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The 62nd New York Infantry Regiment 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 mar ...
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 conscript ...
that served in 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 of the collective states. It proved essential to th ...
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 ...
. It is also known as the Anderson Zouaves.
Organization
It was raised under special authority of the War Department in New York City by
Col. John Lafayette Riker
John Lafayette Riker (August 15, 1824 – May 31, 1862) was an American attorney and an officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He was killed in action at the Battle of Fair Oaks during the Peninsula Campaign.
Early life
Joh ...
in May and June 1861, in response to President
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...
's call for
75,000 volunteers
On April 15, 1861, at the start of the American Civil War, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln called for a 75,000-man militia to serve for three months following the bombardment and surrender of Fort Sumter. Some southern states refused to send tro ...
to suppress the insurrection in the rebellious Southern states of the United States of America. The regiment was named in honor of, and raised under the auspices of,
Major Robert Anderson
Robert Anderson (June 14, 1805 – October 26, 1871) was a United States Army officer during the American Civil War. He was the Union commander in the first battle of the American Civil War at Fort Sumter in April 1861 when the Confederates bomb ...
, "the hero of
Fort Sumter
Fort Sumter is a sea fort built on an artificial island protecting Charleston, South Carolina from naval invasion. Its origin dates to the War of 1812 when the British invaded Washington by sea. It was still incomplete in 1861 when the Battle ...
". The regiment was later numerically designated the Sixty-second New York State Volunteers.
The regiment was mustered in at Saltersville (now part of
Bayonne),
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
on June 30 and July 1, 1861.
Service
The regiment left New York from its Camp Astor on Rikers Island on August 21, 1861. The regiment embarked upon the steamer ''Kill Van Kull'' by which the men and the camp equipment were transported the
Elizabethport New Jersey, from where the regiment was transported to Washington, D.C. by the
Central Railroad of New Jersey
The Central Railroad of New Jersey, also known as the Jersey Central or Jersey Central Lines , was a Class I railroad with origins in the 1830s. It was absorbed into Conrail in April 1976 along with several other prominent bankrupt railroads of ...
. The regiment arrived in Baltimore at 9am the next morning where they disembarked in order to change trains. On their march through the town the regiment was cheered by the crowd. By 1pm the regiment and its equipment had been transferred to the carriages at the south bound depot and by late that day the regiment arrived in Washington.
On August 23, the Anderson Zouaves marched through Washington and on to
Meridian Hill where they were reviewed the next day by
William H. Seward
William Henry Seward (May 16, 1801 – October 10, 1872) was an American politician who served as United States Secretary of State from 1861 to 1869, and earlier served as governor of New York and as a United States Senator. A determined oppon ...
. On September 13, 1861, the regiment was brigaded with the
6th New Jersey, the
55th New York, aka the Gardes Lafayette and the
102nd Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment (the Old 13th Pittsburgh Washington Infantry), under the command of General
John J. Peck.
On September 26, the regiment broke camp in abeyance to an order received the previous evening and marched two or three miles to the village of
Kalorama on Rock Creek, where, on the rocky, sloping ground of Swartz' Farm the brigade established Camp Holt.
After two weeks in this location, October 9, 1861, the Anderson Zouaves along with the rest of Peck's brigade was moved to
Tennallytown where it replaced McCall's Division of the Pennsylvania Reserves, which had crossed the
Chain Bridge
A chain bridge is a historic form of suspension bridge for which chains or eyebars were used instead of wire ropes to carry the bridge deck. A famous example is the Széchenyi Chain Bridge in Budapest.
Construction types are, as for other suspen ...
into Virginia the day previous.
On October 1, 1861, while at Camp Tennally, the regiment's Lieutenant Colonel, William S. Tisdale, was discharged due to disability and was replaced by
David J. Nevin, the captain of company "D".
The Anderson Zouaves spent the winter in camp at Tennallytown, until it took part in the
Advance on Manassas on March 10, 1862. The regiment marched to Prospect Hill where it lay for three days, before returning to its old camp at Tennallytown.
On March 26, the regiment deployed to McClellan's
Peninsula Campaign aboard transports at Georgetown harbor.
The Anderson Zouaves fought at
Gettysburg.
The regiment was mustered out at
Fort Schuyler
Fort Schuyler is a preserved 19th century fortification in the New York City borough of the Bronx. It houses a museum, the Stephen B. Luce Library, and the Marine Transportation Department and Administrative offices of the State University o ...
,
New York Harbor, on August 30, 1865. It lost during its term of service 3 officers and 85 enlisted men killed and mortally wounded, and 2 officers and 82 enlisted men by disease; total 172.
Three members of the regiment were awarded the
Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valo ...
:
Edward Brown, Jr.,
James R. Evans and
Charles. E. Morse.
See also
*
List of New York Civil War regiments
The following units served the Union Army during the American Civil War.
Infantry
Militia infantry
Cavalry
Artillery
1st New York Light Artillery
* Battery A, 1st New York Light Artillery
* Battery B, 1st New York Lig ...
External links
New York State Military Museum and Veterans Research Center - Civil War - 62nd Infantry RegimentHistory, photographs, table of battles and casualties, monument at Gettysburg, historical sketch, newspaper clippings, and infantry flank markers for the 62nd New York Infantry Regiment.
Infantry 062
1861 establishments in New York (state)
Military units and formations established in 1861
Military units and formations disestablished in 1865