161st Regiment, New York Infantry

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Brief History
The 161st regiment was organized at Elmira, Chemung County August to October, 1862 under Colonel Gabriel T. Harrower. It was mustered in on October 27th, 1862. The regiment served its duty in the District of West Florida and in Sub-District of Key West, District of Middle Florida, until November, 1865. It was mustered out November 12, 1865 at Tallahassee, Florida.

The New York State Military Museumwebsite has a unit history project page for the 161st Infantry Regiment.

Companies in this Regiment with the 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.

See the Regiment Roster, for listing of individuals, their company and their involvement.

Company A - principally recruited from Prattsburg, Wheeler, and Urbana, each in Steuben County; and Pultney, Wayne County;

Company B - principally recruited from Elmira, Chemung County; Tyrone, Watkins, Reading, and Hector, all in Schuyler County; and Dix, Oneida County

Company C - principally recruited from Elmira, Chemung County

Company D - principally recruited from Bath, Steuben County

Company E - principally recruited from Hornellsville, Steuben County; Binghamton, Colesville, and Chenango, each in Broome County; Catharine, Hector and Montour, each in Schuyler County; and Hampton, Washington County

Company F - principally recruited from Bath and Howard in Steuben County

Company G - principally recruited from Corning, Steuben County; Reynoldsville and Watkins in Schuyler County; Binghamton, Broome County

Company H - principally recruited from Woodhull, Jasper, Greenwood and Troupsburg, all in Steuben County

Company I - principally recruited from Cohocton and Avoca in Steuben County

Company K - principally recruited from Norwich, Columbus, Guilford, Sherburne, all in Chenango County; and Cazenovia, Madison County

Source Material
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).&lt;br&gt;

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.

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,

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,

Merwin, J. W.. ''Roster and monograph, 161st Reg't. N. Y. S. Volunteer Infantry, rebellion, 1861-1865. ''Bethesda, MD.: University Publications of America,1992 (originally published:Elmira, N. Y. : Gazette Print., 1902). Other libraries with this book,


 * United States. Army. New York Infantry Regiment. The military history of the One Hundred & Sixty-First New York Volunteer Infantry : from Aug. 15, 1862 to Oct. 17, 1865. (Bethesda, Maryland : University Publications of America, c1992)

Broome County NY Civil War Units - 161stwebsite has a brief overview of the history of the regiment.