John "Raleigh" White
He was born in October of 1835 in New York City. Of Anglo and Scotch-Irish descent, his family had been in New York since before the American Revolution. His mother, a devout Presbyterian, taught him to read and write and instilled in him the value of hard work. He earned a living butchering hogs, a trade he had learned from his father.

After the firing on Fort Sumter in ’61, he felt a duty to fight for the cause of union. However, his young wife was expecting, and he hesitated to leave his business. He watched as men he knew enlisted in the regiments being drawn up from within the city. He thought he chance to fight for the union would soon pass, thinking, as many did, that the war would be over quickly. Then came Bull Run, and the assurance that the trouble would not be over as quickly as many hoped. He had read the exploits of the French zouaves, and was inspired, like many New Yorkers, by the story of Colonel Elsworth.

When the opportunity came in the fall of ’62 to enlist with the Second Battalion, Duryee’s Zouaves, he could resist the call no longer. Leaving his family and business in the care of a younger brother, he enlisted with the unit just a few days after his birthday.