FRANCISL. HAGADORN
(1817 -1897)
COLONEL and COMMANDER OF THE 73rd NEW YORKINFANTRY,
CIVIL WAR MAJOR OF THE 79th NEW YORK INFANTRY,
INSPECTOR GENERAL OF ARTILLERY IN THE VENEZUELAN ARMY,
INVENTOR OF ARTILLERY INVENTIONS and A PINKING MACHINE USEDIN MAKING CLOTHES
&
AUTHOR and 1st NEWSPAPER PUBLISHER ON STATENISLAND IN 1837!
HERE’S A DETAILED and ATTRACTIVE CIVIL WAR DATEAUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED BY HAGADORN ON ILLUSTRATED “REPUBLICA DE VENEZUELA”ARTILLERY BRIGADE LETTERHEAD TO REVEREND SAMUEL DEXTER DENISON (1810-1880) WHOWAS SECRETARY OF THE BOARD OF MISSIONS OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN NEW YORK,2pp., REGARDING A PETITION OF THE AMERICANS FOR ESTABLISHING A MISSION IN CARACAS,THE LIBERAL TERMS OF THE EXISTING TREATY BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND VENEZUELAREGARDING THE TOPIC, AND HAGADORN’S POSITIVE THOUGHTS ABOUT THE SUCCESS OF ESTABLISHINGA SELF-SUSTAINING CONGREGATION OF THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN CARACAS…DATELINEDAT “CUARTEL DE ARTILLERIA, CARACAS, JUNE17, 1863”
Biographyof Francis L. Hagadorn
Francis L. Hagadorn was born 1817, the son of a New York newspaper editor,and following in his father\'s footsteps, opened a newspaper on Staten Island in1837, purportedly the first newspaper printed on Staten Island, the Richmond CountyMirror. Francis was its editor and proprietor. Hagadorn was the son of WilliamHagadorn who had started the New York and Richmond County Free Press about1832. William Hagadorn was formerly of the Republican newspaper. Francis L.Hagadorn continued to publish the Mirror for a number of years before it mergedinto the Staten Islander.
Francis entered his father’s printing office in Newark, New Jersey when hewas about 10 years old and learned to type set. At 12 he began literary work,writing a series of stories and poetry before he was 16. In later years hewrote a romance of Staten Island entitled the “Story of a Spoon.” When he wasabout twenty years old, Francis married Elizabeth Lawson, and together they hadat least five children: Fannie, Caroline, William, Francis, and Joana.
Active in the New York state militia before the Civil War, Francis L.Hagadorn took great interest in military matters. He was a sergeant in the 2ndRegiment NY State Militia, 1835; 1st Lieutenant 142nd Regiment, 1838, promotedto Adjutant in 1839; Adjutant 146th Regiment, 1841; Captain Richmond CountyGuards, 146th Regiment, 1842; Major 1st Battalion, 1850; Colonel 73rd Regiment,1854; Brigadier General on Governor’s Staff, 1854. In 1862, during the CivilWar he was appointed Major of the 79th NY Volunteers.
After a short service in the Civil War, he resigned in May of 1862 toaccept his friend Venezuelan President Jose Antonio Paez\'s offer of theposition of Inspector General of Artillery in the Venezuelan Army. Paez had fora time lived in exile in New York City and here he met and befriended Hagadorn.Upon the fall of the Paez regime, Hagadorn returned to the US despite theconfirmation of his position and rank by the new government of Venezuela.
Jose Antonio Paez, compatriot of Bolivar, hero of Venezuelan independenceand first President after Venezuela, separated from Bolivar’s Gran Colombia,and served as Venezuela’s President three separate times (1830-1835, 1839-1849,and 1861-1863.) He had been exiled in 1850 after Jose Monagas declared adictatorship. During his exile, he lived in New York City, where he becamefriends with Hagadorn. Returning to a Venezuela torn by civil war in 1858, heestablished a dictatorship in 1861 as head of the Conservatives to restore order.This would be his third and last term as President, being overthrown in 1863 byrebels led by Juan Falcon.
In addition to a number of his inventions in the field of artillery.Hagadorn would spend the next thirty years trying to convince the US Army to adopthis improvements in the safe transport and handling of artillery shells that heimplemented in Venezuela. Hagadorn also patented a pinking machine used inclothes making.
General Hagadorn died at Georgetown, South Carolina, on 1 July 1897, andwas buried with military honors in Troy, New York.
SEVENTY-NINTH INFANTRY
(Three Years)
Seventy-ninth Infantry.-Cols., J. C. Cameron, Isaac I. Stevens,
Addison Farnsworth, David Morrison; Lieut.-Cols., David Morrison,
John Morse, Henry G. Heffron; Majs., Francis L. Hagadorn, William
St. George Elliott, John More, William Simpson, Andrew D. Baird.
This regiment, called the Highlanders, was the original 78th
militia and was composed mainly of Scotchmen. It was mustered
into the service of the United States at New York city, for a
three years\' term, May 29, 1861, and left for Washington on June
2.
It was stationed in the vicinity of Washington until the movement
of the army to Manassas, when it was assigned to the 3d brigade,
1st division, Army of Northeastern Virginia and participated in
the battle of Bull Run. This, the first battle of the regiment,
was a severe initiation, for the command lost 198 in killed,
wounded and missing, Col. Cameron being mortally wounded.
During September the regiment was posted near Lewinsville, Va.,
where it several times encountered the enemy and was engaged in a
sharp skirmish at Bailey\'s cross-roads. On Oct. 21, the 79th was
attached to the 2nd brigade of Sherman\'s expeditionary corps,
with which it embarked for Hilton Head, S. C., and served in that
vicinity until June, 1862.
It shared in the gallant attack of Stevens\' division, at
Secessionville, losing 110 out of 474 engaged. In July, the
troops returned to Virginia and shared in Gen. Pope\'s campaign,
with the 3d brigade, 1st division, 9th corps, losing 105 killed,
wounded or missing during the engagements near Manassas.
At Chantilly, Gen. Stevens, former colonel of the 79th, was
killed. The regiment was active at South mountain, Antietam, and
Fredericksburg, but was not closely engaged in the last named
battle. It shared the discomforts of Burnside\'s \"Mud March,\"
returned to camp at Falmouth, and moved west with the 9th corps,
to join Gen. Grant\'s forces before Vicksburg.
The regiment took part in the siege and in the pursuit to
Jackson. It then fought at Blue Springs, at Campbell\'s station,
Tenn., and aided in the defense of Knoxville. The men bore
uncomplainingly the hardships of the return of the 9th corps
across the mountains to Virginia and in May, Cos. A and B were
transferred to the 18th corps.
The regiment shared the opening battles of the Wilderness
campaign and was mustered out at the expiration of its term of
enlistment, May 31, 1864. The veterans and recruits served as
provost guard at corps headquarters and were reinforced in the
autumn of 1864 by the addition of several companies of new
recruits.
This battalion served before Petersburg until the fall of the
city and was mustered out at Alexandria, Va., July 14, 1865. The
total enrollment of the regiment was 1,385, exclusive of the
battalion organized in 1864, and it lost during service 116 by
death from wounds and 83 from other causes.
Its record is one of unfailing heroism and devotion to the cause
for which it fought and it is ranked by Col. Fox among the \"three
hundred fighting regiments.\"
Source: The Union Army, Vol. 2, p. 108
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