The Call to Arms - Prompt Response from Jefferson County - The First Companies - Three Months Campaign - The Brady Guards - Company K, Eleventh Pennsylvania Reserve Corps - Death of Captain Brady - Company I, Sixty-second Regiment - Death of Captain Little - Muster Rolls
WHEN the War of the Rebellion was precipitated upon the United States by the rebels firing upon Fort Sumter, on the memorable 12th of April, 1861, the news was telegraphed to the executive of Pennsylvania in the following words: "The war is commenced. The batteries began firing at four this morning. Major Anderson replied, and a brisk cannonading commenced. This is reliable, and has just come to the associated press. The vessels were not in sight."*
This startling intelligence was flashed along the lines of telegraph all over the State, and was soon heard in the remotest bounds of the Commonwealth. When it reached "Little Jefferson" it did not find the people unprepared. They had noted the attitude of the South and the mutterings of war, and when the news that the starry banner, so dear to every patriotic heart, had been fired upon by rebel hands, the patriotism of the entire people was aroused.
Amor A. McKnight, an attorney at the Brookville bar, was captain of the Brookville Rifles, a militia company, which under the different names of "Brookville Guards" and "Rifles" had represented the militia of Brookville and the northern part of the county from the beginning of the county’s history, had immediately after the presidential election in November, 1860, with premonitions of the gathering storm, began to put his company on a war footing. Captain McKnight and his cousin, Albert C. Thompson, were in reality two of the first recruiting officers of the war, having during that winter made a trip to the southern part of the county, and in Punxsutawney recruited Corporals Williams, Depp, Blair, and others. But the dangers of the war seeming to lessen, nothing more was done until the echoes of the firing upon Sumter reached us, when Captain McKnight at once offered the services of his company to Governor Curtin, and was accepted. On the 19th of April he issued the following order:
ARMORY OF BROOKVILLE RIFLES,
19th April, 1861.A.C. THOMPSON AND JOHN PEARSALL:
You are hereby directed to notify the members of the Brookville Rifles to repair to the armory in Brookville, on Monday, 22d April, at 10 o’clock, A.M., prepared to march to the place of rendezvous assigned to volunteers from Western Pennsylvania.
A.A. McKNIGHT
When the memorable 22d arrived, the ranks of the Rifles had swelled so rapidly that there were enough men to form two companies, and W.W. Wise, Esq.., also a member of the Brookville bar, who had aided very materially in recruiting the company, was unanimously chosen captain of the other company.
On Sunday morning preceding their departure, the volunteers, in a body, proceeded to the M.E. Church, where they listened to a thrilling and patriotic sermon from the pastor, Rev. D.S. Steadman, and where, for the last time, Captain Wise occupied his place in the choir of that church.
On Monday, April 22d, excitement ran rife in Brookville. At an early hour the people from the adjacent country commenced to come in; it being estimated that before 10 o’clock A.M., the hour set for the departure of the soldiers, over two thousand people were on the streets, who had come to see the "boys off for the war," and bid them "God speed." Flags were waving from all the principal buildings. Dinner was served to the volunteers by the proprietors of the American, Clements, Railroad, and Jefferson Hotels, after which the two companies marched through the streets to the east end of the town, where vehicles were in readiness to convey them to Kittanning, which was then the nearest railroad point. Three days after the firing upon Sumter President Lincoln issued his proclamation, calling out the militia of the different States, the call being for 75,000 men, and the same day the secretary of war made a requisition upon Governor Curtin for sixteen regiments from Pennsylvania. The Brookville companies proceeded at once to Camp Curtin, and were assigned to the Eighth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, commanded by Colonel A.H. Emley, and designated as Companies "I" and "K," and were mustered into the service April 24, 1881. The same day the Eighth was ordered to Camp Slifer, near Chambersburg, where the regiment was drilled from eight to ten hours daily. On the 7th of June the regiment moved to Greencastle, Md., where it went into camp; but in a few days was again moved to Williamsport on the Potomac River, along which it was posted to guard the fords and army stores at Williamsport. On the 8th of July the regiment was ordered to rejoin the brigade at Martinsburg, Va., and remained in the neighborhood of Bunker Hill until July 17th, when General Patterson commenced a flank movement on Charlestown. The Third Brigade, to which our companies belonged, was pushed forward during the night of the 20th to watch the movements of Stewart’s Cavalry, whom it was feared would cross the Shenandoah River in force at Key’s Ford. Their term of service having almost expired, the regiment was ordered to Harper’s Ferry, where they turned in their arms, etc., and on the 29th of July proceeded to Pittsburgh, where the men were paid off and mustered out of the service.
The only occurrence of moment to the Jefferson county companies was the transfer of Captain Wise to the regular service. On account of his past experience as a soldier, he having served under General Scott, in Mexico, as well as his known intelligence, quick perception, and dauntless courage, he was selected to make a reconnaissance into the enemy’s lines near Harper’s Ferry, for which he was promoted to a captaincy in the regular army. Captain Wise’s farther history will be found in the sketch of the Bench and Bar.
Upon the resignation of Captain Wise the command of Company K devolved upon Lieutenant John C. Dowling. While these two companies saw no active service during their three months campaign, it was of great benefit to the men, the majority of whom re-enlisted, as it made them acquainted with camp life and gave them a foretaste of the drilling necessary to make good soldiers. The roster of these two companies were as follows:
Company I, Eighth Regiment - Captain, Amor A. McKnight; lieutenants, John Hastings, Herman Kretz; sergeants, William J. Clyde, Albert C. Thompson, Abram M. Hall, Winfield S. Barr; corporals, Steele S. Williams, Richard J. Espy, Calvin A. Craig, William J. Bair; musicians, James L. Holliday, George A. Bowdish; privates, Samuel Anderson, Albert Black, Fernando C. Bryant, Milo L. Bryant, Samuel Benner, Joseph Bowdish, Sylvanus T. Covill, Josiah Clingensmith, Alfred S. Craig, Joseph Craig, Niman Chittester, Daniel L. Coe, William T. Clark, Simon P. Cravener, Samuel W. Depp, John Darrow, John Dolphin, John Elliott, Henry B. Fox, Horace Fails, John L. Gilbert, Lorenzo S. Garrison, Leonard A. Gruver, John S. Gallagher, Robert Gilmore, Geo. W. Hettrick, Samuel Hibler, James Hall, Thos. L. Hall, Randall Hart, Paul Hettrick, Robert A. Henry, Joseph B. Henderson, Jared Jones, Wellington Johnston, Daniel Kinley, Thomas Long, Wilmarth Matson, James H. Moore, Joseph R. Murphy, Robert T. McCauley, David R. McCullough, James Moorhead, Levi McFadden, Shannon McFadden, Elijah H. McAninch, George Ohls, William Osman, William Pierce, John Prevo, John W. Pearsall, Robert J. Robinson, John Stiver, Francis H. Steck, Thad. C. Spottswood, William Toye, Alex. R. Taylor, Gustavus Verbeck, Robert Warner, Joseph N. Wachob, Amos Weaver, Mark H. Williams, Alex. C. White, Hiram Warner.
Company K, Eighth Regiment - Captain, William W. Wise; lieutenants, John C. Dowling, Wilson Keys; sergeants, Samuel C. Arthurs, John Coon, Benjamin F. Lerch, Orlando H. Brown; corporals, John M. Cummins, J. Potter Miller, Chas. J. Wilson, Franklin Reas; musicians, David Dickey, James Campbell; privates, William Adams, Sidney Armstrong, David Bates, Rowan M. Bell, Lafayette Burge, Edward H. Baum, James Baldwin, David Baldwin, Thomas Baird, Darius Blose, Asa M. Clark, Franklin W. Clark, Andrew Christie, Samuel H. Coon, Charles B. Coon, George W. Crosby, William P. Confer, Isaac Carrier, Lewis Dibler, Benjamin Dibler, James C. Dowling, John B. Deacon, Christ. D. Flick, Lewis Goup, William George, Ward Garfield, Henry Hawthorne, George Hawthorne, Archibald Hadden, Benjamin Hawley, Peter Keck, Andrew Love, James W. Logan, Samuel May, Hiram McAninch, Harvey McAninch, Alex. H. Mitchell, Sam’l H. Mitchell, William Neal, Judson J. Parsons, David Porter, George Porter, Henry Page, Burdett Riggs, Daniel Rhodes, Franklin Rumbarger, James Robinson, Adam A. Rankin, William Smathers, Addis M. Shugart, Shelumiel Swineford, David Swineford, William W. Sheets, Chauncey Shaffer, David L. Taylor, Philip P. Taylor, Franklin Van Overbeck, Barton B. Weldon, Samuel Wilson, James H. Watson, Francis M. Whiteman, Oliver Woods, William E. Young, Stephen R. Young.
COMPANY K, ELEVENTH REGIMENT PENNSYLVANIA RESERVES
It was soon seen that the war cloud had assumed more gigantic proportions than was at first anticipated, and that more than three months would elapse before the rebellion would be quelled. Captain Evans R. Brady, editor of the Brookville Jeffersonian, at once, upon the call for troops, had begun to recruit a company, but the quota was filled before his company was ready. In the mean time Governor Curtin, with the promptness that characterized him all through the trying days of the war, and which gained for him the name of "War Governor," had convened the Legislature in special session and recommended the immediate organization, arming, and disciplining of at least fifteen regiments for State defense. The Legislature promptly acted on this suggestion of the executive, and on the 15th of May, 1861, passed an act providing for the organizing of the "Reserve Corps of the Commonwealth," to consist of thirteen regiments of infantry, one of cavalry, and one of artillery. Two days after the passage of this act, Governor Curtin issued a call for troops to fill these regiments, stating that the companies to be furnished by the several counties would be proportionate to the number of men already in the service from each county. Under the previous call hundreds of companies had, been formed in excess of the number called for by the war department, and there was a rush to get into the new organizations as soon as the governor’s call was issued.
Captain Brady had gone on recruiting his company, and by the middle of May had enough men enrolled to form two companies, so that they were divided into Companies "A" and "B" of the "Brady Guards." Company A was organized by selecting as captain, Evans R. Brady; first lieutenant, James P. George; second lieutenant, James E. Long. Company B organized by selecting for their captain, Robert R. Means. Captain Brady proceeded to Harrisburg to have these companies accepted, but found that only one company could be received in the Reserves from Jefferson county. Company B was afterwards Company I of the Sixty-second Pennsylvania Volunteers.
Captain Brady, who was brigade inspector for Jefferson county, was ordered by the adjutant-general of the State to turn in all the arms and State property in the hands of the militia. These included one hundred muskets and a six-pounder brass field piece, together with tents, etc., of the Ringgold Artillery. These arms, tents, etc., were all brought to Brookville, and Captain Brady’s company went into camp at the Sand Spring about the 25th of May. They continued to drill regularly, and the men were furnished with rations by the citizens of Brookville, the ladies vieing with each other as to who should render the most aid; regularly, morning, noon, and evening some of their number were on hand to see that the boys had hot coffee and enough to eat.
On Sunday evening, June 1st, Captain Brady returned from Harrisburg with marching orders, and the company left Brookville on Wednesday morning, June 4th, 1861, for Camp Wilkins, at Pittsburgh. The men were all uniformed, the red blouses and black belts being furnished by the citizens of Brookville. They carried the guns before mentioned, and took with them the six-pounder, which gave them the most warlike appearance of any body of troops that ever left the county. The company remained at Camp Wilkins about ten days, when it moved up the Allegheny River to Camp Wright, at Hulton. Here, on the 1st of July the Eleventh Regiment of the Pennsylvania Reserves (the Fortieth Regiment in line) was organized by the election of Thomas F. Gallagher, of Westmoreland county, colonel. Regimental drill was at once commenced, and continued until the division was called into service.
It had been the intention when the Reserve Corps was formed that it was to remain in the State to repel any invasion of the enemy over our southern border, but the terrible disaster to the Union troops at Bull Run on the 21st of July, and the danger that threatened the national capital, created an imperative necessity for reinforcements, and on the 22d a requisition was made on Pennsylvania for the immediate service of her reserve corps, and eleven thousand of these troops were sent forward to Washington as fast as transportation could be had, and in a few days the entire corps of over fifteen thousand (15,856) splendidly equipped and well-officered troops were mustered into the United States service, and became part of the Army of the Potomac.
On arriving at Washington, the Eleventh Regiment, to which Company K belonged, went into camp at Tenallytown, and in October crossed the Potomac, and went into Camp Pierpont, near the Leesburg pike, where they remained during the winter. The arms they had received from the State were exchanged for United States muskets, and the men were carefully instructed in the manual of arms, etc.; and the efficiency they gained in target exercise, skirmish drill, and bayonet exercise, proved of inestimable service to them when they met the enemy on their many hotly contested battle-fields. The sanitary rules of the camp were very strict, and there was but little sickness.
General McCall, in making a report of the regiment at this time, says: "This is a well-drilled regiment, and with the improved arms with which it is now supplied, would be very effective."
On the 6th of December the Second Brigade, to which the Eleventh was attached, supported by the Third, the Eleventh Regiment being in the advance, was sent on a foraging expedition to Gunnel’s farm near Drainesville, where they captured two rebel spies with three of their associates, and secured seven horses, one yoke of oxen, and fifty-seven loads of grain. This raid into the enemy’s territory brought on the battle of Drainesville, as the Third Brigade, which a few days later went out on the same errand, was met by a larger force of the enemy. In this engagement the Second Brigade was held in reserve, the battle being fought by the Third alone.
A member of Company K, Mr. J.P. Miller, in writing from Camp Pierpont, November 29, 1861, thus gives the personnel of the company:
"The places of their nativity are as follows: Pennsylvania, eighty; New York, eleven; New Jersey, one; England and Ireland each two; Germany, one; and the trades, occupations, etc., represented are: Laborers, twenty-six; farmers, fourteen; millers, two; stone masons, three; machinists, two; blacksmiths, seven; carpenters, six; shoemakers, two; lumbermen, twenty-three; printers, five; book-keepers, plasterers, harness-makers, school-teachers, clerks, each one. So it will be seen that Company K has the material to run a small town; not an idler in the ranks."
On the 10th of March the Eleventh broke camp, and abandoning their winter quarters, marched to Hunter’s Mills, on the Georgetown and Leesburg pike. This march was made in a cold rain, and when the men reached Hunter’s Mills they were completely exhausted. Here they encamped, and used shelter tents for the first time. The enemy having evacuated his entrenchments at Manassas, the regiment returned to Alexandria, and went into camp near Fairfax Seminary, where there was considerable sickness in its ranks.
On the 9th of April the division was assigned to the First Corps under General Irwin McDowell, and moved to Falmouth. A month later it was sent to the peninsula, where it was attached to the corps of General Fitz John Porter. It arrived in time to take part in the battle of Mechanicsville. The Eleventh Regiment, which was doing picket duty at the Chickahominy River, was not actively engaged. The Eleventh protected the rear of the brigade in falling back to Gaines’s Mill.
Here the rebels, in overwhelming force, fell upon Porter’s single corps, which was drawn up on the banks of the Chickahominy, which separated it from the rest of the enemy. On reaching the field, the Eleventh was first detached to support Meade’s battery, of the Fifth United States Artillery, but was afterwards moved forward, and formed on the second line of battle. Completely exhausted, many of the men lay down amid the roar and tumult of battle, and were soon asleep - some never to awake again. Late in the afternoon the regiment was ordered into action near the center of the general line of battle, under cover of a dense wood, where they relieved the Fourth New Jersey Regiment, which had been fighting desperately until their ammunition was exhausted. Just before going into the fight, General McCall and General Martindale, who had charge of that part of the line, spoke encouragingly to the men, telling them that they were going upon the weakest part of the line, but to hold it at all hazards, and bravely did they obey the command, for while column after column of the fresh troops of the enemy bore down upon them in that fearful conflict, the Eleventh met them with such well-directed volleys that sent them reeling back. They continued to pour this withering fire into the enemy’s ranks until it was discovered that the troops on both flanks had been driven back. The smoke of battle and the dense woods in which they fought rendered it so dark that the officers did not realize the peril of the position until it was discovered that the regiment was receiving a fire on its flank. Colonel Gallagher, still hoping to cut his way out with the aid of Colonel Simpson’s New Jersey Regiment, ordered his command to fall back, but the rebels, with a yell, charged upon them, and the brave regiments faced about and gave them a fire that "took the yell out of them" for the time being; but upon reaching the open ground, after fighting every step of the way, they found themselves completely surrounded, and both regiments were compelled to surrender to save useless slaughter. Company B, of the Eleventh, had been detached by General Meade early in the day and escaped capture. Out of the sixty-five men of Company K, who went into the fight, only five came out unscathed - four were killed. The loss in the regiment was forty-six killed, and one hundred and nine wounded.
General McCall, in his official report of this battle, says in reference to the capture of Eleventh: "No censure can possibly attach to Colonel Gallagher or Colonel Simpson or the brave men of their regiments on account of this ill turn of fortune, but on the contrary they are entitled to the credit of holding their ground until it was tenable no longer."
Though worn out with marching and fighting, the prisoners were hurried on to Richmond, which they reached about four o’clock, A.M., the next day, and after being marched through the streets as a gratification to the citizens, who were jubilant over the fruit of the success of their arms, they were taken to Libby prison. In a few days the men were removed to Belle Island, where they suffered severely for want of sufficient food and clothing. August 5th the men were exchanged and sent to Harrison’s Landing, where about a week later the officers joined them. With ranks sadly depleted the Eleventh, under Lieutenant-Colonel Jackson - Colonel Gallagher being left behind, sick, at Fortress Monroe - proceeded to Falmouth, and with the division, now under General Reynolds, joined Pope’s army just entering upon the Second Bull Run campaign. The Reserves were again assigned to McDowell’s corps, and in the evening of the 29th of August the Eleventh, which was now in the Third brigade, advanced under a galling fire from the enemy’s batteries, and were soon engaged in the fight; but it being found impossible to dislodge the rebels from their position, our troops were withdrawn, but the Eleventh lay all night under the fire of these batteries. The next day the regiment was hotly engaged, having an almost hand to hand conflict with the Fifth Texas regiment, but the enemy having succeeded in turning our flank, enfiladed the entire line with such deadly effect that the regiment was forced to retire.
The Maryland campaign followed close upon the defeat of Pope. The Reserves were now commanded by General Meade, and Colonel Gallagher having succeeded to the command of the Third Brigade, Lieutenant-Colonel S.M. Jackson was in command of the Eleventh. On the 13th of September the enemy was found strongly posted at Turner’s Gap at South Mountain, and on Sunday morning, the 14th, the battle began. The Reserves were drawn up to the right of the road, leading to Turner’s Gap, held by the troops of Longstreet and Hill. The Eleventh held the left center as the line advanced to attack the enemy, and moving up the steep acclivity of the mountain, which is here about one thousand feet in height, received a deadly fire from the enemy, concealed behind rocks and trees. Colonel Jackson held his regiment well in hand, and with words of encouragement cheered his men on this perilous ascent. "At one point the Eleventh Regiment, commanded by Lieutenant- Colonel Jackson, was ordered to drive the enemy from a deep ravine; the regiment charged upon the concealed rebels, and at a single volley from the hidden foe more than half the commissioned officers fell, but the men as if maddened by the loss of their officers rushed upon the enemy, forced him from his shelter and never ceased cheering, charging, climbing and firing until they ended with the triumphant shout of victory."** It was here that the gallant Brady fell, and Company K lost their brave and heroic leader.
Lieutenant J.P. George assumed the command of Company K on the fall of Captain Brady.
Although with ranks fearfully decimated by the hard service they had seen, the Eleventh were again engaged at Antietam, taking their usual part in that sanguinary struggle, where seven men were killed, and seventeen wounded.
After this campaign the shattered force, battle-scarred, and almost destitute of clothing, went into camp near Sharpsburg, where it remained until the 30th of October, when they crossed the Potomac and reached Warrenton on the 9th of November, in the midst of a severe snow storm. Here the men who had been absent on detailed service or in hospitals, rejoined the regiment, making an effective force of about four hundred.
On the 13th of December the regiment was engaged in the battle of Fredericksburg, the Eleventh being in the rear of the batteries, where it suffered severely from the artillery duel which took place. When this ceased the regiment was advanced over the open ground under a galling fire, but it pressed on unchecked until it reached a ditch running parallel to the line of battle, then forward to within a short distance of a stone fence, from behind which the enemy received them with a deadly fire. Colonel Jackson at once saw the futility of trying to carry these works, and with great coolness managed to withdraw his command from their perilous position. The regiment fought for two hours without support, and its loss was very heavy; Company K took into the fight fifty-one men, and lost two killed, twenty-four wounded, and seven wounded and missing.
After enduring all the hardships of Burnside’s unfortunate campaign, the Eleventh was sent to the defense of Washington, and encamped for a short time at Minor’s Hill. On June 3, 1863, Brigadier-General S.W. Crawford assumed command of the division, which was assigned to the Fifth Corps, and on the 2d of July arrived at Gettysburg, and was halted in the rear of Cemetery Hill, where they found the Second Division of their corps, composed of regulars, hard pressed by the enemy, and the Reserves were hurriedly moved to the right and front of Little Round Top where they were massed in column by regiments, the Third Brigade in front, with the Eleventh in its rear. The brigade was then ordered to the front, but before they gained their position the enemy pressed hard upon them trying to flank them. General Crawford immediately arrested this movement, leaving the Eleventh with, and in front of the First Brigade, bringing it in range of the guns of the enemy; but it maintained its position without returning the fire until the command was given to fire, when it poured a terrible volley into the enemy’s lines, causing him to give back as before a storm. The order was at once given to charge, and with a yell the brigade, the Eleventh in the lead, swept forward, down the hill and across the valley to the stone wall, driving the rebels before them. A number of the men went over the wall, capturing many prisoners. General Crawford, not deeming it prudent to advance farther, they were withdrawn, and a strong line of skirmishers thrown out. The loss in Company K in this battle was three killed and thirty-eight wounded. On the 4th the regiment was withdrawn from the front, and joined, in the pursuit of Lee. This involved hard and fatiguing marching. Upon the return to Virginia, the regiment encamped near Rappahannock Station, subsequently moving to Culpepper Court-House, until the enemy attempted to turn Meade’s right flank, when it fell back to prevent Lee from seizing the heights at Centreville. The regiment was slightly engaged on the 14th of October at Bristow, and again in a skirmish at Rappahannock Station. The enemy, being foiled by Mead, fell back across the Rapidan, and the Eleventh was actively engaged in the Mine Run campaign, as it was also at New Hope Church, and though no serious casualties occurred, the suffering of the men from marching and exposure was very great.
Upon the close of offensive operations the regiment encamped at Warrenton Junction, the Reserves being assigned to guard duty on the Alexandria and Orange Railroad.
On the 29th of April, 1864 the Reserves left Bristow Station, and joining the Fifth Corps at Culpepper Court House, at midnight on the 3d of May, crossed the river at Germania Ford, in advance of the army, and bivouacked near the Lacy House. The next morning the division marched through the Wilderness with the intention of striking the Fredericksburg and Orange Court House Plank Road, but before reaching it a part of the division became engaged, and after a spirited contest drove the enemy from its front. The Eleventh was held in reserve until about three P.M., when it, with the Second and Seventh Regiments, under General McCandless, was ordered to the support of the right of General Wadsworth’s Division. The Reserves being fresh troops were sent to the front, but not being supported after Wadsworth’s line fell back, they were outflanked by the enemy, and the Seventh Regiment captured, but Colonel Jackson, with the greatest coolness and daring, ordered his regiment to charge, which they obeyed, rushing forward with such impetus upon the foe that they broke and allowed the regiment to escape through their lines. The Eleventh lost heavily in this fight, and Company K bore its share of the casualties, its gallant young captain, Edward Scofield being taken prisoner.
During the remaining two days of the fighting in the Wilderness the Eleventh was again under fire, and again sustained its well earned reputation, at Spottsylvania, North Anna, and Bethesda Church; in the latter fight being prominently engaged. On the 30th of May, the day after the battle of Bethesda Church, their term of service having expired, the Eleventh was withdrawn from the front, and after transferring its veterans and recruits to the One Hundred and Ninetieth Regiment, the men bade adieu to their comrades of the Army of the Potomac on the banks of the Tolopotomy, on the morning of June 1st, and turned their faces homeward, reaching Harrisburg on the 6th, where they took part in the handsome reception tendered the Reserve Corps by the governor and citizens of Harrisburg. They reached Pittsburgh June 13, 1864, where the regiment was paid off and mustered out of service, and the men returned to their homes.
During their three years’ service the Eleventh took part in fifteen battles - Mechanicsville, Gaines’s Mill, New Market Cross Roads, Malvern Hill; Bull Run, South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, Bristow Station, Mine Run, Wilderness, Spottsylvania Court-house, North Anna, and Bethesda Church. Company K was in all of these, losing in killed in action or dying of wounds and disease, Captain Brady and thirty-one non-commissioned officers and enlisted men, while nearly all were treated to the hospitality of rebel prisons.
Captain Evans R. Brady was the first officer to fall in battle, and his death caused great grief in his company, to whom he was greatly endeared. When the war broke out he was engaged in the publication of the Brookville Jeffersonian, the Democratic organ of the county, which paper he had established and so ably edited for about fifteen years. Captain Brady was the descendant of an illustrious family, famed in the early annals of the country. His father, Colonel Hugh Brady, one of the early and prominent members of the bar of Jefferson county, was a grand nephew of Captain John Brady, and a cousin of Captain Sam Brady, both noted in the early Indian and Revolutionary wars. His mother was Sarah Smith Evans, and he was born at Indiana, March 16, 1823, and came to Brookville May 5, 1832. January 28, 1845, he was married at Clearfield, Pa., to Miss Frances A. McGee, who, with his only child, Grace, still resides in Brookville, as does Mrs. Elizabeth Craig, his only sister. It was no wonder, then, that with the blood of some of the bravest soldiers that America ever produced in his veins, Evans R. Brady, at the first call for soldiers to defend the flag, should have thrown down the pen and the composing "stick," and tendered his services to his country. His war record is given in that of his company and regiment. He endured wounds, imprisonment, and at last gave his life for the cause he had espoused so nobly.
In writing of the battle of Gaines’s Mill, in a letter to his venerable mother (who is since deceased), to whom he was ardently attached, Captain Brady says: "Nothing but a Divine Providence ever carried me through the terrible fight of the 27th of June. Our boys were surrounded, but fought desperately. Every fourth man in our regiment is either killed or wounded."
When Captain Brady was killed at South Mountain on that fatal Sunday, he was buried near the battle-field, but his friends, on the news of his death, went for his remains, which were brought home, and on Tuesday, October 7, 1863, his funeral took place in Brookville, being conducted by "Hobah" Masonic Lodge, of which he had long been a member.
On the 15th of October, 1879, a monument was unveiled at Muncy, Pa., which had been erected by the citizens of that place to the memory of Captain John Brady, father of Captain Sam Brady, the Indian fighter, who was killed by the Indians April 11, 1770. Captain John Brady, who was a captain in the Twelfth "Regular Regiment," raised for the Revolutionary War, had been sent into the West Branch valley to protect the settlers from the Indians, and while riding along the road near the spot where the monument stands was killed by the Indians. Hon. John Blair Linn, in his oration at the unveiling of this monument, pays the following tribute to Captain Evans R. Brady: "When the Secessionists undertook to overturn this government, ordained of God, and sealed with the blood of their ancestors, I recall one Captain Evan Rice Evans Brady, who, upon the soil of his native State, within sight of the ancestral home of the Bradys, on South Mountain, fell in the storm of battle. Four generations of the Bradys fought for this country, yet he was the first to fall in action. . . . He fell fighting the battle of freedom - fell in the great struggle for the preservation of the Union, purchased by the blood of a noble ancestry."
When Captain Brady tell the command devolved upon Lieutenant J.P. George, who was promoted to captain April 10, 1863, and resigned August 10, 1863, Lieutenants J.E. Long and Cyrus Butler also having resigned. Lieutenant Edward Scofield was promoted to captain of Company K November 17, 1863. Captain Scofield, while in command of his company, was taken prisoner in the Wilderness May 5, 1864, and was held by the rebels for ten months, in which time he was successively incarcerated in nine different prisons. He was released at Wilmington, N.C., March 1, 1865, and discharged from the service March 12, 1865. Just nine months after his company was mustered out, March 13, 1865, he was breveted major.
William D. Knapp, James A. McKillip and George Ittle, of the same company, were also taken prisoners at the battle of the Wilderness and confined at Andersonville, where they saw two of their comrades, Henry Reigle and Calvin Galbraith, die of starvation. While being removed to Millen they, with some other prisoners; cut a hole in the car and, jumping from the train, escaped, and after undergoing untold privations, with the aid of the friendly negroes, finally reached Sherman’s army, which they accompanied to Savannah, and, their time having expired, returned home.
The death roll of Company K is as follows: Died, Jackson Crisswell, at Georgetown, D.C.; Giles Skinner, at Camp Pierpont; Thomas Hughes, at Washington, D.C.; John D.S. McAnulty, in Camp Hospital; George R. Ward and John Uplinger, of wounds, at Fortress Monroe; Isaac G. Monks, of wounds, at Fortress Monroe; Sylvester McKinley, of wounds, Levi McFadden, John B. Clough, at Washington; William Coulter, at Fredericksburg; Henry Reigle, Calvin Galbraith, at Andersonville; James Montgomery, Lewis S. Newberry, at Richmond; John B. Clough, of wounds, at Alexandria; Sergeant Andrew J. Harl, died at Indiana, Pa., on his way home; William Chamberlain, of wounds, at Richmond; Joseph S. Bovaird, of wounds; Reuben Weaver, John Reif, John Sheasley, Aiken’s Landing; Jas. Gallagher, Baltimore. Killed, Winfield S. Taylor, M.L. Boyington, Horatia Morey, Davis Dehaven, at Gaines’s Mill; William Clark, Albert L. Brown, Perry Welch, at Antietam; Madison A. Travis, J.A.C. Thom, Thos. F. Rush, at Fredericksburg; Milo L. Bryant, at Wilderness; Thomas C. Lucas, at Bethesda Court House.
Members of Company K, Eleventh P.R.C., transferred to other organizations: Corporal Lemuel Dobbs, transferred to Nineteenth Regiment U.S.C.T.; Private Perry A. Foster, transferred to Veteran Reserve Corps; Private Thomas E. Love, transferred to Veteran Reserve Corps; Private James R Williams, transferred to Veteran Reserve Corps; Private Barton Nicholson, transferred to One Hundred and Fifth Regiment P.V. Transferred to Company I, One Hundred and Ninetieth Regiment P.V.: Elijah Bish, Alpheus C. Cochran, Othoniel Davis, L.A. Gruver, Joseph P. Miller, David Montgomery, William Steel, Thomas W. Salada, A.W. Perrin, H.S. Wyant. The two latter were captured and died at Salisbury, N.C.
Muster Roll of Company K - Captains, Evans R. Brady, James P. George, Edward Scofield. First lieutenant, Harvey H. Clover. Second lieutenants, James E. Long, Cyrus Butler. First sergeants, Andrew J. Harl, Arch. M. McKillep, James Elliott, William W. Ossawandel. Sergeants, Daniel L. Swartz, Thomas P. McCrea, John H. Miller, Bennewell Haugh, David C.K. Levan, Calvin Galbraith. Corporals, Lemuel D. Dobbs, Joshua Jones, John Uplinger, John Baker, Thomas A. Lucas, T.L. Hall, Benjamin McClellan, R. Wilson Ramsey, Job M. Carley. Privates, Samuel Alexander, William G. Algeo, Cornelius J. Adams, John H. Alt, Elijah Bish, Albert L. Brown, M.L. Boyington, Joseph S. Bovard, Milo L. Bryant, James A. Blair, Martin V. Briggs, Enos A. Cornell, John Cuddy, William Cathcart, Jesse Cravener, A.C. Cochran, Jackson Crisswell, William Coulter, William Clark, William Chamberlain, John B. Clough, John W. Carr, Samuel Donley, Othoniel Davis, Davis Dehaven, John Engle, William Eisle, Solomon Fitzgerald, Perry A. Foster, Samuel A. Gordon, Joseph C. Gibson, L.A. Gruver, James Gallagher, William Hoffman, Clark B. Haven, David R. Hurst, Thomas Hughes, George Ittle, William A. Johnson, William D. Knapp, William Kelly, Ed. G. Kirkman, Michael A. King, Thomas E. Love, William F. Loomis, J.A. Montgomery, Orville T. Minor, John McMillen, James H. Myers, William J. Mills, John A. McGuire, H.W. McKillip, William Morrison, James H. McKillip, Joseph P. Miller, David Montgomery, Horatio R. Morey, J.D.S. McAnulty, Israel G. Monks, Sylvester McKinley, Levi B. McFadden, J. Montgomery, Samuel W. Miles, William McLaughlin, Thomas Neal, Thomas Noif, L. S. Newberry, Barton A. Nicholson, Eli Phillips, A.W. Perrin, Henry A. Reigle, John J. Robinson, David J. Reigle, Thomas Rock, Thomas F. Rush, John Reif, Samuel Steele, George Shick, Joseph Smith, George Surdam, Loran Skinner, J.W. Shellabarger, George Slack, William Steele, Thomas W. Sallada, Giles Skinner, John Sheesly, Moses M. Sugards, Winfield S. Taylor, James A.C. Thom, Madison A. Travis, Robert M. Wilson, Levi B. Wise, Robert N. Williams, Thomas T. Wesley, James P. Williams, Andrew Waley, Allen C. Wiant, H.S. Wiant, Reuben Weaver, George R. Ward, Perry A. Welch.
COMPANY I, SIXTY-SECOND REGIMENT P.V.
Captain Robert R. Means, of Brookville, who had assisted Captain Brady in recruiting the Brady Guards, and who had been chosen captain of one of these companies, raised, in response to the governor’s call for troops, to compose the Pennsylvania Reserve Corps, found that, in the allotment of companies to the different counties, only one would be received from Jefferson county, and that Captain Brady’s had already been accepted. This disappointment caused part of the men to withdraw from the company, but a partial organization was kept up until Colonel Samuel W. Black, of Pittsburgh, by authority from the secretary of war, General Simon Cameron, commenced to recruit a regiment, when Captain Means at once offered his company for this new organization and was accepted. A company had been partially recruited in and near Punxsutawney, and was joined to that of Captain Means, and the company with full ranks left Punxsutawney July 24, 1861, and proceeded to Camp Wright, near Pittsburgh, where it was mustered in as Company I, Thirty-third Independent Regiment. The election of officers resulted in the election of Robert R. Means, captain; Edwin H. Little, first lieutenant; and John T. Bell, second lieutenant.
The regiment was at once ordered to Camp Cameron, near Harrisburg, where it arrived with full ranks and splendidly organized and officered. It proceeded in a few weeks to Camp Rapp, in the northern suburbs of Washington city, where it was equipped with clothing, arms, etc.; six companies receiving the new Springfield rifles and the balance smooth-bore muskets.
On the 11th of September the regiment moved across the Potomac, going into camp near Fort Corcoran, where it was assigned to the Second Brigade of General Fitz John Porter’s Division. Drill was commenced, but owing to the men being constantly on detail for fatigue duty at work constructing roads and throwing up entrenchments, but little was accomplished. On the 26th the regiment was moved with the new line, which was advanced by the enemy falling back from Munson’s Hill. It remained here at Fall’s Church for a few weeks, when it moved to Minor’s Hill and went into winter quarters. The new camp was called Bettie Black, for the colonel’s youngest daughter.
Here the regiment was re-numbered as the Sixty-second P.V. Here drill and discipline was rigidly enforced, and a school established for the officers. Both officers and men soon became proficient in "tactics." In December, at Hall’s Hill, the State colors were presented to the regiment, Colonel Black receiving them in behalf of the regiment in his usual eloquent and happy manner. Here, also, the regiment received the new zouave outfit, the most complete in all its details of any uniform furnished the volunteer soldiers. The men took pride in keeping their camp in the best of order, and much taste was displayed. The streets were lined with rows of cedars, and at the end of every street was an arch, with the letter of each company in a wreath suspended in its center. The reporter of the New York World wrote of it as "the model camp of the Army of the Potomac." During the early part of the winter much sickness prevailed in the regiment, and several died out of Company I. The surgeon placed the camp under the strictest sanitary measures, and the disease soon abated.
The winter was one of hard work, and with the same routine of duty, made it very irksome to the men, and they longed for active service. On the 10th of March the Sixty-second moved, with the rest of the army, upon the rebel works at Manassas, only to find them deserted. The regiment remained at Fairfax Court House until the 15th, when it marched to Alexandria and embarked for Fortress Monroe, and upon its arrival there went into camp near the ruins of the village of Hampton, which had been destroyed by General Magruder. Its first duty here was a reconnaissance as far as Big Bethel. On the 3d of April it moved, with the army, upon Yorktown, where, for the first time, the men saw the rebel gray. The regiment was kept constantly employed in the trenches during the siege of Yorktown, and several died from exposure. In a skirmish with the enemy here, the Sixty-second was for the first time under fire, losing one killed and three wounded. Of the latter, Adam W. Musser afterwards died of his wounds. Colonel Black was first apprised of the evacuation of the place by three deserters, who, with a flag of truce, came into the lines while his regiment was on picket near the river.
On the 8th of May Porter’s division embarked on transports and moved up the York River to a point opposite West Point, where it went into camp. Here General Porter was assigned to the command of the Fifth Corps, and General Morrell assumed command of the division, while the Second Brigade was assigned to Brigadier-General Charles Griffin. May 26, the Army of the Potomac having moved forward, the Fifth Corps moved to Gaines’s Mill, and the next day General Porter was sent to Hanover Court House for the purpose of destroying the Richmond and Fredericksburg Railroad, and effecting a junction with General McDowell, who was expected to advance in that direction.
The First Brigade, under General Martindale, first encountered the enemy, and the Second was hurried forward to its support, where it was assigned to a position on the right of the First Brigade, and was scarcely deployed in line of battle ere they were ordered to charge, and dashing forward in gallant style, soon routed the enemy, capturing many prisoners, and all their garrison and camp equipage. Colonel Black, in his official report of this engagement, says:
"In the course of the afternoon’s operations, we captured eighty-one prisoners, including seven officers. From a great many arms taken, about seventy-five were brought into camp. By the annexed statement it will be seen that our loss is only six men wounded, none killed, and not one missing. I should do the brave and faithful men I have the honor to command injustice if I refrained from expressing, in strong terms, my admiration of their conduct from first to last. In common with the other regiments of your brigade, they went into action with their bodies broken by fatigue, and their physical strength wasted by the hard toils of the day. But their spirits failed not, and they went in and came out with whatever credit is due to dangers bravely met, and the noblest duty performed. General McDowell’s corps had been detained by the demonstrations of the enemy in the Shenandoah Valley, and Porter’s corps, having fulfilled its mission, returned to camp, near Gaines’s Mill, where, until the 29th of June, the Sixty-second was engaged on picket duty, and in building bridges. On this day the Pennsylvania Reserves, advancing by the way of Mechanicsville, encountered the enemy at Beaver Dam Creek, and the Second Brigade of Morrell’s division was sent to their support. They found the Reserves hotly engaged with the enemy, but in the severe battle which ensued, the Reserves held their ground, and the Sixty-second, though under fire for over an hour, was not actively engaged. The next morning Porter again retired to Gaines’s Mill, where, upon a hill east and south of the mill, he disposed his forces and waited for the enemy."
Morrell’s division held the extreme left of the line, his left resting on the low grounds skirting the Chickahominy; Griffin’s brigade forming the right of the division and connecting with Sykes’s division. When the battle was opened by the advance of Longstreet’s corps, the Sixty-second, with the Ninth Massachusetts, was ordered forward in the face of a terrific infantry fire. They charged forward, crossing the ravine in their front, and drove the enemy back into the woods on the opposite side, with fearful slaughter. In this charge the gallant Colonel Black was shot and instantly killed. Maddened by the loss of their heroic and noble leader, the regiment, under command of Lieutenant-Colonel Sweitzer, pressed on, driving the enemy back until they had gained a position considerably in advance of our lines. The enemy at once perceived this isolated position, and poured in an enfilading fire upon their flank, forcing them back. They were scarcely in position after reforming, before General Seymour rode up and hurriedly inquired whether the men had ammunition, and was informed that they had been hotly engaged during the entire afternoon, and that their ammunition was completely exhausted. Directing the men to be supplied with cartridges, he ordered Lieutenant-Colonel Sweitzer to proceed at once to where the enemy was making fearful onslaughts on the extreme left of the line. Dashing forward to the spot indicated, the regiment, with its thinned ranks, quickly formed and charged up the hill and through the woods, receiving the full fire of the enemy as they advanced. They returned the fire, and the battle now waged furiously along the entire line. Soon yielding to superior numbers, the entire Union line gave way and was forced towards the river. In this last movement, Colonel Sweitzer, while contesting the ground to the last, was taken prisoner and sent to Libby.
Our army now fell back, fighting its way to the James River. On the 30th the Sixty-second reached Malvern Hill, and the next morning, commanded by Captain Hull, of Company A, all its field officers being hors de combat, it went into the fight. It was early in the day ordered to support Battery D, of the Fifth United States Artillery. This battery became a special target for the rebel guns massed in its front, and their infantry charged upon it again and again, being in each instance repulsed with great loss. In this exposed and perilous position the Sixty-second suffered severely, and here Captain Means, of Company I, was wounded and taken prisoner, when the command of the company devolved upon Lieutenant E.H, Little.
The day following, the army fell back to Harrison’s Landing, where the Sixty-second went into camp and remained quietly, with the exception of being slightly engaged at Harrison’s Bar on the 31st, until the 14th of August, when they broke camp and left the peninsula. In the Peninsula campaign the regiment lost two hundred and ninety-eight in killed, wounded, and missing. Lieutenant-Colonel Sweitzer, having rejoined his regiment, was promoted to colonel.
General Porter’s corps was the first to cross the Chickahominy when the army moved from the peninsula. He broke camp on the 14th of August, and accomplished the march of sixty miles to Newport News in three days. The corps immediately embarked for Acquia Creek, and thence proceeded by rail to Fredericksburg, where it guarded the fords on the Rappahannock, until, it being discovered that the rebel army was crossing above, the corps was withdrawn, and rejoined the division, which had already joined Pope’s army. It was only slightly engaged in the second battle of Bull Run, on the 27th. On the 4th of September the Sixty-second found itself again in their old camp, "Bettie Black," on Minor’s Hill. The men resumed their old quarters; but alas! only a small detachment had returned of the twelve hundred stalwart men who had wintered there in 1861.
The regiment was next engaged at Antietam, where it supported a battery, but no casualties occurred. After this battle it remained quiet on the shores of the Potomac, with the exception of a slight skirmish at Blackford’s Ford, until the close of October, when, in the reorganization of the army under General Burnside, the Center Grand Division of the Army of the Potomac, which composed the Third and Fifth Corps, was assigned to the command of General Hooker, and General Butterfield assumed command of the Fifth Corps, while the command of the Second Division devolved upon General Griffin, that of the Second Brigade upon Colonel Sweitzer, and the Sixty-second was then under command of Lieutenant-Colonel Hull.
About noon of Saturday, December 13th, the regiment crossed with the brigade into Fredericksburg, and passed through the town, raked by the artillery of the enemy. Reaching the suburbs it marched to the right, crossing the railroad, and when near the bank of the canal there was a rush of stragglers from the front that for a moment caused disorder in the ranks. Order was, however, quickly restored, and the stampede checked. The order was soon given to advance, the brigade moved forward in fine order, until within about thirty yards of the wall in front of Marye’s Heights, behind which the rebel infantry lay. Here they received a perfect rain of leaden hail, in the face of which to advance was impossible. The men dropped to the ground, and for one day and two nights the brigade held this position, not a man daring to raise a head during the day without drawing the rebel fire. It was while advancing toward this front that General Burnside, while viewing the lines through a field-glass, asked of General Sturgis, who was beside him, "What troops are those?" General Sturgis replied, "Second Brigade, General Griffin’s Division." "No troops ever behaved better in the world," exclaimed General Burnside. On Sunday night they were relieved and withdrawn under cover of darkness, utterly worn out, and lying so long in the mud and water had caused considerable suffering, while all the time their dead and dying lay around them - and not a hand dared be raised to aid or succor them.
On Monday the regiment was again sent to the front, where it covered the retreat, being one of the last to recross the river. They then returned to their old camp. Colonel Sweitzer was wounded in this engagement, and his horse was killed. In January, 1863, the Sixty-second was engaged in Burnside’s second campaign, making roads for the artillery.
On the 27th of April the regiment moved to Chancellorsville. The Fifth Corps, now commanded by General Meade, preceded by the Eleventh and Twelfth Corps, crossed the Rappahannock at Ely’s Ford, and proceded to the vicinity of the Chancellor House, where the line of battle was established, the Fifth Corps occupying the left of the line. On the afternoon of the 30th the Sixty-second was ordered with the brigade to support General Griffin, who was making a reconnaissance in the direction of Fredericksburg, but no engagement resulted. The next evening, while the division was engaged in executing some movement on the left, the Second Brigade became detached from the rest of the command, and the enemy in full force on their front perceiving this, prepared to give battle, and but for the coolness of General Sweitzer, who by his skill in manoeuvering, finally, after the night was spent, succeeded in withdrawing the brigade from its dangerous position. The Sixty-second was engaged in skirmishing on the 3d, and on the 4th the brigade was ordered to advance in front of the lines and make a reconnaissance, avoiding, if possible, a general engagement. Forming in two lines, in the front line the Sixty-second; and the Thirty-second Michigan, under Colonel Sweitzer, with the Fourth Michigan as skirmishers, they advanced, driving the enemy’s skirmishers, when they suddenly came upon the strongly entrenched line of the enemy, who opened a heavy fire of grape and canister upon their front and left flanks. Their object being accomplished, Colonel Sweitzer withdrew his command. In this encounter the Sixty-second lost fourteen wounded, several mortally. On the morning of the 6th the Fifth Corps retired from the front, and in crossing the river the Second Brigade covered the rear of the column. The enemy’s cavalry harassing them, the Sixty-second was sent back to hold him in check, and was the last regiment to cross the river.
The regiment went into camp near Fredericksburg, until about the 1st of June, when it moved to Kelly’s Ford, and was employed on picket duty, with a slight skirmish, in which it supported the cavalry and drove the enemy near Middleburg - until the army started north in pursuit of Lee. July 1st the Fifth Corps was at Hanover Junction, with General Sykes in command, and was ordered to proceed at once to Gettysburg, where General Reynolds was already engaged with the enemy. After a forced march, with men already worn out, it reached Gettysburg, on the morning of the 2d. The First Division was placed to the left of the Baltimore pike, and to the rear of Cemetery Hill, where it lay until late in the afternoon, when it was sent to the support of the Third Corps, which was fighting against heavy odds; the Second Brigade, taking position in a strip of woods on the right of the wheat field, and in front of Little Round Top. Though the fighting was heavy, the Second was well posted, and held its ground until the First Brigade gave way, and left its right unsupported, when its position became untenable, and General Barnes ordered Colonel Sweitzer to withdraw his brigade as best he could. The men were reluctant to obey, and fell back fighting as they moved. They gained a position along the road in rear of the wheat field, but being again left without support, a hand to hand conflict with the enemy ensued. The ground was swarming with rebels, and every avenue of escape seemed shut off but they poured volley after volley into the enemy’s lines as they moved diagonally across the field, crossing the stone fence and had just gained the low ground in front of Little Round Top, when the Pennsylvania Reserves charged down upon the flank of the enemy, hurling him back in confusion. The brigade went into the engagement with nine hundred men, and came out with scarce half that number. The loss in the Sixty-second was very heavy. Colonel Sweitzer was wounded, and Major Lowry killed, and five line officers fell, among the latter, the brave Captain of Company I, Edwin H. Little, who had been promoted on the resignation of Captain Means.
The division was placed during the night along the stone wall, at the foot of the hill, to the right of Little Round Top, where it remained until the close of the battle. When it left Gettysburg the Sixty-second could only muster some ninety men.
After returning to Virginia the regiment took part in the "Campaign of Manoeuvres," which followed, and was engaged at Rappahannock Station, Locust Grove, and Mine Run. It went into winter quarters at Licking Run, and spent the winter in guarding the Orange and Alexandria railroad from the incursions of Moseby. On the 1st of May it broke camp, and with the Fifth Corps, now under General Warren, on the 4th reached the Wilderness, encamping near the "Old Wilderness Tavern," where the next morning it threw up breastworks with the enemy in force in front. About ten o’clock the action commenced, and continued until dark; the Sixty-second being heavily engaged on the right of the division. It was also engaged on the 6th. On the march to Spottsylvania the next day, in the engagement with Ewell’s forces at Laurel Hill, the regiment was engaged and lost heavily. The rebels were however driven, and the ground held. From that until the 12th it was engaged in skirmishing. In the general charge along the entire line on the 12th the regiment participated, suffering severely, Lieutenant Hull being mortally wounded.
On the 13th, with Captain McClay in command, the regiment moved to the left in front of Spottsylvania, where it was almost constantly under fire until the 21st, when it led the advance to the North Anna, across which the enemy was found in force, and the Fifth and Sixth Corps were soon hotly engaged, the fight lasting from noon until sundown. They next engaged the rebels at Tolopotomy, where they repulsed them. On the 2d day of June the Sixty-second moved to the front and fought gallantly at Bethesda Church, losing heavily. On the 18th the regiment was again engaged near the Norfolk and Petersburg railroad. General Griffin, commanding the division, here advanced a battery in front of the skirmishers, and opened upon the enemy with grape and canister, which soon routed him, and the brigade advancing, threw up heavy entrenchments, and held the road. On the 27th the regiment was engaged at Jerusalem Plank Road, but suffered no loss. After this it was employed on fatigue and picket duty until the 3d of July, when its term of service having expired, the regiment was ordered to the rear, and the following day left for home, arriving in Pittsburgh July 15, 1864, where the regiment was paid off, and mustered out of service. Captain John T. Bell, and twenty-one men who re-enlisted with him, were transferred to the One Hundred and Fifth-fifth Regiment P.V.
Captain Robert R. Means, who went out with Company I, as its captain, shared all their toils and dangers until the battle of Malvern Hill, where he was wounded and taken prisoner. He was confined in Libby Prison until August 1, 1862, when he was exchanged and brought to Davis Island (N.Y.) Hospital. He never recovered from the effects of this wound, and had to resign January 13, 1863. Captain Means was an excellent officer, kind and thoughtful for the comfort of his men, who parted with him very reluctantly.
When Captain Means resigned, Lieutenant Edwin H. Little was promoted captain, and proved a brave and faithful officer until the battle of Gettysburg, when he was killed while fighting desperately at the head of his company, in that fearful hand to hand conflict in the wheat field July 2d. Captain Little was a son of Jacob and Anna Little, née Shunk, and was born in Bridgewater, Beaver county Pa., on the 14th of August, 1833. He removed with his parents to Punxsutawney in 1852, and June 26, 1856, was married to Miss Margaret E. Campbell, daughter of Mr. William Campbell, of that place. He was engaged in lumbering when the war broke out. He was an energetic business man, and an upright citizen, and his loss was deeply mourned, not only by his comrades in arms, but by the people among whom he had so long resided. Captain Little left a wife and three children - Anna, Emma, and Edwin H., who yet survive him.
When Captain Little fell the command of Company I devolved upon Lieutenant John T. Bell, who was promoted captain September 12, 1863. Captain Bell was wounded and taken prisoner at Gaines’s Mill, and again wounded in the Wilderness. He commanded the company efficiently until its muster out. Company I took part in the battles of Yorktown, Hanover Court House, Gaines’s Mill, Malvern Hill, Antietam, Second Bull Run, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Rappahannock Station, Locust Grove Church, The Wilderness, Spottsylvania, North Anna, Tolopotomy, Bethesda Church, Petersburg, June 18, Jerusalem Plank Road. The company lost by battle and disease the following:
Killed at Gettysburg - Captain E.H. Little, Sergeant Isaac S. Osborne, William Orr, H.C. Tafel; at Gaines’s Mill, Sergeant Clarence R. Thompson.
Died of wounds and disease - Ephraim Myers, A.W. Armagost, John Bouch, David Burkett, William Farley, James A. Fairman, George Leech, Adam W. Musser, Jacob H. Trout, James Spencer; G. Vancampment, at Andersonville, Ga. John Kaylor wounded, with loss of arm, at Hanover Court House, died at Kittanning, Pa., on his way home, July 17, 1863.
Samuel Crissman, of this company, was teaching school in Missouri when the war broke out, and was pressed into the rebel service, but soon escaped and on returning home enlisted in Captain Means’s company. In the battle of Gaines’s Mill he was shot through the body, and taken prisoner, and suffered terribly until released, when he was taken to the Hospital at Baltimore, where he died August 19, 1862.***
The following Jefferson county men served in Company I, Sixty-second Regiment: Captains Robert R. Means, Edwin H. Little, John T. Bell. First lieutenant Samuel W. Temple. First sergeants John M. Steck, Isaac S. Osborne. Sergeants George Mack, David W. Kerr, George S. Campbell, C.R. Thompson. Corporals Thomas A. Hendricks, Alexander Glenn, William Smith, Arr Neil, Charles F. Liebrick, Thomas, H. Budlong, Ephraim Myers, Ephraim B. Johnston, A.W. Armagost, John Shannon, Thomas Anderson, Samuel Crissman, Ira Felt, Watson Guthrie. Musicians William R. Depp, John Ready. Privates Paul Broadhead, Philip Black, Joseph T. Burns, John Bouch, David Burket, Joseph L. Burly, George Berger, George Christy, Harrison Covill, Edwin B. Cavinore, James C. Cavinore, Thomas Connell, James Caldwell, Fleming Caldwell, John Collins, William Cunningham, Samuel J. Denny, Frederick C. Eshbaugh, Thomas Edmonds, George M. Emrick, John W. Frost, William M. Fairman, James A. Fairman, William Farley, James Geer, Mathew Griffith, Solomon Heim, David Hopkins, Isaac Hendricks, James B. Jordan, John Kaylor, Hughes Kelly, Francis Lyman, John H. Love, George, Leech,. Abraham Milliron, Josiah Morehead, Adam W. Musser, William F. Meeker, John Maginnis, David McKee, Neil McKay, James McSparrin, James McKee, George W. McKinly, Charles H. McCracken, Frederick Nulf, H.N.G. Nutting, William Orr, John Oyster, Lyman H. Phelps, Samuel Reynolds, George W. Richards, William Rowley, Joseph Richards, William Randolph, Clark Rodgers, Henry Slagle, Simon J. Shanafelt, Henry Shearer, Joseph Sterrett, R.W. Shaffer, Henry C. Shuey, James Spencer, George L. Smith, Adam Smith, Noah Shotts, Absalom Stoner, Benjamin Smyers, Adam Smouse, James C. Shields, Samuel Shaffer, Jacob S. Trout, H.C. Tafel, Joseph M. Temple, George Vanhorn, David J. Watt, Robert Welsh, Noah Wensell John Warner, John M. Weaver.
The following, men from Company I, Sixty-second P.V., re-enlisted in Company I, One Hundred and Fifty-fifth P.V:
Captain John T. Bell; First Sergeant Thomas C. Anderson; Sergeant Ephraim B. Johnston; Corporals Sylvanus F. Covill, George L. Smith, Robert W. Shaffer, Samuel Reynolds, died; Noah Wensell, killed at Spottsylvania; Privates Joseph L. Bucley, Samuel J. Denny, killed at Peeble’s Farm, Va. John Maginnis, William F. Meeker, John W. Oyster, Lyman S. Phelps, Joseph Richards, Absalom Stoner, Samuel Shaffer.
* Telegram addressed to Governor Curtin, from Philadelphia, by J. Morris Harding.
** Sypher’s "History Pennsylvania Reserve Corps," page 370.
*** These are all that are reported as having been killed or died from Company "I," but the records of the company are not full, as forty-two names are reported "not on muster-out roll," and it is more than likely that some of these were killed or died.
Source: Page(s) 113-134, History of Jefferson County by Kate M. Scott. Syracuse, N.Y., D. Mason & Co., 1888.
Contributed by Nathan Zipfel for use by the Jefferson County Genealogy Project (http://www.pa-roots.com/jefferson/)
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