The 124th was distinctively an Orange County regiment, as all its companies were recruited in the county under President Lincoln's call of July 1, 1862, for 300,000 three years' men. The day after this call was issued Governor Morgan made an appeal to the people of New York urging them to respond promptly to the President's wish and the country's needs. The State was immediately divided into military districts and a committee of prominent citizens was appointed for each, to superintend the work of enlistment and recommend suitable persons for the officers of the regiments to be raised. Orange and Sullivan Counties constituted one of these districts, and its military committee was composed as follows: Hon. Robert Denniston, Blooming Grove; Hon. Andrew S. Murray, Goshen; Hugh S. Bull, Montgomery; Albert Post, Newburgh; James M. Barrett, Cornwall; Alexander Moore, Washingtonville; Morgan Shint, Monroe. A little later the following were added to the committee: E. A. Brewster and William Fullerton, Newburgh; C. H. Winfield, Thomas Edsall and Silas Horton, Goshen; James Cromwell and William Avery, Cornwall; C. C. McQuoid, Halstead Sweet, John G. Walkin and John Cummings, Wallkill; Charles J. St. John, John Conkling, Orville J. Brown and C. M. Lawrence, Port Jervis; C. B. Newkirk, Monroe; A. S. Dodge, Mount Hope; Dorastus Brown, Greenville; A. F. Schofield, Montgomery; A. G. Owen, Blooming Grove; John Cowdrey and Thomas Welling, Warwick. The committee recommended A. Van Home Ellis, of New Windsor, then a captain in the service, for colonel of the regiment which it was proposed to raise in Orange, and to have general charge of the recruiting. The gloomy conditions at the seat of war made enlistments slow throughout the State. Colonel Ellis, after his selection by the committee at its first meeting on June 11th, had gone to work immediately, and opened recruiting offices in every town, yet only eight men in all were enlisted in the county during the month. Then, when it was seen that the national capital was again in danger of capture, public meetings were held, private bounties were offered, money for the support of the families of volunteers were raised, and there was a general revival of patriotic enthusiasm. Although up to August 8th not more than a score of volunteers had reported at Colonel Ellis's headquarters, fifteen days later the regiment was fully organized and ready to march to the front. The regimental officers then were: A. Van Horne Ellis, colonel; F. M. Cummins, lieutenant colonel; James Cromwell, major; John H. Thompson, surgeon; T. Scott Bradner, chaplain; Augustus Denniston, quartermaster; De Peyster Arden, adjutant; Edward Marshall, assistant surgeon; R. V. K. Montfort, 2nd assistant surgeon. These field officers had all served honorably in the Union army, and Lieutenant-Colonel Cummins had been a commissioned officer in the Mexican War.