to pay a tribute to those who sleep in yonder cemetery, and to mark the spot with 
 monuments. 
 
 The monuments that mark the spot will outlive you and me, and our children 
 and children's children, that they may know, after we have passed to the great roll- 
 call, the victories which were here achieved- 
 
 It ought to be the grandest thing that they can say, in pointing to this spot — 
 my father, or my brother, fell here fighting for his country. 
 
 To these parents let me say — train your children never to despise a soldier, 
 even though he may be a tramp. Don't call them that. We have them. Dissi- 
 pation has brought them there, but it may be that some hidden painful wound has 
 
18 
 
 induced it all. Never say tramp, but give him the best yuu can, say a kind word 
 to him; say you fought for my country, you saved the flag and made it possible for 
 my wife and mother to live in this land. 
 
 Mr. Krauth, of Gettysburg, was the uext speaker. 
 
 Air. President attJ Veterans of the l2Sth and I2bth Regiments: — 
 
 I listened to-day with great delight to the addresses at the dedication of your 
 monuments. The lofty patriotism of the addresses stirred my blood as in the 
 days of the war. I would be glad to be a listener to-night, and would remain so 
 but for my interest in Major Richardson- He has taken a great interest in the 
 battlefield Association and in the erection of monuments. I know the sentiment 
 of the people of Gettysburg, and feel that I speak in behalf of every man, woman, 
 and child when I say we welcome you to our midst. 
 
 ■ We welcome you as citizens of the great State of New York. We welcome 
 you as soldiers who saved this nation. We welcome you as members of the 
 brigade which fought so valiantly. 
 
 Your valor is told by the losses you sustained rather than by any mere words. 
 Your arms were covered with glory. Your glory shall never fade until the glory 
 of the flag shall fade. 
 
 As a member of the battlefield Memorial Association I welcome you. This 
 Association was organized a month after the battle for the purpose of preserving 
 the field, and has since been acquiring lands until it owns upwards of '(\\'<t hundred 
 acres, which include nearly all the principal points covered by the battle of Gettys- 
 burg. Some two hundred monuments have been erected, and probably one 
 hundred more will be erected next year. These shall stand to preserve the mem- 
 ory of the men who achieved so much glory on this field. 
 
 Captain W. D. Taylor, of the 125th regiment, spoke as 
 follows : 
 
 Your Chairman is not aware that I am no speaker. Last summer we decided 
 to dedicate our monument on this field this fall. We wished to be ready at the 
 same time as the 126th regiment. When it was found that we had chosen the 
 same day and I began to talk with our men about it I found they were as pleased 
 as was my little boy when I told him he could go to Gettysburg. 
 
 We are glad to be here to-day and meet you again and revive the pleasant 
 associations formed so many years ago. I thank you for the privilege of meeting 
 you here to-day, and of having this opportunity to publicly thank you. 
 
19 
 
 Dr. H. L. Ta3'lor, of Canandiiigaa, was then iutroduced and 
 spoke as follows: 
 
 /)/;•. President, Ladies and Gentlemen, Comrades: — 
 
 May / call you comrades ? I who never carried a <run nor marched in ihe 
 ranks, but whose blood now tingles with the thoughts of what you have suffered 
 and seen on these historic heights. May I call yoit comrades of the 125th and 
 126th New York Volunteers? 
 
 It has been my privilege to stand on some of the historic battlefields of 
 America- I have stood on Cape Diamond and looked down from that giddy 
 height upon the v/aters where a man-of-war bearing six hundred soldiers ruid 
 marines looked like a toy ship I have passed the massive gates of Quebec and 
 stood upon the Plains of Abraham. In imagination I see the dying Wolfe and 
 hear the cry. " they run, they run ! " " Who run ? " "The enemy, sir ! " " Then, 
 praise God, I die in peace." And well he might, for then and there was solved the 
 vexed question what people shall settle America. Follow the course of that people 
 through the eighteen years that elapse, and again you tind them face to face with 
 a great issue : " what form of government shall this people have." 
 
 It has been my privilege to visit the plains of Saratoga, to ride through the 
 streets of Stillwater, and to stand on Hemis Heights. From the summit of that 
 important field I see kiuf^craft in America receive its fatal blow, and the possibil- 
 ity of a "government by the people " established. And now it is my privilege to 
 stand on the historic heights of Gettysburg, where that people have settled for the 
 present, and probably for all time, the question, that " a government of the people, 
 by the people, and for the people " shall not perish from the earth. 
 
 This day is the proudest of my life. More honors have been crowded into it 
 than into any day I have ever known before. I have had the honor of meeting Gen- 
 eral Slocum, of asking questions of a corps commander on awful Gettysburg, the 
 honor of walking and talking with survivors of this bloody field, men who stood 
 shoukler to shoulder with comrades who now lie on the green slopes of Cemetery 
 llilf, with officers and men as they traced the route of Willard's charge, and marked 
 the spot where Willard fell; the honor of walking among the dead of yon green 
 slopes. 
 
 "And have they not high honors 
 The hillside for their pall. 
 To lie in state while angels wait, 
 With stars for tapers tall ? "' 
 
20 
 
 The honor of witnessing the dedication of your monument to your heroic 
 dead, when the unbidden tears started at sight of the daughter's grief in presence 
 of the father's features cast in enduring bronze . 
 
 Historic Gettysburg ! Little do we realize the height of thy greatness, or the 
 depth of thy sorrows ! 
 
 How little can we grasp the conception of the mighty hosts that five-and- 
 twenty years ago met in mortal combat on these fateful heights ! But now a vivid 
 picture comes to me that may perchance deepen the impression of its magnitude. 
 Listen to the tramp, tramp, tramp of the ranks, four deep, fifty a minute, as they 
 pass down yonder street. How long? Seventeen hours are they in passing the 
 door of this court house, and oh, the startling thought that for four long hours 
 they march in rank and file only to lay down their lives and soon to be covered 
 by the sod on Pennsylvania hills. 
 
 This morning while wandering on Gulp's hill we were startled by the report 
 of J single gun; then who can describe the sublimity and terror of that third day's 
 famous artillery duel. And yet some hearers of mine heard that awful cannonade 
 and saw these moving columns, or nursed the wounded, soothed the dying, and 
 buried the dead. 
 
 Height of absurdity! that my feeble thoughts could interest or instruct citizens 
 of this immortal village, participants of its strife and sorrow ! that a lad playing at 
 war with twigs and apples when these men were offering life and limb in their 
 country's defense should expect to interest these soldiers by tales at their camp- 
 tire ; to interest this people in whose presence " honest old Abe" let fall words of 
 wisdom, linked chains of light, in whose presence have rung the silvery tones of 
 America's greatest orators — -an Everett or a Curtis. 
 
 How I have wished that I might have seen those charging hosts, and heard 
 those shouts of victory. 
 
 Tears will fall on those unknown graves when our graves are unknown. 
 
 Last night I stood in the cupola of the seminarv and ooked upon the same 
 fiekls that greeted exulting Lee ; this morning I entereil the humble room that 
 sheltered anxious Meade, and I thought those look-outs typical of the men that 
 used them. The former, rejoicing in past victories confidently looked down upon 
 his opponent and eagerly awaited the morrow ; the latter bowed down by a load 
 but three days borne, with scatteretl forces and an unknown field, bravely, patient- 
 ly, and humbly awaited the. day and prepared for the worst. 
 
 The sun was setting in all his brightness. Rolling up from the west were dark 
 banks of storm clouds, while ridge and valley, field and farm house, stood out clear 
 and bold in the waning lieht. 
 
21 
 
 Below me on the rolling slopes to the west were the McPherson woods and 
 farm buildings in sight, the spot where Reynolds fell, while the words of General 
 Hunt's quotation of Ridge's eulogy ran through my mind: " No man died on that 
 field with more glory than he, yet many died, and there was much glory." All 
 honor to Reynolds ! 
 
 To the North the afternoon of the first day's fight was waning; the eleventh 
 corps retreats in disorder through the streets of the nestling village, the gallant 
 first corps withdraws to rally around Steinwehr's division on Cemetery Hill, while 
 stragglers come in, and darkness puts an end to strife and hurries preparation. 
 South-eastward Gulps Mill looms up, and thoughts of the second day's fight crowd 
 in. Longstreet advances, the surging tide of battle sweeps upon the left of our 
 line; the Peach Orchard, Devil's Den, Round Tops, and Valley of Death rise through 
 the twilight of the second day's fight into historic places, while a Willard, and a 
 Cross, a Vincent, Weed, and Hazlitt seal their loyalty with their lives. The com- 
 bat rages on our right, and Early's famous charge is made. How vivid the advance, 
 the climax and the retreat ! while farther to the right and rear Johnson lies within 
 our entrenchments and waits for light. The third day comes, and with it the contest 
 that lasts from dawn until eleven o'clock. Now the hurried and continuous prep- 
 aration for the grand and final charge. The two hours cannonade, the forming 
 ranks, the swift advance, the repulse of Pickett and Pettigrew, antl the field of 
 Gettysburg is won ! 
 
 The sun has settled behind the storm cloud never to rise again. 
 
 As I look forth from the cupola of the seminary and catch the gleams of sun- 
 shine reflected from the numerous monuments that stud this famous field, I fain 
 would build a monument. Upon the slopes of yon quiet cemetery gather the many 
 monuments already reared and the countless yet to rise- With these for material 
 build a pyramid, symbol of eternity. I^et the cap stone bear a massive cross in 
 honor of the Son of Man. Now search through histoiy for a name to carve ujion 
 the cross. Neither Moses for the Jews, nor Phocian for the Greeks, nor C:vsar for 
 the Romans, nor Chatham for the English, but the name <3f a slatesiuan, American 
 by birth, who towers above them all. A soldier as well, he stands in recent history 
 the peer of a McClellan or a Grant. In politics wise, sagacious, and without an 
 equ.-il in the past or present. 
 
 I would carve upon the cap stone of yVmerica's grandest monument the name 
 of her greatest statesman, soldier, and philosopher, the wise and courageous, the 
 patient and sad, .Vbraham Lincoln. 
 
22 
 
 Lieutenant J. F. Randolph, of the 126th regiment, was the 
 next speaker, and said : 
 
 Ladies, afid Gentlemen, Comrades of the I2btk and \i<^th: — 
 
 Some twenty-five years ago we paid an unexpected visit as tramps to tlie 
 village of Gettysburg. We were given a warm reception, and a grand display of 
 fireworks was gotten up for our benefit. 
 
 We come again to the same village and are again given a warm reception, but 
 this time without the fireworks. The pleasures of this occasion have not been 
 without deep feelings of sadness. 
 
 We think to-night of Sherrill, of Shinier, of Herendeen, of Wheeler, and of 
 Holmes and others who on this bloody field gave the full measure of their devotion 
 to the country they loved. They did not leave home merely to brave a foe, not to 
 win a name on the roll of fame. They were actuated by deeper, stronger, purer 
 motives — the love of country and of right. 
 
 I attended, but a short time ago, the twenty-second National Encampment of 
 the Grand Army of the Republic at Columbus, Ohio, at which twenty-five thousand 
 survivors of the late war gathered. Here was given the largest and finest parade 
 since the grand review in Washington at the close of the war, in which seventy-five 
 thousand men marched. lUit it would have been grand if but few were there, for 
 these were of the men who helped to save and preserve this nation and make it as 
 it is — the land of the free. 
 
 Col. Bachelder, of Boston, Mass., Government historian of 
 the battle of . Gettysburg, was next introduced and spoke as 
 follows : 
 
 Air. Chairman, Veterans of the 125//? and\2.b^h J\egi?/!ents. Ladies and Gentlemen: — 
 As has already been said the hour is late, and our time limited, and the 
 subject is so extensive that one hardly knows where to begin. 
 
 I am reminded of my last visit to this hall. I was invited by General Slocum 
 to make some remarks in behalf of one of the finest regiments of the army of the 
 Potomac, and in that invitation the audience was reminded that I was the historian 
 of the battle, by which it was implied that whatever I might say would be histor- 
 ically correct, and so thinking it my duty I tried to tell the truth in regard to the 
 regiment. I did so, saying that it did its duty and did it well. But judge of my 
 surprise when on my way home a wet blanket was thrown over me. A man came 
 and said : " What have you against our regiment ? It seems to me you said only 
 disparaging things of us, and that we always came into the fight just too late." 
 
23 
 
 The truth was the men had talked so mueh about the enijjagement of their regi- 
 ment that they had come to think that it did all the lighting that was done in their 
 vicinity, when in fact it only lost one man in the battle of Gettysburg. But when 
 I come before this audience and speak of the 125th N. Y. Vols., which lost 131J 
 men, and the 126th which lost 231 men, I can make no mistake when I speak of 
 these regiments in the highest terms of praise — when I tell the story of their acts 
 truthfully. 
 
 I was invited this morning to address you to-night, but I have tramped all day 
 over these fields with no opportunity of preparing a speech for this occasion. 
 
 When Major Richardson spoke to me about speaking at this camp-fire, I was 
 standing in the presence of that grand soldier, General -Slocum, who is pleasant 
 under all circumstances, and who was always calm in tiie midst of danger; and 
 General Carr was there, whom the people of Massachesetts loved so well, for he 
 had three of her favorite regiments in his command, and another General — 
 Graham — is in town, whose health will not permit his presence here to-night- And 
 there was still another officer upon whom 1 looked whose face seemed familiar, but 
 whom I could not for the moment recognize. It was Col. Crandell. I had not seen 
 him since 1S64, when I visited the army of the Potomac for the purpose of gather- 
 ing information concerning the battle of Gettysburg. 
 
 When Major Richardson invited me I thought, — "here are these distinguished 
 men in our midst, Slocum, Carr antl Graham, and I wonder whether the people of 
 Gettysburg know how closely the commands of these three men were associated in the 
 battle of Gettysburg and how intimately they are indentified with the history of 
 this place. 
 
 The facts were these: 
 
 On the second day of the battle of Gettysburg (iraham's brigade, which was 
 posted at the angle of the Peach orchard, received the shock of P)arksdale's attack. 
 At the right of Graham was Carr's brigade supported by Brewster's brigade. When 
 Graham's troo]:)s fell back from the Peach orchard Carr received the shock of Barks- 
 dale's attack on his left. Then came the order from General Humphreys, so diffi- 
 cult to execute in battle, to "change front to rear," the better to meet Barksdale; 
 and most grandly did Carr's command execute that difficult evolution. 
 
 Then the most startling events occurred. General Carr was woundetl. Gener- 
 al Humphrey's horse was killed under him, and the whole division was pressed back 
 by the victorious foe. 
 
 Then your brigade was ordered to the left to help General Humphreys' hard 
 pressed troops. While moving to the left the order came to move by the right 
 
24 
 
 flank, in line of battle; and the iiith, 125th and 126 regiments charged the 
 enemy. 
 
 As soon as you entered the bushes yoii found Barksdale's command, and in 
 the fierce struggle which followed he went down in death; but Willard's brigatle 
 went on nearly up to the guns of Alexander, artillery battalion, and when it was 
 known that the brigade was not sui)ported, the order came to fall back; and then 
 it was that the gallant Willard fell and your brave and gallant Colonel Sherrill as- 
 sumed command. 
 
 When that grand assault of Longstreet was made and repulsed, and when it 
 receded, every regiment of your brigade performed well its part. The 125th rush- 
 ed down to the stone wall, and opened fire, the 126th moved to the right, and 
 eventually crossed the wall, and attacked the enemy; all did their duty well. A large 
 number of colors were captured by the 126 regiment, but your loss was heavy, includ- 
 ing the death of the gallant Sherrill, who fell at the moment of victory. 
 
 One word only as I close — my comrades correct me if I err in any of my state- 
 ments — it is the truth — only the truth — that I wish to tell. 
 
 At the conclusion of the address by Col. Bachelder a vote of 
 thiinks was tendered the citizens of Gettysburg for their cordial 
 reception and generous hospitality, and on motion the camp-fire 
 was adjourned. 
 
 After hearty hand-shakings and warm g(3od-byes, the com- 
 pany found its way to the train which was waiting for them, and 
 thus another enjoyable excursion of the 126tli regiment was end- 
 ed. 
 
 Perhaps no other re-uuion of the 126th regiment has left so 
 many pleasant memories as this one. And yet as the faicAvells 
 were spoken there was a feeling of sadness in realizing that so few 
 of the survivors were left, and that with each passing year the 
 number is lessened, and the question, " Who will live to meet at 
 the next re-union," intrudes itself, to which comes the unspoken 
 response, " God be with you till we meet again." 
 
25 
 
 The followiug arc the names 
 of the 126th New York auJ their 
 at Gettysburg : 
 
 Allen, Ellery G., Farmington, N. Y. 
 Beary, ^Villiam, Waterloo, N.Y. 
 
 Bullock, Reuben, Barrin<jton, N. Y. 
 Carey, U., Auburn, N. Y. 
 
 Cooper, O. C, Ovid, N. Y. 
 
 Dixon, J R., Naples, N. Y. 
 
 Donnally, George, Waterloo, N.Y. 
 
 Edwards, E., Waterloo, N. Y. 
 
 Field, Henry M., Canandaigua, N. Y 
 Harris, John, Italy Hill, N. Y. 
 
 Harris, Mrs. John, do 
 
 Haskell, Gilbert, Cheshire, N. Y. 
 
 Haskell, Mrs. Gilbert, do 
 
 Hendricks, Benj., Waterloo, N. Y. 
 Lapham, O. C, Macedon, N. Y. 
 
 Lightfoote, Wm. G., Canandaigua, N. Y. 
 Nichols. Andrew F., Milo Center, NA^. 
 Peck, Gilbert W., Allen's Hill, N. Y. 
 Peck, George W., do 
 
 Raines, John, Canandaigua, N. Y. 
 
 Randolph, John F., Penn Yan, N. Y. 
 Ransom W. J., Canandaigua, N. Y. 
 Sands, Jacob, Waterloo, N.Y. 
 
 Seymour, James, Lima, N. Y. 
 
 Shay, Daniel C, Cheshire, N.Y. 
 
 Shay, Mrs. Daniel C, do 
 
 Taylor, C. E., Miller's Corners, N. Y. 
 Taylor, Mrs. C. E., do 
 
 Taylor, Dr. H L., Canandaigua, N. Y. 
 Wilson, Abram, Ovid, N. Y. 
 
 Yeckley, J. A-, Gorham, N. Y. 
 
 and residences of the members 
 friends who were in attendance 
 
 Burton, A. P., Erie I'a. 
 
 Burton, Mrs- A. P., do 
 
 Crane, Oscar N., Canandaigua, N. Y. 
 Crane, Mrs. Oscar N., do 
 Durfee, Allen, Grand Rapids, Mich. 
 Durfee, Mrs. Allen, do 
 
 Ebert, Fred., Rushville, N. Y. 
 
 Fowler, O. A., Odessa, N. Y. 
 
 Hemiup, Chas. L., Geneva, N. Y. 
 Hoyt, Dr. Chas. S., Canandaigua, N. Y. 
 Hulburt, J. H., Naples, N.Y. 
 
 Hyatt, Charles M., Albany. N. Y. 
 
 Lockhart, Richard C, Odessa, N. Y. 
 
 Nichols, Henry P., Penn Yan, N. Y. 
 Proudfit, Chas. H., Stanley, N. Y. 
 
 Proudiit, Mrs. Chas. H., do 
 
 Rappleye, P. W., Farmer Village, N. Y. 
 Richardson, C. A., Canandaigua, N. Y 
 
 Sheffer, Allen R., Rochester, N. Y. 
 Sheffer, C. H., Shortsville, N. Y. 
 
 Snook, Jordan, Port Gibson, N. Y. 
 Stevenson, John, Canandaigua, N. Y. 
 Taylor, Mrs.H. L., Canandaigua, N. Y. 
 Taylor, Anna Mabel, do 
 
 Taylor, James, Penn Yan, N.Y. 
 
 Yeckley, Mrs. J. A,, Gorham, N.Y. 
 
I>EUVEaXI> AT THE I>EI*I<:aTKW of the J*09ft"X£3fT. 
 
 It is not sar pnrpc<se to redtie the record of tiie I2f.<tb regimeni. Its deeds of 
 henMC raior ane a part of tae Mstor)- of oar cor^trr. Throag'a di^sters and 
 str;. ie 
 
 aoc • - ■ _ . - -ts 
 
 ranks. 
 
 From Harper's Ferr)- to AppooiartOL oa saare taaa tareaty batx^ Seuds. its 
 dead are buiiesL Durins- f»reatT-5re rears tike sgiaiig; -wiiids isaxe suag aoaie too 
 sad a re - 'e rest the remains of tfaose wiw feill on tics 
 
 fieid of Si - 
 
 It w35 fifty rears befoire tbe battle of Geitrsbtug tisl E^ii3i SbenilL the 
 Coiond of our regimeat. -sras bora_ 
 
 Like Grast. he -sras the son of a {armer at^d taimer. Those ■who knew him 
 best in cJTij ;ife ea- -■::. NMiea but 34 rears -^za 
 
 called to represent - . ^^ .—5. aad seren rears later ■ -. .; a 
 
 seat ia tbe Seoate of tbe EaqHre State. \^"ben ia 1B60 be reaaoved to Geaerau "we 
 ki>eir we had reoesTed a raluable adi:tio3 to the number of oar pubBc-^rited 
 citizens. 
 
 I am proad to sar he was mj personal friend, and I we" re— ember when in 
 I :i6i, a rear before tbe I3^>th regiment was organised, and im^neciateh- after the dis- 
 aster at Boll R.Qa. I vent with iiK approval to .%.'QbarQ, i »n t jc tbe 75tli was being or- 
 ganised, to ascerta!' T be made br which he could 
 
 aid i^ T*"3~i';v? so- utr in that regiment whose 
 
 for. 
 
28 
 
 Had that project been accomplished, the name and fame of Sherrill would not 
 to-day be the pride and glory of the 136th reg^iraent and of the old 26th Senatorial 
 district. 
 
 But the organization of the 75th had been perfected, and so it came to pass 
 that when the 126th was formed, it had the benefit of his digaifietl and courteous 
 intercourse, his moral example, and was inspired by his lofty cx>urage, until on this 
 fateful field, at the moment of triumph, when the rising tide of rebellion broke against 
 the solid rock of the 3rd Brigade of the 3rd Division of the 2d Corps, and their 
 comrades on either flank, and while in command of the Brigade, the fatal bullet 
 found its mark, and Sherrill died ; and there fell with him on this field 40 killed 
 and iSi wounded of the sons of Yates, Seneca, and Ontario, who had followed the 
 colors of the 126th regiment where Sherrill led. 
 
 To-day we have come from our distant homes, with hearts imbued with 
 mingled feelings of gratitude for what was done here, and regret for the precious 
 blood shed here, to pay a tribute of respect and loving remembrance to those who 
 were near and dear to us — our heroic dead. 
 
 In commemoration of their worth, of their valor, and of their gallant eleeds, 
 the State of New York and the citizens of Seneca, Yates, and Ontario have erected 
 to their memory this monument, which shall stand through long years, to call 
 afresh to the minds of the generations of our sons and daughters who shall come 
 after us. thoughts of the heroic sacrifices and unconquerable valor of the men who 
 in the perilous days of '61 and '65, when for a space it seemed as though the foun- 
 dation of our Government would be destroyed, laid anew the comer stone.^^ement- 
 ed with it their blood, and by their courage and dev^otion secured to us an heritage 
 of freedom, of equal laws, and just government. 
 
 As the years follow each other, the sun in his course shall shine upon it, 
 and the sentinel stars keep their silent watch above it, yet far more enduring 
 than the shaft we have erected, shall be that grandest of all monuments to their 
 valor and patriotism — the land they and their comrades saved, the nation they re- 
 deemed. 
 
 What hand shall paint, what mind shall conceive or what tongue tell, the mag- 
 nificent splendors of that creation, of that monument, whose base covers from 
 ocean to ocean, from the lakes to the gulf, resting alike on East and West, and on 
 North and South, that monument, which shall stand "Amid the solititude of time, 
 beneath whose shade worlds may moulder, and about whose summit eternity must 
 play." As the years recede and the events of the past become a faint recollec- 
 
29 
 
 tion, the curtain of forgetfulness is drawn doner and closer about tbe deeds, 
 which as they transpired filled the whole world with awe- 
 
 The achievements of great lea;ders may indeed be indelibly impressed upon the 
 pages of the Nation's annals, and the names of Washington, Lincoln, and Cirant be 
 as household words through all time, Men will not perhaps forget that \'icksburg. 
 Winchester, Gettysburg , and an hundred other glorious (ields were fought and won, 
 but who shall tell of the bravery, of the gallant deeds of individual daring, done by the 
 vast host of those who served as faithfully as If ancock or Aleade, as Hooker or 
 Thomas, and fell with a consciousness of duty as well performed? Ave. who of 
 you to-day can tell me the names of one-tenth of the battles of the war, or make a 
 correct roster of the officers of the regiment in which you served? To-day 145,000 
 of our dead, of the men who stood shoulder to shoulder as a bulwark between the 
 North and the hosts of rebellion, rest in our National cemeteries, in graves at 
 the head of which is inscribed the sad word ''unknown." Ves, of the three hundreci 
 thousand of our Fathers, Brothers, Husbands, and Sons, who marched from our 
 presence in the full flush of lusty manhood — "bearing in strong right hands the 
 safety of the land, the pride and glory of the North, " but alas who never came 
 back to the embrace of loved ones who waited for their coming — 145,000 sleep in 
 graves, upon whose grassy mound, not eye of mother, wife, oi sister shall drop the 
 tear of sorrow, nor hand of comrade strew the flowers of springtime, in patriotic 
 remembrance, save as arf offering to the "unknown dead." 
 
 "He was by my side as we marched at double quick to the sound of the ene- 
 my's guns." "He was in front of me in line of battle as we made the fearful charge." 
 '.'As the line was driven back I saw him fall." "He may have been killed, or 
 if wounded is captured, but he never came back." Such is the brief record, such 
 the message which perchance sent by faithful comrade reaches the eye and pierces 
 tli'r hf-:irt of wife or mother as she 
 
 "Stretches despairing hands. 
 
 Out to the blood-red battle fields. 
 Which crimson the Southern sands. 
 
 As she waiteth and watcheth for one 
 
 Who has never come back from that .So -^ ..... .... J 
 
 Though the terrible war is done," 
 io Know fj;s fate would be a relief; to know him dead by the sudden rifle 
 shot, were not so terrible; but oh! to think him a prisoner, brings to the mind the 
 awful thought of Andersonville and Salisbury, with their accumulation of horrors, 
 
30 
 
 which can hardly be imagined, and have never been told — of Andersonville v/ith 
 13,714 graves, of Salisbury with 12,126 graves, the occupants of 12,032 of which 
 are the "unknown dead" — 25, 840 men to whom grim death even was welcome as 
 a relief from torture. Some of your sons sleep there, some of the men from Yates, 
 Seneca, and Ontario, who served with you, are at rest there. 
 
 There they await the reveille which shall be sounded at the order of the "Great 
 Commander,"' when shall be gathered the dust of all who sleep, and the vast army 
 of the buried, no longer '' unknown, " shall pass in review before the " God of 
 battles." 
 
 Until that day shall come, let all the generations of men watch and pray that 
 over them shall float no rebel flag. 
 
 As memory flies back; let me draw for you a picture on the canvas of the past. 
 It is a lovely day in June. The blue skys srjiiles above forests clad in the green ves- 
 ture of summer; the fields, rich with the promise of an abundant harvest, gladden the 
 eyes of the patient toilers, and from grassy meadow to tree-clad mountain top we 
 seem to hear, as now, the echo of " that voice " proclaiming " peace on earth, good 
 will to men." In the midst of this restful scene nestles a pleasant village. The mer- 
 chant is busy at his desk, the student at his task, the laborer at his toil, the good 
 housewife at her work, while the merry laughter of children at their play falls upon 
 the ear. But in a few hours all this is changed. The merchant with startled look 
 and forboding heart abandons his counting house, the student hastens from his 
 his task, the laborer ceases from his toil, the matron looks from the window with 
 an.xious gaze, the laughter of the children is hushed, as they gather with blanched 
 faces within the shelter of the homes of Gettysburg. 
 
 Out upon the highway leading down to this old town, the rising columns of 
 dust indicate that others than the solitary traveler are approaching, and soon the 
 sound of rapidly beating hoofs, and the rattle of sabres is heard, and in a moment 
 there bursts upon the bewildered gaze the advance guard of the " Army of the 
 Potomac-" On through the dusty streets they pass, and now the columns of blue 
 under the starry flag of the Union follow with hurrying feet, out to the fruitful 
 fields beyond, tramping to the earth the waving grain, and rapidly forming in 
 battle array seeking the foe. Lee, with an audacity born of over confidence and 
 some successes, has abandoned his line of the Rappahannock, swept northward 
 through the valley, across the Potomac, over the mountains, and has penetrated to 
 the very banks of the Alleghany. It seems for a brief space as if no power could 
 stay the onward march of his columns. But at last he turns, and hoping with one 
 
31 
 
 grand effort to crush his ancient foe, the Army of the Potomac, and established 
 his Confederacy upon the wreck of the Union, he liazards all, and directs the march 
 of his scattered divisions upon the Village of Gettysburg. And now the storm of 
 battle rages in all its fury. 
 
 " It is a glorious sight for one 
 
 Who has no son or brother there." 
 It is indeed a struggle of giants, and day after day with changing fortunes is 
 it continued, until at last amid the roar of 300 cannons charged for slaughter, and 
 with the furious onset of iS.ooo men. the storm is over, and from this very spot 
 hurled back, the beaten foe with what haste he may, betakes himself to the fast- 
 nesses of the Wilderness, there to await the fate which culminates at .\ppomatto.\. 
 
 A few brief months have passed away and here, upon "Cemetery Ridge," 
 which in those July days had been so thickly sown with cannon and rifle balls, has 
 been prepared with loving care, the last resting places of many wlio in 
 those three days of battle had lilled to the full the measure of the patriot soldier's 
 devotion to his country and her flag. 
 
 Here have been gathered from the Peach Orchard and the Wheat-held, from 
 Round Top, and the Devil's Den, from Cemetery Hill, and Culps Hill, from 
 Ziegler's Grove, the rail road cut, and from all this gory Held, the mangled bodies 
 of 3.555 Union dead. Here they are at rest ; above them floats the flag they and 
 their comrades carried to victory. Here within this "city of the dead'" are as- 
 sembled many of the great men of the nation. 
 
 Here is Lincoln, on whose rugged face seems to rest the shadow of a great 
 sorrow; and whose heart is lifted to God in the prayer "that the dead there 
 buried may not have died in vain." Can it be that as with far-off look he scans 
 the field where these men fought, he sees foreshadowed the fate that is before him, 
 or can feel upon his brow the pressure of his crown of martyrdom ? Here too are 
 the members of his Cabinet, his counsellors through all the weary years. Here 
 also the eloquent Everett, whose silver tongue is to tell of deeds of heroes them- 
 selves have made immortal. Here a vast concourse are met to re-dedicate this field of 
 death, so lately sulphurous with the smoke of blazing cannon, and sodden with the 
 blood of thousands, and so Lincoln speaks '■ 
 
 " Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth upon this con- 
 tinent a New Nation, conceived- in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all 
 men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether 
 that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. We 
 
32 
 
 are met on a great battlefield of that war. We are met to dedicate a portion 
 of it as a final resting place of those who here gave their lives that that Nation 
 might live- It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. 
 
 "But in a larger sense we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot 
 hallow this ground. The brave men living and dead who struggled here have 
 consecrated it far above our power to add or detract. The world will little note, 
 nor long remember what we say here ; but it can never forget what they did here. 
 It is for us the living rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work that 
 they have thus far so nobly carried on. It is rather for us to be here dedicated 
 to the great task remaining before us ; that from these honored dead we take 
 increased devotion to the cause for wliich they here gave the last full measure 
 of devotion ; that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in 
 vain, that the Nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom; and that the 
 Government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish 
 from the earth." 
 
 Thus with imposing array and in grand presence was dedicated the field of 
 Gettysburg. But the sentiment which moved the heart of Lincoln, which inspired 
 Everett, and found expression in the acclaim of the people gathered there, has sur- 
 vived the fleeting j'ears, and has prompted you to aid in erecting and dedicating 
 this monument to the' dead and living of the 126th. 
 
 It is the same sentiment which has inspired the people of our Empire State to 
 say that to every organization from our Stale which took part in this great battle, a 
 suitable monument shall be erected to commemorate the valor and sacrifices of her 
 sons, that all viewing this historic spot may know that here the men of New York 
 stood shoulder to shoulder with those of Massachusetts, of Ohio, and of all this North 
 land, in resisting to the death the desperate designs of a traitorous oligarchy. Who 
 were they to whom this day we ascribe all honor, to whom we dedicate this monu- 
 ment ? They were our kin, ''our boys," who when they went out from our firesides 
 were followed by our prayers, and whose deaths filled our homes with mourning. 
 Of such were the million who composed our armies. They who stood with Mc- 
 Clellan in the seven days, they who stormed Maryes Heights with Burnside, who 
 won Vicksburg, who hurled back the veterans of Lee on this bloody field, who 
 marched with Sherman from Atlanta to the sea, and with Grant from the 
 Wilderness to Appomattox, were not hired mercenaries who shed their blood for 
 a price, and whose trade was slaughter. They were men who thought as they 
 fought, men who knew the issue that depended on their valor. To them patriot- 
 
ism was not the last refuge of a scoundrel, or the tlajj of their country an unmean- 
 ing symbol. 
 
 They were face to face with the issue that for long years the wisest of the 
 Nation had sought to avert. Compromise after compromise had been submitted to, 
 in the vain hope that white-winged peace might continue here to abide. For nearly 
 a century the country had remained part slave and part free, and that this condition 
 could not longer endure seemed but an idle prophesy. I'- was difficult to realize 
 that God rules in the affairs of nations as of men; that for an act of injustice in- 
 flicted to-day, compensation must be made to-morrow. It might have been 
 remembered that as the groans and tears wrung from the Israelitish slaves by 
 Egyptian task-masters were by the fiat of the Almighty visited in judgment by all 
 the plagues which swarmed upon the people, and the rushing waters of the Red 
 Sea, so the accumulated wrongs of a century of oppression, piled upon the backs of 
 sable bondsmen and women, mighc, in the wisdom of the Omniscient demand as an 
 atonement the sacrifice of the first-born in all the homes of America, and so the 
 sins of the fathers were visited upon the children, and there fell upon our gener- 
 ation the awful infliction of judgment. .Surely the Angel of Death passed by but 
 few households, and in the Red Sea of battle was overwhelmed not only the op- 
 pressor, but they who had complicity in the wrong. 
 
 No army could have been raised to release the bondsmen from their chains. 
 Year after year the rivets were tightened; but when the bondsmen's masters reached 
 out to the Ark of the Covenant — the Constitution — to destroy it, raised their hands 
 against the Union and tore down the flag, there was heard, as it were, the sound of 
 many waters, ''We are coming, Father Abraham, three hundred-thousand more." 
 And amid the clash of sabres, the crash of musketry, the bursting of shells, and the 
 roar of cannon, was born the new and better Union. And now, from the battle- 
 ments of the skies, looking down on the piled shackles stricken from the limbs of 
 four million slaves, the souls of the martyred Lincoln and his brave boys in blue can 
 realize at last that "a Nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition 
 that all men are created equal, can endure," that "this generation will transmit to 
 its posterity unimpaired a Government of the people, by the people, and for the 
 people, while upon that flag. 
 
 Flag of our free hearts, hope, and home, 
 By Angel hands to valor given — 
 no stain of humiliation rests. 
 
 On every hand in public park and square, as well as in "God's Acre," and on this 
 battlefield, monuments and statues to the honored dead are multiplied. 
 
34 
 
 But now and again we hear the voice of some utilitarian, who sees no benefit 
 in anything in the heavens above, or in the earth beneath, which yields not cent 
 per cent on the investment, ask what is the use of this expenditure? what benefit 
 do w-e or the world derive from these piles of monumental marble or granite. Is not this 
 building of monuments a mere sentiment? True, my friend, this is only the expres- 
 sion of a sentiment, of an emotion of the soul of man. Do you not appreciate the 
 fact that sentiment rules the world? It is the power which prompts' to noble 
 actions and great deeds. Tell me the motive which prompted the sons of the thrifty 
 farmers of Yates, Seneca, and Ontario, heirs to your fruitful acres, the pride of 
 your homes, who were to be the staff and comfort of your old age — your sons, who 
 enjoyed all the advantages your means could command — to abandon all for 
 the privations of the camp, the hardships of the march, the terrors of the hospital; 
 to face the storm of battle and the horrors of the prison pen? It was nothing but 
 a sentiment — the sentiment of loyalty. Since the war, what binds together the 
 300,000 members of the Grand Army, and prompts them each year to contribute 
 of their meager substance thousands upon thousands of dollars to the relief of their 
 needy comrades? It is nothing but sentiment, the sentiment of fraternity and 
 
 charity. 
 
 Pray tell me what but a sentiment has for 20 years caused this great people 
 
 from East to West, in every city, village, and hamlet, so often as the 30th of May 
 
 recurs, to offer at the shrine of patriot graves the incense of grateful hearts? So the 
 
 monuments we raise to commemorate great events, to perpetuate the names and 
 
 deeds of heroes are tributes paid through sentiment. But they teach important 
 
 lessons. 
 
 In Trafalgar Square, in the City of London, stands a monument to En- 
 gland's great Admiral Nelson, and inscribed thereon are the words, "England 
 expects every man to do his duty." This monument, these words, can have but one 
 effect upon the generations. There, before the eyes of each Englishman, in more 
 impressive form than speech of orator or record of historian, is an object lesson 
 in patriotism. There he sees embodied the glory of grand achievements, of great 
 victories, and as he looks his heart swells with pride at the thought that he, too, is 
 an Englishman. 
 
 In the Capital City of this Nation there towers towards the heavens the grand 
 shaft which a grateful people have erected in honor of the first President of the 
 United States; and there it shall remain during the centuries to come, to speak to 
 the millions who shall succeed us of the wisdom, of the fortitude, the patriotism of 
 Washington. 
 
35 
 
 This monument which, as the result of the generosity of the State of New York 
 and of your efforts, we dedicate to-day, shall also teach the lesson of loyalty, of obed- 
 ience to law — of the dutv of sacrifice for country and the right. To those in whose 
 honor it has been erected, life was as sweet as it is to you, home and loved ones as 
 dear — yet for country they gave up all, they suffered not alone, and to-day this shaft 
 seems to me to commemorate also the bravery and the suffering of the mothers, 
 wives, and sisters of your hero dead. 
 
 To stand in the front rank of battle while the reaper Death claims his vic- 
 tims on either hand, to suffer on beds of pain in hospital, or to endure the tortures 
 of the prison pen was indeed most terrible; but to feel the agony which crushes 
 the heart of mother, wife, or sister, as month after month, year after year, she 
 waits and watches for one of whom no tidings ever come, is torture almost unbear- 
 able. When the final history of these days shall be written the saddest page therein 
 will he that which shall record her sufferings, blotted as it will be by the tears of 
 mourners who can never be comforted, each word a sob, each line the record of a 
 broken heart, while its brightest page will be tliat which shall be illumined by the 
 record of the heroic self-sacrifice which marked the loyal women of the North. 
 
 My friends, our pleasant duty is nearly completed. We have spoken of our 
 dead Could those heroes speak to us to-day, they would in words of no uncertain 
 sound remind us of our duty to the living. While we raise in their honor the en- 
 during monument, we should hear in that solemn presence a voice exhorting us to 
 renew our pledges to aid those whom they have left among us, a sacred charge 
 upon the Nation's gratitude, the soldier's and the sailor's widow and orphan. Were 
 they visible to mortal eve we should see them with unmoving finger point to the 
 alms houses of the land, from within whose dreary portals 12.000 veterans, forced by 
 cruel necessity to find shelter from the tempests of adversity which beat upon their 
 shattered forms and have wrecked their hopes, hold out beseeching hands, when, 
 with a voice that should reach even the ear of a dead conscience, they ask — is it 
 thus that a great nation redeems its pledges to the men whose valor opened the 
 Mississippi from Cairo to the gulf, who marched with Sherman from Atlanta to the 
 Sea, who rolled back the rising tide of rebellion from the heights of Gettysburg, and 
 won victory with (Jrant at Appomato.x ? 
 
 Let those who should heed the lesson. Let us all remember, 
 "Till memories fade, 
 Their loyalty the grand olil Union saves. 
 And o'er each sacred mound the old flag waves ; 
 Thank CJod, our dead, who sleep in Southern graves, 
 Rest 'neath its shade." 
 
OF THE HISTORY OF THE 12GtH NEW YORK INFANTRY, AND OF ITS 
 
 MOVEMENTS AT THE BATTLE OF GETTYS15URG, 
 
 BY C. A. RICHARDSON. 
 
 The One Hundred and Tweutj-Sixtli New York Infantry 
 was raised in 18G2, in the counties of Ontario, Seneca, and Yates, 
 under the call of the President, issued on the 1st day of July, 
 1862, for 300,000 men. 
 
 The regiment was mustered into the United States service at 
 Geneva, N. Y., on the 22d day of August, 18G2, with thirty-nine 
 officers and nine hundred and fifty-six enlisted men, and sent to Har- 
 per's Ferry, and there armed. On the 12tli of September, a portion 
 of the regiment was ordered to Maryland Heights, where on the 
 following day it was engaged with Kershaw's South Carolina 
 Brigade, supported by Barksdale's Mississipin Brigade of Mc- 
 Laws' Division, until ordered to retire. In this engagement it 
 inflicted a severe loss on the enemy, much greater than it suffer- 
 ed, notwithstanding which, it was basely slandered by cowardly 
 officers of other commands, who sought thereby to conceal their 
 own guilt. In this engagement Col. Sherrill, was severely 
 wounded. 
 
37 
 
 On the loth of September, 1862, the regiment was surren- 
 dered and paroled with the garrison at Harper's Ferry, in all a 
 force of 11,000 men, including the 39th, the llltli, and the 125tli 
 New York Infantry. 
 
 The regiment was sent to Chicago, and being soon exchang- 
 ed, was re-armed and went into camp and on duty at Union Mills, 
 and afterwards at Centerville, Va., the 39th, the 111th, the 
 125th, and the 126tli New York, constituting a brigade in (Jasey's 
 Division, afterwards the third brigade, commanded by Gen. 
 Alexander Hays, in Abercrombie's Division. 
 
 On the 25th of June, 18(33, the Brigade was assigned as the 
 third Brigade of the 3d Division of the Second Corps, General 
 Alexander Hays commanding the division, and Col. George 
 Lamb Willard, of the 125tli N. Y., commanding the Brigade. 
 
 The Brigade thereafter participated io all the l)attles in 
 which the Army of the Potomac was engaged until the close of 
 the war. 
 
 The Brigade reached Gettysburg at 8 o'clock a. m., July 2d, 
 1863, and was formed in line on the crest of the ridge south of 
 Ziegler's Grove, and the Bryan House. At 3 o'clock i', m., when 
 the enemy's artillery, south of the Seminary, opened on our line, 
 it was moved forward to tlie stone wall. 
 
 While here, companies B, H, and K charged on and cap- 
 tured the Bliss barn, with quite a number of prisoners. 
 
 At about seven o'clock in the afternoon. General Sickles 
 having been wounded, and General Hancock having been placed 
 in command of the third corps with his own, personally con- 
 ducted the Brigade uearl}^ a mile to the left, to the rear of a 
 bushy swale filled with boulders, near the source of Plum Run, 
 through which a portion of Biruey's Division of the Third corps 
 
38 
 
 bad just been driven. Here the 125th N. Y., on the left, the 
 12Cth N. Y., in the center, and the 111th N. Y., on the right, 
 charged into tlie thicket lield by the IStli, the 17th, and the 18th 
 Mississippi Regiments of Barksdale's Brigade — the 39th New 
 York having been faced to the left to prevent a flank and rear 
 attack on the other three New York Regiments. These three 
 New York Regiments, although receiving a deadly volley at less 
 than ten paces from the concealed enemy, charged and drove 
 them to the farther edge of the swale, almost at arm's length, 
 where large numbers of the enemy threw themselves down and 
 raised their hands in token of surrender, and the rest fled up 
 the hill pursued by our Brigade 175 yards, towards the Em- 
 mittsburg road, when the artillery fire from the front and the; 
 left became so hot that the Brigade fell back to the swale, taking 
 with them several pieces of artillery which had previously fallen 
 into the hands of the enemy. Here Col. Willard was instantly 
 killed, and the command devolved on Col. Sherrill of the 126tli 
 N. Y., and Lieut.-Col. Bull took command of the regiment. 
 
 In the meantime the 21st Miss, of Barksdale's Brigade had 
 swept down from the Peach Orchard, where they had wounded 
 and captured Gen. Graham (now the Engineer of our New York 
 Commissioners for Gettysburg Monuments), past Bigelow's Bat- 
 tery and across Plum Run and captured Watson Battery I, 5tli 
 United States Artillery, which was wholly unsupported, when 
 Lieut. Peeples of that Battery, seeing our 39th New York stand- 
 ing where it had been placed, ran over and induced it to attempt 
 to re-take his battery, and the 39th at once charged and drove 
 the enem\' from the guns and recaptured everj^thing which had 
 been lost, and convej^ed it safely to the rear. Thus while our 
 other three Regiments were driving Barhsdcdes other three 
 
39 
 
 Regiments back towards the Emuiittsburg road, our detached 
 89th drove back Barksdale's detached 21st, and recovered from 
 them Watson's Battery. 
 
 General Hancock, in his official report, says of Willard's 
 Brigade in this charge : " There were no other troo|)s on its 
 right or left and the brigade soon became engaged, losing its com- 
 mander, Col. Willard, and many officers and men. " 
 
 Further on he says : "General Barksdale of the rebel ser- 
 vice was left on the tield mortally wounded. 
 
 "The 3d Brigade of the 3d Division, commanded by Col 
 Sherrill after Colonel Willard's death, made a gallant advance on 
 the enemy's batteries to the right of the brick house, [Sherfy'sl 
 in which the lUth New York Volunteers, under Colonel Mac- 
 Dougall, bore a distinguished part. This Brigade lost nearly one- 
 half its numbers." 
 
 Gen. Hays in his official report says : " Colonel Willard, 
 125th New York Volunteers, commanding the 3d Brigade, was 
 late in the day withdrawn from the division by the Major-Gen- 
 eral commanding, [Gen. Hancock], and took a prominent part in 
 the engagement on our left. The history of this Brigade's oper- 
 ations is written in blood. Colonel Willard was killed, and the 
 next day after the Brigade had rejoined the Division his succes- 
 sor. Col. Eliakim Sherrill, 126th New York Volunteers, also fell.* 
 Colonel Dugald McDougall, Ulth New York Volunteers, and 
 Major Hugo Hildebrant, 39th New York Volunteers, were each 
 
 * Colonel Eliakim Sherrill of the i26lli New Vork. conimandine the Bri=-ade fell mortillv 
 re^r'Swr^lder'of'Vh","''''^^'^''?^^^- "^'^^^ '^-^^-^ the engagement, rnd" ':; b.rnrothl 
 the rluulse o the .^! , regu„e,u-his ovvn reg.ment not knowing that he wa. shot, until after 
 
 officer:'asst.;red"c:m:;"n^ of ^hTfiHga'de''"""' ^"" °' '^^ '^'"^ ^^'^"^ '''"''' '*''=" ^^'"^' ''^^ ^^'"^ 
 4th ^i86TlnH'hul''!f'^ "' 'he inh Corps Hospital at eight o'clock the following morntng-July 
 andsent^'^MslatehoJ'w-''''^" '°,vt^^"'"T by Surgeon Chas. S. Hoyt andlhere emhalmed 
 w^slu^d^edbXlly^'^rtL'rsrd^Ve:^ ''"^ '''""" ^"^' -'-^V honors. His funeral 
 
40 
 
 severely wounded, leaviug tlie Brigade in command of a Lieuten- 
 ant-Colonel. 
 
 " The loss of this Brigade amounts to one-half the casualties 
 in the Division. The acts of traitors at Harper's Ferry had not 
 stained their patriotism. " 
 
 At dusk the Brigade returned to a position nearly in tlic 
 rear of that occupied during the day, and there remained until 
 the afternoon of tlie 3d. After the sheUing had ceased on the 
 3d, and just before the charge of the enemy on the line of the 
 Second Corps, the Brigade, excepting the 126th N, Y., was moved 
 up to the line it occupied the preceding day, now occupied by 
 the 12th N. J., 1st. Del. and 11th Conn., of the 2nd Brigade, so 
 that the line was four ranks deei). The 126th N. Y. was moved 
 to the right of the l()8th N. Y., of the 2nd Brigade, and just in 
 front of the right of Woodruff's U. S. Battery, so that it was the 
 right regiment of the corps and just opposite the left of the enemy's 
 charging line. Brockenbrough's Brigade of Virginia Kegiments 
 and Davis's Brigade of throe Mississippi Regiments and the 55th 
 North Carolina Ilegiment, having broken, and Lane's Brigade of 
 N. C. Regiments, with the 33d N. C. on its left, advanced on the 
 extreme left of the charging hue. 
 
 The 126th N. Y. was b}- order advanced, and wheeling to the 
 left it opened an enfilading fire on the eneni}-, who soon broke 
 in confusion, when tlie 126th N. Y. charged on their Hank and cap- 
 tured many prisoners and several stands of colors, three of 
 which were duly turned over and the medals authorized by the act 
 of Congress for the capture of colors, were issued therefor to ]:iri- 
 vate Jerry Wall, company B., to private George H. Dore, com- 
 pany D., and to Capt. Morris Brown, Jr., of company A. The 
 colors captured by Capt. Brown had inscribed thereon twelve 
 battles, one of which was Harper's Ferry, 
 
41 
 
 Gen. Hays iu his otticial report sa)s: ''The division captur- 
 ed and turned into corps headquarters, fifteen battle-flags or 
 banners." Thus it appears that the l'26th captured and turned 
 over three of the tifteeu flags ca[)tured by the division of thirteen 
 regiments. 
 
 It is proper to add here, that when the left of the enemy's 
 line had reached the Emniittsburg road, Capt. Armstrong, of the 
 12oth N. Y., (no^v General Armstrong, of the Hampton School, 
 Va.,) in command of a detail (jf skirmishers from the brigade, 
 who had retired his command to the Emujittsburg road, outside 
 of the enemy's charging line, opened a sharp fire on the enemy's 
 flank, and aided in throwing their left into confusion. This flank 
 movement of the 12(jth N. Y., although not specially mentioned 
 in the official reports, is well remembered by the officers and men 
 of the regiment, and is fully established by the report of the 
 Confederate General Lane, and the statements' of the officers of 
 the 38d North Carolina, which was the left regiment of Lane's 
 brigade, and the left of the eneuiy's line at the last. 
 
 In reference to the attack of the eneni}- on the third day. 
 Gen. Hancock says: "In front of Hays' division it w^as not of 
 very long duration; mowed down by canister from Woodruff's, 
 battery and liy the fire from iiro re<jiineiil.s judiciously posted by 
 General Hays on his extreme front and right, and by the fire of 
 different lines in the rear, the enemy broke in great disorder,, 
 leaving fifteen colors and nearly two thousand prisoners in the 
 hands of this division. Those of the enemy's troops which did; 
 not fall into disorder in front of the third division were removed 
 to the right and reinforced the line attacking Gibbon's division." 
 
 By the oflicial reports, the 12()th N. Y. lost in killed, five 
 officers and thirty-five enlisted men, in wounded, 9 ofiicers and 
 
42 
 
 172 enlisted men, and as missing, 10 enlisted men. The missing, 
 in fact, were all killed or wounded. Total 231. 
 
 According to tin; official reports there were only four regi- 
 ments that lost in killed and wounded at Gettysburg more than 
 the 126th N. Y. The 21th Michigan,lst Corps, 1st Division, 1st Bri- 
 gade, lost 272; the 11 1th N. Y., 2d Corps, 3d Division, 3d Brigade, 
 lost 235; the 151st Pennsylvania, lstCorps,3d Division, 1st Brigade, 
 lost 233; the 1st Minnesota, 2d Corps, 2d Division,*lst Brigade, lost 
 223; the 126th N. Y., 2d Corps, 3d Division, 3d Brigade, lost 221. 
 
 It may be of interest to note briefly some other facts in the 
 history of the regiment. 
 
 At Harper's Ferry its losses in killed were one officer and 15 
 enlisted men; in wounded, 4 officers and 35 enlisted men. Total 
 61. It went into the battle of Gettysburg on the 2d of July 
 with 30 officers, and 425 enlisted men, bearing arms. Its 
 loss was 231, as before stated. 
 
 On the 14th of October, 18(53, when the battles of Auburn Ford 
 and Bristoe Station were fought, tliere were present two field of- 
 ficers, 11 line officers, and 242 enlisted men. 
 
 At Auburn Ford the regiment lost 5 enlisted men killed, 
 and 17 wounded, and on the same day at Bristoe Station it lost 
 6 killed and 13 wounded; total on that day, 41. At Bristoe Sta- 
 tion the brigade, with the aid of Arnold's Battery, nearly annihi- 
 lated Cooke's North Carolina Brigade of Hdl's Corps, and captur- 
 ed four guns of Mcintosh's ArtilleiT, each regiment drawing off' 
 one piece. 
 
 At Morton's Ford, February 6, 1864, 3 enlisted men were 
 killed and 19 wounded. April 4, 1864, two line officers and 100 
 enlisted men were detailed for duty at Corps Headquarters, 
 where they remained till the close of the war. 
 
40 
 O 
 
 On the C)tli of .)uue, 1864, Lieut. Col. Baird, coininaiiding the 
 regiment, reported to General Hancock concerning the losses 
 from the Wilderness to Co'd Harbor as follows: 
 
 "At the opening of the campaign from the Rapidan, the 
 strength of the regiment ])reseut and absent was twenty-six com- 
 missioned officers and four hundred and ninety-six enlisted men; 
 of whom eight officers were on detached service, two absent sick, 
 and one absent with leave, and one hundred and sixty-three en- 
 listed n)en on detached service, one hundred and eleven absent 
 sick (principally from wounds) three in arrest, making a total of 
 two hundred and seventy-seven al)seiit. The number for duty 
 was fifteen commissioned officers and one hundred and eighty- 
 eight enlisted men, mcluding twelve musicians. 
 
 "During the present campaign, of those present for duty, 
 there have been killed, wounded, or missing, eight commissioned 
 officers and one hundred and twenty-one enlisted men, but dur- 
 ing the camiiaign both officers and men have joined the regi- 
 ment, so that at the present time the number present for duty is 
 one Lieutenant-Colonel, one Adjutant, one Acting Quartermas- 
 ter, three Captains, three Lieutenants, and sixty-nine enlisted 
 men." 
 
 After this the regiment lost in killed and wounded the first 
 week before Petersburg, as follows: The Lieutenant-Colonel, 
 the Adjutant, one Captain, and two Lieutenants, killed; and one 
 Captain, and one Lieutenant wounded; leaving on the 22d of 
 June no field officer in command, and only one of the line officers, 
 which were reported present for duty on the 6th of the month. 
 Its losses in enlisted men were also severe. 
 
 During its term of service the regiment lost sixteen comm s- 
 sioned officers, killed in action or "lied of wounds received in bat- 
 
tie, a loss of officers iu action greater iu proportion to its uum- 
 ber of officers than that suffered by any other regiment from 
 tins State, and exceeded by but few in the service. 
 
 Wliile the regiuieut lost so heavily there was no battle iu 
 which the regiment was engaged, in which it did not inflict much 
 greater losses on the enemy than it received, except at Tolopo- 
 tomy, an engagement on ihe Weldon Railroad, and at Sutherland's 
 Station, where the regiment took the offensive. 
 
 Of the officers who returned with the regiment, Surgeon 
 Hammond, Chaplain Harrison, and Captain T. E. Munson, alone 
 remained of the thirty-nine original officers who were mustered 
 into the service two years, nine months, and twelve days bt^fore 
 and they have since died. 
 
 The regiment was nuistered oat of service on the 3d day of 
 June, 1865, with 221 men. 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
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