USA > Pennsylvania > A history of the Juniata Valley and its people, Volume I > Part 25
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In the winter of 1813-14 a company was organized in Mifflin county by Captain Andrew Bratton, but no record of its service can be found. A letter from James Trimble, dated at the office of the secretary of the commonwealth, January 2, 1814, to Captain Bratton, refers to the organ- ization as a "company of volunteer riflemen," and states that at that time the state's quota was full. The letter further states that "Before com- missions can be obtained it should appear that the company has been organized and the officers elected in conformity with the fourth section of the Militia law," etc.
Several companies were recruited along the Juniata river in 1814. Early in that year Governor Snyder called for a force of 1,000 militia to aid in protecting the northern border against invasion from Canada. Most of this force came from the counties of Cumberland, Franklin, York, and Adams, the greater part of one company being made up in that part of Cumberland which now forms the county of Perry. Of this company David Moreland was captain; Robert Thompson, first lieutenant ; John Neiper, second lieutenant : Amos Cadwallader, ensign ; John Steigleman, Richard Rodger, and George Stroch, sergeants : David Beems and John Myers, musicians. Thirteen men from Perry county were enrolled in Captain James Piper's company. The entire force of militia rendezvoused at Carlisle whence it marched via Pittsburgh to Black Rock Fort (Buffalo), and later took part in the battle of Chip- pewa.
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When the news reached Perry county that the city of Washington had been burned by the British Dr. John Creigh enrolled a company in two days. This company, known as the "Landisburg Infantry," com- pleted its organization on September 6, 1814, with John Creigh as cap- tain; Henry Lightner, first lieutenant; Isaiah Carl, second lieutenant ; and fifty-one privates. It was accepted by the governor and was "given the second post of honor in the Pennsylvania Line."
Besides the companies above mentioned there were a number of Juniata valley men in other organizations. Dr. Alexander Dean, of Huntingdon county, was surgeon in the Second Pennsylvania regiment. Dr. Joseph Henderson, of Mifflin county, was a member of the Twenty- second regiment and was engaged in the recruiting service in Philadel- phia in the fall of 1812, with the rank of lieutenant. In the spring of 1813 he took his troops to Sackett's Harbor, and in the fall of that year was promoted to the rank of captain.
Throughout the war the record of Pennsylvania was one of which her people may well be proud. Although the British never set foot upon her soil, she had at one time more men in the field than any other state, and she furnished more money than any other state to carry on the war. When the New York militia under General Van Rensselaer refused to cross the line into Canada, on the pretext that they were not obliged to leave their own state, General Tannehill came up with a brigade of 2,000 Pennsylvanians, who did not hesitate, but promptly marched across the border into the enemy's country. In this gallant record the troops from the Juniata valley bore an honorable and conspicuous part.
CHAPTER XIII
MILITARY HISTORY, CONTINUED.
The War with Mexico-Call for Troops-Juniata Valley Companies Accepted-Juni- ata Guards-Captain Irwin-Lieutenant McCoy-Wayne Guards-Perry County Troops-Battles in Which They Participated-The Civil War-Attack on Fort Sumter-Excitement-Call for Volunteers-Logan Guards First to Reach Wash- ington-Sketches of the Regiments-Companies and Their Commissioned Officers- Emergency Troops-Shade Gap and Mount Union Campaign-Spanish-American War-The Maine-President Mckinley's Proclamation-Fifth Pennsylvania Regi- ment.
W AR with Mexico was declared by Congress on May 13, 1846. Previous to that date General Taylor had marched to the frontier with the "Army of Occupation" and the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma had been fought. In declaring war Congress authorized the president "to employ the militia, naval and military forces of the United States, and to call for and accept the ser- vices of 50,000 volunteers." In pursuance of this authority the presi- dent made a requisition upon the governor of Pennsylvania for six regiments of volunteer infantry "to be held in readiness to serve for twelve months, unless sooner discharged." Within a month more than ninety companies-enough for nine regiments-had tendered their ser- vices to the governor. Two of these companies were from Huntingdon county, viz: The Warrior's Mark Fencibles-Captain, James Bell; First Lieutenant, James Thompson; Second Lieutenant, James A. Gano; and eighty-two non-commissioned officers and privates. The Williams- burg Blues-Captain, Thomas K. Fluke; First Lieutenant, James M. Kinkead; Second Lieutenant, Alexander McKamey; seventy-six non- commissioned officers and privates.
Not until November did an order come from the war department for the mustering in of any troops. Then an order was received for one regiment, and on December 15, 1846, the First infantry was organized at Pittsburgh, though none of the companies from the Juniata valley
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were accepted. As the regiment, commanded by Colonel Wynkoop, passed through Mifflin county by canal boat on its way to the seat of war, several citizens joined the organization. Among them were J. H. Ross, George W. Hesser, William Stackpole, Jacob Hoseywantle, and a man named Bymaster, and Dr. John C. Reynolds, of McVeytown. Dr. Reynolds was appointed surgeon of the regiment.
At the request of the president the Second Pennsylvania regiment was organized and mustered in at Pittsburgh on January 5, 1847. This regiment was commanded by Colonel Roberts and was composed of companies from Philadelphia, Reading, Mauch Chunk, Harrisburg, Dan- ville, Pittsburgh, and the counties of Cambria, Westmoreland, and Fay- ette. Later John W. Geary succeeded Colonel Roberts in command.
As very few of the old volunteer companies that were so prompt to offer their services had been accepted a number of young men in Mifflin county conceived the idea of organizing a new company for the express purpose of serving in Mexico. This idea resulted in the formation of the "Juniata Guards," most of the members of which company were from Lewistown and McVeytown. William H. Irwin was chosen captain and Thomas F. McCoy, first lieutenant. Scarcely had the company been organized when information was received that the government would not accept any more volunteer troops, but under a recent act of Congress would add ten regiments to the regular army. Captain Irwin and Lieutenant McCoy at once set out for Washington, where they met President Polk, and were appointed officers in the Eleventh United States infantry, Irwin as captain and McCoy as first lieutenant. Upon their return to Mifflin county a number of the Juniata Guards refused to enter the service as regulars, and about thirty days were spent in secur- ing new men to take their places. The quota was finally filled, however, and on March 25. 1847, the company embarked on canal boats for Pitts- burgh. Most of the men were from the vicinity of McVeytown, and when the company reached that place a halt was made to say farewell to friends and relatives. Captain Irwin was presented with a sword, Lieutenant McCoy with a regulation sword, and Major Criswell with a dress sword and sash.
On the last day of March the company reached Pittsburgh, where it embarked on April 3d on the steamboat "Germantown," with two other companies of the same regiment, and arrived at New Orleans on the
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12th. There they took passage on the transport "America" for Brazos, near the mouth of the Rio Grande, where they arrived on the 22d. Soon after the Juniata Guards were ordered to Vera Cruz, embarked on the ship "Meteor," and anchored near the castle of San Juan de Ulloa in the harbor of Vera Cruz, on June 2, 1847. Six days later the company marched with General Cadwallader's command for the interior, and it received its baptism of fire at the National bridge on June 1Ith, where it received honorable mention for brave conduct and lost one man killed and one wounded. General Cadwallader reached Jalapa on the 15th, where he joined the force under Colonel Shields, composed partly of the Second Pennsylvania, and then marched for Puebla to join General Scott's army, having frequent skirmishes on the way.
At Puebla the company-now Company D, Eleventh United States infantry-was attached to Cadwallader's brigade, Pillow's division, with which it marched for the City of Mexico. It formed part of the force under Captain Robert E. Lee, then a member of General Scott's staff and later a distinguished general in the Confederate army, in the recon- noissance of the enemy's position at Contreras, where it distinguished itself for gallant conduct in action. From that time until the close of the war the company was in every action in which its regiment partici- pated. On June 4, 1848, it left the City of Mexico, arrived on the 29th at Vera Cruz, where it embarked for New Orleans. From there, with the regiment, it sailed for New York and was mustered out at Fort Hamilton, near that city, on August 16, 1848. Ten days later the survivors of the old Juniata Guards were given a public reception and sumptuous dinner in the court-house at Lewistown. During its eighteen months of service the company lost twenty-five of its members by death, some killed in battle, but more dying of disease in a strange climate.
Captain Irwin was a native of Mifflin county, a lawyer by profes- sion, practicing his profession in Lewistown both before and after the Mexican war. Not long after that war he was appointed adjutant- general of the State of Pennsylvania and later took an active part in politics as a Whig. When the Civil war broke out in 1861, he was com- missioned colonel of the Seventh Pennsylvania regiment by Governor Curtin and, after the three months' service of that regiment was ended, he became colonel of the Forty-ninth, a three-years' regiment. He was with General McClellan in the campaign up the Virginia peninsula in
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1862; was severely wounded near Fredericksburg in April, 1863, and the following October resigned his commission and retired from the army. Subsequently he was brevetted brigadier-general "for gallant and meritorious services during the war." Some years after the war he removed to the State of Indiana, where lie engaged in mining opera- tions and railroad enterprises. He then took up his residence in Louis- ville, Kentucky, and died in that city on January 17, 1886.
Thomas F. McCoy, who went out as first lieutenant of the Juniata Guards, was also a native of Mifflin county and up to manhood lived at McVeytown, where as a young man he was editor and publisher of the Village Herald, an independent newspaper. After the Mexican war he returned to his old home and, in 1850, was elected prothonotary of Mifflin county. He then studied law and in 1857 was admitted to the bar. At the beginning of the Civil war he tendered his services to Governor Curtin, who appointed him deputy quartermaster-general. In August, 1862, preferring more active service, he resigned this position and was commissioned colonel of the One Hundred and Seventh regi- ment, Pennsylvania veteran volunteers. He assumed command of the regiment at Cedar mountain and served with the Army of the Potomac until the end of the war, taking part in more than twenty battles and the nine months' siege of Petersburg. He was captured at the Weldon rail- road, but succeeded in making his escape and rejoined his regiment. At the close of the war he received the brevet rank of brigadier-general, his commission bearing date of the battle of Five Forks, where he handled his regiment in such a way as to draw forth the commendations of his superior officers. When mustered out on July 13, 1865, he re- turned to Lewistown, where he died at an advanced age.
On May 19, 1847, the Wayne Guards, ninety-four strong, was mus- tered in at Pittsburgh, with the following officers: James Caldwell, cap- tain : Dr. A. McAmey, first lieutenant : Dr. C. Bowers, second lieutenant ; John A. Doyle, third lieutenant ; George Filey, J. L. Madison, William Westhoven, and W. A. McMonigle, sergeants; A. W. Clarkson, C. B. Wilson, Jacob Shade, and J. L. Kidd, corporals. This company was recruited in the upper end of Mifflin and the southeastern part of Hunt- ingdon counties. With Captain Taylor's company, from Bedford, the Wayne Guards left Pittsburgh by steamboat for New Orleans, from which point they proceeded to Vera Cruz, where they joined General
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Franklin Pierce, afterward president, for the march to Puebla. At Puebla the two companies were assigned to the Second Pennsylvania, the Wayne Guards becoming Company M. The regiment formed a part of General Quitman's division and took part in the battles of Contreras, Cherubusco, Molino del Rey, San Pasqual, and the storming of the Belen Gate at the City of Mexico. It was also at Chapultepec, where Captain Caldwell was mortally wounded, dying five days after the fight. It was the first regiment to enter the City of Mexico after the surrender. In May, 1848, it returned to Vera Cruz, thence to New Orleans, and thence up the Mississippi and Ohio rivers to Pittsburgh, where it was mustered out on July 29, 1848.
Perry county furnished a lieutenant, Michael Stever, and sixty-six privates for service in the War with Mexico. These men had nearly all belonged to the Bloomfield Light Infantry and the Landisburg Guards before enlisting for service in Mexico, but for some reason they were not accredited to the county as a separate organization. They took part in the engagements at Buena Vista, Vera Cruz, Cerro Gordo, Con- treras, Cherubusco, Molino del Rey, and Chapultepec.
THE CIVIL WAR
For half a century or more prior to 1860 the slavery question had been one of commanding interest in all parts of the United States. The Missouri Compromise of 1820 and the Compromise Act of 1850, known as the "Omnibus Bill," sought to settle the question, but like Banquo's ghost it would not down. The election of Abraham Lincoln to the presidency in 1860 was regarded by the slaveholders of the South as inimical to their interests and eleven slaveholding states carried out their oft-repeated threat to withdraw from the Union. In the interim between the election of Lincoln in November, 1860, and his inauguration on March 4, 1861, preparations for war were carried on in the seceding states with great vigor. The North, while awake to the situation in a measure, clung to the theory that the difficulty could be overcome with- out an appeal to arms. As early as January 17. 1861, a meeting was held at Huntingdon, at which resolutions denouncing secession and pledging support to the constitution of the United States were adopted. On the 28th of the same month the Mifflin County Dragoons, a military
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company of the Kishacoquillas valley, tendered their services to the gov- ernor in case of war. It is believed that this was the first company in the United States to take such action.
At half past four o'clock on the morning of April 12, 1861, the first shot of the great Civil war went crashing against the solid walls of Fort Sumter, in Charleston harbor. It was fired by Edmund Ruffin, a gray-haired Virginian and a personal and political friend of John C. Calhoun. The telegraph flashed the news over the country and, on the 15th, President Lincoln issued his call for 75,000 troops to suppress the rebellion. One of the first companies in the State of Pennsylvania to respond was the Logan Guards, of Lewistown, the services of which had been tendered to the governor in advance of the call by its captain, John B. Selheimer. A telegram from Governor Andrew Curtin on the morning of April 17th, accepting the company, was received by Cap- tain Selheimer, with orders to report at Harrisburg as soon as possible. At that time the company could muster but twenty-six members, but a recruiting office was opened and in one hour the strength was increased to 106 men ready to march to the front. Early on the morning of the 17th the company arrived in Harrisburg, where it was joined by four other companies-530 men in all-and the next day the entire detach- ment set out for Washington. At daybreak on the morning of the 19th the first sergeant of the Logan Guards handed the morning report of the company to Adjutant-General Thomas, who remarked that it was the first official volunteer report received. The greater part of the three months' terni of service was spent at Fort Washington, fourteen miles below the city, on the Maryland side of the Potomac. When the Twenty- fifth regiment was organized the Logan Guards became Company E, thé color company, Captain Selheimer being made lieutenant-colonel of the regiment. After his promotion the officers of the company were as follows: Thomas M. Hulings, captain; F. R. Sterrett, first lieutenant ; R. W. Patton, second lieutenant.
Among the privates of this famous company at the beginning of the war were Brigadier-General William H. Irwin, who commanded a brigade in General Franklin's corps at the battle of Antietam; Brevet Brigadier-General William G. Mitchell, chief of staff under General Hancock ; Brevet Brigadier-General J. A. Matthews, who commanded the Second brigade, Hartranft's division, Ninth corps; and Thomas M.
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Hulings, who was afterward made colonel of the Forty-ninth Pennsyl- vania and was killed at Spottsylvania.
In the Second regiment, Company D was recruited in Perry county, with H. D. Woodruff as captain; J. H. Crist, first lieutenant; C. K. Brenneman, second lieutenant. There were also fourteen Perry county boys in another company. The Second was a three months' regiment, mustered in on April 21, 1861, under command of Colonel Frederick G. Stumbaugh. Its service was in Maryland and Virginia, but it was not called into action, and was mustered out at Harrisburg on July 26, 1861.
Company D, Fifth regiment, was recruited in Huntingdon county and was officered as follows: Benjamin F. Miller, captain; George F. McCabe, first lieutenant ; James D. Campbell, second lieutenant. The regiment was mustered in at Camp Curtin, Harrisburg, April 21, 1861, for a term of three months, with R. P. McDowell as colonel. Two com- panies were engaged in guarding steamboats through the Chesapeake and Delaware canal, after which the entire regiment was ordered to Annapolis Junction to repel an attack. The attack was not made and it was ordered to Washington on April 27th. On June 3, 1861, it was assigned to the brigade commanded by Brigadier-General Irwin Mc- Dowell and remained with that command until ordered back to Harris- burg, where it was mustered out on the 25th of July.
On April 22, 1861, the Seventh regiment was mustered in at Camp Curtin, under command of Colonel William H. Irwin, who was then serving as a private with the Logan Guards. Company I was recruited at Lewistown, Mifflin county, with Henry A. Zollinger as captain ; William H. McClelland as first lieutenant ; and James Couch as second lieutenant. The regiment left Camp Curtin on the 23d for Chambers- burg, where it was met by Colonel Irwin. Late in May it was assigned to the Third brigade, First division, and served with the command in Maryland and Virginia until July 22d, when it was ordered to Harris- burg for muster out, its three months' term having expired.
The Tenth regiment was mustered in at Camp Curtin on April 26, 1861, for three months, under command of Colonel Sullivan A. Mere- dith. Company I was recruited in Huntingdon county and was officered by Henry L. McConnell, captain; William Linton, first lieutenant; Mar- tin V. B. Harding, second lieutenant. It was immediately ordered to
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Virginia and was assigned to the Third brigade, First division, and was engaged in skirmishes with the enemy on June 24th and July 3d. It was mustered out at Harrisburg on the last day of July.
A few Mifflin county men were in the Tenth regiment and in Com- pany B, Eleventh regiment, which was mustered in on the same day as the Tenth, there were a number of Mifflin county men. The Eleventh was commanded by Colonel Pharon Jarrett and was ordered to Virginia soon after the muster in. It served in the brigades of Generals Negley and Abercrombie, Sixth division, and was actively engaged at Falling Waters, Maryland, on the 2nd of July. It was then on duty at Martins- burg, Charlestown, and Harper's Ferry, Virginia, and Sandy Hook, Maryland, until it was ordered home. It was mustered out on the last day of July, but was soon afterward reorganized as a three years' regiment.
The Fourteenth regiment (three months') was mustered in at Camp Curtin in the latter part of April, 1861, under command of Colonel John WV. Johnston. A large part of Company I came from Huntingdon county. The officers of this company were: Alexander Bobb, captain ; J. C. Saunders, first lieutenant ; John H. Sypher, second lieutenant. There were also quite a number of Juniata county men in the regiment. It was on duty in Maryland and Virginia during its term of service, but was at no time actively engaged. It was mustered out at Carlisle on August 7, 1861.
In the Fifteenth regiment (three months') there was one company partly made up in Mifflin and Juniata counties and Company H was composed chiefly of Huntingdon county men, though it was credited to Cambria county. Of this company Joseph Johnson was captain; Michael McNally, first lieutenant ; William H. Simpson, second lieutenant. The history of this organization is practically the same as that of the Four- teenth regiment.
During the summer of 1861 the Twenty-eighth regiment was raised and it was mustered in for three years about the middle of August. Its first colonel was John W. Geary, who was promoted to brigadier-general and after the war served two terms as governor of Pennsylvania. It was through his efforts and largely at his personal expense that the regiment was organized. The Twenty-eighth was of unusual size, hav- ing fifteen companies, one of which -- Company O-was raised in Hunt-
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ingdon county. This company was mustered in on August 17, 1861, with George F. McCabe as captain; J. Addison Moore, first lieutenant ; A. H. W. Creigh, second lieutenant. On October 28, 1862, the members of the company, with few exceptions, were transferred to the One Hun- dred and Forty-seventh regiment, the organization remaining intact as Company B.
In the Thirty-fourth regiment (the Fifth Reserve) Huntingdon county furnished two companies-the Huntingdon Infantry, which was made Company G, and the Scott Infantry, which became Company I. Of the former Andrew S. Harrison was captain; John E. Wolfe, first lieutenant ; J. A. Willoughby, second lieutenant. Of the latter Frank Zentmyer was the captain; Robert B. Frazer, first lieutenant ; J. A. Mc- Pherran, second lieutenant. The regiment was mustered in at Camp Curtin on June 20, 1861, for three years, under command of Colonel John I. Gregg, who resigned the next day to accept a captaincy in the Sixth United States cavalry, and was succeeded by Colonel Seneca G. Simmons. After several months in camp and routine duty, with short marches to different points around Washington, the regiment joined General McClellan for the Peninsular campaign. It was engaged at Mechanicsville, distinguished itself at the battle of Gaines' Mill, and was in nearly all the actions during the Seven Days' battles. Later it was at the Second Bull Run, South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, and the campaign in the spring of 1864 beginning with the battle of the Wilderness. On June 1, 1864, it left the service and pro- ceeded to Harrisburg, where it was mustered out.
Company B, Thirty-sixth regiment (Seventh Reserves) was re- cruited in Perry county and was mustered in with the regiment at Washington, D. C., July 27, 1861, with John Jameson as captain : George K. Schall, first lieutenant; W. H. Dieffenbach, second lieutenant. The service of this regiment was almost identical with that of the Thirty-fourth. It was mustered out at Philadelphia, June 16, 1864. A large number of its members were captured at the battle of the Wilder- ness.
In the Forty-first regiment of the line (the Twelfth Reserves), Company I came from Huntingdon county. The regiment was mustered in on August 10, 1861, at Camp Curtin. with John H. Taggart as col- onel. The officers of Company I were: James C. Baker, captain ; Perry
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Etchison, first lieutenant; Samuel J. Cloyd, second lieutenant. On Au- gust 20th the regiment was assigned to the Third brigade of the Re- serves and was with General McClellan in the Peninsular campaign, par- ticipating in the battle at Ellerson's Mill, the Seven Days' battles, and numerous minor engagements. Later it was at Antietam, Gettysburg, and the principal actions in which the Army of the Potomac was en- gaged. It was mustered out at Harrisburg on June 11, 1864.
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