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STATE OF NEW YORK
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PORT

OF THE

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39002024879729

New York Monuments
Commission

ON THE

Dedication of Monument to the
One Hundred and Fourth New York
Volunteer Regiment
(Wadsworth Guards)

ANTIETAM, MD.
September 27, 1917

ALBANY
J. B. LYON COMPANY, PRINTERS
1918

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Monument to the 104th New York Infantry.

STATE OF NEW YORK

REPORT

OF THE

New York Monuments
Commission

ON THE

Dedication of Monument to the
One Hundred and Fourth New York
Volunteer Regiment

(Wadsworth Guards)

ANTIETAM, MD.
September 27, 1917

ALBANY
J. B. LYON COMPANY, PRINTERS
19 18

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State of New York

E"o. 59

IN SENATE March 6, 1917.

Report of the New York Monuments Commission
for the Battlefield of Antietam

To the Legislature:
I have the honor to transmit herewith report on Monument to
the One Hundred and Fourth New York Regiment, erected on
the battlefield of Antietam, Maryland, and proceedings of dedica
tion thereof, held September 27, 1917.
Respectfully submitted,
Lewis R. Stegman,
Chairman.

[3]

Report on Monument to the One Hundred and
Fourth New York Volunteer Infantry Erected
on the Battlefield of Antietam and Dedication
Proceedings Thereof Held September 27, i917.

New York, March 4, 1918.
The veterans of the One Hundred and Fourth New York
Regimental Association were granted an appropriation by the
Legislature of 1916, for the purpose of enabling them to erect a
memorial to their regiment on the battlefield of Antietam, Mary
land. Early in their deliberations for this project they appointed
a committee from among their members to represent them and
act in their behalf, in co-operation with the New York Monu
ments Commission, for transacting the business incident to tbe
construction of the monument and selecting an appropriate site
for it. On October 27, 1916, this committee, consisting of LI. W.
Burlingame of Warsaw (secretary), John A. Smith of Rush, and
H. D. Mack of Rochester, in conference with the members of this
Commission, and Major Jacob Monath, Superintendent of the
Antietam battlefield, selected a site for their memorial on Corn
field avenue. This spot is located a little to the south of the
Miller House and not far from the Dunker church. Following
correspondence had with his office, this site was formally approved
by the quartermaster-general at Washington, as was also the
design prepared by this Commission for the monument and the
text for the inscription tablet.
The National Granite Company of Montpelier, Vt., was
awarded the contract for the stone work, and the bronze parts
were furnished by John Williams, Inc., of New York.
The cost of erecting the monument was $1,392.70, which left
an unexpended balance of $107.30 of the $1,500 appropriated
for it under chapter 646 of the Laws of 1916. Under chapter
181 of the Laws of 1917 the sum of $1,000 was appropriated
for dedicating it, of which, when the account was closed, there
was an unexpended balance of $191.17.-
[5]

6 [Senate
In design the monument is a square shaft constructed of daxK
Barre granite. It is eleven feet five inches in height, surmounted
by a ball twelve inches high. Carved on the side is a disc twelve
inches in diameter, representing the badge of the First Army
Corps. The coat-of-arms of the State of New York in bronze
appears on the front, over the bronze tablet, which bears the
following inscription :
104TH KE-W YORK INFANTRY
(-WADS-WORTH GUARDS)
1ST BRIGADE 2ND DIVISION
(DURYEE'S) (RICKETT'S)
FIRST CORPS (HOOKER'S)
FOUGHT IN THE CORNFIELD, NEAR
THIS SPOT, SEPTEMBER 17, 18&2, IN
THE MEMORABLE MORNING ENGAGEMENT
BETWEEN HOOKER AND STONE^WALL JACKSON.
KILLED AND DIED OF WOUNDS, 18
WOUNDED, 50
UNREPORTED, 14
ERECTED BY THE STATE OF NEW YORK

The Dedication
On September 27, 1917, ten days after the fifty-fifth anniver
sary of the battle, the One Hundred and Fourth memorial was
dedicated. The exercises therefor were conducted under the
auspices of this Commission, aided by H. W. Burlingame, who
acted as presiding officer for the occasion. In addition to the
veterans of the regiment and their friends, the members of the
official party for the General Doubleday and General Robinson
dedications at Gettysburg were also present. The invocation was
pronounced by the Rev. O. C. Baker of Warsaw. Mrs. G. H.
Martin of Warsaw, daughter of Mr. Burlingame, unveiled the
memorial. Music and singing, by a choir of young ladies from
Sharpsburg, enhanced the ceremonies considerably.
United States Senator James W. AVadsworth of Geneseo, N. Y.,
delivered the dedication address. He had just come in his auto
mobile from AVashington, traveling a great part of the way along

No. 59] 7
the route of General McClellan's army in pursuit of General Lee's
army, when they first sought to effect conquest north of the Poto
mac. This and the memorable clash at Antietam which eusued
Senator Wadsworth took as text for his discourse, supplementing-
his resume of the battle ;uid the war that was, with timely and
spirited remarks on the war that is. State Senator John Knight
of Arcade also spoke interestingly on phases of the battle and the
Civil AVar, as well as on the present embroilment across the water.
Both speakers paid a glowing tribute to the part played 1iy the
regiment whose monument was being dedicated during the strife
of the early sixties — at Antietam as well as the other thirty odd
battles and actions in which it was engaged — from Cedar Moun
tain, in August, 1862, to Appomattox, in April, 1865. The One
Hundred and Fourth was recruited to a large extent in their own
counties of Wyoming and Genesee ; among its survivors in attend
ance and their sons, as well as the sons of veterans who belonged
to it but have passed away, they recognized a good many of their
neighbors from AVestern New York, and meeting them that morn
ing such a distance from home, in one of the most historic spots
in all Maryland, was a feature of the occasion of which they said
they will retain pleasant recollections for a long time to come.
AODEESS BY H. AV. BUELIH-QAME, SeCEETAEY OE THE OwE HxiN-
DEED AITD FOUETH NeW YoeK ReGIMEKTTAL AsSOCIATIOW
Ladies and Gentlemen and Comrades — Comrades of the One
Hundred and Fourth and of all the Regiments here Present. —
Welcome all! Colonel Stegman, the chairman of the New York
Monuments Commission, in his usual genial and encourfiging
manner, has just introduced me to you as the chairman presiding
at this dedication of the monument to my regiment. In this
capacity it will be my pleasure and duty to introduce a good many
others to you in their turn before these ceremonies are concluded.
AVell, my own first introduction, as I call it, on this battlefield is
one that I have a very lively recollection of still, though it dates
as far back as September 16, 1862, exactly fifty-five years and
ten days ago. That time I had not yet reached my nineteenth
year. The night before the battle we slept in the woods a little
distance yonder to my right, after getting a taste of what was in

8 [Senate
store for us the following day. It was certainly a night of expec
tancy and anxiety. Only for that mental discomfort, in spite
of having to stretch our legs on the bare ground, with the sky for
a canopy — our Enfields beside us — we could have slept well
enough. So tired were we after the long and hurried tramp from
South Mountain that if it were not for the big impending struggle
we well knew could not be avoided a stone for a pillow could not
have hardly kept us from snoring. The earliest bird around here
was hardly on the wing when we were roused on the morning of the
I7th. No time then for anything but quick movement forward.
Many of us, and I .was one of them myself, did not even have
time to get a morsel of breakfast. And then came the second
and bigger introduction that I experienced on this field. Not far
away from us some thousands of not very friendly visitors from
A'^irginia, clad in gray, were roused just as early as ourselves, if
not earlier. Stonewall Jackson it was who called them. It was
not long until they gave us a clear warning of their proximity
and intentions. Commanded by Major Lewis C. Skinner, our
regiment, the One Hundred and Fourth, and the other regiments
of General Duryee's Brigade, the Ninety-seventh and One Hun
dred and Fifth New York, and the One Hundred and Seventh
Pennsylvania, hastened onward at the word of command. Our
brigade formed the right of the division — General Rickett's ; the
Second Brigade, Colonel Christian's, was in the center, and Gen
eral Hartsuff's, the Third, was on the left. Along with us
rumbled two batteries of artillery. Approaching this cornfield
we got a warm reception ; nor did we on our part fail to recipro
cate just as warmly. What followed is told in the story of this
famed arena, the cornfield. By noon there was hardly a stalk
standing on the cornfield, as it was then; nor is it hardly an
exaggeration to say that before night almost every square foot of
the ground all around us was literally soaked with carnage.
" Few, iew, shall part where many meet,
And every turf beneath their feet
Shall be a soldier's sepulchre,"
not inaptly describes the result of the fierce fighting that raged for
hours and hours in the cornfield, as reinforcement after reinforce
ment continued coming to the rescue on either side. There is no

No. 59] 9
need my rehearsing, long or short, facts or figures in proof of
what I have said. It was the deadly struggle staged on the corn
field that has made Antietam stand apart by itself as the one-day
battle of the Civil AA^ar that had the longest and the saddest
casualty list.
AV^e veterans of the battle — and I am delighted beyond measure
to see so many of my comrades now, with whom I stood that day
in the cornfield, participating in this dedication — we who took
part in that terrible conflict and who witnessed that evening or
the following day the havoc wrought on this arena need go no
farther than our o-wn memories for evidence that Antietam was an
exceptionally intense engagement. That it was a drawn battle
was certainly not the fault of the actual combatants on either side.
The Blue and the Gray never carried their daring and their
exertions to greater extremes than when they met here.
The invasion — the first invasion of the North — was frus
trated, and General Lee led his troops back to Virginia hastily;
but it cannot be denied that they gave a good account of them
selves before they turned round to recross the Potomac. That
they did face south in short order after one day of big fighting
furnishes proof that the boys in Blue gave them a reception very
different from what they had expected and calculated on when
deciding to try conclusions with the Army of the Potomac in its
o-wn territory. They found in General McClellan once more a
commander of different calibre and caution to General Pope,
whom they had a short time previously baffled and worsted, in the
second Manassas campaign.
But generalities of this nature appertaining to the battle, how
ever relevant, are less to the point to me personally now for the
purpose of this celebration than some other matters that I have
in mind and that I must refer to briefly. Of the arenas of .=trif e
that make up the story of Antietam I have only touched on the
cornfield. The melees in the woods of that day near here as well
as at the Dunker church (where we made our rendezvous a little
while ago) and Burnside bridge were almost as destructive and
strenuous. Colonel Stegman fought with his regiment at the
Dunker church and he will tell you something of the opposition
that was encountered there.

10 [Senate
To my o-^vn comrades of the One Hundred and Fourth who are
with me here to-day, I cannot help saying — congratulations
congratulations on this beautiful monument that is to stand for
the generations to come as a memorial to our regiment and a
reminder that we were among those who fought in the cornfield.
The inscription shows that our casualties totaled eighty-two, and
of these, as recorded on the tablet, eighteen did not survive their
wounds. It is twenty-nine years since we dedicated the monu
ment to our regiment at Gettysburg; and compared to what we
had then for a veteran association but few of us are left.
Altogether at this dedication there are only twelve of us — 'twelve
righteous and long-lived warriors we are justified in calling our
selves. There are more of iis yet in the land of the living than
this number, but this is all that were able to come to Antietam.
And I will do myself the honor of naming them for you. Besides
myself they are: Oliver Velzy of Lewiston, H. D. Mack and
Alonzo Dietz of Rochester, William M. Cleod of Hemlock, H.
Clark of Leroy, Daniel Clark of Canaseraga, H. J. Whiting of
Silver Springs, R. Dunning of Pike, J. A. Smith of Rush, J. H.
Scott of Mt. Morris, and J. Swartz of Dansville.
At Gettysburg in 1888 we had Colonel G. G; Prey, who com
manded our regiment in that battle, and Colonel John A. Strang.
Their orations appear in " New York at Gettysburg," published
by the New York Monuments Commission. Colonel Prey has
joined the majority, and Colonel Strang, who resides in Califor
nia, was prevented by distance from coming here. But his son,
Arthur Strang, of White Plains, is here to represent him. So is
the son of our Gettysburg commander, W. W. Prey, of Arcade.
Four of my own sons are also present, and you have already seen
my daughter, Mrs. G. H. Martin, who unveiled the monument.
AA^'e veterans of the One Hundred and Fourth took part, with
the other nine organizations of the First Army Corps represented
there, in the General Doubleday and General Robinson dedications
at Gettysburg last Tuesday. Our regiment belonged to General
Robinson's Division, which performed such valorous and valuable
service holding back the Confederates until the evening reinforce
ments arrived. But very few of the Gettysburg regiments suffered
more severely than ours — 194 out of 330 men all told. Thanks

No. 59] 11
to Colonel Stegman, a large number of the people attending the
Gettysburg events last Tuesday are with us here this morning.
AA"e have State officers and members of the Legislalure, and among
these latter I must mention speciidly Senator John Knight of
Arcade, to whom, as well as to Assemblyman Bert Gage, our asso
ciation is ever so much indebted for getting us the appropriations
for constructing our monument and dedicating it. Another
engagement that he could not well forego prevented Mr. Gage
from accompanying us, and this I regret exceedingly, for I know
that he would enjoy taking part in this dedication.
Besides the veterans of the One Hundred and Fourth that I
have already named we have also veterans of other Antietam regi
ments present here. I have already referred to Colonel Stegman.
I could not refer to him too often as a matter of thankfulness, for
he and his colleagues of the ^ew York Monuments Commission
helped us cheerfully in the work of putting up our monument, and
the success of this dedication is also in a large measure due to
the preparations they had caused to be made for it. Three of
Colonel Stegman's comrades of the One LIundred and Second are
with him, Rev. AA'm. T. Prey, Major Henry M. ilagaiire and
John H. McGean. One of his colleagues of the Commission,
Colonel Clinton Beckwith of the One Hundred and Tv\'eiity-first
Regiment, was also at Antietam the years gone by as he is to-day.
The One Hundred and Eighty-fifth Regiment is represented by
Major Robert P. Bush, a member of the Assembly and one time
Speaker of the Assembly. Battery L, First New York Light
Artillery is represented by General John A. Reynolds, Major
George Breek and AA"m. H. Shelton. And last but not least there
is Colonel Hilary A. Herbert, of the Eighth Alabama, who fought
here as a brave Southern boy.
I have occasion to refer again to Gettysburg and another of its
distinguished commanders, General James S. AA^adsworth, of
Geneseo, who had the honor of marching the first infantry troops
to that field on the Union side. A statue, a well-deserved tribute,
commemorates his splendid work on Seminary Ridge in the open
ing conflict there. From the beginning of the rupture between the
North and the South until mortally wounded at the AA'ilderness,
May 6, 1864, none displayed more courage and devotion in uphold-

12 [Senate
i-iig the Union, as a citizen and a soldier, than General Wadsworth.
The Wadsworths of Geneseo are still running their careers of use
fulness in public and private life; and one of them has done us
the very great honor, and for which many thanks to him, to drive
over this morning from the capital of the nation to deliver the
principal address for the dedication of the monument to the One
Hundred and Fourth. He is maintaining the family tradition
right well. I will first introduce James W. Wadsworth, Jr., of
Geneseo, as the grandson of the noble Gettysburg hero, but he has
another distinction also, for he is one of the Empire State's rep-
iresentatives in the United States Senate.
A.DDKESS BY UnITED StATES SeNATOE JaMES W. WadS-
woeth, Je.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Burlingame, Colonel Stegman, and
Veterans of the One Hundred and Fourth. — I must confess in
"l;he beginning that I find it no easy task to give adequate expres
sion to my feelings on this occasion. I do indeed regard the
invitation to speak at the dedication of this monument to the
One Hundred and Fourth New York Regiment as a very high
honor. For a number of reasons this pleasant duty appeals to
my innermost sentiments. This fine regiment, whose memorial
we have just now seen unveiled, was recruited largely in the coun
ties of Livingston and Wyoming, near my own home, and where
my forefathers have lived for generations. Finding so many from
Western New York here this morning, I am given an opportunity
of coming into contact with home folks, some of them honored
survivors of the engagement fought on this ground — all but
exactly fifty-five years ago. This is a spectacle and an occasion
nothing short of inspiring.
I have met you here this morning coming from a different
direction, having just arrived by automobile from the capital of
the nation ; and as I sped along I happened to recall that, generally
speaking, I was taking the route of McClellan's Army of the
Potomac on its march from Washington to Antietam those memor
able days preceding September 17, 1862; through Frederick,
Middleto-wn and Boonsboro, down into the valley of Antietam
preek. hurrying over here to head off Lee's army hastening from

No. 59] 13
Harper's Ferry; and while passing those famed places 1 could
not help trying to visualize to myself as best I could the stirring
scenes then enacted, with from seventy to eighty thousand men
tramping across this beautiful country — infantry, cavalry and
artillery, with endless lines of wagons carrying engineer, pontoon
and siege trains — from seventy to eighty thousand free-born
Americans who volunteered to save this nation, and who in thus
volunteering did not count the risk to themselves or care what they
had to endure so long as the great object that brought them into
the struggle was accomplished; nor did their services cease here;
for two years longer they continued their efforts in many another
hotly contested field, until eventually the happy end to civil strife
was reached at Appomattox in the spring of 1865.
And this same One Hundred and Fourth Regiment went
through it all. I for one cannot regard this occasion lightly. It
may be regarded by some as a mere incident in their everyday,
busy lives. The worthy veterans whom we are now assisting in
having their monument dedicated and who took part in the fierce
fighting on this cornfield well know and understand the signifi
cance of these ceremonies. We are dedicating a memorial to a
band of brave Americans, many of whom gave up their lives in a
noble cause. There is a moral to this battlefield celebration, and
it has a principle which will long survive. From time to time,
as the years go by and as one generation succeeds another genera
tion, our children and our grandchildren coming here from
Western New York will pause to gaze for a moment on this monu
ment and it will help carry their attention back to an eventful
period in the history of this nation. When you are all gone and
when the men of my generation have also passed away, let us
hope that the people of that future day will not gaze on this
monument unmindful of what it stands for — unmindful of the
tremendous cost in blood and treasure that was required for main
taining the integrity of this Republic.
A¥e stand upon what I believe — if I remember history cor
rectly — a field in which the severest one-day engagement of the
Civil War was fought. The total casualties at Antietam aggre
gated 25,000, out of a total engaged of what has been estimated
at from 130,000 to 14(),000. This presents a percentage of loss

14: [Senate
comparable with the terrific losses that we have read about as
having taken place across the Atlantic during the last year. The
armies of the Civil AA''ar of course did not approach in size the
armies of to-day. But let us not forget that the battles of that
great war were as desperate and bloody, in proportion to the
number of soldiers engaged, as the battles now being fought on
the European fronts. On the whole, the sacrifices sustained by
the One Hundred and Fourth Regiment and the other regiments
with them along this line have been hardly exceeded anywhere.
I recall, moreover, that of the 25,000 who fell at Antietam more
than half of them fell near this very spot in the space of a thou
sand or fifteen hundred yards from where we stand.
.Vud why were these sacrifices made ? In order that this great
Republic should survive and its great institutions be preserved.
The men of the Confederacy, we admit, went into the struggle
believing that they Avere right, and they maintained their position
m.anfuUy to the bitter end. But God willed otherwise. Had the
Confederacy not been defeated the territories that to-day make
up this great Republic would be divided into t-wo or more nations,
as a result of which none of them could have progressed along the
path to freedom and prosperity that our great country is enjoying
to-day. Our institutions prior to 1861, with the single exception of
slavery, were sound in the main. But the great mass of the people
of that time were in doubt as to the righteousness of slavery, and
had not that doubt been settled and settled forever and a division
of the people prevented, the United States would not now exist.
We have a right as a consequence of your efforts, your bravery
and your sacrifice, veterans of the One LIundred and Fourth, and
the efforts and the bravery and the sacrifices of those beside whom
you fought in that great struggle little more than half a century
ago, to feel proud standing here in this bright sunshine to-day
that we are freemen of a great united country.
Now, some men will tell you that there is nothing worth
fighting for in this life; that it is the most important thing in
the world to avoid all contest- — physical or otherwise; that fight
ing in itself and by itself is a greater sin than to permit of any
other evil to continue to exist in the body politic or in the nations

No. 59] 15
of the world. AVe are told from some quarters these dnvs that it
is the duty of' Amei'icans — your descendants, veterans — to
avoid, if possible, taking part in any physical combat ; that doing
so is a sign of barbarism ; that it will leave in its train the badge
of militarism ; that it is inhuman and abhorrent, and that no real
aud good man should ever fight. AA^e hear this from day to day
from many mouths and we read it in some few publications.
AA'hat do the boys of '61 thinlc of that doctrine? Had you not
fought — had you not been willing to carry muskets over your
shoulders for four years and face the perils of the battlefields,
what would have been the result and what kind of a country would
we have to-day? Is it worth while to permit a country to perish
and the institutions of liberty and freedom to fade away, and the
ideals of mankind to be sacrificed and given up? Is it worth
while to let our civilization be dragged back to the civilization of
the middle ages, just to establish the doctrine that fighting is a sin ?
AA"e are once more engaged in a great war. And why did we
go into this war ? I say it most deliberately that America has gone
into this war in self-defense. The man who permits any other
man, or group of men, to call at the door of his residence and say
to him that he cannot appear upon the streets and engage in his
legitimate and peaceful errands of business, except upon pain of
death — the man who, served -with a notice of this sort, yields to
it and concedes the right of might to govern his daily walk in life,
must finally perish in his own house.
Nations are just the same as individuals; and when a foreign
power, drunk with military ambition, notified the people of the
United States that no one of them should engage in peaceful errands
upon the highways of the world outside of the doors of their o-wn
nation, it was incumbent upon the people of the United States
to decide whether they should perish in their own country or go
out and defend their right to live among the peoples of the world.
It may have seemed to some a somewhat abstract and theoretical
contention to have the question raised of the right of an American
citizen to travel upon the high seas. We fought England in 1812
to maintain that right and since we forced it upon that nation-
neither England nor any other country, up until two years ago,
dared to say to Americans that they must stay at home upon pain

16 [Senate
of death. It may have seemed abstract, but let us turn our minds
back to the pages of history and we can see by its teaching that
when a nation declines to defend itself it has lost the right of
holding its place in the family of the nations; and when it loses
that right it loses the power to protect you and me in our lives
and in our property.
The threat that Germany made against the United States was a
threat against its present peace and its future prosperity. We
had no other alternative then consistent with our honor and our
security but to accept that challenge. When I look back on the
last three years it becomes increasingly apparent to me that we
would have been the next victims of German aggression; and by
the same token it becomes increasingly apparent that those two
great democracies across the water — England and France (just
as purely self-governed as we are) — have, practically, been fight
ing our battle as well as their own during that time. Everyone
ought to rejoice that we are now taking our place by their side.
It is a battle well worth participating in. It is nothing to be
frowned at for our men to go to the battlefields of France. It is
high time for them to be there ! They are fighting, as our allies
are fighting, to make this agony impossible for the future.
The world has seen to an extent never before kno-wn in the
history of mankind millions and millions of suffering people.
Hundreds and hundreds of thousands have been killed. God
in his infinite mercy and in his wonderful vision must intend
that out of all this welter of suffering the world will come forth
a better world in which to live. It cannot be- — we, Christians,
cannot believe — that Divine Providence intends freemen, devoted
to the institutions of liberty — seeking peace only — shall stand
aside and permit the world to be overrun with an avalanche of
slaughter, and bow to the doctrine that might makes right, for all
time to come. It cannot be that it is unworthy for this nation to
assist in stamping out this hideous Frankenstein that threatens
the world's civilization, and which, if uncurbed, will drive all the
world back to militarism. We are fighting to stop that; we are
fighting to make men free. Just as you fought to guarantee that
the free institutions of America should not be coerced from within,
we are fighting now to the end that they shall not be coerced from
without.

No. 59] 17
Our people have lived in this country for generations, inatten
tive to the outside world ; turning the forests and the prairies into
fertile fields and cultivating them; we have built up hamlets,
towns and cities; we have been developing our commerce and
manufactures with tireless energy; we have been devoting our
selves to social and economic problems for the welfare of our
communities; constructing interminable lines of railroads and
digging deep in the mines, while the products of our foundries
-and our mills have been the en-vy of the world. And while we
have been devoting our energies to all these things we suddenly
waked up to the fact that we are one of the family of nations.
And when we see what has happened ; when we see Belgium, when
we see Servia and Poland and northern France, and when we
lecall with horror the bombs dropped upon schools and hospitals
— one of them an American Red Cross hospital — when we con
template these outrages we were bound to be concerned. We are
in a great crisis. There is no denying it. It may seem far,
geographically; but, as a matter of fact, America is being
•defended in France to-day just as surely as she was being
¦defended on this ground in 1862.
And one of the things that has inspired me most since we went
into this struggle is that at Washington in the Congress of the
United States there has not been since that declaration of war
one single evidence of partisanship or division among its members.
The government is our government, and when we face any for-
¦eign enemy we have but one government; and until this thing
shall be settled — until this world agony shall be brought to a
•close — let each and every one of us — whether we happen to be
in office or out of office — See to it that America shall act and
show the same sterling virtues — no matter how long it will last
— no matter how heavy the burden — those same sterling virtues
as were displayed on the spot where we are now assembled by the
men to whose memory this monument was erected.
Addeess by State Senatoe John Knight
Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen, and Veterans of the
One Hundred and Fourth Regiment. — I am indeed delighted to
1)6 here to-day participating in the ceremonies for the dedication

18 [Senate
of this monmnent erected to the memory of the One Hundred
and Fourth New York Regiment, an honored veteran regiment
with many of whose members I have been acquainted a long time.
To be at Antietam addressing survivors of its great battle is an
honor I appreciate highly. My earliest recollections of this field
go back to the time when, as a boy, I heard its story from the lips
of some of its participants. This is some twenty-five or thirty-
years ago. Accompanying friends of his who took part in this
battle, my father visited Antietam once, and he had much to say
for a long time after of the account of the battle as he heard it
from them on the spot. One of that party was Colonel G. G. Prey,
who commanded the One Hundred and Fourth Regiment at
Gettysburg; and to-day I find myself here with Colonel Prey's-
son, a friend from my own town, Arcade. I do not wish to call
this history repeating itself, but it is nevertheless an incident that
helps make this celebration pleasant and reminiscent for me.
The erection of battlefield memorials like this seems to me one
of the most worthy things any State can do. They constitute sub
stantial and enduring tokens of recognition and gratitude. Our
State, so I am told, is represented by eight monuments on this
field. It appears that we are far behind Pennsylvania in this
respect; and inasmuch as we surpassed the Keystone State, and
every other State for that matter, in the number of soldiers we
had in the Maryland campaign, and the casualties there, we should
not be satisfied with remaining second to any other commonwealth
ill causing monuments to be erected to their memory. In this
memorial that we are now dedicating service and sacrifice are fit
tingly commemorated and perpetuated, and the honor implied in it
is well deserved. Monuments of this kind standing on historic
scenes such as we are at present in the midst of also afford inspi
ration to ourselves of an after generation, and as well they will
tend to promote higher and better patriotism in the generations
to come after us.
The One Hundred and Fourth Regiment enjoys a noble record,
one of the best of any organization that belonged to the great
Army of the Potomac. From the time it was first organized, in
April, 1862, until the end of the long struggle between the North
and the South, at Appomattox, three years after, it took part in

No. 59] 19
some thirty battles and actions. Practically, it got its baptism
of fire in the second Manassas campaign. Here at Antietam it
was part of the First Brigade (Duryee's), Second Division
(Rickett's) of the First Corps (Hooker's) ; and when it is said
that Hooker and Stonewall Jackson were rivals at their best on
this ground it is enough to show that it was a struggle of uncom
mon strenuousness and severity and that the men engaged in it
were not idle. The casualties of the One Hundred and Fourth
at Antietam numbered eighty-two, eighteen of them being killed
outright or else dying of their wounds subsequently. In Gettys
burg, the most famous battlefield of them all, the One Hundred
and Fourth Regiment, arriving there greatly depleted, sustained
casualties that totaled 194, a fearful loss when it is stated that
they had only 330 men all told when the conflict began. They
were part of the forces — the vanguard — that heroically endea
vored to hold the Confederate hosts in check until the evening
reinforcements completed their march to the field. Among other
well-kno-wn encounters to their credit is that memorable three-day
bushwacking and destructive tussle in the Wilderness, the begin
ning of General Grant's overland cam.paign, in May, 1864.
Western New York, the section where my home is, takes a
special pride in the One Hundred and Fourth, for the reason that
most of the companies of which it was made up were recruited
there — in Genesee, Livingston and AA^yoming. The county of
Genesee contributed in a large measure to its formation, due
mostly to the untiring efforts of General James S. Wadsworth of
Geneseo; and this regiment, needless to repeat, also rejoices in
being called the Wadsworth Guards. Few men, it seems to me,
and I have read his biography carefully, exerted more practical
patriotism or enjoys a higher reputation for important and varied
service during those stirring years of the Civil War than General
Wadsworth. His means and his services — his services as an
energetic and fearless commander — he made a voluntary offer of
at the start ; and at the end he went down in the list of those who
" gave the last full measure of devotion," for at the AVilderness,
on May 6, 1864, he was mortally wounded while leading his men
in a gallant charge. It was not many hours before that when
his daring and indefatigable work won the admiration of General

20 [Senate
Grant. At the beginning of the Civil War, when the commissariat
at Washington was in dire straits, he sent two cargoes of provisions
to the government at his own expense. A really great man Gen
eral Wadsworth proved himself during that crisis in the history
of the nation, and New York is, was and always will be proud
of him.
The nation is now face to face with another crisis ; and there is
no doubt that this year of 1917 will go down in history as one of
the most important in our country's annals. It marks the time
when we are once more compelled to engage in war, and to engage
in warfare far from our own shores in the continent of Europe.
And in spite of this stern fact, it cannot be gainsaid that we are
essentially a peace loving and peaceable people. But the reasons
are sufficient and numerous for our entering this fierce interna
tional struggle. The purpose of this world war is that peace may
be made lasting, and, as has been well said, " to make the world
safe to live in." A war is now raging across the water such as, it
would seem, should bring the blush of shame even to the cheeks
of a barbarian. International laws and rules have been violated j
treaty obligations have been ignored and set at defiance; the lives
of our citizens have been wantonly destroyed by the Prussian
nation and the Central Powers, so called. It is not alone the
liberty of Europe that is at stake in this widespread conflict ; the
liberty of this land and its welfare are also at stake.
The principles involved are the same as those of every war in
which this country has ever been engaged. The Revolution was
a contest for justice and just laws; the Rebellion, one for human
liberty, and the war with Spain was fought to deliver an oppressed
people from foreign and tyrannical rule. That principle is best
stated in the language of our own Declaration of Independence,
that governments are established among men, deriving their power
from the consent of the governed. The issue is democracy versus
autocracy. AVe know that for half a century at least Germany has been
teaching a philosophy just directly opposite to the principles for
which we stand and for which we have contended in the past;
we know that she has been long preparing her people for a time
when her rulers would dominate the policies and politics of not

No. 59] 21
Europe alone but of the world. Success for that country in this
war would mean just this — it would mean intoleraljle disaster to
civilization. If Germany is returned victor, it would mean that
the individual will be debased for the benefit of the ruler ; other
wise, it will mean that the people shall rule. As the Union could
not exist half slave and half free, so ultimately there cannot exist
in the world such opposing principles of government. It must be
settled which shall predominate. AVe have every confidence in
the final result. Our cause is right and right will prevail. AVith
malice towards none, we will continue the fight to the end; and
the same power which has guided our flag through all other wars
will go with it across the water, not for conquest or the acquisition
of territory, but for humanity, justice and liberty. " May the
glory of this Republic be as lasting as the sun which shines upon
the flag and her beneficent influence be as ceaseless as the river
which flows into the sea."-
The states wrote in the Magna Charta of our liberty as a nation
the well-known words, " All men are created free and equal," and
among their inalienable rights are " life, liberty and the pursuit
of happiness." Still they permitted the institution of slavery to
continue. Many of them foresaw that it would rise to plagnie.
It seems to us, looking backward, that it was inevitable that it
must have an end. It remained for the regiments of the North,
of which the One Hundred and Fourth New York was one, to
remove the incubus of slavery and strengthen the government
which our forefathers had established. The South of the days
of secession and slavery has long since passed away. AA^e have
become a united nation, knowing no North, no South, no East;
no West, and glorying in its government and the freedom and
prosperity of its citizens.
Abdeess by Colonel Lewis R. Stegman, One Hundeed and
Second New Yoek Volunteees, Chaieman of the New
YoEK Monuments Commission
Mr. Chairman, Veterans of the One Hundred and Fourth New
York, Ladies and Gentlemen. — After the eloquent, spirited and
appropriate remarks of the gentlemen who have preceded me there
is but little left for me to say on this occasion. No words of mine

22 [Senate
are necessary to testify to the splendid and magTiificent courage
displayed on this field by the boys of the Wadsworth Guards and
their comrades of the other regiments of Durj^ee's Brigade, -which
was part of Rickett's Division of the First Army Corps, the corps
commanded by Hooker when he fought Stonewall Jackson here.
We stand upon hallowed ground - — the memorable cornfield —
the bloodiest spot of any battlefield of the Civil AVar, where within
a square of a thousand yards, measured from the Dunker church
as a center, fifteen thousand out of twenty-five thousand men went
do-wn on that bright, beautiful day of September 17, 1862.
Time and circumstances do not permit of any lengthened review
of the operations on this field. A''olumes have been written on
the battle of Antietam, and for generations to come it is safe to
say that it will continue to attract and engage writers of history.
So my text at present must be confined to Rickett's men — the
men who struggled bravely on the arena where we are now gath
ered. All praise to the boys of Meade and Doubleday who battled
on this front — all men of Hooker's Corps — and a glorious record
was surely theirs; but for the event we are celebrating on this
occasion the achievements and valor of Rickett's Division, and
especially the One LIundred and Fourth Regiment, are uppermost
in our minds. It must not be forgotten that three days before this
engagement you men of the One Hundred and Fourth had climbed
the slopes of South Mountain and helped drive the enemy from his
defenses there, compelling him to withdraw to the western side of
the mountain. The next day you were marched to Keedysville,
about three miles southeast of where we are now standing, and
from thence, on the afternoon of the 16th, you crossed the Antie
tam creek, or river, as it might more properly be called, and
encamping a short distance in rear of where your monument
stands, you spent the night there.
At early dawn Duryee's Brigade, to which you belonged, moved
from its bivouac, passing through timbered terrain and 023en fields,
the enemy impeding its advance with a rain of shot and shell.
Deploying into line, the brigades, under severe fire, entered the
famous cornfield, very nearly, I judge, on a line with this road
way, and fought their way through the cornfield, in steady ranks,
in spite of a fusillade of cannon and destructive musketry from

No. 59] 23
three Confederate brigades. Duryee's Brigade advanced, tearing
through the enemy's columns and driving them back. Then carae
reinforcements to the enemy and the Union line was compelled to
retire, fighting still for every foot of its ground.
AVhat words can picture the heroism of four hours of such a
fierce conflict, when the ranks of the opposing forces swayed to
and fro in deadly encounter? Aud while our- own dead were
many, the rifles of Rickett's men had laid the enemy prostrate in
windrows, as though they were mown down by a scythe. The
scene was ghastly, but it was necessary for achieving success, it
was part of the story of every hotly contested battlefield. And
when they finally withdrew from the direct front Rickett's
Division remained active all day in support of the artillery.
Rickett's Division that day took into action 3,158 men and
sustained a loss of 1,051 in killed and wounded, or 33 per cent;
and bear in mind that this loss was mainly suffered in this corn
field, in not much more than one hour's time. And you fought
against men of the South who had then become renowned in war
— men as brave as ever took part in a big battle — Stonewall
Jackson's veterans. When Llooker went over the scene and saw
the carnage, the mingled dead of the Blue and the Gray, no wonder
that he wrote of it : "It was never my fortune to witness a more
bloody, dismal battlefield."
And all through this terrible melee, the boys of the One LIun
dred and Fourth New York bared their bosoms to the storm of
death-dealing missiles with wonderful courage. And your com
manders of the brigade and division were magnificent in the same
lines. You had good reason to be proud of yourselves and your
commanders that day.
While you were bravely contending in this arena of strife,
reinforcements were arriving on the scene. Mansfield's Twelfth
Corps was rapidly marching down the Smokestown Road to assist
in repelling and halting the furious attacks of the enemy. Not
many rods to the eastward of here you can observe the monument
indicating the spot where Mansfield fell, mortally wounded, while
engaged in deploying his troops, and entering this same field while
you men of Rickett's Division were retiring. And those boys of
the Twelfth Corps met with the same storm of artillery and mus-

24 [Senate
ketry to which you had been exposed, and finally also like you
they gave way and were placed behind the batteries. That was
AVilliams's Division of the Twelfth Corps. A little further to the
south Greene's Division pushed forward, driving the foe beyond
the Mumma burning house, and over the fields, and then to the
Hagerstown Pike beyond the Dunker church, into the west woods.
And after several hours of the severest conflict, this division was
also forced back, just as had been Sedgwick's Division of the
Second Corps, led by " Old Bull " Sumner himself in person.
It was a queer mix up of regiments, brigades, divisions and corps
on this end of the Antietam battlefield. Before the fighting was
finished the bodies of the men of the First, Twelfth, Second and
Sixth Corps lay strewn over the ground — evidence of the mighty
conflict that had raged here.
Only a few words more in conclusion, and that relates to the
number engaged on both sides. Those who fought here are well
aware that no regiment in the battle lines contained the muskets
which the muster rolls called for. There were men falling out on
the roadsides under the burning sun and there were details for
other duties — all reducing the numbers actually engaged. One
full corps and a division credited to the Union army were not
active participants at all. So that, as a matter of fact, the two
contending armies were nearly equal in numbers — probably about
48,000 Union soldiers against the name number of Confederates,
and the latter in their own selected positions; and, as Napoleon
has well said, " Positions are everything in a battle."
The enemy eventually retreated, and that, in war, means a
victory for those who hold the ground. And our boys held on.

The following abstract of organization, services and casualties
of the 104th Regiment is taken from " New York in the War of
the Rebellion, 1861 to 1865, compiled by Frederick Phisterer,
Adjutant-General of the State:

No. 59] 25
One Hundeed and Forrtexii Regiment of Inpantey
(Veteean)
Wadsworth Guards; Livingston County Regiment.
This regiment. Col. John Rorbach, was organized at Albany,
March 4, 1862, by the consolidation of the Morgan Guards, Col.
John J. Viele, with the Geneseo Regiment, Wadsworth Guards,
Col. Rorbach; the ten companies of the latter forming seven, and
the five companies of the former, three, LI, I and K, of the new
organization. The regiment was mustered in the service of the
United States for three years between September, 1861, and
March, 1862. At the expiration of its term of enlistment, the men
entitled thereto were discharged and the regiment retained in
service. The companies were recruited principally: A at Nunda; B at
Springwater; C at Centreville, Eagle and Pike; D at Geneseo;
E at Groveland, Cohocton and Burns ; F at Rochester ; G at Fow-
lerville, Alabama and Gainesville; H and I at Troy; and K at
Troy and Cohoes.
The regiment left the State March 22, 1862; served in General
Wadsworth's command. Military District of Washington, from
March, 1862; in 2d Brigade, 2d Division, Department Rappa
hannock, from May, 1862; in 1st Brigade, 2d Division, 3d Corps,
Army of Virginia, from June 26, 1862 ; in 1st Brigade, 2d Divi
sion, 1st Corps, Army of the Potomac, from September 12, 1862;
in same brigade and division, 5th Corps, Army of the Potomac,
from April, 1864; in 3d Brigade, 4th Division, 5th Corps, from
May 9, 1864; in 1st Brigade, 2d Division, 5th Corps, from May
30, 1864; in 1st Brigade, 3d Division, 5th Corps, from June 6,
1864; as Provost Guard, 5th Corps, from August, 1864; in 2d
Brigade, 3d Division, 5th Corps, from May, 1865 ; and it was
honorably discharged and mustered out, under Col. John R.
Strang, July 17, 1865, near Washington, D. C.
During its service the regiment lost by death, killed in action,
2 officers, 51 enlisted men; of wounds received in action, 3 officers,
34 enlisted men ; of disease and other causes, 2 officers, 145 enlisted
men; total, 7 officers, 230 enlisted men; aggregate, 237; of whom
1 officer and 61 enlisted men died in the hands of the enemy; and
it took part in the following engagements :

Date

Killed

Wounded

Missing

PLACE

Officers

En.isted men

Died

Recovered

Officers

Enlisted men

Aggregate

Officers

Enlisted men

Officers

Enlisted men

Cedar Mountain, Va 
1862
' Aug. 9
Aug. 16-Sept. 3
Aug, 20
Aug, 21
Aug: 22
Aug, 23
Aug. 28
Aug. 30
Sept- 1
Sept- 14
Sept. 17
Dec- 11-15
1863
April 29-May 2
May 2-3
July 1-3
Nov, 26-Dec. 2
1864
May 5- 7
May 8-21
May 8
May 10
May 12
May 22-26
May 27-31
June 1-12
June 16-Apr. 2
1865 .
June 16-19
Aug- 18-21
Deo, 6-11
1866
Feb, 6
Mar. 28-Apr. 9
April 1
April 2
April 9
 1
 i
 io
 75
 ie
 i
4 1
1
33
 i
' 1
 i
¦  S
 10 2
 12 1
 i
22 1
1
 37
 i
9 1
/ 
34 1
4735
 2
69 1
35 11
16
23 7
1
 io
 i2
as
14 2
 77 4 1
 i
126 3
Gen. Pope's Campaign, Va 
Rappahannock Station
Rappahannock River . .
Rappahannock River 
Rappahannock Station 
89
Thoroughfare Gap 
Bull Run  .
Little River Turnpike
South Mountain , Md 
Antietam, Md 
Fredericksburg , Va 
Pollock's Mill Creek, Va 
Gettysburg , Pa 
3
Mine Run Campaign, Va 
Wilderness, Va 
Spotsylvania Court House Va 
Piney Branch Church 
Laurel Hill 
46
Spotsylvania 
North Anna, Va 
Totopotomoy, -Va  -
3
Cold Harbor, Va 
Before Petersburg, Va 
Assault of Petersburg, Va 
21
Weldon Railroad, Va 
29
Hickstord Raid, Va  , .
146
Hatcher's Run, Va 
Appomattox Campaign, -Va  , . .
3
Appomattox Court House 
Totalloss 
2
51
3
34
22
272
23
266
673
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