BERNARD YOUNG -- 16th INFANTRY RAISED IN PLATTSBURGH - In 1850, Bernard Young was living in Plattsburgh with his father. Charles Young (Yon), who was a teamster, and Adeline Ricard, his mother. Ten years later, the situation hadn't changed except that he had three more siblings. The next year, on May 15, 1861, he was mustered in as a private in the 16th Infantry when he was 18 years old. Bernard was sworn in to serve for two years and went into camp near Bethlehem, NY, near Albany, then left the state for Washington on June 26. At first the 16th was assigned to the Army of Northeastern Virginia and moved to Alexandria on July 11th. From there they went to Manassas thirty miles to the west to fight at the first Battle of Bull Run, but they were shortly sent back to Alexandria. Each side had 30,000 men on the field and each side had only 18,000 men actually engaged. Only two more small battles were fought that year before they went into winter quarters near Fairfax Seminary. Before the 16th was boarded on the "Daniel Webster, No. 2", to take part in the Peninsula Campaign, there were a couple of minor battles. Once on the coast about 200 miles from the capital, they participated in the Siege of Yorktown then marched up the Peninsula to take part in the Seven Days' Battles near Richmond. Bernard was wounded at Gaine's Mill, the first of the battles, and was mustered out for disability on September 30, 1862, at Fort Wood, a War of 1812 star fort that now forms the base of the Statue of Liberty on Bedloe's Island.The fort had been garrisoned in 1861 and during the Civil War served many purposes such as a hospital, a recruiting station, and an ordnance depot. The men stationed there never fired upon the Confederacy but were called upon to quell the New York City draft riots in 1863.
