United States Volunteers Concise histories of all units of U.S. Volunteer Infantry are at
Frederick H. Dyer's
Compendium, p. 1717 ;1st U.S. Volunteer Infantry The 1st U.S.V.I. was recruited at
Point Lookout prison camp between January 21 and April 22, 1864, as a three-year regiment. Assigned to the District of Eastern Virginia,
Department of Virginia and North Carolina, it moved to
Norfolk, Virginia, where on orders of General Grant it was relegated to provost duty there,
Portsmouth, Virginia, and
Elizabeth City, North Carolina. In August 1864, Grant ordered it to the Department of the Northwest in
Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The 1st U.S.V.I. traveled by ship to New York City, and by train to Chicago, where it received further orders splitting the regiment. Four companies continued to Milwaukee, while six companies (B, C, D, E, H, and K) were sent to
St. Louis, Missouri, arriving there August 22. They moved by the steamboat
Effie Deans and by forced march to
Fort Rice,
Dakota Territory, arriving there October 17 for garrison duty. Conditions were hard over the winter, and fully 11% of the command died of illness, primarily
scurvy. Between May 10 and August 31, 1865, Company K garrisoned
Fort Berthold and Company B the trading post known as Fort Union at the mouth of the
Yellowstone, obliged to travel by steamboat through hostile territory. Four companies were present at Fort Rice, along with two companies of the 4th U.S.V.I., when a large force of
Lakota and
Cheyenne led by
Sitting Bull attacked for three hours on July 28, 1865, making away with the entire horse herd and killing two soldiers. In October 1865, the battalion returned to St. Louis to muster out November 27. The four companies continuing on to Wisconsin in August 1864 were ordered to the District of Minnesota. Their muster out in July 1865 was canceled and in October, they were ordered to build and garrison
Fort Fletcher, Kansas, and man two outposts at
Monument Station and
Ponds Creek Station, also in Kansas, to protect the new
Butterfield Overland Despatch stagecoach route. Companies A, F, G, and I of the 1st U.S.V.I. mustered out at Fort Leavenworth on May 22, 1866, after 25 months of active service, the longest service of any of the "galvanized Yankees." ;2nd U.S. Volunteer Infantry Authorized in October 1864 at the
Rock Island prisoner camp in Illinois as a one-year regiment, the 2nd U.S.V.I. was not organized until February 1865. It was ordered to the
Department of the Missouri and sent by rail to
Fort Leavenworth,
Kansas, where it was assigned to duty in the District of Upper Arkansas along the
Santa Fe Trail from the
Little Arkansas River to
Fort Dodge, Kansas, and along the Cimarron Crossing to
Fort Lyon, Colorado. From Fort Leavenworth the unit marched to
Fort Riley, and stationed companies there and at
Salem,
Fort Ellsworth,
Fort Larned,
Fort Zarah and
Fort Scott,
Kansas. Companies F and G were involved in the establishment of
Fort Dodge in the summer of 1865. Their duties involved scouting, wagon train escort and operating against Indians. Members of the regiment were present as guards at the signing of the
Little Arkansas Treaty. The regiment mustered out at
Fort Leavenworth November 7, 1865. ;3rd U.S. Volunteer Infantry The 3rd U.S.V.I. was authorized at the Rock Island prisoner camp in October 1864 as a one-year regiment but not organized until February 1865. It was ordered to the Department of the Missouri, arriving at
Fort Kearny, Nebraska, April 9, 1865, where it was assigned to duty in the Districts of Nebraska and Colorado. Companies A and B were stationed at Fort Kearney; C and D at
Cottonwood, Colorado; E and F at
Fort Rankin; and G and H at
Julesburg, Colorado, protecting overland mail routes from Indian attacks. Companies I and K were sent to
Fort Laramie, and on May 15, 1865, were parceled out in small detachments along 300 miles of the
Pacific Telegraph Company line from Laramie to
South Pass,
Territory of Idaho (now
Wyoming). Company I was involved in numerous skirmishes, including combat at the
Battle of the Platte Bridge Station, and suffered higher casualties than any other company of the 3rd U.S.V.I. The regiment mustered out November 29, 1865, having served with distinction, including a low desertion rate. ;4th U.S. Volunteer Infantry The 4th U.S.V.I. was organized as a three-year regiment at Point Lookout on October 31, 1864, although only six companies could be induced to enlist. The quality of recruit was not as high as that of the earlier 1st U.S.V.I. The regiment waited at Portsmouth, Virginia, in hopes that more troops could be raised, but calls for men from the west led to its transfer to the frontier at the end of April 1865. 10% deserted before the regiment reached Sioux City, Iowa, in Department of the Northwest, on May 28. Many were arrested and held in confinement before returning to the ranks. Two companies were stationed at Fort Rice, then at
Fort Sully; one at Fort Berthold; and three at
Fort Randall until June 1866, when the six companies were recalled to Leavenworth, mustering out as they arrived between June 18 and July 2. ;5th U.S. Volunteer Infantry The 5th U.S.V.I. was enlisted at the
Alton and Camp Douglas prisoner camps in Illinois in March and April 1865 as a three-year regiment, then ordered to Fort Leavenworth on April 28, 1865, at the urging of Maj. Gen.
Grenville Dodge, commanding general of the Department of the Missouri. From there it moved to Fort Riley between May 18 and May 28 to relieve units of the 2nd U.S.V.I. in guarding the Santa Fe Trail. In August three companies were sent to
Fort Halleck, Idaho Territory (now Wyoming); two companies to
Camp Wardwell, Colorado; two companies to Fort Lyon, and Company B to Denver for quartermaster duty. Companies saw periodic duty at
Fort McPherson, Nebraska;
Fort Collins, Colorado; and
Fort John Buford, Wyoming. Companies C and D, consisting mostly of former Union soldiers who had been captured after enlisting in the Confederate 10th Tennessee, escorted the Sawyers expedition to build a road to Montana and garrisoned
Fort Reno for nearly a year. Companies A through G reassembled at Fort Kearny in August 1866 and mustered out on October 11. Companies H, I, and K garrisoned
Fort Lyon until October 1866, when Gen.
William T. Sherman closed the post for deplorable living conditions. They marched to Fort Leavenworth, where they mustered out on November 13, the last of the "galvanized Yankees". ;6th U.S. Volunteer Infantry The 6th U.S.V.I. was recruited from prisoner camps at
Camp Chase, Ohio (two companies);
Camp Morton, Indiana (two companies); and Camp Douglas, Illinois (six companies), as a three-year regiment, and assembled on April 2, 1865, at Camp Fry near Chicago for outfitting and drill. It traveled by rail to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, on May 10–11, 1865, the only regiment of "galvanized Yankees" to arrive on the frontier intact and at full strength, 976 officers and men. Between May 14 and May 31, they marched to Fort Kearny, Nebraska, where it dispersed to replace the various companies of the 3rd U.S.V.I. guarding the telegraph line and the
Oregon Trail. In August Gen.
Patrick E. Connor ordered regimental headquarters and three companies to garrison Camp Douglas, Utah; and two companies west from Fort Rankin, Colorado, to replace the cavalry along the telegraph line west of Fort Laramie. 35 of the 275 men ordered to Utah deserted before their arrival October 9. The companies in Utah were relieved by regulars in April 1866 and marched to
Fort Bridger. The other seven companies frequently changed stations, posted at some point to Camp Wardwell, Julesburg, and Fort Sedgwick, Colorado;
Post Alkali,
Fort Cottonwood,
Mud Springs,
Plum Creek, and
Columbus, Nebraska;
Fort Wallace, Kansas; and Fort Laramie, Fort Halleck,
Fort Caspar, and Sweetwater Station, Territory of Idaho. In October 1866 all companies except Company B at Fort Wallace were relieved by regulars and assembled at Fort Kearny, where they mustered out between October 10 and 15. Company B marched across Kansas to Fort Leavenworth and mustered out on November 3. ;1st Independent Company, U.S. Volunteers :
See "1st Connecticut Cavalry" below State volunteer units in Federal service ;1st Connecticut Cavalry The
1st Regiment Cavalry, Connecticut Volunteers was originally raised in November 1861 as the
1st Battalion Connecticut Cavalry, and campaigned in West Virginia, the Shenandoah Valley, and the
Second Battle of Bull Run. In September 1863, authorized to expand to a regiment, the 1st Connecticut Cavalry while on Provost Guard at Camp Chesebrough in Baltimore, recruited 82 replacements from among Confederate prisoners kept at
Fort Delaware, placing most in
Company G (organized October 5, 1863) and spreading the rest throughout the regiment. In the spring of 1864 Gen. Grant directed that all units containing former Confederates would be employed on the western frontier. All of the former Confederates in the 1st Connecticut Cavalry were placed into Company G and on April 26, 1864, sent to
Fort Snelling, Minnesota, also serving at
Forts Ridgely and
Ripley. On April 6, 1865, the remaining 40 former Confederates of the company transferred to the
U.S. Volunteers and were designated the
1st Independent Company, U.S.V.. The 1st Independent Company remained on duty in the District of Minnesota until mustered out on November 16, 1865. ;3rd Maryland Cavalry The service of the
3rd Regiment Cavalry, Maryland Volunteers began on August 8, 1863, with the raising of three companies at Baltimore. In September and October,
Companies D, E, F, and
G were recruited from Confederate prisoners at Fort Delaware, most of whom had been captured at the
Battle of Gettysburg, numbering approximately 450 in all. The regiment remained in garrison at Camp Schenck in Baltimore, seeking to raise more troops, assigned to the Cavalry Reserve of the
Eighth Corps until officially organized on January 9, 1864. Sent by steamship to New Orleans and
Madisonville, Louisiana, the 3rd Maryland Cavalry took part in the
Red River Campaign, in the Atchafalaya Expedition in the first week of June 1864, and in August was dismounted to participate in the siege of
Fort Morgan. Disease seriously depleted the ranks of the regiment, and in December 1864, the 3rd Maryland Cavalry consolidated into a six-company battalion. Company D became part of Company E, and Company G part of Company F, participating in the campaign to capture Mobile, Alabama in March and April 1865. The 3rd Maryland Cavalry was the only unit of "galvanized Yankees" in Federal service to actively campaign against Confederate forces. At the end of hostilities it was assigned to the Department of Mississippi and garrisoned
Natchez, Mississippi, through the summer of 1865. The battalion mustered out at
Vicksburg on September 7, 1865. ;3rd Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery
Battery M,
3rd Regiment Heavy Artillery, Pennsylvania Volunteers was raised in Philadelphia, then recruited prisoners at Fort Delaware in July and August 1863 to fill out its ranks. It was apparently over-recruited in numbers. The battery moved to Fortress Monroe to train, where some members were induced to join the newly created 188th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. ;4th Delaware Infantry
Company C of the
4th Regiment Infantry, Delaware Volunteers is claimed to have been recruited in 1862 or 1863 from prisoners at Fort Delaware, but claims have not been substantiated through checks of muster rolls. ;11th Ohio Cavalry The
11th Regiment Cavalry, Ohio Volunteers was originally raised as four companies of the 7th Ohio Cavalry in October 1861. It was sent west for duty on the Indian frontier in February 1862 to resolve a political dispute after its commander refused to consolidate with the 6th Ohio Cavalry. Permanently detached and given the designation
1st Independent Battalion Ohio Cavalry, it arrived at
Fort Laramie on May 30, 1862. Four additional companies were recruited between June 26 and July 31, 1863, including approximately 40 Confederate prisoners from Camp Chase who became members of
Company E. Originally called to service to repel
John Hunt Morgan's raid through Ohio, the companies were also sent west to combine with the 1st Independent Battalion into the new 11th Ohio Volunteer Cavalry. They left
Camp Dennison August 1 for Fort Leavenworth, reporting for duty August 13. While awaiting supplies, the battalion joined in pursuit of
Quantrill's Raiders following the
Lawrence Massacre. After marching 150 miles, they were recalled and marched to Fort Laramie between September 2 and October 10. En route, four of Company E's recruits plotted to involve all Confederates in the company in a mutiny when it reached Julesburg, but were disarmed and arrested before the attempt could be made. In July and August 1864, Capt. Henry E. Palmer was assigned to deliver a detachment of 60 recruits, all former members of Morgan's cavalry force, from Camp Chase to Fort Kearny, where they became
Company K of the 11th Ohio Volunteer Cavalry. In August and September 1865 "galvanized" Companies E and K accompanied Connor's
Powder River Expedition. Both companies returned to Fort Laramie, where they continued guard duties along the stage and telegraph lines until mustering out on July 14, 1866. ;Ahl's Battery ''see
Ahl's Heavy Artillery Company'' ==Confederate forces composed of "galvanized Yankees"==