59th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment The 59th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment was a regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War . As part of the Second Corps of the Army of the Potomac , it played a significant role in battles such as Antietam and Gettysburg . History . Recruitment . The 59th New York included recruits mainly from the streets of New York City and its environs , from upstate New York , and also a prominent group from north central Ohio . The regiment was mustered in from August 2 , 1861 to October 30 , 1861 and first commanded by Colonel William L . Tidball . After training in New York , the men of the 59th were assigned to the defense of Washington , D . C . , and then , in July 1862 , to the Second Corps of the Army of the Potomac . Antietam . The 59th fought its first severe action at the Battle of Antietam , where it was part of the ill - fated advance of Maj . Gen . John Sedgwick ’ s division into the West Woods , near the Dunker Church . In the chaos of that battle , part of the regiment purportedly fired into the rear of the friendly 15th Massachusetts ahead of them . The 59th New York itself escaped the maelstrom after losing 224 men killed , wounded , and missing , including the loss of 8 officers . A monument at Antietam marks the spot where Lieutenant Colonel John L . Stetson fell mortally wounded . Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville . The Union Guards were heavily engaged on both December 11 and December 13 , 1862 at the Battle of Fredericksburg . During the Chancellorsville Campaign in early May 1863 , the 59th supported Sedgwick ' s actions against Marye ' s Heights . In June , the command of the regiment changed dramatically after Colonel William Northedge resigned due to charges of corruption and drunkenness on duty . Lieutenant Colonel Max A . Thoman replaced Northedge as commander . Under Thoman ' s leadership , the small number of the 59th marched with the rest of Colonel Norman J . Hall ' s brigade of Brig . Gen . John Gibbon ' s division into Pennsylvania during the Gettysburg Campaign . Gettysburg . At Gettysburg , the 59th occupied a position on the right of Hall ' s line on Cemetery Ridge . There it fought on July 2 against the assault of Brig . Gen . Ambrose R . Wright . Sergeant James Wiley of Company B was credited with capturing the battle flag of the 48th Georgia . Lt . Col . Thoman fell mortally wounded in the action that evening and was replaced by Captain William McFadden of Ohio . The regiment occupied the same position on July 3 against the Pickett - Pettigrew - Trimble Assault , during which was wounded its young adjutant , Lieutenant William H . Pohlman . Grant ' s Campaign through Appomattox . The 59th fought with the Army of the Potomac through Grant ' s Overland Campaign , seeing significant action at the Wilderness , Spotsylvania , Cold Harbor , and Petersburg . Near Petersburg , on June 22 , 1864 , a large number of the regiment was taken prisoner . These great losses were offset by conscripts and volunteers from New York , and from men of the 82nd New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment . In this capacity it served until the end of the war at Appomattox and was mustered out under Colonel William Olmsted on June 30 , 1865 . Monuments . Two notable monuments have been erected , one at Gettysburg National Military Park in 1889 and the other at Antietam National Battlefield in 1920 .