USA > Pennsylvania > Schuylkill County > History of Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, Vol. I > Part 14
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of volunteers who had already left for the front. Five trustees were appointed by the mass meeting convened for the purpose, and before the adjournment of the meeting, $5,200 had been subscribed. Within four days, this amount had been increased to $6,915, from seventy- seven contributors. Similar meetings were held in other parts of the county, and within a week a total of $24,286 was placed at the disposal of the committee. On the 25th of April, the county com- missioners were petitioned to levy a tax of two and a half mills on the taxable property of the county to constitute a soldiers' relief fund, and at the same meeting which formulated this demand, a committee of three was appointed in each township and borough, to report the families of volunteers needing the benefits of this benevolence. Public meetings were held in all parts of the county, and everywhere prompt measures were adopted to sustain the government and those who responded to its call. The ladies were not behind the men in the matter of showing their loyalty and devotion to country. A number of the patriotic women of the county organized a "Nurses' Corps," and tendered their services through the Secretary of War. This patriotic spirit, thus early manifested, did not forsake the ladies of the county, but was perpetuated by them throughout the war; and many a sick or wounded soldier, far removed from the environments of home and loved ones, had occasion to bless his unknown bene- factress among the hills of Schuylkill county. Ladies' Aid societies were organized in all parts of the county, with Pottsville as the cen- tral point from which all contributions were sent.
But notwithstanding the loyal demonstrations, and apparent unaminity on the question of national preservation, Schuylkill county also had her "Copperheads." They were present in every locality throughout the North, and only sought opportunity to show their venom. They were of the class who incited draft riots and discouraged volunteer enlistments; who gave aid and comfort to skulking rebels who deserted ther colors and sought protection in the North, and were, next to the "Copperheads," the most despicable class of the sixties; the "Copperheads" were of the class who ran to Canada on "business" during the period of threatened drafts, and hired substi- tutes in a foreign country, smuggled them into the United States for a nominal consideration, instructed them to desert at the first opportunity, received fabulous sums for supplying them to drafted men, and continued this human traffic until apprehended by the legal authorities. It was this class of people who encouraged and planned the assassination of President Lincoln, and attempted the life of all his cabinet, and the commander-in-chief of the victorious
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Union armies, and if living to-day, are still the croakers and obstruc- tionists to every governmental policy.
Schuylkill county furnished 13,000 soldiers during the civil war, a number equal to more than one-seventh of her entire population at that time. Besides two full regiments, and many companies to other organizations, the Schuylkill county "boys" were found in almost every regiment entering the service from the state, in organi- zations from other states, and in the regular army. It is safe to assert that the county was represented on every battlefield of the South; in all of the important maneuvers of the armies, from the pestilential swamps of Virginia to the everglades of Florida; on raids and foraging expeditions, on the battle front and the lonely picket-line, crossing the "dead-line" at Andersonville, Belle Isle and Libby, for prompt relief from lingering death by starvation, vermin and merciless expo- sure; languishing with shattered bodies in the hastily improvised field hospitals; contributing their share to the accumulations from the surgeons' knife, or breathing their young lives away, unattended and alone, at the isolated spot where the fatal bullet found its mark. Such a record of heroism and self-sacrifice for the good of the common country, cannot be presented in its fulness after the lapse of more than forty years, even were the archives of the national government at command. Many private soldiers performed meritorious acts unnoticed and unpublished which, if performed by an officer, would have led to promotion for "gallant and meritorious conduct."
Immediately following the departure of the companies previously mentioned, the work of recruiting was commenced and prosecuted with unrelenting energy, and by the 21st of April, four companies hurried forward to the rendezvous at Harrisburg. These were the Columbian Infantry, from Glen Carbon; the Minersville Artillerists; Scott Artillery, of Schuylkill Haven, and the Ringgold Rifles, of Miners- ville. On reaching Camp Curtin, the local names were discarded, and the companies were thereafter designated as companies C, E, F, and I, and became a part of the Fifth regiment of Pennsylvania volunteer infantry enlisted for the three months' service. The regi- ment reached Annapolis on the 23d, and arrived at Washington on the 27th. It was at Alexandria, Virginia, on guard and patrol duty during the battle of Bull Run, and was mustered out on the 25th of July. The organization of the Sixth regiment followed immediately after the Fifth was completed, and Schuylkill county contributed seven companies to that organization, viz .: the Port Clinton Artillery, Co. B; Marion Rifles, of Port Carbon, Co. C; the Nagle Guards, of Pottsville, Co. D; the Ashland Rifles, Co. E; the Washington Yagers,
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of Pottsville, Co. F; the Lewellyn Rifles, Co. G, and the Tower Guards, Co. H. The regiment formed a part of General Thomas' brigade, in Patterson's division, and participated in one or two skirmishes in making a demonstration against Harper's Ferry.
The Wetherill Rifles of St. Clair, Co.H; and the Keystone Rifles of Port Carbon, Co. K; represented Schuylkill county in the Ninth regiment. Two companies from this county were in the Tenth regi- ment-the Scott Rifles of Tamaqua, Co. G, and the Washington Light Infantry, of Pine Grove. The Lafayette Rifles, Co. B, con- stituted Schuylkill's representation in the Fourteenth regiment, while five companies were contributed in the organization of the Sixteenth. These were the German Light Infantry from Tamaqua, Co. B; the Jackson Guards from the same place, Co. D; the Wynkoop Artillery of Silver Creek, Co. E; the Union Guards of Pottsville, Co. I, and the Schuylkill Guards of Minersville. These regiments saw no active service under the three months' term of enlistment, except in march- ing, guarding railroads and public thoroughfares, and in doing the duties required of them; but most of the men saw their full measure of hardships and soldierly activity under subsequent reenlistments.
When Lee's army invaded Pennsylvania in June, 1863, the gover- nor of the state made strenuous efforts to confine the invasion to as small an area of territory as possible. A general proclamation called for volunteers to meet the temporary needs of the state, and a prompt and general response was accorded it. In meeting this emer- gency, Schuylkill county responded with 700 men within twenty-four hours, some going forward without awaiting the formality of an enlist- ment, and reported at the state capital for duty. Six companies were organized in this county, three of them being from Pottsville, and hurried forward to the scene of action, where they, with others, constituted the Twenty-seventh regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers. Companies A, B and C were from Pottsville, E was from Tamaqua, G from Ashland and I from Frailey township. The regiment moved to Columbia on the 24th, to guard the bridge across the Susquehanna, and while thus employed, was attacked on Sunday morning, the 28th of June, by a largely superior force of the enemy, who sought to cross the river at that point. The cutting of the Pennsylvania. railroad was thus prevented, as well as the crippling of other roads, and the burning of bridges. The regiment suffered no losses in the skirmish, but three deaths occurred from disease during its short term of service.
The Twenty-eighth regiment Pennsylvania volunteer infantry was organized under the President's call in 1861, by Colonel Geary, who subsequently became a major-general, and later, governor of the state.
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The regiment was uniformed and equipped at his expense, and achieved a brilliant military record. There were about forty men from Schuylkill county in this organization. The Thirty-ninth regiment, Pennsylvania volunteers, was mostly from this county, and organized under the emergency call of 1863. It reached the scenes of wanton destruction left in the wake of the rebel army, at Shippensburg, Chambersburg, and Green Castle, but was unable to reach the rapidly moving columns of the invaders. About thirty men from Schuylkill county enlisted for the three years' service in the Fortieth regiment, of Eleventh reserves. They shared the active campaigns and brilliant battles of this honored organization through- out the term of service, and took part in the many hard-fought battles of the Army of the Potomac.
During the summer and early autumn of 1861, the first three years' regiment was raised in Schuylkill county. The ranks of the eligibles had been seriously decimated by the earlier enlistments, but many of the three months' men had returned, and now offered their services in a three years' organization. The Forty-eighth regiment is one in which the people of the county have always manifested more than a passing interest. Not that its services were more valiant and praise- worthy than the others-for all performed their whole duty at all times, and under all circumstances-but because it was a home organ- ization, exclusively, officered and manned by men whose later lives have been a part of the history of the county, in the pursuit of peace- ful avocations; and because the memories of far-away days are re- called in daily meeting the grizzled and decrepit survivors of that period which tried men's souls and a nation's strength. Company A of this regiment was recruited at Port Clinton and Tamaqua; Com- panies B, C, D, G and H in Pottsville; Company E was from Silver Creek and New Philadelphia; Company F from Minersville; Company I from Middleport and Schuylkill Valley, and Company K was from Schuylkill Haven and Cressona. On the 24th of September, the regiment started for the enemy's country, Fortress Monroe being the objective point. Col. James Nagle, afterward a brigader-general, was in command. The field officers were David A. Smith, lieutenant- colonel; Joshua K. Sigfried, major, and John D. Bertolette, adjutant. The field and line officers were changed so frequently by the casual- ties of war, the promotions and resignations, transfers, etc., that the roster of one day is no reliable criterion as to the official directory for the next.
The first active service of the Forty-eighth was at Second Bull Run, where it received its first baptism of fire. Previous to this
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engagement, a portion of the regiment was at Newberne, North Caro- lina, and the companies were not all together again until the following spring. The principal drill camp, in preparation for future activi- ties, was at Hatteras Island, North Carolina. On the 8th of July, 1862, the regiment returned to Fortress Monroe, and thereafter took a prominent part in the stirring events in the "Old Dominion." It joined the army of General Pope on the 14th of August, at Culpepper Court House, and marched from there, by way of Cedar mountain, Stevensburg, White Sulphur Springs, Warrenton and Manassas Junction, to Bull Run. In this engagement the total losses equaled 152. The regiment was engaged at Chantilly, and went from that field on the campaign through southern Maryland, which culminated in the battles of South mountain and Antietam, the Forty-eighth being hotly engaged in the former, and suffered great losses in the latter. The regiment was encamped at Pleasant hill, near Harper's Ferry until the 27th of October, when it crossed into Virginia, and was engaged with Stuart's cavalry, near Amissville, on the roth of November. It was encamped at Falmouth for about two weeks, when on the IIth of December, it started for the battleground at Fredericksburg. In that sanguinary engagement the Forty-eighth was under a galling fire for several hours, being most of the time denied the satisfaction of "striking back," as were thousands of other troops who were on the same field. From February, 1863, until the same month in the following year, the Ninth army corps, of which this regiment formed a part, was detached from the Army of the Potomac, and took part in the campaigns in Tennessee and Kentucky. From April until September, the Forty-eighth was engaged in provost duty in Lexington. On the Ioth of September it was ordered to east Tennessee, and arrived at Knoxville on the 28th, participated in the battle at Blue Springs in October, and returned to Knoxville on the 15th. It remained in camp at Lenoir, on the East Tennessee rail- road, for about a month, and participated in a hot engagement at Campbell's Station, which continued for a day. On the 17th of Octo- ber the regiment retired within the fortifications at Knoxville, and remained there until the siege was raised on the 5th of December. While in camp at Pleasant Valley, most of the men reënlisted, and received a veteran furlough of thirty days, and returned to Pottsville to visit home and friends. On expiration of the furlough, the regi- ment rejoined its corps, which had returned to Virginia, and remained there until the final capitulation at Appomattox. The regiment participated in the closing campaigns of the war in which for months at a time they were not out of range of the enemy's rifles. It was
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in the battle of the Wilderness on the 6th and 7th of May, '64, and two or three days later, it was again engaged at Spottsylvania, where its losses were extremely heavy. On the 3d of June, it was engaged in the battle at Cold Harbor, and up to this time, since returning to Virginia, the regimental losses had been 262 men. The regiment arrived in front of Petersburg on the 16th of June, being among the first to reach the historic point around which centered the remaining life of the Confederacy. The Forty-eighth Pennsylvania, and the Thirty-sixth Massachusetts, attacked the enemy, drove in his line, captured four pieces of artillery, 1,500 stand of arms and 600 prisoners, as an initial demonstration against Petersburg. These two regiments, unsupported, captured more prisoners on that occasion than there were fighting men in the two Union regiments.
Col. Henry Pleasants of the Forty-eighth conceived the idea of undermining one of the enemy's forts, which stood uncomfortably near the line of the Forty-eighth, in the distribution of troops in front of the beleaguered city, and communicated his views to his superior officers. The commanding-general favored the project, and the Forty- eighth was detailed to do the work, being restricted to the utmost secrecy in regard to what was being done. Few men in the Union ranks, except those employed in the perilous and laborious work, knew anything about the scheme until the explosion took place. The object was to open the enemy's line of defenses, and thus far the scheme was successful; but the tardiness of those expected to coöper- ate, rendered the enterprise a failure. A crater two hundred feet long, fifty feet wide, and twenty-five feet deep, completely destroyed the fort under which the explosion took place, and the colored troops who were to charge and capture the line when thus broken and deci- mated, declared that the "las' day hab come!" and thoughtfully pro- tected their wooly heads under any friendly bush, and failed to "charge!"
The Forty-eighth participated in a hot fight at Poplar Spring Church on the 30th of September, and again on the 27th of October, but its principal duties were confined to the trenches in front of Petersburg. Early in December a concerted attack was made against Fort Sedg- wick, impiously called "Fort Hell." The stronghold was taken and held against repeated attempts to recapture it, and the occupants were daily entertained by vicious shelling. On the 3d of April, 1865, the beginning of the end was reached. Petersburg and Richmond fell, and the enemy was in rapid retreat. The Forty-eighth joined in the pursuit, and their active field service ended with the surrender of Lee's army on the 9th. This valiant regiment was mustered out
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and returned to Pottsville on the 20th of July, 1865. The casual- ties of the Forty-eighth during the war are appalling. Out of an origi- nal enlistment of 1,000 men, 782 of them were either killed, wounded or missing in battle, the record standing as follows: Killed in battle, 98; wounded, 507; missing, 177; died of disease, 109; total losses, 891.
The Fiftieth, and Fifty-second regiments, organized in the fall of 1861, each had representatives from Schuylkill county in their ranks. Of the first named, Companies A and C were enlisted in this county, and the commanding officer of the regiment was also a resident of Schuylkill county, while every company in the organization contained the names of one or more Schuylkill county boys. The field service of the Fiftieth was very similar to that of the Forty-eighth, the two regiments being together throughout nearly all of their term of service. The Fiftieth, under command of Col. B. C. Christ of Minersville left the state on the 2d of October, 1861, taking transports at Annapolis on the 19th, for the Carolinas. On the 6th of December it had its first introduction into the horrors of war, in a severe little fight at Beaufort, South Carolina; and on the ist of January, 1862, it encountered the enemy in force for the first time, in the battle of Coosaw, where a rebel fort was destroyed. In July, 1862, the regiment was ordered to Fortress Monroe, and thence to the support of General Pope's army in his disastrous Bull-Run campaign. The regiment was hotly engaged during two days of stubborn fighting at Bull Run. It was engaged at Centerville, and had a sharp contest at Chantilly. It fought in the engagements at South Mountain, and three days later at Antie- tam, this being one of the most desperate battles of the war up to that time. The Fiftieth witnessed the battle of Fredericksburg, but was held in reserve, and not engaged. Following the national dis- aster at Fredericksburg, the regiment was again ordered to the West, and there took part in the Kentucky and Tennessee campaigns, par- ticipating in a number of battles. In January, 1864, almost the entire regiment reënlisted, and marched two hundred miles in ten days, to reach the line of communication connecting with "home." The decimated ranks were filled with recruits at Annapolis, and on the 5th of May, 1864, they reached the Wilderness to take part in the final campaign of the war. From the opening of the Wilderness campaign until the close of the war was a very active period in the history of the armies, both East and West." From the "Wilderness to Appomattox" was almost one continuous battle. The contend- ing armies were so closely concentrated that the experience of one regiment was very nearly the experience of all. The casulties in the two organized companies from this county were very nearly the same,
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and exceeded eighty per cent. of the original enlistments. Company A's losses: Killed in battle, 19; wounded, 57; missing 11 ; died of dis- ease, 4; total losses in the company, 82. Company B lost: Killed, 15; wounded, 44; missing, 24; died of disease 2; total losses in the company, 85. The presumption is that the regimental losses would maintain about the same percentage.
The Fifty-second regiment, organized in October, 1861, bore upon its rolls the names of fifty volunteers from Schuylkill county. It participated with Mcclellan's army in the Peninsula campaign, in the siege of Yorktown and battles on the Chickahominy, and in the running battles of the "masterly retreat" to Harrison's Landing. After the battle of Bull Run, in the fall of 1862, the regiment was sent to the Carolinas, and spent the remainder of its service in the South and West.
The Fifty-third Pennsylvania volunteer militia was one of the regi- ments raised under the emergency call of 1863, during Lee's invasion of the state. Companies C, F, H and I were from this county. The regiment was stationed at Reading during its service. The Fifty- fifth regiment was organized in the autumn of 1861. Company E was enlisted in Schuylkill county, while three other companies had representatives from the county. The regiment saw hard service in the Southwest, but returned to the Virginia battlefields in time to take part in the campaigns which closed the war. A majority of the men reënlisted in 1864, and served until Aug. 30, 1865, when the regiment was mustered out at Petersburg. Company E lost, in ten days in the Wilderness campaign, four killed and thirty-seven wounded and missing.
The Fifty-sixth regiment had Schuylkill county representatives in four of the companies, including, in all, seventeen men, thirteen of whom were in company K. Two of the commissioned officers of this company were from Schuylkill county. The regiment went to the front in Virginia, in March, 1862, and participated in all the principal campaigns of the Potomac army. It bore an enviable reputation as a reliable organization wherever duty called.
The Sixtieth, or Third cavalry, was organized during the spring and summer of 1861, and was at first known as "Young's Light Ken- tucky Cavalry." It was one of the most efficient regiments in the service. It went forward with the advance on Manassas, in the spring of 1862, captured the "Quaker guns" on the fortifications, and accom- panied Mcclellan's army to the Peninsula, taking part in the siege of Yorktown, and the various active maneuvers of that campaign. The Third cavalry was present on many bloody fields, and was con-
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stantly engaged in the arduous and hazardous duties of scouting, raiding, maintaining the outposts of the army, and guarding the fronts and flanks while the infantry slept. It followed the varying fortunes of the Army of the Potomac throughout the three years of its term of service. A record of the battles and skirmishes of the ever efficient cavalry corps of the Army of the Potomac, would be a recital of brilliant charges, hand-to-hand conflicts, and individual heroism. Company I of this regiment was Schuylkill's offering to the Third cavalry, or the Sixtieth volunteers, and ninety-three recruits were sent to the company under different calls for volunters. Forty-three men from Schuylkill county enlisted for service in the Fifth cavalry, or the Sixty-fifth regiment. This number was augumented by sub- sequent enlistments under the various calls, by 102 recruits from the county. This regiment served on the Peninsula during the spring and summer of 1862, and in the autumn of that year went to North Carolina. In January, 1864, it returned to the Potomac army, and ended its service in that department, participating in the campaign under General Butler, at Burmuda Hundred, and in the maneuvers of the cavalry forces in the vicinity of Petersburg. About half of the regiment reënlisted, hence the organization was maintained until the close of hostilities. Schuylkill county had representatives in the Sixty-seventh, Seventieth, Seventy-fifth, Seventy-sixth, Eightieth, Eighty-first, Eighty-ninth, and Ninety-third regiments. Company K of the Sixty-seventh was from this county. The regiment went into service in the spring of 1862. The Seventieth regiment went into service for three years, in December, 1861. About sixty men enlisted for service in this regiment, but no company organization of Schuylkill county volunteers was effected. Thirty-four men from this county enlisted in the Seventy-fifth regiment, and thirty-eight Schuylkill county men served in the Seventy-sixth, or "Keystone Zouaves," most of them in Company K, in which they had a lieuten- ant and several non-commissioned officers from the county. The Eightieth regiment, or Seventh cavalry, contained two companies (A and F), from Schuylkill county, besides the majority of the field and staff officers were residents of this county. The regiment was organized in the autumn of 1861, and in December of that year it was assigned to duty in the department of the Cumberland, then under command of General Buell. For a time they were engaged in scout- ing and skirmishing in the vicinity of Nashville, in which they often encountered the enemy's cavalry in hot skirmishes and some severe fighting. On the reorganization of the cavalry arm of the service, under General Rosecrans, in the fall of 1862, the Seventh became a
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