44th Infantry Regiment
Civil War
Ellsworth Avengers; People's Ellsworth Regiment

History

Mustered in: August 30, 1861 to September 24, 1861.
Mustered out: October 11, 1864.

The following is taken from New York in the War of the Rebellion, 3rd ed. Frederick Phisterer. Albany: J. B. Lyon Company, 1912.
This regiment, Col. Stephen W. Stryker, was recruited under the auspices of the Ellsworth Association of the State of New York. The original plan was to obtain from every ward and town of the State one man; this plan was not adhered to, but later more than one enlistment was allowed to each, and the counties of Albany and Erie furnished each two companies, and Herkimer county one company. The men reported individually at Albany, where the regiment was organized under orders from the State dated October 15, 1861. The companies were mustered in the service of the United States for three years, A, E, C, D and E August 30; F and G September 6; H and I September 15, and K September 24, 1861. September 20, 1862, Companies C and E were merged into the others, and replaced by new companies, recruited at Albany, October 21, 1862. New Company E was also known as the Normal School Company. In June, 1863, the three years' men of the 14th and 25th Infantries joined the regiment by transfer. September 23, 1864, the men not entitled to be mustered out with the regiment were formed into a battalion, and October 11, 1864, this battalion was transferred to the 140th Infantry (266 enlisted men), and the 146th Infantry (183 enlisted men).
The regiment left the State October 21, 1861; served in the 3d Brigade, 1st Division, Army of the Potomac, from October 26, 1861; in the 3d Brigade, 1st Division, 3d Corps, Army of the Potomac, from March, 1862; in the 3d Brigade, 1st Division, 5th Corps, Army of the Potomac, from May, 1862, and it was honorably discharged and mustered out, under Col. Freeman Conner, October 11, 1864, at Albany.
During its service the regiment lost by death, killed in action, 5 officers, 120 enlisted men; of wounds received in action, 1 officer, 62 enlisted men; of disease and other causes, 2 officers, 145 enlisted men; total, 8 officers, 327 enlisted men; aggregate, 335; of whom 15 enlisted men died in the hands of the enemy.

The following is taken from The Union army: a history of military affairs in the loyal states, 1861-65 -- records of the regiments in the Union army -- cyclopedia of battles -- memoirs of commanders and soldiers. Madison, WI: Federal Pub. Co., 1908. volume II.
Forty-fourth Infantry.—Cols., Stephen W. Stryker, James C. Rice, Freeman Conner; Lieut.-Cols., James C. Rice, Edward P. Chapin, Freeman Conner, Edward B. Knox; Majs., Stephen W. Stryker, James McKown, Edward P. Chapin, Freeman Conner, Edward B. Knox, Campbell Allen. The 44th regiment, known as Ellsworth's Avengers, was organized at Albany under the auspices of the Ellsworth association of the State of New York, which planned to raise a memorial regiment to be composed of one man from each town and ward, unmarried, not over 30 years of age or under 5 feet, 8 inches in height, and of military experience. This plan was adhered to as far as possible and two companies from Albany county, two from Erie county, one from Herkimer county, and a large number of scattered squads reported at Albany in response to the request. These companies were mustered into the service of the United States at Albany in Aug. and Sept., 1861, for three years, and two new companies from Albany were mustered in Oct. 21, 1862. The regiment, numbering 1,061 men, left Albany on Oct. 21, 1861, for Washington and upon its arrival there was assigned to the 3d brigade, 1st division, later with the 5th corps. Camp was established on Oct. 28, at Hall's hill, Va., and the winter was passed there with routine duties. On March 10, 1862, the regiment led the advance to Centerville, but soon returned to Fairfax and proceeded thence to Yorktown, arriving on April 1. From May 5 to 19, the 44th garrisoned Fort Magruder; then moved to Games' mill; was engaged at Hanover Court House, with the loss of 86 killed, wounded and missing; participated in the Seven Days' battles with a total loss of 56 at Gaines' mill and 99 at Malvern Hill, out of 225 engaged in the last named battle. Returning to Alexandria, the regiment moved by way of Fortress Monroe to Manassas, and in the battle of Aug. 30 lost 71 killed, wounded or missing. It was in reserve at Antietam; was active at Shepherdstown, and Fredericksburg; shared in the hardships of Burnside's "Mud March," and returned to winter quarters at Stoneman's switch, near Falmouth. Camp was broken on April 27, 1863, for the Chancellorsville campaign, the 44th being in the lead during the general movement of the army and sharing in the fighting, after which it returned for a short rest to the camp at Stoneman's switch. In June, the veterans of the 14th and 25th N. Y. were added to the 44th. At Gettysburg the regiment was posted on the left of the line and joined in the defense of Little Round Top, where it met with its greatest loss—111 killed, wounded and missing. After spending some weeks in camp at Emmitsburg, the command was present at the battle of Bristoe Station, active at Rappahannock Station and in the Mine Run campaign, and went into winter quarters at Brandy Station. In Dec., 1863, a large number of the men reenlisted and rejoined the regiment in camp after their veteran furlough. May, 1864, was the month of the memorable Wilderness campaign, in which the regiment served faithfully, suffering most severely at the Wilderness and at Bethesda Church. By this time the regiment had become greatly reduced in numbers by hard service and the loss in this campaign, while not so large in numbers as in previous battles, was even greater in proportion to the number of men engaged. The regiment was active in the first assault on Petersburg in June, 1864, at the Weldon railroad, and at Poplar Spring Church. On Oct. 11 , 1864, the 44th was mustered out at Albany and the veterans and recruits were consolidated into a battalion, of which 266 men were transferred to the 140th and 183 to the 146th N. Y. The total strength of the regiment was 1,585, of whom 188 died during the term of service from wounds received in action, and 147 died from accident, imprisonment or disease. The total loss in killed, wounded and missing was 730. The men chosen for this command were of the flower of the state and displayed their heroism on many a desperately contested field, where they won laurels for themselves. and for their state. Col. Fox numbers the 44th among the "three hundred fighting regiments."