USA > Pennsylvania > Mifflin County > History of that part of the Susquehanna and Juniata valleys, embraced in the counties of Mifflin, Juniata, Perry, Union and Snyder, in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. V. 1, Pt. 1 > Part 28
USA > Pennsylvania > Perry County > History of that part of the Susquehanna and Juniata valleys, embraced in the counties of Mifflin, Juniata, Perry, Union and Snyder, in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. V. 1, Pt. 1 > Part 28
USA > Pennsylvania > Union County > History of that part of the Susquehanna and Juniata valleys, embraced in the counties of Mifflin, Juniata, Perry, Union and Snyder, in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. V. 1, Pt. 1 > Part 28
USA > Pennsylvania > Juniata County > History of that part of the Susquehanna and Juniata valleys, embraced in the counties of Mifflin, Juniata, Perry, Union and Snyder, in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. V. 1, Pt. 1 > Part 28
USA > Pennsylvania > Snyder County > History of that part of the Susquehanna and Juniata valleys, embraced in the counties of Mifflin, Juniata, Perry, Union and Snyder, in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. V. 1, Pt. 1 > Part 28
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beloved and gallant comrades are not with us to ex- perience the joys of this welcome. Many (nearly one- third of the number) who left with us with high hopes and happy anticipations, and looked forward to an occasion like the present, are now resting, far from country, from friends and home, beneath the clods of the valleys and plains of Mexico. Some of them fell fighting upon the battle-field, others by the slow pro- cess of disease. We mourn their fate, and sympathize with their friends. Our consolation is, and it is a comfort that friends and comrades may have, that they died in the service of their country, a sacrifice upon her altar, to aid in purchasing the great and enviable achievements which have shed a brighter lustre upon the American name. This remnant before you have returned, and live to-day to receive and rejoice in your congratulations. They feel grateful, very grate- ful, for your kindness. They never can, they never will, forget you. Accept the soldier's gratitude."
The company was in the United States ser- vice a year and a half, and arrived in Mexico just in time to engage in the most interesting part of the war. In that time it had traveled about eight thousand miles in various ways (none by railroad), nearly one thousand of which was on the march in Mexico, beneath a tropical sun.
hotly-contested field in the great valley of Mex- ico. Corporal J. A. Bayard, of Bellefonte, who had been promoted to a lieutenaney in Mexico, entered the cavalry service as a lieutenant in the late Rebellion, and died at home soon after the war. Corporal G. W. Soult served as a captain in the One Hundred and Forty-ninth Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers, and was wounded in the battle of Gettysburg, and at the close of the war returned to his home in Lewis- town and died a few years ago, a worthy and esteemed citizen. Private B. F. Miller served as a captain in the late war and died in the ser- vice. Amongst others who were known to have engaged in the late war, and died in the service, were Robert Davis, William Cowden and Corporal J. N. Rager. Privates Samuel Patterson, James Fulton, Uriah Kitchen, Fred- erick Smith, Reynolds McDonald, Jacob Car- penter and Corporal Peter Beaver were also in the service for the preservation of the govern- ment and the Union.
SKETCHES OF GENERALS IRWIN AND MO- Cor .- Captain William II. Irwin and Lieu- tenant Thomas F. McCoy were both natives of Mifflin County, and both had been prominently identified with the volunteer military of the county for years previous to the Mexican War, and in this service had received all the military education and fitness they possessed when they engaged in real and active military life.
The history of the Juniata Guards presents a true idea of the horrible ravages of war. Twenty-five of the original number never re- turned to their northern homes, having been killed in battle or died from disease. Many others, whose fortune it was to be again per- mitted to greet their friends and look upon the hills and valleys of their native mountain homes, Captain Irwin was a lawyer by profession, and was an accomplished and a distinguished public speaker. He practiced his profession at the Mifflin County bar before and after the Mexican War, but also engaged in other pur- suits, and in later years gave little attention to the law. Soon after the Mexican War he was appointed by the Governor adjutant-general of this State. After retiring from this position he engaged in politics, and was prominent in the Whig party in this part of the State, and advocated the claims of that party on the stump. On one or two occasions he was a candidate for Congress in this district, but was not successful, on account of the district being strongly Demo- cratic. brought with them the seeds of disease which ultimately brought them to untimely graves. At this writing very few are living of those that returned to Mifflin County in August, 1848. It is believed by an officer of the com- pany that not more than fifteen survive. Lieu- tenant McCoy, Sergeant I. Beatty Alexander, Reynolds McDonald, James Carr and Freder- ick Smith are the only survivors now living in Mifflin County. John Dichl and James Fulton are known to be living in Centre County, and Henry Suloff in Juniata County. Some of the company who were living twenty-five years ago, when the life of the Union was in great peril, again entered the service to do battle for the old flag, very precious to them, that they had When the late Rebellion was inaugurated, followed through the smoke and fire of many a | General Irwin was ready for the contest, and
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was amongst the first to volunteer in the Logan Guards and march through Baltimore to the defense of the capital. Soon after the firing upon Fort Sumter, President Lincoln called for twenty-five regiments of three months' vol- unteers from this State, and Governor Curtin commissioned General Irwin colonel of the Seventh Regiment and in command of this regiment, took part in the movement of General Robert Patterson in his demonstration near Martinsburg and Winchester, Va., in the early days of the war. The three months' ser- vice being ended, he was soon after commis- sioned by Governor Curtin colonel of the Forty-ninth Regiment of Pennsylvania Volun- teers, a three years' regiment. In the organiza- tion of the Army of the Potomac by General McClellan, this regiment was assigned to Han- cock's brigade, Smith's division, of the Sixth Ar- my Corps, in which it did good and gallant ser- vice until the close of the war. Colonel Irwin, with his regiment, was with General Mcclellan in the Peninsula campaign, in the effort to capture the city of Richmond, the Confederate capital. Being in Hancock's brigade, he shared in the distinction acquired by that officer in the battle of Williamsburg, and received his thanks on the field, and was in the movements of the Seven Days' Fight, and the famous re- treat and successful backward movement of the army to Harrison's Landing, on the James River. Richmond being made safe from capture, General Lee now marched his army north, against General Pope, and encountered and de- feated him at the battle of Second Bull Run. In the mean time the Army of the Potomac had been transferred to the vicinity of Washington, part of it in time to share in this disastrous battle, but in good time to be reorganized with Pope's army, under the lead of Mcclellan, and to dissipate the clouds hanging over the Union cause in the victories of South Mountain and Antietam. In these two engagements Col- onel Irwin was in command of Smith's brigade, and rendered good and gallant service, in which he received honorable mention in the official report of his superior officer. Colonel Irwin's regiment having been greatly reduced in number, he made application to the War Department to
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have it consolidated into a less number of com- panies, and the surplus officers assigned to the recruiting service. The Department favoring this application, this was done, and Lieutenant- Colonel Huling being left in command in the field, Colonel Irwin and the other assigned ofli- cers were ordered on the recruiting service. The colonel returned to the front just in time to have command of his regiment in the move- ments which preceded the battle of Chancellors- ville. On the 29th of April, 1863, the brigade to which his regiment belonged was ordered on the very perilous duty of crossing the Rappa- hannock below Fredericksburg, in pontoon boats, to gain possession of the south side of the river, preliminary to the laying of a pontoon bridge. This was done in the face and under the fire of a considerable force of the enemy stationed at that point with a view of defeating the attempt. Notwithstanding the great advan- tages of the enemy, the effort was successful, but the loss in killed and wounded was consid- erable. Colonel Irwin received a severe and painful wound in the foot, and which caused his absence from the front for some months. Captain Freeborne, from Lewistown, was mor- tally wounded in this same engagement, and died some time after in the city of Washington. When Colonel Irwin returned to his regiment, he remained at the front but a short time, having concluded that his condition of health and his disabilities from wounds were such that he was unsuited for the hard tugs of the service, re- signed his commission and retired from the army in October, 1863. He afterwards received the brevet of brigadier general of volunteers, for gallant and meritorious services in the war. After the War of the Rebellion, when General Hancock was in command of the Southern De- partment, General Irwin was on his staff as attorney-general, or legal adviser.
General Irwin remained in Lewistown, en- gaged in business pursuits, for several years after the war, and then removed to the State of Indiana, where he was engaged in mining ope- rations and railroad enterprises, and not being successful in them, removed to the city of Louisville, Ky. Having married (being his second marriage) an estimable lady of that city,
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he made that place his permanent residence. His death occurred at Louisville, January 17, 1886. He leaves a widow and a son aged about ten years in that city. He also leaves an only daughter by his first wife, -Henrietta, wife of John B. Hannum, Esq., a lawyer of Chester, Delaware County, Pa.
Brevet Captain Thomas F. McCoy was the youngest of a family of nine children of John and Jane McCoy, the mother being a daughter of William Junkin, one of the early settlers in what is now known as Bratton township, Mifflin County. In early life and up to man- hood his residence was in McVeytown, and some time before going to the Mexican War, he was the editor and publisher of the Village Herald, a newspaper independent in politics, published in that place. After the Mexican War, he returned to his former home, and was soon after elected prothonotary of the county, in which office he served acceptably for six years. Having studied law under the direc- tion of D. W. Woods, Esq., he was admitted to the Mifflin County bar in 1857. At the be- ginning of the war of the late Rebellion, having volunteered for service, Governor Curtin ap- pointed him to the position of deputy quarter- master-general of the State, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel, in which he served faithfully until August, 1862, when, preferring more ac- tive service, he was appointed and commis- sioned by the Governor colonel of the One Hundred and Seventh Regiment of the Penn- sylvania Veteran Volunteers, in the place of Colonel Thomas A. Zeigle, deceased, and as- sumed the actual command of the regiment, then at the front, at Cedar Mountain, south of Culpeper, Va., in the army of General Pope. In this position, occasionally commanding a brigade and detachments of several regiments, he served from Pope's campaign of Second Bull Run, participating in more than twenty fights and battles, and in nearly all the movements of the Army of the Potomac, including the nine months' siege of Petersburg, up to the climax of the war, on the 9th of April, 1865, at Ap- pomattox Court-House, and was in the force under Sheridan, across Lee's path, carly in the
morning of that day, when the white flag ad- vanced from the Confederate lines.
In the battle of the Weldon Railroad, near Petersburg, August 19, 1864, Colonel McCoy had the misfortune to fall into the hands of the enemy ; but, with visions of Libby Prison life before his eyes, at the imminent risk of being shot down in the attempt, he made a successful dash for liberty, found safety in the second Union line of battle, and was thus saved to command his regiment in the triumphant bat- tle of the 21st, the second day after, on the same field, being the third battle within four days for the possession of the Weldon Rail- road, where Lee's force received a disastrous repulse, with great loss in killed, wounded and prisoners. In General Grant's last grand flank movement previous to crossing the James River and advancing upon Petersburg, the Fifth Corps, under General Warren, was assigned the important duty of covering the movement from the enemy. The One Hundred and Seventh, under Colonel McCoy, was placed at an important point, and performed the duty with such success that Major-General Craw- ford, in command of the division, gave official acknowledgment of it in these words :
"The general commanding expresses his satisfac- tion at the efficient manner in which you and the officers and men under your command performed the part assigned you on the 13th instant, in effectually holding your position without support."
Colonel McCoy was brevetted a brigadier- general of United States volunteers on the rec- ommendation of Generals Meade, Warren and Baxter, " for gallant and meritorious conduct during the war," his commission bearing date from the battle and victory of the Five Forks, in which battle, for the effective manner he conducted and controlled his regiment, he re- ceived the thanks of his commanding officer, Major General Henry Baxter, on the field. The commanding officer of the One Hundred and Seventh was so popular with his men that in February, 1864, they re-enlisted for the war with great unanimity, and it was thereby recog- nized as a " veteran regiment" by the War De- partment. During this winter Colonel McCoy was in the discharge of outpost duty at Mit-
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chell's Station, six miles south of Culpeper, and in front of the army and near the enemy, and under circumstances of great exposure and danger, and, being part of the time in command of the brigade, his dispositions for the safety of his command received the emphatic approval of General John C. Robinson, his division com- mander. His superior officers, under whom he served and who had the best opportunities of seeing and knowing, have spoken very favor- ably of his conduct and his long and faithful services :
"I commend him [says General Duryea, his first brigade commander] as an officer cool and deliberate under fire, subordinate and respectful in an eminent degree, commanding the respect and confidence of his companions in arms, and possessing military ability and experience."
In the battle of Fredericksburg, December 13, 1862, in the successful charge made by the divisions of Meade and Gibbon, Colonel Mc- Coy's regiment was in the line of battle that charged upon and carried the enemy's works, and for his conduct and that of his regiment (losing more than one-fourth of his men in killed and wounded) received high commend- ation, in the official report of the battle, by Brevet Major-General Root, his brigade com- mander. In the disastrous battle of Chancel- lorsville it became his duty to hold the skir- mish line on the right of the army for two days and nights without relief. This was in that part of the field where Stonewall Jackson had surprised the Eleventh Corps, and was himself mortally wounded in the night of May 2, 1863. At Mine Run he was designated, with his regi- ment, to lead the brigade in the charge. In the hotly-contested battle of Dabney's Mill, on the left of the Petersburg line, on the 6th and 7th of February, 1865, the One Hundred and Seventh, in two charges upon the enemy, met with the loss of nearly one-third of the number engaged. Brevet Brigadier-General Henry Morrow, commanding the brigade, having been dangerously wounded, in the midst of the battle passed, with the brigade flag which he had been gallantly bearing, the command to Colonel McCoy, and immediately left the field for surgical treatment. He, after the battle,
gave the following testimony as to the services of Colonel McCoy in these two days of battle, most of the time in a storm of sleet and snow, with consequent wintry exposure and suffering to the soldiers :
"ITis conduct there was such as to win my highest regards, and I did not fail to do him and his gallant regiment full justice in my report of the battle. I was wounded in the first day's fight and before it closed, and he then assumed command of the brigade, and commanded it during the next day, and so far as his conduct came under my observation, it was such as to inspire me with a nigh regard for his courage as a man and skill as an officer; and from all I have heard from Genl. Crawford and others, I know his conduct during the whole engagement to have been gallant and skillful."
General Peter Lyle, one of his brigade com- manders, speaks of his "gallant and meritorious conduct whilst under my command, particularly during campaigns from the battles around Spott- sylvania Court-House to the Weldon Railroad, having been associated with him from October, 1862, until September, 1864, and can testify to his ability and bravery as an officer." Hisdivision commander, Brevet Major-General John C. Rob- inson, late Lieutenant-Governor of the State of New York, and a retired officer in the United States army, has made this record of the One Hundred and Seventh Regiment and its com- mander,-
"The One Hundred and Seventh Regiment was with me at the second crossing at Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Mine Run, Wilderness and Spottsylvania Court-House. That it was with the division under my command from December, 1862, until the time I was severely wounded in 1864. Besides the battles above-named, it took part in other movements and demonstrations. That it occupied at times very responsible and exposed positions, and at all times, in battle, in camp and on the march, it gave me perfect satisfaction. I always found the regiment and its gallant and faithful colonel ready for any duty required, and regarded it as one of the most reliable of the many excellent regiments in the division I had the honor to command.
"That it took part in many of the important battles of the war, with credit to itself and its commander and with honor to the State of Pennsylvania. That at all times and all circumstances it did its whole duty, and enjoyed the full confidence of its division commander."
"Since the spring of 1863 (says Brevet Major-Gen- eral Henry Baxter, ) associated in the same command,
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and much of the time in my immediate brigade, I wish to express my appreciation of his moral worth and integrity of purpose that has governed his every action, and the promptness and ability with which his services have been rendered under all circumstances. In the camp, on the long and tedious marches, and on the battle-field, his duties have been performed with that decision and ability which cannot but render a command effective and reliable, which his has ever been. In the long list of battles since the opening of the campaign of 1863, with Chancellorsville, and the closing scene, on the 9th of April, 1865, at Appomat- tox Court-House, where his services have come under my immediate observation, I might particularize, but will only say I had full appreciation of his own valua- ble services and those of his command."
Major-General G. K. Warren, the gallant and distinguished commander of the Fifth Corps, in his history of the battle of the " Five Forks," takes occasion to speak of the colonel of the One Hundred and Seventh as "one of the most worthy officers of the corps." The more than four years. of active war experienced by the subject of this sketch could not but furnish a volume of interesting war reminiscences and in- cidents of the two wars through which it was his fortune to pass. The nine months' siege of Petersburg was full of the wonders of war and a period of the most absorbing interest, a large part of the army being under the guns of the enemy during this time. The extraordinary ex- posures, the hair-breadth escapes from sharp- shooters, cannon-balls, exploding of shells and bombs, might be truly said to have been of al- most hourly occurrence, and although in these years of war thousands fell upon the right and on the left, not one hair of his head was hurt. And in his preservation from the innum- erable missiles of death, he is free to acknowl- edge the hand of a kind and protecting Provi- dence.
It may be remarked here, however, that tactical ability on the field of battle and the courage to lead the column in the deadly charge do not embrace all the admirable and excellent qualities of a good army officer. Moral and religious character are as important in army as in citizen life, and it is one of the glories of the country that Christian influences held high sway in our armies, and to a much greater extent during the operations of our late war than in any previous
one in which we have been engaged. The Christian and Sanitary Commissions repre- sented, in a large degree, the Christian patriot- ism of the loyal people of the country. Their good influences were gratefully experienced in all parts of the army, and through these organ- izations millions of dollars of voluntary con- tributions found a channel to comfort and en- courage the soldier, and especially those sick and wounded in hospital. It has been well re- marked in Bates' " Martial Deeds," "That the highest type of a soldier is a Christian citizen fighting the battles of his country." To model his command after that type was his constant aim. To restrain that hilarity which had a ten- dency to riotous or immoral life in the camp was often unpopular, and unless judiciously done was likely to draw odium upon him who attempted it ; but the purity of life, and the reasonable and sensible way in which General McCoy impressed his men and his associates with his own spirit, commanded respect." One of the very good things that can be said of a com- manding officer of a regiment in the war-a thing in which many fell short-is that he encouraged and co-operated with the chaplain in the prose- cution of his sacred and trying duties, and in the absence of the chaplain the commanding of- ficer of the One Hundred and Seventh was known to have conducted religious meetings, and to have taken special interest in the moral and religious welfare of his command.
Official reports of battles were not allowed to be published during the war, but were carefully filed away in the War Department at Washing- ton. Since the War, Congress has authorized their publication, and the " Annals of the War," containing these reports, number many volumes, and it is from these volumes that the most interesting and accurate history of every regiment can be obtained. The following is an extract from Colonel McCoy's last official re- port :
" In closing this, which will doubtless be the last and final report of battles for this regiment, I would express my gratitude to a kind and ever merciful Providence that He has permitted us to pass through the many exposures, hardships and great perils of this last great and closing campaign of an unprece- dented war with comparatively so little sacrifice of
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life and blood, and that the lives and the health of so many brave officers and men of the regiment have been preserved under the shield of His Almighty power during the past three eventful years, to return to their homes to dwell in peace, and rejoiceover vio- lated laws vindicated, a righteous government pre- served, the Union restored, and the old flag re-estab- lished with more than its original power, beauty and significance in some honorable degree through the in- strumentality."
HIe, with his regiment, participated in the great review, the grandest military pageant of the age,-of the Army of the Potomac, by the President of the United States and General U. S. Grant, in the city of Washington, at the close of the war, on the 23d day of July, A.D., 1865.
On the 13th day of July, 1865, General Mc- Coy and his veteran regiment was mustered out of the United States service at Ball's Cross Roads, near the city of Washington, and be- ing transported to Harrisburg, Pa., were paid off' at Camp Curtin, and from this point, where more than three years before the regiment had been organized for the war, separated with joy and rejoicing to their respective homes, to learn war no more. General McCoy returned to his former home, at Lewistown, Pa., where he con- tinues to reside.
THE WAYNE GUARDS.
The Wayne Guards, ninety-four strong, rank and file, was composed of men from Mifflin, Huntingdon and Blair Counties, the largest proportion being from the upper end of Mifflin, with about fifteen from the southeastern part of Huntingdon, and about twenty-five from Wil- liamsburg and that part of Blair around it.
The company was mustered into service at Pittsburgh May 19, 1847, and officered as fol- lows : Captain, James Caldwell ; First Lieuten- ant, Dr. A. MeKamey ; Second Lieutenant, Dr. C. Bowers ; Third Lieutenant, John A. Doyle; Sergeants, George Filey, J. L. Madison, W. A. MeMonigle, William Westhoven ; Corporals, J. L. Kidd, Jacob Shade, C. B. Wilson, A. W. Clarkson.
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