17th Battery Light Artillery

Great grandfather

Lorenzo’s Civil War service shows that he had enlisted on February 29, 1863 at Albion, Orleans, New York as a private with the 17th New York Independent Battery. This is incorrect for one blatantly obvious reason; 1863 was not a leap year, therefore he could not have enlisted on the 29th day of February. The Report of the Adjutant-General for the 17th New York Independent Artillery Battery shows Lorenzo McOmber’s enlistment as February 29, 1864 (which was a leap year) at Rochester, Monroe, New York as a private to serve three years and that he was mustered in on the same day. The town clerk records for Lorenzo show that he was employed as a drayman, meaning that he drove a team of horses that pulled a flat wagon without sides; a job essential for farming. This was probably one of Lorenzo’s tasks at his Uncle Edwin Park’s farm in Cuba, transporting farm goods for sale. The record briefly describes Lorenzo’s service with the 17th New York Independent Battery, often referred to as “The Orleans Battery” as it was almost solely comprised of men from Orleans County, New York. The record states that Lorenzo was in service with the regiment for five months, and eight days when he died from Typhoid Fever at the United States General Hospital in Portsmouth, Virginia on August 2, 1864. According to other records, he shared a similar appearance to that of his father; five foot seven inches tall, blue eyes, brown hair and a dark complexion.