History of Chester County, Pennsylvania, with genealogical and biographical sketches, Part 38

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 38

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FIFTY-THIRD REGIMENT.

The first colonel of this regiment was John R. Brooke, of Pottstown, through whose exertions mainly it was or- ganized. Company A was recruited in Chester County, B in Chester and Montgomery, and the others in various parts of the State. It took a prominent part in the engagement at Fair Oaks, fought from the Chickahominy to the James River, participated in the battle of Fredericksburg, served in the Wilderness campaign, and after a brilliant record from its organization in the fall of 1861, it was mustered out June 30, 1865, having veteranized and done valiant service.

SEVENTY-FIRST REGIMENT.

This regiment, originally known as the California Regi- ment, was organized by Col. E. D. Baker, United States senator, who commanded it until he was killed at Ball's Bluff, Va., Oct. 21, 1861. It was honorably engaged in the battles of Antietam, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, and . in the Peninsula and Mine Run campaigns. Parts of Com- panies H and K were recruited in Chester County.

EIGHTIETH REGIMENT (SEVENTH CAVALRY).

This regiment, in which Chester County officers and men also figure, was raised in the fall of 1861, served in Ten- nessee, was under Gen. Buell, then under Gen. Rosecrans, and participated in the battles of Stone River, Shelbyville, Selma, and Columbus. Its service was in the Southwest, where it won distinction.

NINETY-SEVENTH REGIMENT.

Near the close of July, 1861, Henry R. Guss, a citizen of West Chester, who had commanded a company in the Ninth Regiment of the three months' service, received au- thority from the Secretary of War to recruit a regiment

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HISTORY OF CHESTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

for three years. Enrolling was immediately commenced, and in two months' time its ranks were full. Companies D, G, and I were principally from Delaware County, and the remaining seven from Chester. The companies ren- dezvoused at Camp Wayne, near the borough of West Chester, where its organization was effected. Clothing, arms, and equipments were furnished from the arsenal in Philadelphia, and the drill and discipline of the command was commenced. An excellent band, consisting of twenty- two members, was attached to it. The citizens of Chester County contributed freely of whatever could add to the health and comfort of the men. On the 12th of November, Governor Curtin, accompanied by his staff, visited the camp, and presented the State colors, in presence of a great . concourse of people, delivering an eloquent address, which was responded to by Adjt. H. W. Carruthers in behalf of the regiment. On November 15th final marching orders came, and early on the morning of the 16th the regiment marched out of Camp Wayne, and passed through the principal streets of West Chester to the depot of the West Chester and Philadelphia Railroad. Passing along the route, the citizens and friends of the regiment thronged the sidewalks, crowding the way, eager to press through to give a last embrace and adieu to near and dear ones. From the windows waved the hands and banners of many fair ones, who scattered bouquets and flowers as they bade their adieus and God-speed. The scene was imposing and im- pressive as the marchi continued. On Church Street a halt was made to partake of a lunch of coffee and sandwiches, provided by the citizens. All along the route to the depot the sway of greeting hands, waving of handkerchiefs, and the murmur of thousands of voices, mingled in last partings, found at length its culmination, breaking forth in hearty cheers for the " Boys in Blue" as the train took its departure at 11.20 A.M. Many of its men had served in the three months' campaign, and some had had the drill and experi- ence and discipline as members of militia or military com- panies previous to the war. The larger number, however, were without former military training, young men of the best families of Chester County, who enlisted from a sense of duty to their government in its impending danger,- earnest, conscientious young men of most excellent charac- ter and promise, the sons of most worthy citizens. This favorite regiment of Chester County made a most gallant and honorable record, one ever to be remembered as glo- rious and bright in its patriotic annals. It reached Wash- ington City, and proceeded to Fortress Monroe, going into camp near the ruins of the village of Hampton. Soon after it went to Port Royal, S. C., later to Warsaw Sound, Ga., and Florida. It participated in the South Carolina campaign, and under Gen. Gillmore was engaged in the as- sault to capture Fort Wagner. It again served in Florida, garrisoning the fort at Fernandina and the works at Fort Clinch. On April 23, 1864, it was ordered to Fortress Monroe to reinforce the Army of the James under Gen. Benjamin F. Butler, in whose expedition and advance upon Richmond it was engaged, and participated in severe fighting before Petersburg. It particularly distinguished itself in the assault on the rebel Fort Gilmore, where Col. Penny- packer led his brigade on the right of the assaulting column.

It accompanied the expeditions of Gen. Butler and Com. Porter against Fort Fisher, N. C. It subsequently accom- panied Gen. Terry's expedition against this fort, and was engaged in its capture, which was effected after the most desperate fighting in the annals of this war. Hand-to- hand fighting of the most fearful character there took place, and for seven long hours the two armies fought inside the fort, and not until ten o'clock at night were the rebels fi- nally subdued and forced to surrender. The regiment here lost four killed and thirty-seven wounded, among the latter Col. Galusha Pennypacker, commanding Second Brigade. It was at the capture of Wilmington, N. C., on Feb. 22, 1865, and remained in North Carolina until August 26th, when it was mustered out at Weldon. Isaiah Price, who recruited Company C of this regiment, of which he was subsequently major, published in 1875 a very elaborate and complete history of this regiment in an elegant volume of over six hundred pages, in which is eloquently detailed its origin, marches, fighting, full history of the officers, and much other data of great value to the historical and mili- tary annals of this county.

PERSONNEL OF THE FIELD- AND STAFF-OFFICERS.

HENRY RUHL GUSS, colonel of the Ninety-seventh Penn- sylvania Volunteers, brevet brigadier-general and brevet major-general, United States volunteers, was born July 28, 1825, at Chester Springs, Chester County. His father, Samuel Guss, also a native of this county, was of German descent, horn July 4, 1796. In 1836 he removed to West Chester, where he remained until his death, May 11, 1859. He hecame a large property-holder, and added much to the improvement of that part of the town known as South Walnut Street, and was well known throughout the county, and held in high esteem. Henry R. Guss received his ed- ucation at the neighboring day schools, and at Joshua Hoopes' academy, in West Chester, and it embraced all the branches of a liberal English education. Upon the organization of that well-known and favorite volunteer company, the National Guards, of West Chester, in 1846, he was one of its first members On Sept. 11, 1854, he was commissioned by Governor William Bigler as first lieutenant of the company, and on June 6, 1859, he be- came its commanding officer, receiving his commission from Governor William F. Packer. He continued in command of this company until the Rebellion occured, and with it he then entered the three months' service. The organization was well disciplined, and was one of the best military com- panies in the State. Every member of the company who was physically able entered the army at the outbreak of the late Rebellion, and all who remained in service during the three years' term became officers. On April 21, 1861, six days after the President's call for troops, Col. Guss left West Chester for Harrisburg, with over three hundred as effective men as could be raised in Chester County. Three companies were formed of their number, and assigned to the Ninth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, being designated as A, E, and F, of the first of which he was captain. The commissioned and non-commissioned officers of these three companies were mainly selected from the National Guards. He was offered a position as colonel of another regiment,

RESIDENCE OF DR. J. L. BAKER, COATESVILLE.

"ECHO FARM." RESIDENCE OF AARON BAKER, LONDONGROVE.

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GENERAL HISTORY.

but declined acceptance, desiring to remain with the men he had brought into the service. On July 25, 1861, he received his commission as colonel, with authority from the Secretary of War to raise a regiment for the three years' service in the (then) Seventh Congressional District, com- posed of Chester and Delaware, which he did, viz., the glorious Ninety-seventh. It is sufficient testimony to the courage and ability of Col. Guss to know that he was se- lected by Gen. Gillmore to lead the " forlorn hope" in the final assault on Forts Wagner and Gregg, on the morning of Sept. 7, 1863, the storming-party to consist of the Ninety-seventh Pennsylvania Volunteers and the Third New Hampshire, both of his brigade. He was highly com- plimented by Gens. Gillmore and Terry for his prompt- ness and gallantry in leading his command to the attack, the evacuation not being discovered until his forces reached the parapet of the works. On June 2, 1864, Col. Guss tendered his resignation to the commanding general, on account of the manifest injustice exhibited towards him by a commanding officer, and received notice of its acceptance on the 23d. It would not be proper to give in detail an ac- count of the want of fairness with which this faithful and efficient officer was persistently treated during most of the period subsequent to his resuming command of the brigade at Drury's Bluff, May 14th. It culminated in his being re- lieved of his command on the march to Cold Harbor, June 4th, under circumstances indicating the determination ar- rived at to fill his place with a personal favorite, his junior in rank and inferior in qualification, under whose command Col. Guss was ordered to resume the command of his regiment. Conscious of the undeserved humiliation in- tended, self-respect demanded that he adopt the only course left him consistent with his untarnished honor. Before parting with their beloved colonel and brigade commander, the officers of his regiment united in a testimonial, expres- sive of their regard and sincere regret, yet recognizing the necessity of the course determined upon as the only one possible under the circumstances.

GALUSHA PENNYPACKER, colonel of the Ninety-seventh Pennsylvania Volunteers, brigadier-general and brevet major-general, United States volunteers, colonel Sixteenth Infantry, United States army, and brevet brigadier-general and brevet major-general, United States army, was born June 1, 1842, in Chester County, at the historic locality of Valley Forge, in a house occupied by Gen. Wash- ington during a portion of the time his troops were en- camped in that vicinity. Joseph J. Pennypacker, the father of Galusha, served as volunteer aide-de-camp upon the staff of Maj .- Gen. Worth during the Mexican war, after which he became a resident of California. The mother of Col. Pennypacker was Tamson A. Workizer, a lady of wealth and many accomplishments, the only daughter of John and Sarah A. Workizer, of Valley Forge. She died when her son and only child, Galusha, was three years old. The latter's boyhood was passed on a farm near Phoenixville, Pa., under the care of his paternal grand- mother, Elizabeth F. Pennypacker, whose faithful training and guardianship contributed largely to qualify him for the eminent service he has rendered his country. He received a liberal academical education in Chester County, and en-

tered the office of the Chester County Times, at West Chester, to learn the printing business, with a view towards an edi- torial career. His youthful tastes and natural bent being towards a military life, he had, while a printer-boy, joined the volunteer military company of National Guards, at West Chester, commanded by Capt. H. R. Guss, which was one of the first to respond to the call of the President for troops. The drill and discipline of this company, through the efforts of its commander, had reached a point of excellence second to none in the State. Pennypacker, therefore, soon became thoroughly proficient in the various movements, evolutions, and discipline requisite to the per- fection of soldierly training. When the news of the firing upon Fort Sumter reached West Chester, that locality shared in the general uprising of a loyal people in defense of nationality. Young Pennypacker, then in his nineteenth year, and about to commence the study of the law, was one of the number who marched with Capt. Henry R. Guss' company to Harrisburg, having previously been appointed a sergeant in the National Guards. Upon the organization of the Ninth Pennsylvania Volunteers at Harrisburg, Sorgt. Pennypacker was appointed quartermaster-sergeant of the same, declining the first lieutenantcy of Company A on ac- count of his youth, which position his company had elected him to fill, and was regimental quartermaster during most of the three months' service. He brought to the discharge of his position such admirable administrative ability and atten- tion as elicited approbation from the entire command. As has been before narrated in this chapter, on the organization of the Ninety-seventh Pennsylvania Volunteers he became captain of Company A, and his after brilliant career is known to the world. Gen. Pennypacker immortalized himself at the capture of Fort Fisher, N. C., Jan. 15, 1865, in which terrific battle he added new laurels to those he had received and won in many previous hard-fought engagements. He commanded the Second Brigade of First Division, and was severely (supposed mortally) wounded while leading his brigade over the parapet, with the colors of the Ninety-seventh Pennsylvania Volunteers in his hands. When brought off on a stretcher he refused to leave until he had seen Gen. Terry, who went to see him. Pennypacker then pointed to the foremost flag on the traverses, and wished Gen. Terry to "take notice that that was the flag of the Ninety-seventh Pennsylvania." At the close of the war, Nov. 10, 1865, when able to travel, he came to West Chester, and received the grandest welcome given by the Chester County people to any man since the visit of Lafayette in 1825. Gen. Pennypacker was the first officer in the Ninety-seventh Pennsylvania Volunteers to be mustered into the service of the United States, and the last of the original officers of the regiment to leave the service, having been continuously in the army a few days over five years. During that time he was wounded seven times in eight months, and within one year received five promotions. He was the youngest general officer who served in the army during the Rebellion, having been con- firmed a brigadier and brevet major-general at the age of twenty-two. His scars, wounds, and sufferings (continued to this day) are a part of that sacred price of the cost of American freedom and of the perpetuity of our Union,

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HISTORY OF CHESTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

and the name of Galusha Pennypacker will remain in- separable from the history of our land, engraven as it is in the hearts of all who treasure the deeds of her heroes.

JOHN WAINWRIGHT, colonel of the Ninety-seventh Penn- sylvania Volunteers, was the son of Samuel F. Wainwright, a native of Rahway, N. J., but at the time of the birth of his son, July 13, 1839, a resident of Syracuse, N. Y. His mother's maiden name was Maria Humphrey. He was educated in the public schools of New York City, and in 1853 he removed with his parents to Delaware, where he learned coach and ornamental painting. At the breaking out of the Rebellion he was engaged at his occupation at West Chester. He enlisted April 18, 1861, as a private in Company G, Second Pennsylvania Volunteers, for the three months' service, and served with Gen. Patterson's com- mand in Maryland, principally in the Shenandoah Valley, Martinsburg, Charlestown, Harper's Ferry, and vicinity. On September 23d he joined Company F, Ninety-seventh Pennsylvania Volunteers, was appointed first sergeant, and rose to be colonel of the regiment, of which he was in command when mustered out at Weldon, N. C., Ang. 28, 1865. He was wounded at James' Island, S. C., June 9, 1862, and while leading the regiment in the final assault and capture of Fort Fisher, N. C., Jan. 15, 1865, received a slight wound in the right shoulder from a spent grape- shot. He is now residing in Wilmington, Del., engaged in the mercantile business.

AUGUSTUS P. DUER, lieutenant-colonel of the Ninety- seventh Pennsylvania Volunteers, is the son of the late distinguished lawyer, John Duer, Esq., of the Chester County bar, to which he was admitted about 1804. Col. Duer is a lineal descendant of Lord Stirling, of Revolu- tionary fame. He entered the United States Military Academy at West Point July 1, 1837, being then nine- teen years and three months old. Among his classmates there were the noted Union Gens. Rodman, Tower, Lyon, Wright, Brannan, John F. Reynolds, Hamilton, Sulley, Buell, and Brookes. He remained at the academy four years, receiving a thorough military training, although he resigned without graduating. He was subsequently en- gaged in business as a civil engineer, being first employed in building a railroad to open up the coal deposits on Broad Mountain, the road running from the Susquehanna River up Clark's Creek to the mountain, afterwards in locating and building the West Chester and Philadelphia Railroad, and still later was engaged upon the Hannibal and St. Jo- seph Railroad, in Missouri. On Oct. 7, 1861, he was ap- pointed lieutenant-colonel of the Ninety-seventh Pennsyl- vania Volunteers, and held this position, with credit to him- self and the service, until the impaired condition of his health compelled him to resign, in March, 1864, when he was honorably discharged. In 1865 he became engaged in mining operations in Colorado, where he remained some years, and then returned to his home at Atglen, where he continues to reside.

GEORGE W. HAWKINS, lieutenant-colonel of the Ninety- seventh Pennsylvania Volunteers, was born in Chester, Dela- ware Co., Nov. 18, 1817. April 25, 1861, he enrolled his name in the Washington Grays, of Philadelphia, which be- came Company A in the Seventeenth Pennsylvania Volun-

teers, three months' service. He recruited Company I in the Ninety-seventh, of which he was captain. At Wier Bot- tom Church, Aug. 25, 1864, he commanded a detachment of the regiment, and was ordered to advance and. re-estab- lish the line at a point where the enemy had succeeded in breaking it. This he did with a promptness and success that received the commendation of those who witnessed the movement. Through all these engagements he was carried in safety, until the day of the expiration of the term of his service, and upon which he was to have been mustered out. Oo that morning at Darbytown, Va., he led the regiment in action, and fell, severely wounded in the leg. After being removed from the field, amputation was per- formed in the field-hospital, but he died soon after the opera- tion, on the morning of the 28th. He was immediately buried near the battle-field, but subsequently the body was disinterred, embalmed, and sent to his family. Upon receiv- ing information of his death, Governor Curtin immediately issued a commission as lieutenant-colonel, and forwarded it to his family, in recognition of the gallant services which had cost his life.

WILLIAM HENRY MARTIN, lieutenant-colonel of the Ninety-seventh Pennsylvania Volunteers, was born in Alle- ghany City, Pa., April 25, 1841, and was the son of Wil- liam Martin, a native of Western Pennsylvania, who died in Philadelphia, Dec. 31, 1879, in the eightieth year of his age. His mother, Catharine Amanda Pierce, died at Parkesburg, Chester Co., July 12, 1857, leaving a family of six chil- dren. The family had removed to Chester County when William was about two years old, and continued to reside in the western section of it, and in adjacent portions of Lancaster County, until the Rebellion occurred. Three brothers enlisted, William entering the three months' ser- vice as a private in Company A, Ninth Pennsylvania Vol- unteers. His two brothers served in Company I, Seventh Pennsylvania Volunteer Reserves, and were captured at the battle of the Wilderness. The eldest, Garnier P. Martin, died of starvation in the horrid prison-pen at Anderson- ville, Ga., and George, the youngest, was paroled about the same time, and reached home a mere skeleton,-the shadow of a man. William H. enlisted as a private in Company A, Ninety-seventh Pennsylvania Volunteers, and was suc- cessively promoted until June 1, 1865, when he was made lieutenant-colonel, but not mustered. Since the war he has resided in Raleigh, N. C., where, on Nov. 16, 1865, he was married to Miss Mattie Louisa Kirham.

ISAIAH PRICE, major of the Ninety-seventh Pennsylvania Volunteers, and brevet colonel United States volunteers, was born May 20, 1822, in East Bradford township, Chester County. His school education was received at the neighbor- hood schools,-Mr. Bolmar's academy and Friends' Select School, at West Chester,-and at an academy in Byberry, Pa., under the care of John G. Lewis. He graduated in 1854 at the Philadelphia College of Dental Surgery, and entered upon the practice of his profession. In 1846 he married Lydia, daughter of Jacob Heald, of Hockessin, Del., and settled in West Chester. He served with rare gallantry, was wounded in action at Green Plains, Bermuda Hundred, Va., May 20, 1864, and was mustered out at the expiration of his three years' term. He was a splendid

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soldier, as is attested by the following language of Gen. Pennypacker : "There never was, or could be, an officer more willing and anxious to hold himself up to the strict, stern, and varied requirements of his official duty than is Maj. Price."

HENRY W. CARRUTHERS, first lieutenant and adjutant of Ninety-seventh Pennsylvania Volunteers, acting assistant adjutant-general, First Brigade, Second Division, Tenth Corps, captain Company C, Ninety-seventh Regiment, was born in Lawrenceville, Ill., Nov. 5, 1835. His father, George W. Carruthers, was a promising young lawyer of that place, who died while Henry was a child. His mother, Jemima P. Carruthers, then returned to Pennsylvania, ber native State. At the age of fourteen years her son Henry was put apprentice to his uncle, Hon. Henry S. Evans, editor of the Village Record, West Chester, Pa., to learn the printing business, where he remained until he attained his twenty-first year, becoming an excellent printer and an efficient assistant in conducting the business of the office. At the end of his apprenticeship he entered upon the study of law with Joseph Hemphill, Esq., in West Chester; was admitted to the bar of the courts of Chester and Delaware Counties in February, 1858, and practiced the law until the spring of 1861, when, the Rebellion having culminated in the attack upon Fort Sumter, he joined the ardent and patriotic young men of West Chester in raising troops to support the government. He had previously become a citizen-soldier as a member of the National Guards, and was now commissioned first lieutenant in the Ninety-seventh Pennsylvania Volunteers, and mustered into the United States service Sept. 11, 1861, having before served as a private in the Ninth Pennsylvania Volunteers (three months' service). He was made adjutant of the regiment. In the action at Deep Bottom and Malvern Hill, Aug. 14 and 15, 1864, and on the 16th, at Strawberry Plains, Va., he was engaged with his regiment. In the latter fight he was mortally wounded by a minie-ball passing through the lumbar vertebrae, severing the spinal cord. He was borne off the field by his comrades, and was sent to the Chesa- peake Hospital, at Fortress Monroe. He died Aug. 22, 1864, in the twenty-ninth year of his age. The Chester County Bar, at a meeting on Aug. 25, 1864, adopted resolutions lamenting his death, and expressive of his great ability and brave loyalty, and added that he was the fifth martyr from its bar, and that it would fondly associate his name with the honored names of Bell, Roberts, McIntire, and Nields, who had before given their lives to their country on the battle-field.

DR. JOHN ROSPELL EVERHART, surgeon of the Ninety- seventh Pennsylvania Volunteers, and brevet lieutenant- colonel, United States volunteers, comes of Revolutionary stock, both of his grandfathers having been soldiers in Washington's army. He was born in West Chester in 1828, received his early education at the old academy, and graduated at Princeton College, N. J., in 1850. He then entered upon the study of medicine, and three years later received a physician's diploma from the University of Peun- sylvania. He soon afterwards went to Paris, in order to further prosecute his studies in medicine and surgery under the most eminent professors of that city, and, returning

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History of Chester County, Pennsylvania, with genealogical and biographical sketches, Part 38

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