News release
SACKETS HARBOR, NY — This Saturday, Aug. 12, meet members of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (SUVCW) at the Sackets Harbor Battlefield State Historic Site.
These uniformed re-enactors talk about local Civil War unit history.
In the site’s navy yard, the Commandant’s House tour reflects on Josiah Tattnall’s story which is very much interwoven with the Civil War.
Tour the house and visit with the re-enactors on site from 10am to 3pm.
At the outbreak of the Civil War, the Town of Hounsfield where Sackets Harbor is located, was one of the foremost in Jefferson County to send volunteers from the army’s Madison Barracks depot.
The 94th NY Volunteers was the first regiment created, followed by the 10th N.Y. Artillery, the 20th N.Y. Cavalry, and the 186th N.Y. Volunteers.
Many local men served during the “Rebellion.”
One Sackets Harbor man was 25-year-old, six-foot-tall John Hadley who joined the 8th US Colored Infantry in 1863 and was wounded the next year in Virginia.
In 1866, Union Veterans of the Civil War organized into a fraternal organization The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) which including the Sacket Harbor J. K. Barnes post.
Formed in 1881, the successor to the GAR became the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War.
Today, the Sons remain a fraternal organization dedicated to preserving the history and legacy of those who fought to save the Union during the Civil War.
Just last year the local group dedicated a Civil War veteran marker in Barnes Corners, NY.
