Warren County, New York
in the Civil War

The following is taken from Third Annual Report of the Bureau of Military Statistics of the State of New York, Albany: [The Bureau], (C. Wendell), 1866.

The news of the outburst of "the great rebellion," in April, 1861, was borne through the rugged wilds and hills of Warren county with a celerity like that of the "fiery cross," which, in past generations, gathered, the clans of Scotland to the call of their chieftains.

In less than three days after the fall of Sumter, applications were addressed to the Adjutant General's office, in Albany, for authority to procure enlistments.

On the morning of Thursday, the 18th of April, handbills were posted throughout the village, containing a call, signed by over forty of the leading citizens of the place, for " a meeting to sustain the Government." At this meeting, which was held the same evening, and which was largely attended, several spirited addresses were made. The national flag was brought in and displayed amidst the wildest enthsiasm, and a series of patriotic resolutions adopted, from which the following extract is taken as a sample of their, purport and spirit:
" Resolved, That the village of Glens Falls will not be behind any of her sister villages in contributing the men and the means necessary to defend the Government, and to maintain the permanency of our beloved institutions; and that, as our fathers who established the Union pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honors' to gain our independence, so will we pledge all wo possess to cherish and protect the work of the illustrious men of the past, and to transmit unimpaired to our descendants the noble institutions given to us.
" Resolved, That to the end we are for maintaining this Union undivided, and, whatever may be the consequences, sacrifice of property or life itself—everything but loss of honor—we will stand by the ' stars and stripes' until the last faint echo in the expiring gale shall waft our dying prayer heavenward, in behalf of our country, its institutions, and humanity." On the succeeding Saturday the first recruiting office was opened by Dr. A. W. Holden, and. during the following week Capt. George Clendon, jr., was similarly authorised to raise another company, both which were designed to apply on the quota of New York to fill the first call for troops.

At this early period in the war, no other town in the county had as yet undertaken to raise a company. The hardy and adventurous youth and patriotic manhood of its northern towns were not, however, to be repressed. Day by day they poured in at the recruiting stations, and, in many instances, impatient of the tardy pro-cess of enlistment, pushed on to the cities and enlisted in companies and regiments already formed, and ready for departure to the scene of hostilities.

The two companies above mentioned were soon filled, and were accepted into the State service on the 6th and 7th of May following, and on the 9th were ordered into quarters—one into the barracks at Troy, the other at the Albany depot. The latter was at a later period sent to Troy, and the two afterwards joined together in the formation of the Twenty-second New York Volunteers. Companies G and I of the same command also received considerable accessions from Warren county.

Contemporaneously with the organisation of these companies a relief fund was raised by voluntary subscriptions, in the town of Queensbury alone, amounting to $11,243, for the aid and support of the families of such members of these companies as were needy or destitute. Another fund, the amount of which is unknown, was applied to defray the expenses of subsistence during the progress of enlistment.

For the disbursement of the first named fund a committee was appointed, and assessments made from time to time, as occasion required. The total amount of collections from this source up to June, 1863 when these companies were finally mustered out of service was $3,260.47, which was apportioned among twenty-nine different families.

In all essentials of material aid, whether it be in men or money, or the equally grateful supports of patriotism and sympathy, War-ren county has been in no way behind her more opulent and populous sister counties in her efforts to put down this most unholy rebellion.

The following tables are taken from Fourth Annual Report of the Bureau of Military Statistics of the State of New York, Albany: Week, Parsons & Co., 1867.
Thank you to Paul Stambach for transcribing this information.

See also The Communites of New York in the Civil War

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