cr ft m sonry - Onondaga and Oswego Masonic District Historical ...

Bro. Sniper was perhaps our most distinguished brother serving in the War of the Rebellion. When the 185th Regiment was
mustered into service on 23 Sep 1864, he was appointed Lieutenant Colonel. Their principal movements were:
Sep 1864 Petersburg
Oct 1864 South Side Railroad
7-11 Dec 1864 Weldon Railroad
5-7 Feb 1865 Hatcher’s Run
29 Mar 1865 Quaker Road
9 Apr 1865 Pursuit of Lee to Appomattox
3 Jun 1865 Return to Syracuse
http://www.historicalartprints.com/hap/collection/viewitem.jsp?id=54
Union Officer's Smoking Caps
These beautifully embroidered smoking caps were
presented to Colonel Gustavus Sniper of the 185th New
York Volunteers by one of his officers. Caps like this were
popular undress wear while in quarters. Sniper was
brevetted 31 Mar 1865 Brigadier General for gallantry at
Quaker Road and White Oak Rd, VA.
The engagement at Quaker Road is worth recounting.
with great loss to our intrepid regiment.
Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain’s brigade was ordered to make that charge to
force back the Rebel line and move toward the key road junction of the Boydton
Plank and White Oak Roads for a final push to the South Side Railroad. Little did
they know they would face over 6000 Confederate veterans from Virginia and
North Carolina; they were outnumbered three to one. Charge and countercharge
surged back and forth during an hour of continuous rifle firing and hand to hand
combat. Rebel sharpshooters in the trees took their toll. The 185th under the
brave and dynamic leadership of Colonel Gustavus Sniper was slowly forced back
until the unit was parallel to the Quaker Road. They held. They bent, but they did
not break---they bent, but they did not run!
< Rare Photograph of General Gustavus Sniper (center) and his Staff Officers of
the 185th Regiment
A fierce encounter ensued, with the Union forces being repulsed. The second
division was retreating in great disorder, when General Chamberlain, in command
of the First Brigade, rode up to the Colonel of the 185th, saying, “For God’s sake,
Colonel Sniper, can you save the day with you regiment?” The Colonel replied,
“General, I can try.” He immediately formed his men in line of battle. They were
ordered to charge the enemy, the attack being made with great spirit over and
eminence where they met the advancing column of the Rebels in pursuit of the
retreating Union forces. Making a desperate assault, they hurled back the foe, but
This encounter lasted scarcely more than half and hour, but it was one of the most desperate and important in its results of any
during the war. The aim of the Confederates seemed to be to shoot down our colors. The Color Bearer, Sergeant B. H. Wilson, was
twice wounded. The Sergeant of the Color Company, William H. Tyler, in whose hands the colors were then placed, was killed.
Herman Reiss, on of the Color Guard, then seized the standard but received a cranial injury. Captain D. N. Lathrop of Company D
next grasped the flag, but was severely wounded in the foot.
At this juncture, Colonel Sniper, being dismounted in the thick of the charge, seeing the colors drop, rushed ahead, seized them
and, whirling them above his head shouted, “Men of the 185th, forward.” A wild yell was sent up from the ranks and, rapidly
advancing with their heroic leader, the day was won.
After the hostilities, the General Officers complimented Colonel Sniper in unison upon the gallantry and valor of his regiment in the
terrible charge and said that it had saved the day. In the short period of this engagement, the regiment lost a least 25 per cent of its
available material with 30 killed, and 180 wounded, about ten per cent of the latter mortally. Survivors look back at this sudden sharp
“Fight of the saw-dust pile,” as it was popularly described, as a horrible dream.
Frank Leslie’s Magazine dated 29 Mar 1865 published an illustration showing the general in the act of picking up the fallen colors
that afterward made his name a household topic in every soldier’s home in the Union. He was brevetted Brigadier General on 31
Mar for gallantry at Quaker Road and White Oak Road, VA.
http://web.cortland.edu/woosterk/genweb/sniper.html
Summary of his service as it appears on page 4066, volume V, of Phisterer's New York in the War of the Rebellion:
SNIPER, GUSTAVUS, late Lieutenant-Colonel, 101st Infantry; mustered in as Lieutenant-Colonel, this regiment [185th], September
23, 1864; promoted Colonel, February 3, 1865; mustered in as such, March 10, 1865; mustered out with regiment, May 30, 1865,
near Washington, D.C.; Brigadier-General, U.S. Volunteers, by brevet, from March 13, 1865; commissioned Lieutenant-Colonel,
November 29, 1864, with rank from September 17, 1864, original; Colonel, February 14, 1865, with rank from February 3, 1865, vice
E. S. Jenney, discharged.
62