First permanently settled after Samuel de Champlain's voyages through the region and officially chartered in 1788, Clinton County offers a host of agricultural and industrial pursuits. With a rich military history, the county was pivotal in the American Revolution as the birthplace of the U.S. Navy. Life in the county has been greatly enhanced by strong family traditions, religious celebrations, and social justice movements like the Underground Railroad. Clinton County is home to the city of Plattsburgh, the towns of Altona, Au Sable, Beekmantown, Black Brook, Champlain, Chazy, Clinton, Dannemora, Ellenburg, Mooers, Peru, Plattsburgh, Saranac, and Schuyler Falls, and the villages of Champlain, Dannemora, Keeseville, and Rouses Point.

Responding to President Lincoln's initial call for troops, the 18th New York Infantry emerged as one of the Excelsior State's first regiments and mustered many of its earliest volunteers. Formed of companies from across the state, the unit saw combat early, suffering the first casualties of the Bull Run campaign when they were ambushed on the march four days before the battle. As part of the Army of the Potomac, they fought at Gaines's Mill, Crampton's Gap, Antietam, Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. Drawing on numerous sources including several unpublished letters and diaries, this book gives the complete history of the 18th--from the first enlistee to the last surviving veteran (who died in 1938)--with an emphasis on the experiences of individual soldiers.