William F. Fox, Lt. Col. U. S. V., Regimental Losses in the American Civil War, 1861-1865: A Treatise on the extent and nature of the mortuary losses in the Union regiments, with full and exhaustive statistics compiled from the official records on file in the state military bureaus and at Washington

Second New York Cavalry--“Harris Light.”

Died in Confederate prisons (previously included), 91.

Present, also, at many other engagements in which it lost men wounded or captured, but none killed.

notes.--Called the “Harris Light” in honor of the Honorable Ira Harris, of Albany, N. Y., then United States Senator. The Second was ably officered and was one of the most famous of the New York cavalry regiments. Colonel Hull was killed at Cedar Creek, and Major O'Keefe fell in the final campaign. The Second was recruited from New York City, Long Island, Rensselaer and Washington counties, with two companies from Indiana, and two from Connecticut. The term of enlistment expired in September, 1864, when it returned home,leaving about 350 men in the field composed of recruits with unexpired terms, and veterans who had reenlisted. These men were organized into a battalion of four companies, and eight more companies composed of fresh recruits were added. These eight companies, which were raised in Cortland and Onondaga counties, were enlisted for one year only. While on Pope's campaign, Aug. 16-31, 1862, the Second lost 11 killed, 27 wounded, and 45 captured or missing; total, 83. In the cavalry action at Aldie, Va., June 17, 1863, it lost 16 killed, 19 wounded, and 15 missing; total, 50. In 1863 the regiment was in Gregg's (2d) Division, but in 1864-65 it served in Wilson's (3d) Division,--afterward Custer's.