by David Flint
At a ceremony at Veterans Memorial Park on Saturday, November 8, the Veterans of Stephentown dedicated a new monument honoring “Those who served from the Stephentown Area in the American Revolution and Civil War.” This handsome monument honors all the Revolutionary and Civil war veterans but will not be inscribed with their names because at the time Stephentown covered a much larger geographical area, much of which is now in other towns.
There was also a special dedication of a memorial bench in striking polished black stone to honor the support that has been given to the Stephentown Veterans by Joseph L. Bruno – “Senator, Senate Majority Leader and Friend” – as inscribed on the bench.
Honored guests speaking at the ceremony included Assemblyman and NYS Senator-elect Roy J. McDonald, County Executive Kathleen Jimino, County Legislator Stan Brownell and Director of Veterans Services Bob Reiter.
In the Fifth Annual Veterans Day Parade that followed, prizes for the three best floats were awarded to the West Sand Lake Boy Scout Troop #525, the Atwater Family and the Stephentown Seniors.
There seems to be no definitive record of Stephentown veterans of the two wars, but graveyard records show 12 from the Revolutionary War and 63 from the Civil War. There are undoubtedly others not recorded or not buried in local cemeteries.
According to documents in the possession of the Stephentown Historical Society, Stephentown men during the Civil War joined various regiments in New York, Massachusetts and Vermont, but most, including a group of 40 at one time, joined the New York 125th Regiment formed in Troy in August of 1862. Nineteen soldiers from Stephentown reportedly died in action, six of them in the notorious Prison at Andersonville, Georgia.
One local man, Fisher Green, a Hospital Steward in the NY 91st Infantry Regiment, kept an almost daily account of his time in the Army from January 1, 1865, until he was mustered out in July. Green recounts moving by boat from Fort McHenry near Baltimore down to Newport News, engaging in battle at Gravely Run and Five Forks and then slogging on long marches following the retreating rebels until Lee’s surrender at Appomattox on April 9. Green finally ended up back in Albany where he collected his final pay on July 21. On July 24, “a nice day,” he “went down to Dunum Holler and seen Mary C and got back before dark.”
