Recently, I was reading a manual for the instruction of Pioneers. In it, there was a reference to the New York State Militia Manual. Has anyone heard of the existance of such a manual? If so, does anyone know where one could view it? I know that there is Baxter's Drill manual, but I wasn't sure if that was along the same lines.

Thank you for your assistance.

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Alexander M. Stowe
Son of New York
122nd NYVI

I don't know about militia manuals. But the New York National Guard was a large enough military organization to have its own manuals. I have in my own collection National Guard Manual by Stephen R. Pinckney (“late Major 11th Regiment NYNG), copyright 1862, printed 1863 by Frank McElroy, NY.

Mark Jaeger has mentioned manuals used by the NGSNY in several drill-related threads on the AC forum. Here is an excerpt from one of his posts (itself an excerpt from his Watchdog article) which mentions a NGSNY manual by Baker, and use by the NGSNY of manuals by Casey, Morris and Upton:

"Baker, G. M. (Colonel, Seventy-fourth Regiment, N. G. S. N. Y.). Manual of Arms[,] Bayonet ‎Exercise and General Instructions for Officers and Soldiers of the National Guard[,] State of ‎New York. Buffalo NY: J. M. Johnson Steam Press, 1866, p. 33. George M. Baker is definitely ‎known to have seen active duty as an officer in Company D, Twenty-first NYVI between May ‎‎1861 and September 1862, when he resigned. He returned to active service during the period ‎June - August 1863 as Captain of Company D, Seventy-fourth Regiment, NGSNY when, under ‎the command of Colonel Watson A. Fox, it was federalized for service during the Gettysburg ‎Campaign and the New York Draft Riots. Baker himself assumed the colonelcy of the Seventy-‎fourth Regiment, NGSNY in November 1865 and served in that capacity until March 1870. ‎Official Records, I. 27. Part II. Reports, Serial No. 44. p. 270-277 and personal communications ‎with Ben Maryniak, Buffalo, New York Civil War Round Table, 9 and 10 November 2003.‎"

The reason Baker's work is so interesting is because

a) he wrote it for the largest state militia in existence (over 50,000 strong in 1866)

b) Baker and a sizeable percentage of enlisted and officer NGSNY members, had seen varying lengths of wartime service (e.g., MGEN Alexander Shaler, 1st NGSNY Division commander, was in the 7th NYSM, the 65th NYVI, and several other important assignments--he was later awarded the MoH for his actions at Marye's Heights in May 1863). They knew what worked...and what didn't in Casey's manual.

c) Baker drew heavily from Casey but tweaked it a bit by addressing various gaps in it; his "fixes" were undoubtedly drawn from practical wartime experience.

d) the NGSNY generally used Casey throughout the war; however a number of NGSNY units began experimenting with "Morris' Tactics" beginning around 1865-1866. Morris', if memory serves (I'm at work right now), was essentially a simplified version of Casey, dispensing with much of the "fancy schmancy" stuff. For its part, Upton was officially adopted for use by the NGSNY on 23 August 1867, three weeks after the War Department did so.

(“The ‘Correct’ Shoulder Arms” http://www.authentic-campaigner.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5763)



Here is what Mark has to say about Morris’ manual, in another AC thread:

Upton's system was not the only contender to replace "Casey": units of the National Guard, State of New York (NGSNY), the largest state militia organization in existence after the war (reportedly over 50,000 members) also evaluated "Morris' Tactics," which, while similar to "Casey," were simplified and more practical for field use:

Field tactics for infantry:
comprising the battalion movements and brigade evolutions, useful in the field, on the march, and in the presence of the enemy.
William Hopkins Morris

1864
English Book 146 p. diagrs. 16 cm.
New York, D. Van Nostrand; [etc., etc.]

Infantry tactics:
comprising the school of the soldier; school of the company; instruction for skirmishers; school of the battalion; evolutions of the brigade; and directions for manoeuvring the division, and the corps d'armée.
William Hopkins Morris

1865
English Book 2 v. front., illus. (incl. music) diagrs. 14 cm.
New York, D. Van Nostrand; [etc.,etc.]

Dom Dal Bello references "Morris" in "PIE" and uses a later (1874) edition of "Upton" (the first edition came out in 1867 and was a "transitional manual" in that it heavily borrowed from "Casey" while incorporating Upton's own techniques). I own an original copy of the 1872 printing, which is identical to the 1867 manual.

Upton's system was generally considered superior and was heavily touted and analyzed in the "Army & Navy Journal." Indeed, the influence of the "Journal" (published in New York) cannot be underestimated since it's almost certain that the Journal's "thumbs-up" was a primary reason why the State of New York adopted Upton's system on in August 1867--only three weeks after the War Department did so!

(“Re: a comparison of hardees versus uptons tactics” http://www.authentic-campaigner.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5049)

Finally, Mark mentions a section dealing with "street firing" in the 1858 New York Militia Regulations in yet another AC thread ("Re: "Fire By Rotation" - Documented or Not?????" http://www.authentic-campaigner.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3358)

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Greg Renault

Co. D, 49th NYSV
Columbia Rifles
HQ Staff, ANV