68th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment The 68th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment served in the Union Army during the American Civil War . Also known as the Cameron Rifles or the Second German Rifle Regiment , the men were mostly German immigrants . Organized in July 1861 , three months after the outbreak of war , the 68th saw service in the Eastern and Western theaters . As a part of the Army of the Potomac , it was initially assigned to the defenses of Washington , D . C . Later , the 68th was transferred to the Shenandoah Valley and fought at the Battle of Cross Keys . The men of the 68th were then reassigned to central Virginia and found themselves in the thick of the fighting at Second Bull Run . After returning to the nation ' s capital , the regiment fought in Chancellorsville and was routed by Confederate forces . At Gettysburg , they saw battle on two of the three days and took heavy losses . The regiment was then transferred to the west and participated in the Chattanooga campaign . The 68th fought in the battles of Wauhatchie and Missionary Ridge , assisting in the Union victories there . The regiment marched to relieve the siege of Knoxville , and then spent the last year of the war on occupation duty in Tennessee and Georgia , before being disbanded in November 1865 . Raising the regiment . On July 22 , 1861 , the United States War Department authorized Robert J . Betge to raise a volunteer infantry regiment in New York . Recruited to serve for three years , the men came mostly from Manhattan , and also from New Jersey , Maryland , and Pennsylvania . The mostly German immigrants were also called the " Second German Rifles " ( the First German Rifles , raised several months earlier , were the 8th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment ) , but Betge called the regiment the " Cameron Rifles " , after Secretary of War Simon Cameron . The officers were also German , and many had served in the armies of Austria , Prussia , and other German states . In all , 1020 men filled the ranks when the regiment had finished recruiting . Accepted into service on August 19 , the 68th left New York the next day , traveling by train from Perth Amboy , New Jersey to Washington , D . C . , to join the brigade of Brigadier General Louis Blenker in the Army of the Potomac . Blenker was a German immigrant himself , a refugee of the Revolutions of 1848 , and many of the units under his command were heavily German - American . Encamped at Roach ' s Mills , Virginia , the 68th served in the defense of Washington , losing three men in their first combat , a minor skirmish with a Confederate patrol . In November , the Army was reorganized ; the 68th was shifted to Colonel Adolph von Steinwehr ' s brigade and Blenker moved up to command the division . They encamped at Hunter ' s Chapel , Virginia , for the remainder of the winter . There , Betge was brought before a court martial , accused of " conduct unbecoming an officer and gentleman " : confiscating two horses and other property from " loyal " Virginia citizens , and taking a bribe to hire the 68th ' s regimental sutler . He was not convicted , and was permitted to return to the regiment . Shenandoah Valley . In March 1862 , the Army was again reorganized and Blenker ' s brigade was merged into the II Corps , led by Major General Edwin Vose Sumner . That month the 68th moved to Warrenton , Virginia , where it came into contact with Confederate cavalry ; three of the officers were captured . The following month , Blenker ' s brigade was moved into Maj . Gen . John C . Frémont ' s Mountain Department , necessitating a march to Winchester , Virginia , where the 68th and the rest of Frémont ' s army guarded the western part of the Shenandoah Valley against incursions by Confederate forces under Lieutenant General Stonewall Jackson . Their long march had left the 68th bereft of supplies and low on rations . Colonel Betge protested against the mistreatment of his regiment , and was placed under arrest , surrendering command to the Lieutenant Colonel , John H . Kleefish . The initial action in Jackson ' s Valley Campaign took place to their east , but in June Frémont ' s force of 15 , 000 joined the 10 , 000 - man division of Brig . Gen . James Shields to converge on Jackson south of Massanutten Mountain . Jackson was determined to attack the two Union columns separately and arranged half of his troops to block Shields on the right side of the mountain , while the other half , commanded by Maj . Gen . Richard S . Ewell , blocked the left side . Jackson ' s wish was realized when , on June 8 , Frémont ' s army attacked . Frémont , believing he was striking Jackson ' s rear , instead attacked Ewell head - on , and Jackson soon brought his whole force to bear on the Union troops in the Battle of Cross Keys . The men of the 68th came under concentrated fire for the first time but were not heavily involved in the battle , although two men were killed . The battle was a defeat for the Union , and Frémont ' s force did not attack again , being blocked instead by a small holding force from Ewell ' s wing . The rest of Jackson ' s force then turned to attack Shields ' s army the next day at Port Republic , but Frémont ' s infantry did not figure in the battle , another Confederate victory , though his artillery shelled the enemy from long range . After the battle , the 68th marched to Cedar Creek and the army was placed under the overall command of Maj . Gen . John Pope ; Frémont ' s force was designated the First Corps of the Army of Virginia . Frémont , who outranked Pope , resigned in protest , and President Lincoln accepted the resignation . Lincoln replaced him with Maj . Gen . Franz Sigel , who had been commanding troops in the Western theater . Sigel was , like many in the First Corps , a German immigrant , and the 68th and the other German regiments in the First Corps were happy for the change in commanders . Sigel ordered the 68th to Luray for picket duty . When they arrived , Betge resigned his commission and Kleefish continued to command the regiment until a new colonel could be assigned . Second Bull Run . The regiment remained in the Shenandoah Valley until August 1862 when they joined Pope ' s army and moved south to engage Robert E . Lee ' s Army of Northern Virginia . They arrived the day after the Battle of Cedar Mountain , and joined Pope ' s army in its retreat from that Confederate victory . After a series of minor actions along the Rappahannock , Pope ' s forces met Jackson ' s half of Lee ' s army near Manassas Station . Lee had divided his army into wings led by Jackson and Lt . Gen . James Longstreet and sent Jackson ' s force to raid Pope ' s rear to cut his supply line . Pope believed he had a chance to destroy the Army of Northern Virginia one half at a time , and made the decision to attack . Jackson ' s men struck the first blow , however , and drove off a portion of the Union force . The next day , having taken up a strong defensive position along an unfinished railroad , Jackson awaited Pope ' s advance . Pope obliged him , sending the Army forward against Jackson ' s lines . The 68th and the rest of Sigel ' s corps occupied the middle of the advancing line . They were unable to break Jackson ' s lines , and withdrew . The Cameron Rifles had seen some action at Cross Keys , but this was their first experience of fierce fighting and they acquitted themselves well , despite the failure of the attack . By the afternoon , Longstreet joined Jackson with the other half of Lee ' s army and attacked the Union left . Longstreet believed it was too late for an attack , and did not attack that day , other than in a minor clash where his lines met some federal units at dusk . The next day , August 30 , Pope attacked Jackson again at 3 : 00 in the afternoon . Again , the attacking forces could not overcome their enemies ' positions , and this time Longstreet counterattacked and forced them back toward their original positions . Sigel ' s forces , which did not take part in the initial Union assault , held firm against the Confederate counterattack , but after heavy casualties the army retreated . Among the casualties were 22 killed from the 68th ( including Kleefish ) and 59 wounded , making Second Bull Run one of the unit ' s bloodiest engagements . The Army of Virginia retreated nearly all the way back to Washington . Pope was relieved and Maj . Gen . George B . McClellan placed in charge of the army once more . After burying Kleefish in Washington , the 68th redeployed to Fairfax , Virginia . With Kleefish dead and Betge having resigned , command of the regiment fell temporarily to Major Carl von Wedell . The officers then petitioned the Governor Horatio Seymour to commission Gotthilf von Bourry d ' Ivernois as their new colonel , which he did . Von Bourry , a veteran of the Austrian army , had served on Blenker ' s staff as a captain and had impressed the officers of the 68th with his tales of heroism in the Second Italian War of Independence . Army of the Potomac . Chancellorsville . The 68th spent September and October 1862 defending Washington where they were attached to Alexander Schimmelfennig ' s 1st Brigade of the XI Corps in the Army of the Potomac ( the re - numbered I Corps formerly of the Army of Virginia ) still commanded by Sigel . In November , they advanced to Centreville with the rest of the Army , now under the command of Maj . Gen . Ambrose Burnside . Burnside , who had taken over the Army when McClellan was relieved of command earlier that month , was determined to bring battle to the enemy , and he ordered the Army to advance once more to the Rappahannock . The 68th , however , remained in reserve with the rest of the XI Corps , and so was spared any part in the defeat that befell the Union Army at the Battle of Fredericksburg . The Army retreated once again , and the 68th joined them in winter quarters at Stafford , Virginia . Morale was low in the Army after Fredericksburg and the retreat that followed , and Burnside was replaced in command by Maj . Gen . Joseph Hooker . Several corps commanders were also replaced , including Sigel , whose XI Corps passed to Maj . Gen . Oliver O . Howard on April 2 , 1863 , when he resigned in protest because he believed he deserved a larger corps . In a corps of mostly German regiments , Howard was immediately unpopular and his distribution of religious tracts to the troops did not improve the relationship . The regiment was smaller , too , than it had been : just 259 present for duty . Their new commander in the XI Corps ' s 3rd Brigade was another German , Maj . Gen . Carl Schurz . Hooker brought the Army to the Rappahannock for a third time , but rather than crossing directly into the defenses of the Confederates , he divided his much larger force to attack Lee ' s army from two sides simultaneously . This time , the 68th and the other regiments of the XI Corps were part of the action , crossing the river with Hooker ' s main force on May 1 , 1863 , to attack Lee ' s left . Despite Hooker ' s careful planning , the Battle of Chancellorsville was another Union defeat . After crossing the Rappahannock , Hooker had ordered the wing including the XI Corps to halt and await the Confederate attack . Faced with attacks on two sides , Lee daringly divided his smaller force to engage both : the pause allowed Lee to send Jackson with the bulk of the army to meet the Union advance and outflank their right wing the next day , May 2 . Although he was warned of the impending attack , Howard did not order the units under his command to entrench , and when Jackson ' s men arrived the XI Corps was caught unprepared . At about 5 : 15 p . m . , Jackson ' s force of 21 , 500 men caught the XI Corps in the flank and by surprise as the men were preparing their dinner . Schurz ordered his brigade to shift to meet the assault , and the 68th jumped to action , but they were still overwhelmed by the force of numbers and began a disorganized retreat an hour into the attack . After falling back , the 68th and the other retreating units rallied to avoid a complete rout and held off the Confederates until nightfall . The XI Corps suffered nearly 2 , 500 casualties , including 5 dead , 16 wounded , and 32 missing from the 68th . The next day , the XI Corps held the left of the Union line and was again attacked , but unlike the previous day , they were not at the focus of the Confederate attack . The entire army retreated across the Rappahannock the next day , defeated once more . Gettysburg . In the wake of Chancellorsville , newspapers heaped scorn on the German regiments , blaming the 68th and the others for the defeat . The XI Corps suffered from low morale , and several officers resigned their commissions , including Lt . Col . Carl Vogel and five others from the 68th . The Army of the Potomac pulled back from the Rappahannock , and was soon on the move as the Army of Northern Virginia slipped past and marched north toward Pennsylvania . Led by still another new commander , Maj . Gen . George Meade , the Union army followed the Confederates north . The 68th , now with 267 present for duty , had been shifted to the XI Corps ' s 1st Brigade under Brig . Gen . Leopold von Gilsa when the Army of the Potomac prepared to meet the rebels at the Battle of Gettysburg . The XI Corps was among the first to arrive on the scene on July 1 , 1863 . Schurz ' s brigade arrived first , and he ordered them to take up defensive positions north of the town . The other two divisions arrived next , and Howard arrayed them to resist the rebel onslaught he knew was coming soon . The landscape was mostly devoid of features that would aid in defense , but Gilsa ' s men were able to entrench on one low rise , Blocher ' s Knoll . The 68th was sent forward to skirmish , along with the 54th New York and part of the 153rd New York , and were the first to be attacked and ousted from their positions when Lt . Gen . Jubal Early ' s Confederate division came on in numbers and outflanked them . The army retreated south of the town , but Howard , after arguing with Maj . Gen . Winfield Scott Hancock over who was in command in Meade ' s absence , rallied the troops there and ordered them to entrench . The 68th began the second day in a more defensible position on Cemetery Hill . This placed them at the center of the Union line , and most of the day ' s early action was on the flanks . In the evening , however , Early ' s forces attacked again ; the charging Confederates quickly reached the top of the hill and some hand - to - hand combat broke out , but losses were light because the growing darkness made it difficult for soldiers on both sides to shoot accurately . Reinforcements from the II Corps arrived and helped the XI Corps hold the position . On the third day , the 68th remained in that position , but the major attack of the day , Pickett ' s Charge , was to their left . The 68th performed better than they had at Chancellorsville , participating in their first Union victory . They paid the price with much higher casualties , 8 killed and 63 wounded ; 67 were made prisoners of war , many on the first day during the retreat to Cemetery Hill . In the thick of the action for two out of three days , the 68th lost more men at Gettysburg than in any other battle . Chattanooga campaign . Lee ' s army retreated into Virginia and , after some delay , the Army of the Potomac followed . After a skirmish in Hagerstown , Maryland , on July 12 , the 68th crossed the Potomac into Virginia on July 16 and took up guard duty along the Orange and Alexandria Railroad near Warrenton . The regiment remained there until September , when it and the rest of the XI Corps were detached from the Army of the Potomac and sent to Tennessee . The XI and XII Corps , under Hooker ' s command , made up an independent force added to the Armies of the Tennessee , the Cumberland , and the Ohio , which were all operating in that theater . Maj . Gen . William Rosecrans , having just lost the Battle of Chickamauga , was besieged in Chattanooga , and the other armies were gathering to lift the siege and attack the Confederate army there , led by Lt . Gen . Braxton Bragg . Traveling for seven days by rail , the 68th arrived in Tennessee on September 30 . The regiment spent the first month guarding railroads again , this time west of Chattanooga . Rosecrans soon found himself relieved of duty , and Maj . Gen . Ulysses S . Grant was placed in overall command of the three armies plus Hooker ' s two corps . The 68th , too , saw a change in its leadership when Col . von Bourry was cashiered for drunkenness and command passed to Lt . Col . Albert von Steinhausen . By this time , losses from Gettysburg and illness had reduced the regiment to 127 men present for duty , just over a tenth of their numbers from the start of the war . Grant ' s armies converged on Chattanooga and planned to attack Bragg ' s army . Getting into place required the XI and XII Corps to cross the Tennessee River at Bridgeport , Alabama , and march rapidly for Lookout Valley , opening the supply line to Chattanooga . They did so , to the surprise of the Confederate forces there , which had not expected an attack from that quarter . On October 28 , Hooker ' s two corps were attacked by a part of Bragg ' s army , which had by now been joined by Longstreet and some units from the Army of Northern Virginia . Bragg ordered Longstreet to drive the federals back and he attacked . In the ensuing Battle of Wauhatchie , the XII Corps took the brunt of the initial assault . Hooker bypassed Howard and ordered Schurz to bring up the XI Corps to join the fight . The engagement was confused on both sides , but the Union forces were victorious , driving off the rebels and inflicting twice the casualties they received . With the supply lines now reopened to Chattanooga , Grant planned to dislodge Bragg ' s army . At the Battle of Lookout Mountain , the 68th was held in reserve on the first day , November 24 . The battle continued the next day and a part of Howard ' s XI Corps , including the 68th , was shifted to the far left of the Union lines to reinforce Sherman ' s attack on Missionary Ridge . There , the 68th skirmished with the enemy , but was unable to advance . The Confederates were forced to retreat however as Maj . Gen . George Thomas ' s troops ' assault on their center sent Bragg ' s army into retreat from the ridge . Four days later , on November 28 , the 68th , still attached to Sherman ' s army , marched north to relieve Burnside ' s army , which was besieged in Knoxville , Tennessee . Before they arrived , however , Burnside managed to defeat the enemy , and the regiment returned south . It spent the winter guarding railroads near their winter quarters in Bridgeport . In April , the enlistments of many three - year men were due to expire , including the men of the 68th . The men were sent to Louisville , Kentucky , and then by rail back to New York City for four weeks ' leave of absence . With the war not yet over , the government encouraged re - enlisting , and many of the 68th did so . The three - year men of the 8th and 29th Infantry , two other German - American units reduced by casualties and expiring enlistment terms , were consolidated into the 68th . Drafted men and substitutes brought the ranks up to 400 present for duty . Re - enlistment and the end of the war . Among those continuing in the army was the colonel of the 8th New York , Prince Felix Salm - Salm . As the 68th had been without a colonel since von Bourry had been cashiered , Governor Seymour appointed Salm - Salm to the post on June 8 , 1864 . The youngest son of a minor German prince , Salm - Salm had served in the Prussia n and Austrian armies before coming to America and joining the Union Army in 1861 . His appointment to lead the 68th caused consternation among the officers , who had hoped for the promotion of one of their own . They protested to the governor unsuccessfully , but accepted that Salm - Salm was to be their leader . After the commissions and re - enlistments were sorted out , the 68th returned to Tennessee . They were again serving under Hooker in the XX Corps , which was consolidated from the XI and XII Corps and had now been attached permanently to Thomas ' s Army of the Cumberland . The 68th was assigned to Maj . Gen . James B . Steedman ' s 4th Brigade of the new corps and spent the next few months patrolling the Nashville and Chattanooga Railway in Tennessee . By that time , Confederate resistance in the area was weakened , and the rails and bridges were not damaged . Salm - Salm ' s wife , Agnes , joined him during the winter of 1864 – 1865 , and the officers spent much of their time entertaining . The 68th was not involved in the Battle of Nashville that December , in which Lt . Gen . John Bell Hood ' s Confederate army was nearly destroyed , but Salm - Salm did get permission to join the battle himself while the 68th stayed at their patrol stations . After Thomas ' s victory at Nashville , the 68th was ordered to prepare to pursue what remained of Hood ' s army . They redeployed to Decatur , Alabama , where Salm - Salm rejoined the regiment . They skirmished with Hood ' s rear guard , but the rainy weather aided the Confederates ' escape . Salm - Salm led the regiment in the minor engagements following in January and February 1865 at Elrod ' s Tan Yard , Hog Jaw Valley , and Johnson ' s Crook . As Maj . Gen . William T . Sherman ' s Army of the Tennessee advanced farther into Georgia , the 68th did as well , making Atlanta their headquarters in March 1865 . They continued to serve in northern Georgia through the spring and summer of 1865 , and were stationed there when news came that the major Confederate armies had surrendered to Grant and Sherman . While there , they were ordered to facilitate the transition from a slave - based economy to a sharecropper system by encouraging plantation owners and their former slaves to sign farming contracts . The 68th moved to Fort Pulaski , outside Savannah , Georgia , in October 1865 . The men remained there until November 30 , 1865 , when , with the war finally ended , the 68th New York was mustered out of federal service . They boarded a steamship for New York and received their final pay at Hart ' s Island on December 14 , where they disbanded . The regiment had served for more than four years , and had suffered casualties of 47 killed , 133 wounded , and 116 captured .