The wartime identification shield of John Torrey, 157^th New York, who enlisted with the regiment when it mustered in in 1862, was captured in the first day’s fighting at Gettysburg, spent several months in Confederate captivity, and was back with the regiment by June 1864 in time for further field service in South Carolina until the regiment mustered out in July 1865. The army did not issue ready means of identification and soldiers relied upon commercial suppliers- peddlers, sutlers, jewelers, and mail-order firms to fill the gap. Personal items don’t get much more personal and these were often made in the form of badges or medals. This is an excellent example, made of thin silver, in the shape of shield, measuring 1-1/8 inch tall by 1-inch wide, stamped with a ric-rac border and some foliate flourishes and then engraved with the soldier’s personal information and “War of 1861” at the bottom. The soldier’s name and company are engraved in block letters in two lines in the upper half and the two lower lines in script: “JOHN. TORREY. / Co. G / 157^th N.Y. Vols. / War of 1861.” This is fitted with a T-bar pin and catch on the reverse, to wear it on the uniform. The badge is in excellent condition, with no bends or breaks, unpolished and medium bright in tone, with the engraving fully legible.

John C. Torrey was born in 1826, married in 1849, and is picked up as a tanner in Madison County, NY, in the 1850 and 1860 census, the latter noting him as married and with 3 children. He enlisted in Madison County, NY, on Aug. 30, 1862, giving his age as 35, and mustered into US service with the regiment on Sept. 19 as a private in Company G, to serve three years, being described as as 5’9” with dark blue eyes, brown hair, and fair complexion, and listing his occupation at that time as “farmer,” as do postwar census records. The regiment left the state on September 25 and was first posted in the defenses of Washington, likely the point at which Torrey acquired the badge. They moved to Centreville in November and then to Fredericksburg and Stafford Court House, where they spent the winter, having been assigned to the 11^th Corps.

Their first engagement was a hard introduction to combat: Chancellorsville, in May 1863, where they suffered 98 casualties, including 25 officers and men killed or mortally wounded. They suffered even heavier losses here at Gettysburg on July 1 when the 11^th Corps tried to shore up the right of the 1^st Corps north of the town. The 157^th took 409 officers and men into action and lost 307 in killed wounded and missing, roughly 75%, the majority in fighting in a wheatfield near the Carlisle Road- their positions on the field are now marked by two regimental monuments, one erected by the state and one by the veterans, along with a marker at the point of their farthest advance. They were ordered to charge the right flank of Doles’s Confederate brigade, which had shifted slightly east to deal with Union troops on Blocher’s Knoll. By the time they reached they reached their target, however, and opened fire, Union troops were already pulling back from Blocher’s Knoll, some of Doles’s regiments turned to face and even outflank them, orders to pull back never got through, and the regiment’s lost 6 officers and 46 men killed or mortally wounded, another 6 officers and 137 men wounded, and 6 more officers and 106 men listed as missing, many of whom were taken prisoner. For several months following the battle the regiment was consolidated into just two companies for field service.

A short company history written by A.R. Barlow in 1899 states ten men of the company were among the captured, six of whom were paroled on the field. Torrey was not among that lucky group. By his own testimony and that of others captured at the same time, he was in a group marched to Staunton, Va., later conveyed by rail to the Richmond, and then marched seven miles to prison camp on Belle Island. He was officially paroled in early October 1863. transferred to Camp Parole near Annapolis, MD, to await exchange and return to the regiment, serving in the meantime in the “2 Battalion Paroled Prisoners” until he was ordered back to the regiment in May, rejoining it in early June 1864, and is again  listed as present on the company muster rolls until the regiment mustered out in July 1865.

During his absence, the regiment, with its division, had been detached from the 11^th Corps in August and sent to Morris Island, South Carolina, where it joined the 10^th Corps and then the Department of the South and, according to Dyer’s Compendium, took part in siege operations against Forts Wagner and Gregg, and their later capture, and against Fort Sumter and Charleston, followed by picket and outpost duty on Folly Island, an expedition to Johns and James Islands, in February, and then duty at Jacksonville, Florida, until its return to South Carolina in June, when it was posted to Hilton Head.

A note on his descriptive list credits him with participation in the Battle of Camp Finnegan, which took place in Florida on June 2, but the company muster rolls have him back on June 13 and present until mustered out with the regiment on Julyu 10, 1865, which puts him with the unit for the following service as listed in Dyer:

“Expedition to Johns and James Islands June 30-July 10. Operations against Battery Pringle July 4-9. Boudren's Causeway July 9. Duty at Morris Island till October. Moved to Fort Pulaski, Ga., October, 1864, and duty there as garrison till February, 1865. A detachment with Hatch's Expedition up Broad River November 28-30, 1864. Battle of Honey Hill November 30. Partridge Hill December 3. Demonstration on Charleston & Savannah Railroad December 6-9. Deveaux's Neck December 6. Tullifinney Station December 9. Expedition to destroy Charleston & Savannah Railroad January 14-16, 1865. Duty at Morris Island till March, 1865, and in District of Charleston till April. Potter's Expedition from Georgetown to Camden, S. C., April 5-25. Dingle's Mills April 9. Operations about Sumpter and Statesburg April 9-15. Statesburg April 15. Occupation of Camden April 17. Boykins' Mills April 18. Denkins' Mills and Beech Creek, near Statesburg, April 19. Duty at Georgetown and Charleston, S. C., till July.”

The  note on his descriptive list specifically mentions, “1^st and 2d Johns Island, Honey Hill, Deveaux’s Neck, S.C.. Dingles Mills,” but it is unclear if that list is intended to be exhaustive or even specific to Torrey. For the regiment’s battles and losses throughout the war, see the excerpt from Phisterer, “NY in the War of the Rebellion,” shown as part of this listing.

Torrey survived to return home to his family and farming, though sometimes listed as a “farmer” and sometimes a “farm laborer.” He later applied for a pension increase due to rheumatism resulting from hardship and exposure while in captivity, suffered afterward from it while back with the regiment, supplying testimony from fellow veterans that he had to be assisted on the march to Belle Island and was hospitalized for a time while on parole, but his muster rolls show only brief treatments for other ailments. At his death in 1913 his widow testified they had had eight children, seven of whom apparently survived him also. [sr] [ph:L]

Accompanied by military & pension records.

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