Col. W. W. McChesney, 10th N.Y. Inf.Discovery of a new rebel battery at Messech's Point, near the mouth of Back River by a scouting party of the Tenth Regiment of New York Zouaves, before September 1861
The 10th New York Volunteer Infantry, the National Zouaves or McChesney's Zouaves, was recruited in New York city and Brooklyn and mustered into federal service, April 27, 30, May 2, and 7, 1861, for a two-year enlistment. From Sandy Hook, where it was encamped, the regiment embarked for Fortress Monroe on June 5, and was ordered to join the reserve during the battle of Big Bethel.[7]
Headquarters were established at Camp Hamilton, near Fortress Monroe, and here the regiment was stationed until the opening of the campaign on the Peninsula the following year. In May 1862, the regiment moved to Norfolk and Portsmouth and on June 7, was attached to the 3d brigade, 2nd division, V Corps, which it joined at Bottom's bridge on the Chickahominy. It was active in the Seven Days' battles, encamped at Harrison's Landing until late in August, when it returned to Newport News, whence it was ordered to Manassas and fought bravely in the Second Bull Run, losing 115 men in killed, wounded and missing.[7]
At South Mountain and Antietam, it was held in reserve; was in action at Shepherdstown, after which it was assigned to the 3d brigade, 3d division, II Corps, with which it fought at Fredericksburg, where almost one-half of the members of the regiment who went into action were killed, wounded or missing.[7]
A portion of the winter was spent in the performance of guard duty at headquarters and the original two years members not reenlisted were mustered out at New York on May 7, 1863. The remainder of the regiment was consolidated into a battalion of four companies to which were later added two companies of new recruits and the veterans of the 8th N. Y. artillery. The battalion was made provost guard of the 3d division, II Corps and in March, 1864, was attached to the 3d brigade, 2nd division, II Corps. It was active at the Wilderness, where the loss was 95 members, at Spottsylvania, Laurel Hill, the North Anna river, Totopotomy, and Cold Harbor.[7]
Occupation of Norfolk and Portsmouth May 10 and duty there till June 7
Joined Army of the Potomac on the Peninsula
Operations against Stuart June 13-15
Old Church June 13
Seven days before Richmond June 25-July 1
Gaines Mill June 27
White Oak Swamp and Turkey Bend June 30
Malvern Hill July 1
At Harrison's Landing till August 16
Movement to Fortress Monroe, thence to Centreville August 16-28
Battle of Second Bull Run August 30
Battle of Antietam September 16-17
Shepherdstown Ford and Shepherdstown September 19-20
Movement to Falmouth October 29-November 19
Provost guard for Sumner's Grand Division December 7-24
Battle of Fredericksburg December 12-15
1863
Burnside's 2nd Campaign, "Mud March," January 20-24, 1863
At Falmouth till April 27
Chancellorsville Campaign April 27-May 6
Provost Guard, 3rd Division, II Corps, April 27 to June 14
Battle of Chancellorsville May 1-5
Battle of Gettysburg, Pa., July 2-4
Advance from the Rappahannock to the Rapidan September 13-17
Bristoe Campaign October 9-22
Auburn and Bristoe October 14
Blackburn's Ford October 15
Advance to line of the Rappahannock November 7-8
Mine Run Campaign November 26-December 2
1864
Demonstration on the Rapidan February 6-7, 1864
Morton's Ford February 6-7
Campaign from the Rapidan to the James May 3-June 15
Battles of the Wilderness May 5-7
Spottsylvania May 8-12
Laurel Hill May 8
Po River May 10
Spottsylvania Court House May 12-21
Assault on the Salient, "Bloody Angle," May 12
North Anna River May 23-26
On line of the Pamunkey May 26-28
Totopotomoy May 28-31
Cold Harbor June 1-12
Before Petersburg June 16-18
Siege of Petersburg June 16, 1864, to April 2, 1865
Jerusalem Plank Road June 22-23, 1864
Demonstration north of the James July 27-29
Deep Bottom July 27-28
Mine Explosion July 30 (Reserve)
Demonstration north of the James August 13-20
Strawberry Plains, Deep Bottom, August 14-18
Ream's Station August 25
Boydton Plank Road, Hatcher's Run October 27-28
1865
Dabney's Mills, Hatcher's Run, February 5-7
Watkins' House March 25
Appomattox Campaign March 28-April 9
Crow's House March 31
Fall of Petersburg April 2
Sailor's Creek April 6
High Bridge, Farmville, April 7
Appomattox Court House April 9
Surrender of Lee and his army
At Burkesville till May 2
March to Washington, D. C, May 2-12
Grand Review May 23
Mustered out June 30, 1865
Casualties
During its term of service, it lost 130 by death from wounds and 89 by death from accident, imprisonment or disease.[10]
Armament & uniforms
Armament
Soldiers in the 10th were armed with 713 National Armory (NA)[note 5] and contract manufactured Model 1842 Springfield Muskets smoothbore muskets drawn from state arsenals.[note 6] At some point in the fall of 1861, the regiment, like others in its division, exchanged the smoothbore muskets for newer Model 1861 Springfield rifled muskets at the Washington DC arsenal. By the end of the first full year of hard campaigning, the regimented returned 722 Model 1842 smoothbore percussion muskets to the Adjutant General.[14] By theFredericksburg, the regiment reported the following survey result to U.S. War Department:[6]
A — 11 Springfield Rifled Muskets, model 1855, 1861, NA and contract, (.58 Cal.)
B — 46 Springfield Rifled Muskets, model 1855, 1861, NA and contract, (.58 Cal.)
C — 36 Springfield Rifled Muskets, model 1855, 1861, NA and contract, (.58 Cal.)
D — 38 Springfield Rifled Muskets, model 1855, 1861, NA and contract, (.58 Cal.)
E — 44 Springfield Rifled Muskets, model 1855, 1861, NA and contract, (.58 Cal.)
F — 59 Springfield Rifled Muskets, model 1855, 1861, NA and contract, (.58 Cal.)
G — 78 Springfield Rifled Muskets, model 1855, 1861, NA and contract, (.58 Cal.)
H — 18 Springfield Rifled Muskets, model 1855, 1861, NA and contract, (.58 Cal.); 18 Model 1841 Mississippi rifles, NA and contract, (.54 Cal.)
I — 37 Springfield Rifled Muskets, model 1855, 1861, NA and contract, (.58 Cal.)
K — 33 Springfield Rifled Muskets, model 1855, 1861, NA and contract, (.58 Cal.)
Shoulder Arms Gallery
Issued weapons
Model 1842 smoothbore musket
Springfield Model 1861
Uniform
The 10th New York wore a dark blue bound Zouave jacket trimmed in red with a red trefoil both sides of the front, and cuffs pointed/piped in red.[15] A collar-less short-sleeved red vest piped in yellow was worn under the jacket, which was only fastened at the neck, with six brass buttons.[16] The men wore a blue-tasseled red faz covered with a white turban. Instead of baggy Zouave trousers, narrower sky blue trousers with double red stripes on the outseam. Around the waist a royal sash trimmed in red was worn. The trousers were tucked into white canvas leggings.[17][note 7]
^As reported back to Adjutant General Hillhouse upon departure from New York on June 27, 1861
^As reported back to Adjutant General Hillhouse, on December 31, 1862
^As reported back to Adjutant General Sprague, on December 31, 1863
^On 18 Sep 1861, 722 Harper's Ferry rifled Model 1842s, percussion locks from manufacture and rifled. As reported back to Adjutant General on December 31, 1863. This was the number turned in when issued Springfields.
^In government records, National Armory refers to one of three United States Armory and Arsenals, the Springfield Armory, the Harpers Ferry Armory, and the Rock Island Arsenal. Rifle-muskets, muskets, and rifles were manufactured in Springfield and Harper's Ferry before the war. When the Rebels destroyed the Harpers Ferry Armory early in the American Civil War and stole the machinery for the Confederate central government-run Richmond Armory, the Springfield Armory was briefly the only government manufacturer of arms, until the Rock Island Arsenal was established in 1862. During this time production ramped up to unprecedented levels ever seen in American manufacturing up until that time, with only 9,601 rifles manufactured in 1860, rising to a peak of 276,200 by 1864. These advancements would not only give the Union a decisive technological advantage over the Confederacy during the war but served as a precursor to the mass production manufacturing that contributed to the post-war Second Industrial Revolution and 20th century machine manufacturing capabilities. American historian Merritt Roe Smith has drawn comparisons between the early assembly machining of the Springfield rifles and the later production of the Ford Model T, with the latter having considerably more parts, but producing a similar numbers of units in the earliest years of the 1913–1915 automobile assembly line, indirectly due to mass production manufacturing advancements pioneered by the armory 50 years earlier. [11][12]
^The smoothbore version was produced without sights (except for a cast one on the barrel band). Using a Buck and Ball cartridge, the smoothbore version of the 1842 musket was very effective during the American Civil War.[13]
^After time in the field, the jacket would fade to a brown shade.[15]
Sprague, John T. (February 1, 1864). Adjutant General's Report, 1863(PDF). Annual Reports of the Adjutant General of the State of New York. Vol. I. Albany, NY: New York (State). Adjutant General's Office. pp. 1–672. LCCNsn94095328. OCLC1039942785. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
Sprague, John T. (February 1, 1864). Adjutant General's Report, 1863(PDF). Annual Reports of the Adjutant General of the State of New York. Vol. II. Albany, NY: New York (State). Adjutant General's Office. pp. 1–672. LCCNsn94095328. OCLC1039942785. Retrieved 2020-04-10. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
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