7th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment

The 7th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was composed almost entirely of German immigrants and is also known as the Steuben Guard or the Steuben Regiment. It should not be confused with the 7th New York Militia, an entirely different regiment whose service overlapped with the 7th New York Volunteers.

7th Regiment New York Volunteer Infantry
ActiveApril 23, 1861 – May 8, 1863
Country United States
AllegianceUnion
BranchInfantry
EngagementsBattle of Big Bethel
Peninsula Campaign
Seven Days Battles
Battle of Antietam
Battle of Fredericksburg
Battle of Chancellorsville
Group of 7th N.Y. Infantry

Service

The regiment was organized in New York City and was mustered in for a two-year enlistment on April 23, 1861. Early in its training, it was so poorly equipped that a civilian who visited the troops wrote a letter to the editor of The New York Times (published May 16, 1861) complaining that tailors within the regiment had to resew the uniforms and put buttons on them, and that some of the soldiers were wearing "flip-flaps". The letter-writer was impressed (spelling and punctuation as in the original):

I have seen no troops before, and I have seen none since, in which there was the same indescribable aspect of discipline. The men were not in uniform, but very poorly dressed, — in many cases with flip-flap shoes. The business-like air with which they marched rapidly through the deep mud of the Third-avenue was the more remarkable.

With "one or two exceptions" almost every officer then in the regiment had experience in European armies, and six out of eight of the soldiers had seen service, often in battle. "The only arms they have as yet are a few old muskets bought by the officers themselves."[1]

The regiment was mustered out of service on May 8, 1863.

Casualties

The regiment suffered 102 deaths from wounds and 47 from other causes, for a total of 149 fatalities.

Commanders

See also
  • List of New York Civil War regiments
  • 7th New York Militia

References
  1. "A Word in Season on an Important Subject", letter to the editor, The New York Times, May 16, 1861, retrieved (from subscription archives, sometimes available to nonsubscribers) June 23, 2008
  • Phisterer, Frederick (1912). New York in the War of the Rebellion. Albany: J.B. Lyon Co.
  • The Union army: a history of military affairs in the loyal states, 1861-65 -- records of the regiments in the Union army -- cyclopedia of battles -- memoirs of commanders and soldier. Madison, Wisc.: Federal Pub. Co. 1908.
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