22nd New York Infantry

22nd New York Infantry
Unit name	22nd New York Infantry
Country	United States
Allegiance	Union
Branch	Volunteer Infantry
Dates	1861–1863
Size	Regiment
Notable commanders	Colonel John M. Murphy

22nd New York Infantry was a volunteer regiment raised in New York State that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Organized during the mobilization following the attack on Fort Sumter, the regiment took part in operations in the Eastern Theater including the defenses of Washington, D.C. and campaigns in Virginia and Maryland. The unit served under corps and divisions associated with the Army of the Potomac and participated in several major actions before mustering out in 1863.

Formation and Organization

The regiment was mustered into service amid the wartime recruitment drives that followed President Abraham Lincoln's call for troops and the enrollment acts implemented across New York. Recruitment drew volunteers from New York City wards and surrounding counties influenced by political figures such as Fernando Wood and civic institutions including the New York State Militia and local fire department companies. Officers were commissioned under the authority of Governor Edwin D. Morgan and the regiment received shots and accoutrements issued through the Quartermaster Department facilities in Albany, New York and the naval yard at Brooklyn Navy Yard prior to deployment. Initial training occurred on parade grounds near Ridgewood and camp sites modeled after instructional texts used at the United States Military Academy.

Service History

After organization, the regiment moved into the defensive rings surrounding Washington, D.C. where it was tasked with fortification work at named positions along the Potomac and at forts linked to the Defenses of Washington (American Civil War). It was brigaded within formations that included regiments from New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania, aligning operationally with commanders associated with the early war leadership of the Army of the Potomac such as Irvin McDowell and later elements under George B. McClellan. The regiment rotated between picket duty, reconnaissance toward the Virginia Peninsula, and logistical support missions supplying depot points like Harper's Ferry and Alexandria, Virginia. During 1862 the regiment joined campaigns that connected it to the strategic maneuvering around the Rappahannock River and the northward movements culminating in operations associated with the Maryland Campaign.

Engagements and Campaigns

The regiment saw action in engagements and skirmishes that formed part of larger operations including fights near Manassas, reconnaissance toward Fredericksburg, and actions during the Antietam Campaign. Elements of the regiment were engaged in contested forays near Leesburg and supported assaults and defensive stands linked to corps operations during the Seven Days Battles and intermittent clashes around Falmouth, Virginia. The unit's timeline intersected with major campaigns involving generals such as George G. Meade, Joseph Hooker, and subordinate leaders like Daniel Sickles. Throughout its service the regiment operated in the same theaters as formations engaged at Second Battle of Bull Run, Battle of South Mountain, and the wider operational movements preceding the Battle of Fredericksburg.

Commanders and Leadership

Command was exercised by officers commissioned from New York political and militia circles, including the regiment's colonel and supporting field officers who had prior service in municipal institutions or state militia units. Senior officers coordinated with brigade and division commanders from formations under leaders such as Winfield Scott Hancock, Philip Kearny, and corps commanders in the Army of the Potomac staff. Staff officers included adjutants and quartermasters who liaised with higher echelons like the War Department and the Adjutant General of New York to manage returns, orders, and supply. The regiment's non-commissioned officer cadre drew upon veterans of antebellum militia activity and civic volunteer organizations.

Casualties and Losses

The regiment sustained casualties from combat, disease, and attrition consistent with units serving in the Eastern Theater. Losses occurred in small-unit engagements and larger battles that resulted in killed, wounded, mortally wounded, and missing personnel. Disease in camp, exacerbated by conditions common to Civil War encampments such as dysentery and typhoid fever, contributed to non-combat fatalities. Wounded soldiers were treated in field hospitals and evacuated to hospitals in Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia, with many convalescents discharged under regulations promulgated in army medical directives influenced by figures like Jonathan Letterman and institutions including the United States Sanitary Commission.

Notable Members and Honors

Several members of the regiment later participated in civic and political life, holding municipal office in New York City or serving in state institutions such as the New York State Assembly and New York State Senate. Some veterans joined organizations like the Grand Army of the Republic and attended reunions commemorating engagements in the Eastern Theater. Individual soldiers received recognition in local presses and veterans' memorials for actions during campaigns associated with Antietam and Fredericksburg; officers and enlisted men sometimes appear in pension records and veteran rolls maintained by the New York State Archives and historical societies in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

Legacy and Commemoration

Postwar remembrance of the regiment took form in regimental histories, veterans' addresses, and placement of names on monuments within cemeteries such as Arlington National Cemetery and municipal memorials in New York parks and squares. Commemorative activities connected to the regiment intersect with broader memory projects like the erection of monuments by the Daughters of the American Revolution and ceremonies organized by local chapters of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War. Archival materials, muster rolls, and personal letters from members are preserved in collections at the New York Historical Society, the Library of Congress, and university special collections that document the regiment's service during pivotal campaigns of the American Civil War.

Category:Units and formations of the Union Army from New York (state)