TheNew England state ofConnecticut played an important role in theAmerican Civil War, providing arms, equipment, technology, funds, supplies, and soldiers for theUnion Army and theUnion Navy. Several Connecticut politicians played significant roles in the Federal government and helped shape its policies during the war and theReconstruction.

Before the Civil War, Connecticut residents such asLeonard Bacon,Simeon Baldwin,Horace Bushnell,Prudence Crandall,Jonathan Edwards (the younger) andHarriet Beecher Stowe, were active in theabolitionist movement,^[1] and towns such asFarmington^[2] andMiddletown were stops along theUnderground Railroad.^[3]Slavery in Connecticut had been gradually phased out beginning in 1797 with less than 100 slaves in Connecticut by 1820; slavery was not completely outlawed, however, until 1848.^[4]

The state, along with the rest of New England, had voted forRepublican presidential candidateJohn C. Frémont in the1856 presidential election, giving "the Pathfinder" all 6electoral votes. The Republicans opposed the extension of slavery into the territories, and Connecticut residents embraced their slogan "Free speech, free press, free soil, free men, Frémont and victory!"^[5] Four years later, once again Connecticut favored the Republican candidate, this timeIllinois lawyerAbraham Lincoln. Residents cast 58.1% of their ballots for Lincoln, versus 20.6% forNorthern DemocratStephen Douglas and 19.2% for Southern DemocratJohn C. Breckinridge. A handful of voters (1,528 or 2% of the ballots cast) favoredJohn Bell of Tennessee.^[6]

The1860 U.S. census enumerated 460,147 people living in Connecticut as of June 1 of that year. Of that count, 451,504 were white, with only 8,627 blacks and 16 Indians. More than 80,000 of the whites were foreign-born, with 55,000 coming fromIreland. More than 20% of the population was still engaged in farming, but industry and the trades had become major employers.^[7] Starting in the 1830s, and accelerating when Connecticut abolished slavery entirely in 1848,African Americans from in- and out-of-state began relocating to urban centers for employment and opportunity, forming new neighborhoods such as Bridgeport'sLittle Liberia.^[8]

GovernorWilliam Buckingham was a wealthy businessman and energetic Republican; he won a narrow election in April 1860, as a moderate Republican who was temperamentally cautious. His anti-slavery attitude hardened as the war went on. Even before Fort Sumter, he collaborated with fellow Republican governors in New England, and alerted the state militia to watch out for sabotage. The state specialized in machinery, and had a strong reputation for making artillery and firearms. The opposition party, the Democrats, were largely dominated by the antiwar or peace element, led by former governorThomas H. Seymour. When Lincoln called for troops the day after Fort Sumter, Buckingham mobilized militia units, but had no state authority for financing the war. The legislature was not in session, but the banks eagerly volunteered to loan money to the state until the Legislature made good.^[9]

Following the bombardment ofFort Sumter inCharleston Harbor in April 1861, a few days later, on the 15th, President Lincoln called for volunteers to join the new Union army. The next day,GovernorWilliam A. Buckingham, like Lincoln a Republican, issued a proclamation urging his citizens to join state-sponsoredregiments andartillery batteries.^[11] In response, by the end of the month, the1st Connecticut Infantry and two other regiments had been raised and recruited for a term of three months (all the time that was expected to be needed to crush the rebellion and end the war).Daniel Tyler ofBrooklyn was selected as the 1st Regiment's initialcolonel, and the regiment arrived inWashington, D.C., on May 10.^[12]

The state furnished thirty full regiments ofinfantry, including two that weremade up of black men. Two regiments of heavy artillery also served as infantry toward the end of the war. Connecticut also supplied three batteries of light artillery and one regiment ofcavalry.^[13][14]

Fort Trumbull inNew London served as an organizational center for Union troops and headquarters for theU.S. 14th Infantry Regiment. Here, troops were recruited and trained before being sent to war.^[15] Among the regiments trained there was the14th Connecticut Infantry, which played a prominent role in theArmy of the Potomac's defense ofCemetery Ridge during theBattle of Gettysburg.^[16][17] The2nd Connecticut Heavy Artillery (19th Connecticut Infantry) suffered significant casualties in the 1864Overland Campaign and theSiege of Petersburg. Among the troops from the "Nutmeg State" that fought in theTrans-Mississippi Theater was the9th Connecticut Infantry, which aided in the capture ofNew Orleans, Louisiana, as part of the "New England Brigade."

During the war, the State Hospital in New Haven (a precursor toYale-New Haven Hospital) was leased to the government to serve as the Knight U.S. Army General Hospital. 23,340 soldiers were treated in the hospital with only 185 deaths.^[18]

One of the first officers killed in the Civil War was New Haven'sTheodore Winthrop, who died in an early engagement atBig Bethel inwestern Virginia.^[19]

Casualties from Connecticut military units during the war included 97 officers and 1094 enlisted men killed in action, with another 700 men dying from wounds while more than 3,000 perished from disease. Twenty-seven men were executed for crimes, including desertion. More than 400 men were reported as missing; the majority were likely held by theConfederate Army asprisoners of war.^[20]

Prominent among military manufacturers with Connecticut ties was theNew Haven Arms Company, which provided the army with theHenry rifle, developed byNew Haven'sBenjamin Tyler Henry.^[21]Colt's Manufacturing Company, founded and owned by Hartford-born industrialistSamuel Colt, was another significant arms and munitions supplier. The company shipped large quantities of sidearms to the Union Navy.^[22] The Hartford-based firm ofPratt & Whitney provided machinery and support equipment to Army contractors to produce weapons. Most of the brass buttons used on Federal uniforms, belt buckles and other fittings, were made inWaterbury, the "Brass City", notably by the Chase Brass and Copper Company.^[23] The shipyards atMystic provided ships for the Union Navy. TheUSS Monticello (1859),USS Galena (1862),USS Varuna (1861) were all built at Mystic.

The popular late war marching songMarching Through Georgia was written byHenry Clay Work, a Middletown resident.^[24]

Glastonbury nativeGideon Welles was a prominent member of the Lincoln Cabinet and perhaps its leading conservative. He was theSecretary of the Navy from 1861 to 1869 and was the architect of the planning and execution of theblockade of Southern ports. During his tenure, he increased the size of theUnited States Navy tenfold.^[25]

Shortly after the war began, Col. Daniel Tyler of the 1st Connecticut was promoted tobrigadier general. Later, other field officers in Connecticut regiments such asAlfred Terry,Henry Warner Birge (both born inHartford), andRobert O. Tyler of the 4th Connecticut Infantry would be raised in rank togeneral. Some Connecticut-born men withantebellumU.S. Army service also became leading generals early in the war, includingAshford-bornNathaniel Lyon, one of the war's earliest army commanders to be killed when he was shot down at theBattle of Wilson's Creek inMissouri.Cornwall'sJohn Sedgwick commanded the UnionVI Corps for much of the war until killed at theSpotsylvania Court House. He was succeeded byHoratio G. Wright ofClinton, a long-time officer in theRegular Army.^[26]

Major GeneralJoseph K. Mansfield of Middletown led theII Corps of the UnionArmy of the Potomac during the middle of 1862. He was killed in action at theBattle of Antietam during the 1862Maryland Campaign.^[27] Another casualty of the fighting at Antietam was Brig. Gen.George Taylor, who had been educated at a private military academy in Middletown.

Joseph R. Hawley of New Haven commanded adivision in the Army of the Potomac during theSiege of Petersburg and was promoted in September 1864 to brigadier general. Concerned over keeping the peace during the November elections, Hawley commanded a hand-picked brigade shipped toNew York City to safeguard the election process.^[28] Other Union generals with Connecticut roots includedHenry W. Benham ofMeriden,Luther P. Bradley of New Haven,William T. Clark ofNorwich,Orris S. Ferry ofBethel, andAlpheus S. Williams ofDeep River.^[26]

New Haven nativeAndrew Hull Foote received theThanks of Congress for his distinguished actions in commanding theMississippi River Squadron gunboat flotilla in the capture ofForts Henry andDonelson andIsland No. 10.^[29]

TheNew England Civil War Museum is housed in the Memorial Building inRockville. It includes the old headquarters of the local post of theGrand Army of the Republic. The museum includes the Hirst Brothers' Collection (14th Connecticut Volunteer Infantry), the Thomas F. Burpee Collection (colonel,21st Connecticut Volunteer Infantry), and the Weston Collection (musician, 5th Connecticut Volunteer Infantry). The museum and library (along with the hall and its rooms) are the property of the Alden Skinner Camp #45 of theSons of Union Veterans of the Civil War. In addition, the museum contains the O'Connell-Chapman Library, which has more than a thousand volumes of Civil War literature.^[30]

Fort Trumbull now serves as a state park with exhibits detailing its history.^[15]

The Connecticut 29th Colored Infantry Regiment Monument is located in Criscuolo Park in New Haven, which is where more than 900 Black recruits trained.

There are 100 Civil War Monuments in Connecticut on average, especially in New Haven, which contains eight.^[31][32] TheSoldiers and Sailors Monument is located on the 366-foot summit ofEast Rock in New Haven. The monument is visible for miles from the surrounding area. It honors the residents of New Haven who gave their lives in theAmerican Revolutionary War, theWar of 1812, theMexican–American War, and theAmerican Civil War.^[33] Other monuments in New Haven include the Broadway Civil War Memorial (1905) and theYale Civil War Memorial atWoolsey Hall (1915).^[32] The memorial in Woolsey Hall honors the dead of both the Union and the Confederation.^[34] The only other memorial honoring a confederate soldier in Connecticut is theG. W. Smith stone in New London.^[31]

Mountain Grove Cemetery inBridgeport contains an impressive Civil War monument and the graves of 83 veterans of the Union Army.^[35]

There are also monuments dedicated to Connecticut soldiers at battle sites in other states, for example, the monument to the 27th Connecticut Infantry atGettysburg^[36] and the Joseph K. F. Mansfield monument atAntietam.^[37]

• Category:Units and formations of the Union army from Connecticut
• Greenwich in the American Civil War
• List of Connecticut Civil War units
• Category:People of Connecticut in the American Civil War

• Union Regimental Index, Connecticut, The Civil War Archive.
• Connecticut Men in the Civil War, Connecticut Military Department.

• Connecticut in the American Civil War
• Military in Connecticut
• History of Connecticut
• American Civil War by state

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