1st New York Volunteer Engineer Regiment The 1st New York Volunteer Engineer Regiment was an engineer regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War . It was also known as Serrell ' s Engineers , New York Volunteer Corps of Engineers , or Engineer ' s and Artizans . The regiment served initially in the Lower Seaboard Theater , and later in the Richmond – Petersburg Campaign . Organization and muster . In 1860 the army Corps of Engineers consisted of just 44 officers and 100 soldiers for an army of 15 , 000 soldiers . After the formation of the Confederacy and the Battle of Fort Sumter , Congress authorized a massive increase in the number of specialized engineer troops on August 3 , 1861 to complement the growing Union Army . Edward W . Serrell , a prominent civil engineer obtained authorization to begin recruiting an engineer regiment which would become known as the 1st New York Volunteer Engineer Regiment , or Serrell ' s Engineers . The regiment was accepted by the state on September 27 , 1861 . Serrell was appointed a Lieutenant Colonel of Volunteers on October 11 , 1861 , and promoted to a full Colonel by December of that year . The regiment was officially organized in New York City , and mustered in for a three - year enlistment on October 11 , 1861 . Volunteers were recruited by company : Upon formation , the volunteer engineers were promised pay wages one - third greater than that of the line . After the unit had been mustered , the Paymaster General refused to recognize the status of the newly formed regiment , and paid them the same rate as infantry . After protests to the War Department failed to rectify the situation , the men refused to take their reduced pay . Finally , after eight months of refusing to accept the lower wages , the order finally came through to increase the soldiers ' pay to the agreed amount . Department of the South . The 1st New York ' s was deployed to Port Royal Sound and was formed as the 10th Corps Engineers in the Department of the South . The regiment distinguished itself in the Battle of Fort Pulaski , helping to capture the fort after 30 hours of bombardment , constructing batteries for the new James rifled cannon . The 1st New York was given the honor of having their regimental flag chosen as the first to float over Fort Pulaski after its capture . The regiment was employed throughout the east coast , from South Carolina to Florida . While serving in the X Corps , the regiment was involved in capturing several key forts in Charleston Harbor . After the failed infantry assault on Fort Wagner which included the famous charge by the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry , retold in the climax of the feature film Glory , the 1st New York Engineers were tasked with conducting a traditional siege on the fort . After 60 days of shelling , the defenders abandoned the fort on September 7 , 1863 . Using Morris Island as a staging area , the X Corps could focus on recapturing Fort Sumter , the site of the first military action of the Civil War . During the Battle of Fort Sumter , the 1st New York established watchtowers and built batteries in an attempt to pummel the fort into capitulation . However , in spite of a near constant bombardment , as well as a failed amphibious assault , Union forces were unable to occupy the fort until its abandonment by Confederate forces on February 17 , 1865 . The Marsh Battery and the Swamp Angel . Unable to recapture Fort Sumter , the X Corps under Gen . Quincy Adams Gillmore turned their attention to the nearby city of Charleston . Gillmore wanted to shell Charleston using Greek Fire to force its capitulation without capturing the harbor forts , so he instructed Serrell to explore the possibilities of constructing a battery in the marshes between James Island and Morris Island . According to legend Serrell gave the duty to a young engineer who declared the project could not be done . Serrell told the doubting engineer that nothing was impossible , and to requisition any necessary materials . A short time later Serrell received a request for twenty men eighteen feet tall . At the same time there was a request to the department ' s surgeon to splice three six - foot men together to make the needed eighteen footers . The request did not amuse Serrell , and he soon replaced the young officer . Serrell assumed personal responsibility and conducted a series of experiments to establish the capability of the soil to support weight . He believed the soil could be stabilized enough to receive the weight of a siege piece . A plan was presented to Gilmore for the construction of a battery on August 2 , 1863 . It was immediately accepted , and several days were spent setting up support activities to supply lumber and other materials . Construction began on 10 August . The engineers built a rectangular frame of sheet piling that was driven by a lever activated ram . The first measure to reinforce the soil was " a thick stratum of grass . " This was covered by two layers of tarpaulin followed by " 15 inches of well rammed sand . " A platform consisting of three layers of 3 inch pine planks topped off the position . The " Marsh Battery " was completed on August 17 , 1863 and stood ready for its armament . The " Swamp Angel , " an 8 - inch , 200 pound Parrott Rifle was positioned in the battery , and the 11th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment manned the weapon , firing incendiary shells at the city of Charleston from August 22 – 23 of 1863 . After lobbing 35 shells into Charleston the Swamp Angel burst , and the battery was abandoned . Like Sumter before , Charleston held out under bombardment and did not capitulate until February 18 , 1865 . The artillery piece also inspired a poem by Herman Melville , and is known as one of the most famous artillery pieces of the Civil War . Army of the James . In the spring of 1864 , companies B , C , E , F , H , K , L & M were sent to join Benjamin Butler ' s Army of the James , and Serrell was again named chief engineer of the Corps . They participated in the Bermuda Hundred Campaign , building the entire Bermuda Hundred Line , laid many miles of corduroy road s , dredged the Dutch Gap Canal , and constructed the abutments and roads that connected the pontoon bridge assembled by the Engineers of the Army of the Potomac with City Point , Virginia . During the Richmond – Petersburg Campaign , the Confederate line was broken at Fort Harrison , and the 1st New York set the new line from the newly constructed Fort Brady to Fort Harrison and over to Deep Bottom . After the fall of Petersburg , the 1st New York was formed into the Engineer Brigade , along with the 15th New York Volunteer Engineer Regiment and the 50th New York Volunteer Engineer Regiment . Col . Serrell was honorably discharged on February 15 , 1865 , and Col . James F . Hall took command of the regiment until the end of the war . The regiment was mustered out on June 30 , 1865 . Casualties . The regiment lost 2 officers , and 25 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded in combat . 5 Officers and 116 Enlisted men died from disease , for a total of 148 casualties .