PETER
HENDERSON
47th New York Volunteers
Company H
corporal
Coram
Peter Henderson
47th New York Infantry
Corporal Company H
Coram
Peter Henderson was born in Dublin,
Ireland, in 1820. He married Mary Rorke in Dublin before
immigrating to America. Upon arriving in America,
Henderson settled in Coram and worked as a house
carpenter for local carpenters. Peter and Mary had eight
children, all born in New York.
When war broke out in 1861, Henderson did
not wait to enlist. Henderson joined the 47th New York
Infantry on July 5, 1861, and was mustered into service
on August 21, 1861. When he enlisted, Henderson was
forty-one years old, stood five feet eight and a half
inches tall, had blue eyes and brown hair.
The 47th New York Infantry was also known
as the "Washington Grays." After mustering in,
the regiment was sent in September to Camp Sherman near
Washington, D.C. On October 5, 1861, the regiment left
Camp Sherman for Camp Vinton at Annapolis, Maryland. The
regiment was put on the troop transport Roanoke on
November 1, 1861, heading for Hilton Head, South
Carolina. The ship encountered a severe gale that day,
making it necessary to throw off part of the cargo to
save the ship. On November 7, Hilton Head was bombed and
captured by Union forces. The regiment landed three days
later and took post at Camp Moore.
The men stayed at Camp Moore for the
month of December and left January 1, 1862, aboard the
transport Boston. The regiment traveled along the coast
of South Carolina, landing at the Coosaw River where it
helped capture Confederate batteries. This was the first
action for Henderson and the 47th against Confederate
forces.
On February 9, the regiment took a troop
transport to Edisto Island, South Carolina, where they
stayed and trained until May. While there, Henderson was
promoted to 1st Corporal on March 1, 1862.
On September 3, 1862, Henderson was
detached from the 47th and sent to New York City to work
with the recruiting service. He remained in New York
until January 18, 1863, when he rejoined his regiment at
Ossabaw Island, Georgia. While there, Henderson wrote
this letter to his wife on March 2, 1863:
Dear Mary,
The two companies I mentioned in the letter came back. So
there is 400 of us going to Fort McAllister tomorrow
morning at 5 o'clock so I send you this certificate in
case of accident. God bless you all is the prayer of your
affectionate husband
Corporal Peter Henderson
Luckily, there was no accident. The
regiment boarded the transport Delaware on March 4. The
men joined the fleet of gunboats, and remained with them
while the Union navy bombed Fort McAllister. The regiment
did not engage the enemy and returned to Ossabaw Island.
The 47th spent the rest of the month erecting an
earthwork at Ossabaw Island, on the Ogeechee River in
Georgia, known as Battery Seymour.
In July, the regiment moved to Folly
Island to prepare for operations against the port city of
Charleston. In order to stop blockade-runners from
bringing supplies to Confederate forces, the Union navy
was attempting to blockade Charleston. Before this could
take place, Forts Wagner and Sumter had to be captured.
The 47th was not chosen for the famous assault on Fort
Wagner; rather, it was involved with the siege of
Charleston.
The regiment was sent to Hilton Head,
South Carolina, where it remained from November till
January. Henderson reenlisted at Hilton Head on January
13, 1864, for three more years. He was given a
fifty-dollar bounty and was to be paid one hundred
dollars at a later date. Henderson was also given a
furlough of thirty-five days beginning January 31, 1864.
Perhaps fortunately for Henderson and his family, he was
on furlough and missed the battle at Olustee, Florida, on
February 20, 1864. The regiment suffered a staggering 313
casualties during this battle.
Henderson returned from his furlough on
March 18, 1864. The 47th was now a part of the campaign
against Petersburg and Richmond, Virginia. They were
stationed near Petersburg from May through August of
1864. During this time the regiment engaged in a number
of battles. On May 7, they fought the Confederates at
Port Walthall Junction. From May 14-17, they fought at
Drewy's Bluff, resulting in sixty-one casualties for the
47th.
In June, the 47th was attached to General
Grant's command and participated in the attack at Cold
Harbor, Virginia. Union forces lost 7,000 men during the
attack. The 47th suffered forty-seven casualties. On June
12, the regiment left Cold Harbor and marched to the
Appomattox River. After crossing, the 47th joined the
army of the Potomac.
During July and August, the 47th was in
trenches near Petersburg, Virginia, where the men were
under constant fire from the enemy. They continued to
guard the entrenchments near Petersburg in September and
October.
In December, the regiment boarded the
transport Louisa Moore and went to the coast off of Fort
Fisher, North Carolina. Fort Fisher guarded Wilmington,
North Carolina, the last operating Confederate port. If
captured, blockade-runners would have no port to deliver
supplies to the Confederates. Union leaders planned a
naval and land operation to take the fort. The battle
began at 8:00 a.m. on January 13, 1865. The Union fleet,
under Admiral Porter, bombarded the fort at point-blank
range. In the afternoon, Union forces began an assault
against the fort. Untested and poorly trained Union
sailors and marines struck from one direction while
General Terry and 8,000 soldiers, including Henderson,
attacked from another direction. The sailors and marines
attacked, but suffered severe casualties as they were
repulsed. General Terry's attack finally captured the
fort more than two days later, at 10:00 p.m. on January
15. The victory at Fort Fisher ended the coastal war.
Blockade-runners had no port to deliver supplies. General
Lee had no way of getting the supplies his army so
desperately needed.
Henderson was injured during the attack
on Fort Fisher when he fell from the top of the fort and
struck a cannon. Describing this incident, he wrote:
I was at Fort Fisher twice. Under
General Butler on Christmas Day and under General Terry
when I received my injury to my foot and ankle taking the
fort. I fell between two dismounted cannons and incurred
an injury to my right ankle and foot. I had to wade a
deep ditch and was wet up to my hips. I flipped on the
top of the fort January 15, 1865.
Confederate gun emplacement at fort
Fisher, overlooking wooden palisade that Union forces had
to scale.
On February 11, the regiment crossed the
Cape Fear River and marched to Fort Anderson, which they
possessed on February 18, 1865. On February 22, the
regiment marched to Wilmington, North Carolina. In his
pension application filed in 1888, Henderson described
this painful trip:
The pain sticks to me still as I got
nothing after I was hurt. Only a little quenine and had
to march on to Wilmington, North Carolina and the to
Raleigh, North Carolina. I did not complain, as it was of
no use. I got a furlough there. My wife wrote to Sec. of
War Stanton and he sent a special order for my discharge.
Henderson received special orders from
the War Department on July 17, 1865, ordering him to be
discharged because of his injury. Henderson was mustered
out of the service on August 7, 1865, in New York City.
After the war, Henderson returned to his
family and resumed his job as a house carpenter. He later
moved to Newark, New Jersey. While there, he filed a
pension application claiming that, because of the injury
sustained during the war, it was impossible for him to
continue his trade as a carpenter. He was awarded a
monthly pension of $12.
Henderson's son, Joseph, went on to
become an Alderman for the sixth ward in Newark in 1889.
Mary Henderson died February 1, 1895, in New Jersey.
Peter Henderson died December 2, 1898, in Newark, New
Jersey, at the age of seventy-eight.
Landing of Union soldiers who are
getting ready to storm the wooden palisade at Fort Fisher.