Lemuel Ladd
Private, Company C,12th NY Volunteer Infantry Regiment
(Onondaga County)
Great Grand Uncle of Merle G Ladd
Ladd Family
Lemuel Ladd
Lemuel Ladd
Private, Company C,
12th NY Volunteer Infantry Regiment
(Onondaga County)
Born: August 13, 1837, Hastings, Oswego Co, NY
Died: July 18, 1861, Blackburn's Ford, VA
Father: Ira Ladd; Born May 16, 1815, Windsor Co., VT;
Died: Oct., 31, 1893, Clay, Onondaga Co. NY
Mother: Lucilla Fancher; Born Feb., 13, 1817, Berne, NY;
Died: Apr. 24, 1893, Clay, Onondaga Co, NY
Information courtesy of:
Dalton Rector, Manassas, VA
When the call for arms went out in April of
1861, the volunteers from the Syracuse area
gathered and were formed into companies of
volunteers. They were then sent to Elmira,
probably by railroad, where they were
mustered into service as the 12th New York on
the 13th of May 1861. From Elmira they were
sent south to Washington DC.
When Lemuel enlisted in the spring of 1861
the boys of New York gathered in their civilian
clothing and waited for several weeks for the
Brooks Brothers Company to complete a
contract with the state of New York to produce
12,000 uniforms. War material was in short
supply at this time and all the states, both
north and south, did all they could to uniform
and arm their men. Brooks Brothers ran out of
blue uniform material about half way through
the contract at which time they switched over
to gray uniform material that was common
with militia units at that time. It is known that
the 12th New York, Lemuel's regiment, was
one of the regiments that were issued the gray
uniforms. It is believed that the uniform worn
by Lemuel would have had straps on the
shoulder and either six or nine small buttons
down the front.
On July 18th 1861, about 1:00 to 1:30 PM,
Lemuel Ladd and the rest of the 12th NY Vol.
Inf. advanced on the Confederate position
along Bull Run at Blackburn's Ford, VA. They
were on the east side of the Blackburn's Ford
road which ran down through a ravine to Bull
Run; the 1st Massachusetts Infantry was just
to the right of the New Yorkers and on the
other side of the ravine. The 12th New York
entered the woods to their front and soon ran
into Confederate infantry and artillery.
At the conclusion of the battle, six members of
the 12th New York were killed, two more
mortally wounded and several wounded;
Lemuel was listed with the Killed In Action
making him one of the earliest casualties of
12th New York
Volunteer Infantry
"Onondaga County
Regiment; Independence
Guard; the Dozen"
Colonel: Ezra L. Walrath
Company C
Captain: Dennis Driscoll, Jr.
Lieutenant: James Randall
Ensign: John P. Stanton
1st Sergeant: Michael Foley
Sergeants: George Travis,
John Lighton, John Carroll
Corporals: Richard J.
Wright, James Lewis, William
Stanton, John R. Bailey
Drummers: Hiram Foote,
Frederick Kaufman
Privates:
George W. Benjamin,
Edward Blaney, Floyd H.
Broughton, Charles W.
Brown, George W. Button,
William Caffrey, Robert
Clemence, Francis M. Coan,
Michael Conlan, William
Davern, Hugh Davison,
the Civil War.
Of the six who were killed (Ladd, Darling,
Westgate, Murphy, Markham and Walter);
Walter was probably buried with the members
of the 1st Massachusetts as he was killed with
their skirmishers. Out of the remaining five
there is some evidence to indicate that one
was buried on the 19th of July behind the
Stone Church in Centreville; as to which one of
the five it was, may never be known. The
location of the rest is not known.
The two who were mortally wounded died on
the 20th of July and were probably buried
behind the Stone Church.
Lemuel was a member of the 12th New York
Volunteer Infantry which had several of its
members killed and wounded by Confederate
artillery. It is not known exactly how Lemuel
died, only that he was listed as killed in action.
Back in the early 1970s, one of the
Confederate gun emplacements could still be
seen where it had been dug into the hillside
just above the ford. Modern highway
construction took away this gun emplacement
and the highway itself covers the ground over
which the 12th NY advanced.
Civil War Battlefield Guide
Blackburn's Ford, Virginia
Prince William and Fairfax Counties July 18, 1861
On July 16, US General McDowell's untried
army of 35,000 marched from the Washington
defenses to battle CS General Beauregard's
21,000 men at the vital railroad junction at
Patrick Dervin, Timothy
Desmond, Francis Doyle,
John Dwyre, James Feeney,
William Fickland, Garett
Fitzgerald, John Fitzgerald,
Edmund Fitzmaurice, John
Fox, Francis Gillespie, John
Guidar, William Hallem,
Thomas Hart, Patrick
Hennesy, George Hoose,
William Kennedy, Dennis
Kennedy, Jeremiah Killbride,
Lemuel Ladd, John Lewis,
Maxwell McCallen, Samuel
McCormick, Patrick McCue,
John McDonnell, James
McGough, John McGough,
John McLoughlin, Hugh
O'Brien, Edward O'Brien,
Martin O'Brien, James
O'Donnell, Patrick Parsons,
Horace Pratt, Frederick
Price, Patrick Quigley, John
W. Randall, Patrick Ready,
John Regan, John H.
Roberts, Michael Slattery,
George Slicer, Charles A.
Stocking, William K.
Thatcher, James Thompson,
James Warn
Manassas. Advancing southwest at a crawl
through the July heat, McDowell reached
Fairfax Court House on July 17 and tried to
find a crossing of Bull Run so he could flank
the Confederate army. Beauregard anticipated
him and posted troops at seven crossings.
On July 18 McDowell sent his vanguard under
US Brigadier General Daniel Tyler southeast
from Centreville to reconnoiter the stream at
Blackburn's Ford. Instead, Tyler attacked the
Confederates guarding the ford. The brigades
of CS Brigadier General James Longstreet and
CS Colonel Jubal A. Early repulsed US Colonel
Israel
B.
Richardson's
brigade.
This
reconnaissance-in-force before the main battle
at Manassas ruled out a head-on attack along
Bull Run. McDowell decided to try to outflank
the Confederates by crossing the stream
beyond their left flank.
Estimated Casualties: 83 US, 68 CS