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91st Regiment, New York Infantry


HISTORICAL NOTES: The 91st Regiment, New York Infantry, the Albany regiment, was recruited mainly at Albany, Redford, Hudson, Schenectady, Hillsdale, Chatham and Castleton, and was mustered in at Albany from Sept. to Dec., 1861, for three years. It left the state for Washington Jan. 9, 1862, was quartered there for a short time, then embarked for Fort Pickens, Fla., and was next ordered to Louisiana, where it served in the 1st brigade, 4th division, 19th corps. It was stationed at Fort Jackson, La., in July, 1863, equipped as heavy artillery, and was active with heavy loss during the siege of Port Hudson. A sufficient number of the regiment reenlisted to secure its continuance in the field as a veteran regiment and in the autumn of 1864, it returned to Baltimore, where it was assigned to the 2nd separate brigade, 8th corps. In March, 1865, the regiment, with the exception of one company which remained at Baltimore, was ordered to Petersburg, where it participated in the closing operations of the siege with the 1st brigade, 3d division, 5th corps, and lost 230 in the Appomattox campaign. The regiment was mustered out near Washington, July 3, 1865, having lost during its term of service 114 by death from wounds and 188 from other causes.

In the fall of 1864, Orville Wood, a merchant from Clinton County and supporter of Abraham Lincoln in the 1864 presidential election, was tasked to visit hometown troops and "look after the local ticket." After he arrived at Fort McHenry to visit the 91st, an Army captain suggested there had been some "checker playing" in gathering soldiers' mail-in ballots. Wood was later told by Moses Ferry, representative of Democratic governor Horatio Seymour in Baltimore, that the ballots had already been counted: 400 for Democratic candidate and former Army of the Potomac commander George McClellan and only 11 for Lincoln. 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. OFFICERS: Colonels:
  • Jacob Van Zandt - Court Martialed and dismissed, Feb. 1865.
  • Jonathan Tar-bell Lieut-Colonels
  • Jonathan Tarbell
  • William J. Denslow Majors
  • Charles G. Clark
  • George W. Stackhouse
  • William J. Denslow
  • Alfred Wagstaff, Jr.
    • ASSIGNMENTS: • Attached to Brannan's Command, District of Florida, to March, 1862.
    • District of Key West, Fla., Dept. of the South, to August, 1862.
    • District of West Florida, Dept. of the Gulf, to December, 1862.
    • Grover's Division, Dept. of the Gulf, to January, 1863.
    • 1st Brigade, 3rd Division, 19th Army Corps, Dept. of the Gulf, to January, 1863.
    • 2nd Brigade, 4th Division, 19th Army Corps, to March, 1863.
    • 1st Brigade, 4th Division, 19th Army Corps, to July, 1863.
    • Garrison at Fort Jackson, Defenses of New Orleans, Dept. of the Gulf, to October, 1864.
    • Defenses of Baltimore, Md., 8th Army Corps, Middle Department, to February, 1865.
    • 1st Brigade, 3rd Division, 5th Army Corps, Army of the Potomac, to June, 1865.
    • 3rd Brigade, 3rd Division, 5th Army Corps, to July, 1865.
     SERVICE: Duty at Key West, Fort Pickens and Pensacola, Fla., until December, 1862. Expedition from Pensacola to Bagdad and Milton, Fla., August 7-10 (Cos. "I" and "K"). Action at Gonzales, Fla., October 27. Ordered to New Orleans, La., December; thence to Baton Rouge, La., and occupation of that city December 17. Duty at Baton Rouge, La., until March, 1863. Operations against Port Hudson March 7-27. Moved to Donaldsonville March 26, thence to Brashear City. Operations in Western Louisiana April 9-May 14. Teche Campaign April 11-20. Madam Porter's and McWilliams' Plantations at Indian Bend April 13. Irish Bend April 14. Vermillion Bayou April 17. Opelousas April 20. Siege of Port Hudson May 24-July 9. Assaults on Port Hudson May 27 and June 14. Surrender of Port Hudson July 9. Kock's Plantation, Donaldsonville, Bayou LaFourche, July 12-13. Duty at Fort Jackson, Defenses of New Orleans, as garrison from July, 1863, to August, 1864. On Veteran furlough until October. Duty at Baltimore, Md., Middle Department, until February, 1865. Ordered to join Army of the Potomac before Petersburg, Va. Siege of Petersburg March 1-April 2. Appomattox Campaign March 28-April 9. Lewis Farm, near Gravelly Run, March 29. Boydton and White Oak Roads March 30-31. Five Forks April 1. Fall of Petersburg April 2. Pursuit of Lee April 3-9. Appomattox Court House April 9. Surrender of Lee and his army. March to Washington, D.C., May 1-12. Grand Review May 23. Duty at Washington until July. (Co. "E" detached at Baltimore, Md., October, 1864, to July, 1865.) Mustered out July 3, 1865. ROSTERS:
    The composite rosters of this unit contains the names of 3821 men.

  • Company A - (Albany), Albany County
  • Company B - (Albany), Albany County
  • Company C - (Redford), Clinton County and (Albany), Albany County
  • Company D - (Albany), Albany County
  • Company E - (Hudson), Columbia County and (Albany), Albany County
  • Company F - (Albany), Albany County
  • Company G - (Schenectady), Schenectady County
  • Company H - (Albany), Albany County and (Hillsdale), Columbia County
  • Company I - (Albany), Albany County, (Chatham), Columbia County, (Castleton), Rensselaer County and (Hudson), Columbia County
    • BIBLIOGRAPHY:







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