Summer 1865
THE NOVEMBER 29, 1864, ISSUE OF THE New York Times carried the following notice under the heading “A New Army Corps Hancock’s Veterans.”
It will be seen that, by authority of the War Department Gen. HANCOCK is empowered to raise an Army Corps, which is to consist of twenty thousand infantry, to be enlisted for not less than twelve months, from that class of discharged soldiers who have served two years in the army. The organization of the corps is to commence on the first day of December, and to continue until the first day of the incoming year. There is thus but one full month within which the proposed organization is to be completed.102
The article continued with the promise that those enlisted would receive a three-hundred-dollar bounty and, at the conclusion of his service, he would be able to retain his firearm. At some point the word was spread that the men would receive the latest breech-loading arms. Partly because of this inducement, a total of nine veteran volunteer infantry regiments were organized at Camp Stoneman, D.C., between December 1864 and June 1865.
For most the promised arms were a reality. The 2nd, 4th, 5th, and 6th Regiments would receive Sharps rifles.103 The 3rd Regiment was initially issued muzzle-loading rifle muskets. However, rather by good fortune or political influence, the regiment would be completely rearmed with the finest rifle of the period, the .44-caliber, 16-shot, lever-action Henry repeating rifle. This rifle, the forerunner of today’s Winchester, had already earned a wartime reputation as a fearsome weapon in the hands of a select few Union regiments.
While it is possible that most of those enlisting in the 3rd Regiment had heard of the Henry rifle, it is likely that very few had ever actually seen one. In May the rifles were received. Regimental General Order no. 6 dated May 19, 1865, instructed, “Commandants of Companies will immediately turn in to the Ordnance Officer of the Post all cartridge boxes, cap pouches and appendages and draw from the Ordnance officer cartridge boxes, etc. for the Henry rifle—the same number to a Company as they have rifles.”104 For men schooled in the use of the muzzle-loading rifle musket, this was a radical change. Experience over the summer made it evident that a new loading manual was needed. One was devised, and beginning in September, it was used to drill the new regiment.105 Regimental returns show that each man was issued a cavalry cartridge box to wear on the waist belt.
Due to the heat of the Washington, D.C., summer, the men of Hancock’s new elite command were allowed a further consideration. On June 15 the following order coming from corps headquarters was recorded in the regimental books of the 6th Regiment: “Straw hats of uniform pattern are allowed to be worn by the officers and enlisted men of this Command under the following restrictions. The uniform cap must be worn at Guard Mount, Review, inspections and dress parade. . . . After the Guards have marched on Regimental Commanders may allow the men to change their caps to straw hats and their Uniform Coats to Blouses, during the heat of the day. The straw hats must have the Corps Badges in front and on the black ribbon with the number of the Regiment in white metal in the centre of the Corps Badge. The tie of the ribbon on the left side.”106
The 3rd Regiment completed organization in March. They would see service in the defenses of Washington, D.C., in the Shenandoah Valley, and at Camp Butler, Illinois. The regiment would be mustered out by detachments from March 6 to July 20, 1866.107