Country United States Branch Cavalry | Allegiance Union Nickname(s) Sprague Light Cavalry | |
Active June 19, 1863, to August 17, 1865 Engagements American Civil War
Gettysburg Campaign
Battle of Bristoe Station
Capture of John Wilkes Booth | ||
The 16th New York Volunteer Cavalry was a cavalry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. A detachment of the 16th New York had the distinction of killing Lincoln assassin John Wilkes Booth and apprehending accomplice David Herold.
Contents
Service
The regiment was organized in Plattsburgh, New York, and mustered into service from June 19 to September 15, 1863. Consisting of eleven companies of cavalry, Companies A, B, C, and D of the 16th New York took part in the Gettysburg Campaign. The regiment was then dispatched to the defense of Washington D.C. and assigned to the Cavalry Brigade of the XXII Corps of the Department of Washington.
Until the end of the Civil War, the 16th New York was repeatedly in action in Northern Virginia and fought a number of engagements against Confederate cavalry commanded by John Singleton Mosby. On August 8, 1864, Capt. James H. Fleming of Company M was killed in action near Fairfax, Virginia. Fleming was the only officer of the 16th New York Cavalry to die in the Civil War.
Before dawn on April 26, 1865, a detachment of the 16th New York Cavalry under the command of Lt. Edward P. Doherty cornered Lincoln assassins Booth and Herold in a tobacco barn near Port Royal, Virginia. Herold surrendered but Booth refused and was shot by Sgt. Boston Corbett. Each of the 26 enlisted men of the 16th Cavalry that participated in the capture received $1,658.58 in reward money.
On August 17, 1865, the 16th New York Cavalry was consolidated with the 13th Regiment New York Volunteer Cavalry; the new organization receiving the designation, 3rd Regiment New York Provisional Cavalry.
Total strength and casualties
The regiment suffered 1 officer and 20 enlisted men who were killed in action or mortally wounded and 119 enlisted men who died of disease, for a total of 140 fatalities.