JAMES REGUS SMITH -- 15th and 121st INFANTRYTRANSFERRED ON THE FIELD ON MAY 11, 1863 - There were over 2,500 JamesSmiths in the Union Army. Almost 500 of them were from New York State.Only one James Smith enlisted in Clinton County, James Regus Smith, theson of Alexander and Henrietta Sutphen. He was born in Fort Edward, NY,on Februay 11, 1824, but was living in Saranac when the war started.James enlisted in the 16th Infantry in Plattsburgh on August 29, 1862and was mustered in on the same day. He joined the regiment abouthalf-way through its 2-year life and was assigned to be a brigadeteamster. The 16th had received 231 casualties on June 27th at Gaines'Mill and were in need of replacements. After Gaines' Mill and the otherSeven Days Battles, they started their journey north from the Petersburgbattlefield to march across Crampton's Gap and down into the CumberlandValley to the Antietam battlefield near the Potomac River in Maryland.They had 62 casualties at the Gap but were held in reserve at Antietam,before going on to Fredericksburg in December.In the following May, the 16th fought their last battle at Marye'sHeights and Salem Church just the week before they were to be musteredout -- 24 killed, 22, mortally wounded, 101 wounded and 17 who wentmissing or were captured.James had enlisted to serve for three years so he was transferred to the121st Infantry in the field and immediately assigned to BrigadeHeadquarters. He was discharged from the service on May 17, 1865 atHalls Hill, VA, by General Order No. 216,He returned to Clinton County to his widowed fatherand nine brothers and sisters. His mother, Harriet Sutphen, died in1842, after giving birth to her last child in i841. James and several ofhis siblings remained in the local area, but his oldest brother, Sidney,moved to Wisconsin, and their father spent his old age with him. Jamesdied in 1880 and was buried in the Independence Cemetery. His wife, AnnaCochrane, joined him there in 1904.
