The 132nd New York Infantry Regiment, the "Second Regiment, Spinola's Empire Brigade"; or "Hillhouse Light Infantry", was an

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscripted ...

of the

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

Service

The regiment was raised in July 1862, and was finally organized at East New York by consolidating with the

Thurlow Weed Edward Thurlow Weed (November 15, 1797 – November 22, 1882) was a printer, New York newspaper publisher, and Whig and Republican politician. He was the principal political advisor to prominent New York politician William H. Seward and was ins ...

Guards as part of the Spinola Brigade, and nearly all the men recruited for the 53d N. Y. Volunteers, second organization; it was mustered in for three years October 4, 1862, at

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

; June 15, 1865, the men not to be mustered out with the regiment were transferred to the 99th Infantry. The companies were recruited principally: * A at

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

and Newtown; * B, F, I and K at New York City, Brooklyn and

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...

; * C and E at New York City; * D at Brooklyn, Buffalo, Lewiston and the reservations of the Allegany, Cattaraugus and

Tuscarora Tuscarora may refer to the following: First nations and Native American people and culture * Tuscarora people **''Federal Power Commission v. Tuscarora Indian Nation'' (1960) * Tuscarora language, an Iroquoian language of the Tuscarora people * ...

Indians; * G at

Suspension Bridge A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck (bridge), deck is hung below suspension wire rope, cables on vertical suspenders. The first modern examples of this type of bridge were built in the early 1800s. Simple suspension bridg ...

, Buffalo, New York City and Brooklyn; and * H at New York city,

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...

, Buffalo and

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the five most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

. The regiment left the state and served at and near Washington from September, 1862; at

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...

, then

Suffolk, Virginia Suffolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and as such has no county. As of the 2020 census, the population was 94,324. It is the 9th most populous city in Virginia and the largest city in Virginia by boundary land area as ...

, from October, 1862; in the 1st Spinola Brigade, 5th Division, 18th Corps, from December, 1862; in the 2d Brigade, 5th Division, 18th Corps, from March, 1863; unattached, on outpost duty, near

New Bern, North Carolina New Bern, formerly called Newbern, is a city in Craven County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 29,524, which had risen to an estimated 29,994 as of 2019. It is the county seat of Craven County and t ...

, from May, 1863; in Palmer's Brigade, Peck's Division, 18th Corps, from January, 1864; in

Department of Virginia and North Carolina The Department of Virginia and North Carolina was a United States Military department encompassing Union-occupied territory in the Confederate States during the Civil War. In 1863 it was formed by the merging of two previously existing departmen ...

, from April, 1864; in the Provisional Corps, North Carolina, from March I, 1865; in the 1st Brigade, 2d Division, 23d Corps, from April 2, 1865; at

Salisbury, North Carolina Salisbury is a city in the Piedmont region of North Carolina, United States; it has been the county seat of Rowan County since 1753 when its territory extended to the Mississippi River. Located northeast of Charlotte and within its metropolita ...

, from May, 1865; and was honorably discharged and mustered out, June 29, 1865, at Salisbury. The regiment spent nearly its entire term of service in North Carolina, engaged in outpost and garrison duty. The regiment took part in engagements at various locations in the state, and in the Carolinas Campaign at Wise's Forks, Snow Hill, and Bennett's House. The regiment sustained its worst losses at the battle of New Bern in February, 1864, when it lost 91 killed, wounded and missing. During this battle, three companies defended the bridge on Bachelor's Creek (a tributary of the Neuse River) against three successive attacks of the enemy, but were finally forced to retire when the enemy was reinforced, after 4 hours of hard fighting. The 132nd is credited with saving New Bern from capture on this occasion. Lieut. Arnold Zenette, the only commissioned officer killed, fell in this action. At the battle of Wise's Forks the regiment lost 24 killed, wounded and missing. Company D was known as the Tuscarora Company, being led by Lieutenant Cornelius C. Cusick, a chief of the Tuscarora.

Total strength and casualties

The regiment left the state about 900 strong; during its service the regiment lost by death, killed in action, 1 officer, 6 enlisted men; of wounds received in action, 7 enlisted men; of disease and other causes, 1 officer, 159 enlisted men; total, 2 officers, 172 enlisted men; aggregate, 174; of whom 71 enlisted men died in the hands of the enemy, and 28 through the accidental explosion of torpedoes at Bachellor's Creek, North Carolina, May 26, 1864. Among the troops were a number of men of color enlisted as cooks in 1863 and 1864 at New Berne, N.C.132nd Infantry Unit Roster
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Commanders

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

Peter J. Claassen *

Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

Charles E. Prescott * Lieutenant Colonel George H. Hitchcock

Notes

References

The Civil War Archive

External links

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20150610210524/http://www.civilwarintheeast.com/USA/NY/NY132.php Civil War in the East 132nd New York Infantry Regiment "2nd Regiment Empire Brigade "br>National Park Service Regiment Details UNION NEW YORK VOLUNTEERSHeadquarters, Outposts, Bachelor's Creek Near New Bern, NC Pencil sketch done in 1863 by its commander, George H. HitchcockAccount of the Battle of Bachelor’s Creek, NC with sketch by American Indian Union officer #cw150
{{American Civil War , expanded=CTCBS Infantry 132 1862 establishments in New York (state) Military units and formations established in 1862 Military units and formations disestablished in 1865