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^To. 64. m ASSEMBLY, . Mill * February 2,1865. Hi SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OF THE CHIEF OF, *HE BUREAU OF MILITARY STATISTICS. STATE OF NEW YOKE: BUREAU OF' MILITARY STATISTICS, ? , ALB^ANT, February"2, 1865. ) To the'Son. GEORGE G. HOSKIISTS, Speaker of the Assembly : jSir—Chapter 51 of the Laws of 1864 requires that " An animal report shall be made by the Chief of this Bureau as soori after the meeting of the Legislature as the condition of materials will permit.'/ In compliance with this requirement I submit herewith my second annual report. * . I have the honor to be, with great respect, , ' * Your obedient servant, LOCKWOOt) L. DOTY; 0 Chief of Bureau. il§tlf OYO DtVi^'O;"-': Or vlHLITARV & NAVAL AFFAIRS 330 OLD MISKAYUNARO. ALBANY,. NY 12110 " REPORT. STATE OF NEW YORK: BUREAU OF MILITARY STATISTICS, ? ALBANY, February 2nd, 1865. ) The objects of this Bureau are declared by law to be: I. To collect and preserve in permanent form the name of every person who has volunteered or been mustered, or who may here• after volunteer or be mustered, into the service of the General Gov• ernment from this State, since April 15, 1861, and the personal history of such person while in such service, so far as the same can be ascertained. II. A record of the services of the several regiments, including an account of their organization and subsequent history • and, III. An account of the aid afforded by the several towns, cities and counties of the State. The work thus imposed has *been prosecuted throughout the past year with no little success. The manner of accomplishing the above objects is submitted below. * . BIOGRAPHIES AND PERSONAL RECORDS. As required by the act, the names, of all officers and men who have entered the service from this State, are being collected for preservation in * alphabetical order. The books for this purpose are so arranged as to give the name, regiment, company, rank, when and where mustered, and for what time, ta descriptive list, place of residence, occupation, and a brief account of services, with with such other facts as are of most interest, as well as a reference to the personal history, outline sketch, newspaper notice, letters or other fuller record on file in the Bureau. To procure the requisite information for this purpose, and for the more complete biography, muster-rolls and company and regi• mental records are used; the individual himself, if living, is 4 SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OF THE addressed, or if dead, or absent in the service, his friends are being applied to; pastors of churches, principals of academies, officers of fire .companies and of hospitals; and ladies and gentle• men in each town, who were believed to feel an interest in the matter, so far as their names could be obtained, have been solici• ted to aid in securing records of those entering the service from , their societies or localities. Many thousand personal records are already deposited in the archives of the Bureau*! while of other blanks and requests^ long since sent, as well as those daily going out, a large number are yet unanswered, though a share, at least, will in due time be returned. The work grows in interest as well as in extent; for the noble . constancy of those who are upholding the good name of our State, gives to their lives an interest as dear as anything that clusters about the closest personal friendship. And it certainly is not claiming too much to say, that no war in any age or in any country has produced higher instances of patriotism, or purer self-sacrifice or personal heroism than the collections of this Bureau already afibrd. By them every portion of our military history is enriched and exalted. SERVICES OF REGIMENTS, COMPANIES AND BATTERIES. Record books containing printed forms for obtaining a complete account of the services of regiments, companies, and batteries, are in use in the JBureau. They comprehend a series of inquiries covering the authority, when and-to whom granted, as well as the time, place and circumstances attending the formation; a specific account of each company, where and by whom raised ; a record of bounties, and other aid, received from the State, from counties, cities, towns and individuals ; the time when recruiting begun and when completed; the inspection, term of enlistment, account of flags, departure from the State, assignment to duty, movements, specific details of battles, skirmishes, and other services, casualties, sanitary history, and facts connected with termination of service. The inquiries contemplate a statement so full, as to enable every march to be traced upon a map, and so complete as to afford a satisfactory knowledge of the services of the organization, should everything in memory or tradition pass away. The regulations of the War Department do not permit access to the army for the purpose of collecting information from regiments now in the field. There, with the records at hand, and the assist• ance of officers, who from memory could readily connect and CHIEF OF THE BUREAU OF MILITARY STATISTICS. 5 explain detached items, a narrative of each regiment, in the high• est degree trustworthy and reliable, could have been easily obtained. This privilege denied, the Bureau has been restricted to such sources of information as were accessible. These were not inconsiderable. They consist mainly of the records of our State Military Departments, books of returned companies and regiments, personal recollections of officers and men, diaries and journals, letters from the army, to the Bureau, to personal friends, or to the public through the newspaper press. In addition to these are the connected narratives, in manuscript, prepared for the Bureau by officers of about sixty re.gimei.its ; some of which, in exactness of detail, are admirable compendiums, alike creditable to those who prepared them and the regiments to whose services they relate. Similar accounts are promised from nearly every organization. A few of the regiments, whose terms have expired, have deposit• ed all their books and papers with the Bureau. An effort is making to procure the same from all such as have returned. Newspaper cuttings, to the extent of several thousand pages, have been arranged into regimental scrap-books. Several of the regiments., formed since the Bureau was organized, are keeping a systematic record of events. This, if carried out to the end, will prove a precious source of history. There is no regiment, company, or battery, from which we have not a partial record, while of many we have an account so full as to give the main features of its more important services from original materials. AID AFFORDED BY TOWNS, CITIES AND COUNTIES. Books for collecting and preserving a detailed account of the aid afforded by towns, cities and counties, have been in use by the Bureau during the past year. The information is systematically sought from official and other sources, and embraces as well what has been done by taxation and loans as by individual liberality and effort, by fairs, churches, schools, academies and other organ• ized means ; also the influence of the war upon pauperism and crime, and upon banking and general business interests. Two-fifths of the towns and counties of the State were visited during the past year for statistics, by agents of the Bureau. From these our account is quite complete down to a period varying from , July 1st to December 31st, 1864, but the largely enhanced cost of travel prevented a visit to every town, and we were, therefore, 6 SECOND ANNUAL ftEFORT OF ME obliged to rely upon correspondence to accomplish the rest. Thl$ mode has been only measurably successful. In many instances, supervisors, to whom our blanks were sent, have responded, but in a majority of cases no returns have as yet been made. Gov, Seymour was so good as to address the following letter to such supervisors as were not visited : u It is important, therefore, that supervisors, who are not called upon personally, should supply the information asked for in the blanks sent out to them from the Bureau, and forward it to Col. DOTY as promptly as possible. " Public spirited citizens are invited to assist the supervisors in the work of making up a complete report of the aid afforded by their towns in men and means since the commencement of the war, and also to interest themselves in furnishing the Bureau ^ with biographies, or materials for biographies, of officers and ^ soldiers. The work justly claims the attention of all." The experience of eighteen months clearly proves, that so long as it is not made the duty of these and other officials to furnish the information'sought by this Bureau it will • not be done. Other and more pressing claims will engage their attention. But if made their duty, a record could soon be prepared that would be of in• calculable value and convenience for official and historical uses hereafter as well as now* . I venture, therefore, to ask that a suitable change in this respect be; made in the law. THE COUNTY OF NEW YORK. New York, with its usual liberality, some months ago established " The New York County Bureau of Military Statistics/7 an organi• zation auxiliary to this Bureau. Its objects are to collect the per- , sona! records of those entering the war from that city ; a systematic account of the services of the regiments, Volunteer and Militia, raised or belonging there, together with a complete account of the great part which that metropolis has taken in the present war, both as respects the aid afforded by the individual citizen, and the municipality.