150 Years Ago - Judson Enlisted

Judson Cheney
Born: May 11, 1838, Hopkinton, St. Lawrence County, New York
Died: September 29, 1864, Chaffin Farm, Virginia
Relation to Author: 2nd Great Grand Uncle

Judson Cheney enlisted to fight in the Civil War on this day 150 years ago.  He joined the 98th Regiment, Company G, NYS Volunteers, in Malone, Franklin County, New York.

Judson enlisted during the Union's effort to recruit a major army for a protracted war. At this point, the war had been going on for seven months (starting with the attack on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861). The battles of Bull Run (7/21/1861) and Wilson's Creek (8/10/1861) that summer convinced most in the north that the war would not end quickly, though the Battle of Shiloh the following spring (April 6-7, 1862) would be the first sign of how long and brutal this war was really going to be.

Between Sumter and Bull Run, the North added only 75,000 troops for 90 day enlistments, expecting this to be a short engagement. But just days after Bull Run the Union decided to prepare a large army, with Lincoln signing a bill to enlist 500,000 men to three-year terms. 

So during the late summer and fall of 1861, the states (on behalf of the federal government) were recruiting and preparing troops and appropriating funds to purchase equipment and supplies. All of the logistics of raising an army of this size took until the end of the autumn and Judson was a part of the last efforts to meet Congress's and the President's enlistment goal.

Judon's regiment was organized around Malone (as well as Lyons in central New York). Although he was living in Hopkinton in St. Lawrence County, I assume he chose not to join the regiment in his county (60th NY - being raised in Ogdensburg) because Hopkinton was closer to Malone in Franklin County (20+ miles) than it was to Ogdensburg (40+ miles).

So here began Judson's service in the Civil War. This blog will spend the next three years following his experiences (and then the enlistment of his brothers) in real time (using a book about the 98th Regiment as the primary source). We'll see where he fought, where he marched, the conditions he endured, and how the war progressed.