Person:Oliver Wood (3)

Civil War: 56th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment Companies L & H:

Wood, Oliver W. - Age, 21 years. Enlisted, October 5, 1861, at CallicoonDepot, to serve 3 years; mustered in as private, Co. L, November 4, 1861;transferred to Co. H, November 14, 1861; promoted corporal, no date;re-enlisted as a veteran, February 20, 1864; promoted sergeant, October7, 1864; mustered out with company, October 17, 1865, at Charleston, S.C.

The 56th New York, recruited by Col. Charles H. Van Wyck, was organizedand received its numerical designation Oct. 15, 1861, at Newburgh, N.Y.It was composed of 11 companies, two light artillery batteries, and twocavalry troops, the whole being known, at least unofficially, as theTenth Legion. (This nickname, which also is reflected in the "X" patchworn on the first jackets issued to the enlisted men, derives from thefact that Van Wyck, a congressmen, represented the 10th CongressionalDistrict, the area from which the regiment was recruited.)

The batteries later became the 7th and 8th N.Y. Independent batteries,and the cavalry companies were incorporated into the 1st N.Y. MountedRifles. Co. L also was known as the 5th Company of N.Y. Sharpshooters.

The men were mainly from Orange, Sullivan, and Ulster counties and weremustered into the service of the United States at Newburgh on Oct. 28,1861, for three years. The regiment left for Washington on Nov. 7, 1861,and there became part of the 1st Brigade, 2nd (Casey's) Division, 4thCorps, and served in the defenses of Washington until March 1862.

In the opening of the spring offensive, the regiment participated in thesiege of Yorktown and was present without loss at the Battles ofWilliamsburg, Savage's Station, and Bottom's Bridge. At the Battle ofFair Oaks, the regiment lost 66 men killed and wounded and five missing.

In June, the brigade, now part of Peck's Division of the 4th Corps, Armyof the Potomac, was present during the Seven Days' Battles beforeRichmond but was not closely engaged, and after the Battle of MalvernHill it was withdrawn to Yorktown. In December, the brigade, under Gen.Naglee, was assigned to the 18th Corps and reached South Carolina inearly January 1862. In the regimental history, it is recounted that themen, in troop transports en route to South Carolina, saw off in thedistance the Union ironclad Monitor being towed near Cape Hatteras, NorthCarolina. The ship sank in a storm Dec. 31, 1862, and it is quitepossible that the men of the 56th New York were the last to see thecelebrated warship, which in March had dueled the CSS Virginia (alsoknown as the Merrimac), before it was lost.

The regiment served in the Charleston, S.C., area and was active in thesiege of Fort Wagner in July 1863, and subsequent operations in thevicinity. It was assigned to the 1st Brigade, 3rd Division, 18th Corps inMarch 1863, and was transferred to the 10th Corps in October.

While with the 18th Corps it was stationed on Folly Island and atBeaufort, S.C. In the summer of 1864, the regiment was stationed on JamesIsland; lost 50 men in the engagement at Honey Hill; was active atCoosawhatchie and Boyd's Point in December; and shared in the operationsat Deveaux Neck (all in South Carolina) during the same month withconsiderable loss.

Those members who didn't reenlist when their three-year term of serviceexpired were mustered out. The regiment remained in the Department of theSouth, serving in the Coast Division during the winter of 1864-65 and atCharleston from March 1865 till Oct. 17, 1865, when it was mustered out.

During its four years of service, the regiment lost 64 officers and menfrom wounds and 216 from disease and other causes. Nine enlisted men werelisted as missing.

Battles and Engagements

1862 Siege of Yorktown, Va. April 15 - May 4 Lee's Mills, Va. April 28 Williamsburgh, Va. May 5 Bottom's and Turkey Island bridges, Va. May 23 Savage Station, Va. May 25 Fair Oaks, Va. May 31, June 1 Seven Day's Battles, Va. June 25 - July 2 Railroad and Bottom's bridges, Va. June 28 - June 29 White Oak Swamp Bridge, Va. June 30 Malvern Hill, Va. July l Carter's Hill, Va. July 2 Wood's Cross Roads, Va. Dec. 14

                                                      1863

Seabrook Island, S.C. June 18 Grimballs's Landing, S.C. July 16 Siege of Fort Wagner, S.C. July 18 - August Siege of Charleston, S.C.

                         1864
August-September

John's Island, S.C. July 1-10 Honey Hill, S.C. Nov. 30 Coosawhatchie, S.C. Dec. 3 Boyd's Point, S.C. Dec. 5 Deveaux Neck, S.C. Dec. 6-7 Deveaux Neck, S.C. Dec. 9 Deveaux Neck, S.C. Dec. 19 Deveaux Neck, S.C. Dec. 29

                                                   1865

Manningsville, S.C. April 8 Dingle's Mills, S.C. April 9

1. ↑ Sullivan, New York, United States. 1920 U.S. Census Population Schedule.

   1920 U.S. Census, New York, Sullivan County, Fremont Town, Roll T625 1264, Page 7A.

2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Sullivan, New York, United States. 1900 U.S. Census Population Schedule.

   1900 U.S. Census New York, Fremont, Sullivan County, Roll 1167, Book 1, page 114a

3. ↑ Sullivan, New York, United States. 1910 U.S. Census Population Schedule.

   1910 U.S. Census, New York, Sullivan County, Fremont, T624 1072, Page 74B.

4. ↑ Civil War Pension Records of Alexander Murray.
5. ↑ ^5.0 5.1 Sullivan, New York, United States. 1870 U.S. Census Population Schedule.

   1870 U.S. Census, New York, Sullivan County, Fremont, M593 1102, Page 505.

6. ↑ ^6.0 6.1 Sullivan, New York, United States. 1880 U.S. Census Population Schedule.

   1880 U.S. Census, New York, Sullivan County, Fremont, District 1, T9-0936, Page 144B.