California Militia and National Guard Unit Histories
Yuba Light Infantry
 
 
Official or Other Titles:
Location: Camptonville, Yuba County
Mustered in: 7 November 1863
Reorganized: 1880
Inclusive dates of units papers: 1863-1875
 
 
Papers on file at the California State Archives

a. Organization Papers 1 document (1863)
b. Bonds none
c. Correspondence (Unclassified letters) 20 documents (1863-1870)
d. Election Returns 7 documents (1864-1871)
e. Exempt Certificates, Applications for none
f. Muster Rolls, Monthly returns 41 documents (1864-1875)
g. Oaths Qualifications 88 documents (1863-1872)
h. Orders none
i. Receipts, invoices 8 documents (1863-1872)
j. Requisitions 6 documents (1863-1866)
k. Resignations 1 document (1864)
l. Target Practice Reports 7 documents (1866-1872)
m. Other Public Property, 3 documents (1868-1871)
 
Link to Official History
 
History of the Yuba Light Infantry
 
 
Extract from the History of Yuba County
 
Yuba Light Infantry: Company E, First Battalion, Fourth Brigade N. G. C. was organized November 7, 1863, with eighty members, thirty of whom are still in the company. The first officers were: J.P. Brown, Captain; J. G. McClellan, First Lieutenant; S. W. Wardner, Second Lieutenant; Charles Fray, Junior Second Lieutenant. The company is supplied with the regulation Springfield breech-loading muskets. The regular drills are held the second Saturday evening of each month. The company has a strength of seventy-two men, and is commanded by J. P. Brown, Captain; J. G. McClellan, First Lieutenant; J. H. Fuller, Second Lieutenant. Mr. Brown is the senior Captain in the State, holding the oldest commission. The building in which was the old armory was built for a shingle manufactory, by O. P. Brown. In 1862, it was bought by J. H. Berrill for a carpenter shop. In 1863, the building was rented by the company, and in 1864 they purchased it at a cost of four hundred and fifty dollars, which was raised by subscription by the members. In the same year they enlarged it, and it was used both as an armory and a hall for dancing. In 1877, they built a new armory on the old site, size 26x92 feet at a cost of twenty –five hundred dollars. It was fitted up also for a dancing hall and theater. The military give two grand balls each year in the armory, in May and September. The first troupe that played on the new armory stage was the “Wilbur & Mills’ Minstrel Troupe,” in the spring of 1877. The company have a military band of nine pieces that was organized in 1878 as the Camptonville Brass Band. The company bought the instruments and the musicians enlisted and were then formed into a military band. They also have a target ranged on the bedrock near the town. The company was the outgrowth of a Union League Club organized in 1863, which was formed to counteract an organization of the Knights of the Golden Circle, said to exist at that time in the county.
 
 
The Captain Brown House, Camptonville, California
 
Home of the founder and only commander of the Yuba Light Infantry located in Camptonville.
 

From the dedication plaque: "This 1854 A.J. Downing designed "Carpenters Gothic" is among the earliest such wood frame structures in the state. Built by Josiah Prentiss Brown, miner, 49er, local banker, multi-term state legislator and Commander of the Yuba Light Infantry, Co. E, 1st Batt., 4th Brgd. Ca. Nat. Guard with 80 members and local armory. Commissioned by Gen. J.C. Fremont and "familiarly known throughout Northern California as Captain Brown", with 20 years service became the longest standing officer in the Guard. "
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Updated 8 February 2016