The story of Niagara County and the Civil War has many interesting chapters. Eleven regiments were partially recruited in Niagara County: four cavalry, two artillery and five infantry. In August 1861, Timothy E. Ellsworth, then 24 years of age, recruited Company G of the 17th Regiment of Cavalry. They set up a tent on Main Street in Lockport, opposite the present Masonic Temple. In a short time, the company was full and they camped and drilled on the Courthouse Square. On September 14th, “mid the stirring measures of Yankee Doodle, led by the Home Guards, they paraded to the Depot and entrained for Elmira.”

A local group called the Ellsworth Association raised sufficient money so that each volunteer received a bounty of $100. By 1863, the bounties offered recruits had increased so that town, county, state and federal bounties amounted to over $1,000 per soldier. Even at that unprecedented level, a second wave of volunteers did not respond in sufficient numbers and in February 1865, Niagara County was forced to institute a draft. This inscription was hugely unpopular and “Draft Riots” took place in major cities around the country. In Niagara County, the Lockport draft office was guarded by a company of Militia from Niagara Falls.

Our area soldiers in Company G saw a great deal of active service, and after the Company mustered out, Captain Ellsworth reenlisted in the Second Mounted Rifles that recruited about 60 other men from Niagara County. At the close of the rebellion, Ellsworth was brevetted Colonel and then became a prominent lawyer and later, a State Senator and powerful figure within state politics.

Douglas Farley, Director
Erie Canal Discover Center
24 Church St.
Lockport NY 14094
716.439.0431
CanalDiscovery@aol.com
www.NiagaraHistory.org