Chapter XV
Continued - Miscellaneous Military Organizations
Company I, Sixty-seventh Regiment - Company B, One Hundred and Thirty-fifth Regiment - Companies E and I, One Hundred and Forty-eighth Regiment - Death of Lieutenant Maguire - Company B, Two Hundred and Eleventh Regiment - Death of Lieutenant Colonel McLain - Company C, Two Hundred and Sixth Regiment - Muster Rolls.
COMPANY F, SIXTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT P.V.
In November, 1861, S.C. Arthurs, who had served as first sergeant in Company K, Eighth Pennsylvania Regiment, commenced to recruit a company for three years. His company was styled the "United Eagles," and was raised in Jefferson and Clarion counties. The company went into camp near Rimersburg, Clarion county, where an organization was effected, with S.C. Arthurs, captain, the other commissioned officers being from Clarion county. In 1862 the company joined the regiment of Colonel John F. Staunton, at Philadelphia, and was mustered into the service as Company F, Sixty-seventh Pennsylvania Volunteers.
On the 3d of April, 1862, the Sixty-seventh was ordered to Baltimore, and from there to Annapolis, Md., where it. relieved the Eleventh Regiment, P.V. It was here employed in guard and provost duty in the city and in other parts of Eastern Maryland, and in furnishing guards for Camp Parole, near the city. The latter duty was so well performed that the citizens experienced no trouble from the presence of the large body of paroled prisoners constantly at this camp. During all this time the discipline was very strict, and the regiment was thoroughly drilled, until it was equal to any in the service.
In February, 1863 the Sixty-seventh was relieved, and ordered to Harper’s Ferry, where it did guard and garrison duty for a short time, when it was attached to the Third Brigade of General Milroy’s command. The headquarters of the department was at Winchester, and their work was to hold the rebels in check, and prevent the eastern portion of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad from falling into their hands. The Third Brigade, in command of Colonel McReynolds, of the First N.Y. Cavalry, was posted at Berryville, ten miles from Winchester, and as General Milroy "was expressly ordered to undertake no offensive operations in force," little of importance occurred to the command, whose occupation was to watch the movements of the cavalry of Jones, Imboden, and Moseby, the only forces of the enemy known to be in their front.
On the evening of June 12th Colonel Staunton, who had been to Winchester, returned with the news that the enemy was advancing in force down the valley, and only a few miles distant. General Milroy ordered the brigade to be in readiness to reinforce him at Winchester, but as the rear guard of the command left Berryville to obey the signal to join General Milroy, the enemy appeared in sight, and to avoid encountering him in force on the Berryville and Winchester pike, the command was obliged to make a detour by Summit Point and Bunker Hill. Just after passing the latter place, the rear of the column was struck by Jenkins’s rebel cavalry, but the enemy was repulsed with considerable loss. After a fatiguing march of over thirty miles, in the midst of a drenching rain, the command reached Winchester about 10 P.M., and the tired troops had scarcely laid down to rest, when they were again in motion, and were shifted from one position to another; the Sixty-seventh being on Sunday morning ordered into the rifle-pits, at the Star Fort, about a mile and a half northwest of Winchester. At noon of the same day it was ordered to relieve the Eighty-seventh Pennsylvania, which had been engaged in a skirmish with the enemy on the outskirts of the town. It advanced promptly and took position under a severe fire and held the town until dark, when it was ordered to retire to Star Fort.
General Milroy, fearing that his small command would be cut off by the enemy, determined to evacuate Winchester, and cut his way through the enemy’s lines. He succeeded in getting about four miles from Winchester, when he suddenly encountered a large body of the enemy, who at once opened a heavy fire upon him. At the opening of the engagement the Sixty-seventh, and the Sixth Maryland, instead of forming on the left in support of the troops fighting in the front, were deployed to the right. They remained under partial cover for some time, until it became apparent that the attempt to turn the enemy’s right had failed; they then attempted to cut their way through upon the enemy’s left, but had only advanced a short distance when they found themselves in the midst of the main body of the enemy. A severe engagement ensued, in which the little force fought bravely, but were soon overpowered; the Sixty-seventh, which was in advance, finding itself surrounded on every hand was compelled to surrender. The men who had had no rest from the morning of the 13th, were completely exhausted by marching and fighting. Many of the officers and men determining not to be taken if possible, scattered and escaped into the woods, and reached the Union lines; but the greater part of Company I with Captain Arthurs were captured; Major Harry White, who had dismounted, and fought with the regiment on foot was taken prisoner. The officers and men were at once transferred to Richmond, and the former were kept in confinement for more than a year in Libby. The men were confined at Belle Isle near Richmond, where they suffered all the privations of prison life for two months, when they were paroled and returned to Annapolis.
Major White, who was a member of the Pennsylvania Senate, and whose vote was necessary to a majority of either party in that body, was subjected to a separate and more rigorous confinement on that account, the enemy being well aware that the Senate could enact no business until his release, or until his resignation was secured. The fragment of the regiment which escaped capture was reorganized at Harper’s Ferry, and with the rest of Milroy’s command was transferred to the Third Division of the Third Corps. On the 30th of June it was sent with ordinance stores, etc., from the works at Maryland Heights, which were shipped to Washington. The Sixty-seventh as part of this guard reached Washington on the 4th of May, and a few days later was ordered to join the Army of the Potomac, at Frederick. During the fall and winter of 1863 it shared the fortunes of the Third Corps. The exchanged prisoners rejoined the regiment on the 11th of October. When active operations were abandoned the regiment went into winter quarters at Brandy Station, where a large portion of the regiment re-enlisted, and all who were entitled to a veteran furlough returned home. At the end of their thirty days’ leave they returned to Washington, and the regiment was ordered to report to General Abercrombie at Belle Plain, where it remained employed in various duties for some time.
On the 13th of June the Sixty-seventh had a skirmish with the enemy near White House. On the following morning Sheridan arrived with his command and the enemy was compelled to retire. The Sixty-seventh then acted as escort for the wagon-train of General Sheridan, which was taken through in safety to the James River, the only occurrence being a slight skirmish with the enemy’s cavalry near Charles City Cross Roads. Upon his arrival Colonel Staunton was ordered to join his brigade in front of Petersburg, where the enlisted men who had been transferred to the One Hundred and Thirty-fifth, upon the departure of the veterans on furlough, were returned to their places in the ranks of the Sixty-seventh.
On the 6th of July the division embarked at City Point for Baltimore, and from there started out in quest of Early, who with a large force was raiding in Maryland. During these operations, and in the campaign that ensued under General Wright, the regiment took part, being kept almost constantly on the move.
At this time the Army of the Shenandoah, under General Sheridan, was lying at Clifton, about three miles from Berryville, and at a little before daylight on the morning of the 19th of September, General Sheridan began the battle. The Sixth Corps moved first, the Third Division on the right, with the Sixty-seventh at the extreme right of the division. The battle raged along the entire line until almost evening, when General Sheridan rode along the lines and informed the troops that Averell was in the enemy’s rear, the Eighth Corps on his flank, and that if they would press on he could route Early completely. Soon the order was given, and the whole line charged up the valley. The Third Division, principally composed of Milroy’s old command, was the first to reach the heights of Winchester, Lieutenant Asaph M. Clark, of Company F, being the first to reach the enemy’s works and plant the colors upon them. The regiment went into the fight with only two commissioned officers. - two lieutenants, and lost heavily.
The Sixty-seventh took part in the pursuit of Early and in all the subsequent brilliant career of Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley. In the fight of the 19th of October, which, but for the opportune arrival of Sheridan, would have ended so disastrously to our arms, the Sixty-seventh was hotly engaged, losing forty-eight in killed and wounded.
It remained in the valley until near the close of the year, when, with the corps, it was ordered to the front at Petersburg, and participated in the closing campaign. After the surrender of Lee it was sent to Danville, near the North Carolina border, where Johnston still had a large rebel force, but on his surrender returned to Washington, where it was mustered out of service July 14, 1865.*
Captain Arthurs, who was taken prisoner June 13, 1863, at the battle of Winchester, was held by the rebels until March 11, 1865. He suffered all the privations and indignities that were so lavishly bestowed upon the Union prisoners, besides being deprived of fighting with his gallant command on the field. Mrs. Arthurs, who was with the captain in camp at Berryville, when the rebels swooped down upon them, narrowly escaped being captured. She returned to Baltimore, where she remained, working earnestly for Captain Arthurs’s release, until he rejoined her and returned to Brookville with her March 29, 1865. While in Baltimore Mrs. Arthurs did good work among the sick and wounded soldiers in the hospitals there.
Lieutenant Asaph M. Clark, who escaped capture, gallantly commanded the company in most of its further campaigns, until he was promoted to first lieutenant of Company K, February 5, 1865, and afterwards to captain of that company.
The following Jefferson county men in Company F, were killed, or died of disease: B. Rush Scott, killed at Winchester; Benewell Fisher, R.D. McCutcheon, Daniel Dunkleburg died; the latter dying while at his home on furlough. John W. Greenawalt, James W. Kerr, and Daniel McAdoo transferred to Veteran Reserve Corps.
JEFFERSON COUNTY MEN IN COMPANY F, 67TH P.V.
Captain, Samuel C. Arthurs; first sergeants, Jacob B. McCracken, Asaph M. Clark; sergeants, Thomas J. Proctor, Elias W. Haines; corporals, Fred Hilliard, Thompson McAninch, Alexander F. Flick, David Clepper, John Dougherty, Samuel Irwin; privates, James R. Adams, Edward Burns, Layfayette Burge, Thomas Brown, John Baxter, David Barry, Noah Burkepile, John H Cox, John Dicky, Daniel Dunkleburg, George Friedline, Jesse Flick, George Fisher, Henry Fisher, Benewell Fisher, Peter Grove, jr., James R. Gailey, John W. Greenawalt, Henry Geesey, Aaron Hendricks, George M. Hilliard, Michael Harriger, Silas E. Hall, John M. Hadden, George W. Keys, John B. Lucas, John Messner, Henry B. Milliron, Daniel McAdoo, R.D. McCutcheon, Quinton Q’Kain, Samuel D. Patterson, John Shadle, Henry Snyder, Henry C. Snyder, Benjamin R. Scott, David Taylor, Henry Truman, John Voinchet, Daniel Williams, John Warner, Robert D. Williams, Edward W. Young, Samuel Yeomans.
COMPANY B, 135TH PENNSYLVANIA VOLUNTEERS
This company was recruited, under the call of the president, issued July 1, 1862, for troops to serve for nine months. It was raised largely through the efforts of Richard J. Espy, A.B. and Charles McLain, and left Brookville August 7th and proceeded to Camp Curtin, at Harrisburg, where it was mustered into the One Hundred and Thirty-fifth Pennsylvania Regiment. On the organization of the regiment, with J.R. Porter, of Indiana, as colonel, A.B. McLain was made adjutant, and the election for company officers resulted in Richard J. Espy being chosen captain; Charles McLain, first lieutenant, and Andrew J. Sparks, second lieutenant. On the same day that the regiment was organized, August 19, 1862, it left for Washington, and on reporting to General Wadsworth, in command of that department, was assigned to provost guard duty, being detailed in detachments in Washington and Georgetown. The field officers being assigned to special duty, such as president of general court martial; commandant of Capitol Hill and of the Soldiers’ Home, and in taking charge of the prisoners on their way for exchange between Washington and Aiken’s Landing. The regiment remained at Washington until February 16, 1863, though Colonel Porter made repeated application to have his regiment sent to the front, but without avail, until General Wadsworth joined the Army of the Potomac, when the scattered detachments were united, and the regiment proceeded to Belle Plain, where it was assigned to the First Brigade, Third Division, First Corps, Colonel Porter being for a time in command of the brigade. The regiment was engaged on picket and guard duty until the Chancellorsville campaign commenced, when it was moved, on the 28th of April, to Pollock Mills, on the Rappahannock River, near Fredericksburg. Shortly after dark Colonel Porter was ordered to move his regiment close to the bank of the river to support the batteries. On the following morning the enemy opened upon the One Hundred and Thirty-fifth, the fire being promptly and effectively returned; the regiment having three wounded, one of whom, E.H. Baum, was of Company B.
On the 2d of May the First Corps was ordered to Chancellorsville, where Hooker was engaged with the enemy, but the One Hundred and Thirty-fifth was left in support of the batteries. As soon as relieved it hastened to rejoin its brigade at the front, and was there thrown out to cover the front of the brigade, losing in the movement several prisoners. After this campaign closed the regiment returned to Belle Plain, where it remained until its term of service expired.
General Doubleday, commanding the Third Division of the First Corps, said of this regiment: "Colonel Porter has rendered very good service with his regiment in guarding the batteries along the Rappahannock engaged in covering the crossing of our troops below Fredericksburg. His men defended the guns against the enemy’s sharpshooters, and did good execution... The One Hundred and Thirty-fifth also covered the front of the First Brigade of my Division at the battle of Chancellorsville, and though not actively engaged, done all that was required of it."
Their term of enlistment having expired, the regiment returned to Harrisburg, where, on the 24th of May, 1863, it was mustered out of service. During its nine months’ service it lost eight men. From disease, Benjamin F. Bonham, George Diveler, James Flanders; Robert Gilmore, William F. Huffman, Daniel Reed, George W. Weckerly, William Whaling. Lee Forsythe died of injuries received in railroad accident near Washington. Miles Flack lost both legs in same accident.
COMPANY B, ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-FIFTH P.V.
Captain, Richard J. Espy; first lieutenant, Charles McLain; second lieutenant, Andrew J. Sparks; first sergeant, John A. McLain; sergeants, George W. Porter, E.H. Baum, Samuel M. Moore, George W. Sibley; corporals, Thomas S. McCreight, Thomas M. Myers, Samuel L. Allen, Hiram W. Clark, Alanson R. Felt, Robert W. Anderson, Daniel B. Porter, John A. Rishel; musician, William S. Lucas; privates, Robert Andrews, John W. Alford, Leonard Agnew, John Alcorn, Calvin Burns, Joseph Beer, Liberty Beer, Isaac H. Buzzard, Anson H. Bowdish, James Bennett, Jacob Booth, John Bonham, David Buchanan, Benjamin F. Bonham, George W. Corbin, John A. Cuzzens, G.W. Chamberlain, Sylvester Davis, Alonzo Dixon, George Diveler, Miles Flack, Lee Forsythe, James Flanders, Franklin Goodar, Samuel Gibbs, Ray Giles, Robert Gilmore, Elias J. Hettrick, Frederick Harvey, Nathaniel Harriger, William V. Heim, John Hettrick, James Hildreth, Nathan Hoig, George Haight, Wesley Haight, William Harris, Chauncey P. Harding, William F. Hoffman, Elias W. Jones, Cyrenus N. Jackson, Henry Keihl, Jacob S. Keihl, Othoniel Kelly, John L. Lucas, Louis Litzel, Julius Morey, James A. Myers, Abel L. Mathews, James E. Mitchell, G.S. Montgomery, Robert Miller, C.W. Morehead, James E. McCracken, F.B. McNaughton, William G. McMinn, Jonathan R. McFadden, Frank M. Robinson, Thomas V. Robinson, William A. Royer, Daniel Reed, Louis Riley, James T. Smith, Peter Spangler, Jeremiah B. Smith, Solomon Stahlman, David Stahlman, David Uplinger, Silas Whelpley, Joseph Woods, Orlando Wayland, George R. White, George S. Wallace, George W. Weckerly, William Whaling.
COMPANY E, AND I, ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT P.V.
The One Hundred and Forty-eighth Regiment was principally recruited in Centre county, and when ready to take the field, desiring that a Centre county soldier should command them, their choice fell upon James A. Beaver, of Bellefonte, Pa., who was then at the front with his regiment, the Forty-fifth Pennsylvania, of which he was lieutenant-colonel. Governor Curtin adding his petition to that of the officers of the new regiment, that he should become its commander, Colonel Beaver resigned from the Forty-fifth, and assumed command of the new regiment, which was designated as the One Hundred and Forty-eighth. The regiment was organized September 8, 1862, at Camp Curtin, with seven companies from Centre county, one from Clarion, two from Jefferson and Indiana. All of Company I and about half the men in Company E, were from Jefferson. The day following its organization the regiment was sent to guard the Northern Central Railroad, with headquarters at Cockeysville, Md. Here it was put under the most rigid and uniform rules of discipline, so that in less than three months after entering the service, some veteran officers who had just been released from rebel prisons, and were passing the well arranged and orderly camp, noticing the trim appearance of the pickets, and the guards at the colonel’s headquarters, wearing clean white gloves, burnished brasses and blackened shoes, called out to the men, "Are you regulars?" Colonel Beaver took great pride in the rapid progress of his regiment, and said of them at this time, "The men of this regiment are willing and of more than ordinary intelligence. I am satisfied that it can be made all that a regiment ought to be, if the officers are faithful." This prediction the subsequent history of the regiment proved. The discipline enforced embraced every phase of a soldier’s obligation. Though there was no immediate necessity apparent, the men were instructed in the duties of the outpost as well as the camp. Careful picket lines were maintained, and tested by the young colonel at all hours of the day and night. The most rigid rules of soldierly conduct were kindly but firmly enforced.
One of the best drilled companies in the regiment was Company I, and to Captain Marlin of that Company was the One Hundred and Forty-eighth in a great measure indebted for its efficiency in drill and discipline, for in him Colonel Beaver found an officer thoroughly posted in every detail of soldierly qualifications. Going as he did from the One Hundred and Fifth Pennsylvania, he carried with him the lessons learned in military tactics, in that rigid school of drill and discipline that Colonel McKnight established at Camp Jameson, during the winter of 1861-62, and which made the officers of that regiment excel in this respect. Colonel Marlin gives this severe and thorough training that he then received the credit for his success as an officer. He lent himself ardently to aid the colonel of the regiment in his efforts to make the One Hundred and Forty-eighth a regiment that would have done credit to the "Old Guards."
A good story is told of the obstacles which Colonel Beaver sometimes encountered in his desire to make a "crack" regiment out of the material gathered from the mountains of Pennsylvania. Standing one day near his headquarters, a sturdy German of the Clarion county company came shambling along toward him, with anything but a soldierly gait, and without a soldier’s bearing. Approaching the Colonel, without saluting, he said:
"Say, vere’s de old docther?"
"I don’t know. But who are you?" asked the Colonel.
"Vy, I been Switzer."
"Are you a soldier?" sternly demanded the Colonel, appreciating the comedy nature of the performance, but also realizing the necessity of giving the man a practical lesson in a soldier’s education.
"Oh, yah; I belong to the Hundred and Fordy-eigth."
"Ah, is that so," replied the Colonel. "You don’t appear like a soldier of that regiment. But if you are, let me show you how a member of that regiment addresses an officer. You stand here and be colonel for a moment, while I take your place as a private." The German citizen soldier eyed the colonel curiously as he walked away a few paces, wheeled about and approached him with a brisk, soldierly step, and military carriage. The substituted private addressed the suddenly commissioned officer and said;
"Colonel, can you tell me, sir, where I will find the surgeon of the regiment?"
"Mein Gott in Himmel, I doan no! I’m been lookin’ for him meinself for an hour."
The colonel’s dignity succumbed to the German’s reply, and he walked into his quarters to conceal a hearty laugh.
On the 7th of December the regiment was ordered to join the army of the Potomac, and assigned to the First Brigade, First Division of the Second Corps. The brigade was commanded by General Caldwell, while General Hancock was in command of the division. It went into camp near Falmouth, and again built winter quarters. The regiment was here employed on picket duty and active drill, and kept up its reputation for soldierly bearing and neatness, being several times during the winter complimented by General Hancock for its fine appearance on review.
General Walker in his history of the Second Corps, says of the first appearance of this regiment at the front:
"Three days after the First Division returned to camp (after the battle of Fredericksburg) it as the most depleted division, received a reinforcement in the One Hundred and Forty-eighth Pennsylvania, Colonel James A. Beaver, a regiment which was thereafter, through all the subsequent struggle to the glorious end, to be associated with the Second Corps, and never to be named without honor. The degree of discipline to which this new regiment of Pennsylvania troops had already, in four months of service, been brought by its accomplished commander, rendered it a conspicuous figure, whether among the camps of the division, on review, or in the field."
At Chancellorsville Companies E and I of the One Hundred and Forty-eighth were part of the celebrated skirmish line of Colonel Miles. Says General Walker: "Again and again did he (the enemy) advance into the slashing, and attempt to make his way over Miles’s resolute force; but in vain. Occupying a position of advantage, the Fifty-seventh, the Sixty-fourth and the Sixty-sixth New York, Second Delaware, and One Hundred and Forty-eighth Pennsylvania, every time beat off these attacks, and drove the assailants back to cover. The importance of this stiff holding of our line on the left could not at this crisis be over-estimated. Had McLaws been able to produce any impression, however slight, along the turnpike, he would have fearfully complicated the problem for the Union army. Called suddenly to face the irruption of Jackson’s three divisions, through its broken right, driving Howard’s beaten troops before him as the stones and beams of a ruined dam, separated trees, and the wreckage of a hundred houses are driven before the mountainous flood of waters. Fortunately while the good Third Corps with which was William Hays’s brigade of French’s division of the Second Corps, Pleasanton’s small but gallant cavalry force, and the guns of numerous batteries, were, with rare discipline and heroism, resisting this fearful onslaught, no cause for alarm existed on the left; even the line of battle was never for one moment allowed to become engaged; but Miles holding the enemy off at arm’s length, continued in his rifle-pits till night fell." Swinton in his "Potomac Campaigns" says of this brilliant exploit, "Amid much that is dastardly at Chancellorsville, the conduct of this young, but gallant and skillful officer, shines forth with a brilliant lustre." So delighted was Hancock at this splendid behavior of his skirmish line, that after one repulse of the enemy, he exclaimed to one of his aids, "Captain Parker ride down and tell Colonel Miles he is worth his weight in gold!"
"On Sunday morning when the One Hundred and Forty-eighth (four companies C, D, G, and H, while companies E and I were on the skirmish line of General Miles) was moving from the abatis where it had lain all night, General Hooker met it; ‘What regiment is this?’ he shouted. ‘The One Hundred and Forty-eighth Pennsylvania,’ said Colonel Beaver coming forward. With Meagher’s Irish Brigade, which had been away on detached service, General Hancock had put Colonel Beaver’s and the rest of Caldwell’s Brigade under General Hooker’s direct orders. A question more as to the brigade, and General Hooker turned to direct the regiment on its way. It was one of those rare moments when the commander of a great army picks up a single regiment and guides its movements. Filing out along the road leaving behind the advance line of the enemy, facing towards the new danger, the rebel shot from front and rear flying over their heads, the regiment followed Hooker’s white horse... Ten minutes of double quick and the regiment poured into a sloping, open field, which lost itself in a wood that crowned an elevation, from behind which were coming the puffs of rifle-shot and rings of artillery firing. ‘There is your work, Colonel, occupy that wood,’ said Hooker, pointing up the slope lying clean out of the Union lines, with the roads that led to a needed ford winding about it. ‘Hadn’t I better throw out a skirmish line, General?’ said Colonel Beaver as he looked at the distant point upon which he was ordered to fling his regiment. ‘Wait for nothing,’ said General Hooker, as he turned to seek another part of the field, ‘everything depends on holding those woods.’"**
Reaching the point indicated, Colonel Beaver found the woods swarming with rebels, with whom an engagement began at close range. Here, in the hottest of the fight, Colonel Beaver was severely, and it was at first thought, mortally wounded in the abdomen. After the fall of their colonel the regiment remained all day in the woods, swaying back and forth in the fierce fight, but holding the ground on which the safety of the retreating army lay until late in the day, when it was withdrawn after a heavy loss.
General Caldwell in his official report of this engagement says:
"Colonel Beaver of the One Hundred and Forty-eighth Pennsylvania Volunteers deserves the highest praise for the discipline and efficiency which he has secured in his regiment... He was unfortunately wounded severely at the first fire, and was borne from the field, before he could see the heroism of his men."
After this battle the regiment returned to camp, where it remained until the opening of the Gettysburg campaign, when it moved north with the rest of the army, and on the morning of the 2d of July the Second Corps which had been halted during the night by General Hancock, about three miles out, on the Taneytown road, reached Gettysburg, and was assigned to occupy Cemetery Hill, the left centre of the line. Lee was at this time hurling his forces against the Third Corps, which was heroically striving to beat him back, and an almost hand to hand conflict was taking place in the Peach orchard where Birney’s Division sustained the name that Kearney had given it. When these brave men of Sickles’s Corps were being beaten back by the combined forces of McLaws and Hood, when eleven Confederate batteries had been hurling death into the Union line and just as Barksdale’s Mississippians burst through Graham’s feeble line to drive out McGilvray’s artillery, and pour into the rear of the Union troops, Switzer’s and Tilton’s brigades of the Fifth Corps, who had been sent to assist Birney were thrown back and overwhelmed, and all seemed lost.
"But at this moment a powerful reinforcement is approaching the field. It is the division which Sumner organized at Camp California, in the winter of 1861, and which Richardson and Hancock had led into action - commanded this day by Caldwell. The scene of the contest is the wheat-field, so famous in the story of Gettysburg. This, and the woods on the south and west, are now full of the exulting enemy. Through this space charges the fiery Cross of the Fifth New Hampshire, with his well approved brigade (in which was the One Hundred and Forty-eighth.) It is his last battle. He has said it, as he exchanged greetings with Hancock on the way. (‘It is my last day. I’ll have a star or a coffin to-day!’) But he moves to his death with all the splendid enthusiasm that he displayed at Fair Oaks, Antietam, and Fredericksburg."***
By an error in deploying the One Hundred and Forty-eighth Regiment, Companies C and I were on the right and in the already well-contested wheat-field, the rest of the regiment extending into the woods and rocks towards the Devil’s Den, the Fifth New Hampshire on the extreme left of the brigade. Here was an opportunity to fully test the discipline and courage of the men engaged. The companies in the wheatfield fully exposed, while the enemy was protected by the stone-wall and rocks in the woods beyond the field. In this terrible engagement Company I lost twenty-six out of sixty-one men that it took into the fight, and was fortunate enough to capture quite a number of the enemy.
After the battle of Gettysburg the One Hundred and Forty-eighth took part in the pursuit of Lee, and after taking an important part in the Mine Run campaign, it went into winter quarters near Stevensburg, where it recruited its wasted ranks. The location of the camp was a pleasant and healthy one, and this season of inactivity was of great benefit to the men. The regiment was here kept up to its standard in drill and discipline.
In February important changes took place in the Army of the Potomac. The five corps which had fought so long side by side were to be consolidated into three, and to this end the First and Third were sacrificed. Whether this dismemberment of these brave organizations was for the best, it is not my province to here discuss. The bitter pangs of the soldiers of both these corps were hard to bear; but when the veterans of the First and Second Division of the Third Corps, the men commanded by the illustrious Kearney, and the gallant Hooker, were transferred to the Second Corps, they could not have fallen (if the change had to be made) into better hands, and they in the campaigns that were to follow added lustre to the laurels of that corps.
In this reorganization of the Second Corps, the One Hundred and Forty-eighth was assigned to the Fourth Brigade of the First Division, commanded by Colonel John R. Brooke, the Second Delaware, Fifty-third, One Hundred and Forty-fifth Pennsylvania and the Sixty-fourth and Sixty-sixth New York, comprising the other regiments in the brigade, General Barlow commanding the division. On the 22d of April the reinforced Second Corps was brought together to be reviewed by General Grant. Says Walker of this grand review, "More than twenty-five thousand men actually marched in review. The appearance and bearing of the troops was brilliant in the extreme; but among all the gallant regiments which passed the reviewing officer, two excited special admiration - the One Hundred and Forty-eighth Pennsylvania, Colonel Beaver from the old Second, and the Fortieth New York, Colonel Egan, from the former Third Corps."
On the evening of May 3d the regiment moved from camp and crossing the Rapidan at Ely’s Ford reached Chancellorsville on the 4th, the anniversary of their first hard fought battle. At an early hour on the following morning the column was put in motion, the One Hundred and Forty-eight acting as skirmishers and flankers, and reached the battle-field of the Wilderness in the evening. Lying upon the extreme left of the line the regiment shared but little of the fighting of the 5th and 6th. "When it was marching to the front, still fresh, though just off a nine hours’ march, the splendid condition and soldierly bearing of the regiment was noticed by a group of general officers, who had been watching the methodical drill of the gleaming bayonets, while the roar of battle could be plainly heard. When Colonel Beaver rode over to this group of officers General Gibbon, in command of two divisions of the Second Corps, said to him, ‘Colonel, I’d rather have that regiment in its splendid condition and command it, than occupy the position that I do.’(****) A flank movement of the enemy, which had commenced during the night, was continued during the day, and on the 9th the One Hundred and Forty-eighth advanced on the Spottsylvania road to the Po River, on the opposite side of which the enemy was found. Fording the stream the three right companies were deployed and advanced with three companies as support, and the remaining four as battalion reserve. The line advanced steadily in the face of a brisk fire from the enemy’s batteries, and drove him from his position. The battle which opened the next morning was renewed later in the day, and about 3 P.M. a strong line of the enemy appeared in front of the position occupied by the One Hundred and Forty-eighth, and its line of skirmishers were driven in with severe loss; but as the enemy emerged from the woods into the open ground they received such a well-directed fire from Company H, that they wavered, and a moment later Colonel Beaver ordered the entire line to open fire. The fighting lasted some time, and being unsupported, Colonel Beaver determined to withdraw his command. This was exceedingly difficult, as the near presence of the enemy and the burning woods through which he had to pass made it very dangerous; but by a masterly effort Colonel Beaver managed to bring off the regiment in safety, he being the last one to ford the river, which he did on foot, having given his horse to a lieutenant of his regiment who had lost a leg, and to whom death would have been certain if left in the burning woods. The faithful horse had been wounded before his master gave him up, and fell dead just as he reached the bank of the river with his maimed burden. In his report of this engagement General Hancock says:
"I feel that I cannot speak too highly of the bravery and soldierly conduct displayed by Brooke’s and Brown’s brigades on this occasion; attacked by an entire division of the enemy (Heth’s), they repeatedly beat him back, holding their ground with unyielding courage until they were ordered to withdraw, when they retired with such order and steadiness as to meet the highest praise."
General Brooke in his official report to General Hancock says:
"I would particularly mention Colonel James A. Beaver, One Hundred and Forty-eighth Pennsylvania Volunteers, whose regiment occupied the right of the line, and the most exposed position, for his great gallantry and the masterly manner in which he extricated his regiment from the burning woods, which were set on fire by some means during the action. During the latter part of this action this regiment had to contend with the enemy in front, and the burning timber in the rear, and at its close were compelled to retire through the fire to the opposite or left bank of the Po, no other path being left open."
On the 12th the regiment found itself in the front of the conflict at Spottsylvania, where it fought bravely. The troops of Barlow fought desperately in this engagement. General Walker says of them: "Tearing away the abatis with their hands, Miles’s and Brooke’s brigades sprang over the entrenchments, bayoneting the defenders or beating them down with clubbed muskets. Almost at the same instant Birney entered the works on his side and the salient was won." Company I here lost Lieutenant John A. Maguire, who was mortally wounded and died on the 15th. He was a brave young officer, and his death was deeply regretted by his comrades and by his many friends in Brookville, from which place he enlisted.
On the 3d of June, after taking part at North Anna and Tolopotomy, the regiment found itself at Cold Harbor, and with the division captured the enemy’s front line; but the division not being properly supported, was obliged to fall back a short distance, where it held its ground against every assault of the enemy. On the 15th moved to Petersburg and took an active part in the siege of that place, where on the evening of the 16th Colonel Beaver was severely wounded, in an advance of his brigade on the enemy’s works.
On the 21st of August the regiment returned from Deep Bottom, and was immediately hurried to the left of Warren on the Weldon Railroad, tearing up and destroying the road southward of Reams’s Station. The First and Second Divisions were engaged in this work until the morning of the 25th, when they were attacked by the enemy. The fighting was desperate. Again and again was the enemy repulsed; but the division had finally to withdraw before the overwhelming force brought against it. The loss in the regiment was very heavy. General Beaver, who had hurried to the field in an ambulance, not having entirely recovered from the wound received at Petersburg, June 16th, was just in the act of reviewing his front, when he was shot through the right leg and borne from the field disabled. This battle deprived the regiment of the leader which it loved, and the army of one of its best volunteer officers, but it probably saved to Pennsylvania her present able and honored executive, for had General Beaver been able to go into any more hard-fought fights, his bravery would most likely have cost him his life.
On the return of the regiment to Petersburg, it did duty at Forts Haskell and Steadman, and Battery No. 10.
By an order of the War Department, it was directed that one regiment in each division should be furnished with Spencer repeating rifles, and General Hancock designated the One Hundred and Forty-eighth to receive them on the part of the First Division.
During the winter the regiment was engaged in garrisoning Forts Sampson, Gregg and Cummings. When the spring campaign opened it participated in the action at Hatcher’s Run, March 25, 1865, and on the 31st at Adams’s farm. On the 2d of April it took part in the fight at Sutherland Station. Here they were deployed as skirmishers by General Miles and led the advance. With Captain Sutton of Company E in command of the right wing, and Captain Harper of the left, it moved steadily forward, and by a well-executed maneuvre, flanked the enemy’s works and opened a well-directed enfilading fire from the repeating rifles. This deadly fire threw the rebels into confusion, and an entire brigade laid down their arms and surrendered to the brigade. On the following day General Miles issued an order warmly commending the gallant conduct of the brigade, and stating the result of the charge to be seven hundred prisoners, two pieces of artillery, and two flags. On the 7th of April the regiment participated in the battle of Farmville, and the closing scenes of the war, after which it returned to Alexandria, and on the 3d of June, 1865, was mustered out of service.
Companies I and E took part in the following engagements in which their regiment was engaged: Auburn, Bristow, Mine Run, The Wilderness, Po River, Spottsylvania Court-House, North Anna, Tolopotomy, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, Deep Bottom, Strawberry Plains, Reams’s Station, Hatcher’s Run, Adams’s Farm, Sutherland Station, Farmville, and Appomattox.
Company I of the One Hundred and Forty-eighth was recruited by Captain Silas J. Marlin in July and August of 1862. This company was fortunate in having such an excellent and efficient officer to command it, and he was equally fortunate in securing such good material for his company. He remained with his company until July 28, 1863, when he was detailed as acting inspector general of the First Division of the Second Corps, which position he held until the close of the war, being on several occasions detailed as inspector of the Second Corps. During the time that he was thus detailed he served on the staffs of Generals Caldwell, Barlow, and Miles, and was actively engaged in every engagement in which his division participated, either in command of his company or on staff duty.
May 26, 1865, he was, by General Order No. 254 from the War Department, ordered to report for duty at Fortress Monroe, and was appointed by General Miles inspector during the first part of Jefferson Davis’s imprisonment at the fortress.
He was commissioned major of his regiment June 1, 1865, but being absent on detailed service was not mustered as such.
On the 27th of December Captain Marlin was brevetted a major of volunteers, by President Lincoln, "for gallant services at the battle of Reams’s Station, and in the present campaign before Richmond" to rank from December 2, 1864. And January 15, 1865, he was again brevetted a lieutenant-colonel of volunteers, "for gallantry and valuable services."
Governor Beaver says of Colonel Marlin: "He was a most capable, gallant and useful officer upon the staff, and was well entitled to all the honors which he received for the service."
General Walker says: "He was a cool, intelligent officer."
During Colonel Marlin’s absence from his company it was well and skillfully handled by Lieutenants Crane and Clark. The former was commissioned captain June 1, 1865.
Company E shared equally in the honors of the One Hundred and Forty-eighth with Company I. Captain Stewart resigning soon after it went out, the command devolved upon Captain Sutton of Indiana; but two of its most efficient and bravest officers were Lieutenants Clark and Sprankle, both of Jefferson county. Joseph E. Hall of Company I was on April 27, 1863, promoted from sergeant to sergeant-major of the regiment, and on August 2, to second lieutenant of Company I, and promoted to adjutant of the One Hundred and Eighty-third Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers September 7, 1864, a position he held until the muster out of his regiment, with great credit. An officer of the division said of him: "You cannot praise him too highly."
COMPANY E, ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT P.V.
The following were the Jefferson county men in Company E, One Hundred and Forty-eighth Pennsylvania Volunteers.
Captain Charles Stewart resigned September 25, 1863; first lieutenants, W.T. Clark, promoted November 15, 1863, discharged on surgeon’s certificate July 7, 1864; Peter D. Sprankle, promoted September 25, 1864; first sergeants, George Baughman, Levi C. Smith, Robert A. Travis; sergeants, Daniel W. Smith, Charles M. Law; corporals, Robert J. Crissman, John Milliron, E. Vincent Richards, James Shoppard, W.J. Postlethwait, John J. Shoffstall; musicians, David N. Henry, Johnston Hamilton; privates, John Boyer, Emanuel Bush, Peter Burkett, Isaac G. Cochran, Robert J. Crissman, Alexander R. Dunlap, Samuel P. Edwards, William Evans, David Gearheart, Samuel R. Gearheart, John M. Hartman, John C. Hoover, William Jordan, Benjamin F. Keck, Sampson Klingensmith, Daniel C. Law, Joseph H. Law, Joseph Long, John Milliron, William Milliron, George Miller, Andrew Minish, William S. Newcom, Josiah Postlethwait, William J. Postlethwait, Emanuel Raybuck, Henry Raybuck, Philip Sloppy, James L. Staggers, David Smith, John Snyder, Samuel Shilling, Joseph Shoffstall, Chambers O. Timblin, George Timblin, Philip Whitesell, Henry Young.
The following Jefferson county men in Company E were killed, died of wounds and disease, or were transferred to other organizations:
Killed - Sampson Klingensmith, Joseph H. Law, David Smith, Joseph Shoffstall, Philip Whitesell, Andrew Minish. Died - Samuel R. Gearheart, Joseph Long, William Milliron, William S. Newcom, William Postlethwait, George Timblin, Henry Young. Died in rebel prisons - E. Bush, Philip Sloppy, James Staggers, John Snyder. Transferred and promoted to Captain U.S.C.T. - Sergeant R.A. Travis. Transferred and promoted to Adjutant U.S.C.T. - George Miller. Transferred to V.R.C. - Samuel P. Edwards, William Evans, William Jordan, B.F. Keck.
COMPANY I, ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT P.V.
Captain, Silas J. Marlin; first lieutenants, John A. Maguire, Junius F. Grain; second lieutenants, Orlando H. Brown, Joseph L Hall, Frank W. Clark; first sergeant, Thomas W. Douglass; sergeants, Henry Carey, Shelumiel Swineford, Benjamin F. McGiffin, Jehial Vasbinder, Alexander McQuiston, William Davidson, Robert Kissinger, Edward Murphy; corporals, Jacob B. Rumbaugh, William H. Harley, John M. Davis, Lewis Diebler, Thomas McCullough, Alexander Douglass, Joseph Earnest, Harrison Catz, John M. Love, Russell S. Adams, Russell Weeks; musician, Joseph Arthurs; privates, George W. Anthony, William Acker, Philip Boyer, John S. Buzzard, Emery J. Barr, Hugh A. Barr, William H. Barr, William C. Boyd, John Banghart, Eli Bailey, Joseph W. Bowley, Jonathan L. Bitner, Philip S. Crate, Wallace Coon, James Cochran, Lewis Cobbs, Andrew Craft, Harvey Crispin, Isaac Corey, Andrew J. Clark, Josiah T. Crouch, Calvin Dixon, Isaiah S. Davis, John W. Demott, John Emmett, Alonzo Fowler, Daniel Ferringer, William M. Firman, Isaac J. Grenoble, Frederick Gilhousen, James J. Gailey, Orin Giles, James Garvin, Christ. C. Gearheart, Samuel K. Groh, Samuel Howard, Andrew Harp, Jacob S. Haugh, Augustus Haugh, Andrew J. Hagerty, Benjamin F. Hull, George Horner, David M. Hillis, John Howard, Manasses Kerr, Reuben Lyle, Harrison Long, Peter P. Love, Lyman E. Mapes, Jackson Moore, Thompson Moorhead, David Mattison, Stewart H. Moneer, Henry Mapes, Harrison Moore, James A. Murphy, James McMangle, Peter Nulf, Nelson P. O’Connor, Robert Omslaer, William J. Orr, William O’Connor, Edward Plyler, Samuel Ransom, David D. Rhodes, Harris Ransom, Eli Rhinehart, William Rodgers, James W. Rea, Lewis R. Stahlman, Peter Shannon, William H.H. Smith, Edward M. Sage, John H.H. Shuster, Samuel Shaw, John W. Smith, Theophilus Smith, Benjamin F. Scandrett, Richard Snyder, Jacob Snyder, John Stahlman, Joseph Y. Thompson, Samuel Fry, Robert M. Wadding, Joseph White, William White, William P. Woods Frank M. Whiteman.
The following members of Company I were killed, died of wounds or disease, or were transferred to other organizations:
Killed - Lieutenant, John McGuire; sergeant, Alexander McQuiston; privates, Andrew Craft, Daniel Ferringer, Andrew J. Hagerty, David D. Rhodes, Samuel Shaw. Died - Corporal Thomas McCullough, Emery J. Barr, William H. Barr, William C. Boyd, Harvey Crispin, Frederick Gilhousen, Jas. J. Gailey, Augustus Haugh, Harrison Long, Jackson Moore, Thompson Moorhead, Peter Nulf, William White, William J. Orr. Died in rebel prisons, Hugh A. Barr, Stewart H. Monteer, Harris Ransom, Lewis Diebler. The latter was shot by the prison guard at Salisbury, N.C. William Acker and Isaac J. Grenoble, though not "Jefferson county boys," were yet always identified with the company. Acker was mistaken for one of the enemy, and so badly wounded by one of his own regiment, while at work on one of the outpost rifle-pits at Cold Harbor, that he lost an arm, while Grenoble lost a leg at Po River. The following men were transferred: To adjutant One Hundred and Eighty-third Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, Lieutenant Joseph E. Hall; to Veteran Reserve Corps, Corporal John M. Love; Philip Boyer, John S. Buzzard, Eli Dailey, Josiah T. Crouch, Isaiah S. Davis, John W. Demott, Reuben Lyle, Harrison Moore, John W. Smith, Theophilus Smith, B.F. Scandrett, Richard Snyder, W.P. Woods. Transferred to Fifty-third Pennsylvania Volunteers, Peter P. Love, James A. Murphy, William O’Connor. To Signal Corps, James W. Rea.
COMPANY B, TWO HUNDRED AND ELEVENTH REGIMENT P.V.
Company B of the Two Hundred and Eleventh Pennsylvania Volunteers, was raised in Jefferson county. The regiment was organized at Camp Reynolds, Pittsburgh, September 16, 1864, for one year’s service. James H. Trimble was elected colonel, and Levi A. Dodd of Brookville, lieutenant-colonel. The regiment was sent immediately to the front, and on the 20th of September found itself in the entrenchments at Bermuda Hundred, where it was put in a provisional brigade of the Army of the James. Scarcely had it gained its position when it was ordered to mount the parapets, formed of sand-bags, in full view of the enemy, who at once opened upon them with his batteries, killing two men in Company F, with a single shell. The object in thus exposing this command, was to attract the attention of the enemy from the storming party which was about to move on Fort Harrison, which movement was successful. The picket line which the regiment was required to hold extended from the James River, on the right opposite Dutch Gap, through a dense pine wood to an open space, within which was the camp of the regiment. The line after leaving the river, ran nearly straight to this slashing, where it made an abrupt bend leaving the apex of the angle close to the enemy’s lines. The opposing pickets had always been on the most friendly terms, and a great many deserters from the enemy came into our lines at this point. General Pickett who was in command, determined to stop this wholesale desertion, and on the night of the 17th of November, quietly massing a body of picked men, suddenly burst upon the Union pickets, capturing over fifty before they could rally, or the regiment come to their aid. He built a strong redoubt at this point, and so strengthened his lines that General Grant deemed it inexpedient to try to retake the ground. This put an end to all intercourse between the pickets, and hostilities were actively kept up, and while the regiment remained on that line, the men were obliged to hug the breastworks or lie close to the bomb-proofs.
November 27 the Two Hundred and Eleventh, with other Pennsylvania regiments, with which it had been brigaded, was relieved by a brigade of colored troops, and ordered to join the Army of the Potomac on the south side of the Appomattox. These regiments were subsequently organized into the Second Brigade, Third Division of the Ninth Corps, to which General Hartranft was assigned. During the winter the regiment was thoroughly drilled, and though busy on the fortifications at Hatcher’s Run, and making occasional reconnoissances, was not actively engaged.
Before the opening of the spring campaign Colonel Trimble resigned, and Lieutenant-Colonel Dodd was promoted in his place. The regiment was in support of the Ninth Corps line, and occupied a place on the extreme left of the division. On the morning of March 25, 1865, the enemy broke this line, capturing Fort Steadman and a large number of prisoners of the Ninth Corps. The Two Hundred and Eleventh was quickly ordered forward. The colonel and major were absent, and the lieutenant-colonel sick in hospital, but Captain Coulter, upon whom the command devolved, promptly obeyed the order, reaching headquarters a little after 6 A.M. The regiment was at once formed on the high ground just in the rear of Fort Steadman. The rest of the brigade who were nearer the scene of the disaster had already checked the advance of the enemy, and were holding him at bay. General Hartranft, who had made the best possible disposition of the division, felt assured that the enemy could make no further advance, and that by a united assault the division could retake the works. He quickly formed his plan of attack - posting five regiments in the immediate front, held them ready for a dash upon the enemy who were crowding upon the fort and bomb-proofs. The Two Hundred and Eleventh on its elevated position was a mile away, but in full view of the enemy. It was a large regiment with full ranks, and General Hartranft’s plan was to put it in motion and draw the attention of the enemy and his artillery upon it. His other regiments could then charge upon and overpower the foe. General Hartranft expected to sacrifice this regiment, which he determined to lead in person, as the enemy could at once bring their guns to bear upon it; but to insure the victory of his division he was willing to share this peril. The regiment was therefore formed and put in motion, with nearly six hundred muskets in line, and moved gallantly forward; but the enemy at sight of the advance of this fine body of men, instead of meeting them with the fire of his batteries, as General Hartranft expected, began to waver, and when the combined force of the division rushed in, the fort, guns, arms, with many prisoners was captured with little opposition. Just as the order to move had been given, General Hartranft received orders from General Parke, commanding the Ninth Corps, to wait reinforcements from the Sixth Corps, which was on the way, before attempting to recapture the fort; but the order could not be safely recalled, and he was unable to obey orders, and dashing forward gained a brilliant victory. The regiment fully shared in this coup de main. The loss was only one killed and ten wounded.
On the night of the 30th the division was ordered to assault the rebel works, but this was deferred for some reason, until the morning of April 2d. At a little before midnight of the 1st the regiment joined the Two Hundred and Seventh Pennsylvania Volunteers, remaining quiet until half past three of the following morning, when it moved to the front, passing around the right of Fort Sedgwick, and was formed with the brigade, in column by regiments, the left resting on the Jerusalem plank road; the First Brigade formed in the same manner, just in the rear. A strong force of pioneers, armed with axes, from the leading brigade, under Lieutenant Alexander of the Two Hundred and Eleventh, was sent forward to open the way for the advance. The pioneers were closely followed by the division in close column, joined on the right and left by the other troops of the corps. Soon the pioneers attacked the abatis, and chevaux-de-frise with their axes, but with the first blows were met with a heavy fire of grape and cannister, doing fearful execution in their ranks; but closing up, they broke through the obstructions, and with the assistance of the troops who pressed close behind, soon had an opening made for the advance of the column, who rushed forward, up and into the forts, and soon the entire works were in their possession, with the enemy in full retreat, and the rebel main line of works from beyond the Jerusalem plank road on the left, to a point about four hundred yards to its right, was held by the division. Turning his own guns upon him, they dealt deadly havoc among the rebels. The enemy made repeated charges to regain their works, but every assault was repulsed; but the loss in our ranks was very heavy. In the Two Hundred and Eleventh four officers and seventeen men were killed, among them Lieutenant-Colonel Charles McLain, four officers and eighty-nine men wounded, and twenty-one missing, in all, a loss of one hundred and thirty-five. This was one of the most desperate, as well as one of the most successful assaults of the war.
During the following night the enemy quietly withdrew from the works, and evacuated the city, and retreated rapidly. General Hartranft’s division entered Petersburg the next morning with little opposition. The Two Hundred and Eleventh was at once sent forward to picket the banks of the Appomattox, where they found both railroad and foot bridges on fire. They were able to save the former and a portion of the latter. At noon the regiment was ordered back to camp. The war was now virtually at an end, and the regiment in charge of trains, moved along the South Side railroad, to Nottoway Court-House, where news of Lee’s surrender was received. Here it remained until the 20th, when it proceeded to City Point, where it embarked for Alexandria where it encamped until June 2, 1865, when it was mustered out of service.
In the less than nine months that it was out, the Two Hundred and Eleventh did gallant service and lost heavily. Company "B" lost in killed besides Captain McLain who had been promoted to lieutenant-colonel, but not mustered, killed - sergeant Joel Brown, Thomas Witherow, died of wounds and disease; John Bailey, Solomon F. Davis, Washington A. Prindle, Israel D. Smith, James W. Boyd. The latter died in the rebel prison at Salisbury, N.C.
Lieutenant-colonel Charles McLain first enlisted in the nine months service as first lieutenant of Company B, One Hundred and Thirty-fifth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, and when their time of enlistment expired, he again went out as captain of Company B (six months) Independent Battalion, July 23, 1863. Again feeling that his country still needed his services, he went once more to the front as captain of Company B, Two Hundred and Eleventh Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers. He served gallantly through all their campaigns, winning high encomiums of praise from his superior officers, and having the love and respect of his men, to whom he was a kind and faithful friend, until in the severe fight at Fort Steadman April 2, 1865, he was shot in the charge of his regiment, and instantly killed. He had been promoted to lieutenant-colonel of his regiment the day before he fell. When the news of his fall reached his home in Brookville, a meeting of the citizens was held April 13, and resolutions of respect and sorrow for the dead soldier, and condolence with his family, were passed, and a committee of soldiers appointed to take charge of his remains, and make arrangements for his funeral. On the 30th of April his body, which had been brought home by his brother, Mr. A.B. McLain, was laid to rest in the Brookville cemetery. Colonel McLain left a wife and three children to mourn his loss. Mrs. McLain, with his daughter Anna, and son Charles, reside in Brookville, his eldest daughter, Ella, dying a few years since.
June 1, 1864, the day before the Two Hundred and Eleventh was mustered out of service, the officers and men of the regiment presented to Colonel Levi A. Dodd, a splendid horse and equipments, as a token of the esteem and respect in which he was held by his command. The horse was a favorite one of General Hartranft, commanding the division, and with the equipments cost six hundred dollars.
JEFFERSON COUNTY MEN IN THE TWO HUNDRED AND ELEVENTH REGIMENT P.V.
Colonel, Levi A. Dodd, promoted from lieutenant-colonel April 4, 1865; adjutant, Herman F. Steck, promoted from first sergeant Company B, May 11, 1865.
Company B. - Captains, Charles McLain, Charles J. Wilson; first lieutenant, Milton H. McAninch; first sergeant, Thomas M. Myers; sergeants, John M. Alford, Anson H. Bowdish, Thomas P. Craven, William Hall, Thomas P. McCrea, Israel D. Smith, Joel Brown; corporals, Robert W. Anderson, James McMurtrie, Reuben K. Morey, Joseph A. Dempsey, Simon M. Denny, Milton Graham, Andrew Braden, Malachi Davis; musician, Peter Spangler; privates, Marvin Allen, James T. Alford, H.J. Baughman, Henry Bullers, Jeremiah Bowers, Fayette Bowdish, Henry J. Bruner, Calvin G. Burns, James W. Boyd, John Bailey, Alvin Clark, David W. Craft, Esekiel Dixon, Daniel Deeter, Charles Driscoll, Solomon F. Davis, Peter Emerick, Joshua F. Fisher, Russell M. Felt, Adam Foust, Lewis Gaup, Christ. C. Gearheart, David P. Gearheart, Justice Gage, Mathew Gayley, Hiram Hettrick, Jacob Hartman, Anthony M. Holden, Edward A. Holly, Joseph Ishman, Frank Kreitler, Thomas S. Kline, Thomas Lindemuth, J.S. Montgomery, Alexander Moore, James Mackey, Jesse B. Miller, Milton G. Miller, John K. McElroy, William G. McMinn, Henry McGinley, James O’Hara, George W. Paris, Henry Peters, James Penfield, Washington A. Prindle, Samuel C. Richards, William J. Riddle, Frederick Raywinkle, Lafayette Stahlman, Solomon Shoffner, Fulton Shoffner, George W. Shaffer, Lewis Swab, John Simmett, Warren Sibley, James M. Thompson, John Thomas, Madison A. Timblin, Frank Truman, George Walker, Joseph M. Wilson, William A. Watts, Jacob Weidner, Thomas M. Witherow.
COMPANIES B, AND C, TWO HUNDRED AND SIXTH REGIMENT, P.V.
The men for the Two Hundred and Sixth Regiment were principally recruited in the southern part of the county. The regiment was organized at Camp Reynolds, Pittsburgh, September 8, 1864, under Colonel Hugh J. Brady, a cousin of Captain Evans R. Brady. The field and line officers were all veterans, and nearly all the men had seen service. Soon after it was organized the regiment was sent to City Point, and assigned to the Army of the James. On the 4th of October, while engaged in building a fort near Dutch Gap, it was under the enemy’s guns, and had one man killed and several wounded. For this work the regiment was commended in a complimentary order, by the commander of the department, who ordered the works to be called Fort Brady.
On the 26th of October the regiment was ordered to report to General Terry, commanding the Tenth Corps, and assigned to the Third Brigade First Division, and soon after went into winter quarters near the line of works north of Fort Harrison, where the men were well drilled and disciplined.
By an order from the War Department of December 3, the Tenth and Eighteenth Corps were consolidated, and the Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth Corps formed from them. All the white troops were put in the Twenty-fourth. General Ord was put in command of the Army of the James.
When the army moved On the 27th of March, 1865, the Two Hundred and Sixth was detached and ordered to remain in camp, reporting to General Devens commanding the Third Division. This order was received with great disfavor by the regiment, and in response to the remonstrance against it, the following answer was returned from headquarters. "I am directed by General Foster to state that he regrets exceedingly that your command should have been ordered to remain. The order came from department headquarters, and the general did all in his power to have it revoked, but could not." The convalescents of the First Division were ordered to report to Colonel Brady, who was directed to organize and hold them in readiness to move.
On the 3d of April the troops in front of Richmond were ordered to advance, and it was soon discovered that the enemy had evacuated his works and fired the city, so that our troops marched in without opposition. On the 22d the regiment was relieved from General Devens’s command, and ordered to report to General F.T. Dent, military governor, who assigned it to provost duty in Richmond. A month later it returned to the brigade, of which Colonel Brady assumed command. The regiment was soon after sent to report to General Gregg, at Lynchburg, who assigned it to provost duty in that place. It remained here about two weeks, and then rejoined its division at Richmond. On the 26th as no further service being required of it, it was sent to Pittsburgh, and the term of service having expired was mustered out June 2, 1865. General Dandy in command of the brigade said of this regiment: "Under your gallant commander Colonel Hugh Brady, you were the first to enter Richmond, and to display in the capitol of traitors the Stars and Stripes of your country. Carry home with you, and bequeath it to your children, the red heart, the badge of the First Division. It is the symbol that will live when the present and succeeding generations have passed away."
MUSTER ROLL OF COMPANY B, TWO HUNDRED AND SIXTH P.V.
Captain, William Neal; first lieutenant, Henry C. Campbell; second lieutenant, Arr. Neal; first sergeant, Benjamin W. Reitz; sergeants, William A. Hadden, Thomas J. Cooper, John C. Cameron, Darius E. Blose; corporals, Benjamin T. Smyers, David G. Gourly, Charles Barry, David Neal, Joseph W. Long, Thomas R. Lamison, Jacob Keihl, Mitchell R. Lewis; privates, John D. Brown, Joshua Brink, James M. Bush, Lewis H. Bollinger, Abraham Bowman, Boaz D. Blose, William J. Bell, Eli Byerly, Peter Brunner, Philip Bush, Jacob Conrad, John Carr, Robert English, William Frampton, George Frampton, James S. Gray, John Grove, Daniel Gearheart, Enoch G. Gray, Eli Homer, Michael P. Hummel, Thomas M. Hawk, William Huffman, William L. Henry, Samuel S. Jordon, George Johnson, George M. Jordon, Elijah Kinsell, Thomas Kerr, Levi Kinsell, James E. Lewis, Jacob Lingenfetter, Robert F. Law, William M. Michaels, Thomas M. Marshall, William P. Morris, John Marsh, Harrison Marsh, Eli Miller, Robert W. McBrien, John E. McPherson, John W. Neal, Samuel H. Nolf, John C. Neal, T.J. Postlethwait, Samuel H. Parkhill, Michael Painter, David Painter, David Pierce, Isaac Postlethwait, John Pierce, Dallas M. Rishell, James O.S. Spencer, Gotleib Steiver, Thomas Spencer, Joseph T. Sparr, Peter Swaney, Isaac Smouse, David L. Smeyers, Philip Smeyers, Alfred Shaffer, William E. Simpson, David A. Thompson, George H. Torrance, John Varner, Benoni Williams, Samuel C. Williams, Thomas M. Williams, Charles C. Williams, William Weaver, George C. Wachob, John M. Whitesell, Jacob G. Zufall, George J. Zufall.
COMPANY C, TWO HUNDRED AND SIXTH P.V.
First sergeant, Charles M. Brewer; sergeant, William L. McQuowen; corporals, John McHenry, Thomas P. North; privates, Joseph Cary, Samuel Frampton, George S. Hennigh, John Hickox, Joseph Mauk, Joseph P. North, Michael Palmer, Henry C. Peffer, W.P. Postlethwait, John F. Pifer, David G. Pifer, Samuel Pearce, John Rinn, William Riddle, George W. Shorthill, Joseph Shields, David Stiver, Daniel Stiver, John F. Smith, William Sutter.
COMPANY E, TWO HUNDRED AND SIXTH P.V.
Sergeant, Benjamin F. Miller.
COMPANY F, TWO HUNDRED AND SIXTH P.V.
Private, Tobias Long.
COMPANY H, TWO HUNDRED AND SIXTH P.V.
Corporal, David S. Altman; privates, George F. Bowers, John H. Bowers, William H. Campbell, Henry Fritz, George S. Gailey, John H. Miller, Andrew Marsh, Samuel McNutt, John C. McNutt, Joseph McCracken, John St. Clair, John Wagner, Jacob Wagner.
* We have taken the principal part of the operations of the Sixty-seventh from "Bates’ History Pennsylvania Volunteers," volume 2.
** Burr’s "Life of Beaver."
*** Walker’s "History of the Second Corps."
(****) Burns "Life of Beaver."
Source: Page(s) 166-189, 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/)
Jefferson County Genealogy Project Notice:These electronic pages cannot be reproduced in any format, for any presentation, without prior written permission.