16th Regiment New York Volunteer Cavalry
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The 16th New York Cavalry Regiment was a
cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...
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 ...
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 (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 ...
. A detachment of the 16th New York had the distinction of killing Lincoln assassin
John Wilkes Booth John Wilkes Booth (May 10, 1838 – April 26, 1865) was an American stage actor who assassinated United States President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865. A member of the prominent 19th-century Booth th ...
and apprehending accomplice
David Herold David Edgar Herold (June 16, 1842 – July 7, 1865) was an American pharmacist's assistant and accomplice of John Wilkes Booth in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1865. After the shooting, Herold accompanied Booth to the home of ...
.


Service

The regiment was organized in
Plattsburgh, New York Plattsburgh ( moh, Tsi ietsénhtha) is a city in, and the seat of, Clinton County, New York, United States, situated on the north-western shore of Lake Champlain. The population was 19,841 at the 2020 census. The population of the surrounding ...
, and mustered into service from June 19 to September 15, 1863. Consisting of eleven companies of cavalry, Companies A, B, C, and D of the 16th New York took part in the Gettysburg Campaign. The regiment was then dispatched to the defense of
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, Na ...
and assigned to the Cavalry Brigade of the XXII Corps of the Department of Washington. Until the end of the Civil War, the 16th New York was repeatedly in action in Northern Virginia and fought a number of engagements against Confederate cavalry commanded by
John Singleton Mosby John Singleton Mosby (December 6, 1833 – May 30, 1916), also known by his nickname "Gray Ghost", was a Confederate army cavalry battalion commander in the American Civil War. His command, the 43rd Battalion, Virginia Cavalry, known as Mosby's ...
. On August 8, 1864, Capt. James H. Fleming of Company M was killed in action near
Fairfax, Virginia The City of Fairfax ( ), colloquially known as Fairfax City, Downtown Fairfax, Old Town Fairfax, Fairfax Courthouse, FFX, or simply Fairfax, is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth ...
. Fleming was the only officer of the 16th New York Cavalry to die in the Civil War. Before dawn on April 26, 1865, a detachment of the 16th New York Cavalry under the command of Lt.
Edward P. Doherty Edward Paul Doherty (September 26, 1838 – April 3, 1897) was a Canadian-American American Civil War officer who formed and led the detachment of soldiers that captured and killed John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of US President Abraham Lincol ...
cornered Lincoln assassins Booth and Herold in a tobacco barn near
Port Royal, Virginia Port Royal is an incorporated town in Caroline County, Virginia, United States. The population was 126 at the 2010 census. Port Royal was established in the mid-17th century in the Colony of Virginia primarily as a port at the head of the naviga ...
. Herold surrendered but Booth refused and was shot by Sgt.
Boston Corbett Thomas H. "Boston" Corbett (January 29, 1832 – presumed dead September 1, 1894) was an American Union Army soldier who shot and killed U.S. president Abraham Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth. Corbett was initially arrested for disob ...
. Each of the 26 enlisted men of the 16th Cavalry that participated in the capture received $1,658.58 in reward money. On August 17, 1865, the 16th New York Cavalry was consolidated with the 13th Regiment New York Volunteer Cavalry; the new organization receiving the designation, 3rd Regiment New York Provisional Cavalry.


Mail-in ballot fraud scheme

In the fall of 1864, Orville Wood, a merchant from
Clinton County Clinton County may refer to: *Counties named for George Clinton, first and third Governor of New York, and later the fourth Vice President of the United States: **Clinton County, New York **Clinton County, Ohio *Counties named for DeWitt Clinton, s ...
and supporter of
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 ...
in the 1864 presidential election, was tasked to visit hometown troops and "look after the local ticket." After seeing evidence of mail-in ballot fraud in another regiment and a hospital, Wood gained the trust of Moses Ferry, representative of Democratic Governor
Horatio Seymour Horatio Seymour (May 31, 1810February 12, 1886) was an American politician. He served as Governor of New York from 1853 to 1854 and from 1863 to 1864. He was the Democratic Party nominee for president in the 1868 United States presidential elec ...
in
Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
, and set out to expose the fraud. At Ferry's direction, Wood forged signatures of the 16th New York Cavalry while a clerk sat across from him signing ballots with names from a roster Wood brought from home. Wood reported this and other such operations he discovered to authorities, and less than two weeks before the election on October 27, 1864, Ferry and another political operative named Edward Donahue Jr. were tried before a military commission. Ferry confessed and offered up names of other conspirators, while Donahue continued to trial and was convicted, partly on Wood's testimony. Both were sentenced to life in prison, with Lincoln's approval.


Total strength and casualties

The regiment suffered 1 officer and 20 enlisted men who were killed in action or mortally wounded and 119 enlisted men who died of disease, for a total of 140 fatalities.http://dmna.ny.gov/historic/reghist/civil/cavalry/16thCav/16thCavMain.htm New York State Military Museum and Veterans Research Center


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 ...
Henry M. Lazelle * Colonel Nelson Bowman Sweitzer


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 Light ...


Notes


References


The Civil War Archive
* ttp://www.civilwarindex.com/armyny/16th_ny_cavalry.html Regimental history from The Union Army*


External links

{{Fairfax County in the American Civil War Cavalry 016 1863 establishments in New York (state) Military units and formations established in 1863 Military units and formations disestablished in 1865