1st New York Engineer Regiment

1st New York Volunteer Engineer Regiment
Staged photograph of the 1st NY Engineers demonstrating sapping on Morris Island.
Active	October 11, 1861, to June 30, 1865
Country	United States
Allegiance	United States of America Union
Branch	Engineers
Nickname(s)	Serrell's Engineers, New York Volunteer Corps of Engineers, Engineer's and Artizans
Engagements	Battle of Fort Pulaski Battle of James Island First Battle of Fort Wagner Second Battle of Fort Wagner Second Battle of Charleston Harbor Second Battle of Fort Sumter Battle of Olustee Bermuda Hundred Campaign Siege of Petersburg Dutch Gap Battle of Chaffin's Farm Battle of Honey Hill
Commanders
First Commander	Col. Edward W. Serrell
Second Commander	Col. James F. Hall
Insignia
Colors of the 1st NYVE

The 1st New York Volunteer Engineer Regiment was an engineer regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was also known as Serrell's Engineers, New York Volunteer Corps of Engineers, or Engineer's and Artizans. The regiment served initially in the Lower Seaboard Theater, and later in the Richmond–Petersburg Campaign.

In 1860 the army Corps of Engineers consisted of just 44 officers and 100 soldiers for an army of 15,000 soldiers. After the formation of the Confederacy and the Battle of Fort Sumter, Congress authorized a massive increase in the number of specialized engineer troops on August 3, 1861, to complement the growing Union Army.Edward W. Serrell, a prominent civil engineer obtained authorization to begin recruiting an engineer regiment which would become known as the 1st New York Volunteer Engineer Regiment, or Serrell's Engineers.

The regiment was accepted by the state on September 27, 1861. Serrell was appointed a Lieutenant Colonel of Volunteers on October 11, 1861, and promoted to a full Colonel by December of that year. The regiment was officially organized in New York City, and mustered in for a three-year enlistment on October 11, 1861.

Volunteers were recruited by company:

Upon formation, the volunteer engineers were promised pay wages one-third greater than that of the line. After the unit had been mustered, the Paymaster General refused to recognize the status of the newly formed regiment, and paid them the same rate as infantry. After protests to the War Department failed to rectify the situation, the men refused to take their reduced pay. Finally, after eight months of refusing to accept the lower wages, the order finally came through to increase the soldiers' pay to the agreed amount.