Henry Young (major)

Henry Harrison Young (1841–1866) was an Union Army officer during the American Civil War who served as a spy.

Henry Harrison Young was born in Mendon, Massachusetts, on February 9, 1841. Young’s father died when he was young, which required him to care for his mother and younger sister.

A resident of Pawtucket, Rhode Island when the American Civil War started in April 1861, Young was eager to serve in the Union Army. With his sister, who was only ten years old at the time, driving a carriage for him, and a book of tactics open on his knee, he went from house to house, through the villages of Blackstone Valley. Stopping in public places and calling a crowd around his carriage, he harangued them with such patriotic ardor that in one day he enlisted sixty-three men for the Union Army.

On June 6, 1861, at the age of 20, Young enlisted in the Union Army as a private in the 2nd Rhode Island Volunteer Infantry. Although only 5 feet 2 inches tall, Young proved to be a natural leader and a fierce fighter.

Young fought with his regiment at the Battle of Bull Run on July 21, 1861. He was promoted to 2nd lieutenant the next day in recognition of his heroism during the battle and was again promoted to first lieutenant in November of that same year. Young would later fight in the Battle of Fredericksburg and the Battle of Salem Heights.

On April 30, 1863, Young was promoted to captain and was assigned as an Acting Assistant Inspector General at the brigade headquarters. As this was an administrative position, it disagreed with Young as he desired to return combat service. He held this position until he was promoted to major in November 1864 and reassigned as an acting aide-de-camp and chief of scouts to Major General Philip Sheridan, commander of the Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Potomac.

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