USA > Pennsylvania > Delaware County > A history of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, and its people; Volume II > Part 19
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During the Wilderness campaign it saw a great deal of action, taking part in Hancock's famous charge at Spottsylvania on the morning of May 12. It was engaged in the battle at the North Anna ; and in the battle of Cold Har- bor, the brigade of which the 106th was a part attempted to drive the enemy from its entrenchment, but was unsuccessful. The troops, dropping to the ground, remained there until night, when they threw up a breastwork which they held. The last engagements participated in hy the regiment were before Petersburg, June 14, 1864, and the Jerusalem Plank Road a week later. The regiment was mustered out of service September 10, 1864.
One Hundred Twelfth Regiment (2nd Artillery) .- On the recommenda- tion of Gen. McClellan, Charles Angeroth, of Philadelphia, in October, 1861, was authorized by the Secretary of War to recruit a battalion of heavy in- fantry, later enlarged to a regiment -- the 2nd Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery, 112th of the line. On February 25, 1862, seven companies were ordered to Washington, where they remained in the fortification until the spring of 1864. By this time the regiment had been so increased that it numbered 3,300 men. and was divided into two regiments. The second body, receiving the name Second Provisional Heavy Artillery, was dispatched to the front, and as in- fantry was assigned to the Ninth Corps. It participated in all the battles of the Wilderness campaign and sustained great loss at Petersburg. In May, 1864, the original regiment was assigned to the 18th Army Corps, under Gen. Baldy Smith, Army of the Potomac. The story of the two divisions of this regiment entails a review of the year of battle ending with Lee's surrender. The Second division, Provisional regiment, was in hard service before Peters- burg, losing about one thousand men in four months. It was part of the bri- gade which charged into the crater when the mine was exploded and after Fort Harrison had been captured. on September 29, 1864, the Second Penn- sylvania Artillery and 89th New York were ordered to charge on Battery Gil- more, a movement which was disastrous because of lack of proper support, the 2nd Artillery losing in killed, wounded and prisoners, 200 men. The his- tory of the regiment is indeed honorable, and its light of valor was surely hid- den under a bushel when for so many months it remained in inactivity at the capitol, intrusted with the defence of the heart of the nation.
One Hundred Nineteenth Regiment .- Peter C. Ellmaker, under authori- zation of Gov. Curtin, began recruiting for the 119th Pennsylvania, August 5th. 1862. William C. Gray, of Chester, had raised a company in Delaware county, known as the Delaware County Guards, which he offered to the au- thorities, to be credited to Delaware county, but was informed that the quota was full and that the company could not be accepted. Captain Gray offered the company to Col. Ellmaker, the offer was accepted, and the organization became Company E, 199th Regiment, August 10, 1862. Because of the dire need for troops, the regiment was ordered to Washington before its organi-
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zation was complete, and assigned to duty at the arsenal. About the middle of October it joined the Army of the Potomac, in camp near Antietam-ist Bri- gade, 2nd Division, 6th Army Corps. The regiment was in action first at Fredericksburg, December 15, 1862. and although in a trying position and ex- posed to a heavy artillery fire, maintained its ground like a veteran command. Later, when the "Light Division" was formed, it was assigned to the 3d Bri- gade, Ist Division, under Gen. Russell. On April 28, 1863, when Hooker ad- vanced under cover of darkness, the brigade crossed the Rappahannock at Banks Ford on pontoon boats, drove back the Confederate pickets, and held the right bank of the river. The following morning it moved forward and, driving the enemy from the riflepits, held the same until May 3. when the Con- federates retreated. The 119th and 95th Pennsylvania regiments were de- tached and marched along the plank road in the direction of Chancellorsville. At Salem Church the 95th met the enemy, concealed in a wood, and a warm engagement at close quarters followed. The 119th, on the left of the road. was met by a vastly superior force, but stoutly maintained its position, al- though it suffered severely, losing 12 killed and 112 wounded out of 432 men. The following day, Sedgwick, learning that Hooker had been defeated and that the corps was outnumbered, recrossed the river.
The brigade was at Manchester, Maryland, when on July 1. 1863. it was hastily summoned to Gettysburg. At 9 o'clock that evening march was begun and was continued without halt until four the following afternoon, when the field of battle was reached. On the morning of July 3d it occupied the ex- treme left of the line, in the rear of Round Top, to meet any attempted flank movement, but nothing of the sort developing, the brigade was not engaged. The next day it was stationed at Little Round Top, and on the 5th was in the advance of the pursuit of the retreating army, with which it had a slight en- counter at Fairfield. At this point pursuit was abandoned by Meade, but the 119th on July 13th came upon the enemy at Hagerstown, at once engaging their skirmishers, but during the night the Confederates decamped. On No- vember 7. 1863. the Confederates held a strong position at Rappahannock Station, covering three pontoon bridges, when Gen. Russell, at his earnest re- quest, was ordered to storm the woods. This he did in the face of a murder- ous fire, and carried the intrenchments with a brilliant bayonet charge, cap- turing the whole of the enemy. Public recognition was given to this gallant rush by Gen. Meade in his order thanking the regiment for the capture of four guns, 2000 small arms, eight battle flags, one bridge train and 1600 pris- oners. The 119th lost seven killed and forty-three wounded in this short. though fierce conflict. In the Wilderness campaign, on May 4th, 1864, the brigade crossed the Rapidan at Germania Ford, and at noon on the following day entered the engagement, the noth holding the centre. The fighting con- tinued until nightfall. four color bearers being killed or wounded. On May IO the fighting was very severe, and in a grand charge through a hail of hul- lets, grape and canister, the colors of the regiment were planted on the ene- my's works, but lacking support it was forced to fall back. suffering severely
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on the retreat. The regiment used two hundred rounds of ammunition to a man in the terrific struggle, known as the "Bloody Angle," or the "Slaughter Pen," on the 12th, where the fighting continued from seven in the morning until sundown. In the eight days, May 4th-12th, out of 400 men available for duty, the regiment lost 215 killed and wounded. All during this time the 119th was led by Captains Landell and Gray, Col. Clark resuming command of the regiment on the 12th of the month.
At Cold Harbor, on June 1, the brigade received orders to feel the posi- tion of the enemy, and on the 12th lay within one hundred and fifty yards of the Confederate line, under constant fire. Major Gray, who had been in com- mand of the regiment from the Ist to the 12th, and had directed it in all the fierce fighting of that time, continued to do so at Bermuda Hundred and be- fore Petersburg. When Early was in the Valley of the Shenandoah, the Sixth Corps was dispatched to the support of his army. On September 19th, at the battle of Winchester, the roth drove the entire Confederate line for a half a mile until its advance was checked by the latter's falling back into a strong position. At 4 o'clock the Union line was strengthened, and, Sheridan leading it forward, drove the enemy, utterly routed. On September 20, the brigade was detached for garrison duty at Winchester, remaining there until the following November.
At Petersburg, the 119th was highly distinguished, for, with no aid what- ever and under a heavy fire from front and flank, it stormed and carried a part of the enemy's intrenchments, capturing the opposing force, with artillery. small arms and colors. Col. Clark had been wounded early in the action, and the command developed upon Lieut. Col. Gray. On the 6th the fleeing enemy was overtaken in a strong position on Sailor's Creek, and the brigade, fording the stream in water waistdeep, charged in a body, capturing the entire command. After marching to Danville, Virginia. to unite with Sherman's army, and after the surrender of Johnston, the regiment returned to Washington, being mus- tered out at Philadelphia, June 6th. On May 13, 1864, Major Gray was com- missioned lieutenant-colonel by Gov. Curtin, and April 6, 1865, the president gave him the rank of lieutenant-colonel hy brevet, for gallant and meritorious services before Petersburg and at the battle of Little Sailor Creek, March IO, 1865.
One Hundred Twenty-fourth Regiment .- The three companies of this regiment recruited in Delaware county were Company B, (Delaware County Fusileers), Captain Simon Litzenberg, Company D (Gideon's Band), Cap- tain Norris L. Yarnall, and Company H (Delaware County Volunteers), Captain James Barton, Jr. The regiment was for a time at Camp Curtin, but before organizing was hurried forward on August 12, 1862, to Washington. Here it was organized, with Joseph W. Hawley, of West Chester, as colonel ; Simon Litzenberg, captain of the Delaware County Fusileers, lieutenant-col- onel ; and Isaac Lawrence Haldeman (previously on Davis's staff) first lieu- tenant of Gideon's Band, major ; and was assigned to the Ist Brigade, Ist Di- vision. IIth Corps. It reached Antietam creek on the evening of September
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16. 1862, having marched all day without rations, and the hungry men were. about to receive provisions when an order came summoning it to the support of Hooker, on the right wing. The fighting began in the dull gray light of the early morning, when company could hardly be distinguished from company. As it grew lighter the struggle grew more fierce and steady combat ensued un- til 3 o'clock in the afternoon, when, after positions had been lost and recap- tured several times, the enemy's guns were finally silenced. The exhausted men, who had been fighting for eight hours, on empty stomachs, were then or- dered to the rear, where Gen. Hancock held them in readiness to support the batteries on the right, and there passed the night. The regiment, in its first battle, lost fifty men killed and wounded, among the latter being Col. Hawley. The 124th was subsequently assigned to the brigade commanded by Gen. Kane, and when it was transferred to the 12th Corps, Kane still continued its brigade commander, in Geary's division. It took an active part in the disas- trous campaign culminating at Chancellorsville. On May 1. 1863. it held the right wing of the 12th Corps, and in the advance had pushed the enemy before until it was in danger of being flanked, when it was ordered to retire to its position of the evening previous. On May 2 it advanced along the Freder- icksburg plank road, and the brigade, being unable to dislodge the enemy from their intrenchments, returned to the breastworks, which they had hardly reached, when the demoralized 11th Corps came rushing in from the extreme right wing. Geary's division immediately formed to check the pursuing ene- my, and from 10 o'clock in morning until 3 o'clock in the afternoon it held its. position well, until, outflanked, it was compelled to retire to a second position. where it readily repulsed every attack. On the 6th it recrossed the Rappa- hannock, and on May 9 was forwarded to Harrisburg, where it was dis- charged on the 16th of the month, its term of service having expired.
One Hundred Fifty-second Regiment (Third Artillery) .- The Dela- ware county men recruited in this regiment were in the batteries ordered to the front to take part in the siege of Petersburg, being posted on the Bermuda front. The artillery regiments never received the full credit due them, be- cause they never acted as a whole, although their conduct was just as gallant. their behavior as soldierly, and their bravery as conspicuous as any other regi- ment in the war.
One Hundred Sixtieth Regiment ( Fifteenth Cavalry) .- William J. Pal- mer began recruiting a battalion of cavalry in Pennsylvania in the early part of August, 1862, which was subsequently increased to a full regiment. At the time of Lee's crossing the Potomac and advancing into Maryland. 250 picked men were ordered to the front, the remainder of the regiment to re- main in the Cumberland valley. The detachment in the Antietam campaign did effective duty in skirmishing and scout work ; and September 15 when the Confederate troops were on the retreat from Hagerstown, it charged through the village and captured thirty stragglers. The regiment was trans- ported to Louisville, Kentucky, November 7. 1862, and a month later joined Rosecrans at Nashville. On December 26. Rosecrans, then preparing to.
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give Bragg battle, ordered the 15th Cavalry to advance with Gen. Stanley's division, but the greater part of the regiment stacked arms and refused to obey the order. It is greatly to the credit of Delaware county that among the three hundred men who, deferring all their real or imaginary grievances until a future time for settlement, volunteered to go forward, were the fol- lowing : Captain Edward Sellers; Lieutenants Joseph R. Thomas, Edward C. Smith, Annesley N. Morton ; Sergeants Isaac Bartram, Simeon Lord, Jr., Marshall L. Jones, George W. Lukins, Geoffrey P. Denis, John W. Caldwell ; Corporals Hiram P. Eves. Thomas A. Jones, Henry W. Pancoast, Benjamin Bartram; Privates Horatio D. Snyder, Andrew J. Buchanan, Richard Pancoast, William Armstrong, Edward W. Jones, Augustus W. Markley, Samuel Trimble, Charles P. Sellers, Joseph S. Bunting, and William P. Pow- ell. The brave and loyal conduct of those three hundred volunteers from the regiment on that occasion was the subject of a commendatory order issued by Gen. Rosecrans, and the historian Bates mentions it as follows: "The con- duct of the men who followed the gallant Rosegarten and Ward, even under the most discouraging circumstances, and met death in the face of the foe. will never cease to be regarded with admiration and gratitude."
Stanley, covering the entire right flank of the Union army with his com- mand, attacked the enemy on the 27th, driving them nearly five miles, and on the 29th, in the engagement at Wilkinson's Cross Roads, charged the greatly superior force of the enemy and finally, overpowered, was compelled to retire, although he made one more desperate effort to dislodge them. The detach- ment suffered severely during the four days of the battle at Murfreesboro, when it was constantly on duty. On January 20, 1863. Rosecrans submitted a plan for the reorganization of the regiment, which was accepted, and the 15th Cavalry was thoroughly organized and equipped. On April 4. after its return to camp from a successful scouting expedition, Rosecrans received the regi- ment, expressing himself pleased with its good conduct and soldierly bearing To show his good feeling toward the regiment, which had once taken excep- tion to his orders, he detailed three of its companies to act as his personal es- cort, while the remainder was instructed to scout and become acquainted with the topography of the country in advance of the army. The regiment had be- come so expert in scouting that in January, 1865. it was especially detailed to watch the enemy, learn its movements, and harass its foraging parties. This duty brought it into frequent contact with the enemy and its conduct was uni- formly commendable and meritorious. In one bold dash it captured Gen. Vance, part of his staff. 150 horses, and fifty men, besides recapturing twenty Union baggage wagons and prisoners. A week afterwards it partially re- peated this daring stroke by capturing eighteen wagons, ninety mules and sev- enty-two of the enemy. The story of its many narrow escapes and death de- fying escapades while scouting about the body of the enemy, reads like a book of fiction, and the amount of information it was able to bring to the command- ing general was of inestimahle value, gaining frequent public praise from head- quarters and more than atoning for an error committed in its youth. In pur-
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suit of Hood's demoralized troops after the battle of Nashville, it was emi- nently successful and of great advantage to the Union cause, and on May 8, 1865, while searching for Jefferson Davis, near the banks of the Appalachee and Oconee rivers, it captured seven wagons, one containing $188,000 in coin, one with $1,588,000 in bank notes and other securities, one containing $4,000,- 000 of Confederate money, besides considerable specie, plate and valuables, belonging to private citizens in Macon. Two days later Company G captured Gen. Bragg, his wife and staff officers. At the close of the war the regiment went to Nashville, where it was mustered out of service, May 21, 1865.
One Hundred Eighty-eighth Regiment .- Delaware county was repre- sented in Companies B, C, F, E and H of the 188th Regiment, recruited out of the artillery in 1864 as infantry and assigned to the 18th Corps, 3rd Division. It participated in the battle of Proctor's Creek, May 10, 1864, and June I was engaged at Cold Harbor, where it suffered heavily. On June 16 it was in the battle before Petersburg, and on the 28th it was in the force which charged and captured Fort Harrison, turning the guns of the fort upon the fleeing enemy. The same day it attacked Fort Gilmore, but was repulsed, the killed amounting to nearly sixty. and the wounded to more than one hundred. It was mustered out of service December 14, 1865.
One Hundred Ninety-seventh Regiment .- This regiment was recruited under the auspices of the Coal Exchange Association of Philadelphia, and was known as the Third Coal Exchange Regiment. It was organized at Camp Cadwalader, July 22, 1864, with Captain John Woodock, of Delaware county, major, and many Delaware county men in Companies A and I. Shortly after organization it was ordered to Mankin's Woods, near Baltimore, and instead of being sent to the front as the regiment, mostly veterans, hoped, it was or- dered to Rock Island, Illinois, where it was assigned to guarding prisoners of war. There were 9000 prisoners detained therein, and the duties of the 197th were so constant and arduous that the service bore almost as heavily upon the men as an active campaign, barring, of course, the casualities of battle. Immediately after the regiment's arrival at Rock Island, Captain Barton was appointed assistant provost marshal of the island, in which capacity he had direct charge over the prisoners. The prison covered about forty acres, sur- rounded by a board fence ten feet high, beyond which was a trench twelve feet wide, filled with water. The guard was mounted on an elevated platform on the outside of the fence, while within were barracks for the accommoda- tion of the inmates. The prisoners were provided with comfortable clothing and food from the same larder which fed the men of the regiment, but, not- withstanding the excellent treatment, the incarceration broke many a proud Southern spirit, and melancholia and nostalgia were diseases far more destruc- tive than an epidemic of fever, many deaths resulting therefrom. On Novem- ber 11, 1864, the 197th was mustered out of service at Philadelphia.
One Hundred Ninety-eighth Regiment .- This regiment, which numbered forty-three Delaware county men among the number of Company K, was re- crnited under the auspices of the Union League in Philadelphia, in the sum-
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mer of 1864. It required five weeks to fill its ranks. On the morning of Sep- tember 19th it was reviewed before the League House. presented by that as- sociation with regimental colors, and immediately proceeded to Petersburg, where it became part of the Ist Brigade, 5th Division. Ist Corps, Army of the Potomac. On September 30, it participated in the battle of Peebles Farm, and was hardly in position when the enemy opened upon it with a heavy artil- lery and musketry fire, but holding its ground it finally gathered for a charge and drove the enemy from its first line of works.
On October 2 it held its lines under a fierce attack and severe fire. At the battle of Hatcher's Run, February 5, 1865, at 3 o'clock, the 3rd Brigade was being hard pressed when the 198th was ordered to its relief by Gen. Sickles, and, crossing an open field at doublequick it fell upon Mahone's "fight- ing brigade." The enemy was repulsed, but during the night succeeded in cap- turing a part of the Union line by a massed attack. At the first alarm the 198th delivered a volley, and with muskets clubbed and bayonets drawn, charged the enemy in a hand-to-hand conflict, driving them back and regain- ing the works. At the battle of Lewis's Farm, March 29, the 198th encount- ered the enemy near the old saw mill, and, side by side with the 184th New York, charged the enemy across a clear field of one thousand yards, led by Gen. Sickles. The entire fire was reserved until close to the fortifications, when an effectual volley was given and the foe dislodged. The regiment's loss was appalling, it being learned later that three of the best Confederate brigades had opposed the Union troops in that engagement.
On March 31 it was in action at White Oaks Swamp and Five Forks. Its last battle was fought April Ist, when, after the Union assault had failed, Gen. Chamberlain, commanding the division, rode to Major Glenn, command- ing the 198th, and asked, "Major, can you take those works and hold them ?" The latter, turning to his forces, inquired "Boys, will you follow me?" and dashed forward, his troops following to a man. Twice, the color bearer was shot down, but the standard, caught up by another, was carried forward and planted on the enemy's works. For this magnificent deed Chamberlain pro- moted Glenn on the field, but the latter had little opportunity to enjoy his new- ly won honors, for later in the day he was fatally wounded. The regiment was mustered out of service at Arlington Heights, June 3, 1865.
Two Hundred Third Regiment .- Delaware county was represented in the 203rd Regiment by Company B, nearly all of which was recruited as sharp- shooters for Gen. Birney's division, but upon the General's death they were disposed of as ordinary infantry. It was organized September 10, 1864, and on the 27th reached the army before Petersburg, being assigned to the 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, 10th Corps, the same day. In the action at Chapin's Farm and New Market Road, the 203rd was employed in picketing Malvern Hill and escorting prisoners. On October 7 it participated in the battle, repuls- ing the enemy's assaults, and on the 27th was in action on the Darlington road. When the Army of the James was reorganized the 203rd was part of the 2nd Brigade. 2nd Division, 24th Corps. On December 13, 1864, it embarked on trans-
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ports at Fortress Monroe and accompanied the naval expedition under Ad- miral Porter for the reduction of Fort Fisher, North Carolina. On January 15, 1865, when the attack on the fort was made, the regiment was in the Penn- sylvania brigade which drove the enemy from the palisadings. The 203rd charged through an opening in the face of two guns, which it captured, carry- ing traverse after traverse, and when the 4th was charged, Col. Moore, his regiment flag in one hand and his sword in the other, fell dead while urging on his men. The fight continued from 3.30 in the afternoon until far into the night, when the enemy finally yielded. In this memorable assault the colo- nel, lieutenant-colonel, one captain and a lieutenant were killed, and two cap- tains and four lieutenants wounded, among the wounded being Captain Benja- min Brooke, of Company B. Admiral Porter, in his report, pays this tribute to the men under his indirect command : "Fort Fisher was really stronger than the Malakoff Tower, which defied so long the combined powers of England and France, and yet it was captured by a handful of men under the fire of the guns of the fleet, and in seven hours after the attack commenced in earnest."
On February II, 1865, the regiment was in the advance on Wilmington, thrown out as skirmishers, and succeeded in getting possession of the riflepits in front of the enemy's works, but owing to the swampy ground and the dense underbrush the line of battle could not advance. Hence the regiment in the pits could not withdraw until night, when with cautious stealth they with- drew, a few at a time. The works were finally captured by a flank movement and the enemy compelled to abandon its fortifications. The 203rd was in ac- tive service in all the movements in North Carolina until Johnston's surrender, when it was assigned to duty at Raleigh, where on June 22, 1865, it was mustered out of service, Captain Brooke, on June 22, 1865, was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel.
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