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28th New York Infantry Regiment

Civil War and Reenacting Articles

Nahum Ward Cady To the 28th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment he was a private of Company D. He served with the 28th for the duration of its two year service. He rose to the rank of Major within the 2nd New York Mounted Rifles and sacrificed his rank for the men under his command. Nahum Ward Cady was born in late December 1827. He was the son of Thomas Cady and Lavinia Taylor of Massachusetts and Vermont, respectively. He had 13 siblings and was from a well respected family. He owned a farm and was active in the local Sunday School. Early War Service with the 28th New York When war broke out in 1861 he was offered a position of rank several times but refused each time stating that “it was my duty as a soldier”. While the 28th New York was at Albany training, the regiment was loaned a large tent by the citizens of that city as a result of his influence in which religious, temperance and social meetings were held, in addition to the Debating Society, for whom he had initially obtained the tent. Most likely as a result of his influence, Nahum Ward Cady served as a recruiter in Medina, NY, from October 1861 to January 1862. Following his return to the regiment, he participated in the battle of Winchester. However, in July 1862, he was again separated from the regiment on scouting duty. The roll cards for the 28th indicate that Cady was absent on “special duty by order of General Banks.” Nahum Ward Cady was put in command of scouting and espionage units and continued in this capacity through to late February 1863 at which time he was taken prisoner. Upon his release, he was taken to Washington to recover where Colonel Edwin Brown, of the 28th New York, visited him. Colonel Brown reported that Cady had suffered severely during his imprisonment and he appeared to be in poor health. While he was recovering from his imprisonment, Cady gave a speech to a large crowd in Medina on April 9th 1863 where he stated that he would remain in military service until “the Rebels were subdued and the glorious stars and stripes were permitted to wave, unmolested, over every State and Territory of the Union”. Cady recovered from his imprisonment in April 1863 and returned to the 28th New York. He participated in the battle of Chancellorsville, on June 2nd 1863, and was again captured at that battle when the 28th surrendered. As a result of his activities as a spy, and having been captured previously, he did everything he could to avoid being recognized. He reported having changed his appearance, his uniform and even his name. He was exchanged with other members of the 28th New York and was mustered out with the regiment on July 2nd 1863. Reenlisting with the 2nd New York Mounted Rifles Within a month of being mustered out, along with a large number of men from the 28th New York, Nahum Ward Cady reenlisted with the 2nd New York Mounted Rifles. Upon enlistment with the 2nd NY Mounted Rifles, Cady started recruiting for the regiment and he accepted the rank of Captain after the men he recruited stated that they would only enlist if he would lead them. With a number of the two year regiments having recently been mustered out, the Mounted Rifles was a positive option for returning to the service of the Union. Having spent two years marching as infantry, many veterans were put off by the idea of reenlisting with another infantry regiment. With reference to the 2nd New York Mounted Rifles, an article in the Niagara County Intelligencer on September 2nd 1862 stated that “They offer the very highest bounty authorized by the Government and present the most desirable kind of military service. Lt. Colonel Cook and several veterans of the 28th [New York] are engaged in getting up the regiment, which fact is a great inducement to volunteering." The recruitment of the 2nd New York Mounted Rifles continued through the fall of 1863 with an article in the Orleans American on October 1st, 1863 stating that “Mr. Cady has had experience as a military man and we know of no one whom it would be safer to enlist under”. With the regiment formed in early 1864, Cady was elected Major. However, he only accepted this rank after having discussed the promotion with the men of his company. His early experiences would suggest that he had a close relationship with the men under his command and saw himself as one of them and had great respect and concern for the men under his command. Cavalry Without Horses However, following the completion of the regiment’s enlistment, as a result of a shortage of horses, it became apparent that the 2nd New York Mounted Rifles may be required to serve as an infantry regiment. Cady made his objections to this possibility known in a number of newspaper articles stating that the mounted status was a great draw to veterans and the possibility that they would be enlisting to serve dismounted would turn the experienced soldiers away. In March 1864, the 2nd New York Mounted Rifles began their cavalry training at Camp Stoneman, Washington, DC. However, within a month, the order came to dismount the regiment and the cavalry equipment was replaced with Springfield muskets and infantry equipment. The result was a significant drop in morale of the men of the 2nd New York Mounted Rifles. In addition, as a result of the regiment having been designated as infantry, the men of the regiment took an immediate cut in pay. The officers of the regiment were initially assured that the change in status was temporary and the horses would be returned to them in between 30 and 60 days. When the 60 days passed and the horses were not returned, concerned for the morale and well being of the men under his command, Cady wrote to the Secretary of War asking for an update regarding the change in status and pay back to cavalry. The response which he received suggested that no end date had been set for the 2nd New York Mounted Rifles and Cady responded to the Secretary of War expressing his dissatisfaction in the situation: “I thought it very strange- for I tried to have you limit the time that we were to serve as Infantry. And you declined to do so. And now, as the time has expired, and we are not mounted, I must conclude that you either never did give them any such authority, or that you have forgotten the circumstance… …For I cannot believe that at any time- and especially at the present, when the very nation is sustained only by Bullets and Bayonets, you would knowingly and willfully break faith with our Soldiery” When it became apparent that the men of the 2nd New York Mounted Rifles would remain as infantry, Nahum Ward Cady wrote to Congressman Frank from the 29th District, NY and also General Ambrose Burnside in protest of the situation. Burnside replied “very kindly, considerately and satisfactorily”, however, the 2nd New York Mounted Rifles remained dismounted. Cady made requests for a leave of absence to go to Washington to argue the case of the men of the 2nd New York Mounted Rifles. However, due to his rank and the military operations in which the regiment was involved, the request was refused. Shortly afterwards the regiment was involved in the siege of Petersburg, Va. and the Battle of the Crater at Petersburg. Several members of the 2nd New York Mounted Rifles were killed and a large number of others wounded. Following these battles Cady renewed his attempts to have the status of the regiment changed. In an article written by Cady wrote several years after the war, he states: “I thought the time had come when duty to my men and duty to the Nation (for every government should keep faith with her soldiery) demanded an honorable and vigorous effort to secure the horses for our regiment and its return to its legitimate branch of service." Cady renewed his request for a leave of absence to pursue the two issues regarding the change of status and reduction in pay of the regiment, and forwarded the request through the chain of command to the army commander, General George Meade. The request was initially reviewed and forwarded by Major William H H Mapes, formerly of the 28th New York, through to the Brigade Commander who forwarded the request to the Division commander, General Robert B Potter. General Potter endorsed the application, however, he added the following comment to the request: “In my opinion, the 2nd N.Y. Mounted Rifles will never be effective as an Infantry organization.” At the Corp level, before the request was forwarded to General Meade, General John G Parke agreed with the opinion of General Potter. General Meade requested information regarding the shortfall in the pay of the men in the regiment, however, he did not comment on the abilities of the regiment. Major Cady shared the opinions expressed with the officers of the 2nd New York Mounted Rifles. His reply to Meade contained details of the pay shortage and he responded to the comments of General Potter and Parke: “We consider his expressed opinion a designed, though unmerited, insult.” Despite the possible intentions of the comment to assist in having the status of the regiment changed back to cavalry, the result was a letter to the army commander defending the military reputation of the men in the regiment. In his letter, Cady stated examples of the effective performance of the 2nd New York Mounted Rifles as an infantry regiment at the siege of Petersburg and the Battle of the Crater. Further, Cady expressed his opinion that the opinion of General Potter was based on faulty information as he had only taken command of the Division after the battles at Petersburg and since that time no fighting had taken place. The result was obvious. On September 27th 1864, Major Cady was informed of his arrest and received a copy of the charges brought against him. His initial response was to protect the other officers of the 2nd New York Mounted Rifles who had expressed their indignation regarding the comments by Generals Potter and Parke. He expressed a concern that, should Major William H Mapes also be court marshaled then the regiment would be left with no senior officers with significant field experience. Despite having been placed under arrest on September 27th, he participated in a battle at Poplar Spring Church, Va., on October 2nd 1864 Prior to the fight, Cady was informed that, by the order of the General he was free to join his regiment for the fight. During the battle, over 100 men of the 2nd New York Mounted Rifles were killed, wounded or captured. Following the battle, Cady returned his sabre to the Assistant Adjutant General and demanded a court-martial expressing his concern of the extended imprisonment of senior officers of the regiment. Court Martial of Nahum Ward Cady Nahum Ward Cady was charged with insubordination and the court martial began only a few days after the battle of Poplar Spring Church. The officers of the 2nd New York Mounted Rifles wrote a letter to President Lincoln expressing their support for Cady and making reference to his time as an spy and stating that he had been responsible for "obtaining much valuable information within the rebel lines" and that he was “a young man of remarkable independence and firmness of character". Countering this argument was the Judge Advocate General, who expressed a very different opinion regarding his performance during the court martial: "His defense before the court shows him to be a man of so intemperate and insubordinate a disposition as to render him unfit for a position in a service which depends for its efficiency upon the prompt and respectful obedience to all superiors in command." Cady did not defend himself well. This was, in no small part, due to the regiment having come straight from a battle and he had very little time in camp to put together a proper defense. The opinion of the court was that he was a rogue officer who put the well being of his men before any military protocol. On October 26th 1864, Major N Ward Cady, by General Count Martial Order No. 42, was found guilty as charged and was “dismissed from the service with loss of all pay due or to become due”. However, Nahum Ward Cady did not return home after his dishonorable discharge, he viewed the discharged as the leave of absence he had requested to pursue the grievances of the men of the 2nd New York Mounted Rifles. Cady immediately began looking to procure horses for the regiment and had several meetings with the Adjutant General regarding this situation. Cady was finally informed that it was General U S Grant who had the final say over who should have the horses. It comes as no surprise that Cady promptly wrote to Grant regarding the issue. Somewhat ironically, on the same day that Cady had been informed of his arrest the decision had been made to remount the 2nd New York Mounted Rifles and by mid-November the 2nd New York Mounted Rifles had been fully reinstated as a cavalry regiment. Could the date coincidence be too great? Could the War Department have listened to the request of Cady and yet decided to remove the clearly popular yet openly opinionated officer from the ranks? Cady was clearly very popular. His dismissal was reported on the front page of the New York Tribune on November 8th 1864 and letters were received expressing their disgust at the decision to remove Nahum Ward Cady from the position of Major of the 2nd New York Mounted Rifles including one signed by its author, “Justice”. Pardoned – 30 Years Later Over thirty years later, during the 55th Congress, 2nd Session Representative, De Alva Alexander of Buffalo, New York introduced a bill to “correct the military record of N. Ward Cady, late major, Second Mounted Rifles, New York Volunteers, and the grant him an honorable discharged. The bill took many months before it was passed. The Committee on Military Affairs reviewed the military record of the Major and carried out a trial to review the situation. However, the long-held opinion of Cady’s fellow officers was revealed in the report regarding the new trial: “The officers of Major Cady's regiment believed then, and have always insisted, that the sentence was altogether out of proportion with the wrongdoing of the officer, especially in view of the fact that Major Cady was one of the bravest and most efficient officers in the division with which he was connected. Compared with sentences of latter-day courts-martial, it seems almost incredible that a brother officer could be treated with such severity.” The last passage of the report indicated that the surviving officers of the 2nd New York Mounted Rifles believed that Cady’s dismissal was “A most hasty, unjust, cruel and unmerited punishment of a brave and worthy officer." The bill petitioned Congress “to set aside the findings of the Court-Martial and to grant him an honorable discharge from the regiment.” Bill H. R. 6098 was voted on and passed. It was approved by President William McKinley on June 27th, 1898. Cady sent a letter to the War Department later that same year and applied for his honorable discharge on November 16th, 1898. As per the Act of Congress, Cady had been issued “an honorable discharged as of date October 26, 1864.” Cady applied for his pension in 1900 and as a result of declining health became a resident of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers in Danville, Illinois on November 14th 1900. On his pension application, Cady stated “I am not married, never was, and never will be.” Cady died on March 27th, 1903 at the Home for Disabled Soldiers which had been his home for the previous three years and was buried in the cemetery at the Home.