146th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment

The 146th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment, nicknamed Garrard's Tigers, was a Federal regiment which mustered on October 10, 1862, and mustered out on July 16, 1865. The regiment was raised and organized in Rome, New York, and was known as the 5th Oneida Regiment. Another nickname for this unit was the Halleck's Infantry, after New York-born general Henry Halleck.[1]

146th New York Infantry's Regimental Color

Uniform

The zouave uniform of the 146th

This regiment at first wore the regular dark blue New York state jacket, light blue trousers, and dark blue forage cap, but when the veterans from 5th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment, a famous Zouave unit, were transferred to the 146th New York, the regiment switched over to the colorful Zouave dress on 3 June 1863 at Falmouth, Va.

The zouave uniform consisted of large baggy trousers, blue in color, which were fastened at the knees; a fez cap, bright red in color, with red tassel; a long white turban which was wound around the hat, but worn only for dress parade; a red sash about ten feet long which was wound about the body and afforded a great comfort and warmth; and white cloth leggins (sic.) extending almost to the knees[2]

The new uniform was not actually Zouave, but rather the colorful dress of the French-Turco style.[2] Its most distinctive features were a sky blue zouave jacket with yellow trimming, a red fez with a yellow tassel, sky blue zouave pantaloons, and a red sash.

Battle History

The monument to the 146th New York Volunteer Infantry at Gettysburg

The 146th New York participated in the battles of: Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Williamsport, Wilderness Tavern, Spotsylvania Court House, North Anna, Totopotomy Creek, Cold Harbor, Siege of Petersburg, Weldon Railroad, White Oak Ridge, Five Forks, Rappahannock Station, Bristoe Station, White Oak Swamp, Popular Springs Church, Hatcher's Run, and Appomattox Court House.[3][4][5]

Casualties

The 146th New York suffered severe casualties by the end of the war. The regiment was nearly decimated at the battle of the Wilderness (Saunders Field) where many were cut off by the fires of the battle. Out of a number of 1,707 men, their losses were: 7 officers and 126 men killed in action and/or mortally wounded, 2 officers and 187 men who died of sickness and/or other things, and 1 officer and 87 men who died in captivity, many at the Andersonville prison camp.

See also

• List of New York Civil War regiments

References

1. Civil War: 146th Infantry Regiment (Halleck Infantry, Fifth Oneida, Garrard's Tigers), New York State Military Museum and Veterans Research Center
2. “A Splendid Appearance:” Extracts from the 146th New York Volunteers, 1862-64, by Paul Luks, Jason Spellman, and John Yoho, The Liberty Rifles
3. Union New York Volunteers: 146th Regiment, New York Infantry, NPS
4. Brainard, Mary Genevie Green. Campaigns of the 146th Regiment New York State Volunteers Also Known as Halleck's Infantry, the Fifth Oneida, and Garrad's Tigers. New York, London, G. P. Putnam's sons, 1915
5. The Bag Was Tied: The 146th New York in Saunders Field

Further reading

• Brainard, Mary Genevie Green. Campaigns of the 146th Regiment New York State Volunteers Also Known as Halleck's Infantry, the Fifth Oneida, and Garrad's Tigers. New York, London, G. P. Putnam's sons, 1915
• Out of the Wilderness: The Civil War Memoir of Cpl. Norton Shepard, 146th New York Volunteer Infantry, ed. Raymond W. Smith Hamilton: Edmonston Publishing, Inc., 1998.

External links

• The Civil War in the East: 146th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment