Colonel Henry Seymour Lansing, Henry Livingston Lansing's brother, commanded the 17th New York Volunteer Infantry. The regiment was formed on May 29, 1861 for a two year term and Colonel Lansing commanded it from its inception until it was disbanded on June 2, 1863. He had also been active in the formation of New York's Military Association before the war.

Being surrounded by southern sympathizers, there was a great concern for the protection of Washington from the start of hostilities. Colonel Lansing's regiment was first assigned to that duty. From April to May of 1861, Colonel Lansing participated in the Siege of Yorktown, the very place where his grandfather, Colonel Gerrit Lansing, had fought in the Revolutionary War.

That summer, they fought in the Seven Days Battle before Richmond Virginia and by October, the 17th had been transferred to the Army of the Potomac and became involved in some of the worst Civil War battles, fighting with heavy losses at the second battle of Bull Run, Antietam and the Battle of Frederickburg and Chancellorsville. The first three of these battles is fictionally described in Gods and Generals by Jeffrey M. Shaara.

At the end of the war, Colonel Lansing was promoted by brevet to Brigadier General for his short command of the Bull Run battlefield.

H. Seymour Lansing died 14 April 1882, and was buried in the churchyard of St. Mary's Episcopal Church, in Burlington New Jersey.

[Thanks for the photo to Rev'd J. Connor Haynes, SSC; St. Mary's]

Military Association of the state of New York
Henry Seymour Lansing was one of the founders of this association.

State of New Jersey Certificate of Death
Henry Seymour Lansing
Age: 58 years 2 months White
Married Accountant
Birthplace: Utica NY
Last place of residence: Burlington
How long resident: Six months
Place of death: Corner Broad and High Streets; Burlington City
Father's name Bleecker B. Lansing U.S.
Mother's name Sarah U.S.
I hereby certify that I attended H. Seymour Lansing during the last illness and that he died on the 13th day of April, 1882.
Length of sickness: two years
Edward J. Lansing, Medical Attendant
Residence Corner Stacy and Union
Date: April 17, 1882
Undertaker: E.F. Perking Burlington City NJ
Burial: St. Mary's Church Grounds Burlington City N.J.

Talcott's Lansing Family
General Henry Seymour Lansing died at Burlington, N.J., April 14, 1882. Prior to the breaking out of the war he was the chief manager of the American-European Express Company, and superintended the banking department of the company at Paris for a considerable time. He assisted in organizing the Military Commission of the State of New York before the war. He was appointed Captain of the Twelfth Infantry, and served until July 1863, when he resigned.

Pioneers of Utica p.349
Henry Seymour Lansing, commanded the 17th Regiment, New York volunteers, at the beginning of the late war, and left the service in 1863 with the rank of brevet brigadier-general; is now (1877) auditor general of the Centennial Board of Finance, Philadelphia.

Civil War On Line Order Of Battle - Second Bull Run
Fifth Army Corps Major General Fitz-John Porter
First Division Major General George W. Morell
Third Brigade Brig. General Daniel Butterfield

Colonel Henry S. Lansing

Philadelphia 1876 Centennial
231.19 Bureau of Revenue. Correspondence and Papers 1873-1876
2 volumes, 1 cu.ft., no index
Incoming and outgoing correspondence chiefly concerning stock subscriptions and general financing of Exhibition; records of subcommittees formed to seek stock subscriptions from specialized groups or geographical areas include names of committee members, lists of subscribers and of those individuals or companies unsuccessfully solicited, receipts for stock certificates, agents' contracts, list of agents and canvassers by states, cash receipts statements, instructions to canvassers, records of subscription books' distributions, progress reports, population data on state and county levels compiled from 1870 census for canvassers' guidance; sales reports of Bureau's Medal Department listing dates, amounts received, sellers' names and commissions for sales of Exhibition Souvenir Medals. Location: City Archives, 3101 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104 Shelf list is available.

Bureau of Revenue. Correspondence and Papers
[Record Series: 231.19] Box A-1550

Correspondence Received by H.S. Lansing, Auditor
Papers from and by General Lansing (2 folders)

The Weekly Philadelphia Times - July 13 1878
H.S. Lansing, late colonel of the 17th N Y Volunteers, Captain of the 12 US Infantry and Brevet Brigadier General, provides a detailed and emotional account of the demoralization of Union troops following the defeat by Confederate forces at the Battle of Bull Run in 1862. He tells of the discouragement, fear and disorganization that followed that defeat and staes in part how the Union Army ran away in a panic from its first defeat, leaving Washington at the mercy of the Confederates and describes the defenses South of the Potomac River.

LINKS:

Civil War Records