33d New York Volunteers

Path of Blood:
The True Story of the
33d New York Volunteers
by George W. Contant

Unidentified members of the 33d New York with their
National Colors. Brady photo courtesy US Army Military
History Institute.

Sons of the North! Rise and arm for the fight!
Arm for the land that your hearts fondly cherish,
Arm ere the the hope of your forefathers perish,
Arm, that may wave from its glory wreathed height,
The flag of our Union.

Sons of the North shall our famed eagle die?
On the ancient cliff, shall his mighty wing shiver?
Fall from his talons the arrow filled quiver?
No: let his song arise wilder than ever,
Till cliff, crag and mountain the echo reply,
"The flag of our Union forever."

Sons of the North, go the triumphs to share;
Shall live our fair lands from henceforth but in story?
No: though the pathway to victory be gory;
No: although blood be the gateway to glory;
Though our banner be torn, still the stars shall be there,
The flag of our Union.

Sons of the North for our liberty stand!
The North and the East and the West are awaking,
Stand! for the links in our Union are breaking,
Stand! for the pillars of state are now shaking,
Stand for the right, for our beautiful land,
For the flag of our Union!

Sons of the North, act a hero's brave part.
Till not one traitor, but frightened is flying,
Till not one Rebel, but prostrate is lying,
Till old glory from the Northland to Southland is flying,
All the broad North hath one patriot heart


Post-war commemorative badge of Private David H. Ireland, Co. A	Corporal Richard Ridley, Co. C POW at Fredericksburg, VA, on May 4, 1862 Discharged at Geneva, NY, on June 2, 1863 Photo courtesy James A. Ridley, Sr.	Private Jesse Eggleston, Co. H Wounded 5/3/1863 Fredericksburg, VA Mustered Out 6/2/1863 at Geneva, NY Photo courtesy Bill Mertz	A Brady photo of an unidentified 33d NY soldier

Pvt Charles H. Smith, Co. C After being mustered out with the 33d in June of 1863, he then enlisted in the 3d NY Light Artillery and served until the war ended. Photo ca. 1910. All photos courtesy Dave Towers.	Charles Smith's home-made post-war commemorative badge	Charles Smith's 8th Annual Reunion Ribbon 1st NY Veteran Cavalry, 27th NY Infantry, and 33d NY Infantry Survivor's Association, 1891	On of the most beautiful post-war commemoratives I've ever seen, this is Charles Smith's Official Badge of the 1st NY Veteran Cavalry, 27th NY Infantry, and 33d NY Infantry Survivor's Association

Capt Edwin J. Tyler, Co. A. The E. J. Tyler Post, GAR, of Pittsford, NY, was named for him. Photo courtesy Howard Campbell.	2 Lt David G. Caywood, Co. I The David G. Caywood Camp #146, Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, in Ovid, NY, is named for him.	Pvt Thomas Murphy, Co. C Photo courtesy Helen Dilts	Pvt Henry Richardson, Co. E, where he was assigned to the regiment's band. He had subsequent service in Co. M, 12th IL Cavalry. This photo is of him when he was with that regiment. Photo courtesy Noel Reen.

There are many more photos
in the book, Path of Blood!

Mary Jane Kline: A 'Daughter of the Regiment'

When John Crawford's baby daughter Mary Jane entered the world in a log cabin on Main Street in Waterloo, NY, in 1840, he likely had no idea that someday that "little lady" would fearlessly follow the men of her town to war as a nurse. That is exactly what happened when the 86 men of the Waterloo Wright Guards left town on the 26th of April, 1861, mere days after the Civil War broke out. They were heading for Elmira, NY, where they would eventually become Company C of the 33d New York.

Women went into the field in many capacities, including as laundresses and cooks, and would occasionally assist the surgeons as nurses. They were often known as a vivandiere or Daughter of the Regiment. We do not know when Mary Jane Crawford actually joined the 33d, but she did, and according to her obituary, her bravery was well-known. "She was unafraid of of shot and shell and insisted on being in the thick of battle in order that she might the better serve the wounded."

Apparently, Mary Jane also served as a laundress, as noted by David Judd, a New York Times stringer and the eventual author of the 33d New York's first history, The Two Years' Campaign of the Thirty-third New York Volunteers. And, she had a "boyfriend", Private Jacob Kline, also of Company C. Whether she had followed him into the field, or met him once she arrived in camp is not known, but, apparently, the relationship sprouted into love as the two were married in the regiment's Virginia camp by the 33d's Chaplain in October of 1861. Writing about the wedding, Judd remarked,

                  A real wedding cake, wine and other refreshments were passed around, much to the delight of the boys, who were weary
            of hard tack. While the after-festivities were happily pro-gressing, the fortunate bridegroom suddenly brought them to a close by
            grasping the hand of his fair one, and disappearing in the direction of his domicile, with a general invitation to "call round."

Mary Jane was allowed to remain with Jacob and served the men of the 33d through the Battle of Antietam, where he was wounded. By January 16, 1863, Jacob was able to walk and was medically discharged, and they returned to Waterloo to really begin their lives. They had three daughters and one son. Jacob died in 1905 and Mary Jane followed in 1922. Both are buried in the Maple Grove Cemetery, in Waterloo.

As I researched Path of Blood, I was never able to discover who the soldier and woman were mentioned in Judd's history. Many thanks to the Klines' great-grand-daughter Virginia Kirchoff, who recently contacted me, for the photograph and obituary!

Colonel Robert F. Taylor
Lieutenant Colonel Joseph W. Corning
Major John S. Platner
Adjutant John S. Corning
Quartermaster Henry N. Alexander
Surgeon DeEstaing Dickerson
Assistant Surgeons Richard Curran and Duncan McLachlen
Chaplain Augustus H. Lung

Mustered into service at Elmira, NY Jul 8, 61 * Left N.Y. for Camp Granger, Washington Jul 9, 61 * Attached to W.F. Smith's Brigade Jul 25, 61 * Camp Advance near D.C. * Near Chain Bridge Aug 9, 61 * Camp Lyon, Potomac Aug 31, 61 * Recon to Langley, VA Sep 25, 61 * Attached: 2d Brigade (Stevens), W.F. Smith's Division Sep 25, 61 * Battle at Lewinsville, VA Oct 13, 61 * Camp Ethan Allen/Big Chestnut, VA Nov 61-Feb 62 * Camp Griffin, VA Mar -May 62 * Camp Winfield Scott, VA; 3d Bde (Davidson), 2d Div (Smith), 4th Corps ( Keyes) Mar 10-15,62 * Advance on Manassas, VA Mar 23, 62 * Embarked for Fortress Monroe, VA Apr 4, 62 * Watt's and Young's Mills, VA Apr 5, 62 * Near Lee's Mills, VA Apr 8 - 16, 62 * Near Burnt Chimneys Apr 26, 62 * Before Yorktown, VA Apr 28, 62 * Battle of Williamsburg, VA May 5, 62 * 3d Bde (Davidson), 2d Div (Smith), 6th Corps (Franklin) * Mechanicsville, VA May 23-24,62 * Golding's Farm, VA Jun 5, 62 * Battle of Golding Farm Jun 28, 62 * Savage Station, VA Jun 29, 62 * White Oak Swamp Bridge, VA Jun 30, 62 * Malvern Hill, VA Jun 30, 62 * Harrison's Landing, VA Jul 3, 62 * Fortress Monroe, VA Aug 16, 62 * Centreville, VA Aug 28, 62 * Covered Pope's retreat to Fairfax Court House, VA Sep 1, 62 * Jefferson Pass, MD Sep 13, 62 * Crampton's Pass, MD Sep 14, 62 * Antietam, MD Sep 17-18, 62 * Battle of Fredericksburg Dec 11-15, 62 * Burnside's "Mud March" in VA Jan 20-24, 63 * White Oak Church, Falmouth, VA Jan 25-Apr 27,63 * Ops about Franklin's Crossing, VA Apr 29-May 2, 63 * Storming of Marye's Heights, Fredericksburg, VA May 4, 63 * Salem Church, VA May 4, 63 * Retreat of 6th Corps at Banks Ford, VA May 5, 63 * 3 years men transferred to 49th NY May 14, 63 * Rest honorably discharged at Geneva, NY Jul 1-3, 63

* From New York in the War of the Rebellion, Frederick Phisterer, 3d Ed., 1904

For gallantry, Battle of Antietam, Mumma Farm field hospital, September 17, 1862

Company	Town	County	Captain*
A	Seneca Falls	Seneca	Edwin J. Tyler
B	Palmyra	Wayne	Henry J. Draime
C	Waterloo	Seneca	Chester H. Cole
D	Canandaigua	Ontario	Henry J. Gifford
E	Geneseo	Livingston	Wilson B. Warford
F	Nunda	Livingston	James C. McNair
G	Buffalo	Erie	George A. Gale
H	Geneva	Ontario	Alexander H. Drake
I	Penn Yan	Yates	Edward E. Root
K	Seneca Falls	Seneca	Patrick McGraw