3rd Regiment California Volunteer Infantry
Encyclopedia
The 3rd Regiment California Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment in the Union Army
during the American Civil War
. This regiment was organized at Stockton
and at Benicia Barracks, from October 31 to December 31, 1861, to serve three years. The regiment was first commanded by Colonel Patrick Edward Connor. After the formation of the regiment at Stockton, four companies were sent to Humboldt County
during the month of November, 1861. During the month of July, 1862, Colonel Connor was sent, with his regiment, to the District of Utah
, in which it was on duty for the balance of its term of service.
It spent its entire term of service in the western United States
. Its largest engagement was the Bear River Massacre
or Battle of Bear River on January 29, 1863 in southeastern Washington Territory
(present-day Franklin County, Idaho
).
On the expiration of its term of service, the original members of the regiment (except veterans) were mustered out, and the veterans and new recruits were consolidated into a battalion of four companies on October 29, 1864, and was afterwards known as the Third Battalion of Infantry, comprising companies, A, B, C, and D. On December 9, 1865, Companies C and D were consolidated, leaving only three companies in the battalion. The battalion was finally mustered out July 27, 1866.
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. This regiment was organized at Stockton
Stockton, California
Stockton, California, the seat of San Joaquin County, is the fourth-largest city in the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. With a population of 291,707 at the 2010 census, Stockton ranks as this state's 13th largest city...
and at Benicia Barracks, from October 31 to December 31, 1861, to serve three years. The regiment was first commanded by Colonel Patrick Edward Connor. After the formation of the regiment at Stockton, four companies were sent to Humboldt County
Humboldt County, California
Humboldt County is a county in the U.S. state of California, located on the far North Coast 200 miles north of San Francisco. According to 2010 Census Data, the county’s population was 134,623...
during the month of November, 1861. During the month of July, 1862, Colonel Connor was sent, with his regiment, to the District of Utah
District of Utah
During the American Civil War, the District of Utah was a subordinate district of the Army's Department of the Pacific.On August 6, 1862, the Department of the Pacific absorbed the District of Utah, the territory of the former Department of Utah which had been discontinued on July 3, 1861; the...
, in which it was on duty for the balance of its term of service.
It spent its entire term of service in the western United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Its largest engagement was the Bear River Massacre
Bear River Massacre
The Bear River Massacre, or the Battle of Bear River and the Massacre at Boa Ogoi, took place in present-day Idaho on January 29, 1863. The United States Army attacked Shoshone gathered at the confluence of the Bear River and Beaver Creek in what was then southeastern Washington Territory. The...
or Battle of Bear River on January 29, 1863 in southeastern Washington Territory
Washington Territory
The Territory of Washington was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from February 8, 1853, until November 11, 1889, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Washington....
(present-day Franklin County, Idaho
Franklin County, Idaho
Franklin County is a county located in the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2000 Census the county had a population of 11,329 . The county seat and largest city is Preston. Franklin County is part of the Logan, Utah-Idaho Metropolitan Statistical Area.Established in 1913, Franklin County was named...
).
On the expiration of its term of service, the original members of the regiment (except veterans) were mustered out, and the veterans and new recruits were consolidated into a battalion of four companies on October 29, 1864, and was afterwards known as the Third Battalion of Infantry, comprising companies, A, B, C, and D. On December 9, 1865, Companies C and D were consolidated, leaving only three companies in the battalion. The battalion was finally mustered out July 27, 1866.
3rd Regiment of California Volunteer Infantry Commanders
- Colonel Patrick Edward ConnorPatrick Edward ConnorPatrick Edward Connor was a Union General during the American Civil War. He was most famous for his campaigns against Native Americans in the American Old West.-Early life and career:...
October 31, 1861 - March 30, 1863. - Colonel Robert PollockRobert PollockRobert L. Pollock is an editorial writer and Wall Street Journal Editorial Board member.- Biography :Robert Pollock was born in Buffalo, New York. He studied at Yale and was a member of the Party of the Right...
March 30, 1863 - November 14, 1864.
3rd Battalion of Infantry Commanders
- Lt. Colonel Jeramiah B. Moore November 14, 1864 - December 21, 1864.
- Lt. Colonel William M. Johns April 6, 1865 - July 27, 1866.
Company assignments
- Headquarters, was stationed in StocktonStockton, CaliforniaStockton, California, the seat of San Joaquin County, is the fourth-largest city in the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. With a population of 291,707 at the 2010 census, Stockton ranks as this state's 13th largest city...
from the date of organization to December, 1861, when it was moved to Benicia Barracks, where it remained until June, 1862. During July 1862 it was en route to Fort RubyFort RubyFort Ruby, also known as Camp Ruby, was built in 1862, during the American Civil War, in the "wilderness of eastern Nevada." It protected the overland mail coaches and Pony Express, which linked California to the Union...
, NevadaNevadaNevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
, where it arrived August 1, 1862. Early in January 1863 it was at Camp DouglasFort Douglas, UtahCamp Douglas was established in October 1862 as a small military garrison about three miles east of Salt Lake City, Utah, for the purpose of protecting the overland mail route and telegraph lines along the Central Overland Route. In 1878, the post was renamed Fort Douglas. The fort was officially...
, where it remained until it finally mustered out, July 27, 1866. - Company A, was organized at Stockton, October 31, 1861, and went to Benicia Barracks in December, 1861. It went to Fort Baker, in Humboldt County, CaliforniaHumboldt County, CaliforniaHumboldt County is a county in the U.S. state of California, located on the far North Coast 200 miles north of San Francisco. According to 2010 Census Data, the county’s population was 134,623...
, during the month of December, 1861.- On April 6, 1862 Captain Ketcham, with a scouting party of Company A, found the rancheria of the Indians that had previously robbed Cooper's Mills of two thousand five hundred pounds of flour near Yager Creek. The Indians had just fled, leaving seven hundred pounds of the flour, together with belting from the mill, mill files, baskets, bullets, lead, shot pouches, bullet molds, etc., all of which were burned, there being no means of packing them.
- On the April 27, Captain Ketcham, of Company A, returned to Fort Baker from a scout to the southward of Van Dusen Fork, with twenty-four Indian prisoners, all women and children, except two young men. In attacking the rancheria four Indians were killed, including a woman, shot by mistake. During the scout Captain Ketcham came upon a rancheria which had been fortified by piles of logs around it, but which the Indians had deserted.
- On the same day Lieutenant Staples, with a detachment of the same company, came upon a large band of Indians by surprise (having previously managed to kill their scout or sentinel without giving alarm); killed fifteen of them and took forty prisoners, three of whom he left behind, being unable to travel.
- On May 7, Captain Ketcham reported eleven Indians came in at Fort Baker, eight men and three women. He sent out two of them as runners to bring in as many more as possible, assuring them of protection.
- During July and August, 1862, Company A was en route to Salt Lake City. July 10 it was at Camp Halleck, near Stockton; July 31 at Carson City, NevadaCarson City, NevadaThe Consolidated Municipality of Carson City is the capital of the state of Nevada. The words Consolidated Municipality refer to a series of changes in 1969 which abolished Ormsby County and merged all the settlements contained within its borders into Carson City. Since that time Carson City has...
. September 30 at Fort RubyFort RubyFort Ruby, also known as Camp Ruby, was built in 1862, during the American Civil War, in the "wilderness of eastern Nevada." It protected the overland mail coaches and Pony Express, which linked California to the Union...
, Nevada; in February and March, 1863, at Fort ChurchillFort Churchill State Historic ParkFort Churchill State Historic Park is a Nevada state park in Lyon County, Nevada, in the United States. Located south of the town of Silver Springs, it is in the Central Nevada Region of Nevada State Parks, and is one of seven National Historic Landmarks in the state of Nevada. The site is one...
, Nevada, and in January, 1864, at Camp Douglas, where it was stationed until June, 1865. It then went to Denver, ColoradoDenver, ColoradoThe City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
, where it remained until October 1865, when it returned to Camp Douglas, where it was finally mustered out, July 27, 1866.- Company B, Was organized at Stockton, October 31, 1861. It went to Fort SewardFort Seward, CaliforniaFort Seward is an unincorporated community in Humboldt County, California. It is located on the Eel River north-northwest of Alderpoint, at an elevation of 328 feet ....
, in Humboldt County, CaliforniaHumboldt County, CaliforniaHumboldt County is a county in the U.S. state of California, located on the far North Coast 200 miles north of San Francisco. According to 2010 Census Data, the county’s population was 134,623...
, during the month of December, 1861. July 10, 1862, it was at Camp Halleck, near Stockton. From February to June, 1863, it was at Camp Union, near SacramentoSacramentoSacramento is the capital of the state of California, in the United States of America.Sacramento may also refer to:- United States :*Sacramento County, California*Sacramento, Kentucky*Sacramento – San Joaquin River Delta...
. June 30, 1863, it was at Fort Churchill, Nevada. During the July 1863 it went to Fort Ruby, Nevada, where it remained until October, 1864. It returned to Camp Union, California, where the original members, whose terms of service had expired, were mustered out. The company was then filled up, reorganized, and sent back to Camp Douglas, where it remained from November, 1864, to June, 1865. It then went to Denver, Colorado, where it remained until October 1865, when it returned to Camp Douglas, and was stationed there until its final muster out, July 27, 1866. - Company C, was organized at Benicia, December 31, 1861. It immediately went to Fort Bragg, CaliforniaFort Bragg, CaliforniaFort Bragg is a city located in coastal Mendocino County, California along State Route 1, the major north-south highway along the Pacific Coast. Fort Bragg is located west of Willits, at an elevation of 85 feet...
, where it remained until the spring of 1862. Then it went to Fort Ruby, Nevada, where it remained until August or September, 1863 when it moved to Camp Douglas. It was at the latter post until October, 1864. It then went to Camp ConnorCamp ConnorCamp Connor was a Union Army outpost established May 23, 1863 by Captain David Black, 3rd Regiment California Volunteer Infantry, by order of Brigadier General Patrick Edward Connor commander of the District of Utah, Department of the Pacific for whom the post was named.Camp Conner was located east...
, in Idaho Territory, returning to Camp Douglas in May, 1865, and remained there until its final muster out, July 27, 1S66. - Company D, was organized at Stockton, October 31, 1861, and took station at Fort GastonFort GastonFort Gaston was founded on December 4, 1859, in the redwood forests of the Hoopa Valley, in Northern California, on the west bank of the Trinity River, 14 miles from where the Trinity flows into the Klamath River. It was located in what is now the Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation...
, Humboldt County. In the spring of 1862 it returned, and was stationed at Camp Union until the summer of 1863. It then went to Camp Douglas, Utah, where it remained until its consolidation with Company C, on December 9, 1865. - Company E, was organized at Benicia, December 21, 1861. During the summer of 1862 it went to Nevada and Utah, and was stationed at Camp Douglas and Fort Ruby until its disbandment by consolidation, November 1, 1864.
- Company F, was organized at Benicia, on December 12, 1861. It went to Fort Ruby, Nevada, in the summer of 1862. In the spring of 1864 it marched to Camp Douglas, where it remained until it was disbanded by consolidation, November 1, 1864.
- Company G, was organized at Benicia Barracks, on December 9, 1861. It remained at Benicia until the spring of 1862. It then marched to Camp Douglas, Utah, where it was stationed until it was disbanded by consolidation, November 1, 1864.
- Company H, was organized at Benicia Barracks, December 12, 1861. During the spring or summer of 1862 it went to Utah, and took station at Camp Douglas. In May, 1863, it was at Camp Connor, Idaho, where it remained until it was disbanded by consolidation, at Camp Douglas, November 1, 1864.
- Company I, was organized at Stockton, November 26, 1861. During the month of December it was moved to Benicia Barracks, where it remained until the summer of 1862, when it went to Fort BridgerFort BridgerFort Bridger was originally a 19th century fur trading outpost established in 1842 on Blacks Fork of the Green River and later a vital resupply point for wagon trains on the Oregon Trail, California Trail and Mormon Trail. The Army established a military post here in 1858 during the Utah War until...
, WyomingWyomingWyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
(then part of Utah), remaining there until August, 1864, when it marched to Camp Douglas, where it was disbanded by consolidation, November 1, 1864. - Company K, was organized at Stockton, December 3, 1861. It moved to Benicia Barracks in the same month, and went to Utah, with the balance of the regiment, during the summer of 1862, and was stationed at Camp Douglas during the remainder of its term of service. It took part in the Battle of Bear RiverBear River MassacreThe Bear River Massacre, or the Battle of Bear River and the Massacre at Boa Ogoi, took place in present-day Idaho on January 29, 1863. The United States Army attacked Shoshone gathered at the confluence of the Bear River and Beaver Creek in what was then southeastern Washington Territory. The...
, in January, 1863. It was disbanded by consolidation, November 1, 1864.
- Company B, Was organized at Stockton, October 31, 1861. It went to Fort Seward