Brockway, Andrew, d. 1864
Rank:	Private
Regiment:	107th New York Infantry Regiment. Co. C (1862-1865)
Service:	1862 July 25-1864 May 25

Background note:

Andrew Brockway was a typical young recruit of the 107th New York Infantry Regiment which was raised in his home town, Elmira, N.Y. With a brother already in the army and two sisters at home, Brockway entered into a regiment that traveled as much as any from the state.

The 107th Infantry were initially assigned to Whipple's Division in the defences of Washington, but in September, 1862, were transfered to the XII Army Corps of the Army of the Potomac, and thus thrust headlong into their first battle, Antietam. Remaining with XII Corps in Virginia, the 107th participated in the Chancellorsville and Gettysburg Campaigns -- the latter in a minor capacity -- before being ordered in August, 1863, to pack their bags and heft them over the mountains to Tennessee.

During the winter of 1863-1864, Brockway's regiment occupied the town of Shelbyville in south-central Tennessee, where the "hostile" population often seemed more welcoming than threatening, and where the citizens even threw parties for their occupiers. Brockway did not remain long, however. Assigned in April to XX Corps, Army of the Cumberland, the regiment entered into an unbroken string of campaigns from the Atlanta Campaign to Sherman's March to the Sea and the March through the Carolinas. Brockway did not survive to see the success of Sherman's great offensives, however, having been killed in action at New Hope Church on May 25, 1864.

Scope and contents:

The Andrew Brockway letters were written to his sister, Arelia from Virginia, Maryland, Tennessee, and Georgia, and deal primarily with camp life and troop movements. Brockway describes his many marches in excruciating detail, his style no doubt aided by blistered feet. He offers opinions on President Lincoln ("I did not see as old Abe looked any different from any human being"), Hooker ("There is no lack of faith in our commander... if the authority as Washington will only let him work"), and Meade ("Guess he is a little fearful of taking them [the Confederates] on their own ground").

Although the Brockway correspondence is very incomplete, it includes accounts of the Battles of Rocky Face Ridge and Chancellorsville, the latter written by Brockway's comrade, Ambrose B. Morgan. Brockway's letters from Shelbyville, Tenn., provide interesting commentary on the relations of an army of occupation with the citizens whose land they occupy. The description of a Washington's Birthday party at Shelbyville in 1864 is particularly charming.

Related collections:

The Manuscripts and Special Collections section of the New York State Library, Albany, house the remainder of Brockway's known letters.

Regimental history:

Frederick Phisterer. New York in the War of the Rebellion (Albany: 1912), pp. 3257-3268.

M-1452
Recat. 3/97 rsc

Link to subject index to the Andrew Brockway Papers

Alphabetic index to the Schoff Civil War Collections

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