1st New York Volunteer Engineers

Conserving New York State Battleflags - NY Military Museum and Veterans Research Center

Image Used With Permission of
the Serrell Family

Welcome to the Descendants’ Depot

Thanks for visiting! I am 21st century regimental recruiting officer, Jackie Budell, and if you are a descendant of a soldier who served with the 1st New York Volunteer Engineers during the American Civil War, I am very interested in hearing from you!

I hope this site will serve as a gathering place for all descendants and those interested enthusiasts of this first-ever U.S. volunteer engineer regiment in the U.S. Army. I invite you to explore the regiment’s history and join us in the discussion forum where meeting other descendants can lead to invaluable discoveries. Your 1st NYVE ancestor can literally come to life through primary sources and the historical record. May this website become an instrument in your genealogy toolkit.

I am the great-great granddaughter of Artificer Jeremiah Fuller of Company K. Jerry was 20 years old when he enlisted on March 28, 1864 at Deerpark, NY. He was mustered in as a private to serve three years. He was appointed artificer to date January 1, 1865, and mustered out with the company on June 30, 1865 at Richmond, VA.

I look forward to telling you more about him in the Discussion Forum and am anxious to read the life stories of all his comrades.

If you have questions, please contact me at Jackie@1stnyengineers.com

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Colonel Edward W. Serrell wrote in his farewell to his beloved regiment in March 1865 that their “… labors, sufferings, achievements … will forever be a bond” between them.

I believe that a bond also exists among the descendants of these brave men, and we gather to remember and learn from them and pay tribute to their sacrifice. If we seek to listen, they will speak to us. The written word endures.

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New York Herald, published March 31, 1865 Farewell Order of Colonel Serrell

And so the final curtain fell on Serrell’s esteemed military career with the 1st NYVE. Click here to witness the beginning.

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Flag Sponsorship Initiative

The 1st NYVE silk flank marker image above is courtesy of the New York State Military Museum and its Flag Preservation Project. Click on the flag to explore more information about this very important initiative.

Christopher Morton, an assistant curator at the Museum, reports that three additional large 1st NYVE flags have not yet received conservation treatment and are available for sponsorship. Flags are selected for conservation based upon their existing work plan, desire for exhibition, and via the Flag Sponsorship program. Their work plan calls for them to conserve those flags in greatest need (19th century Civil War flags) based upon size from smallest to largest. Thus, under this work plan, they first treated the two small silk flank markers carried by the 1st NYVE.

The three 1st NYVE flags still needing sponsorship support are two national colors and one regimental color. All three fall into the Project’s “large” category. The two national colors are New York City presentation flags painted with the Arms of the City of New York. One of these flags reportedly includes an inscription (the regiment’s numeric designation). The other includes a plate on the staff indicating the flag was presented by the City of New York. The regimental color includes the painted arms of the United States.

Morton explains that the Flag Sponsorship Program allows an individual or organization to finance a particular flag’s conservation treatment. Large-sized flags in the collection can be sponsored for $4,000 each. Descendants of 1st NYVE soldiers and others interested in the regiment are contributing to this initiative through this web site so that the full amount can be presented to the Flag Sponsorship Project (the Museum will not collect and hold smaller amounts until the total is reached). If you would like to contribute to this effort, please email me for details at Jackie@1stnyengineers.com.

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What have YOU found?

This is a sketch of an engineer tent by Artificer James H. Pollard of companies G and H. Pollard enlisted in Otsego County, NY in 1861 and served through June 30, 1865. It is part of his personal journal, and as such, provides all of us a glimpse of what he saw as a soldier of the 1st NYVE. It’s a snapshot without film, a one-of-a-kind perspective.

Do you have a similar item to share passed down from your 1st NYVE ancestor? A photo of him in uniform or as he became an aged veteran? An artifact that he owned: a button, badge or document? Does your soldier speak to you through old letters or a journal? Please email me if you are interested in sharing your treasure with other descendants. Learning about one soldier allows others to better understand what their ancestor may have felt, owned, or witnessed.

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