USA > Pennsylvania > The Seventh Pennsylvania veteran volunteer cavalry; its record, reminiscences and roster; with an appendix > Part 1
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REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 00824 9788
THE
Seventh Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteer Cavalry
IT'S
RECORD, REMINISCENCES
AND ROSTER
.
WITH AN APPENDIX
BY
WILLIAM B. SIPES
8973.7448 Si 7s
MINERS' JOURNAL PRINT POTTSVILLE, PA.
PREFACE
1212211
At the twenty-sixth annual Reunion of the Sev- enth Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteer Cavalry Asso- ciation held at Connellsville, Pennsylvania, on Octo- ber 6th, 1903, a committee was authorized to be ap- pointed to prepare a History and Roster of the Seventh Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteer Cavalry Regiment. The undersigned were appointed a publi- cation committee by President of the Association, H. D. Loveland, on February 18, 1904. At the twenty- seventh annual Reunion of the Association held at Milton, Pennsylvania, on October 25th, 1904, the Roster was presented in pamphlet form and accepted by the Association, and the committee was continued.
Early in 1905, the Publication Committee asked Colonel William B. Sipes, who had been authorized in 1861 by the Governor of Pennsylvania, Andrew G. Curtin, to recruit and organize the regiment, now living at Bath Beach, New York, to write the History of the Seventh Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteer Cav- alry. Colonel Sipes consented to undertake the writ- ing of the history and spent the summer of 1905 in work upon it. The Publication Committee and the President of the Association were in constant com- munication with Colonel Sipes during the summer and co-operated with him in advancing the work. On August 10, 1905, Colonel Sipes completed the work and placed it in the hands of the committee. On September 4, 1905, Colonel Sipes died suddenly of pneumonia. The following obituary notice of him was published :
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PREFACE
"Colonel William B. Sipes, of Bath Beach, "Brooklyn, New York, died at Phenix, Rhode Island, "the residence of his daughter, Mrs. Mabel Sipes "Spencer, on Monday, September 4, 1905, after a "brief illnes of pneumonia.
"Colonel Sipes was in 1860 editor of the Potts- "ville Register, a weekly Douglas Democratic pa- "per. In the war of 1861-65 he led a Company of "Infantry, as Captain, in the three months' service. "and later received authority from Governor Andrew "G. Curtin to raise a Regiment of Cavalry, the Sev- "enth Pennsylvania Cavalry, of which he gave the "Coloneley to General George C. Wynkoop, of Potts- "ville, himself taking the Lieutenant Coloneley. Upon "the retirement of Colonel Wynkoop, he became Colo- "nel of the Regiment. Upon the occasion of the re- "enlistment of the regiment in 1864, a banquet was "given its officers on March 3, 1864, at the Pennsyl- "vania Hall, in Pottsville, at which a handsome "sword was presented to Colonel Sipes by the ladies "of Pottsville.
"At the request of his comrades in the service, ".Joseph H. Denning, of St. Clair, John A. Opp, of "Plymouth, Penna., and Heber S. Thompson, of "Pottsville, Colonel Sipes has just completed the "writing of a history of the Seventh Pennsylvania "Cavalry, which is now in the hands of Mr. John A. "Opp, of Plymouth, Penna., the President of the Sey- "enth Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteer Cavalry or. "ganization, for revision preparatory to being sub- "mitted to General Stewart, the Adjutant General of "Pennsylvania, and the Commission appointed by an "Act of the Legislature to assist in securing the pub-
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PREFACE
"lication of histories of the State's Regiments serving "in the Civil War.
"Colonel Sipes suffered much from a rheumatic "affection during and since the war, but ably com. "manded the regiment in many of its most arduous "and active campaigns. He was a most capable and "efficient officer, kind hearted and courteous to all "and of bravery beyond question. In the celebrated "charge of the regiment at Shelbyville, Tennessee, on "the 27th of June, 1863, he led the charging column "upon a park of artillery posted in the open square "of the town, sabering the gunners, capturing four "pieces of artillery and almost capturing General "Wheeler, now the rehabilitated soldier of the Unit- "ed States, hero of the Spanish-American War and of "the Philippines, who only saved himself by leaping "his horse over the bank into the river. An illustra- "tion of this famous leap of General Wheeler was "published in Harper's Weekly during the Spanish- "American War in its issue of June 18, 1898."
At the twenty-eighth annual Reunion of the Sey- enth Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteer Cavalry Asso- ciation, held at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, October 24, 1905, the following resolution was unanimously adopted :
"Resolved : That the History of the 7th Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteer Cavalry Regiment, written by Col. William B. Sipes, with the sanction and authority of this, the Seventh Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteer Cavalry Association, presented herewith, to- gether with the complete Roster of the Regiment, completed to this date, is hereby approved and accepted.
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PREFACE
"Resolred : That the officers of this As- sociation and the Publication Committee are hereby authorized to present the same for approval to the Governor of the Common- wealth, the Adjutant General, and the Au- ditor General, and proceed with the publica- tion of the same."
JOHN A. OPP, President of the 7th Penna. Veteran Vol- unteer Cavalry Association.
FRANK R. HUTCHINSON,
Secretary.
The Publication Committee presents the History of the Regiment with a feeling of diffidence, which was shared also by its distinguished author, because of our consciousness that so much would necessarily be left untold. The regiment was large. At times companies, squadrons, and battalions, were detached with fields of operations distant from each other. Its period of service was almost four years. No one ob. server saw the whole of its service and no one histor ian could in so small a space relate the whole of its distinguished history.
JOSEPH H. DENNING, HEBER S. THOMPSON, JOHN MAGUIRE, WILLIAM J. MCQUADE, SAMUEL WAGNER, Publication Committee.
INTRODUCTION
More than forty years have passed away since the people of the United States were precipitated into a great civil war. To the generation now controlling the nation the cause of that terrible struggle is ob- seured by the lapse of time, and fairness to those who participatd in it demands that it be stated.
There was but one: the institution of human slavery. Discarded by seven of the States that had joined in the formation of a "more perfect Union," after the Revolution, it was retained by their six sis. ters of the South, who clung to it because of inherit- ance, and from motives of convenience and economy. They deemed it to be essential to their comfort, and necessary for their prosperity. They not only desired its perpetuation at home, but demanded as a right the privilege of carrying it with them into any terri- tory acquired by the Union where it could be profit. ably utilized.
Against this demand a strong and constantly growing sentiment in the Northern States protested. They declared that human slavery was a wrong against civilization and Christianity, that it was a "relic of barbarism," and a stain on the nation's hon- or. These sentiments first found expression in gov. ernment circles toward the middle of the last century. Henry Clay-"the Great Commoner"- succeeded in allaying the antagonies engendered at that time by carrying through Congress what is known as the "Missouri Compromise." But, like the ghost of Ban- quo. it would not down. It appeared in the shape of the "Wilmot Proviso," sought to be applied to the ter- ritory acquired from Mexico, after the war with that country. It took its place among the current litera- ture of the time in Mrs. Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin,"
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INTRODUCTION
and Helper's "Impending Crisis." It passed into axioms with Seward's declarations of a "higher law," and that the "Union could not exist, half slave and half free;" and it crystallized in the political text of Douglas's unanswerable "Popular Sovereignty" doctrine.
Southern political leaders met these antipathetic and denunciatory outbursts against an institution they cherished with equally strenuous language; and what was at first a mere divergence of opinion, be- came a cause of personal hatred and outrage. A Sen- ator of the nation was assaulted and cruelly beaten in the Capitol by a self-constituted Southern champion; and one of the most prominent statesmen of a slave- holding State boasted that the day would come when he would call the roll of his slaves at the base of the Bunker Hill monument.
Being preached as a crusade from pulpit, plat- form and hustings, by men like Beecher, Parker, Gar- rison, and Wade, hostility to the institution grow and strengthened in the North until it became a dom. inating principle, and in 1856 it overthrew the old Whig party, started into life the Republican party, and made a campaign for the Presidency with "Non- extension of Slavery" as its platform, and Fremont as its candidate. That year it failed of success at the polls, and Buchanan, the candidate of the Democratic party, was elected. Southern influence controlled the government during his administration ; the great par- ty that had elected him hopelessly split on Douglas' "Popular Sovereignty" doctrine; and the leaders in his Cabinet, such men as Howell Cobb and John B. Floyd, made themselves obnoxious by their avowed hostility to and contempt for Northern Anti-Slavery Sentiment. In the midst of this existing and grow- ing bitterness came another Presidential election, with four candidates, representing as many organizations in the field : Abraham Lincoln, nominated by the Re- publicans; Stephen A. Douglas, nominated by the
3
INTRODUCTION
Northern Democrats; John C. Breckenridge, nomi- nated by the Southern Democrats; and John Bell. nominated by the American (or Old Whig) party. When the result of that election was known, it was found that Lincoln had received 1,860,352 popular, and 180 electoral votes; Douglas had received 1,375,- 157 popular, and 12 electoral votes; Breckenridge had received 845,763 popular, and 72 electoral votes; and Bell had received 589,581 popular, and 39 electoral votes. As the total number of electoral votes was 303, Lincoln had a clear majority and was legally elected. But not a single Southern State had cast its vote for him, and the political leaders of that sec- tion refused to abide by the will of the majority, as it had been expressed at the polls, and some of them at once announced their determination to secede from the Union-in other words, destroy the government they could no longer control .*
In this act of treason, South Carolina took the lead. She called a State Convention for the avowed purpose of seceding, and on the 20th of December, 1860, this convention passed an ordinance "dissolving the Union now existing between South Carolina and other States, under the name of the United States of America." The convention also ordered a levy of troops, and prepared, as far as it could, for war. Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia and Louisi- ana followed the lead of South Carolina in January; and Texas passed a secession ordinance the first of February. On the fourth of February, 1861, a con- vention, called by these states, met in Montgomery, Alabama, and organized the government of the "Con-
*John Esten Cook, in his "Life of General R. E. Lee," says: "The expression used in this (Lee's) letter-though I recognize no necessity for this state of things'-conveys clearly the polit- ical sentiment of the writer. He did not regard the election of a Republican President, even by a strictly sectional vote, as sufficient ground for a dissolution of the Union. It may be ad- ded here that such, we believe, was the opinion of a large num- ber of Southern officers at that time."
4
INTRODUCTION
federate States of America," of which Jefferson Davis was inaugurated President on the 18th.
It will thus be seen that, in defiance of a decided majority of the people of the United States, without a word having been uttered, or a deed committed jus- tifying such action, seven States declared their deter. mination to destroy the Government established by the patriots of the Revolution, and to do this by acts of warfare.
During the seventy-four days preceding Lincoln's inauguration, in which the South was thus perpetrat- ing every act that could outrage and insult the peo- ple loyal to the Union, the North remained apathetic almost to the point of indifference. No steps were taken to secure the Forts, Arsenals, Navy Yards and other property belonging to the nation in the South- ern States; in silence it beheld Senators and Repre- sentatives in Congress bid farewell to their compa- triots, and, figuratively, shake the dust of the na- tion's Capitol from their feet as they departed to take a traitor's part in the most unjustifiable treason that the world ever witnessed. Apparently the Northern people could not realize that danger threatened the government they loved. They hoped the sober, second thought would bring their hot-headed brethren to see the error of their ways. But they were doomed to dis- appointment and to a terrible awakening. On the fourteenth of April, 1861, the rebel forces concentrat- ed at Charleston opened fire on Fort Sumter, in which was a small detachment of United States troops. commanded by Major Robert Anderson, and, after a continuous bombardment for thirty-six hours, com- pelled its surrender.
This utterly inexcusable act had been preceded, or was immediately followed, by similar deeds of ag. gression elsewhere. Every Fort and Navy Yard within the limits of the seceded States was seized and garrisoned by troops avowing allegiance to the newly
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INTRODUCTION
created Confederacy. Garrisons of Union soldiers were called upon to surrender, and the flag of the na- tion was hauled down with jeers. All these outrages were perpetrated or witnessed by crowds of citizens amid scenes of revelry and rejoicing. The leaders throughout the South seemed to think that the people of the North could not be roused to a condition of active resentment, no matter how grossly they might be insulted. President Buchanan had declared that there was no provision in the Constitution for coerc- ing a State, hence these Southern leaders could, with impunity, destroy the nation and create for them. selves a new one, the cornerstone of which would be the cherished institution of slavery.
At last they succeeded in awakening the slum- bering giant, and the men of the North soon made it apparent that their forbearance had reached its limit. Seventy-five thousand volunteers were called for to save the Union, and at once appeared in an- swer to the call. When the three months' service of these expired, two hundred thousand more were de- manded and were quickly found. So it continued until millions had responded; the rebellious aspira- tions of the secessionists were crushed, and the blot of slavery had disappeared forever from the face of the nation.
This book is intended to present the record of one regiment, among the many sent by Pennsylvania to save the Union. Its field of operations covered four Southern States, and extended from the Ohio river to the Gulf of Mexico. It participated in many battles and suffered many privations and hardships. The graves of its dead are strewn unmarked along by-roads, or gathered in the nation's carefully kept cemeteries. For more than four years it was in the field on active duty, and in all that time received nothing but praise from Commanders, under whom it served.
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INTRODUCTION
The author acknowledges indebtedness to "Minty and the Cavalry," a carefully prepared detail of cav- alry operations in Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, and North Carolina, written and published by Captain Joseph G. Vale, a distinguished officer of the Seventh Pennsylvania Cavalry; and to "The Pennsylvania Dragoons' Sabre Strokes in the War," by T. F. Dornblazer, a Sergeant in Company E, of the Seventh, who tells interestingly the operations of the command from the viewpoint of a Christian sol- dier in the ranks. He is likewise greatly indebted to the untiring help of Captain Heber S. Thompson, to J. A. Opp, Esq., President of the Regimental Asso- ciation of the Seventh, and to others, in whose mem- .ory the trials and triumphs of the regiment have been kept green.
HISTORY OF THE SEVENTH
RAISING THE REGIMENT.
Authority to raise a Regiment of Cavalry, at Harrisburg, was given by General Simon Cameron. Secretary of War, to William B. Sipes, on the 27th of August, 1861. The Government was then anxious to secure volunteers for three years' service, being convinced by experience that the war was to be waged, on the part of the Secessionists, with all the power they could control. It had been demonstrated that the three months' enlistments were, in a mili- tary sense, futile-that the time was too brief to make soldiers out of the best material-that it was a wasteful process, because nothing was gained for the expense incurred. What was required, if the Union was to be saved, were real soldiers-men trained in the school of war, who could endure hard. ships, encounter dangers, and give blow for blow. That plenty of such men existed had been demonstrated by the alacrity with which the call for seventy-five thousand volunteers had been filled, and an excess tendered in all the Northern States.
Mr. Sipes had no military experience beyond that gained in the three months' service, where he had served as Captain of a Company raised in Har- risburg, and attached to the Second Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. He, therefore, tendered the command of the regiment authorized, to General George C. Wynkoop, of Pottsville, who had for many years been prominent in the Pennsylvania Militia, and had, in the three months' service, filled the post of Brigadier General. This officer was ac- cepted, and without delay recruiting commenced. The rendezvous of the Regiment was fixed at Camp
2
RAISING THE REGIMENT
Cameron, near Harrisburg-a post established by the War Department and then in charge of a captain in the Regular Army. At a later period the regiment was turned over to the State authorities, and was completed as part of Pennsylvania's contingent, re- ceiving from Governor Curtin its number-Seventh of the Cavalry and Eightieth of the line-and the commissions of all its officers.
There was no difficulty then, or during the war, in securing volunteers for the regiment. Tenders of companies came in rapidly from all parts of the State, and it is certain that no other organization more comprehensively represented it. Companies A and F were raised in Schuylkill County; Company B in Lycoming and Tioga ; Company C in Tioga and Bradford ; Company D in Northumberland and Mon- tour; Company E in Clinton and Center; Company G in Chester; Company H in Montour and Luzerne; Company I in Dauphin; Company K in Cumberland ; Company L in Berks; and Company MI in Allegheny. As a rule the companies were recruited at the ex. pense of their officers, aided by the field officers of the regiment. No claim was ever made upon the Government for any charges, except transportation, and the maintenance and equipment of the men after they were in camp. The men were subjected to strict discipline from the time they arrived. As companies were formed, clothing and side arms were issued, and regular drills, in addition to instruction in guard and camp duties, enforced.
It is only just to say that the material compos- ing the rank and file of the regiment was, all things considered, of the best possible kind. All industries were represented; the physique of the men was su- perb, and the average of intelligence high. From start to finish they were soldiers, and no emergency ever found them lacking in soldierly attributes.
To illustrate the promptness evidenced by the
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RAISING THE REGIMENT
men of the North in responding to calls for soldiers to "Save the Union," it may be stated that, in twenty- four days, nine full companies-or in other words, over nine hundred men-were mustered into the ser- vice; that twenty days later, a tenth company was completed; and that on the 20th the two last com- panies required were mustered in, one with ranks filled to the maximum, and the other to the minimum strength required by army regulations. As organ- ized, the companies composing the regiment were officered as follows, the date of commission being giv- en :
Company A. Captain William H. Jennings, September 28th, 1861; First Lieutenant, Percy H. White, November 23rd, 1861; Second Lieutenant, John D. Jones, September 28th, 1861.
Company B. Captain John M. Essington, No- vember 14th, 1861; First Lieutenant, Amos B. Rhoades, November 14th, 1861; Second Lieutenant, Nathaniel B. Stevens, November 14th, 1861.
Company C. Captain Benjamin S. Dart, No- vember 1st, 1861; First Lieutenant John G. Hillier. November 1st, 1861; Second Lieutenant, Charles L. Greeno, November 1st, 1861.
Company D. Captain James Bryson, October 31st, 1861; First Lieutenant, Joseph Castles, Octo- ber 9th, 1861; Second Lieutenant, James S. Hender- son, October 31st, 1861.
Company E. Captain Israel B. Schaeffer, Octo ber 29th, 1861; First Lieutenant, John Leidy, Octo- ber 29th, 1861; Second Lieutenant Harvey H. Best. October 29th, 1861.
Company F. Captain Cyrus Newlin, October 25th, 1861; First Lieutenant, Heber S. Thompson, October 22nd, 1861; Second Lientenant, Bernard Reilly, Jr., November 11th, 1861.
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RAISING THE REGIMENT
Company G. Captain James F. Andress, No vember 11th, 1861; First Lieutenant, William Foote, October 1st, 1861; Second Lieutenant, James W. Childs, October 12th, 1861.
Company H. Captain Samuel Hibler, Novem- ber 30th, 1861; First. Lieutenant, William C. Garret; November 20th, 1861; Second Lieutenant, Shadrack Foley, November 30th, 1861.
Company I. Captain Charles C. Davis, Septem- ber 1st, 1861; First Lieutenant, John C. Fields, * December 21st, 1861; Second Lieutenant Henry H. Lutz, September 30th, 1861.
Company K. Captain David G. May, November 4th, 1861; First Lieutenant Joseph G. Vale, October 12th, 1861; Second Lieutenant, James G. Taylor, Oc- tober 12th, 1861.
Company L. Captain Charles C. McCormick, October 9th, 1861; First Lieutenant, John Umpleby. December 7th, 1861; Second Lieutenant, Albert Bech- tel, December 18th, 1861.
Company M. Captain Bartholomew Scanlan. August 4th, 1862; First Lieutenant, William Ein- stein, December 5th, 1861; Second Lieutenant, James L. Graham, December 5th, 1861.
The regiment as organized was officered as fol- lows; date of commissions given :
Colonel, George C. Wynkoop, August 21st. 1861.
Lieutenant Colonel, William B. Sipes, August 21, 1861.
Major, John E. Wynkoop, November 9th, 1861.
*Vale, in his sketch of the Regiment, says that John S. Wood, of Carlisle, was commissioned First Lieutenant of Com- pany I, September 1st, 1861, and mustered into service; that he was supplanted, without authority, by the muster-in of Lieuten- ant Fields, at Bardstown, Kentucky, February 28th, 1862; and that, in 1882, he was mustered out, to date from August 23rd, 1865, the date of the final discharge of the Regiment.
COL. GEORGE C. WYNKOOP.
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RAISING THE REGIMENT
Major, James J. Seibert, November 14th, 1861.
Majos, James Given, Decembeh 20th, 1861.
Adjutant, Richard F. Moson, November 5th. 1861.
Quartermaster, Thomas H. Rickert, September 28th, 1861.
Commissary, John B. Reed, November 14th 1861.
Surgeon, Alexnder M. Speer, November 14th, 1861.
Assistant Surgeon, John L. Sherk, November 4th, 1861.
Battalion Adjutant, William T. Allen, commis- sioned January 13th, 1862. Honorably discharged as an excess officer, September 9th, 1862.
Battalion Adjutant, Nicholas A. Wynkoop, com- missioned January 1st, 1862. Killed in action at Gallatin, Tennessee, August 21st, 1862.
Battalion Adjutant, James H. B. Warfield, com. missioned January 1st, 1862. Honorably discharged as an excess officer, September 3rd, 1862.
Battalion Quartermaster, William J. McQuade, appointed January 1st, 1862. Honorably discharged as an excess officer, May 23rd, 1863.
Battalion Quartermaster, John D. Burge, ap- pointed January 1st, 1862. Honorably discharged as an excess officer, May 12th, 1862.
Battalion Quartermaster, Richard H. Fisk, ap- pointed January 1st, 1862. (See Roster. )
Chaplain, Reuben A. Drake, commissioned Octo ber 10th, 1861. Resigned December 10th, 1862.
Sergeant Major, D. Webster Rank, appointed November 18th, 1861. Promoted to Second Lieuten- ant, Company B, November 1st, 1862.
Quartermaster Sergeant, Hugh B. Mooney, ap- pointed January 1st, 1862.
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GOING TO LOUISVILLE
Hospital Steward, William M. Irvin, appointed October 16th, 1861. Mustered out with regiment, August 23rd, 1865.
Chief Bugler, Joseph Ashman, appointed Jan- uary 1st, 1862. Deserted.
By the middle of December the regiment was ready for service, and was ordered by the War De- partment to Louisville to join the forces concentrat- ing there under General Don Carlos Buell. Horses, horse equipments and camp and garrison outfit, in- cluding wagons, were issued and forwarded, in charge of a detail, to Pittsburg. On the 18th a stand of col- ors was presented to the regiment, in the State Cap- itol grounds, by Governor Curtin. Unusual interest attended this ceremony because it was known that the regiment was to join the Army in the West, and it was the first to leave Harrisburg for that destina- tion. Negley's Brigade, composed of the 77th, 78th and 79th Pennsylvania Regiments of Infantry, which preceded it, having moved from Camp Wilkins, near Pittsburg, where they were organized. On the morning of the 19th the entire regiment departed by train for Pittsburg.
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