19th century Fort Edward — The ultimate sacrifice

It was the news from the warfront which no one wanted to receive.

“A dispatch just received has brought the news that Capt. McCoy was killed in the affair of last Friday. This, of course, settled the fact that the Fort Edward boys have been involved (in the battle),” The Fort Edward Ledger reported on Sept. 5, 1862. “How many have fallen is not known, but sadness and the expressions of deep anxiety can be seen depicted upon every countenance. … It is now, more than ever before, that the war, or rather the effects of the war, are brought to our door.”

McCoy had been married shortly before his death.

“He was one of the first who responded to the call of the President when the gigantic rebellion was in its infancy. He raised a company of volunteers, and by a unanimous vote of the company, was proclaimed captain.”

In other 19th century Fort Edward news collected from historic newspapers of the region:

1862

• “A train of twenty-five cars, ushering in from Plattsburgh barracks thirteen hundred brave volunteers to the seat of war to do battle in the cause of the Union, and to save the Government intact, passed through our village about 9 o’clock this morning. They appealed hale and animated,” The Fort Edward Ledger reported on Aug. 22.
• There were 779 male residents between the ages of 18 and 45, The Fort Edward Ledger reported on Sept. 19.

Of these, 200 were already serving in Army, 100 were blind, lame or halt, and otherwise exempt from military duty by Congress.

This left 379 “able-bodied” men that could be drafted to serve in the Union Army.

• “Privates Taylor and Mills, of this village, captured by the Rebels at the Battle of Bull Run, arrived in town Wednesday evening, the Ledger reported on Oct. 10.
• “Our swift and little place is prospering as usual,” the Ledger reported on Nov. 7. “J. M. Mott & Son are erecting near the depot a large four-story brick, intact, the largest in town for stores. In the third story a hall will be finished and furnished in the best style, full up to times in every respect.”
• “Of the many privileges that we enjoy as a community, there are few, if any, more worthy of praise than the Union School. The Principal, Mr. Montgomery, evidently possesses those rare but necessary qualities that give hum fitness for the place,” the Ledger reported on Nov. 21.

1895

• “Horseback riding is fast becoming popular in this section and promises to be a rival to the bicycle craze,” the Fort Edward correspondent reported in The Morning Star of Glens Falls on Oct. 11.

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