Traveling Through Civil War New York
Last month, my family and I took a vacation to Upstate New York and the Finger Lakes region. Of course, with any vacation, I would be remiss if I didn’t keep my eyes pealed for Civil War history. Like much of the eastern United States, both regions in New York claim a rich connection to the American Civil War.
Our first stop took us to Hammondsport, a small hamlet on the southern end of Keuka Lake—one of the smallest of the Finger Lakes. Just a few blocks from the town square stands a statue of a Union soldier atop a large pedestal. Erected in 1900 by the Monroe Brundage G.A.R. Post, the Urbana Civil War Memorial commemorates the service of soldiers and sailors from Steuben County, including Hammondsport and the nearby hamlet of Urbana. The memorial originally sat adjacent to the Hammondsport high school but was eventually moved to its present location in one of the town parks.
The local G.A.R. post is named for Lieutenant Monroe Brundage, a native of Bath (just 7 miles from Hammondsport) who served in the 34th New York Infantry and received a grievous wound at the battle of Antietam.[1] He lost his arm to amputation and retired to Bath to tend his farm.[2] Another Steuben County veteran, Captain Morris Brown, Jr., enlisted in the 126th New York from Hammondsport in 1862. He earned the Congressional Medal of Honor at Gettysburg for capturing the battle flag of the 28th North Carolina during Pickett’s Charge. Brown was later killed in action on June 22, 1864 in the battle of Petersburg and laid to rest in Penn Yan, at the opposite end of Keuka Lake.
Our next stop, Saratoga Springs, also boasts a strong connection to the Civil War. A large monument to the 77th New York Infantry overlooks Congress Park. Known as the “Bemis Heights Battalion” or the “Saratoga Regiment”, the Seventy-Seventh was raised in Saratoga Springs and saw action in nearly every major battle and campaign of the Army of the Potomac. The regiment saw its bloodiest actions at the battles of Antietam, Second Fredericksburg, the Wilderness, and Spotsylvania. The monument was erected in Congress Park in 1875 by the Spa City to commemorate the service of its veterans. A great-coated soldier stands guard over the park while a Greek cross on the pedestal below him denotes the regiment’s allegiance to the VI Army Corps. The monument was vandalized in 2020, but the soldier was quickly returned to his post in 2021 where he stands today.[3]
Major General Abner Doubleday’s birthplace is about 7 miles south of Saratoga in the village of Ballston Spa. Born in an 1804 duplex house originally intended as the laundry house for the nearby Sans Souci Hotel, Doubleday lived in the home while his father ran two newspapers in nearby Saratoga Springs.
Our final stop, Glens Falls, sent 644 of its sons to the Union army between 1861 and 1865. They are commemorated by a large obelisk in the center of the town, built in 1868 and dedicated in 1872. The monument pays particular homage to the 95 men of Warren County killed during the war. Originally built for the town of Queensbury, the monument fell to the ownership of Glens Falls when the city was chartered in 1908. During a restoration effort in 1999, the sandstone eagle that tops the obelisk was replaced with a terra cotta one to better withstand the harsh Adirondack winters. Additional names (that were forgotten in 1868) have been added to the front plaque in 1999 and 2011.
The Hartford Museum—a 25-minute drive from Glens Falls—preserves the Howard Hanna Memorial Civil War Enlistment Center, the only enlistment center that still survives in New York state. The museum interprets the experience of common soldiers from Warren and Washington Counties that enlisted in the Civil War, particularly the service of the 123rd New York, which was organized in nearby Salem.
Such monuments, museums, and commemorative efforts show that the Civil War intimately touched a corner of the United States, even where no battle was fought. It certainly demonstrates that each part of the country—North and South, East and West—paid the price for a “New Birth of Freedom” in the service and sacrifice of its citizens.
[1] State of New York, Adjutant-General, Annual Report of the Adjutant General of the State of New York [year]: Registers of the [units], 43 Volumes, Albany: James B. Lyon, State Printer, 1893-1905, Issue 22 (for the year 1900), pg. 165.
[2] Chapin, Louis N., A Brief History of the Thirty-fourth Regiment N.Y.S.V. (1903), Little Falls (NY): Captain Henry Galpin CWRT, 1998, pp. 17, 105.
[3] “NY 77th Infantry Regiment Monument to be re-installed at Congress Park,” The Saratogian, Saratoga, NY, November 2, 2021, (accessed August 6, 2024), https://www.saratogian.com/2021/11/02/ny-77th-infantry-regiment-monument-to-be-re-installed-at-congress-park/.
I find the vandalism of any monument repellent, but of those erected in the immediate aftermath of the war particularly disgusting. Glad the community restored that to the 77th! And nice to meet you at the Conference.
I agree; the 74th Pennsylvania and 114th Pennsylvania at Gettysburg are two victims that come to mind.
Interesting article. It seems the North erected its Civil War memorials during the same time period as those evil Southerners (sic), who put up Confederate Memorials…
Thanks! And yes, it would seem so, wouldn’t it?
Nice post. There is the Curtis Aviation Museum in Hammondsport. Besides airplanes they have many other interesting artifacts some of them Civil war uniforms and weapons from famous New Yorkers who served from that area.
Didn’t get to see the Curtiss-Wright stuff this time, but it’s definitely on my list for next time!
This is a lovely article, but it seems at odds with the commonly prevailing sentiment that Confederate statuary and memory must be vilified and erased. Each memorial in the article is clearly noted as having been erected to commemorate the service and sacrifice of Civil War soldiers, e.g., “Saratoga Springs: The monument was erected in Congress Park in 1875 by the Spa City to commemorate the service of its veterans.” Time and again, it’s been proven that local Confederate monuments were erected in memory of the service of their dead and their veterans, yet they have been removed/relocated/thrown in wastewater treatment plants/vandalized/graffitied and used to symbolize undying hatred toward the side that came up short in a devastating display of “might makes right”. I hope this represents a new recognition that “It certainly demonstrates that each part of the country—North and South, East and West—paid the price for a “New Birth of Freedom” in the service and sacrifice of its citizens.” To be clear, the War wasn’t fought over slavery, although it was certainly an issue at the time, but that’s beyond the scope of this comment. And, yes, to a comment above, the timeline and number of statues being erected in North and South is virtually identical. And, in fact, most of them came from the same factory in Bridgeport, Connecticut, with details for Union or Confederacy specified on order. Wikipedia has a nice entry on this.
I can’t say we’re on the same page with the issue of slavery, but I agree that local Confederate monuments have a strikingly different commemorative connotation. And certainly, nothing excuses vandalism.
Your response demonstrates exactly why Confederate monuments are being removed and vilified because they perpetuate lies, such as the war not being about slavery. You may think that, but the primary sources of Confederate leaders do not support your conclusion. Alexander Stephens’s “cornerstone speech” and multiple ordinances of secession make it plain that the Southern states left the Union to preserve and expand the institution of slavery. Yes, many Confederate monuments were erected to commemorate the dead, but it is important to remember what cause they died for the dissolution of the Union and the preservation of human slavery. Also, calling the Civil War a “devastating display of might makes right” is woefully misleading. The political leaders of the United States used military force after it had already been resorted to by Confederate leaders to preserve the only republican democracy on the planet that enfranchised the common man and sought to end a morally reprehensible practice. Had you made the same claim about the Mexican-American War, I would have to agree with you.
Great post Evan!
My hometown of Binghamton, NY and surroundings is rich with Civil War history. The Starr Revolvers factory was located in Binghamton; natives General John Robinson and Sgt. Major Amos Cummings won Medals of Honor; there are many different memorials, plaques and statues to individuals and units that served; and Stonewall Jackson’s famed cartographer, Jedediah Hotchkiss was from Windsor, NY, just west of Binghamton.
Sounds like I’ll have to add Binghamton to the itinerary next time!
If you do, email me in advance. I’ll help you out on your visit.