1st Regiment, New York Light Artillery

Brief History
The 1st Regiment, New York Light Artillery was organized at Chemung, Onondaga, Erie, Monroe, and Niagra counties New York, and mustered in between August 1861 and October 1861. They were moved to Washington, D. C., and mustered out in June 1865.

The New York State Military Museum website has a unit history project page for this Regiment.

The Civil War in the East website gives a timeline for the involvement of the lst Regiment in the war.

Batteries in this Regiment with the City and Counties of Origin
Men often enlisted in a company recruited in the counties where they lived though not always. After many battles, companies might be combined because so many men were killed or wounded. However if you are unsure which company your ancestor was in, try the company recruited in his county first.

Battery "A" was principally recruited from Utica, Oneida County and mustered in September 12, 1861.

Battery "B", "Empire Battery" or "Pettit's Battery". this unit was Principally recruited from Elmira, Chemung county and Baldwinsville, Onondaga County and mustered in August 30, 1861.

Battery "C", principally recruited from Elmira, Chemung County and mustered in September 6, 1861.

Battery "D" was principally recruited from Elmira, Chemung County and mustered in September 6, 1861.

Battery "E" was principally recruited from Elmira, Chemung County and mustered in September 13, 1861.

Battery "F" was principally recruited from Elmira, Chemung_County,_New York and mustered in September 14, 1861.

Battery "G" was principally recruited from Elmira, Chemung County and mustered in September 24, 1861.

Battery "H" was principally recruited from Elmira, Chemung County and mustered in October 10 1861.

Battery "I" was principally recruited from Buffalo, Erie County and mustered in October 16, 1861.

Battery "K" was principally recruited from Elmira, Chemung County and mustered in November 20, 1861.

Battery "L" or "Rochester Union Grays" was principally recruited from Rochester, Monroe County, then moved to Elmira, New York and mustered in November 17, 1861.

Battery "M" was principally recruited from Lockport, Niagara County and mustered in at Rochester November 15, 1861.

Regimental History and Roster

 * Four years in the First New York Light Artillery : the papers of David F. Ritchie. By David F Ritchie, Norman L. Ritchie, V. Peter Mason, Nellie Edmonston. Hamilton, N.Y. : Edmonston Pub., 1997. Online at: Internet Archive

Other Sources

 * Beginning United States Civil War Research gives steps for finding information about a Civil War soldier. It covers the major records that should be used. Additional records are described in ‘New York in the Civil War’ and ‘United States Civil War, 1861 to 1865’ (see below).


 * National Park Service, The Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System, is searchable by soldier's name and state. It contains basic facts about soldiers on both sides of the Civil War, a list of regiments, descriptions of significant battles, sources of the information, and suggestions for where to find additional information.


 * New York in the Civil War describes many Confederate and Union sources, specifically for New York, and how to find them.. These include compiled service records, pension records, rosters, cemetery records, Internet databases, published books, etc.


 * United States Civil War, 1861 to 1865 describes and explains United States and Confederate States records, rather than state records, and how to find them. These include veterans’ censuses, compiled service records, pension records, rosters, cemetery records, Internet databases, published books, etc.


 * Ames, Nelson. History of Battery G, First Regiment New York Light Artillery. (Bethesda, Maryland : University Publications of America, c1992)


 * De Peyster, J. Watts (John Watts); De Peyster, John Watts. A threnody : Sta viator, heroem calcas! In remembrance of Brevet Colonel U. S. &amp; N. Y. Vol. John Watts de Peyster, Junior, died 12th April, 1873. (Bethesda, Maryland : University Publications of America, c1992)


 * Dudley, Edgar S; Early, Jubal Anderson. A reminiscence of Washington and Early's attack in 1864 : read before the Ohio Commandery of the Loyal Legion of the United States, December 5, 1883. (Bethesda, Maryland : University Publications of America, c1992)


 * Frederick Henry Dyer, A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, (Des Moines, Iowa: Dyer Publishing Co., 1908), as cited at Civil War Soldiers; Sailors System (database on-line)


 * Hawks, Steve.The Civil War in the East. Database.


 * History New York Aritllery has the information above.


 * Murray, R. L. Letters from the front : Onondaga County troops in the Civil War. (Wolcott, New York : Benedum Books, c2002),


 * New York State Division of Military and Naval Affairs. "Unit History Project : New York State Military Museum and Veterans Research Centerat citing Frederick Phisterer, New York in the War of the Rebellion, 3rd ed. (Albany, N.Y.: J. B. Lyon Company, 1912).


 * Phisterer, Frederick. New York in the War of the Rebellion, 1861 to 1865. Albany, New York : J.B. Lyon, 1912. Google Books, other libraries with this book,


 * Remington, Cyrus Kingsbury. A record of Battery I, First N. Y. Light Artillery Vols. : otherwise known as Wiedrich's Battery, during the war of the rebellion, 1861-65. (Bethesda, Maryland : University Publications of America, c1992),


 * Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War. New York Department (Rochester, New York). History of Monroe (New York) soldiery, 1861-1865. (Salt Lake City, Utah : Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1994)


 * 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 Soldiers, Reprint of original published: Madison, WI.: Federal Pub. Co., 1908. Other libraries with this book,