(As you're reading, 'back to top' will get you back here)
Back to index page-- please bookmark the index page, as other addresses are subject to change.
My purpose in using this page is for an exchange of information. If you see any errors or omissions- or have more questions- my email adresses are jjelbrec@aol.com, and elbrecht@mindspring.com. If you find an ancestor or regiment on these pages I'd love to hear about them.
Some questions I'll try to answer;
For all the Clinton County, NY soldiers who died, click here.
For the alphabetical list of Peru, Clinton County, NY soldiers from this series click here.
For the Regiments the Peru Soldiers joined click here.
Series A0389 is available on microfilm from the NY State Archives by Inter-library loan. That link will get you to their home page- but jump right to here for their holdings. Some more good descriptions are found on their genealogy page.
(If you get no response- - try again later. The server there seems to take frequent vacations for a day or two.<g>)
A0389 was compiled by the Bureau of Military Statistics between 1863-1867. It covers all of New York State including New York City, (but I think NY City is much less complete than the rural areas-- and their completeness varies from town to town) This is part of the description found in the beginning of reel #1;
".....Much of the information contained in this series was compiled from questionaires mailed by the bureau to the soldiers themselves, friends, relatives, medical officers in charge of United States Hospitals, and local officials."
Also in the Archives is " Town and City Registers of Men Who Served in the Civil War" (series 13774) . (this might be the series that the FHC has microfilmed & the one that got used by a few of the histories that I've seen-- I will be getting it to compare to what I have)
There are seven reels organized as follows;
Organized into three subseries:
2. Volunteers Who Have Been In Service;
3. Volunteers Who Have Died While In Service.
Arrangement within each subseries is alphabetical by county, then alphabetical by city, town, or village, then numeric by ward number within cities.
The original books consist of 6 volumes, so the distinction between 'Reel', 'Volume', and 'Subseries' can be a bit confusing at first.
Where to look might not be as obvious as it seems at first. I'm not sure how the town(or county) that the soldier was listed in was determined. I have found at least one soldier who was listed on a monument as a ctizen of Saranac, Clinton, Co- who was listed in the roster as living in Westport, Essex Co.. Another soldier who died in Black Brook, Clinton Co., and is buried in Redford, Clinton Co., is not on the list of soldiers from Clinton Co.(or the two nieghboring counties) who died.
The 1865 NY State census included information on Civil War service, but the census has been a victim of fire/flood for some counties. I haven't compared the results on this series to the census results (Clinton Co- my area of focus, has no 1865 census). There is also another series (13774) in the State Archives called "Town and City Registers of Men Who Served in the Civil War ". This series has different soldiers than A0389.
Is A0389 complete? It's hard to tell- but probably not. Another list I've seen of soldiers from Peru that served, in Hurd's "History of Clinton And Franklin Counties", had 163 names-- but there are only 41 names that appear on both lists as exact matches! Some of the differences can be ascribed to the transcriptions of handwritten list, or to the different ways men sign their names. There are groups of families, however, that appear on one list but not the other, so I have to conclude that there is another 'list of soldiers who served' arranged by county/town--- and that they have different soldiers.
I would also check the other 'Soldiers by County' series- SARA #13774and the 1865 Census, if it is available for the NY County of interest.
Most columns were filled in in the northern NY counties that I concentrated on. It varies widely from town to town (or ward to ward) in other areas. It seems to have been dependent on the clerk who made the entries.
Info contained on the reels is;
1. Volunteers Now In Service;
Subseries 1.;name, age, and color; place of birth; marital status; trade or occupation; voter and citizenship status; literacy; regiment first entered; date originally entered service; length of first enlistment; first rank; promotions and transfers; re-enlistment; length of unexpired term as of June 1, 1865; present regiment and rank; whether or not drafted; substitute or representative recruit; and remarks. The remarks usually refer to wounds received, resignation dates, mustering out dates, hospitalizations, desertions, or if incarcerated as a prisoner of war.
2. Volunteers Who Have Been In Service;
subseries 2.;name, age, and color; place of birth; marital status; trade or occupation; voting and citizenship status; literacy; regiment first entered; date originally entered service; first rank; promotions, transfers, etc.; months in service, manner in which separated from service(discharged on expiration of term, resigned, or otherwise); physical health (good or permanently impaired); loss of fingers (right or left hand); loss of hand (right or left); loss of arm (right or left); loss of foot (right or left); loss of leg (right or left); other wounds; and remarks. The remarks usually refer to reasons for discharge, where wounded or taken prisoner, place of imprisonment, or health problems.
3. Volunteers Who Have Died While In Service.
subseries 3.-"Deaths of Officers and Enlisted Men Which Have Occured While in the Military or Naval Service of the United States, or From Wounds or Disease Acquired in Said Service since April 1861, Reported by the Families to Which the Deceased Belonged When at Home." ;
Asks the following questions; name; age at time of death; civil condition; ( marital status) citizen or alien upon enlistment; (columns for checkmarks) date entered service; usually to the day-- sometimes month--rarely just the year regiment first entered; original rank; regiment to which he belonged at the time of death; rank at time of death; status upon entering service (volunteer, drafted, substitute, representative, or colored); promotions while in service; date and place of death; manner of death; (the following are columns for check marks: died after leaving service; died while a prisoner of war; killed in battle; died of wounds received in battle; killed by accident; died of accidental wounds; died of sickness acquired in service; died of sickness not acquired in service; and unknown); Surviving Friends; (includes columns for checkmarks for the following; widows, parents, dependent parents, children, dependent sisters, and unknown); Rarely, a clerk will indicate the number of surviving parents-- or an 'm' or 'f' in that column. Most are just 'checks' in this column except for the 'number of minor children, which is a number. Body Sent to Friends for Burial; place of burial; and remarks. The remarks usually refer to a description of his death, moralcharacter, medals received, number of battles in which participated, date captured, etc.
The list of the 163 Peru Soldiers listed on Series A0389 are is here.
(number is slightly skewed by men enlisting more than once, or blank lines)-
The list gives Name, age, which list he is on(1=still in service, 2=did serve, 3=died); if you see a familiar name, ask me for more info. I'd like to compile a short bio of each soldier including parents, siblings, children, and birth/death dates-- as well as where he is buried.
Summary of Peru Soldiers;
Of Peru's 163 soldiers on these reels, 92 were still in the service in June '65. Their average age was 26.9 years. The youngest was 14- the oldest 58.
They joined/belonged to 35-40 different Regiments of Infantry, Cavalry, and Artillery.
Of the 121 who's marital status was reported- 42 were married. Most were farmers, but there was a merchant or two, an attorney, a bloomer(works in an iron forge), and a collier(associated with the coal industry).
Of the 153 whose starting rank was given- there was one Chaplain, One orderly, 3 musicians, 3 Corporals, 2 Sgts., 1 1st LT., 1 Captain, and 141 Privates.
35 had died in service. 10 Killed in Battle, 6 Died of Wounds, 7 Died in Prisons, and the rest of disease or accident. They died as close as 'Peru', and as far away as New Orleans. 27 different Battle Fields, Hospitals, and Prisons are mentioned. Only two are known to have had their bodies returned home to be buried in Clinton Co.
11 of those who died left widows. Six of them left a total of 19 minor children.
There are several instances where the unit name could be misleading - i.e.-- several soldiers are listed as joining the 16th Vol after the 16th NY Vol. Inf had mustered out. They were probably in the 16th Vol. Cav.-- usually Cav is mentioned-- not always. The 2nd Cav entries need an extra look also, as there was the 2nd Veteran Cavalry (the "Empire Light Cavalry" ), the 2nd Provisional Cav., and the 2nd NY (Blackhorse)Cavalry.
I get the feeling that the questionaires were filled in sometimes with just a unit number and the clerk filled in the suffix with which he was most familiar.
Notice that some clerks just used the suffix 'NY' for everything--(Chazy), while others always said 'Vol.'. Some indicated Cavalry with a 'C', some with 'Cav, and some not at all.
The abbreviation Vt. appears a few times it could be either Vermont, or Veteran-- it is not always clear. (2 VT Cav is the second veteran cavalry, because Vermont only had one Cavalry-- 2VT, however could be 2nd Vermont something, or the 2nd Veteran something.)
I was struck by the number of different units in which these soldiers served. Reading a couple histories of the area would give you the impression that all the soldiers from Clinton Co served in the 118th NY Vol. Inf. or the 96th NY Vol. Inf.. On reflection, this would be impossible,as neither unit was in existance for the whole war, and the soldiers were enlisting from January of 1861 to April 1865.(there were a few later enlistments) In Peru- the only town that I have completely extracted- there are 30-40 different units represented. (I only have extracted subseries 3 for all of Clinton Co., and 91 different units are mentioned on those pages)
These are the Peru Soldier's Regiments-- I haven't finished sorting to eliminate duplicates.(i.e. 5th Cav & 5th Vol might be the same- or it could mean 5th Vol Inf)
To find out more about these NY regiments, the 'bible' is Frederick Phisterer's "New York in the War of the Rebellion", 3d ed., 6 vols. (Albany: 1912). I'll be compiling summaries & links as I find the time. (and welcome pointers to existing histories or links for individual Regiments)
Another place to look for regimental histories is C.E. Dornbusch's, "Military Bibliography of the Civil War" (4 vols).
1st Vol., 1st Eng., 2 NY, 2nd Vol., 2nd Vet Cav, 4th Vol., 5th Cav, 5th Vol.,
7th NY, 7th Vet Cav, 10th NY, 12th Vol., 14th NY, 16th Cav, 16th NY, 18th
NY, 20th Vol., 118th NY, 142nd Vol., 153rd Vol., 192 NY(?), 22nd Vol., 24th
Vol., 30th Vol., 40th Vol., 42nd Vol., 46th Vol., 69th Vol., 83rd NY, 91st Art,
91st H. Art., 91st NY, 91st Vol., 96th NY, 97th NY, 9th NY, 9th Vol., Eng.
Corps., Res. Corps, US Reg., Veteran.