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Civil War Soldiers - Duryee
| Duryee, Abram, brigadier-general, U.S.
Army, was born in New York city, April 29, 1815. His father and two
uncles were officers in the war of 1812, while his grandfather was a
soldier in the Revolution and was for a time a prisoner in the old
sugar house on Liberty street. He received a high school education and
acquired a fortune through the sale of mahogany. Joining the militia
as a private when eighteen years old, he rose through the grades,
becoming colonel of the 7th regiment in 1849 and holding this office
fourteen years. He commanded his regiment in live desperate riots in
New York city, was wounded in the Astor place riot, and his prompt
action on that occasion suppressed a serious outbreak, though not
without the loss of several lives. He was among the first to recruit
volunteers for the Civil war, raising in less than a week, in April,
1861, the 5th N. Y. regiment, known as "Duryee's Zouaves," leading it
to the front and participating in the first important battle of the
war, the disastrous engagement at Big Bethel, June 10, 1861. After the
battle he was made acting brigadier-general, superseding Gen. Pierce,
and, in Aug., 1861, he was commissioned brigadier-general. He
commanded his brigade at Cedar mountain, Thoroughfare gap, 2nd Bull
Run and Chantilly, and at South mountain and Antietam commanded
Ricketts' division when that officer succeeded Gen. Hooker to the
command of the corps. He was then for a time absent on furlough, and
on his return, finding that his brigade had been given to an inferior,
and that his claims to the old position were ignored, he resigned Jan.
5, 1863. He was brevetted major-general of volunteers, March 13, 1865,
for distinguished services. He was appointed police commissioner of
New York city, in 1873, holding that office for many years, and
distinguishing himself by routing the assembled communists in Tompkins
square in 1874. He was dockmaster from 1884 until 1887. He died in New
York city, Sept. 27, 1890. Source: The Union Army: A History of Military Affairs in the Loyal
States 1861-1865, Volume 8 Biographical, 1908
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