Military Records
Revolutionary War Service Records
From the West Virginia University Library’s Index to Revolutionary War Service Records, Vol. III (L–R), transcribed by Virgil D. White:
- James Latta — served in Weissenfels’ Regiment of New York Levies
- James Latta — served as chaplain, 3rd Battalion, Lancaster Co., PA militia
- Moses Latta — private, New York Troops; corporal and matross, 2nd Artillery Regiment, Continental Troops; and 3rd Battalion, Lancaster Co., PA militia
- Robert Latta — Andrews’ Battalion of York, PA militia; 3rd Battalion, Lancaster Co., PA militia
- William Latta — Philip Schuyler’s Regiment, New York militia
United Empire Loyalists
Branch 13 members are recognized as United Empire Loyalist descendants through the Pitman family: John Latta (2) married Susannah Pitman, daughter of Russell Pitman, who served with the Loyalist Rangers — a regiment drawn mainly from New York and New Jersey recruits. After the Revolution, Russell and over twenty other Pitmans resettled in Canada as Loyalist refugees.
The Battle of the Genesee, War of 1812
Drawing on “War on Lake Ontario” (Dexter Perkins and Blake McKelvey, Rochester city historians, 1942), this account traces a Branch 4 ancestor’s presence in the fighting along Lake Ontario during the War of 1812 (1812–1815) between Britain and the United States.
Emmit Latta, a Persistent Young Soldier
Army regulations required Civil War recruits to be between 18 and 35, a rule widely evaded by boys as young as 13 who enlisted as musicians or lied about their age. Fifteen-year-old Emmit Girdell Latta of Friendship, New York was one such recruit — his repeated attempts to join up are documented in the Papers of Abraham Lincoln project.
The Civil War Roster
A compiled roster of Lattas who served in the Civil War, drawn from the National Park Service’s Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System, lists soldiers on both sides:
- Latta, A. — Confederate cavalry, 7th Texas Cavalry
- Latta, A. T. — Confederate infantry, 9th Battalion, Georgia Infantry
- Latta, Abraham — Union infantry, 208th Regiment, Pennsylvania Infantry
- Latta, Adam — among many further Union and Confederate entries in the full roster
The complete roster runs to several hundred names across both armies and is available from the editor on request.
A Liberty Ship Named for a Latta
On April 12, 1944, the SS W. C. Latta was launched at the Delta Shipbuilding Company in New Orleans, honoring William Carroll Latta — who joined the Purdue University faculty in 1882 and became known as “the father of Indiana agriculture.” The Lafayette (IN) Journal and Courier reported the launch complete with “Back Home Again in Indiana” playing and champagne foaming down the bow.
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