On October 11, 1864, the battle-tested soldiers of the 44th New York Infantry Regiment stood in formation at Albany, New York, for their formal muster-out, ending more than three years of Civil War service. Organized under the auspices of the State’s Ellsworth Association, the unit was raised as a memorial regiment honoring Colonel Elmer Ellsworth, a close associate of Abraham Lincoln and widely remembered as the first Union officer killed in the war. Its ambitious recruitment plan sought one unmarried man under thirty—with military experience and at least five feet eight inches tall—from each town and ward in New York, though the ideal was only partially realized.
Popularly known as the “Ellsworth Avengers,” the regiment served through many of the Army of the Potomac’s major campaigns. After serving in reserve at Antietam and suffering heavily at Fredericksburg, the 44th earned its place in history on July 2, 1863, at Gettysburg. Assigned to Colonel Strong Vincent’s 3rd Brigade of the 5th Corps, it held a central position in the brigade’s desperate defense of Little Round Top, helping preserve the Union army’s exposed left flank against repeated Confederate assaults.
By the time the regiment reached Albany for its final muster-out, the war’s cost was unmistakable. Of the 1,585 officers and men who had served in its ranks, hundreds had been killed, wounded, captured, or lost to disease. Men whose terms had not expired were transferred to the 140th and 146th New York Volunteer Infantry, while the remainder were discharged. The photograph made that day stands as a poignant record of the regiment’s survival: a memorial unit, diminished but intact in spirit, completing its service.
