G.A.R. Posts
in Dutchess County
- # 20 - Poughkeepsie - Chartered 3/23/67.
1st Lt. Louis McLane Hamilton, 3d U.S. Infantry. City history said, "this
post was named for one of Poughkeepsie's most gallant sons;" enlisted 7/62
as a 3-month private in Co. G, 22d NYSM, age 18; mustered as 2d Lt. in
14th U.S. Infantry 9/62, then to 3d U.S. Infantry same month and year;
brevet 1st Lt. for gallantry at Chancellorsville, VA, from 5/63; promoted
to 1st Lt. 5/64; brevet Captain for gallantry at Gettysburg, PA, 7/2/63;
buried in Rural Cemetery, Poughkeepsie.
History of the Hamilton Post written in 1888 by Past Commander William F. Gurney. Also includes Post roster.
- # 20 - Chartered 10/18/11.
Hamilton-Sleight Post, consolidation of Posts #20 and #331.
- # 41 - Poughkeepsie - Chartered 3/3/73, charter revoked 3/75.
["the opposition post that seceded from post #20"]
1st Lt. Francis N. Sterling, Co. D, 128th NYSV. Joined at Poughkeepsie 8/62
as 1st Lt., age 21; died 12/6/62 of disease aboard the steamer Arago
of Cape Hatteras, NC.
- # 48 - Mattewan - 5/18/70 to 1930.
Brevet Brigadier General Joseph Howland. Born 1834 in NYC; farmer and
philanthropist; Adjutant of 16th NYSV May through August 1861, on General
Slocum's staff; Captain and Assistant Adjutant-General US Volunteers 9/61
through 2/62; mustered as Colonel 16th NYSV 3/62; WIA 6/27/62 at Gainesville,
VA; resigned 9/28/62; NYS Treasurer 1866-68; died 1886 while traveling in
France; buried in France.
- # 71 - Tivoli - Chartered 1873, charter revoked 1876.
John Watts De Peyster. Born 3/9/21 to a wealthy old Dutchess County family;
grew up with Phil Kearney in the home of grandfather, John Watts; came to
Dutchess County in 1841; NYS Militia officer from 1844; Colonel 111th NYSM
1845; BG NYSM 1851; 1854 Adjutant General under NYS Governor Myron Clark;
met with Lincoln regarding BG of USV if he raised a brigade but did not
receive assurances; friend of Generals George T. Thomas and Andrew A. Humphreys;
by a special act of the NYS legislature on 4/25/66, he was appointed brevet
MG of NY National Guard to date 4/20/62; died in NYC 5/4/07.
[This post was likely named in memory of John Watts de Peyster, Jr., who was
Phil Kearney's ADC; served briefly with 11th NY Cavalry; 6/62 to 8/63 as Major 1st
NYLA (he was actually dismissed 8/14/63 and this dismissal was changed to an
honorable discharge 7/3/66.). He was granted brevet Colonel of US Volunteers
3/65 and NY Volunteers 11/68. He reportedly contracted typhoid fever in 1863
and never recovered, slipping into delirium after army discharge. He was "a
lunatic at the Bloomington Asylum" in NYC by 1870.]
- # 88 - Wappingers Falls - Chartered 2/13/77.
Brigadier General John H. Ketchum. Born in 1832 in Dover, NY; appointed colonel
of the 150th NYSV in Aug. of 1862, age 30; WIA Dec. 24, 1864 at Savannah,
GA; elected to Congress while he marched to the sea; he resigned from the
army and served twelve terms.
- # 99 - Wappingers Falls - Chartered 1874.
Commander William Barker Cushing, US Navy. Born in Fredonia, NY, on Nov. 4,
1842; brother of Alonzo Cushing (KIA at Gettysburg); attended US Naval Academy;
commissioned as Lt. US Navy on July 16, 1862; destroyed the Confederate ram,
Albemarle, on Oct. 24, 1864; appointed Lt. Commander Oct. 27, 1864;
cited for his actions at Fort Fisher; postwar commander of the Maumee
and Wyoming; died on active duty in 1874.
- # 104 - Rhinebeck - 7/14/79 to 1923.
1st Lt. Jacob Armstrong, Co. G, 128th NYSV. Joined at Poughkeepsie in July of
1862 as Sgt., age 24; captured at Cedar Creek Oct. 19, 1864, paroled Feb., 1865;
discharged with regiment in July, 1865.
- # 331 - Poughkeepsie - Chartered 1/15/83.
1st Lt. David B. Sleight, Co. I, 150th NYSV. ["...troublemakers from post #20
formed this post"] Joined at Poughkeepsie as 2d Lt., Co. I in Sept., 1862, age
21; KIA at Averasboro, NC on March 16, 1865.
- # 467 - Amenia - Chartered 12/1/98.
Captain Obed Wheeler, Co. E, 150th NYSV. Joined at Poughkeepsie as 1st Lt.,
Co. E, in Sept., 1862, age 21; promoted to Captain, Dec. 9, 1863; mustered
out with company in June of 1865; brevet major of NY Volunteers.
- # 540 - Hudson - Chartered 7/2/94.
Colonel David Smith Cowles, 128th NYSV. Born Feb. 26, 1817 in Canaan, CT; Yale
graduate who passed Columbia County bar in 1843; district attorney in 1856;
appointed July, 1862 at Hudson, age 45; MW May 27, 1863 at Port Hudson, LA,
refused to be carried from the field and ordered that only one Sgt. be left
with him until he died; gave the Sgt. his watch for his mother, buried in
Hudson.
- # 617 - Millerton - Chartered 9/17/97.
1st Lt. Henry Gridley, Co. A, 150th NYSV. Joined at Poughkeepsie in Sept.,
1862 as 1st Lt., age 25; KIA at Kolb's Farm, GA, on June 22, 1864.
- # 661 - Pawling - 11/10/94 to 1921.
Surgeon Cornelius N. Campbell, 150th NYSV. Joined in Aug., 1862, age 37;
discharged with unit in June, 1865; brevet Lt. Colonel US Volunteers.
Maintained by
Sue Greenhagen.
E-mail:
greenhsh@morrisville.edu