Silas Titus Silas Titus ( May 30 , 1811 – October 4 , 1899 ) was a military officer who fought in the American Civil War in the Union Army . He was active in the organization of the city of Syracuse , New York , and served as an alderman for two years and as a supervisor in 1865 . He was influential in the construction of the first 30 miles of continuous railroad in the United States . Early life and career . Silas Titus was born May 30 , 1811 in Wolcott , New York . His father Stephen Titus and mother Sarah died when he was only three years old . His uncle , Platt Titus , wrapped him in a blanket and carried him on horseback to his farm in Cato , Cayuga County , New York . In 1827 , when 16 years old , Titus left his uncle ' s farm and was hired as a clerk at the general store of W . S . Inghams at Cato . In the same year he was also commissioned as Deputy Post Master of Cato . He worked at the store until 1832 when he moved to Detroit , Michigan , to look for a job with $ 50 in his pocket . He was successful finding work and in 1833 he went into business for himself . In 1835 Titus took a stage coach to New York City travelling through Buffalo and Albany . While in Albany , he saw the first railroad in New York running from Schenectady to Albany . Impressed by the new technology he organized a town meeting upon his return to Detroit that approved the building of a railroad from Detroit to Ypsilanti , Michigan . Titus became one of the commissioners of the Detroit and Shiawasse Railroad Company which was responsible for the first continuous 30 mile stretch of railroad in the United States . In 1837 Titus married Eliza McCarthy , daughter of Thomas McCarthy and Percy Soule . Bishop John DuBois , of New York City , traveled to Salina near Syracuse , to perform the marriage even though Titus was a Seventh - day Adventist . The marriage certificate became the first catholic record in Onondaga County . The young priest accompanying the Bishop as a sherpa was John McCloskey , the first Archbishop of New York to be created cardinal . Titus returned to New York in 1840 and settled in Salina . He went into business with Dennis McCarthy operating a general store for ten years . In 1850 he was appointed by the Supervisors of Onondaga Co . to the position of Superintendent of the Penitentiary , a position he held for seven years after which he went into the lumber business with McCarthy . He stayed in the lumber business until 1861 and the beginning of the American Civil War . Civil War . Silas Titus enlisted on May 13 , 1861 , as a first lieutenant and was commissioned into the Field and Staff of the 12th New York State Volunteers ( also known as the " First Onondaga Regiment " ) . Titus served as the regimental adjutant . By September 1861 he had been transferred to the staff of Brig . Gen . John J . Peck , who commanded a brigade in the guarding of Chain Bridge and Tennallytown , Washington , D . C . , before being promoted to commanding colonel of the 122nd New York - Third Onondaga Regiment on August 22 , 1862 . The regiment was rushed to Washington to prepare to advance on the Confederacy . At 4 o ' clock the morning following the 12th NY ' s arrival in Washington , President Abraham Lincoln and U . S . Secretary of State William Seward drove out to the camp of the 12th in a carriage . The President personally thanked the officers of the 12th New York saying " I ' m glad to see you here boys " . He then shook the hand of every soldier in the regiment . The regiment moved out of the Washington camp to Fort Albany , Virginia where it stayed until July 1861 when it advanced on the enemy at the First Battle of Bull Run at Manassas . The 12th New York took light casualties in the battle including the first man killed in action in the Army of the Potomac . After the battle the regiment retreated to Washington with the rest of the Union army to regroup . Soon after Bull Run , Titus was made Adjutant of General John J . Peck ' s staff a position he held until the Battle of Seven Pines in June 1862 . In July 1862 Titus took a leave of absence due to poor health and returned to his home in Syracuse . While he was home recovering he was appointed colonel of the new 122nd New York State Volunteer Regiment , by the governor of New York . The 122nd regiment joined the Army of the Potomac in September 1862 at Sharpsburg on the final day of the Battle of Antietam . Three months after Antietam , with Titus in command , the 122nd found themselves supporting the Pennsylvania Reserves in the assault on Fredericksburg Heights . The regiment spent four hours under artillery fire with only four men wounded at the end of the day . In the summer of 1863 , the 122nd New York was part of First Brigade , Third Division , Sixth Corps . The night of July 1 , the 6th corps marched from Manchester along the Baltimore Pike towards Gettysburg . As the regiment crossed the Pennsylvania - Maryland line , the regimental flag unfurled to the breeze and the drum corps played " Yankee Doodle " . At about 4 o ' clock the corps reached the Gettysburg battlefield where they were held in reserve for the night to allow the tired troops some much needed sleep . With Titus in command , the regiment was engaged in the Battle of Gettysburg on the Morning of July 3 on the north side of the battlefield in the area of Cemetery Hill and Culps Hill . In the afternoon of July 3 the 122nd NY was held in reserve behind the Union right during Pickett ' s charge . Shortly after Gettysburg , Titus was ordered to serve as Provost Marshal of the General Court Marshal in Trenton , New Jersey . After serving one year as a member of the court martial he resigned and returned to Syracuse . At the battle of Williamsburg a Virginian State flag was captured by Peck ' s Brigade and was kept by Colonel Titus for several years after the war . Col . Titus ' son Silas Wright Titus took the flag back to Virginia and presented it to " those entitled to receive it " . During the war Titus was a regular correspondent to the Syracuse " Daily Courier & Union " newspaper , where , under the nom de plume " Scimetar " , he wrote several lively letters concerning the war under the heading ' On the Warpath ' . Postbellum activities . In the late 1890s , Titus lived with his son Silas Wright Titus in Brooklyn , New York . In 1899 a fire was caused in his son ' s home by Colonel Titus smoking on the couch . Titus was dragged to safety by his daughter - in - law , however , he died two weeks later on October 4 . He is buried along with his wife Eliza and two of his three children in St . Agnes Cemetery in Syracuse .