Organization and muster
The regiment was accepted by the State May 9, 1861, and designated the 15th Regiment of Infantry. It was organized in New York city, and there mustered in the service of the United States for two years June 17, 1861. The regiment was intended and recruited for an engineer regiment and was converted to that arm of the service by the War Department on October 25, 1861.
In January 1862, Company I was reorganized among the three-year's recruits. June 18, 1863, the three years' men in the regiment were transferred to Companies A, B and C, and June 25, 1863, the two years' men of these three companies and all the other companies, their term of service having expired, were, commanded by Col. Clinton G. Colgate, honorably discharged, and mustered out at New York city. To the battalion left in the field, there was assigned as Company D the company enlisted for the 2nd Volunteer Engineers, on the 9th of October 1863, and in March 1864, another company recruited for the regiment joined it as Company E. In November 1864, the reorganization of the regiment was completed by the addition of seven companies as F, G, H, I, K, L and M; Companies H, I and K were formed of recruits originally enlisted for the 50th Engineers; Company M was originally organized for the 175th Infantry, and Company L had originally been organized as a company of the 189th Infantry. The new companies were mustered in the United States service, D and E for three years; F and L for one and three years, and G, H, I, K and M for one year. The companies were recruited principally from:
- First organization:
- A, E, and F, also G — New York Light Infantry —New York city
- B and C —Brooklyn
- D— New York city, Brooklyn, and New Jersey
- H —New York city, Brooklyn, Flushing, and Williamsburgh
- I and K —New York city and Brooklyn
- Second Company I —New York city
- Second organization:
- D — New York city
- E — Kingston
- F — Albany, Kingston, Caneadea, Tarrytown, and Salina
- G — Malone, Clymer, Harmony, Hector, Union, Newark Valley, Dansville, Lindley, Portville, French Creek, Owego, Lodi, and Seneca
- H — Malone, Syracuse, Owego, Elmira, Auburn, and Dunkirk;
- I — Elmira, Owego, Avon, Oswego, Utica, and Seneca
- K — Lima, Goshen, Avon, Cicero, and Syracuse
- L — Utica, Avon, Auburn, Syracuse, Lyons, Goshen, and Elmira
- M — Syracuse, Auburn, Rochester, Owego, and Elmira
In 1860 the army Corps of Engineers consisted of just 44 officers and 100 soldiers for an army of 15,000 soldiers. After the formation of the Confederacy and the Battle of Fort Sumter, Congress authorized a massive increase in the number of specialized engineer troops on August 3, 1861, to complement the growing Union Army. On October 25, 1861, in Virginia, the regiment was converted into and designated the 15th, Regiment of Engineers.
Service
The 15th infantry, which subsequently became the 15th regiment of engineers, known as the New York sappers and miners, was organized in New York City, and mustered into the U. S. service at Willett's Point, New York harbor, June 17, 1861, for two years. It left for Washington on June 29, and encamped there until late in July, when it was assigned to McCunn's brigade. It was on picket and guard duty in the vicinity of Fairfax seminary until August, when it was transferred to Franklin's brigade. In September it transferred to Newton's brigade, and in November the original purpose of the organization was carried out and it was ordered to Alexandria to receive instruction in engineering.
Here the regiment remained until March 19, 1862, at which time it was ordered to Fairfax seminary in the I corps under Gen. McDowell. It participated in the siege duties before Yorktown, rendering effective service in bridge building, road building, fortifications, and other engineering duties.
After the close of the campaign on the Peninsula, the 15th encamped at Harrison's landing and was then returned to Washington, joining the Army of the Potomac in the field November 17, 1862.
Work on the bridges by which the army crossed to Fredericksburg was next undertaken. In January 1863, ensued the "Mud March," when the men were engaged in the construction of roads. The remainder of the winter of 1862–63 was passed in camp at Falmouth, and during the Chancellorsville campaign the engineering brigade, of which the 15th formed a part, was instrumental in building bridges. The regiment remained with this branch of the service until the middle of June, when the two years' men returned home and were mustered out at New York city, June 25, 1863. The remainder of the regiment was consolidated into a battalion of three companies, to which was added in October a company recruited for the 2nd N. Y. engineers and another company in March 1864. Seven additional companies were added in November 1864, by means of which the regimental organization was completed, and it remained in service as a veteran regiment until the close of the war. With the volunteer engineer brigade of the Army of the Potomac, it was present at Gettysburg, then joined in the southward movement of the army, shared in the Mine Run Campaign, and went into winter quarters near Brandy Station, VA.
Until January 1865, the 15th was engaged in siege duties before Petersburg, when three companies were detached and sent to North Carolina under Gen. Terry, where they were present at the fall of Fort Fisher, and in March, 1865, were sent to join the Army of the Ohio. The remainder of the regiment remained at Petersburg until the final surrender, engaged in trench digging, mining, and other services incident to the siege. This portion of the regiment was mustered out at Washington June 13 and 14. 1865, and the other three companies on July 2.
Armament
Since the men of the 15th were specialists, they were not given first-tier weapons. They were armed with 872 Model 1822 Muskets. By the first quarter of 1863, after an effort to get most of the companies to be armed with the same weapon to make supply easier, the regiment reported the following survey:
- A – 119 British Pattern 1853 rifles. [note 5] (.58 and .577 Cal)
- B – 113 British Pattern 1853 rifles, (.58 and .577 Cal)
- C – 86 British Pattern 1853 rifles, (.58 and .577 Cal)
- D – 64 British Pattern 1853 rifles, (.58 and .577 Cal)
- E – 121 British Pattern 1853 rifles, (.58 and .577 Cal)
- F – 82 British Pattern 1853 rifles, (.58 and .577 Cal)
- G – 67 British Pattern 1853 rifles, (.58 and .577 Cal)
- H – 72 British Pattern 1853 rifles, (.58 and .577 Cal)
- I – 86 British Pattern 1853 rifles, (.58 and .577 Cal)
- K – 59 Springfield Model 1855, 1861, National Armory (NA) [note 6]
A year later, after the departure of the two-year enlistees, the regiment reported the following for the first quarter of 1864: [note 7]
- A – 108 British Pattern 1853 rifles, (.58 and .577 Cal)
- B – 90 British Pattern 1853 rifles, (.58 and .577 Cal)
- C – 121 Bitish Pattern 1853 rifles, (.58 and .577 Cal)
- D – 136 British Pattern 1853 rifles, (.58 and .577 Cal)
At the end of 1864, then at a strength of twelve companie, the regiment reported the following for the first quarter of 1864:
- A – 128 British Pattern 1853 rifles, (.58 and .577 Cal)
- B – 129 British Pattern 1853 rifles, (.58 and .577 Cal); 5 Pattern 1856 Enfield, sabre bayonet, (.58 and .577 Cal.)
- C – 114 Bitish Pattern 1853 rifles, (.58 and .577 Cal)
- D – 129 British Pattern 1853 rifles, (.58 and .577 Cal)
- E – 143 British Pattern 1853 rifles, (.58 and .577 Cal)
- F – 135 Springfield Model 1861, National Armory (NA)
- G – 150 Light French Liege M1853 rifles, [note 8] sabre bayonet (.577 Cal.) sabre bayonet (.577 Cal.)
- H – 149 Light French Liege M1853 rifles, sabre bayonet (.577 Cal.)
- I – 5 Light French Liege M1853 rifles, sabre bayonet (.577 Cal.); 1406 British Pattern 1853 rifles, (.58 and .577 Cal)
- K – 150 Light French Liege M1853 rifles, sabre bayonet (.577 Cal.)
- L – 138 British Pattern 1853 rifles, (.58 and .577 Cal)
- M – 150 Light French Liege M1853 rifles, sabre bayonet (.577 Cal.)
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