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Broome County NY Civil War Units - 161st

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This is a very brief overview of the 161st NY.

The regiment was recruited from a legislative or state senatorial district that included Broome Co. There were men from Tioga, Chemung, Steuben, and Allegany as well as Broome Co, and men from Tioga and Bradford Co, PA, were credited to towns all over the district.

The 161st didn't fight in any of the famous eastern battles, but along the Mississippi River at places that are now mostly forgotten. The regiment was organized in 1862, officers went to recruit companies from different towns. Replacements in 1863 and 1864 were recruited wherever they could be found, but enlistments in 1862 were mostly from these places:

Company A	Urbana, Pulteney, Prattsburgh, Wheeler
	B	Elmira, Watkins, Reading, Dix, Tyrone, Benton, Hector
	C	Elmira
	D	Bath
	E	Hornelsville, Hector, Binghamton, Catharine, Colesville
	F	Bath, Howard
	G	Corning, Elmira, Binghamton, Watkins, Reynoldsvlle
	H	Woodhull, Jasper, Greenwood, Troupsburg
	I	Cohocton, Avoca
	K	Norwich, Columbus, Guilford, North Norwich, New Berlin, Cazenovia
	(There was no Company J in regiments in the Civil War.) 

Outline history of 161st N. Y. Vol. Inf. Regt., from the New York State Adjutant General's Report --

1862	Aug-Sept Recruited
	Nov	Typhoid epidemic with many deaths at Elmira
	Nov-Dec	Many desertions at Elmira and New York City
	Dec	Travelled to Louisiana

1863	Apr	Attack on Port Hudson with many casualties
		Battle at Donaldsonville with many casualties
		Many deaths from illness at New Iberia
	Autumn	Attack on Sabine Pass with many captured

1863-4	Dec-Mar	New recruits
	Mar-May	Red River Campaign

1864	Apr	Battle of Sabine Cross Roads, many wounded and captured
	Summer	Many deaths from "chronic diarrhea" at Morganza
	Sept	New recruits

1865	Jan	Steamboat accident with drownings and injuries
	Mar-Apr	Mobile Campaign
	June	Travelled to Florida
	Sept	Many men mustered out
	Nov	Remaining men mustered out 

Pete Schilling told me he is willing to act as a contact for information on the 161st. He has been kind enough to supply me with most of the information on this page about the 161st.

Rich MacAlpine has also told me he is willing to act as a contact for information on the 161st. He has a copy of John W. Merwin's Roster and Monograph for the 161st and can easily look up names and provide other information about the regiment.

Conrad Bush has also volunteered to serve as a contact for information on the 161st. In addition to his regular e-mail address (linked above), he supplied a regular mail address:
Conrad Bush
1940 Reading Road
West Falls, NY 14170

Additional information on the 161st can also be found in the following references:
(these works are available many places and in particular Carlisle Barracks)

Dyer, Frederick H. A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion. Vol. 2. Dayton, OH: Morningside, 1979. Ref.
      See p. 1465 (1 photocopied page) for a concise summary of the regiment's service.

Jones, William E. The Military History of the One Hundred & Sixty-first New York Volunteers, Infantry, From August 15th, 1862, to October l7th, l865. Bath, NY: Hull & Barnes, 1865. 64 p. (31 photocopied pages). E523.5.l6lst.J65.

New York (State). AGO. Annual Report...for the Year 1904. No. 40. Albany, NY: Brandow, 1905. pp. 743-902. E523.2N6no40. (Alphabetical roster of the regiment).

Phisterer, Frederick, comp. New York in the War of the Rebellion, 1861-1865. Vol. 5. Albany, NY: Weed and Parsons, 1890. E523P582v5.
      See pp. 3879-89 (11 photocopied pages) for a brief history of the regiment and a roster of officers.

Carlisle Barracks also has 31 photographs of people in this unit, along with a letter written by John F. Philip on May 3, 1863. Follow this link to find an alphabetical list of those people.

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