The Old Twentieth

Here's a regiment I've been working on for a very long time, the 20th New York State militia, sometimes called the Ulster Guard.  The men were drawn from the Catskill region, primarily from Ulster County but also from Greene, southern Albany, and eastern Delaware counties.  After war broke out, the regiment was promptly entered into army rolls for a 90-day enlistment.  When the three-months term wore out, the regiment and its sponsors rushed to secure its re-registry under the old number (a matter not only of pride but of financial importance), but in the jumble of regiment-raising, its old spot in the order of precedence was taken by the "Turner Rifles," a German regiment from New York City, and it was redesignated the 80th NYSV.  Officers and men alike were deeply resentful of this change and continued to refer to themselves as the 20th or the Old 20th.

     At Second Bull Run, the 80th (20th) was part of Marsena Patrick's 3rd Brigade, Rufus King's 1st Division of the III Corps under McDowell (Army of Virginia).  King's division, under the temporary command of John Hatch, assisted Porter's assault on Jackson's line.  Patrick's brigade went forward in two lines, with the 23rd and 35th NY in front and the 21st and 80th NY in the rear.  The 80th, trying to press the assault, advanced through a woodlot into an angle between two Confederate regiments, was enfiladed dreadfully, and suffered 279 casualties, including Col. Pratt, who was given a grievous wound, of which he died two weeks later, having been transported to Albany, NY.

I tried to imitate a painting of the regiment by Mark Maritato.

The Ulster Guard (Mark Maritato)

At this stage, the regiment carried a distinctive flag presented by the ladies of Poughkeepsie.  A dozen or so men were killed or wounded carrying the national and regimental colors during the assualt.

The drum is speculative, but the militia company and later the regiment used the Red Hand of Ulster as an emblem in various ways, and I wanted to add a bit of variation.

     The 80th had a distinguished career throughout the rest of the war, most notably at Gettysburg, where it sustained appalling casualties.  The thinned ranks were filled with three years' men from other NY regiments, including the 35th, its old companion from Patrick's brigade, and the regiment mustered out in '66.

It's common to find the graves of men from the 80th (20th) in the Catskill region.  On a personal note, as a child I knew (and was taught to shoot a blackpowder rifle by) a descendant of George Showers, the last surviving veteran from Greene County and a soldier in the 80th, though I didn't know this at the time.

Where Are My Green Flags?*

The next regiment up is the 28th Massachusetts of Farnsworth's brigade.  The 28th was held in reserve of Schurz's division on August 29th and saw little action, despite the battle raging to their front.  On the 30th, however, they partook in the bloody back-and-forth that characterized the Union retreat and lost upwards of 110 killed, wounded, or missing.

At this time, the regiment carried the so-called Pilot Flag and not its later, more famous standard.  The Pilot Flag was difficult to reconstruct, since the few existing images of it are incomplete or somewhat unclear, but I think I got it just about right - apart from the grey blob on the right side, which I learned later should really be an Irish wolfhound.  At the front is Lt. Colonel George Cartwright, wounded during the day's action.

For information on the 28th Massachusetts, I direct all interested parties to the website of the "recreated" regiment, from which I learned much of what I know about the 28th.

*On the Peninsula,  Edwin Sumner, when calling for the Irish Brigade to be sent into action, would ask, "Where are my green flags?", though the 28th would not join the Irish Brigade until late in 1862.  This will likely be my only "Irish" regiment, however, and in any case there were a substantial number of Yankees in the 28th.

The Grass is Greener

The Bull Run project continues - somewhat haltingly, and slowed by my habit of working on units piecemeal based on funds and availability of desired miniatures.  I've also finally gotten around to basing the soldiers properly; for months I was unable to figure out how to get the "right" green for the grass.  In addition, I was always disappointed by how dull my flags looked - until I realized I had never done the fringes, cords, and tassels. So all that has been adjusted, and there are more units in the works.

In no particular order:

Col. Addison Farnsworth

Brig. General Julius Stahel (converted from a plastic cavalryman)

27th Pennsylvania

41st New York

10th New York

5th New York