Recruiting renewed: Albany and the Summer of 1862

The Welfare of the 44th NY

Had the students of the Normal School turned their attentions from their studies to the local newspapers during the final days of that term, they would have encountered various articles pertaining to the 44th New York Infantry Regiment. The 44th had been raised in Albany in the previous year, and while its companies included men from all corners of the state, there were many citizens of Albany in its ranks. Consequently, the people of the city kept an eye on the actions of the regiment. During the early days of July 1862, the 44th appeared to be in a state of disarray. Various reports of the losses of the 44th were printed by the press, along with a July 9 Argus article that reported the resignation of the regiment's commanding officer Stephen W. Stryker. On July 10, the Argus printed a letter from Lt. Col. James C. Rice to George H. Thatcher, an ex-mayor of Albany and a member of the Ellsworth Association that helped organize the regiment. Through this letter the citizens of Albany and the Normal School students received a first hand account of the 44th's experience in the Seven Days battles:

My dear sir: Twice since the battle at Hanover Court House has the 44th N.Y.V. made its name sacred. On the 27th ult. this regiment behaved most gallantly, capturing thirty of the enemy's force and repulsing the regiments he brought against us on the left. Our loss was sixty in killed and wounded . . . In the battle of the 1^st [July], one of the severest of the present war . . . of the 225 men which we made this desperate charge, one hundred were killed and wounded . . . Gen. Porter's corps, in these two severe battles, has lost in killed and wounded very heavily- nearly two third of all its commissioned officers. I have not had time to sleep or eat scarcely for the last week, which has been a week of continual engagements, and such has been the case with the entire army-
Very respectfully yours,
J.C. Rice, Lt Col.⁽¹⁾

By July 10, the community of Albany had begun the process of raising a new regiment, and in Virginia, the 44th regiment was coping with the losses suffered during the Seven Days and the resignation of its leader. Amid these war related developments, the Normal School had conducted its examinations and graduated 30 students. By the end of the summer five members of this graduating class would be members of the 44th. 1. Albany Atlas & Argus, July 10, 1862, 3.

Next Chapter: Creating a "frenzy"

Home Normal School History Recruiting Battles The Men U.S.C.T. James Woodworth

After the War Memorial Gov. Morgan Photo Gallery Capt. Albert Husted Letters and Diaries