History of Chester County, Pennsylvania, with genealogical and biographical sketches, Part 37

Author: Futhey, John Smith, 1820-1888; Cope, Gilbert, 1840-1928
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia, L. H. Everts
Number of Pages: 1162

USA > Pennsylvania > Chester County > History of Chester County, Pennsylvania, with genealogical and biographical sketches > Part 37

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

# The following is the Ledger article referred to : " Mr. Joseph P. Campbell, an aged citizen of Florence, New Jersey, recently brought to Philadelphia the identical grape-shot with which Marquis de La- fayette was wounded at the battle of Brandywine. It has been in his possession over half a century, and was given to him by his aunt, Isabella McCloskey, who picked it up after it had struck the marquis and been stopped by a wall. The heroine was on that day carrying ammunition in her apron, and when the gallant Frenchman was wounded she tore off her underclothing to stanch the blood and bind up the wound. On the visit of the marquis to this country, several years later, he sought her out. The ball is a cast-iron globe, about one and a quarter inches in diameter, and has been religiously preserved."

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HISTORY OF CHESTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

Delaware Co., Pa., but who in 1846 was living in West Chester, learning the printing business in the office of the American Republican, fired with patriotie ardor, volun- teered (at sixteen years of age), in December. He joined and was appointed a corporal in Capt. J. C. Biddle's com- pany, in Philadelphia, which was ordered to rendezvous at Brazos Santiago in February, 1847; it was then assigned to the First Regiment United States Voltiguers, under command of Col. F. P. Andrews, with Lieut .- Col. Joseph E. Johnston and Majs. Talbott and Caldwell, all of the United States army ; he participated, with his regiment, in the siege of Vera Cruz, under Gen. Scott, and with Gen. Cadwalader in the battles of Cerro Gordo, Jalapa, Perote, and Puebla, and in assisting to keep open communication between Vera Cruz and Puebla, afterwards in the valley of the City of Mexico; at the battle of Contreras, Aug. 20, 1847, at Buena Vista, Churubusco, and Molino del Rey, September 11th, and at Casa del Mata, where he was wounded in the right foot ; on the 13tlı of September, at the fierce storming of Chapultepec, the key to the gates of Mexico, he was again slightly wounded in the head, and was with the final assault upon the last defenses of the city, and the triumphal entrance into the Mexican capital ; he remained with the army of occupation until after the conclusion of peace, July 4, 1848 ; his regiment left Mexico in October, and was disbanded at Fort McHenry, Balti- more, November, 1848; after an honorable discharge, and with the commendation of his officers for faithful services, he returned to West Chester, being then about eighteen years old; in the late Rebellion (1861-65) Capt. Menden- hall recruited and commanded Company D of the Ninety- seventh Pennsylvania Infantry. Thomas King and Johu Yoeum, of what organization it is unknown. Lieut. Co- lumbus Penn Evans, Eleventh Regiment United States In- fantry, brevetted captain, and presented with a sword by the Legislature of State of Delaware for his gallant and meritorious services in several battles. Irvin Parke, in Capt. Samuel Hyams' company, Sixth Louisiana Regi- ment, commanded by Col. Payton. Robert Taylor, of West Chester.

THE FAMINE OF '47.

During the winter of 1846-47 the distress in Ireland, caused by the complete failure of the potato erop of the previous year, had awakened the sympathies of the people of Chester County. The war with Mexico was in progress, but the excitement attending it did not cheek the publie in- terest in the sad reports of famine, fever, and death that came continually from Ireland. On Feb. 5, 1847, a public meet- ing was held in the court-house at West Chester, and a committee was appointed to issue an address and solieit subscriptions from the people of the county. This com- mittee consisted of the following gentlemen, many of them prominent citizens :

Townsend Haines, David Townsend, Nimrod Strickland, Wilmer Worthington, Thomas S. Bell, Rev. J. B. Clemson, John Crowell, James Powell, William Ingram, Joseph J. Lewis, John Hiekman, William Darlington, M.D., William Everhart, Robert Irwin, John Rutter, and J. B. Wood. Of the whole number four only now survive,-Hon. Jo-

seph J. Lewis, Rev. J. B. Clemson, Dr. J. B. Wood, and John Rutter, Esq.

This committee, besides issuing an earnest address setting forth many details of the suffering of the Irish people, ap- pointed sub-committees for all the townships of the county, upon whom was placed the duty of making a prompt and thorough canvass for subscriptions. The list of names con- tained many that would be recognized as among the lead- ing men of that time, but it is too long for insertion here. The results of their efforts were soon made evident : on March 9th the Village Record published a list of amounts actually paid into the fund. West Chester headed the list with $534.92; New London gave $231.25; Coatesville, $212 ; Sadsbury, $193.45; East Vincent, $152.50; War- wiek, $166.69 ; and the total reported was over $3100. The total subseribed in. West Chester was $800. The following week the New Garden committee reported that their collections were $300, with which they had bought from the millers of their own townsbip 50 barrels of flour, which had been sent to Allen Cuthbert, Esq., Lombard Street Wharf, Philadelphia, for immediate shipment to Ireland.

Mr. (later Judge) Haines and his committee invested the funds collected in provisions, which were shipped to Cork, Ireland, by the barque " Alice Carlton." They em- braeed 600 barrels of corn meal, 25 barrels of wheat flour, 15 of rye-flour, 6 of pork, 2 of beef, and 28 bushels of peas. There was no charge for freight. In the mean time the committee announced that further exertions would be made and more supplies forwarded.

The bounty arrived at Cork most opportunely, as appears in a letter written by Mr. C. G. Gibbons, of Ballenspittle House, Kinsale, Ireland, to William Everhart, Esq., West Chester, dated April 14th, which was in part as follows :

". . . I now write merely to acknowledge the arrival, and in a few hasty words to convey mine, my uncle, James B. Gibbons', J. R. Bar- ry's, and our whole local community's, deep and heartfelt gratitude to the noble-minded citizens of Chester County for your munificent present to our poor people in this their time of need and suffering. 'Never did a gift come more opportunely ;' our own funds are all but spent, and our government had ordered all relief-works to be sus- pended. In a few days more our district would have been subjected to the horrors that are now, and have been for months, sweeping away thousands upon thousands of the Irish population. .. . "

Mr. Gibbons, the writer, was the nephew of one of the gentlemen who had been most kind to Mr. Everhart after his escape from the shipwreck of the " Albion" on the coast near Kinsale in 1822 ; and in the volume of " Miscellanies," published in recent years by the latter's son, Hon. James B. Everhart, there is the following allusion to a visit made by him to this part of Ireland after the famine :

" Not far from the town of Kinsale are the mansions of J. Redmond Barry and J. B. Gibbons, Esq., whose houses look on the sea. They were most hospitable, and declared ' that during the famine the Ches- ter County donation of meal was the best which came to Ireland, and that it saved a thousand lives.' The destitution had been frightful,- there was neither food nor money,-the people were terror-stricken, and these provisions arrived at the very crisis of the calamity. For this timely succor the Irish of Ballenspittle will ever gratefully re- member the county of Chester."

THE WAR FOR THE UNION.

Being upon the border of the dissentient States, Chester County awaited with especial interest the mutterings of the

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GENERAL HISTORY.

angry South over the election of President Lincoln in 1860, and its subsequent secession acts of 1860-61, forbearing

" Until a fierce, sudden flash across the rugged blackness broke, And with a voice that shook the land the guns of Sumter spoke."

As the news of the battle and capture of the fort by the rebels was flashed along the wires, excitement unparalleled in the history of the county pervaded every township, bor- ough, village, hamlet, and fireside. Party distinctions were forgotten, and a united people thought only of the public peril and of means to defend the government. In Chester County the feeling was intense, and all were ani- mated with a common purpose to maintain the Union at all hazards. The heroic, self-sacrificing men who from this county, through four years of privation, peril and war, ded- icated their lives to the preservation of the national integ- rity, wrought also for its progress in the direction of its founders, intent towards the realization of true permanence, prosperity, and peace, as a priceless legaey, painfully and- perilously secured for each citizen. The grand and noble history of this county in the memorable conflict of 1861- 65 has an imperishable record, perpetuating the deeds of valor that attended its citizen-soldiery through the fire of many battles unto brilliant victories and the final triumph of liberty, union, and peace.

SECOND REGIMENT.

The Second Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Regiment of three months' service was formed from companies hastily recruited, in obedience to the call for volunteers, from the counties of Franklin, Perry, Adams, Lancaster, Chester, Centre, Dauphin, and York. April 21, 1861, the regiment was organized at Harrisburg, with James Givin (captain of Company G, of West Chester) as major. The same day it left for Washington. It was or- dered to York, Pa., and there remained until June 1, when it moved to Chambersburg. Here it was assigned to the Second Brigade of Second Division, and on the 16th went to Funkstown, Md., crossed the Potomac July 2d, with Gen. Patterson's army, and advanced to Martins- burg, thence to Bunker Hill. July 26th it was mustered out.

The first organized body of men from the borough of Phoenixville to enter the United States service in the rebel- lion was the Phoenixville Brass Band, which was mustered with the Second Regiment at York, May 24, 1861, and mustered out with the regiment on the following 26th of July.

Roster of the Band .- John G. Moses, leader; David C. Broomall, H. F. Caswell, Jacob Hawk, James P. Holt, William Lobb, Henry Lukemire, John C. Matson, Hiram Nyce, J. Elwood Quay, John Richards, John Sollinger, Wilmer W. Thomson, J. Englebert Vander- slice, R. B. Williamsoo, Joseph P. Holt.

NINTH REGIMENT.

The Ninth Pennsylvania Regiment Volunteer Infantry (three months' service) was formed from companies raised iu the counties of Chester, Armstrong, Cumberland, Le- high, Northampton, Schuylkill, and Delaware. It was or- ganized April 22, 1861, at Camp Curtin, and Thomas S. Bell, of West Chester, was appointed adjutant. It went to West Chester May 4th, and encamped at Camp Wayne; in June it joined Gen. Patterson's army, being attached

to the Fourth Brigade of First Division, and serving mostly between Martinsburg and Winchester, Va. It was mustered out July 24th. Companies A, E, and F were re- eruited at West Chester.

THIRTIETH REGIMENT.

The Thirtieth Regiment (three years' service), being the First Regiment of the Pennsylvania Reserve Corps, was organized at Camp Wayne, near West Chester, June 9, 1861. Capt. Henry M. McIntire, of West Chester, who led the Brandywine Guards, was the first to occupy the camp, and was assigned to its temporary command. On the formal organization he was made lieutenant-colonel. Lieut. Charles B. Lamborn, of Company A, Chester County, was appointed adjutant, and Lieut. Joseph R. T. Coates, of Company C, quartermaster. July 4th, Gover- nor Curtin reviewed the First and Seventh Regiments in West Chester, in the presence of an immense concourse of people, the citizens entertaining the troops at Everhart's Grove. The day after the disastrous battle of Bull Run, July 21st, the regiment was ordered to Maryland, and in the spring of 1862 joined McDowell's corps of the Potomac army. June 18th the division to which it was assigned marched to Gaines' Farm, and on the 19th moved with the brigade to Beaver Dam Creek, near Mechanicsville, on the extreme right of the Army of the Potomac, where it was assigned to the army corps commanded by Gen. Fitz-John Porter. On the 26th it participated in heavy fighting, as in the battle the day following, and on the 30th in that of Charles City Cross-roads. Its officers and men distin- guished themselves for their gallant conduct. It was most honorably engaged in the battle at South Mountain, Sept. 14th, and in the battle of Fredericksburg moved in steady, unwavering line across an open plain, under a heavy, enfilad- ing artillery fire, charging the enemy with resistless energy, crossing the railroads and ditches, and driving him two hundred yards beyond his intrenchments ; but, after hav- ing opened up the way to victory, retired for want of sup- ports to hold the positions taken. At Gettysburg, July 3, 1863, in the charge which was made by the First Brigade, this regiment occupied the centre, and in this brilliant movement, by a sudden change of direction, the enemy was struck on the flank and driven in great confusion.

It made a glorious record at the battle of Spottsylvania, May 8, 1864. It was mustered out June 13th following. The whole number mustered into the regiment was 1084. Of these, 139 were killed or died in the field, 233 were wounded, 258 were discharged for disability contracted in the service, and 148 re-enlisted as veterans. It was com- manded by Col. R. Biddle Roberts, of Pittsburgh, until the latter, part of October, 1862, and after that by Col. William Cooper Talley, of Delaware County.

This regiment was composed of two companies (A and G) from Chester County, one (C) from Chester and Dela- ware, two from Lancaster, two from Cumberland, one each from Adams and Delaware, and one from York and Lancaster.

THIRTY-THIRD REGIMENT.

The companies composing the Thirty-third Regiment (Fourth Reserve) were recruited one from each of the

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HISTORY OF CHESTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

counties of Chester, Monroe, Montgomery, Lycoming, and Susquehanna, and the remaining five from the city and county of Philadelphia. Its colonel was Robert G. March. This regiment participated in the figliting on the Penin- sula, under McClellan, from June 20, 1862, and particu- larly distinguished itself at Chiarles City Cross-roads, on June 30th. It was gallantly engaged in the second Bull Run fight, and at South Mountain. In the battle of Freder- icksburg it held the right of the second line, where its lieutenant-colonel (Woolworth) was wounded. It after- wards served in the Shenandoah Valley, Kanawha Valley, and Western Virginia, under General Crook in the last two, where it encountered .terrible hardships, privations, and severe fighting. It was mustered out June 17, 1864, at Philadelphia.

FORTY-SECOND (BUCKTAIL) REGIMENT.

After the fall of Fort Sumter, Thomas L. Kane, brother of Dr. Kane, the famous Arctic explorer, and himself schooled by extensive travel in the wilds of the Rocky Mountains, applied to Governor Curtin for permission to raise a company of mounted riflemen from among the hardy yeomanry of the counties of Forest, MeKean, and Elk, popularly known as the " wild-eat district." Authority was immediately given, as requested, and in less than a week the men began to assemble at the points of rendezvous. April 17, 1861, it was decided to change the organization from cavalry to infantry. The men, for the most part lum- bermen, came clad in their red-flannel shirts, bearing their trusty rifles, and wearing each in his hat a buektail. No one was accepted who did not prove himself a skilled marksman. Before the regiment received orders to mareh it was found that only a limited number could be accepted, and many of the companies, cager for the field, went in the first organizations that offered. The others formed the nuclens around which were gathered companies soon after recruited, out of which arose this regiment, composed of a company from each of the counties of Elk, MeKean, Clearfield, Chester, Carbon, Warren, Cameron, and Perry, and two from Tioga. Colonel Kane, elected its commander, resigned his commission the following day in favor of the lieutenant-colonel, Charles J. Biddle, of Philadelphia, an old officer of experience in Mexico. It started into service with a variety of prænomens : the Forty-second of the line, the Thirteenth Reserve, the Rifle, the First Rifle, the Kane Rifle, and the Bucktail. The latter was the popular name, known and read of all, and was the name it bore in the army. June 21st it was ordered to the front, and at New Creek, Dranesville, Cross Keys, Gaines' Mill, Charles City Cross-roads, in the campaign under General Pope, Antietam, Fredericksburg, in the Wilderness, and at Gettysburg, this regiment won laurels for its gallant ser- vices. At this last battle its colonel, Charles F. Taylor, of Chester County, brother of the renowned traveler, Bayard Taylor, was killed while driving back the rebels.

MAJ .- GEN. GEORGE A. McCALL.

The organization of the thirteen Pennsylvania Reserve regiments was due to a distinguished citizen of Chester County, George A. McCall. Immediately after the pas- sage of the act creating the Reserve Corps, Governor Cur-

tin invited him to accept the position of major-general pro- vided for in the law. He accepted, and was confirmed a major-general of Pennsylvania troops by the Senate on May. 16, 1861, and on the same day entered upon his duties as commander of the Pennsylvania Reserve Corps. Its his- tory and his in the field of battle in defense of the Union form part of the brightest of our country's military annals. General McCall was born in Philadelphia, March 16, 1802, aud graduated at West Point Military Academy, 1822. In 1831 he was appointed assistant adjutant-general on the staff of Maj .- Gen. Gaines, then commanding the Western Department of the United States. In 1836 he was promoted to a captaincy in the Fourth United States Infantry. He served with his regiment in the war against the Florida Indians, and was recommended by Gen. Worth for the brevet of major, " for gallant conduct in the battle of Pelalicaha." In the Mexican war Capt. McCall participated in the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, and received the brevets of major and lieutenant- colonel, " for gallant and distinguished services" in these battles. The citizens of Philadelphia also acknowledged his conduct by presenting to him an elegantly-mounted sword. At the close of the war Lient .- Col. McCall re- signed his commission as staff assistant adjutant-general, and crossed the Atlantic to spend a year in Europe, in hope of regaining his health, which had been seriously impaired during the campaign in Mexico. While in Eng- land, and also on the Continent, he obtained permission from the authorities to visit the military schools, fortifica- tions, camps, barracks, and hospitals, and thus in his tour acquired much useful knowledge, which subsequently he put into practice. On his return he took command of the Third Regiment United States Infantry, stationed at Santa Fe. He prepared, by order of the War Department, a historical sketch of the newly-acquired territory, which was published by order of Congress. In 1850 he was ap- pointed inspector-general of the United States army, with the rank of colonel of cavalry. Having made inspections of the troops and military posts in New Mexico, California, and Oregon, Col. McCall found his health again failing, and therefore, in April, 1853, resigned his commission and retired from the service. After leaving the army he de- voted much of his time to scientific pursuits, and made numerons valuable contributions to natural history. In 1855 he removed from his residence in Philadelphia to a farm in Chester County, where, in retirement, enjoying the society of his family and friends, he remained until the bombardment of Fort Sumter. Immediately thereafter, in April, 1861, Governor Curtin summoned Col. Mc- Call to Harrisburg, to advise with him on the military or- ganization of Pennsylvania. While at the capital he was unanimously elected colonel of the Tenth Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers. Having declined the position, he was, on May 15th, appointed by the Governor major- general of the Pennsylvania Reserve Corps. Without delay he entered upon the work of organizing fifteen regiments of troops, in the manner provided by law, and Elbridge McConkey, of West Chester, who had just gradu-, ated from Harvard University, was appointed one of his aides-de-camp.

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GENERAL HISTORY.

COL. CHARLES FREDERICK TAYLOR,

colonel of the Bucktail Regiment (Forty-second), was born in West Chester, Feb. 6, 1840. He spent the early part of his life on his father's farm, near Kennet Square, and was a pupil in the village school. He made rapid progress in the study of the classics and the French language, and in his sixteenth year entered the university at Ann Arbor, Mich. In the following year he accompanied his brother, the renowned Bayard, and his two sisters, on a tour through Europe. The party sailed from New York in July, 1856, landed in England, and after visiting places of note on the island, the tourists crossed over to the Continent and trav- elcd through France, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. The younger brother, with his sisters, then settled at Lausanne, whilst Bayard Taylor made his celebrated jour- ney to Sweden and Lapland. In the spring of 1857, Charles Frederick Taylor left Lausanne with his sisters, and proceeded to Gotha, for the purpose of studying the German language, and in June of the same year returned to America. In addition to having acquired the ability to speak the French and German languages with unusual facility, he experienced great improvement in his health, which up to that time had been feeble. In the fall he returned to Ann Arbor to resume his studies, with the noble ambition of becoming a thorough scholar. Private reasons, however, induced him in the following summer to return to Kennet Square, to assume the management of his father's farm. He entered with great energy and enthu- siasm upon his new occupation, adopting new and improved agricultural processes with prospect of speedy success. But when the President's call for troops, immediately after the attack on Fort Sumter, roused the nation, our young hero dropped all his plans, summoned the young men of the neighborhood together at Kennet Square, drew up a volunteer pledge, and placed his name at the head of the list. In three days a sufficient number had enrolled their names to form a company, which unanimously chose young Taylor as their captain. Without waiting to correspond with the State authorities to ask acceptance for his com- pany, Capt. Taylor took the men to Harrisburg, and had them incorporated into the Bucktail Regiment. From that time forth his history was that of his regiment. He was captured at Harrisonburg whilst generously attempting to carry from the field his superior officer ; he was paroled in August, and returned to the command at Sharpsburg. After the battle of Antietam, Capt. Taylor was promoted to the colonelcy of the Bucktail Regiment, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of Col. McNeil. Col. Taylor was the youngest man holding a colonel's commis- sion in the Army of the Potomac, and Gen. Meade, a man from whom only the highest merit elicited praise, pro- nounced him one of the most promising young officers in the service. The conspicuous gallantry of the young colonel attracted the fire of the enemy, and he fell mortally wounded, whilst leading his regiment in the desperate charge made by the First Brigade, July 2, 1863, at Get- tysburg. He was in the advance of his column, waving his sword, and calling out to them, " Come on, boys ! we'll take them all prisoners;" but scarcely had the words es- caped his lips when he fell, shot through the heart by a

rebel sharpshooter. The remains of Col. Taylor were carried to his father's house, and were interred in Long- wood Cemetery. A beautiful monument, subscribed for principally by the surviving officers and men of his regi- ment, was erected over his grave. At this writing his venerable father, former high sheriff of Chester County, and his aged mother both live in Kennet Square.

FORTY-NINTH REGIMENT.

At Camp Curtin, Sept. 14, 1861, this regiment was organized with William H. Irwin, of Mifflin County, colonel. Companies A and G were recruited in Centre County, Band F in Chester, C and D in Hundingdon, E, H, and K in Mifflin, and I in Juniata. On the 22d it moved to Wash- ington, where it was assigned to Hancock's brigade of- Smith's division. It participated in the hard-fought bat- tles of Williamsburg,-where, on the field, its colonel re- ceived the thanks of Gens. Hancock and Mcclellan for the magnificent conduct of his regiment, the latter saying, " No men could have done better,"-Chancellorsville, Rap- pahannock Station, Spottsylvania Court-house, and Win- chester. Besides, it was engaged with honor in many skirmishes, marches, etc., and was mustered out at Wash- ington, D. C., July 15, 1865. For a sketch of Col. Geo. F. Smith, who for a time commanded a company in this regiment, see biographical department.

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History of Chester County, Pennsylvania, with genealogical and biographical sketches, Part 37

Author: Futhey, John Smith, 1820-1888; Cope, Gilbert, 1840-1928 Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Philadelphia, L. H. Everts Number of Pages: 1162

Author: Futhey, John Smith, 1820-1888; Cope, Gilbert, 1840-1928
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia, L. H. Everts
Number of Pages: 1162