70th New York Infantry Regiment

The 70th New York Infantry Regiment was one of five infantry regiments formed by former U.S. Congressman Daniel Sickles[lower-roman 1][2] and established as part of the Excelsior Brigade which fought with the Union Army during multiple key engagements of the American Civil War, including the Chancellorsville, Gettysburg and Overland campaigns. Leaders from the 70th New York recruited men from New Jersey, as well as from cities and small towns across the State of New York.

70th New York Infantry Regiment
ActiveJune 1861 – July 1, 1864
CountryUnited States of America
BranchUnion Army (Excelsior Brigade)
TypeInfantry
Size1,100
Nickname(s)"First Excelsior Regiment"
EngagementsAmerican Civil War:
Commanders
ColonelJ. Egbert Farnum
Lieutenant ColonelWilliam Dwight Jr.[1]
Insignia
2nd Division, III Corps
4th Division, II Corps
3rd Division, II Corps
New York U.S. Volunteer Infantry Regiments 1861-1865
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69th New York Infantry Regiment 71st New York Infantry Regiment
Col. William Dwight Jr. inspecting the 70th New York Infantry, 1862
Second Lieutenant Charles T. Dwight of Co. B, 70th New York Infantry Regiment. From the Liljenquist Family Collection of Civil War Photographs, Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress

Service

The regiment was organized in New York City in May 1861 under the authority of the War Department as the 1st Regiment, Sickles' Brigade, at Camp Scott on Staten Island. It mustered into service on June 20, 1861.[3] The 70th left the state for Washington, D.C., on July 23, 1861.[4] It was subsequently attached to Sickles' Brigade, Division of the Potomac, until October, 1861. Then, it was reassigned to Sickles' Brigade, Hooker's Division, Army of the Potomac, until March 1862. (It was formally designated as the 70th Regiment New York Infantry on December 11, 1861.) The 70th was part of the 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, Third Army Corps, Army of the Potomac, until March 1864. Then it was in the 2nd Brigade, 4th Division, Second Army Corps until May 1864. It finished the war in the 4th Brigade, 3rd Division, Second Army Corps, until July 1864.

Ordered to New York for muster out June 22, 1864. Veterans and Recruits were transferred to the 86th New York Infantry. The 70th mustered out on July 7, 1864, to date from July 1, 1864, after the expiration of its three-year term of enlistment.

The regiment lost during service 9 officers and 181 enlisted men killed and mortally wounded, and 2 officers and 62 enlisted men by disease for a total of 254 fatalities.[5][6]

Commanding officers and other notable members

See also

Footnotes
  1. Born to a wealthy family in New York City, Sickles was involved in a number of scandals, most notably the 1859 homicide of his wife's lover, U.S. Attorney Philip Barton Key II, whom Sickles gunned down in broad daylight in Lafayette Square, across the street from the White House. He was acquitted after using temporary insanity as a legal defense for the first time in United States history.< br /> Upon the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, Sickles became one of the war's most prominent political generals, recruiting the New York regiments that became known as the Excelsior Brigade in the Army of the Potomac. Despite his lack of military experience, he served as a brigade, division, and corps commander in some of the early Eastern campaigns.

Citations
  1. Federal Publishing Company (1908), p. 102.
  2. Phisterer (1912), p. 2709.
  3. Civil War in the East, 70th New York Volunteer.
  4. Dyer (1908), p. 1431; Phisterer (1912), pp. 2709–2710.
  5. NYSMM, (2019).
  6. CWA, 70th Regiment Infantry "1st Excelsior"(2016).

References
  • Dyer, Frederick Henry (1908). A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion (PDF). Des Moines, IA: Dyer Pub. Co. pp. 29, 43, 192, 277, 293, 296, 1431. ASIN B01BUFJ76Q. Retrieved August 8, 2015.Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  • Federal Publishing Company (1908). Military Affairs and Regimental Histories of New York, Maryland, West Virginia, And Ohio (PDF). The Union Army: A History of Military Affairs in the Loyal States, 1861–65 – Records of the Regiments in the Union army – Cyclopedia of battles – Memoirs of Commanders and Soldiers. Vol. I. Madison, WI: Federal Publishing Company. p. 102. OCLC 1086145633.Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  • Foner, Eric (1988). Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877. New York, New York: Harper & Row. ISBN 0-06-091453-X.
  • Phisterer, Frederick (1912). Seventieth Regiment of Infantry - One Hundred and Twenty-Eighth Regiment of Infantry (PDF). New York in the War of Rebellion, 1861-1865. Vol. 4 (3rd ed.). Albany, NY: J. B. Lyon Company, State Printers. pp. 2709–2722. LCCN 14013311. OCLC 1359922. Retrieved 2023-04-06.Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  • "70th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment". The Civil War in the East. 2016. Archived from the original on 2017-03-04. Retrieved December 17, 2020.
  • "70th Infantry Regiment: New York State Military Museum and Veterans Research Center". New York Division of Military and Naval Affairs. 2019. Retrieved 2020-04-08.
  • "70th Regiment Infantry "1st Excelsior"". The Civil War Archives. American Civil War Archive. 2016. Retrieved 2017-04-08.
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