On September 2, 1814—nine days after British troops burned the White House—a predecessor organization of New York’s famed 7th Regiment entered federal service during the War of 1812. The unit was not yet the “7th New York” in the form later generations would recognize: its original companies had been organized in 1806, and it would pass through several names and structures before receiving the 7th Regiment designation in 1843. Still, its 1814 service marked an early chapter in the history of a unit that would become one of America’s most celebrated militia regiments.
By the opening of the Civil War, the 7th New York had acquired a reputation unlike almost any other militia unit in the country. Its ranks included many men from prominent New York families and from the city’s commercial and professional elite. That social standing helped earn it enduring nicknames such as the “Silk Stocking Regiment” and the “Blue-Bloods”—labels that captured both its wealth and its exclusivity. The regiment was universally known for its discipline, elaborate uniforms, and high-profile place in New York civic life.
When President Abraham Lincoln called for troops following Fort Sumter in April 1861, the 7th responded quickly. Under Colonel Marshall Lefferts, roughly 1,050 men left New York City on April 19, marching down Broadway before enormous crowds. They traveled by rail to Perryville, Maryland, continued by steamer to Annapolis, and then moved toward Annapolis Junction as disrupted transportation routes complicated access to the capital. On April 24 and 25, the regiment helped repair the railway and reopen communications with Washington. It reached the capital on April 25 and entered federal service for thirty days the following day.
The 7th was not the first military unit of the war to arrive in Washington—but it was the first New York State militia regiment to do so after Lincoln’s call. Its arrival carried real symbolic force: one of New York’s most prestigious citizen-soldier organizations had visibly committed itself to the Union at a moment when the capital’s security seemed uncertain. The regiment later served in and around Washington, crossed into Virginia with early Union forces, and assisted in building Fort Runyon before returning to New York in early June.
Image: The Trophy Room at the 7th Regiment Armory in Manhattan via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
