The 79th NY Regiment mutinies...

5fish

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ARATOGA SPRINGS, NY (08/17/2011)(readMedia)-- The 79th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment charged into rebel cannon fire at the First Battle of Bull Run, but they later found themselves squaring off against Union artillery, infantry, cavalry and a determined veteran officer when they mutinied at Camp Ewen near Washington, D.C., on Aug. 14, 1861.

The sullen and drunk soldiers quickly submitted when faced by troops sent to put down their rebellion, but 35 of them were singled out as mutineers, and more than a dozen were incarcerated for it. Though they had several grievances, like being denied a trip home and the right select their commander per militia custom, the soldiers ultimately regretted the mutiny, recalled unit member William Todd.
 

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August 14, 1861, the sense of anger and disgruntlement that had been building among the men of the largely Scottish-American 79th New York Infantry "Highlanders" boiled over. The rank and file of the regiment, which had suffered one of the highest number of casualties among Union units engaged in the recent Battle of Bull Run (including the death of their colonel, James Cameron, brother to the secretary of war), had been under the impression that they’d be allowed to return to New York to recover, recruit, and select a new commander. When it became clear that they would be remaining where they were—and that a new colonel, Isaac Ingalls Stevens, had been appointed to the regiment without their say—many of the men, fueled by alcohol, refused their officers’ orders to perform any duties that August morning. Upon hearing of the mutinous conduct of the Highlanders, newly minted army commander George B. McClellan dispatched a band of regular army and cavalry troops to surround the regiment; 21 of the men deemed the mutiny’s “ringleaders” were arrested and the regiment’s colors seized, not to be returned until several months later.
 
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