Union Army Units With Rikers or Hart Island Ties

Terms as used here:
muster in =
assemblying to start service.
muster out =
assembly ending service.
ship out =
sent elsewhere.

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Terms as used here:
unit presence =
activity other than muster.
individual presence =
not necessarily entire unit.
possible presence =
records unclear.

UNION. . MILITARY. . UNITS. . WITH. . RIKERS. . ISLAND. . CONNECTIONS
*Unit Number, Name*	*Alternate Name*	*Connection*	*Other details*
9th NYSV Inf.	Zouaves 1st Reg	muster in	in 5/15/61, ship out 6/5/61
36th NYSV	Washington Volunteers	muster in	in 6/23/61. ship out 7/12/61.
62nd NYSV Inf.	Anderson Zouaves	muster in	in 6/30/1861. ship out 8/21/861.
52nd NYSV	. . .	unit presence	8/3/1861 to 11/5/1861
6th NYSV	Governor’s Guard	unit presence	9/15/1861
76th NYSV	Cortland County Reg.	muster in	Cos. F & K in 1/21/1862 ship out 1/30/1862.
162 NYSV Inf.	3rd Metropolitan Guards	muster in	in, beginning 8/22/62. ship out 10/24/62
131st NYSV	1st Metropolitan Guards	muster in	9/6/1662
173rd NYSV	4th Metropolitan Guards	muster in	in, 9/9/62 & 11/10/1862. ship out: 12/8/62
174th NYSV	formerly 5th Metropolitan Guards	muster in	in: Oct. 15 to Nov. 13, 1862. ship out: 12/7/62. Consolidated with 162nd Feb. 17, 1864
133rd NYSV	formerly 2nd Metropolitan Guards	muster in	in 9/24/62.
28th CT	. . .	unit presence	Co. A, only overnight 11/17/62.
14th NY Cavalry	Metropolitan Cavalry	muster in	in, 11/24/62. ship out 2/8/63.
14th NYSM	. . .	individual presence, John F. York, Co. E	conscription duty. back to unit 1/1864
6th NY Heavy Artillery (originally 135th NY Inf.)	. . .	individual presence, John F. York, Co. E	Samuel B. Pierce, recruiting duty in NYC & on Rikers, July 1863 to mid-May 1864, He joined 135th NY Inf. in Sept., 1862, but the next month it became 6th NY Heavy Artillery.
1st MA Vol. Inf.	. . .	unit presence	7/30/63 to 10/15/63. During period, Capt. A. G. Chamberlain was Provost on island.
124 NYSV Inf.	. . .	unit presence	circa 8/63 deserter.
8th NY Cavalry	Rochester Regiment	individual presence, Lt. Col. William L. Markell, Lt. Frost	circa 9/5/63. posted conscript camp duty.
123 NYSV Inf.	Washington County Reg.	individual presence	Co. K soldier's letter. 1863.
18th NY Cavalry	. . .	unit presence	at least Co. K as of 12/30/1863
13th NY Heavy Artillery	. . .	muster in	Co. I 11/10/63, F 2/64, G 3/14/64, H 2/18/64
16th NY Heavy Artillery	. . .	muster in	Co. E in & ship out, 12/16/63. Co. G in, 1/9/64. ship out, 1/13/64
18th N.Y. Cavalry	. . .	unit presence	Co. K 12/30/1863
20th U.S. Colored Troops	. . .	muster in	in 2/9/64. ship out 3/5/1864.
26th U.S. Colored Troops	. . .	unit presence	2/27/64 to 4/64
98th NYSV Inf.	Wayne County Reg.	individual presence	soldier’s letter, 2/64.
13th Cavalry	Seymour Light Cav.	muster in	Co. K & L in, 3/1864. Also Co. M, Hart Island.
43rd NYSV	Sullivan County Reg.	possible presence	mustered out?

UNION. . MILITARY. . UNITS. . WITH. . HART. . ISLAND. . CONNECTIONS
*Unit Number, Name*	*Alternate Name*	*Connection*	*Other details*
13th Cavalry	Seymour Light Cavalry	muster in	in: Co. M 3/1864.
8th U. S. Infantry	. . .	unit presence	after draft riot duties, posted on Hart. March 22 - April 21, 1864
190th NYSV	. . .	muster in, muster out.	in: April 7, 1865. out: May 3 and 4, 1865.
194th Infantry	. . .	muster in & out	in 1865: Co. C, D, E, F & H April 7th, 16th, 22d, 26th and 27th, respectively; mustered out in May 1865.
25th Calvary	Sickles' Cavalry	muster in, muster out.	1864 in: Co. G Apr. 20, H July 29, I Sept. 18, K May 16, L & M Oct. 15 & 20, 1864. out: June 27, 1865.
31st US Colored Troops	. . .	muster in, out	in: April 29, 1864. out: Nov. 7, 1865
175th Infantry	Corcoran Brigade	muster in	Co. D 9/4/64
91st NY Infantry	. . .	unit presence	Co. C briefly in Sept. 1864
186th Infantry	. . .	muster in	Co. G, 9/28/64..
162nd NY Reg.	3rd Metropolitan Guards	muster out	Oct. 21, 1864.
15th NY Cavalry	Red Neck Ties	individual presence, muster in	Pvt Edwin Finch posted in 1864 on Hart several months as guard for new recruits and POWs. John Gracey joined 15th NY Cav. Feb. 2, 1864, and mustered out May 8, 1865.
2nd NY Cavalry	Harris Light Cav.	unit presence	Co. I organized, 1864
143rd Pa Vols	. . .	unit presence	guard duty at the camp of rendezvous & later the prison camp, then mustered out. Feb. 11 - June 12, 1865.
14th U.S. Regular Infantry	. . .	unit presence	1st Battalion, Feb. 20 into March, 1865. 1st & 2nd Battalions, late July 1865. The 2nd ships out mid-August to California. The 1st ships out to Ca. Oct. 16, 1865. The 3rd ships out to Ca. in early Dec. 1865
191st Infantry	. . .	muster in & out	in, 3/30/65 - 4/28/65. out 5/3/65.
136th NY Infantry	. . .	individual presence	Michael Annis, enlisted Ap 13, 1865 at Rochester. Discharged month later, May 14, on Hart.
63rd Ohio Vol. Inf.	. . .	unit presence	Individual reports on Privates John Breese, Amos Tong, & Stephen Dougherty have each mustered out on May 15, 1865. The Dougherty report notes "he mustered out with his detachment."
68th Pennsylvania Infantry	. . .	unit presence	April to June 1865, guarding POWs until June. Mustered out June 9, 1865.
5th Regiment Infantry	US Veterans Volunteers	unit presence,	organized in D.C.in April, 1865. Hart duty until May, 1865.
22nd Cavalry	Rochester Cavalry	muster out	recruit detachment: 5/1/1865
75th Ohio Volunteer Inf	. . .	individual presence	Pvt. Albert W. Simmons, 18, mustered out May 15, 1865.
10th Inf. Michigan	. . .	individual presence	Pvt. James R Toms, who joined April 11, 1865, was discharged May 16,1865
119th N.Y. Inf. Co. H	Willis Co.	unit presence	discharged June 21, 1865.
69th Infantry	Irish Brigade	muster out	July 2, 1865.
40th Infantry	Mozart Regiment	muster out	July 7, 1865
6th Independent Battery	First Excelsior Light Artillery	muster out	July 8, 1865
7th Veteran NYSV	. . .	muster out	8/4/65
5th Veteran NYSV	1st Excelsior Light Artillery	muster out	8/21/65
17th U.S. Infantry	. . .	regimental presence	Oct. 14, 1865 through July 20, 1866. several companies. Brig. Gen. S. P. Heintzelman hq. -- Oct. 29, 1865. 3rd Batt. Reorganized, renamed 35th Inf. Sept. 21, 1866
165th NY Inf.	2d Bat. Duryea's Zouaves	unit presence	Co. A, 1865
56th NY Veteran Vol. Inf.	. . .	individual presence	John Metcalf of Goshen who joined Aug. 16, 1861, as a private, mustered out March 5, 1866, as Company A Captain.
54th Infantry Regiment	Hiram Barney Rifles; Barney Black Rifles; Schwarze Yaeger	muster out	April 14, 1866.
13th Conn. Regiment	. . .	paid, disbanded	May 5-7, 1866, after 4 years, 5 months, 8 days in service.
107th NYS Vol. Infantry	organized in Elmira	individual presence	4 who joined it earlier in 1865 mustered out May & June 1865.
7TH NYSV	Steuben Guard	unit presence	news clip undated.
12th Independent Battery	Light Artillery (Veteran)	possible presence	one place of recruitment: "Hart-land"

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WEBMASTER NOTE: These lists of Union military units with connections to Rikers and/or Hart are not presented as definitive, but rather as indicating the significant role those two islands played during the Civil War a number of years before they became NYC correctional facilities. If you have information about any unit that should be added to either list, please e-mail it to webmaster@correctionhistory.org
Both Hart and Rikers islands served as POW camps holding thousands of captured Confederates some months in 1865. The two lists on this page are limited to Union military units with connections to the islands. Sometime in the future, this web site will attempt to compile lists of the CSA units with POW connections to the islands.

Our Civil War & Correction menu page already includes a presentation on our site listing "63 South Carolinians Who Died or Otherwise Escaped Hart Island's Civil War POW Camp."