Publication of Note | June 2025
David B. Swinfen. “Ruggles’ Regiment: The 122nd New York Volunteers in the American Civil War.” University Press of New England, 1982.
After the Civil War, William Eugene Ruggles, a carpenter from Syracuse, New York, at the time of his enlistment in the 122nd New York Infantry in the late summer of 1862, decided to work with another Union veteran, Philip M. Ostrander, who served in the 149th New York, to produce a series of drawings depicting the 122nd New York in battle. Although historian David Swinfen believed that the drawings lacked “any real artistic merit,” he found them to “have considerable interest.” I agree with Swinfen.
Among the twenty-two sketches are three related to operations in the Shenandoah Valley during the autumn of 1864. The first depicts the charge of the 122nd New York, part of Major General Horatio Wright’s Sixth Corps, during the Third Battle of Winchester. Another sketch illustrates the regiment scaling the heights of Fisher’s Hill on Sept. 22, 1864. The final image depicts the regiment at the Battle of Cedar Creek, specifically during that part of the battle when Major Jacob Mosher Brower was killed.
Although no longer in print, this book, enhanced by Swinfen’s rich commentary about the regiment’s wartime service, is an essential volume for anyone interested in the Union victories that finally wrested the Shenandoah Valley from Confederate control. While copies are difficult to find on the secondary market, this obscure source, if you can locate it, should be a part of the collection of anyone interested in the 1864 Shenandoah Campaign.
