USA > Pennsylvania > Cumberland County > Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of the Nineteenth Congressional District, Pennsylvania > Part 5
USA > Pennsylvania > Adams County > Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of the Nineteenth Congressional District, Pennsylvania > Part 5
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York county was as active in the cause of independence as Cumberland, and her com-
mittee of correspondence was appointed at a meeting held in York, June 24, 1774, when aid was promised to Boston in resist- ing parliamentary measures of injustice. On the 28th and 29th of July, 1775, the county was divided into five battalion districts. The companies of Yorktown, Manchester, Windsor, Codorus, York and Hellam town- ships comprised the First battalion com- manded by Col. James Smith. The com- panies of Cumberland, Hamiltonban, Straban, Menallen, Mt. Joy and Tyrone townships formed the Second battalion commanded by Col. Robert McPherson. The companies of Heidelberg, Berwick, Paradise, Mt. Pleasant, Germany and Man- heim townships constituted the Third bat- talion under command of Col. Richard McAllister. The companies of Chanceford, Shrewsbury, Fawn and Hopewell town- ships formed the Fourth battalion, under command of Col. William Smith. The companies of Dover, Newberry, Monaghan, Warrington, Huntingdon and Reading townships constituted the Fifth battalion commanded by Col. William Rankin. From each of these battalions a company of minute men was to be organized to form a battalion whose officers were Richard McAllister, colonel; Thomas Hartley, lieti- tenant-colonel; and David Grier, major. In September, 1775, there were reported the names of 3,349 officers and men in militia or associator companies. In 1776, David Grier, Moses McLean, Archibald M'Allis- ter and other captains raised companies which served in the celebrated First Rifle or IIth regiment of the Pennsylvania Line which has been described in a preceding paragraph. In May, 1776, Capt. William McPherson recruited a rifle company which was attached to Colonel Miles command at Philadelphia, and in July, five battalions of militia marched from York county to New Jersey, where two battalions were formed
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from them to become a part of the Flying Camp and the remainder sent home. The Flying Camp numbered 10,000 men organ- ized in three brigades, the first of which was commanded by Gen. James Ewing, of York county. The First battalion of York coun- ty comprised eight companies in numerical order commanded by Capts. Michael Smei- ser, Gerhart Graeff, Jacob Dritt, Christian Stake, John McDonald, John Ewing, Wil- liam Nelson and Williams. The Second battalion had six York and Bucks county companies. The York companies were: Bittenger's, McCarter's, McCon- key's, Laird's, Wilson's and Paxton's. These battalions suffered terribly on Long Island and at Fort Washington where nearly all of the First battalion were taken prisoners. In 1777 two calls were made on the York county militia and in April, 1778, the county had 4,621 militia divided into eight battalions of eight companies each numbered from first to eighth. The First battalion was under Col. James Thompson and the companies in numeri- cal order were commanded by Capts. William Dodd, Daniel Williams, John Shover, Daniel May, James Parkinson, Benjamin Heable, Francis Boner, and John O'Blainess, with 873 men. The Second battalion, Col. William Rankin, with Capts. William Ashton, John Ran- kin, Simon Copenhaver, Jacob Hiar, Emanuel Harman, John Mansberger, Wil- liam Walls and Yost Harbaugh, and 514 men. The Third battalion, Col. David Jameson, with Capt. David Beaver, Got- fried Fry, Peter Frote, Christ Lauman, Alex. Ligget, George Long, and Michael Halm, and 521 men. The Fourth battal- ion, Col. John Andrew with Capts.
John King, William Gilliland, Samuel Mor- rison, John McElvain, John Stockton, Sam- uel Erwin, and Thomas Stockton, and 529
men. The Fifth battalion, Col. Joseph Jef- fries, with Capts. John Maye, Adam Black, William McCleary, David Wilson, Joseph Morrison, William Miller, Thomas Orbison and John Paxton, and nearly 500 men. The Sixth battalion, Col. William Ross, with Capts. - Laird, Casper Reineka,
, Frederick Hurtz, Peter Ickes, Leonard Zenew and Abraham Sell, and 630 men. The Seventh battalion, Col. David Kennedy, with Capts. Thomas Latta, Thomas White, John Miller, Peter Aldin- ger, John Arman, George Geiselman, Jacob Ament and John Sherer and 489 men. The Eighth battalion, Col. Henry Slagle, with Capts. Nicholas Gelwix, John Reed, Wil- liam Gray, -- , John Reppey, Jos- eph Reed, and Thomas McNery, and 487 men. Cols. David Jameson, and Thomas Hartley, Gens. Henry Miller, and Jacob Dritt, Col. Martin Dill, Maj. Joseph Prowell and Ensign Jacob Barnitz were among the prominent military men of York county in the Revolution, but of the many brave sol- diers and officers from the county who fought for independence, only a scant rec- ord can be found.
The territory of Adams county then a part of York, sent many of Scotch -- Irish and German sons to fight on the battlefield of the Revolution. Quite a number of York county companies were raised on Adams county territory, and bore well their part on march and in battle. The promi- nent military leaders were Cols. Robert Mc- Pherson, Hance Hamilton and Richard McAllister. Men from Adams as a part of York were in many of the York companies which served in the First, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh and Thirteenth Pennsylvania regiments of the Continental Line, Pennsylvania State regi- ment of artillery and Armand's and Pulas- ki's legion.
From the scant evidence obtainable it
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BIOGRAPHICAL AND PORTRAIT CYCLOPEDIA.
would appear that over 8,000 men from the present territory of the Nineteenth Con- gressional district served in the Revolution- ary army, while at least 10,000 were en- rolled in regular militia organizations.
No invasions of the district were ever made by British forces, but in 1776 the British prisoners at Lancaster were re- moved to Carlisle and York, and Lieuten- ant, afterwards Major, Andre was of the number sent to the former place. The Hessians captured at Trenton were sent to York and Carlisle and at the latter place built the barracks used for years as a cav- alry training school and which stood on the site of the present Indian school. From time to time during the war British prison- ers, principally Hessians, were sent to York where they were given many liberties and a number were induced to leave the English service. In 1781 the convention prisoners, (Burgoyne's men) were sent from Virginia and Maryland to York in order to prevent their rescue by Cornwallis. These prison- ers were placed 43 miles east of York and in Windsor township, where they cleared 20 acres of woodland and surrounded it by picket fence 15 feet high. Within they built their huts and remained there guarded by American troops until the war closed.
The story of the Revolution as often told in the past needs not repetition on these pages, yet it might be well to correct two once prevalent errors in connection with that great struggle. The German troops in America were not all Hessians, and the latter were neither ferocious nor blood- thirsty; and that the ablest statesmen and the intelligent mass of the people of Great Britain did not sanction the measures of the Parliamentary party in power that car- ried on the Revolutionary war.
In history the Revolution is recorded as a gigantic struggle for the rights of man, when a nation was born in a day, and the
dial hand on the clock of human progress moved forward in a greater advance than it hitherto had marked in five centuries.
Continental Congress. Upon the near approach of Howe's army to Philadelphia, Congress took steps to remove from the city and on September 14, 1777, resolved to nieet on the 27th at Lancaster. Recon- vening at Lancaster on the 27th, it did not deem itself safe east of the Susquehanna river, and adjourned the same day to meet at York, where it continued in session from September 30, 1777, till June 27, 1778. Congress held its sessions during this per- iod in the court house in Centre Square, where it sat daily with closed doors and considered some of the momentous issues of the Revolution one of which was the re- moval of Washington from the chief com- mand of the American armies. During the nine months that Congress was in ses- sion at York that place was really the capi- tal of the nation. At York, Gates was wel- comed, Steuben came and Lafayette repor- ted. There the Conway cabal was formed and Congress remained during the darkest hours of the Revolutionary war that ex- tended from Valley Forge to Monmouth.
Frontier Defense. After Pontiac's de- feat in 1763 the frontier line of defense was west of the Alleghenies, but as late as 1794 Indian depredations along the Mononga- hela and Allegheny rivers and in Ohio were so bad that the President called upon Penn- sylvania for nearly 11,000 militia, of which Cumberland and York counties raised their respective quotas, the latter furnishing 822 men. Wayne's victory at the Fallen Tim- bers broke forever the Indian power on the western frontier of Pennsylvania.
National Capital Site. In 1789 and 1790 Congress took up the consideration of a site for the national capital. New York, Philadelphia, Germantown, Harrisburg and Wright's Ferry were named. The house se-
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NINETEENTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT.
lected Wright's Ferry, but the Senate sent back the bill with Germantown inserted in place of Wright's Ferry, which change the house refused to accept, and Congress ad- journed without making any selection. At the next session the south urged the Po- tomac river but was outvoted and finally the northern and southern leaders compro- mised on Philadelphia as the seat of gov- ernment for ten years and then the build- ing of a capital city, near Georgetown on the Potomac.
Whiskey Insurrection. The much dis- cussed but little understood whiskey insur- rection, was the first rebellion against the United States government and required a large army under the command of Wash- ington and some of his ablest generals to crush it. The Whiskey Insurrection ex- tended over southwestern Pennsylvania and northwestern part of Virginia now the northern part of West Virginia. The cause of the insurrection was a law of Congress passed in 1791, which laid an excise of four pence per gallon on all distilled spirits. The insurgents were largely farmers, who lived so far from market that it was impossible to transport their grain for sale, but manufac- tured into whiskey it could be carried to the cities and sold at a profit. Grain was their only production and in form of whis- key was their only source of revenue and means of paying taxes and buying land. 'The officers sent out to collect the excise west of the Alleghenies were tarred and feathered and driven out of the country by "Tom the Tinker's men" who then erected "Liberty Poles" and organized in armed resistance which compelled the government to resort to force for its suppression. The insurgents numbered nearly twenty-thous- and, many of whom were Revolutionary soldiers and splendid marksmen, and hav- ing the Alleghenies for a natural fortifica- tion would have made stubborn resistance,
but they were without leaders of military ability and experience. Washington fully ยท understood the nature and extent of the in- surrection and its danger to the new formed government whose powers were but barely recognized and not yet fully understood and in 1794 ordered out 15,000 men, the largest army which he ever commanded. The in- surgents realizing their want of military leaders and learning of the large army marching upon them disbanded; and when the United States troops arrived west of the Alleghenies order was restored and national authority recognized. Washington's army was raised in the Middle Atlantic States, and the quota of Pennsylvania was 5,200 men of which York county furnished 572, and Cumberland 363. The insurgents in Cumberland county on September 8, 1794, erected a liberty pole in Carlisle which they held by force of arms for a few hours. They however disbanded and scattered upon the approach of troops, ordered out by the State authorities. Washington on his way out with the army stopped at Car- lisle and Shippensburg and on his return to Philadelphia passed through York county, crossing the Susquehanna at a ferry below New Cumberland.
War of 1812. When President Madi- son declared war against Great Britain in 1812 he was nobly sustained by Governor Snyder, of Pennsylvania, and the 14,000 men called for from the Keystone State could have been trebled so great was the enthusiasm of the people.
Cumberland county raised four full com- panies of six months' men, ready to march whenever ordered. Two small rifle com- panies-one from Carlisle and the other from Mechanicsburg-were united under command of Capt. George Hendall and won imperishable honor for themselves at Chippewa. Men from the county fought bravely on the Niagara border under Lt.
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BIOGRAPHICAL AND PORTRAIT CYCLOPEDIA.
Col. George McFeely and W. D. Foulke. Several companies including the Patriotic Blues commanded by Capt. Jacob Squier, took an important part in the defense of Baltimore, while the Carlisle Guards, under Capt. Joseph Halbert, went to Philadelphia to aid in its protection in September, 1814.
In Adams county was a strong peace party who denounced the War of 1812, but militia companies were organized subject to marching orders, and in 1814 Adams and York constituted the Fifth of the fif- teen military districts of the State, and were required to form two brigades, the first from York and the second from Adams. Antagonistic to the peace party was a war following, and Adams county men fought at Baltimore and also served under Scott, who complimented them as being good soldiers.
York county responded promptly to the call of Governor Snyder for troops and placed her militia on marching orders, but they were only called for in 1814 to help in the defense of Baltimore. Capts. Freder- ick Metzgar and John Bair, with two com- panies of York county men, were attached to a Maryland regiment at the battle of North Point, where the "York Volunteers" a company commanded by Capt. (after- wards Colonel) Michael Spangler fought with the steadiness and bravery of veterans.
Mexican War. During the war with Mexico, Pennsylvania furnished two regi- ments and offered additional regiments which were refused.
Cumberland county furnished many re- cruits to the Fourth United States artillery which was stationed at the Carlisle bar- racks in 1846. This artillery did valiant service at Buena Vista. Capt. John F. Hunter raised at Carlisle Co. G, IIth in- fantry, which lost nearly half of its members in Mexico. Besides these two companies
there were other companies in which Cum- berland county men enlisted.
Although no company was called from Adams county, yet natives and residents of the county enlisted and served through the war.
With her usual zeal in military matters York county responded to the call for troops for Mexico, but no company could be accepted from the county and her sons enlisted in other companies that had been accepted. Nine men from York borough enlisted in Co. C, First Pennsylvania Vol- unteers and others were in the Fourth Ohio, and Eleventh Pennsylvania, while in the regular army were Maj. Granville O. Haller, Lieut (afterwards Maj .- Gen.) W. B. Franklin, and Lieut. H. B. Gibson, na- tives of the county. Of the naval officers in service in Mexican waters were: George P. Welsh, Samuel R. Franklin and William Gibson, who were from York county.
War of the Rebellion. In the dark April days of 1861 the country was rudely wakened from a peace dream of half a cen- tury to meet the shock of civil war. When Beauregard's circling batteries opened fire on Fort Sumter the country realized the fact that a terrible war was at hand, and when Lincoln called for troops to main- tain national authority and protect the na- tional capital, no counties in the union were more loyal or enthusiastic in responding with men than those which now constitute the Nineteenth Congressional district.
In commencing the record of this dis- trict's honorable and distinguished part in the greatest war of modern times, attention is directly called to the Cumberland Val- ley, the natural route for southern armies of invasion. Cumberland county was roused by the fall of Ft. Sumter, as it had been by the news of Lexington, and three companies proffered their services in a week after Lincoln's first call for troops.
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NINETEENTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT.
One of these companies left on April 13, 1861, and was mustered into the service at Harrisburg, April 23rd. The first con- pany, the Sumner Rifles, Capt. Christian Kuhns, became Co. C of the Ninth Penn- sylvania, and the second company, Capt. Jacob Dorsheimer, was raised at Mechan- icsburg, and became Co. C of the Sixteenth Pennsylvania. Both of these companies served in Virginia and the second one was the first company to reenlist from this State. The Carlisle Light infantry, which had been in existence since 1784, was mus- tered into the First reserves or 30th Penn- sylvania Volunteers, as Company H, under command of Capt. Robert McCartney, and the Carlisle Guards, under Capt. Lemuel Todd, became Co. I of the same regiment, whose record is one of magnificent fight- ing in the Army of the Potomac from Fredericksburg to Bethesda Church and especially at Gettysburg, where it made two brilliant and successful charges. Com- panies A and H, of the Thirty-sixtli regi- ment of Seventh Reserve, were raised re- spectively by Capt. R. M. Henderson and Capt. Joseph Totten. Co. A was the Carlisle Fencibles, receiving a beautiful flag from Mrs. Samuel Alexander, the granddaughter of Col. Ephraim Biaine, and Company H was recruited at Mechani- icsburg. The Seventh fought bravely through the Peninsula campaign, at An- tietam and Fredericksburg and was drawn into an ambuscade at Chancellorsville and 272 of its men and officers captured and sent to Rebel prisons, where many of them starved to death before Sherman's "march to the sea" gave them release. The es- caping remnant of the regiment took part in the desperate fighting of Grant's Rich- mond campaign until its time expired. Edward B. Rheem, Jacob Maloy and Henry Hyte, of Company A, each captured a Rebel captain's sword at Fredericksburg,
where Corporal Jacob Cart, of the same company captured the battle flag of the Nineteenth Georgia, the only Union trophy oi the battle of Fredericksburg. Cumber- land county furnished two companies of cavalry at a time when that branch of the service was of great value, besides furnish- ing a number of men to the Anderson troop and Independent company of cav- alry recruited at the Carlisle barracks in the latter part of 1861. The first com- pany commanded by Capt. S. Woodburn, had been known as the Big Spring Adam- antine Guards for over 50 years. It be- came a part of the Third cavalry which served with the Army of the Potomac un- til its time expired and then from it was formed the veteran battalion which ren- dered such splendid service at Gettysburg. The second company commanded by Capt
D. T. May, joined the Seventh Cavalry which fought at Chicamauga and in other western battles. The third and fourth companies were recruited respectively by Capts. D. H. Kimmel and H. W. McCul- lough and became H and I of the Ninth Cavalry which was known as the "Lochiel Cavalry" and served two years in the west and under Sherman in his "march to the sea." The One hundred and thirtieth regi- ment of nine months' men raised in 1862 contained 5 companies and a part of an other company from Cumberland county. These companies their places of recruit- inent and their first captains were as fol- lows: A, Carlisle, William R. Porter. D, Shippensburg, James Kelso. E, Newville, William Laughlin. F, Mechanicsburg, H. I. Zinn. G, Carlisle, John Lee. H, -- , J. C. Hoffaker. This regiment fought its first battle at Antietam, where it lost 40 killed and 256 wounded which attests its bravery. It afterwards fought at Freder- icksburg and Chancellorsville in each of which battles it lost heavily, and was mus-
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BIOGRAPHICAL AND PORTRAIT CYCLOPEDIA.
tered out of the service on May 21, 1863. Captain Kuhn's company of three months' men reenlisted and became Company A, of the Eleventh regiment which served in the Army of the Potomac until the close of the war. Captain Dorsheimer's three months' company reenlisted and was Com- pany A, of the One hundred and seventh regiment, serving till Lee surrendered. A number of men were in Co. A, One hun- dred and first regiment that served in North Carolina, and a part of Co. G, of the 84th was raised in the county. When Lee in- vaded Maryland, in 1862, Pennsylvania called out 50,000 militia of which 25,000 reached Hagerstown before the Confeder- ates were defeated. One of the militia regi- ments was raised in Cumberland county by Col. Henry McCormick and marched so rapidly to the scene of action as to receive praise from General McClellan and the Governor of Maryland. In 1863 Capt. M. G. Hall raised Co. F, One hundred and fif- ty-eighth for the nine months' service and Capt. Charles Lee recruited Co. F, One hundred and sixty-second regiment for three years, while Company B, One hundred and sixty-fifth regiment drafted militia was formed with A. J. Rupp as captain. When Lee invaded Pennsylvania in 1863, Ewell's corps reached Shippensburg on June 25th. and Capts. Kuhn, Lowe, Sharpe, Black and Smiley organized companies of civilians and with 200 men of the First New York cavalry did picket duty at Carlisle until Saturday, 27th, when they fell back before Jenkin's advance. General Ewell arrived the same day at Carlisle where his head- quarters were in the barracks which he did not burn but left intact on account of old acquaintanceship, having been stationed there in former years. Early demanded 1,500 barrels of flour and other supplies of which only a part could be supplied by the town, and on Tuesday withdrew his forces.
On Wednesday Gen. W. F. (Baldy) Smith with a small Union force occupied Carlisle and in the evening was surrounded by Gen. Fitzhugh Lee with 3,000 cavalry. Lee asked Smith to surrender or Carlisle would be shelled, and the latter replied "shell away." The town was shelled, and during the night a second demand for surrender received a very discourteous reply. Before daylight Lee received orders to march for Gettysburg and left for that great battle- field. The farthest northern point that Lee's army reached was Oyster's Point in Cumberland county and three miles west of Harrisburg when Jenkin's force was held at bay on Sunday, June 28th. Companies G, H and part of D, of the One hundred and second regiment commanded respect- ively by Capts. David Gochenauer, J. P. Wagner and S. C. Powell were raised in 1864 and guarded the Manassas Gap rail- road to keep it open for carrying army sup- plies. A part of the 200th regiment, and Co. K, Capt. A. C. Landis, were also raised in the county, Company A being recruited at Shippensburg. Companies A and F of the 209th regiment was raised by Capts. J. B. Landis and Henry Lee in the autumn of 1864 and served in the Army of the Po- tomac.
Cumberland county was represented in the regular army as well as in volunteer forces; Brigadier Generals, Samuel Sturgis and Washington L. Elliott served in the Mexican war and won distinction and pro- motion in the War of the Rebellion. Capt. John R. Smead, who commanded a bat- tery in the Fifth United States Artillery, was a brave and efficient officer and was killed at the second battle of Bull Run. Another efficient West Point graduate was Capt. Alex. Piper who served with Capt. Smead until the death of the latter.
Cumberland county after the war erected a $5,000 monument in the public spuare of
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NINETEENTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT.
Carlisle in honor of her sons who fell in defense of the Union. On the beautiful marble shaft are inscribed on several tablets the names of these fallen heroes: 7 officers and 324 soldiers, and the names of the 49 regiments in which they served.
Adams county was as patriotic as Cum- berland in 1861. "Adams county stands proudly in the front rank of counties in the number of and quality of heroes that she sent to war. Upon every battlefield they contributed their full share of stalwart he- roes, ready to do and die for their country. With a population of not much over 23,000, she sent over 3,000 soldiers to the different services and commands during the war." Company E commanded by Capt. Charles H. Buehler and numbering 78 men was the first company to leave the county being mustered in as part of the Second Pennsyl- vania three months' men. Company K, First Pennsylvania Reserves, under Capt. Edward McPherson and numbering 112 men was the second company to leave from that county. Then a company of 68 men under Captain John Horner, joined Cole's Independent Mary- land cavalry battalion and succeeding was 20 men in the Forty-ninth, 40 men in Co. G, Seventy-fourth and 12 men in Co. O, Seventy-sixth regiment. In the Eighty- seventh regiment were Company F, Capt. C. H. Buehler, 112 men, and Company I, Capt. T. S. Pfeiffer, 99 men. In the Nine- ty-first were 32 men from Adams county; and in One hundred and first were 55 men under Capt. H. K. Critzman and Company G, Capt. T. C. Morris, 99 men. 85 men were in Company A, 103d regiment, and in the One hundred and twenty-seventh was Company I, Capt. I. R. Shipley, 84 men. The One hundred and thirty-eighth regi- ment had two Adams county companies; Company B, Capt. J. F. McCreary, 116 men and Company G, Capt. J. H. Walter
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