Bucktails!: The 13th Pennsylvania Reserves

Original flag of the 13 PA Reserves, lost during 1862 Peninsula Campaign

The 13th Pennsylvania Reserves, commonly referred to as the "Bucktails" for the distinct unit tradition of sticking bucktail's on their hats, were the first to engage Confederates defending the Frostown Gap as Union forces began the push to turn the Confederate left.

The creation of this regiment began not long after the firing upon Fort Sumter by Confederate forces on April 12, 1861. As soon as the day after the bombardment commenced, Thomas Kane, a prominent citizen in the northern section of the state and ardent abolitionist, wrote Pennsylvania Governor Andrew Curtin an offer to raise a company of cavalry.  His offer was accepted on April 15th only to be declined on the 16th and changed over to a request for only infantry. Immediately, Kane went to work recruiting his regiment.

Kane would set up his main recruiting station and headquarters in Smethport, Pennsylvania and sent numerous riders to outlying towns and neighboring counties to spread the word of his efforts.  His main recruiting tool was a broadside that he published for distribution:

Volunteer Rifles!

Marksmen wanted!

By authority of Governor Curtin, a company will be formed

this week of citizens of Mckean and Elk Counties,

who are prepared to take up arms immediately, to support

the Constitution of the United States and defend the 

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. I am authorized to accept at once

for service, any man who will bring with him to my 

headquarters a Rifle which he knows how to use. 

Come forward Americans, who are not degenerate from 

the spirit of '76. Come forward in time to save

the city of Washington from capture-- in time to save 

the flag of the Union there being humbled as it 

has been at Fort Sumter.

                                                                                   Thomas L. Kane

Thomas Kane

Kane would have three of companies gathered within a week of issuing his proclamation and it was during this time that the unit would adopt his distinctive insignia. The man credited with the idea, James Landregan, had enlisted in the "McKean County Rifles" and while walking by a butcher shop saw a deer hide and cut the tail off and fixed it to his hat. Colonel Kane noticed the tail on James hat and quickly adopted it has the units nickname and insignia with everyone in hearing distance quickly going to the butcher shop and fashioning tails for there own hats. The men organized by Kane in Smethport, took the oath required for the enlistment and began marching towards Cameron Station where it met another company, the "Cameron County Rifles" and together the two organizations continued the march towards Harrisburg where they would pick up another company, the "Elk County Rifles".  The three companies continued to Sackatt's Saw Mills where rafts were constructed and the three companies under the flag of the Union and a bucktail, the unit floated to Lock Haven where it encamped for the night. Kane and his three hundred and fifteen men then took the railroad to Harrisburg arriving in the city on May 4th. 

Upon arriving, the three companies found difficulty being accepted into service. The state of Pennsylvania quota for regiments to be supplied for service was changed numerous times but eventually it was settled that only 14 regiments would be required of the state.  Kane  and his men were organized and willing to serve but unable to because of a technicality. Eventually Kane received would that his men would be organized into the Seventeenth regiment but this was soon stopped after it was discovered that a regiment of that designation had already been organized and mustered in Philadelphia. Eventually, to take advantage of the massive numbers of men waiting to serve, Governor Curtin and the legislature passed the act creating the Pennsylvania Reserve Corps and placed it under command of Major General George McCall. It was decided that one of the regiments within this reserve corps would consist entirely of rifleman. With it being known that Thomas Kane had organized and fought hard for his three companies to be allowed to serve, several other independent rifle companies petitioned for their companies organized under Colonel Kane. 

Their request was granted and on June 12, 1861, the 13th Pennsylvania Reserves/1st Pennsylvania Rifles was born. Its organization and commanding officers are as follows:

Company A: Anderson Life Guards, Captain Phillip Holland

Company B: Morgan Rifles, Captain Langhorne Wister

Company C: Cameron Rifles, Captain John A. Elred

Company D: Raftman's Guards, Captain Roy Stone

Company E: Tioga Rifles, Captain Alanson Niles

Company F: Irish Infantry, Captain Dennis McGee

Company G: Elk Rifles, Captain Hugh McDonald

Company H: Wayne Independent Rifles, Captain Charles Taylor

Company I: McKean Rifles, Captain William Blanchard

Company K: Raftman's Rangers, Captain Edward Irvin

The regiment was mustered into service for three years and, in accordance with the law creating the reserve corps, elected the regimental officers. In the initial vote, Thomas Kane was elected as colonel, Charles Biddle as lieutenant colonel, and Roy Stone as major.  After being elected as the regiments first colonel, Kane felt obliged to resign his commission and requested the Lieutenant Colonel Biddle be given command of the regiment. His reasoning being that he had no prior military experience and Biddle was a Mexican War veteran. A second election was held with Biddle being named the new colonel and Kane being reduced to lieutenant colonel. In honor of their first commander and his unselfishness, the men of the regiment named their regiment the Kane Rifle Regiment. The regiment would begin its service defending the Mason-Dixon line before marching onward to Cumberland, Maryland to defend that place. 

The regiments first military action would take place was a sharp skirmish near New Creek, Virginia between about 80 men, under Lt. Colonel Kane, and a Confederate cavalry unit. After fending off the ambushing Confederates, Kane with 200 men was ordered to pursue the Confederates fighting another skirmish near Ridgeville, Virginia. After these skirmishes, the regiment was ordered to Harper's Ferry where it was temporarily assigned to the brigade of George H. Thomas in Nathanial Bank's valley army. Eventually the regiment would find itself back with the Reserve Corps in the second brigade under Brigadier General George Meade. 

The regiment would find itself marching into Virginia where again it would fight a sharp skirmish near Hunter's Mill. After this skirmish, Colonel Biddle resigned to take his place in Congress and command fell to Lt. Colonel Kane who would lead the regiment in its first major battle at Dranesville. 

Battle of Dranesville, VA

The were reports coming into Union lines that a Confederate foraging party was at Dranesville and Edward Ords brigade was ordered to drive off the Confederates and obtain supplies for himself. The bucktails were ordered to go on the expedition to further strengthen the Union thrust. Upon arriving at Dranesville, Ord deployed his artillery, cavalry, and two companies of the bucktails to guard the approaches to the town and the remainder of the bucktails were to occupy the Leesburg Pike and investigate the woods in their area of the line. As Kane's men advanced they captured a straggler and sent him to the rear just before receiving orders from Ord. Kane's reaction was to rise in the saddle and say "Foward ,Bucktails, there is fun ahead." His men broke into a run and slammed into a Confederate attack, first slowing the halting the advance in its track. The Confederates eventually fell back and Ord ordered a Union counterattack to push the Confederates from the field. Kane took position with his regiment and advanced. During this advance, Lieutenant Colonel Kane was struck in the face by bullet but his men pushed the Confederates from the field suffering two men killed and just over 20 wounded.  Lieutenant Colonel Kane would find himself in the hospital when the next election for colonel came about and in January, Hugh McNeil was name the new colonel of the regiment. Upon recovery, Kane would created a skirmish drill that was accepted by General McClellan and four companies were assigned for the new training and the regiment, now attached to the first brigade of reserves under John Reynolds, moved to Alexandria where it would await the coming campaign season. 

The regiment would be part of Irwin McDowell's First Corps that was to occupy Fredericksburg and then advance in support of McClellan on the Peninsula. Arriving near Fredericksburg at the end of April, the bucktails went into camp to await orders. At this time, Stonewall Jackson was creating havoc in the Shenandoah Valley and his daring campaign caused Lincoln to keep and then order McDowell's corps to cover Washington and sent troops to capture Jackson. At this time, the four companies assigned to Kane were ordered to remain behind while the remainder of the regiment was ordered to the Peninsula to reinforce McClellan's army. The main body of the regiment arrived on the Peninsula on June 11th. 

The four companies left behind under Kane were called Kane's Scouts and they covered the advance of James Shields Division in its pursuit of Jackson's confederates. Kane lead his men in several skirmishes but possibly most famous of these occurred on June 6th.  Reports came in that a New Jersey regiment had been ambushed and had left dead and wounded on the battlefield. Kane was ordered with one hundred men, to advance and gather the wounded and dead. As they advance, the stumbled upon a Confederate line of battle and a sharp fight ensued. Sending word back that he had found a large force of the enemy, Kane ordered his men to attack. The assault met initial success but the Confederates stubbornly held their ground. Kane was again wounded while leading his men but the momentous moment was to come. After being engaged for a time, a mortally wounded bucktail took notice of a Confederate officer encouraging his men and exposing himself to the fire. The Pennslyvanian, possibly taking his final shot, rose, took aim,and fired. The officer crumpled to the ground, the legendary Turner Ashby was dead.

 Kane remained in his position believing that he was going to be reinforced but after holding his ground, seeing no reinforcements coming, and seeing Confederate strength closing in, he ordered the retreat. Just after the order was given, Kane was captured by the confederates along with several others. The bucktails lost 52 killed, wounded, and captured in this fight...effectively ending their effectiveness as a fighting unit in the valley. The remnants of these four companies would fight at Cross Keys on June 8th, helping to save a battery that was in danger of being overrun.

While Kane and his contingent were fighting Jackson in the Shenandoah, the remainder of the regiment arrived on the Virginia Peninsula on June 11th with the Pennsylvania Reserve Division under George McCall. On the 12th, the division began its march towards Richmond, arriving at a point within thirteen miles of the Confederate capital. At this point, reports arrived that Confederate cavalry were raiding the rear areas of the Union army, the Bucktails took part in what would become an ineffective pursuit that only found the destruction that was left behind by the raiders. After some more marching, the regiment arrived at Mechanicsville on the 19th. Upon arriving at this point, the regiment went to work erecting fortifications. Unknown to them, their position, along with the that of the 5th Corps under Fitz John Porter, would be the focal point of a Confederate counter-offensive that would push McClellan's Grand Army away from Richmond.

On June 26th,  Confederate infantry began pressing advance Union positions near a vital crossing, Meadow Bridge, on the Chickahominy. Major Roy Stone, commanding the regiment, moved forward with his regiment as well as the 5th PA Reserves to the crossing site. When news came that Union cavalry were being pushed back near, Stone was ordered forward with three companies. Arriving at a crossroads, Stone deployed his three regiments and immediately, Confederate infantry appeared. Two volleys through the Rebels into confusion. The Confederates regrouped and eventually captured the Meadow Bridge, forcing the other three companies of the Bucktails and the 5th reserves back to the main line. The three companies at the crossroads were cut off from friendly forces and immediately came under intense pressure. A vicious fighting withdrawal by Captain Wister and his men of Company B allowed Wister's company to safely reach the main Union defensive line. Major Stone safely directed Company D back to the safety of the Union lines as well.

Captain Edward Irvin's Company K was not so fortunate. Captain Irvin refused to accepted reports and orders to fall back unless it came through official channels and by the time this step was taken it was too late, Company K was surrounded. Irvin attempted to breakthrough the growing rebel line but to no avail and has his company retreat deep into the swamp where they heard the sounds of fighting slowly move away. For the next week, while the two armies fought each other, Irvin lead his company through the swamps with the hope of reaching Fredericksburg. But by July 1st, not having eaten for a week and only gone 5 miles, Irvin and his company decided it was time and surrendered. Irvin and his men were marched to Richmond not as conquerors, but as prisoners.

The remaining five companies of the regiment fought desperately near Beaver Creek Dam and assist in the successive repulses of the Confederate attacks. Despite beating off the Confederates, Porter withdrew his blue-clad legions towards Gaines Mill, with the Bucktails survivors covering the withdrawal and destroy a bridge that would slow the Confederate advance. Successfully destroying the bridge,  Stone pulled his men back towards Gaines Mill but unknown to him, portions of Company E and D under Captain Niles were left behind and did not get across the bridge. Niles would resist in the swamps the Confederate advance and after several hours, he would order the surrender. The regimental flag was with Niles and his band of men. To avoid capture, the flag was hidden in the swamp. This flag (pictured at beginning of post) would eventually be found by Confederates and taken to Richmond where it would remain until its fall in 1865 when it was found in an attic. The toll of the fighting at and near Mechanicsville took a terrible toll on the regiment. Major Stone muster only 125 men when he arrived at Gaines Mill.  Stone would lead his regiment in the ensuing battle until its position became untenable and withdrew.  At Glendale, Stone's men would fight desperately being driven from the original position but not the field. Stone' s regiment would form a line, with remnants of several other regiments, that would hold the Union line together.

After several desperate fights, the Bucktails were reduced to the size of a small company. Fortunately, after briefly being under fire at Malvern Hill, Stone's men would be allowed to take cover under the cover of some bluffs to the rear of the hill.  The regiment retreated towards Harrison Landing with the rest of the army and went into camp there. The results of the campaign were staggering with the Bucktails losing nearly 250 men. Colonel McNeil joined the regiment at this point, having recovered from a bout of fever, and broke down when seeing the toll the regiment suffered.  The regiment would remain at Harrison's Landing refitting and reorganizing before leaving the Peninsula in the beginning of August. They were again leaving to reinforce a Union army, this one under John Pope.

The four company battalion under Lt. Colonel Kane was consolidated with all the forces that were in northern Virginia into what was called the Army of Virginia. Kane's Battalion was assigned to the headquarters detachment and Kane was back with the battalion following his parole. Kane's men would be responsible for the loss of General Pope's baggage but as a result of the action, Kane was promoted to Brigadier General. At Second Manassas, Kane would put his men into a position covering the Union retreat  while the rest of the Bucktails fought with Pope's main army and suffered in the disastrous results. The two entities of the regiment would reunite in Washington, D.C. just as Confederate forces began their advance into Maryland.

As the Confederates entered into Maryland, the revamped Army of the Potomac moved out of Washington and into western Maryland. During the march, John Reynolds was ordered to Pennsylvania to take command of the state militia and the new brigade commander for the Bucktails brigade was Truman Seymour.  The Bucktails marched through Frederick and then onto South Mountain where on the 14th, the sounds of battle could be heard. As part of the First Corps, they were ordered to the north and to turn the Confederate left. The 13th Reserves were deployed as skirmishers in a line nearly 300 strong. As they advance, the regiment came under fire from artillery and Confederate sharpshooters. Taking cover among the rocks and trees, the Bucktails began returning fire. Armed with Sharps rifles, the Confederates were quickly outmatched and a rapid advance drove the Confederates back to their main line of defense.  The advance continued with men spaced from two to twenty feet apart and the Confederates were in noticeably superior defensive positions and the 13th suffered dearly. At this point, the 11th Reserves came up in support and both units began pouring fire into the Confederates but were unable to dislodge them Seeing the stalemate that had occurred was sapping the regiment of strength, an officer  rallied the men and the advance picked up. Within moments the officer was wounded in the head and the sight caused the men to become enraged and quickly rushed forward gaining ground rapidly.  For Confederate fortunes, the coming of darkness saved the utter defeat from becoming worse.

Hugh McNeil

Following the fighting, the surviving Bucktails regrouped and marched in pursuit of the Confederates, who were beginning to take up positions outside the small hamlet of Sharpsburg. Arriving opposite the town near Antietam Creek, the men went into camp. The following morning, it was decided that the regiment as well as the entire First Corps of the army would cross the creek to find the Confederate flank and turn it. By four in the afternoon on September 16th, the First Corps was across the creek and the Bucktails were advancing in skirmish order in search of the Confederates.  After advancing a short distance, the men came under fire from Confederate pickets. Quickly, Colonel McNeil deployed the entire regiment and pushed back the opposing picket against the main line that was holding what would become known as the East Woods. The Bucktails came under fire from two Confederate batteries and the veterans of Hood's Texas Brigade under William T. Wofford. The skirmish escalated into a desperate fight for control of the woods. The Pennsylvanians advance gradually going prone within yards of the wood line when the Confederate fire became to intense. The advance continued advancing, if only one or two feet at a time. Eventually, Colonel McNeil, in an effort to force the issue, ordered his regiment to charge. Leading from the front, McNeil would be killed as his men advanced into the woods and gain control of the blood-soaked woodlot. The lose of their commander played heavy on the hearts of the Bucktails. McNeil's successor, Captain Dennis McGee wrote home that the army did not know a braver man then McNeil. The following day, the Bucktails were continue fighting for control of the woods but as the battle escalated, the 13th was pulled from the line to replenish their ammunition and get some rest. But, as the battle took on a nature of his own and cost both sides thousands of men, the Bucktails were again ordered forward but did not see any more significant action.

Following this intense campaign season of the summer and fall,  the Bucktails were just a shell of what they were. Regimental and company officers were all either killed or recovering from wounds with only three officers (two captains and the regimental adjutant) were left to command the regiment. In the enlisted ranks, only two full size companies could be muster out of the all the companies of the regiment. The state of the regiment, and the entire Pennsylvania Reserves, made it abundantly clear to Governor Curtin that his Reserve Corps needed to be given time to rest, refit, and recruit. He petitioned President Lincoln for the division to return to Harrisburg but received no reply. He then petitioned General McClellan directly but was declined when the commanding General found a need for the division. The Bucktails and the Reserve Division passed in review of President Lincoln during Lincoln's visit to the army at Sharpsburg. The regiment would lead the First Corps in the advance into Virginia eventually reaching the area around Warrenton.

At this juncture, George McClellan was relieved of command on November 7th and command given to Ambrose Burnside. The 13th Penn. Reserves, as part of the First Corps, were assigned one of Burnside's Grand Division's, in essence two corps armies within the main army, under William Franklin. The regiment remained in camp until the mid-December when it marched towards the main army massing at Fredericksburg since the middle of November. Arriving there on December 11th, the regiment remained in a state of readiness and was called to action when it was decided that the Reserves would spearhead the assault to carry the heights to the below Fredericksburg. The Bucktails were ordered to support the batteries that were to support the assault and as the assault began, General George Meade, commanding the division, personally ordered the regiment forward. Captain Charles Taylor, commanding the regiment, advanced the regiment into its place in line but diverted when a gap opened within the battleline. Filling the gap, Taylor lead the regiment into a plot of woods penetrating deep into the Confederate line. With two other regiments, the Bucktails pushed on, widening the penetration and losing men at everhttp://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3543108974337368957#editor/target=post;postID=6916533060755805566y step. The advance ground to a halt and came under intense fire from three sides, forcing a withdrawal. The successive brigades of the division advanced but were forced back. Eventually, with no reinforcements in sight and Confederate forces increasing pressure on his division, forced the him to fall back. The PA Reserves had broken the Confederate line but the breach could not be exploited. The Bucktails suffered over 150 casualties for their part in the assault.

Following the fighting at Fredericksburg, the Reserve Division took part in the infamous Mud March of January 1863. With the failure of this march, the Reserve Division, 13th Pennsylvania included, were ordered to the Washington defenses to recuperate and recruit to fill the decimated ranks. Remaining here, they would miss the fighting around Chancellorsville. During this time of relative inactivity, the 13th Pennsylvania Reserves reorganized and the colonelcy was given to Captain Taylor and other positions, regimental and company level, were filled as well.

When word reached Washington that Confederate forces were advancing into Maryland and into Pennsylvania, the regiments of the Reserve Corps petitioned to go to the defense of their home state. Two brigades were sent and the 13th Pennsylvania Reserves, marching with the First Brigade, marched into Pennsylvania. Arriving at Gettysburg on the second day of fighting, the Bucktails deployed as Confederate forces swarmed the Union line. After firing a few devastating volleys, Colonel Taylor lead his regiment in a vicious counterattack that pushed the Confederates from initial positions near  Little Round Top to the Wheatfield. The attack so disorganized the regiment that men fought with whatever unit was nearby. Several men found themselves engaged with Confederate sharpshooters in Devils Den and were finding difficulty forcing them out. Colonel Taylor, frustrated with the inactivity, stated he would bring up men to continue the advance. Moments later, he would fall, killed by one of those sharpshooters. Command fell to Major Ross Hartshorne, the lt. colonel being wounded in the charge. The Bucktails had taken up a position behind a stonewall, holding there until darkness fell. On July 3rd, the first brigade advanced following the repulse of the Confederate attack on the center, pushing Confederate forces out of the Wheatfield and Devils Den. In this final advance, the Bucktails captured the flag of the Fifteenth Georgia. Sergeant James Thompson of Company G would be awarded the medal of honor for capturing this flag. The regiment would participate in the pursuit following this battle and the campaign of maneuver  in the late summer and fall of 1863.

The following spring, as the new campaign season came about, the Bucktails would find themselves marching into the Wilderness in search of the Confederate army. They became engaged with their opponents near Parker's Store where they decimated a charging Confederate cavalry detachment. So intense was the fire, the Bucktails were using Spencer Rifles, that as one Confederate officer attempted to rally his men, one exclaimed, "Cavalry Hell! Cavalry don't carry knapsacks and wear bucktails!" The regiments reputation had preceded it. The regiment would participate in the ensuing battle suffered roughly 37 casualties. The regiment continued onto Spotsylvania Courthouse where after a savage and bloody fight that lasted two weeks, the regiment would suffer 81 casualties. The final casualties the regiment would suffer would be along the North Anna where 5 more names would be added to the rolls.

With the regiment pulled from the line for mustering out, those that re-enlisted were detailed to other Pennsylvania regiments and those that chose to go home did so. Just under 500 men were left from the original regiment and about half of these re-enlisted. Just over 200 returned to Harrisburg, arriving there on June 6th amid a torrent of support from its citizens. The regiment went into camp at Camp Curtin, where it entered service three years prior, and on June 13th, the regiment was mustered out of service (despite never being mustered in for US service). The discharges were made official on June 15th and the regiment's survivors bid farewell to comrades and began the long journey home.

13th PA Reserve Monument, Gettysburg

Through the course of the war, the regiment had roughly 1,100 men serve within its ranks and of these according to the regimental history lost 858 men killed, wounded, and missing through outs is term of service. For three years, the 13th Pennsylvania Reserves fought in 7 major campaigns as either an entire unit or detachments and became well known among their counterparts not only for their distinctive bucktails but also their marksmanship and while Pennsylvania Reserves are one of the most well know units raised by any northern state, the 13th Pennsylvania is arguably the most famous of the regiments from this division.

Sources:

Thomson, Osmon and William Rauch. History of the "Bucktails": Kane Rifle Regiment of Pennsylvania Reserve Corps (13th Pennsylvania Reserves, 42nd of the Line) William H. Rauch: 1906.

Company B, 1st PA Rifles. http://www.pabucktail.com/index.htm.

PA Capitol Preservation Committee.  13th PA Reserves flag image. [accessed 4/26/12]

Unknown author. Staff of the 13th PA Reserves. [accessed 4/30/12]

Civilwar.org. Battle of Dranesville [accessed 4/30/12]

Pabucktails.com. McGee Letter. From the Mauch Chunk Gazette  October 9, 1862 [accessed 5/2/12]

Steve Hawks. Stone Sentinals: 13th Pa Reserves Monument [accessed 5/2/12]

The Union Regiment: 27th New York Volunteer Infantry

National Flag of Company H, 27th New York

On September 14th, 1862, the 27th New York found itself in the thick of the fighting during the 6th Corps assault on Crampton's Gap outside of Burkittsville, Maryland. The regiment would be deployed as skirmishers and when the order came to charge, they were among the Union wave that swept up the mountain in the climactic twilight assault. The regiment would suffer 6 men killed and 27 wounded.





What would become the 27th New York was accepted into state service on May 21,1861 with  companies that were formed in late April and early May and were recruited as follows (location,recruiter):

Company A: White Plains, Captain Joseph J. Chambers
Company B:  Lyons, Captain Alexander D. Adams
Company C: Binghamton, Captain Joseph J. Bartlett
Company D: Binghamton, Captain Hiram C. Rogers
Company E: Rochester, Captain George G. Wanzer
Company F: Binghamton, Captain Peter Jay
Company G: Lima, Captain James Perkins
Company H: Mount Norris, Captain Charles E. Martin
Company I: Angelica, Captain Curtis C. Gardiner
Company K: Albion, Captain Henry L. Achilles, Jr.

Once these various companies were gathered at Elmira, New York, and election of officers was held and the elected officers were as follows:

Colonel: Henry W. Slocum
Lt. Colonel: Joseph J. Chambers
Major: Joseph J. Bartlett

With these elections, the State Military Board verified the elections and designated the new regiment the 27th New York Volunteer Infantry. The new recruits took the nickname "Union Regiment" because they had been recruited from various parts of the state and had by their own choice, regimented themselves with each other. The regiment would only remain in New York until the middle of July when it was ordered to Washington, D. C. where it was assigned to the 1st Brigade, 2nd Division in the Army of Northeastern Virginia and participated in the the First Battle of Bull Run where it was heavily engaged. Colonel Slocum would be wounded and Major Bartlett would take command of the regiment. When the day began going against the Union forces, Bartlett was ordered to retreat and go into line of battle a various points to cover the retreat of the defeat Union army. The regiment lost 130 men killed, wounded, and missing in their first fight.

Following the disaster at Bull Run, like the rest of the Union army around Washington, the 27th drilled and drilled. The army was also reorganized and christened the Army of the Potomac under Major General George McClellan, affectionately known to the men as Lil Mac. The 27th would find themselves in Brigadier General Heintzelman's brigade from August 4 to October 15 when they would become part of the the former commander, Henry Slocum's brigade in William Franklin's division. In the spring of 1862 they would become part of the 2nd brigade, under Slocum, of the 1st Division, 1st Corps of the Army of the Potomac. This assignment would last until May when the division was assigned to the 6th Corps. The regiment would remain in this assignment until May 1863.

When McClellan took his massive Army of the Potomac to the Virginia Peninsula in an attempt to capture Richmond on that front, the 27th New York found itself marching through the feverish land of the Virginia tidewater region. During the advance up the peninsula, the regiment would fight it skirmishes at West Point and near Mechanicsville at various points in May and at the beginning of June. During this campaign, the regiment would find itself in a brigade with the 5th Maine, 16th New York, and 96th Pennsylvania under command of Joseph Bartlett, who had risen to the rank of  colonel. When the Confederate Army, now under Robert E. Lee, lashed out of Richmond attacking McClellan's army in what would become the Seven Days' Battles, the 27th New York found itself in the thick of the fighting. Taking part in the actions at Gaines Mill, Glendale, and Malvern Hill, the regiment suffered heavily losing 162 men and officers in the week long fighting. McClellan would pull his army back to Harrison's Landing where it would lick its wounds and wait for its next call to action.

For the next few weeks, the 27th New York remained on the Peninsula suffering through the head of a Virginia summer. Unknown to these Union men, Robert E. Lee had quietly pulled his army back to Richmond and northward to combat John Pope's Army of Virginia that was ransacking the northern Virginia area. With the main theatre of operations changed, McClellan's massive army was useless on the peninsula and it began its trek back to Washington by water. The 27th left its camp on the peninsula on August 20th marching from Yorktown to Newport News where it arrived on August 21st. The next day the regiment embarked for its trip to Alexandria where it disembarked on August 25th. It was immediately ordered to picket duty. On the 28th, it marched to Fairfax then Centreville. The regiment would not actively participate in the Second Battle of Bull Run but it would assist in covering the retreating army back to Washington. It would go into camp on September 1st at Fort Lyon.

Over the next days, the 27th hunkered down in the defenses of Washington with the remainder of the Union army while upriver at Leesburg, Robert E. Lee decided now was the best time to invade Maryland and between the 4th and 7th of September, Lee's victorious army crossed the Potomac and lurched toward Frederick, Maryland. The 27th would remain at Fort Lyon until the 5th when it was ordered to march towards Washington. Breaking camp late in the evening, the 27th marched across the Long Bridge, through Washington and Georgetown before making camp on Georgetown Heights, a march of 15 miles. The next night the regiment would again march this time only 7 miles. It would then continue its marches passing Sugarloaf Mountain on the 12th where its members saw dead cavalryman from skirmishes fought just a few days earlier. The regiment would march until it arrived at Burkittsville on the morning of September 14th.

Upon arriving, the 96th Pennsylvania was ordered to advance on the town. It a strong skirmish line, the Confederate cavalry that was holding the town was forced back. The 27th along with the rest of Colonel Bartlett's brigade then moved through the town deploying in the fields just east in preperation for the assault on Crampton's. The attack began at about 4 o'clock in the evening and the 27th was deployed as skirmishers. From the history of the 27th:

"We were soon ordered forward, and in heavy marching order, at  double quick, deployed as skirmishers on an open plain, facing the mountain, the centre of the line following the road which crosses the mountain at this place, known as Crampton's Pass. As we advanced, the enemy opened on us  with artillery, stationed half-way up the mountain, and with a heavy volley of musketry from behind trees and rocks, and a stone wall at the foot of the mountain."

The 27th was supported 200 yards to the rear by 5th Maine and 16th New York. With the 27th coming under heavy fire, these two regiments rushed forward and the 27th reformed in line of battle and the fighting began in earnest.

"The skirmishers advanced splendid line till within thirty or forty rods of the wall, when we were ordered to rally, and give place to the line of battle that was coming in close behind us. One squad of the pickets took cover in a barn-yard, behind the sheds and outbuildings, where they kept up a lively and telling fire till the main line came up. Another squad of pickets, not hearing the order to rally, found themselves between the two lines of battle and were obliged to lie down . . . bullets cutting up the ground all around them. Others joined in the main line in the charge on the stone wall. As our men went over the wall, some of the rebels tried to retreat, and others threw down their arms and surrendered. On went our line, up the side of the steep mountain, so steep in many places that the men had to pull themselves up by taking hold of the bushes."

This was the climactic charge that captured Crampton's Gap. After breaking the second line that was forming at the gap itself, the battle was over. The frenzied charge was so successful that hundreds of Confederates were taken prisoner and several battle flags were captured. For its fight, the 27th lost only 33 men killed and wounded. The regiment would be given the gruesome task of burying the dead following this fight. When fighting began around Sharpsburg, the regiment was still on top of the mountain. Hearing the sounds of cannonading in the distance, the regiment began its march towards this new battlefield arriving in Keedysville before marching to the northern sector of the battlefield where it would go into line of battle in the infamous Cornfield. Gratefully, the regiment would not take a major part in the battle as the two foes had beaten themselves to death literally on the ground the New Yorkers occupied. On the 18th, the 27th remained in position awaiting what could possibly be a Confederate counterattack, one that never came. During the day an informal truce was declared so that the dead could be buried. The men of the 27th did their part and several could not eat and became sick because the bodies of those killed had decomposed so rapidly.

Following the repulse of Lee, the 27th marched towards Williamsport on the 20th of September to combat a suspected river crossing. No crossing was attempted and the regiment marched to Bakersville where it would go into camp until November when Ambrose Burnside replaced McClellan has the commander of the Army of the Potomac. Under Burnside, the 27th would be take part in the Fredericksburg Campaign but it would luckily find itself in reserve during the disastrous assaults on Marye's Heights. It's next military action would take place during the assault on Marye's Heights during the 2nd Battle of Fredericksburg where it would lose 19 men killed and wounded. With this final battle, the regiment would find itself returning to New York. Arriving in Elmira, the regiment was discharged from service on May 31, 1863.

Sources:


1. G.B. Fairchild. History of the 27th Regiment N.Y. Vols.: Being a ecord of its ore than two years of Service in the War for the Union, From May 21st, 1861 to May 31st, 1863. Binghamton, NY: Carl &Matthews printers.

2. 27th New York Infantry at New York State Military Museum

3. Flag Image found at NYSMM

They called them the "Stonewall Regiment"

Veterans of the 17th Michigan

The regiment had just been organized in Detroit, Michigan and arrived in Washington and were immediately attached to the brigade of Colonel Benjamin Christ in the First Division of the 9th Corps and ordered to march into western Maryland to drive out the rebel invader. Numbering nearly 1,000 men when the regiment arrived in Washington, little did they know that less than two weeks later, over half their number would become casualties.



William Withington

 Organized throughtout the summer of 1862, the different companies that would make up the regiment would be mustered into service throughout the month of August. It's commander would be Colonel William W. Withington, who would awarded the Medal of Honor in 1895 for actions performed during the Battle of First Bull Run. Withington's regiment would consist for Michigan men from Kalamazoo, Detroit, Battle Creek, Flint, and most of men enlisting in Company E would be from what is today Eastern Michigan University. Once the regiment was gathered at Detroit, it would be shipped to Washington on August 27, 1862. Arriving in Washington near the beginning of September, the regiment was assigned to Orlando Willcox's Division of the 9th Corps. The 17th Michigan, along with the rest of the 9th Corps, moved out of Washington on September 4th in search of Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia that is reportedly marching into Maryland.

The regiment arrived in Frederick on September 12 and pushed on toward Middletown, bivouacing about a mile outside of town on the night of the 13th. On the morning of the 14th, the 17th Michigan marched through Middletown and was deployed to advance on Turner's Gap, but due to the nature of the fighting at Fox's Gap, Withington was ordered to countermarch his regiment back up the National Pike and onto the Old Sharpsburg Road and to deploy on the right of the road in support of Asa M. Cook's battery that was going into position. As Cook's guns deployed and the 17th came up, James Bondurant's Confederate battery opened up on the mass of blue clad men, demoralizing and chasing the Union artilleryman from their guns. The men from Michigan, however, remained holding their position despite being under a severe artillery fire.




Last Muster of the 17th Michigan

 

Not long after going into position, the men heard the sharp rattle of musketry off to the left-front. The Confederates had come out and were attacking. Orders were issued for the regiment to advance across the open field in their front, silence the Confederate artillery, and take the rebel line in the flank. The guns they were to assault were supported by a small contingent of Confederate infantry. At about 4 o'clock, the regiment is ordered to advance, with the 45th Pennsylvania supporting the regiment on the left. Immediately, the Confederate infantry men and Bondurant's battery unleash a devastating fire on the Michigan men, wiping holes in the lines of the "rookie" regiment. But, with the coolness of veterans, they pushed on. They captured the stonewall behind which the Confederate infantryman were taking cover. George C. Gordon of the 24th Michigan, recalled a story from a friend in the 17th that when the Confederates would peek over the wall to take aim, the bullet from the guns of the 17th would immediately strike the man in the head, killing him. This incredible fire shows the furosity of  the assault by the 17th was.

With no infantry support, Bondurant's battery is forced from its position and Colonel Withington, seeing that his regiment had managed to position itself behind  the Confederate positions in the Old Sharpsburg Road, He orders his regiment to left wheel. The Confederates in the road are surprised to see the Union battleline advancing on their rear, many attempt to turn and fire. When the regiment is aligned, Colonel Withington gives the order to advance at charged bayonets. The bloodsoaked regiment advances to within  30 yards of the roadbed when the order to halt is given and a devastating volley is unleashed on the Confederates in the road bed. With each successive volley, the rebel line wavers before it is completely routed. What was a stand-up slugfest turns into rout with the Confederates in the road bed becoming easy targets for the Michiganders.

By 5 o'clock, the fight is practically over. The 17th Michigan men had accomplished their given assignment of silencing the Confederate battery that was raining a steady does of shot and shell into the Union masses. The regiment than took advantage of their newly won position and attacked the Confederates who were savagely defending the Old Sharpsburg Road. After a brief firefight around dusk, the 17th Michigan was relieved by  unit from Samuel Sturgis' division and the regiment was moved down the mountain for rest. The first fight for this regiment were a costly one, losing 27 men killed and 114 wounded of less than 500 actually engaged..

It was a heavy price to pay, but the regiment caught the attention of those units who witnessed it's fight. In their first combat, the regiment performed as if they were veterans. Reports of the regiments actions reached General Ambrose Burnside during the weeks that followed and during President Lincoln's visit to the army in October, according to recollections, the President visited the regiment and christened the regiment with the "Stonewall Regiment" nickname. The name stuck and for the rest of the war, the regiment was known as such. The regiment would go onto fight in some of the most severe engagements of the war at Antietam, Fredericksburg, the Siege of Vicksburg, The Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Siege of Petersburg, and Appomattox.

Sources:

Randall Valkenburgh in the ACW (Lincoln names regiment)

Jackson Districk Library (17th Michigan veterans photo)

Last Muster of the 17th Michigan (photo)

Regimental profile: 1st Pennsylvania Reserves

The men of the 1st Pennsylvania Reserves, one company seen above, played a vital role in helping capture the Frostown Gap and turning the Confederate flank forcing them to abandon the defensive positions to the North of Turner's Gap.

What would become the 1st Pennsylvania Reserves/30th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry was organized at Camp Wayne, outside of West Chester, Pennsylvania on June 9th, 1861. The men of the regiment elected R. Biddle Roberts, a lawyer from Pittsburgh, as colonel. Once organized, the regiment was paraded through the town of West Chester under the watchful eye of Pennsylvania Governor Andrew Curtin. The 1st Reserves remained in West Chester as the first, and hopefully the last, campaign to capture Richmond kicked off in mid-July. On July 20th, Roberts was ordered to have his regiment ready to move at a moments notice depending on the outcome of a pending battle along the banks of Bull Run near Manassas, Virginia. The next day, the order came to move with all speed to Harrisburg, after news was recieved by the War Department that the Irwin McDowell's army had been severely beaten by the rebels. Arriving in Harrisburg, the regiment immediately marched to Baltimore, Maryland arriving there late in the day on July 22nd.

An interesting incident occured when the regiment neared Baltimore. Warnings were issued from the local populace that certain unrest at the sight of Federal soldiers marching through the city would occur. Colonel Roberts was met by and even asked by the police force to not march through the city to avoid any violence that may occur. Roberts, prior to this unrest, had ordered some ammunition passed out to the men because of the violence that had occured the in April when Massachusett's infantry marched through the city and shooting erupted when civilians began throwing bricks and stones at the soldiers. The riot left four Massachusett's men dead and several civilians, Roberts was prepared for the worst. As the regiment began marching through the streets, the regiment was heckled by civilian's on the sidewalks and from windows above but no violence occured and the regiment arrived safely at Camp Carroll that evening. At Camp Carroll, the regiment was mustered into United States Service and immediately ordered to Annapolis, Maryland.

At Annapolis, the regiment set up base at the Naval Acadamy and several companies were posted along the approaches to the city to help stem the tide of southern aid from Baltimore. The regiment remained here until the end of August. After it's successful mission to stop the flow of medical supplies and spy communications from the area, the regiment was reassigned and ordered to join the Pennsylvania Reserve Division, in camp near Tenallytown, Maryland. It was placed in the brigade of John F. Reynolds. In October, the regiment marched with the division into Virginia for the first time and in December it made a reconnassaince towards Confederate positions at Dranesville, where it engaged in some skirmishing. Later in Decemeber, the regiment again marched towards Dranesville. Upon hearing the sounds of battle, Colonel Roberts rushed his brigade forward arriving on the battlefield as the battle concluded. The regiment returned to camp. In early January, Colonel Roberts was ordered to Washington and command of the regiment fell to Lieutenant Colonel Henry McIntire.

The regiment would remain in camp until early March when it was orderd to Alexandria, Virginia. It was here that Colonel Roberts returned after his duties in Washington were completed. After the colonels arrival, the regiment moved by rail to Manassas Junction and on towards the old battlefield where it encamped in the abandoned huts that Confederates had built. The next day, the regiment continued its march southward arriving at Fredericksburg with the First Corps under the command of Irwin McDowell. McDowell was to move to the support of McClellan's Army of the Potomac once it reached the outskirts of Richmond, forcing the Confederates to divide their already outnumbered army to deal with two threats. Unfortunately for Union military plans, Stonewall Jackson's Valley campaign pulled valuable troops away from the effort to capture Richmond. McDowell moved the Pennsylvania Reserves to the banks of the Rappahannock River to cover the city after two of his divisions were ordered to the Valley to deal with Jackson. Reynold's brigade, along with the First Reserves, was ordered across the river near the end of May. It would set up an advance position outside the city and act as a provost guard. The move did not last long with Reynold's being pulled back across the river just days after he had occupied Fredericksburg. The men of the regiment, having been in service for nearly a year, most certainly had to be itching for a fight. Unknown to them, that fight was just weeks away, at a place called Mechanicsville.


After spending the months of April and May 1862 holding the line along the Rappahannock, the 1st Pennsylyania Reserves, along with the rest of the Reserve Division, was ordered to board transport boats in a movement to the Virginia Peninsula to reinforce George B. McClellan's Army of the Potomac arriving on the Peninsula on June 11th. After performing guard duty near the main Union supply base, the regiment was ordered to march for Mechanicsville on June 18th. The regiment would be assigned to Fitz-John Porter's 5th Corps holding Union army's right flank. Unknown to the Pennsylvanian's, Confederate General Robert E. Lee had plans for this portion of McClellan's army. On June 26th, two Confederate divisions fiercely attacked Porter's line. The slaughter that ensued stuck with the minds of the men and Company K historian, Henry Minnigh, wrote, " I need not write up of this battle in full detail, for those who were there, remember well the onward rush of the enemy, and how two whole divisions of Gen'l Lee. . . at 3 p.m. threw themselves upon our line only to be hurled back amid great slaughter, how amid the shriek of shell and flashing musketry they still advanced, how our 58 caliber elongated balls now for the first time were sent on missions of death . . . how Craig Wisotskey fell, and in a few moments expired, one limb being literally torn from his body, when Hamilton and Siplinger were wounded and assisted from the field, how . . . the shades of night fell, putting and end to the fight."

The regiments fight at Mechanisville was brutal to say the least but it was just the beginning. They would fight again the next day at Gaines' Mill. The regiment moved to support the 5th New York, Duryea's Zouaves, taking up position just behind the battered New Yorker's. They would repulse each Confederate assault against their lines, only the lack of ammunition caused them to retreat. The would again be engaged at Glendale and Malvern Hill. The fighting of the past week and had been the first for this regiment and they proved the could stand their ground. For the remainder of July and most of August, the regiment remained on the peninsula before being transported back to Northern Virginia arriving August 20th at Aquia Creek. It marched to Warrenton where it was again attached to the Corps of Irwin McDowell, now part of John Pope's Army of Virginia. The First Reserves engaged at the Second Battle of Bull Run, but suffered rather light casualties compared to other regiments. Following the 2nd Union defeat on the battleground at Bull Run, the Union troops retreated back towards Washington hoping to reorganize.


While at Washington, the army was reorganized with the First Corps recieving a new commander, Major General Joseph Hooker, and it was again attached to McClellan's Army of the Potomac. When word was recieved that Confederate forces had entered Maryland, all haste was made to get on the move and push them back across the Potomac. The First Pennsylvania Reserves marched to Frederick, Maryland via Leesboro and New Market. The regiment arrived in Frederick on September 13th, just days after the Confederates had evacuated. The regiment made camp along the Monocacy River that night.


At 5 AM on the 14th, the First reserves were set in motion towards South Mountain. The men of the regiment knew that the Confederates were out there somewhere, they just did not realize that just miles in front of them, D.H. Hill's division awaited them. Arriving in the Middletown, Maryland roughly around noon, The First Reserves were given a brief rest. They were then ordered to the town of Bolivar then to turn North onto Mount Tabor Road to outflank the Confederate defenders at Turner's Gap from that direction. At about 3 o'clock, the regiment is deployed on the right flank of the Reserve Division with the 13th Reserves (1st Rifles) to the front as skirmishers and the 2nd Reserves to their right. The advance began at about 4 o'clock and by 5, the small skirmish became a general engagement. The fighting was chaotic with smokefilled woods, stonewalls, and the boulderstrewn terrain playing havoc with regimental cohesion. When the battle commenced, Colonel Roberts had only two companies of the regiment on the front with the remaining companies in reserve. When brigade commander Truman Seymour ordered and advance, Roberts called up the rest of his regiment and the advance became a Union titalwave. The Confederates were posted strongly behind a stonewall when Roberts began his climactic advance. Through sheer determination and courage, with men suffering heavily, the regiment pushed forward gaining the crest of the mountain ahead of the rest of the division and sending the Confederate defenders fleeing to the West.

An interesting event occured prior to the regiments fight within that ranks of Company K. Lieutenant John D. Sadler predicted, from a dream he had the previous night, that he would be killed. From the diary of Private William Jobe:

"Another incident of this campaign is the relation by Lieutenant John D. Sadler of a premonition to the writer of his death in the approaching fight. He declared that it had ben revealed to him in his sleep the night before that he would not survive the fight. I told him laughing that was only a revelation of a streak of superstition in a highly educated Gentleman and proved nothing. He replied you may call it what you like. But the fact remains, he was killed about five PM at South Mountain by the last volley fired by the Rebels."


The diarist continues describing the fight:


"Gen'l Seymour coming up just then ordered the Regt. to halt saying it had dont enough. Colonel Roberts was unable to get his horse to clear the fences so was not with us in the last charge. Lieut. Sadler had received a permit to call on a relative living in Middletown, Md, but rejoined the Company by the time we had formed line of battle at the foot of the mountain. A fine setter dog had followed him and the same rebel volley that killed Sadler, killed the setter and also the Regiments mascot, a spotted b---h that had followed the Regiment through everything previous to South Mountain. The Rebels occupied a position at the top of the Mountain and parallel with it after reaching the top and turning the Rebel flank the Regt. being on the right was temporatil thrown out of the fight. The Regts. on our left taking up the fight but a short time had elapsed when Genl. Seymour in command of 1st Brigade came riding back and asked Col. Roberts if his Regt. would charge the position held by the Rebels on our left. The Col. made no immediate reply but whipped out his sword and ordered the Regt. into line, wheeled it on center point facing the position indicated, alligned it then turned and saluting replied, ' Yes Genl, the will do it' and the Regt was orderd to march quicktime. When we reached the top of the elevation in our front a view was had of the whole field. The Rebels were posted in a ravine ahead in open fields. We were ordered to charge over fences, stone heaps, and other obstructions. The Rebs fled to their right up a 45% grade and reformed at the top while our advance was over open ground. We advanced perhaps half the distance between the lines when the first volley struck us full in the face. Many of our men went down to rise no more. In ten minutes we were on them. They stood for a short time when they again broke and retreated but they paid dearly for their last stand."


The First Reserves help plow the way for Union victory to the north of Turner's Gap. Only darkness and the terrain kept the First Reserves and the rest of the division from sweeping down and capturing Turner's Gap and initiating a disaster that the Confederacy could never possibly recover from. That night, the First Reserves slept on the arms believing that the conflict would be continued in the morning.

On the morning of the 15th, the Reserves policed the battlefield over which they fought. Private Jobe counted four officers killed, three wounded, and 21 enlisted men killed and wounded. The regiment marched off the mountain later in the morning and arrived outside Keedysville, Maryland later in the day where the regiment bivouaced and recieved much needed supplies. On the 16th, the regiment crossed the Antietam Creek and formed line of battle near the East Woods and skirmished with a large body of Confederate soldiers. The skirmish lasted til darkness and forshadowed the bloodshed that would ensue on the following day. On the 17th, these men would face the bloodbath that was the Cornfield at Antietam.


Following the Battle of Antietam, the regiment remained in the area until the 22nd when it was order to Harper's Ferry then Berlin, Maryland, recrossing the Potomac at the spot and encamping near Hamilton, Virginia. It was here that the regiment lost it's beloved colonel. Governor Curtin requested to McClellan that Colonel Roberts resignation be granted so that the colonel could return to the state capital and serve on the governor's staff. McClellan granted the request and command of the regiment was given to William Talley, who was promoted to colonel after serving as captain of Company F. The regiment continued marching southward when at Warrenton, it recieved word that McClellan had been relieved of command and Ambrose Burnside was given command of the army. It was under Burnside, that the regiment would suffer heavily at the Battle of Fredericksburg where it would be part of the force that punched a gaping hole in Stonewall Jackson's defenses on the Confederate right before it was forced to withdraw do to lack of support and overwhelming pressure from a Confederate counter-attack. The regiment would remain on the field for the next two days before being withdrawn back across the Rappahannock. The regiment would participate in Burnside's infamous "Mud March" before being deployed along the Orange and Alexandria near Fairfax, Virginia to protect the railroad and supplies from Confederate raiding parties. As a result of this deployment, the regiment missed the Battle of Chancellorsville.


When Lee again pushed his Confederate troops northward across the Potomac, the First Regiment, broke camp, joining the rest of the Army of the Potomac as it pursued Lee through Maryland and into Pennsylvania. The First Reserves marched as part of the 5th Corps under the command of General Meade, who had lead the division at South Mountain and Antietam. As the army moved northward from Frederick, General Joseph Hooker was relieved of command of the army and the command was given to Meade. Meade was an unknown to the rest of the army but to the Reserve Corps, he was well known and was seen as a fighter. The Pennsylvania Reserves marched into Pennsylvania aware that for the first time they would be fighting on their native soil and the coming fight could decide the future of the nation.


At the Battle of Gettysburg, Company K of the First Reserves were literally fighting for their homes and land. The regiment arrived at Gettysburg on July 2nd and Henry Minnigh of the company recalled, "As we neared Gettysburg, in a number of instances we passed the homes of relatives and friends, but with the meerest greeting, the boys kept their places in the ranks. Reaching the summit of the hill east of the town, members of the company, with few exceptions, could see their homes, in the village before them, in the immediate vicinity or in the distance, and all of them within the lines of the enemy." This circumstance added an extra fury to the fight that was to come for the men of this company.


When the regiment arrived at Gettysburg, they bivouaced along the Baltimore Pike before being shifted to the endangered Union left when Confederate forces overwhelmed Daniel Sickles 3rd Corps. When the Reserve Division deployed, the First Reserves were deployed on the frontline of Colonel William McClandless' Brigade as it pushed from a position near Little Round Top and through the Wheat Field, pushing back the advance of Confederate regiments in that sector of the field. It would hold its line at a stonewall, remaining in position for the remainder of the day. The Reserves, according to one memoir written by John Urban, had saved Little Round Top with its desperate charge and was credited with killing Brigadier General William Barksdale as he attempted to rally his battered and disorganized brigade of Mississippians. On July 3rd, the regiment remained in position behind a stonewall bordering the wheat field and when the Confederate assualt against the Union center was repulsed, it was ordered to advance to clear the fields and woods to their front of any Confederate forces. The mission was undertaken and rather successful as reported by Colonel McClandless, "Having cleared the woods to the front and finding a line of the enemy in the woods to my left, I faced my command . . . and charged the enemy directly on the left flank, routing him, capturing nearly 200 prisoners [and] also a stand of colors." After the battle, the First Regiment encamped near its original position and several of the men from Company K, as stated earlier the company was recruited in Gettysburg, visited their homes with or without leave, according to Minnigh. The regiment joined in the pursuit of the Confederates as they retreated back towards Virginia, but another pitched battle was not to be. For the remainder of the year, the regiment skirmished with Confederate forces as the Union army returned to Virginia and winter set in.

When Spring 1864 came along, the regiment was about to embark on a venture that would see some of the most desperate and bloody fighting of the entire war. At the Wilderness, the regiment would be in the center of the Union line, which possibly saved it from some of the bloodiest fighting to occur there. The regiment a numerous occasions made reconnassainces in force to there front but nothing of great consequence occured other than some rather heavy skirmishing. When the fighting ceased in the wood thickets, each army licked its wounds and General Ullysses Grant, accompanying Meade as the overall commander of the Union armies, ordered the Army of the Potomac to continue southward. The two would collide again at Spotsylvania Courthouse and as skirmishing began for control of the crossroads, brigade commander Colonel McClandess was wounded and Colonel Talley of the First was elevated to brigade command and Lieutenant Colonel Stewart took command of the regiment. Colonel Talley would be captured by rebel forces during these opening clashes and sent to Libby Prison in Richmond. The two armies would remain in contact at Spotsylvania for most of May before Grant again moved the army southward.

As the armies came to the North Anna River, the first regiment was thrown across and the regiment was ordered to barricade a road near Bethesda Church to prevent any surprises from the Confederates. The regiment erected their breastworks and the men of Company K decided to rest since this would be their first reprieve from marching and fighting for nearly a month. When the men awoke from their slumber, they were startled by musket fire on either side and they discovered the regiment and brigade had abandoned them. The company ran pell-mell back to friendly lines, narrowly avoiding capture. The regiment again threw up a new barricade and awaited the advance of the Confederates. It would not be long, as Captain Minnigh states:

"The Brigade now took up a new position . . . and awaited the advance of the enemy, which was soon seen, in a well dressed battle line, emerging from the cover of the woods. . . . Orders were given not to fire until the enemy reached . . . an old fence half-way across the open space between us. We never saw a so deliberate advance by the enemy, in all our three years experience, as this was. Brave speciments of American soldier . . . conciously facing death, they came on. Two sections of . . . a battery, one on the right the other on the left, with enfilading fire, opened on them, then the infantry added their missiles of destruction; they come on no further, a few turn and flee to cover of the woods, the firing ceases and an advance is ordered, when the only enemy we find are the torn and shapeless forms, that literally cover the ground. . . ."

The fighting along the North Anna River would be the last for the First Pennsylvania Reserves. On June 1st, the regiment was ordered to return by way of Washington, D.C. and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to report to Philadelphia to be mustered out. The regiment arrived there on June 13th and were officially mustered out to return to their homes to fight no more.

The First Pennsylvania Reserves fought in many of the battles that occured in the Eastern Theatre of the Civil War from the Penisular Campaign to the Overland Campaign. Through the course of its service, the regiment had roughly 1,100 men serve within its ranks and lost nearly 600 in the course of its service in killed, wounded, missing, and due to disease. At South Mountain, the regiment helped bring about a Confederate rout and nearly win a major Union victory that could have possibly ended the war on September 14, 1862 with the capture of Lee and what parts of his army that were in Maryland.

Sources:

Henry N. Minnigh. History of Company K, 1st Pennsylvania Reserves. Duncansville, PA: Thomas Publications, 1891.

Unknown. 1st Pennsylvania Reserves/30th Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers.
www.pa-roots.com/pacw/reserves/1stres/1stresorg.html

John W. Urban. My Experiences Mid Shot and Shell and in Rebel den. Lancaster, PA: Hubbard Brothers, 1882.

Hawks Interactive. First Pennsylvania Reserves. www.gettysburg.stonestentinals.com/Pa/1PaRes.php

William Jobe. Recollections & Reminiscences of a soldier of the Union in the War of the Rebellion of 1861 to 1865. (Courtest of the Adams County Historical Society)

Battery B, 4th US Artillery at South Mountain

Just days before the Battle of Antietam where this famous battery suffered heavily during the conflict that raged through the Bloody Cornfield, Battery B, 4th United States Artillery took part in the assault on Turner's Gap by the Iron Brigade up the National Pike against the Confederate brigade of Alfred Colquitt.

In the late afternoon as the brigade of General John Gibbon was moving forward to dislodge the Colquitt's brigade, a section of the battery under the command of Lieutenant James Stewart was unlimbered and went into action just behind the line of the 19th Indiana and 7th Wisconsin. The guns began firing upon the Confederate skirmish line that was making the advance of the Westerner's rather difficult. There was a house located just to the left of the National Pike that was within the line of advance of Gibbon's men. Some Confederate sharpshooters had taken up residence in the upper story of the home and was pouring a rather deadly fire into the 19th Indiana. The colonel of this regiment, Solomon Meredith, called for support from Stewart's two guns to fire on the house. The detachment sent three rounds in the direction of the home, sending one through the second level, forcing the Confederates out. The section of guns moved up the pike as Gibbon's men pushed back Colquitt's regiments. The section engaged the Confederate batteries stationed on the heights around Turner's Gap. The fighting died down a few hours after nightfall. Stewart, in the words of General Gibbon, used his guns with "good judgement, solid effect" upon the Confederates in the fight.

Lieutenant Stewart's section was relieved that night by the remaining guns of Battery B, but Stewart put up a strong defense to keep his guns in position but he and his section were relieved and sent to the rear. The fight at Turner's Gap by Stewart was rather brief and but his sections fight would be the first time Battery B took the field in the Maryland Campaign.

Lieutenant Stewart and Battery B would go on to glory at Antietam where the battery would lose heavily and Stewart would come out in command of the entire battery. The battery would continue serving alongside what became the "Iron Brigade" and was there on the fateful day in July 1863 when the brigade was practically destroyed in it's stand against determined Confederates along Seminary Ridge outside of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.