The Hardtack Regiment

154th New York Volunteer Infantry

Welcome to the Hardtack Regiment Web site. This page has been established to serve as a link between people who are interested in the Civil War history of the 154th New York Volunteer Infantry, particularly those who are descended from members of the regiment, and me--the historian of the 154th, Mark H. Dunkelman.

My interest in the 154th began during my childhood in western New York, in the 1950s and '60s, when I learned that my great-grandfather, Corporal John Langhans of Company H (pictured above, click on image to enlarge), was a veteran of the regiment. I soon discovered that the 154th New York's legacy was neglected--a situation I determined to change. An extensive search has enabled me to contact more than 900 descendants of members of the 154th, who in turn have graciously allowed me access to more than 1,400 wartime letters, more than a score of diaries and accounts, and portraits of more than 200 members of the regiment. Since 1986, we descendants of the 154th New York have been gathering to represent and remember our ancestors at annual reunions I have organized in Cattaraugus and Chautauqua Counties, New York, where the regiment was raised. For summaries of our reunions to date, please click on the link at the bottom of this page. To mark our tenth reunion we raised funds and erected and dedicated a monument to our ancestors at Chancellorsville, Virginia, the 154th's bloodiest battlefield. In 1999 and 2000, I located a large collection of reminiscences of veterans of the 154th in the papers of E. D. Northrup, who wrote a history of the regiment in the postwar decades but failed to have it published. Collectively and individually, the soldiers of the 154th New York offer scores of subjects touching on many aspects of the war. The goal of my research and writing--and other commemorative projects--is to tell their stories, and to make a once-forgotten regiment one of the best-documented units of the Civil War.

Are you descended or related to a member of the 154th New York? If so, please let me hear from you. I would very much like to add you to our ever-expanding roll of descendants of the regiment to represent your ancestor. A complete roster of the members of the 154th follows my list of publications (below). This roster includes the men's vital statistics, where known. (Any additions or corrections are welcome.) I will be able to provide you with their service records, drawn from the regimental descriptive books, muster rolls, returns and miscellaneous papers (which I have on microfilm from the National Archives), augmented in many cases by mentions of them in the wartime letters and diaries of their comrades. Please e-mail me at NYVI154th@aol.com and include your name and postal mailing address, the name of your ancestor, and your exact relationship to him. I will look forward to hearing from you!

It is not my intention to present a history of the 154th New York within the narrow confines of this site. Anyone interested in learning more about what the soldiers of the Hardtack Regiment endured during the war are encouraged to examine the following list of my publications on various aspects of the 154th's history. Suffice it to say here that the 154th earned the battle honors painted on its state flag: Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Lookout Valley, Chattanooga, Knoxville, Atlanta, Savannah, and the Campaign of the Carolinas. Combat casualties in the 154th totaled approximately 630; 232 members of the regiment died in the service, 60 as prisoners of war and another 87 from disease. It is in memory of those men and all who served in the regiment that I have dedicated my work.

The Hardtack Regiment: An Illustrated History of the 154th Regiment, New York State Infantry Volunteers. (East Brunswick, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1981.)* "A highly recommended book for those interested in small unit histories." Civil War Times Illustrated. "A welcome addition to the bookshelves of regimental history collectors and general Civil War students who enjoy a glimpse of the too-often anonymous men who marched, fought, and died in the War." Blue & Gray Magazine. "A worthy addition to the library of any collector of Civil War regimentals." Military Images. "The book is a gem." Buffalo Evening News. (Click on image to enlarge.)

Gettysburg's Unknown Soldier: The Life, Death, and Celebrity of Amos Humiston (Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 1999). He was found dead on the battlefield of Gettysburg, an unknown soldier with nothing to identify him but an ambrotype of his three children, clutched in his hands. With the photograph as the single, sad clue to his identity, a publicity campaign to locate his family swept the North. Within a month, the bereaved widow and children were located in Portville, New York, and the devoted father was revealed to be Sergeant Amos Humiston of the 154th New York Volunteers. Using many previously untapped sources, Gettysburg's Unknown Soldier tells the tale of nineteenth-century war, sentiment, and popular culture in greater detail than ever before. "Mark Dunkelman has told Humiston's story with a verve and sensitivity that will leave no reader unmoved." James M. McPherson. "A compelling narrative that should fascinate all who are interested in the broader, human implications of the tragic events that occurred at Gettysburg in 1863." William A. Frassanito. "The definitive account of one of Gettysburg's best human interest stories." Harry W. Pfanz. For more information or to order a copy of the book, visit the Greenwood Publishing Group Web site. (Click on image to enlarge.)

Brothers One and All: Esprit de Corps in a Civil War Regiment (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2004). "The wealth of soldiers' letters and diaries for the 154th New York that Mark Dunkelman has discovered enables him to get really close to these men and to understand what made them tick. This book offers one of the best analyses of morale and esprit de corps that exists in the vast array of Civil War literature." James M. McPherson. "Dunkelman makes superb use of a wealth of personal accounts by soldiers to give us an unusually rich, intimate portrait of one Union regiment. His analysis rings true, as does his devotion to the history of the 154th New York. This is the only book that looks deeply at the communal spirit which bound soldiers into a 'band of brothers,' and it is a marvelous contribution to our understanding of that spirit." Earl J. Hess. "A marvelous book -- well-researched, well-written, and wise. Dunkelman brings new depth to the study of the Union soldier." Reid Mitchell. "Few if anyone today knows or appreciates a Civil War regiment, its mystique and personnel better than Mark H. Dunkelman. A lifelong romance with the 154th New York Infantry combined with remarkable sleuthing skills has brought to light a treasure trove of soldier and family letters, and articles in local newspapers in the two-county area that the soldiers called home. Blessed with these resources, Dunkelman's Brothers One and All is more than just another unit history. His approach is novel and welcomed, as underscored in the subtitle Esprit de Corps in a Civil War Regiment. Drawing on a multiplicity of sources, Dunkelman in a thought-provoking narrative examines how the soldiers viewed themselves both as individuals and collectively during their evolution from civilians to members of an elite combat unit. As a World War II Marine, I see many parallels, as well as differences, in explaining the development, evolution and importance of unit esprit de corps. Esprit being vital to success in life, as well as war, Dunkelman's book will have a broad appeal to the general public, as well as the corporate and military world." Edwin C. Bearss. For information about the book, visit its page on the Louisiana State University Press Web site. (Click on image to enlarge.)

War's Relentless Hand: Twelve Tales of Civil War Soldiers (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, forthcoming).  In these tales, a happy-go-lucky young fellow falls at Gettysburg; a reluctant soldier is sentenced to doom by red tape; an amputee, lovingly nursed by a Georgian woman, survives the war but later succumbs to his wound as an uncounted casualty; separated parents - a husband serving at the front and a wife left behind at home - agonize as their children come down with a deadly disease; an officer survives a hair-raising escape from the enemy after his capture at Gettysburg, only to be mortally wounded during the Atlanta campaign; a wife frantically awaits news of her wounded and captured husband after Chancellorsville and when he is released and recovers, she dies at home; a veteran is crippled for life by his lengthy confinement under brutally harsh conditions as a prisoner of war; a young volunteer falls prey to insanity; a pensive middle-aged man and his teenaged son are killed at Chancellorsville; a rascal withstands a host of misadventures; a veteran, claiming he was blinded by campfire smoke, is at the center of one of the largest pension scandals of the postwar era; and a private, dying of a ghastly wound received at Chancellorsville, is immortalized by the pen of Walt Whitman.

The Coster Avenue Mural in Gettysburg. (1989) A booklet picturing and describing the 80-foot painting next to the monument to the 154th New York on the Gettysburg battlefield, including a comprehensive account of the action depicted in the mural--the overwhelming attack of two Confederate brigades on Colonel Charles R. Coster's Union brigade at Kuhn's brickyard on the afternoon of July 1, 1863. Softcover, 8 pages, drawings, maps, with full-color cover photos of the mural and monument. Still available, e-mail me at NYVI154th@aol.com for details. (Click on image to enlarge.) For information about a fine art print of the Coster Avenue Mural by Art Masters of Gettysburg, see below.

Colonel Lewis D. Warner: An Appreciation. (Portville, NY: Portville Historical and Preservation Society, 1990.) A tribute written for the observance Colonel Warner Day and the 5th Annual Reunion of Descendants of the 154th New York in Portville, New York, Warner's home town, in July 1990. A biographical sketch of the respected, long-time commander of the regiment, including frequent quotes from Warner's wartime letters and diaries, augmented by the full text of his farewell address to the 154th New York. "An exceptionally vivid and moving portrait of Warner." Jamestown Post-Journal. Softcover, 32 pages, four photographs. Available at $7.50 postpaid. Send check or money order to: Portville Historical & Preservation Society, P.O. Box 59, Portville, NY 14770.

Brothers, Heroes, Martyrs: The Civil War Service of Lewis and George Bishop, Color Bearers of the 154th New York Volunteer Infantry. (Allegany, NY: Allegany Area Historical Association, 1994.) Written for the observance of Heritage Days and the 9th Annual Reunion of Descendants of the of the 154th New York at Allegany, New York, in August 1994. How Lewis Bishop became the 154th New York's first color bearer; his heroism and amazing escape from harm at Chancellorsville; his mortal wounding at Gettysburg; how older brother George Bishop succeeded Lewis as color bearer; and how George duplicated his brother's bravery and fell as he planted the national flag atop the blazing crest of Rocky Face Ridge, Georgia, in a moment never forgotten by the survivors of the Hardtack Regiment. Softcover, 32 pages, two photographs, three period flag cuts. Available at $4.25 postpaid. Send check or money order to: Allegany Area Historical Association, P.O. Box 162, Allegany, NY 14706.

Camp James M. Brown: Jamestown's Civil War Rendezvous. (Jamestown, NY: Fenton Historical Society, 1996.) This booklet presents a detailed account of the organization of the 112th and 154th New York Volunteer Infantry regiments in the summer of 1862, when some 2,100 recruits from Chautauqua and Cattaraugus counties converged at Camp Brown. This history of the rendezvous describes what the new soldiers experienced in the weeks before they were sent to the front, often using their own words. Long since vanished from the city scene, Jamestown's most significant Civil War site is revisited in the pages of Camp James M. Brown. Softcover, 45 pages, four photographs and wrap-around cover photo. Out of print. (Click on image to enlarge.)

"Dedication Ceremonies, Coster Avenue Mural, July 1, 1988, Commemorating the Actions of the 154th New York Volunteer Infantry on July 1, 1863." In Gettysburg: The 125th Anniversary, What They Did Here, by Christian J. Heidorf. (Gansevoort, NY: Harlow & Taylor Associates, 1990.)

Main Address, Dedication of the Amos Humiston Memorial, Gettysburg, July 3, 1993. [Unpublished.]

Main Address, in Dedication of the Chancellorsville Monument to the 154th New York Volunteer Infantry May 26, 1996. (154th New York Monument Fund, 1996.)

"Western New York's Hardtack Heroes," Buffalo Courier Express Magazine, June 30, 1974.

"Colors of the 154th Regiment," The Cattaraugus Times, February 27, 1975.

"Olean host of Civil War Reunion," Independent Olean Press, July 27, 1992. [Profile of Capt. Edward Porter, Co. I.]

"Olean church to be site of reunion of Civil War veterans' descendants," Olean Times Herald, August 3, 1992.

"'I Am About To Inform You That I Am Still Alive,'" Jamestown Post-Journal, August 8, 1992. [Profile of Capt. Dana P. Horton, Co. F.]

"Descendants of the 154th Infantry to reunite Aug. 15," Salamanca Press, August 8, 1992. [Profile of 1st Sgt. Francis Strickland, Co. I.]

"Coster Avenue Mural," The Battlefield Dispatch, February 1, 1993.

"Edson D. Ames, Company F, 154th New York," Tattered Glory (Twin Tier Civil War Round Table, Olean, New York), February 1993.

"Twofold Service: A Survey of Soldiers Who Served In Both the 37th and 154th New York Volunteers," Tattered Glory, January 1994.

"Remains of a Regiment in Allegany," Allegany Area Historical Society Newsletter, May 1994.

"Civil War Reunion Will Be In Allegany," The Chronicle, June 11, 1994.

"154th N.Y. Descendants Hold Reunion," The Civil War News, October 1994.

"Three Little Valley Civil War Comrades," The Chronicle, April 15, 1995. [Cpl. Charles H. Field and Pvts. Joseph Cullen and Melvin Foster of Co. B.]

"Mystery Men," Tattered Glory, November 1996. [Pvts. William Gilmore and George Hicks of Co. D.]

"Rivalry," Tattered Glory, January 1997. [1st Lt. & Q.M. Edgar Shannon and Q.M. Sgt. Newton A. Chaffee.]

"Memory of Charlotte Civil War soldier is resurrected at reunion," Chautauqua Sampler, January 1997. [Sgt. John M. Irvin, Co. F.]

"James H. Lockie: Persistence Personified," Tattered Glory, June 1997. [Pvt., Co. G, also served in three other regiments.]

"Descendants of Civil War regiment to gather in city," Salamanca Press, July 19, 1997. [Salamanca's Andersonville prisoners.]

"Descendants of the 154th New York Volunteers to remember Portland's Newell Burch and other sufferers at Andersonville," Chautauqua Sampler, August 1997. [Cpl. Co. E.]

"154th N.Y. Descendants Focus on Andersonville," The Civil War News, October 1997.

"154th N.Y. Descendants Hold Reunion," The Civil War News, October 1998.

"The Sad Case of Alvin Hitchcock," Hitchcock News, October 2000. [Pvt., Co. A.]

"154th N.Y. Descendants Hold Reunion," The Civil War News, October 2002.

"Descendants Honor 154th New York Dead," The Civil War News, September 2003.

"154th N.Y. Descendants Hear About Religion's Importance For Ancestors," The Civil War News, November 2005.

"The Hunt For Sergeant Humiston." Civil War Times Illustrated, March 1982.* [Sgt. Amos Humiston, Co. C.]

"Relics of a Regiment." North South Trader, March-April 1982.*

"The Hardtack Regiment Meets Lincoln." Lincoln Herald, Summer 1983.* [Reaction in the regiment to President Lincoln's April 10, 1863 review.]

"The Shippy Brothers of Otto." Union Blue, April 1987. [Sgt. Augustus A. Shippy, Co. B.]

"Lieutenant Colonel Henry C. Loomis." Union Blue, June 1987.

"Brigadier General Patrick Henry Jones." Lincoln Herald, Summer 1987.

"Horace Smith and ?" Union Blue, July-August 1987. [1st Lt., Co. H.]

"Alexander Bird." Military Images, September-October 1987.* [1st Lt., Co. F.]

"The Battle of Peachtree Creek." Union Blue, November-December 1987.

"A Southern Nurse and a Northern Patient." Civil War Times Illustrated, February 1988.* [Cpl. Martin D. Bushnell of Co. H and his Georgian nurse.]

"Milton Bush: Reluctant and Unlucky Soldier." Union Blue, March-April 1988. [Pvt. Co. K.]

"The Shippy Brothers: A New York Family at War." Military Images, September October 1990. [Revised version.]

"Gettysburg was a disaster: A vignette of three brothers in the 154th New York Infantry." Military Images, July-August 1991. [Pvts. Addison, Jacob and Jerome Shafer of Co. C.]

"'Those Three Days of Terrible Carnage': The Gettysburg Experiences of Lieutenant Alanson Crosby, Co. D, 154th New York Volunteers." Military Collector &Historian, Spring 1991. [Contributor.]

"Alas! He Is Gone." Lincoln Herald, Summer 1992. [Reaction in the regiment to the assassination of President Lincoln.]

"Senior Soldiers." Military Collector &Historian, Winter 1992. [Pvts. Barney McAvoy (Co. G), David Benedict (Co. H) and others over 45 years old, who fibbed about their ages to enlist.]

"The Hardtack Regiment in the Brickyard Fight." Gettysburg Magazine, January 1993.* [The 154th's role in the Battle of Gettysburg.]

"Milton Bush: Reluctant and Unlucky Soldier." Blue &Gray Magazine, October 1993. [Revised version.]

"An Impression That Will Never Be Effaced: Emory Sweetland Remembers November 19, 1863." Lincoln Herald, Summer 1994. [Pvt., Co. B.]

"Precious Shadows: The Importance of Photographs to Civil War Soldiers, as Revealed by a Typical Union Regiment." Military Images, July-August 1994.*

"Camp Seward on Arlington Heights: A Yankee Regiment's First Stop in Dixie." Arlington Historical Magazine, October 1994.

"Philo Markham's Long Walk." Civil War Times Illustrated, March-April 1995. [Cpl., Bvt. 1st Lt., Co. B.] [Edited with Phil Palen.]

"Brown the Poet." Military Images, May-June 1995. [Sgt. J. Byron Brown of Co. B.]

"Hurray For Old Abe! Fenton! and Dr. Van Aernam! The 1864 Election, as Perceived by the 154th New York Volunteers." Lincoln Herald, Spring 1996.

"Private Ransom Terry, 154th New York Infantry." Military Images, July-August 1996. [Co. C.]

"Mortally wounded Oscar Wilber had many witnesses to his last hours, including the famous poet Walt Whitman." America's Civil War, November 1996. [Pvt., Co. G.]

"For Old Abe and the Union, Of Course: Horace Howlett, a Staunch Lincoln Man." Lincoln Herald, Fall 1996. [Pvt., Co. K.]

"Key to a Mystery." American History, May/June 1997. [Sgt. Amos Humiston.]

"William Charles, Relic Maker." North South Trader's Civil War, July-August 1997. [Sgt., Co. F.]

"'We Were Compelled to Cut Our Way Through Them, and in Doing so Our Losses Were Heavy:' Gettysburg Casualties of the 154th New York Volunteers," The Gettysburg Magazine, Issue Number 18, January 1998.

"'A just right to select our own officers': Reactions in a Union Regiment to Officers Commissioned from Outside Its Ranks," Civil War History, March 1998.

"Funerary Photography," Military Images, March-April 1999. [Cpl. Henry Wulff, Co. B, and Cpl. Martin D. Bushnell, Co. H.]

"A Reflection of Their Own Image," North & South, January 2000. [Fraternization with the Confederates.]

"Florida's Yankee Paradise," Civil War Times Illustrated, March 2000. [St. Cloud, Florida, postwar home of Nat A. Kent and other veterans of the regiment.]

"Through White Eyes: The 154th New York Volunteers and African-Americans in the Civil War," The Journal of Negro History, Summer 2000.

"'Oh, William, how I wish you were at home,'" Civil War Times Illustrated, May 2001. [Pvt. William F. Chittenden, Co. D, and his family.]

"The old battlefield at Bull Run was 'a horrid-looking place' to the green soldiers of the 154th New York," America's Civil War, May 2001.

"Hardtack and Sauerkraut Stew: Ethnic Tensions in the 154th New York Volunteers, Eleventh Corps, During the Civil War," Yearbook of German-American Studies, Vol. 36, 2001.

"Death to All Foragers," American History, August 2002. [The fate of a foraging expedition near Snow Hill, North Carolina.]

"Additional Notes on the 154th New York at Gettysburg," Gettysburg Magazine, Issue Number 29, July 2003.

"George Bosley: Soldier, Medical Cadet, Assistant Surgeon," Military Images, January/February 2004.

"Not every Irish Civil War general is celebrated in lore. Consider capable Patrick Henry Jones," America's Civil War, March 2004.

"Blood Marked Their Tracks: A Union Regiment's Hard March to the Relief of Knoxville in 1863," Tennessee Historical Quarterly, Spring 2004.

"Hoop Skirts in Camp: When Women Visited the Front," North & South, November 2004.

Nationally-known historical sculptor and artist Gary Casteel offers two art works commemorating the 154th New York. "The Fight at Kuhn's Brickyard," is a giclee print of the Coster Avenue Mural in Gettysburg by myself and artist Johan Bjurman, depicting the fight of the 154th New York on July 1, 1863. The image size measures 36" x 4 1/2". The prints are offered on heavy 100% cotton fiber acid-free paper, or a multi-layered fine art canvas. Also available are miniature replicas of the 154th New York's Gettysburg monument, crafted by Gary Casteel. The replicas are available in two different materials: Stone Resin and Bonded Bronze, or Pecan Resin. Portions of the proceeds from the mural prints and monument replicas go to the preservation of each. For more information, to view the print and replica, and to place an order, click here.

To hear me discuss my work on Civil War Talk Radio, click here.

154th NEW YORK ROSTER

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PLACES TO GO:

Summaries of the Annual Reunions

Links to related Web sites.

Visitors since December 2000:

Last revised October 29, 2005. Happy Birthday Dad! (From the Webmaster)

Copyright © 1999 Mark H. Dunkelman

Special thanks to Karl D. Dunkelman, great-great-grandson of Corporal John Langhans,
for his invaluable assistance in developing this site.