10th NY ID Tag, George D. McKenzie

[cylekostello]

Hi all,

My mailman has truly excellent timing, this little brass disc was delivered just as I was getting to the Todd’s Tavern portion of Rhea’s Wilderness book. I’m not much of a Cav collector but I love New York regiments! Saw it on ebay with a "best offer" option, took a swing and won it.

Pictures is a great little ID disc to Private George D. (Also borne as George L) McKenzie of the 10th New York Cavalry, Company A. McKenzie enlisted in August of ‘61 at age 25 in Syracuse. Described as having “brown eyes, dark brown hair, light complexion, 5 feet 5 inches tall”. McKenzie would serve with this hard fighting regiment for the duration of the war, re-enlisting in December of 1863.

The 10th Cavalry served in the Eastern Theater & AotP exclusively. Up until Hooker took control the 10th (and much of the AotP’s Cav.) were relegated to picket, escort, screen and skirmish duty. As a result the 10th was relatively lightly engaged until 1863. They suffered hard at the Battle of Brandy Station, losing 6 killed, 25 wounded and 25 POW. From there on out the 10th would take a much more active role in the fighting. Including at Gettysburg where they suffered 8 killed, wounded and missing as they dueled with the Stonewall Brigade on July 2. The 10th would continue to fight hard in the fall and winter of 63. Taking further casualties at Sulphur Springs. Come May of 64 the 10 was again actively engaged in Grants Overland Campaign and Sheridan’s Raid. Fighting at Todd’s Tavern and Trevillian Station. Once the armies had settled into the Siege of Petersburg the 10th returned to raiding and harassing confederates. Lightly engaged in the Appomattox Campaign. McKenzie and his regiment attended the grand review of the armies in DC and subsequently mustered out. The 10th had 3 Medal of Honor soldiers, Corp. Andrew Bringle for Sailor's Creek, Bugler Herbert Farnsworth for Trevillian Station, and James L. Carney for Appomattox Courthouse. In its term of service the 10th lost 9 officers and 93 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded and 149 of disease. A higher toll than most cavalry regiments.

After the Grand Review, Private Mckenzie transferred to Co. A of the 1st NY Prov. Cav. However this transferred was short lived, as he mustered out on 7/19/1865. Info on McKenzie’s post war life is scarce. However I do know that he moved to Ohio where he passed away in 1894. I believe the picture attached is McKenzie's headstone, however the photo is bad and the text is worn to high heaven. I think I can just barely make out the "10th NY Cav." on the headstone

What’s unique about this disc is its (comparatively) tiny size, about the size of a penny. Interestingly, many of the penny size McClellan discs I’ve found online were also owned by cavalry men. Wonder if there’s any explanation or if it’s just a coincidence.

at any rate hope y’all enjoy this little disc!

[katieony]

Another nice addition to your collection...congratulations!

[USCapturephotos]

The 10th is a great unit. I dated a girl many years ago whose great great grandfather was in the 10th. Her mom agreed to sell me the 1/4 plate tintype of her ancestor. It was the first Civil War image that I ever bought and have it to this day.

What you said about that style and size of disc only being owned may be no coincidence at all. I would bet money that if you went back and looked at what other cavalrymen had them, you might find that they were in the same brigade or division and it was possibly only a few sutlers that had this style available for sale. The small size like that is rather unusual with ID discs.

Thanks for sharing!

Paul

 

[cylekostello]

Thanks folks!

4 hours ago, USCapturephotos said:

The 10th is a great unit. I dated a girl many years ago whose great great grandfather was in the 10th. Her mom agreed to sell me the 1/4 plate tintype of her ancestor. It was the first Civil War image that I ever bought and have it to this day.

What you said about that style and size of disc only being owned may be no coincidence at all. I would bet money that if you went back and looked at what other cavalrymen had them, you might find that they were in the same brigade or division and it was possibly only a few sutlers that had this style available for sale. The small size like that is rather unusual with ID discs.

Thanks for sharing!

Paul

 

Thanks Paul, clearly i'm dating the wrong kinds of girls haha. Good point re: the mini discs. The cav. in the AotP was concentrated into a single corps with only three divisions. Totally makes sense that only a select few sutlers had this kind of disc.