Tuesday: Meagher's Zouaves, 69th NYSM
The Irish Zouaves, under the command of Captain T F Meagher, was organised at New York city on 22 April, 1861, and was ordered to proceed to Washington D. C. via Baltimore, Maryland, on 22 May, 1861. The company and about 200 recruits reported to Colonel M Corcoran at Georgetown D. C. on 23 May, 1861, and the Irish Zouaves was assigned as Company K. On 24 May, 1861, the 69th New York State Militia was part of the right wing column in the advance of the army into Virginia. The regiment was assigned to duty throwing up intrenchments and cutting down the timber in the vicinity of the camp on the hill nearest the Aqueduct bridge, and commanding the road leading westward to Fairfax Courthouse, Virginia. Colonel M Corcoran named the defenses Fort Seward in honor of W H Seaward, secretary of State, but the War Department insisted the fort the 69th New York State Militia built should be named Fort Corcoran. The 69th New York State Militia, the 5th New York State Militia, and the 28th New York State Militia were temporarily assigned to the Aqueduct Brigade, under the command of Colonel D Hunter, in May 1861, and the 69th New York State Militia remianed in occupation at Fort Corcoran, until 16 July, 1861. After the first battle of Bull Run the regiment returned to Fort Corcoran under the command of Acting Major T F Meagher at 3 AM on 22 July, 1861, as Colonel M Corcoran was captured during the battle. Company K of the 69th NYSM can be seen in some images of Bull Run by the famous artist, Don Troiani.
Thursday: Union Signal Operator
In every important campaign and on every bloody ground, the flags of the Signal Corps flaunted defiantly at the forefront, speeding stirring orders of advance, conveying warnings of impending danger, and sending sullen suggestions of defeat. They were seen on the advanced lines of Yorktown, Petersburg, and Richmond, in the saps and trenches at Charleston, Vicksburg, and Port Hudson, at the fierce battles of Chickamauga and Chancerllorsville, before the fort-crowned crest of Fredericksburg, amid the frightful carnage of Antietam, on Kenesaw Mountain deciding the fate of Allatoona, in Sherman's march to the sea, and with Grant's victorious army at Appomattox and Richmond. They spoke silently to DuPont along the dunes and sounds of the Carolinas, sent word to Porter clearing the central Mississippi River, and aided Farragut when forcing the passage of Mobile Bay. Did a non-combatant corps ever before suffer such disproportionate casualties- killed, wounded, and captured? Sense of duty, necessity of exposure to fire, and importance of mission were conditions incompatible with personal safety -and the Signal Corps paid the price. While many found their fate in Confederate prisons, the extreme danger of signal work, when conjoined with stubborn adherence to outposts of duty, is forcefully evidenced by the fact that the killed of the Signal Corps were on hundred and fifty percent of the wounded, as against the usual ratio of twenty percent.
Saturday: USMC Musician (Undress or field frock coat)
The United States Marine Corps (USMC) was not utilized to full advantage during the Civil War. Already weakened by the resignations of many of its best officers, the USMCs morale suffered further as a result of feuding between staff and line officers and senior officers who regarded themselves administrators rather than field commanders. Another blow to morale was the practice of appointing new junior officers by patronage. In 1861 Congress authorized the United States Marine Corps to be enlarged to 93 officers and 3,074 enlisted men, and Abraham Lincoln increased that number by another thousand. However, recruiting was hindered by a lack of funds for bounties and longer terms of enlistment than for men in the volunteer army. By 1863 negative feelings toward the USMC resulted in a congressional resolution that would have transferred the corps to army control. The resolution was defeated, however, and when Marine Commandant-Col. Jobn C. Harris died in 1864, Sec. of the Navy Gideon Welles retired several senior officers to appoint Maj. Jacob Zeilin his successor. Zeilin, at 59, was a combat veteran of the Mexican War and an officer of proven ability. During the war marines continued their traditional role as ship guards, also manning batteries and participating in limited operations ashore. They did not always perform well, as at First Bull Run, where a marine battalion of mostly raw recruits was routed. But other marines distinguished themselves during landing and gunboat attacks and especially as members of gun crews. 17 marines received the Medal of Honor for conspicuous bravery; 13 of these were sergeants and corporals serving as gun captains and gun-division commanders.
Monday: Illinois militia sharpshooters
The Sturgis Rifles was an independent militia company organized at Chicago, Illinois, under the command of Captain J Steele, in April 1861 and was mustered in United States service on 6 May, 1861. The company was ordered to West Virginia to serve as a body guard to Major General G B McClellan and arrived at Washington D. C. on 26 July, 1861. The Sturgis Rifles was assigned as Provost Guard or City Guard, under the command of Colonel A Porter, 16th United States Infantry, until 10 March, 1862. The company was mustered out on 27 November, 1863, at Washington D. C. Equipped and subsisted for nearly two months by the patriotic generosity of Mr. Solomon Sturgis, the Company was armed by its patron with Sharpe's rifles. New orders have been issued and the sharpshooters are presently on their way to Manassas for 0.404!
