
This
proud New York Militia Regiment has its origin dating back
to 1847 in the heart of what we today call Brooklyn Heights.
The unique uniform you see in this painting was adopted
in 1860 and modeled on the French pattern Chasseur-a-pede
uniform. At the 14th's request, President Lincoln himself,
acting as commander in chief, ordered the regiment into
action. The 14th was baptized by fire at the Battle of First
Bull Run. As the men charged up Henry Hill on that hot July
day in Manassas, Virginia, they were given their moniker
when General Thomas Jonathan Jackson commented "here
come those red legged devils again". After the Union
debacle at First Bull Run, Lt. Colonel Fowler drilled the
men "night and day to the end of making the regiment
what it afterwards became in the field - one of the most
efficient, best drilled and disciplined in the service."
Their
skirmish drill was so good that the 14th were often
used as skirmishers and flankers for their Division. This
is
the theme military artist, Mark Maritato, has chosen for
his painting of the Brooklyn Fourteenth. In the Fall of
1861, the regiment was engaged in a skirmish at Falls Church,
Virginia. In Confederate Lieutenant Colonel Fitzhugh Lee's
report to JEB Stuart, he wrote the following of the 14th
Brooklyn: "The enemy were a portion of the Fourteenth
New York State Militia, of Brooklyn, and fought with much
more bravery than the Federal troops usually exhibit. It
is the same regiment that so thickly dotted the field of
Manassas upon the 21st with red." A spirit of enthusiastic
comradeship, which has come to signally characterize the
Fourteenth was evident through its three year enlistemnt
in the Civil War.
Afer
capturing Davis' Brigade at the railroad cut on the first
day of the Battle of Gettysburg, the regiment was assigned
to Culp's Hill. Harry W. Pfanz wrote the following of the
14th Brooklyn in his book entitled "Gettysburg - Culp's
Hill and Cemetery Hill": "While positioned there,
the 149th New York Volunteers had heard that the 14th was
"a bully fighting regiment" and studied its warriors
closely. A man in the 149th NY wrote that when the word
of command came to the boys of Brooklyn, their lips tightened,
the eyes flashed, every nerve was strained, and they moved
forward with almost mechanical ease and firmness. As they
advanced, a thousand men, observing their heroic conduct
in sympathy and admiration, rose in their places and cheered,
while their prayers ascended to God that he would spare
those young men possessed of so much courage and manliness."
This
painting faithfully captures this spirit of the Fighting
Fourteenth. Furthermore, Mark Maritato's painstaking attention
to historic detail accurately depicts the unique chasseur
uniform and the accoutrements of this famous regiment.
Historical
Description By Anthony G. Mollo