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J.E. Duryee
(1839 - 1918)
Home State: New York
Command Billet: Commanding Regiment
Branch of Service: Infantry
Unit: 2nd Maryland Infantry
Before Antietam
In 1860 he was 21 years old, lived with his parents, and was a merchant, probably in his father's lumber business in New York City. He enlisted as a Private in Company F, 7th New York Militia on 17 April 1861 in New York City and served with them in garrison at Washington, DC. He was appointed First Lieutenant, Company G, 5th New York Infantry (his father Abram's unit) on 9 May 1861 and was promoted to Captain on 8 September 1861. He resigned effective 24 September 1861 to accept an appointment of 21 September as Lieutenant Colonel of the 2nd Maryland Infantry.
On the Campaign
He led the Regiment in the assault on the Rohrbach (Burnside) Bridge on 17 September 1862 at Antietam as senior officer present.
The rest of the War
After a series of conflicts with Maryland Governor Bradford and some of the officers of the regiment, on 21 September 1862 he wrote
... in consequence of not being a native of the State of Maryland I am deprived of that which a soldier holds most dear "Promotion". Therefore I am induced to resign my commission ...His resignation was forwarded through his chain of command and approved the next day.
After the War
In October 1867 he was honored by brevets to Colonel and Brigadier General, US Volunteers (to date from 13 March 1865) for gallant and meritorious service.
By 1880 and to at least 1890 he was again a lumber merchant and lived in New York City at #49 West 50th Street. After his death in 1918 at age 79, he was buried under a large and conspicuous monument in Antietam National Cemetery.
References & notes
Service information from Phisterer,1 Wilmer,2 and his Compiled Service Records 3 via fold3. He's often seen as J. Eugene Duryée, which is how he signed his 1862 resignation, and sometimes as Duryea. Personal details from family genealogists, the US Census of 1860 and 1880, and the NY Veteran Census of 1890. His gravesite is on Findagrave; source also of a fine 1898 photograph of Jacob with his mother, son Harvey, and Grandson Harvey, Jr from descendant Kent Duryee. His wartime photograph from one of unknown provenance from Uriguen.3
He married Lillie Hoag (1847-1942) in June 1870 and they had a son Harvey Hoag Duryee (1871-1942).
More on the Web
See an excellent post about Duryée and his time with the Second Maryland Infantry from Tim Orr on his Tales from the Army of the Potomac.
Birth
03/07/1839; New York City, NY
Death
05/25/1918; Los Angeles, CA; burial in Antietam National Cemetery, Sharpsburg, MD
1 Phisterer, Frederick, New York in the War of the Rebellion, 6 volumes, Albany: J. B. Lyon Company, 1909-12, Vol. 2, pg. 1760 [AotW citation 12943]
2 Wilmer, L. Allison, and J.H. Jarrett, George H. Vernon, State Commissioners, History and Roster of Maryland Volunteers, War of 1861-5, Baltimore: Press of Guggenheimer, Weil & Co., 1898, pg. 73 [AotW citation 12944]
3 Uriguen, Mikel, Photo Gallery (Generals and Brevet Generals), Generals of the Civil War, Published c. 1998, first accessed 01 January 1998, <http://www.generalsandbrevets.com/> [AotW citation 23976]
3 US War Department, Compiled Service Records of Soldiers who served in US Volunteer organizations enlisted for service during the Civil War, Record Group No. 94 (Adjutant General's Office, 1780's-1917), Washington DC: US National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), 1903-1927 [AotW citation 27883]