The year 1863 was a difficult one for the people of the Capital Region and across upstate New York. Church bells chimed in almost continuous remembrance of lives lost on distant battlefields.
The year began triumphantly with President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation — a document that had helped to transform the purpose and meaning of the war — but there had also been disappointments on the battlefield in both Virginia and Tennessee. Still, 1863 had marked a subtle turning of the war tide in favor of the North at places like Gettysburg and Vicksburg. As the casualty lists grew and newspaper columns filled with the names of the dead, wounded and missing, it was clear that peace would not come easily in the bloody contest.
Politically, Lincoln would face difficult mid-term elections in 1863 resulting in a divided Congress. Such division was also experienced in New York. The state Legislature was navigating Gov. Horatio Seymour's second term and began the 1863 session in January with a three-week deadlock on electing a new speaker of the Assembly. In a house divided evenly between 64 Democrats and 64 Republicans, the process of selecting the new speaker went 92 ballots, finally being resolved by a political deal between Republican powerbrokers and Assembly Democrats. As part of the deal, Democrat Theopolius Callicot was elected speaker in exchange for help in ensuring a Republican victory in the U.S. Senate race.
In May 1863, the 16th New York Infantry returned home. The North Country regiment was organized in 1861 and had camped and trained in the town of Bethlehem prior to departing for Virginia. Now it returned after suffering losses of 213 dead.
Wartime casualties took a hard toll on local communities. From Albany, 46 native sons died in service in 1863. From Troy, at least 25 soldiers who called the city home perished. The 44th New York Infantry, a regiment raised among the teachers and students at the New York State Normal School in Albany, had helped to anchor the Union army's extreme left flank at Gettysburg and had paid dearly for their service. At the end of the war, of the 100 Albany Normal School soldiers, only 10 were still present for duty. The school mourned the deaths of Private Elbert Traver, a graduate of the school, as well as undergraduate Private George B. Wolcott, who both died at Gettysburg. Another student, Private George McBain, died in February 1863 from wounds he had received at Fredericksburg the year before.
The legacy of some of the local soldiers who died in 1863 still lingers. Captain Robert Everett served with the 76th New York Infantry at Gettysburg and was killed during the fight on the battle's first day. He was initially buried on the field, but his remains were later returned to Albany and interred at Albany Rural Cemetery. His parents, Otis and Mary Shepard Everett, owned 65 acres on Albany Shaker Road. Everett Road is named for the family.
William H. Pohlman was perhaps one of the most unique soldiers in the Union army. Born to missionary parents in Borneo, Pohlman was raised by an aunt in Albany after his mother's death. He lived at 196 State St. and received his early education at the Albany Classical Institute. He enrolled in Rutgers University in 1859 but left school to enlist in the Union army in 1861. He was promoted to officer's rank in January 1863 and was serving with the 59th New York Infantry when it was engaged at Gettysburg. He had a close call at Chancellorsville when a piece of shell had clipped off a lock of his hair "as nicely as though done with a pair of scissors," but his luck ran out at Gettysburg. Wounded severally during the cannonade preceding Pickett's Charge, Pohlman refused to leave the field. He was wounded again during the charge and walked to a field hospital after the charge was repulsed. He was moved to a private residence a few days later, but ultimately died from his wounds on July 21st. His body was buried at the Albany Rural Cemetery beneath an impressive monument that commemorates his service. His last words, "Cease Firing," are engraved in the memorial.
In Troy, the toll was no different. Several local regiments had fought at Gettysburg and suffered severe casualties. The city mourned the deaths of John Canana (who left three children), Charles Connelly, John DeFreest, William H. Horton, John Hyjons, A.H. Long, 16-year-old Alonzo Pecktil, Sylvester Vandenpool, 17-year-old Robert Watt, and Ephram Wood, all at Gettysburg. The city lost John Baker and William Barnhart at Chancellorsville, and James Green was killed in the famous attack on Fort Wagner in South Carolina.
It had been a difficult and tumultuous year of loss. Missing perhaps in all of the mourning for the men in uniform was another death, that of Benjamin Miller, that might have passed without notice on Sept. 24. The 100-year old Miller was Albany's last surviving soldier of the American Revolution — the city's final link to the era of independence. Both North and South in articulating their war goals had invoked the "Spirit of 1776" and now, as the nation suffered under the weight of so much loss, all that had been accomplished in the Revolution seemed to teeter on the brink.
As 1863 came to a close, the coming year held promise that the war would turn more fully in favor of the Union, but that would come at dear cost. As the Capital Region looked back on the year and reflected on all that was gone, it seemed clear that 1864 would bring even more sadness and tragedy, at places still unknown, that would soon resonate and be uttered in the same whispered and reverent breath as Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Port Hudson and Vicksburg.
Bill Howard is an author and historian who lives in Delmar.