USA > Pennsylvania > Jefferson County > History of Jefferson county, Pennsylvania, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 21
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88
The following Jefferson county men in Company E were killed, died of wounds and disease, or were transferred to other organizations :
Killed-Sampson Klingensmith, Joseph H. Law, David Smith, Joseph Shoffstall, Philip Whitesell, Andrew Minish. Died-Samuel R. Gearheart, Jo- seph Long, William Milliron, William S. Newcom, William Postlethwait, George Timblin, Henry Young. Died in rebel prisons-E. Bush, Philip Sloppy, James Staggers, John Snyder. Transferred and promoted to Captain U. S. C. T .- Sergeant R. A. Travis. Transferred and promoted to Adjutant U. S. C. T .- George Miller. Transferred to V. R. C .- Samuel P. Edwards, Willian Evans, William Jordan, B. F. Keck.
COMPANY I, ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT P. V.
Captain, Silas J. Marlin; first lieutenants, John A. Maguire, Junius F. Crain ; second lieutenants, Orlando H. Brown, Joseph E. Hall, Frank W. Clark; first sergeant, Thomas W. Douglass; sergeants, Henry Carey, Shelumiel Swine- 20
182
HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
ford, Benjamin F. McGiffin, Jehial Vasbinder, Alexander McQuiston, William Davidson, Robert Kissinger, Edward Murphy; corporals, Jacob B. Rumbaugh, William H. Harley, John M. Davis, Lewis Diebler, Thomas Mccullough, Al- exander Douglass, Joseph Earnest, Harrison Catz, John M. Love, Russell S. Adams, Russell Weeks ; musician, Joseph Arthurs; privates, George W. An- thony, William Acker, Philip Boyer, John S. Buzzard, Emery J. Barr, Hugh A. Barr, William H. Barr, William C. Boyd, John Banghart. Eli Bailey, Jo- seph W. Bowley, Jonathan L. Bitner, Philip S. Crate, Wallace Coon, James Cochran, Lewis Cobbs, Andrew Craft, Harvey Crispin, Isaac Corey, Andrew J. Clark, Josiah T. Crouch. Calvin Dixon, Isaiah S. Davis, John W. Demott, John Emmett, Alonzo Fowler, Daniel Ferringer, William M. Firman, Isaac J. Grenoble, Frederick Gilhousen, James J. Gailey, Orin Giles, James Garvin, Christ. C. Gearheart, Samuel K. Groh, Samuel Howard, Andrew Harp, Jacob S. Haugh, Augustus Haugh, Andrew J. Hagerty, Benjamin F. Hull, George Horner, David M. Hillis, John Howard, Manasses Kerr, Reuben Lyle, Harri- son Long, Peter P. Love, Lyman E. Mapes, Jackson Moore, Thompson Moor- head, David Mattison, Stewart H. Moneer, Henry Mapes, Harrison Moore. James A. Murphy, James McMangle, Peter Nulf, Nelson P. O'Connor, Robert Omslaer, William J. Orr, William O'Connor, Edward Plyler, Samuel Ransom, David D. Rhodes, Harris Ransom, Eli Rhinehart, William Rodgers, James W. Rea, Lewis R. Stahlman, Peter Shannon, William H. H. Smith, Edward M. Sage, John H. H. Shuster, Samuel Shaw, John W. Smith, Theophilus Smith, Benjamin F. Scandrett, Richard Snyder, Jacob Snyder, John Stahlman, Joseph Y. Thompson, Samuel Fry, Robert M. Wadding, Joseph White, William White, William P. Woods Frank M. Whiteman.
The following members of Company I were killed, died of wounds or dis- ease, or were transferred to other organizations :
Killed-Lieutenant, John McGuire ; sergeant, Alexander McQuiston ; pri- vates, Andrew Craft, Daniel Ferringer, Andrew J. Hagerty, David D. Rhodes, Samuel Shaw. Died-Corporal Thomas Mccullough, Emery J. Barr, William H. Barr, William C. Boyd, Harvey Crispin, Frederick Gilhousen, Jas. J. Gailey, Augustus Haugh, Harrison Long, Jackson Moore, Thompson Moorhead, Peter Nulf, William White, William J. Orr. Died in rebel prisons, Hugh A. Barr, Stewart H. Monteer, Harris Ransom, Lewis Diebler. The latter was shot by the prison guard at Salisbury, N. C. William Acker and Isaac J. Grenoble, though not "Jefferson county boys," were yet always identified with the com- pany. Acker was mistaken for one of the enemy, and so badly wounded by one of his own regiment, while at work on one of the outpost rifle pits at Cold Harbor, that he lost an arm, while Grenoble lost a leg at Po River. The fol- lowing men were transferred: To adjutant One Hundred and Eighty-third Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, Lieutenant Joseph E. Hall ; to Veteran Reserve Corps, Corporal John M. Love ; Philip Boyer, John S. Buzzard, Eli
183
MISCELLANEOUS MILITARY ORGANIZATIONS.
Bailey, Josiah T. Crouch, Isaiah S. Davis, John W. Demott, Reuben Lyle, Har- rison Moore, John W. Smith, Theophilus Smith, B. F. Scandrett, Richard Sny- der, W. P. Woods. Transferred to Fifty-third Pennsylvania Volunteers, Peter P. Love, James A. Murphy, William O'Connor. To Signal Corps, James W. Rea.
COMPANY B, TWO HUNDRED AND ELEVENTH REGIMENT P. V.
Company B of the Two Hundred and Eleventh Pennsylvania Volunteers, was raised in Jefferson county. The regiment was organized at Camp Rey- nolds, Pittsburgh, September 16, 1864, for one year's service. James H. Trim- ble was elected colonel, and Levi A. Dodd of Brookville, lieutenant-colonel. The regiment was sent immediately to the front, and on the 20th of Septem- ber found itself in the entrenchments at Bermuda Hundred, where it was put in a provisional brigade of the Army of the James. Scarcely had it gained its position when it was ordered to mount the parapets, formed of sand-bags, in full view of the enemy, who at once opened upon them with his batteries, kill- ing two men in Company F, with a single shell. The object in thus exposing this command, was to attract the attention of the enemy from the storming party which was about to move on Fort Harrison, which movement was suc- cessful. The picket line which the regiment was required to hold extended from the James River, on the right opposite Dutch Gap, through a dense pine wood to an open space, within which was the camp of the regiment. The line after leaving the river, ran nearly straight to this slashing, where it made an abrupt bend leaving the apex of the angle close to the enemy's lines. The opposing pickets had always been on the most friendly terms, and a great many deserters from the enemy came into our lines at this point. General Pickett who was in command, determined to stop this wholesale desertion, and on the night of the 17th of November, quietly massing a body of picked men, suddenly burst upon the Union pickets, capturing over fifty before they could rally, or the regiment come to their aid. He built a strong redoubt at this point, and so strengthened his lines that General Grant deemed it inexpedient to try to retake the ground. This put an end to all intercourse between the pickets, and hostilities were actively kept up, and while the regiment remained on that line, the men were obliged to hug the breastworks or lie close to the bomb-proofs.
November 27 the Two Hundred and Eleventh, with other Pennsylvania regiments, with which it had been brigaded, was relieved by a brigade of col- ored troops, and ordered to join the Army of the Potomac on the south side of the Appomattox. These regiments were subsequently organized into the Second Brigade, Third Division of the Ninth Corps, to which General Hartranft was assigned. During the winter the regiment was thoroughly drilled, and though busy on the fortifications at Hatcher's Run, and making occasional reconnoissances, was not actively engaged.
184
HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
Before the opening of the spring campaign Colonel Trimble resigned, and Lieutenant-Colonel Dodd was promoted in his place. The regiment was in support of the Ninth Corps line, and occupied a place on the extreme left of the division. On the morning of March 25, 1865, the enemy broke this line, cap- turing Fort Steadman and a large number of prisoners of the Ninth Corps. The Two Hundred and Eleventh was quickly ordered forward. The colonel and major were absent, and the lieutenant-colonel sick in hospital, but Cap- tain Coulter, upon whom the command devolved, promptly obeyed the order, reaching headquarters a little after 6 A. M. The regiment was at once formed on the high ground just in the rear of Fort Steadman. The rest of the brig- ade who were nearer the scene of the disaster had already checked the advance of the enemy, and were holding him at bay. General Hartranft, who had made the best possible disposition of the division, felt assured that the enemy could make no further advance, and that by a united assault the division could retake the works. He quickly formed his plan of attack-posting five regi- ments in the immediate front, held them ready for a dash upon the enemy who were crowding upon the fort and bomb-proofs. The Two Hundred and Elev- enth on its elevated position was a mile away, but in full view of the enemy. It was a large regiment with full ranks, and General Hartranft's plan was to put it in motion and draw the attention of the enemy and his artillery upon it. His other regiments could then charge upon and overpower the foe. General Hartranft expected to sacrifice this regiment, which he determined to lead in person, as the enemy could at once bring their guns to bear upon it; but to insure the victory of his division he was willing to share this peril. The regi- ment was therefore formed and put in motion, with nearly six hundred mus- kets in line, and moved gallantly forward; but the enemy at sight of the ad- vance of this fine body of men, instead of meeting them with the fire of his batteries, as General Hartranft expected, began to waver, and when the com- bined force of the division rushed in, the fort, guns, arms, with many prisoners was captured with little opposition. Just as the order to move had been given, General Hartranft received orders from General Parke, commanding the Ninth Corps, to wait reinforcements from the Sixth Corps, which was on the way, before attempting to recapture the fort; but the order could not be safely re- called, and he was unable to obey orders, and dashing forward gained a brill- iant victory. The regiment fully shared in this coup de main. The loss was only one killed and ten wounded.
On the night of the 30th the division was ordered to assault the rebel works, but this was deferred for some reason, until the morning of April 2d. At a little before midnight of the Ist the regiment joined the Two Hundred and Seventh Pennsylvania Volunteers, remaining quiet until half past three of the following morning, when it moved to the front, passing around the right of Fort Sedgwick, and was formed with the brigade, in column by regiments,
185
MISCELLANEOUS MILITARY ORGANIZATIONS.
the left resting on the Jerusalem plank road ; the First Brigade formed in the' same manner, just in the rear. A strong force of pioneers, armed with axes, from the leading brigade, under Lieutenant Alexander of the Two Hundred and Eleventh, was sent forward to open the way for the advance. The pio- neers were closely followed by the division in close column, joined on the right and left by the other troops of the corps. Soon the pioneers attacked the abatis, and chevaux-de-frise with their axes, but with the first blows were met with a heavy fire of grape and cannister, doing fearful execution in their ranks ; but closing up, they broke through the obstructions, and with the assistance of the troops who pressed close behind, soon had an opening made for the advance of the column, who rushed forward, up and into the forts, and soon the entire works were in their possession, with the enemy in full retreat, and the rebel main line of works from beyond the Jerusalem plank road on the left, to a point about four hundred yards to its right, was held by the division. Turning his own guns upon him, they dealt deadly havoc among the rebels. The enemy made repeated charges to regain their works, but every assault was repulsed ; but the loss in our ranks was very heavy. In the Two Hundred and Eleventh four officers and seventeen men were killed, among them Lieutenant- Colonel Charles McLain, four officers and eighty-nine men wounded, and twenty-one missing, in all, a loss of one hundred and thirty-five. This was one of the most desperate, as well as one of the most successful assaults of the war.
During the following night the enemy quietly withdrew from the works, and evacuated the city, and retreated rapidly. General Hartranft's division entered Petersburg the next morning with little opposition. The Two Hundred and Eleventh was at once sent forward to picket the banks of the Appomattox, where they found both railroad and foot bridges on fire. They were able to save the former and a portion of the latter. At noon the regiment was ordered back to camp. The war was now virtually at an end, and the regi- ment in charge of trains, moved along the South Side railroad, to Nottoway Court-House, where news of Lee's surrender was received. Here it remained until the 20th, when it proceeded to City Point, where it embarked for Alex- andria where it encamped until June 2, 1865, when it was mustered out of service.
In the less than nine months that it was out, the Two Hundred and Elev- enth did gallant service and lost heavily. Company " B" lost in killed besides Captain McLain who had been promoted to lieutenant-colonel, but not mus- tered, killed-sergeant Joel Brown, Thomas Witherow, died of wounds and disease ; John Bailey, Solomon F. Davis, Washington A. Prindle, Israel D. Smith, James W. Boyd. The latter died in the rebel prison at Salisbury, N. C.
Lieutenant-colonel Charles McLain first enlisted in the nine months serv- ice as first lieutenant of Company B, One Hundred and Thirty-fifth Regiment
186
HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
Pennsylvania Volunteers, and when their time of enlistment expired, he again went out as captain of Company B (six months) Independent Battalion, July 23, 1863. Again feeling that his country still needed his services, he went once more to the front as captain of Company B, Two Hundred and Eleventh Regi- ment Pennsylvania Volunteers. He served gallantly through all their cam- paigns, winning high encomiums of praise from his superior officers, and hav- ing the love and respect of his men, to whom he was a kind and faithful friend, until in the severe fight at Fort Steadman April 2, 1865, he was shot in the charge of his regiment, and instantly killed. He had been promoted to lieu- tenant-colonel of his regiment the day before he fell. When the news of his fall reached his home in Brookville, a meeting of the citizens was held April 13, and resolutions of respect and sorrow for the dead soldier, and condolence with his family, were passed, and a committee of soldiers appointed to take charge of his remains, and make arrangements for his funeral. On the 30th of April his body, which had been brought home by his brother, Mr. A. B. Mc- Lain, was laid to rest in the Brookville cemetery. Colonel McLain left a wife and three children to mourn his loss. Mrs. McLain, with his daughter Anna, and son Charles, reside in Brookville, his eldest daughter, Ella, dying a few years since.
June 1, 1864, the day before the Two Hundred and Eleventh was mus- tered out of service, the officers and men of the regiment presented to Colonel Levi A. Dodd, a splendid horse and equipments, as a token of the esteem and respect in which he was held by his command. The horse was a favorite one of General Hartranft, commanding the division, and with the equipments cost six hundred dollars.
JEFFERSON COUNTY MEN IN THE TWO HUNDRED AND ELEVENTH REGI- MENT P. V.
Colonel, Levi A. Dodd, promoted from lieutenant-colonel April 4, 1865 ; adjutant, Herman F. Steck, promoted from first sergeant Company B, May II, 1865.
Company B .- Captains, Charles McLain, Charles J. Wilson ; first lieuten- ant, Milton H. McAninch ; first sergeant, Thomas M. Myers; sergeants, John M. Alford, Anson H. Bowdish, Thomas P. Craven, William Hall, Thomas P. McCrea, Israel D. Smith, Joel Brown ; corporals, Robert W. Anderson, James McMurtrie, Reuben K. Morey, Joseph A. Dempsey, Simon M. Denny, Milton Graham, Andrew Braden, Malachi Davis; musician, Peter Spangler ; privates, Marvin Allen, James T. Alford, H. J. Baughman, Henry Bullers, Jeremiah Bowers, Fayette Bowdish, Henry J. Bruner, Calvin G. Burns, James W. Boyd, John Bailey, Alvin Clark, David W. Craft, Esekiel Dixon, Daniel Deeter, Charles Driscoll, Solomon F. Davis, Peter Emerick, Joshua F. Fisher, Russell M. Felt, Adam Foust, Lewis Gaup, Christ. C. Gearheart, David P. Gearheart,
187
MISCELLANEOUS MILITARY ORGANIZATIONS.
Justice Gage, Mathew Gayley, Hiram Hettrick, Jacob Hartman, Anthony M. Holden, Edward A. Holly, Joseph Ishman, Frank Kreitler, Thomas S. Kline, Thomas Lindemuth, J. S. Montgomery, Alexander Moore, James Mackey, Jesse B. Miller, Milton G. Miller, John K. McElroy, William G. McMinn, Henry McGinley, James O'Hara, George W. Paris, Henry Peters, James Penfield, Washington A. Prindle, Samuel C. Richards, William J. Riddle, Frederick Ray- winkle, Lafayette Stahlman, Solomon Shoffner, Fulton Shoffner, George W. Shaffer, Lewis Swab, John Simmett, Warren Sibley, James M. Thompson, John Thomas, Madison A. Timblin, Frank Truman, George Walker, Joseph M. Wil- son, William A. Watts, Jacob Weidner, Thomas M. Witherow.
COMPANIES B, AND C, TWO HUNDRED AND SIXTH REGIMENT, P. V.
The men for the Two Hundred and Sixth Regiment were principally recruited in the southern part of the county. The regiment was organized at Camp Reynolds, Pittsburgh, September 8, 1864, under Colonel Hugh J. Bra- dy, a cousin of Captain Evans R. Brady. The field and line officers were all veterans, and nearly all the men had seen service. Soon after it was organized the regiment was sent to City Point, and assigned to the Army of the James. On the 4th of October, while engaged in building a fort near Dutch Gap, it was under the enemy's guns, and had one man killed and several wounded. For this work the regiment was commended in a complimentary order, by the commander of the department, who ordered the works to be called Fort Brady.
On the 26th of October the regiment was ordered to report to General Terry, commanding the Tenth Corps, and assigned to the Third Brigade First Division, and soon after went into winter quarters near the line of works north of Fort Harrison, where the men were well drilled and disciplined.
By an order from the War Department of December 3, the Tenth and Eighteenth Corps were consolidated, and the Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth Corps formed from them. All the white troops were put in the Twenty- fourth. General Ord was put in command of the Army of the James.
When the army moved on the 27th of March, 1865, the Two Hundred and Sixth was detached and ordered to remain in camp, reporting to General Dev- ens commanding the Third Division. This order was received with great disfavor by the regiment, and in response to the remonstrance against it, the following answer was returned from headquarters. "I am directed by General Foster to state that he regrets exceedingly that your command should have been ordered to remain. The order came from department headquarters, and the general did all in his power to have it revoked, but could not." The con- valescents of the First Division were ordered to report to Colonel Brady, who was directed to organize and hold them in readiness to move.
On the 3d of April the troops in front of Richmond were ordered to ad- vance, and it was soon discovered that the enemy had evacuated his works and
188
HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
fired the city, so that our troops marched in without opposition. On the 22d the regiment was relieved from General Devens's command. and ordered to re- port to General F. T. Dent, military governor, who assigned it to provost duty in Richmond. A month later it returned to the brigade, of which Colonel Bra- dy assumed command. The regiment was soon after sent to report to General Gregg, at Lynchburg, who assigned it to provost duty in that place. It remained here about two weeks, and then rejoined its division at Richmond. On the 26th as no further service being required of it, it was sent to Pittsburgh, and the term of service having expired was mustered out June 2, 1865. Gen- eral Dandy in command of the brigade said of this regiment: "Under your gallant commander Colonel Hugh Brady, you were the first to enter Richmond, and to display in the capitol of traitors the Stars and Stripes of your country. Carry home with you, and bequeath it to your children, the red heart, the badge of the First Division. It is the symbol that will live when the present and succeeding generations have passed away."
MUSTER ROLL OF COMPANY B, TWO HUNDRED AND SIXTH P. V.
Captain, William Neal ; first lieutenant, Henry C. Campbell ; second lieu- tenant, Arr. Neal ; first sergeant, Benjamin W. Reitz; sergeants, William A. Hadden, Thomas J. Cooper, John C. Cameron, Darius E. Blose ; corporals, Benjamin T. Smyers, David G. Gourly, Charles Barry, David Neal, Joseph W. Long, Thomas R. Lamison, Jacob Keihl, Mitchell R. Lewis; privates, John D. Brown, Joshua Brink, James M. Bush, Lewis H. Bollinger, Abraham Bowman, Boaz D. Blose, William J. Bell, Eli Byerly, Peter Brunner, Philip Bush, Jacob Conrad, John Carr, Robert English, William Frampton, George Frampton, James S. Gray, John Grove, Daniel Gearheart, Enoch G. Gray, Eli Homer, Michael P. Hummel, Thomas M. Hawk, William Huffman, William L. Henry, Samuel S. Jordon, George Johnson, George M. Jordon, Elijah Kinsell, Thomas Kerr, Levi Kinsell, James E. Lewis, Jacob Lingenfetter, Robert F. Law, Will- iam M. Michaels, Thomas M. Marshall, William P. Morris, John Marsh, Har- rison Marsh, Eli Miller, Robert W. McBrien, John E. McPherson, John W. Neal, Samnel H. Nolf, John C. Neal, T. J. Postlethwait, Samuel H. Parkhill, Michael Painter, David Painter, David Pierce, Isaac Postlethwait, John Pierce, Dallas M. Rishell, James O. S. Spencer, Gotleib Steiver, Thomas Spencer, Jo- seph T. Sparr, Peter Swaney, Isaac Smouse, David L. Smeyers, Philip Smey- ers, Alfred Shaffer, William E. Simpson, David A. Thompson, George H. Tor- rance, John Varner, Benoni Williams, Samuel C. Williams, Thomas M. Will- iams, Charles C. Williams, William Weaver, George C. Wachob, John M. Whitesell, Jacob G. Zufall, George J. Zufall.
COMPANY C, TWO HUNDRED AND SIXTH P. V.
First sergeant, Charles M. Brewer ; sergeant, William L. McQuowen ; cor-
189
OTHER MILITARY ORGANIZATIONS.
porals, John McHenry, Thomas P. North; privates, Joseph Cary, Samuel Frampton, George S. Hennigh, John Hickox, Joseph Mauk, Joseph P. North, Michael Palmer, Henry C. Peffer, W. P. Postlethwait, John F. Pifer, David G. Pifer, Samuel Pearce, John Rinn, William Riddle, George W. Shorthill, Joseph Shields, David Stiver, Daniel Stiver, John F. Smith, William Sutter.
COMPANY E, TWO HUNDRED AND SIXTH P. V.
Sergeant, Benjamin F. Miller.
COMPANY F, TWO HUNDRED AND SIXTH P. V.
Private, Tobias Long.
COMPANY H, TWO HUNDRED AND SIXTH P. V.
Corporal, David S. Altman ; privates, George F. Bowers, John H. Bowers, William H. Campbell, Henry Fritz, George S. Gailey, John H. Miller, Andrew Marsh, Samuel McNutt, John C. McNutt, Joseph McCracken, John St. Clair, John Wagner, Jacob Wagner.
CHAPTER XVI.
JEFFERSON COUNTY MEN IN OTHER ORGANIZATIONS.
The Eleventh Pennsylvania Cavalry-Sufferings of our Soldiers in Rebel Prisons-Company K, Fourteenth Pennsylvania Cavalry-Berdan's Sharpshooters -- Eighteenth United States In- fantry-Miscellaneous-United States Colored Troops- Emergency Men.
0 UITE a number of Jefferson County men enlisted and did gallant serv- ice in companies and regiments raised in other localities. The names and organizations of all such that we have been able to find we give below :
COMPANY L, ELEVENTH PENNSYLVANIA CAVALRY.
The Eleventh Pennsylvania Cavalry was organized at Washington, D. C., September, 1861, by Colonel Josiah Harlan, as an Independent light horse cavalry regiment, composed of companies from different States; but as Con- gress had only authorized the raising of regiments by States, the formation of this regiment as an independent organization was irregular, and on the 13th of November it was attached to the Pennsylvania State organizations, and was thereafter known as the Eleventh Pennsylvania Cavalry-the One Hundred and Eighth regiment in line. 21
.
190
HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
Company L, in which were forty-seven men from Jefferson county, was raised by Captain John B. Loomis of Clarion, and was mustered into the serv- ice September 12, 1861. This regiment was one of the best cavalry organiza- tions in the army, and performed gallant service. It took part in thirty-two battles and over one hundred and five skirmishes.
Company L lost in killed and died the following men from Jefferson county :
Killed .- Henry Allen, Charles Barnard (killed at Oil City while at home of veteran furlough), Amos W. Delp, Jesse Evans, Calvin Lucas, Amos Weaver, Thomas C. Nolf; died, Paul Hettrick, Joseph Gates ; James McCann died at Andersonville, Ga.
A number of this company were captured in the fight at Reams's Station, Va., June 29, 1864, among whom was David S. Orcutt, of Corsica, and whose experience in rebeldom was, we presume, not excelled for hardship by any other of our soldiers. After being captured he was taken to Richmond, and there kept in Libby prison twenty days, and then sent to Andersonville, Ga., from which place he escaped, but was recaptured by blood-hounds, near Macon ; from there he was taken to Savannah, and on his way to the latter place he again managed to escape, and was again, the next day, recaptured by blood- hounds and sent to Savannah, and from there to Millen. When Sherman " came marching through Georgia," the prisoners were sent ahead of the army to Savannah and exchanged, and then sent to Annapolis, Md., where Mr. Or- cutt was put in the hospital, and from there transferred to a hospital in Balti- more. From Baltimore he was taken to Washington, D. C., as a witness in the trial of Wirz, on which he was detained for six weeks, when he was so pros- trated by illness, that he had to be sent back to the hospital at Baltimore, where on the 12th of April, 1865, he was discharged and returned home, after having served in the army four years and one month. When he was taken prisoner he weighed one hundred and eighty pounds ; when he was released he was reduced to one hundred pounds, and he has never recovered from the effects of his imprisonment. David R. Mccullough who was taken prisoner at the same time, made his escape from Andersonville, and after traveling four- teen days and nights, reached our lines at Chattanooga about Christmas, 1864. Mr. Orcutt says, "No one will ever know what we suffered at Andersonville. Only those who have been there can tell anything about it. All other prisons were parlors compared with Andersonville."
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.