Silas Titus

Silas Titus was born May 30, 1811, in Wolcott, New York. His father, Stephen Titus, and his mother, Sarah, died when he was only three years old. His uncle, Platt Titus, wrapped him in a blanket and carried him on horseback to his farm in Cato, New York. In 1837 Titus married Eliza McCarthy, daughter of Thomas McCarthy and Percy Soule. He stayed in the lumber business until 1861 and the beginning of the American Civil War. ==Civil War==

Silas Titus enlisted on May 13, 1861, as a first lieutenant and was commissioned into the Field and Staff of the 12th New York State Volunteers (also known as the "First Onondaga Regiment"). Titus served as the regimental adjutant. By September 1861, he had been transferred to the staff of Brig. Gen. John J. Peck, who commanded a brigade in the guarding of Chain Bridge and Tennallytown, Washington, D.C., before being promoted to commanding colonel of the 122nd New York - Third Onondaga Regiment on August 22, 1862. The regiment was rushed to Washington to prepare to advance on the Confederacy. At 4 o'clock the morning following the 12th NY's arrival in Washington, President Abraham Lincoln and U.S. Secretary of State William Seward drove out to the camp of the 12th in a carriage. The President personally thanked the officers of the 12th New York, saying, "I'm glad to see you here boys". He then shook the hand of every soldier in the regiment. In July 1862, Titus took a leave of absence due to poor health and returned to his home in Syracuse. While he was recovering at home, he was appointed colonel of the newly formed 122nd New York State Volunteer Regiment by the governor of New York. The 122nd regiment joined the Army of the Potomac in September 1862 at Sharpsburg on the final day of the Battle of Antietam. Three months after Antietam, with Titus in command, the 122nd found themselves supporting the Pennsylvania Reserves in the assault on Fredericksburg Heights. The regiment spent four hours under artillery fire with only four men wounded at the end of the day. In the summer of 1863, the 122nd New York was part of the First Brigade, Third Division, Sixth Corps. The night of July 1, the 6th Corps marched from Manchester along the Baltimore Pike towards Gettysburg. As the regiment crossed the Pennsylvania - Maryland line, the regimental flag unfurled to the breeze and the drum corps played "Yankee Doodle". During the war, Titus was a regular correspondent to the Syracuse Daily Courier & Union newspaper, where, under the nom de plume Scimetar, he wrote several lively letters concerning the war under the heading 'On the Warpath'. ==Postbellum activities==

In the late 1890s, Titus lived with his son Silas Wright Titus in Brooklyn, New York. In 1899, a fire was caused in his son's home by Colonel Titus smoking on the couch. Titus was dragged to safety by his daughter-in-law; however, he died two weeks later on October 4. He is buried along with his wife, Eliza, and two of his three children in St. Agnes Cemetery in Syracuse. ==References==