AlfredGibbs.com · The First New York Dragoons
General Alfred Gibbs
Soldier of the frontier and the Civil War, and the regiment he led. A working archive of the documents, the battles, and the people.
The Book I Borrowed
This whole archive began with a bundle of a soldier’s letters and one library book a librarian once called “forgotten.” The thirty-two-year story, and the monument, it became.
Borrowed Sept. 16, 1993 · Returned June 30, 2026 Read the founding story ›Now Playing
Hear the Regiment’s Whole War
The complete 1900 regimental history, read aloud, with original artwork for every chapter.
▶ New AudiobookThe First New York Dragoons: The Complete Audiobook
Rev. James R. Bowen’s 1900 regimental history, read aloud by Garland H. Green, Jr. Twenty-five chapters, about seven hours, free to listen on YouTube or Archive.org.
Listen NowAn Introduction
A Word from the General
An AI recreation of Alfred Gibbs, made for this archive, welcomes you to his story.
Explore
The Collections
Three deep threads through the life of the general and his regiment.
Fort Fillmore
The New Mexico fort where Gibbs served and his son was born, and the day it fell.
The Civil WarThe Shenandoah Campaigns
The dragoons’ hardest fighting, from the Valley to Cedar Creek.
Primary SourcesThe Gibbs Papers
866 original documents from the general’s own hand, 1824–1868 — scanned, transcribed, and browsable.
Who Was He
General Alfred Gibbs
Born on his father’s Long Island estate in 1823 and schooled at West Point, Gibbs fought through the Mexican War, was lanced nearly to death by an Apache on the New Mexico frontier, and was captured at the fall of Fort Fillmore in 1861.
Exchanged, he rose to command the First New York Dragoons and Custer’s Reserve Brigade, riding with Sheridan through the Shenandoah and on to Appomattox.
Fresh Ink
Latest from the Archive
New research and writing, added as it is finished.
The Fort Fillmore Project
Eight new articles, and a nine-year-old drummer.
DiscoveryA Good Drummer
The boy of Fort Fillmore, three generations in one regiment.
StoryLife at Fort Fillmore
Daily life at the post, pieced together from every source.
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