William A. Harn commanded a New York artillery battery in 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 ...

Pre war

William Harn was born in 1833/34.

Formation of the 3rd New York Battery

The 3rd New York Battery began its existence as Company D of the 2nd New York State Militia Regiment. It was designated a

howitzer A howitzer () is a long- ranged weapon, falling between a cannon (also known as an artillery gun in the United States), which fires shells at flat trajectories, and a mortar, which fires at high angles of ascent and descent. Howitzers, like ot ...

company. It was sent to

Washington, D.C. ) , 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, ...

, with the regiment, which became the

82nd New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment The 82nd New York Infantry Regiment, the "Second Militia," "Second Regiment N. Y. S. Light Infantry," or "State Guards", was an infantry regiment of the Union Army during the American Civil War. Service The 2d Regiment Militia failing to be order ...

. Led by

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Thaddeus P. Mott, the company left New York State on May 19, 1861. Shortly after the regiment was mustered into federal service on June 17, the company was detached and organized as a battery of light artillery. On December 7, 1861, the unit was designated the 3rd New York Independent Battery. The battery served in the defenses of Washington until March 17, 1862, when it was sent south to serve in the Peninsula Campaign. The battery was assigned to

Brig. Gen. Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed to ...

William F. Smith's division of the

Army of the Potomac The Army of the Potomac was the principal Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was created in July 1861 shortly after the First Battle of Bull Run and was disbanded in June 1865 following the surrender of the Confedera ...

in January of that year, and the division had joined the IV Corps in March 1862. The division joined the

VI Corps 6 Corps, 6th Corps, Sixth Corps, or VI Corps may refer to: France * VI Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry formation of the Imperial French army during the Napoleonic Wars * VI Corps (Grande Armée), a formation of the Imperial French army dur ...

when it was formed in May 1862. It first saw combat under Capt. Mott at the

Battle of Yorktown The Siege of Yorktown, also known as the Battle of Yorktown, the surrender at Yorktown, or the German battle (from the presence of Germans in all three armies), beginning on September 28, 1781, and ending on October 19, 1781, at Yorktown, Virgi ...

, and it was heavily engaged in the

Battle of Williamsburg The Battle of Williamsburg, also known as the Battle of Fort Magruder, took place on May 5, 1862, in York County, James City County, and Williamsburg, Virginia, as part of the Peninsula Campaign of the American Civil War. It was the first pitc ...

. The battery was engaged during the Seven Days Battles, including at the Battle of White Oak Swamp and the

Battle of Malvern Hill The Battle of Malvern Hill, also known as the Battle of Poindexter's Farm, was fought on July 1, 1862, between the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, led by Gen. Robert E. Lee, and the Union Army of the Potomac under Maj. Gen. George B. Mc ...

. Mott resigned soon thereafter. Lt. William Stuart was in command in the Maryland Campaign, in which the battery served with the division of Brig. Gen.

Darius N. Couch Darius Nash Couch (July 23, 1822 – February 12, 1897) was an American soldier, businessman, and naturalist. He served as a career U.S. Army officer during the Mexican–American War, the Second Seminole War, and as a general officer in the Uni ...

William Harn’s Command of the Battery

Harn took charge of the battery late in 1862, commanding it in the division of Brig. Gen. Albion Howe at the

Battle of Fredericksburg The Battle of Fredericksburg was fought December 11–15, 1862, in and around Fredericksburg, Virginia, in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. The combat, between the Union Army of the Potomac commanded by Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnsi ...

. Harn previously had been a lieutenant in the 1st New York Light Artillery Regiment. Commissioned first lieutenant of Battery E on March 1, 1862, Harn had moved to Battery G on April 13 of the same year. He transferred to the 3rd New York Independent Battery in late 1862 but was not commissioned captain until April 13, 1863. Under Harn's command, the battery served with the Light Division of Col.

Hiram Burnham Hiram Burnham (1814 – September 29, 1864) was an officer in the Union Army who commanded a regiment and then a brigade in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War, Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. He was killed in battle while a ...

at the Second Battle of Fredericksburg and the Battle of Salem Church. In the artillery brigade of VI Corps, the 3rd New York served at the

Battle of Gettysburg The Battle of Gettysburg () was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, by Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War. In the battle, Union Major General George Meade's Army of the Po ...

. The battery then participated in the Bristoe Campaign, especially at the

Battle of Rappahannock Station The Second Battle of Rappahannock Station took place on November 7, 1863, near the village of Rappahannock Station (now Remington, Virginia), on the Orange and Alexandria Railroad. It was between Confederate forces under Maj. Gen. Jubal Early ...

, and at the Battle of Mine Run. Harn's battery remained in VI Corps in 1864, participating in the Overland Campaign. It then participated in the Siege of Petersburg, not campaigning with

Maj. Gen. Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

Philip Sheridan General of the Army Philip Henry Sheridan (March 6, 1831 – August 5, 1888) was a career United States Army officer and a Union general in the American Civil War. His career was noted for his rapid rise to major general and his close as ...

in the campaign of the Army of the Shenandoah. When the VI Corps returned to the Petersburg front, Harn's battery rejoined its artillery brigade. In that formation, it participated in the Third Battle of Petersburg and in breaking a Confederate attack at the

Battle of Sailor's Creek The Battle of Sailor's Creek was fought on April 6, 1865, near Farmville, Virginia, as part of the Appomattox Campaign, near the end of the American Civil War. It was the last major engagement between the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, c ...

during the Appomattox Campaign. Phisterer, Frederick. ''New York in the War of the Rebellion'', vol. 2, Albany, NY: J.B. Lyon Co., 1912. p. 1566. Capt. Harn was dismissed from the service on April 5, 1864, but he was reinstated on April 20. Harn received a brevet major appointment for his actions at the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House and the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign. Phisterer, Frederick. ''New York in the War of the Rebellion, 1861-1862'', vol. 2. Albany, NY: J.B. Lyon Co., 1912. p. 393. He was mustered out on June 24, 1865.

Post war

Harn became keeper of a lighthouse, St. Augustine Light in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, beginning October 1875. The keeper's house was constructed during his tenure at the lighthouse. The Harns earned a reputation for hospitality, including by serving lemonade to visitors. William Harn died of

Tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

on May 31, 1889, at the age of 55 and was buried in Evergreen Cemetery, Saint Augustine. The monument to Harn's battery in the

Gettysburg National Military Park The Gettysburg National Military Park protects and interprets the landscape of the 1863 Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War. Located in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, the park is managed by the National Park Service. The GNMP propert ...

, on the Taneytown Road, was made by the

Smith Granite Company Smith Granite Company In 1845 Orlando Smith discovered a granite outcrop on the property owned by Joshua Babcock in Westerly, Rhode Island, and a year later purchased the site from him. He established a granite quarry shortly thereafter and by ...

Notes

References

* Parsons, Philip W., ''The Union Sixth Corps in the Chancellorsville Campaign'', Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2006. * Phisterer, Frederick, ''New York in the War of the Rebellion'', 6 vols., Albany, J.B. Lyon company, state printers, 1912. {{DEFAULTSORT:Harn, William A. Union Army officers People of New York (state) in the American Civil War 1830s births 1889 deaths