Jefferson County, Pennsylvania : her pioneers and people, 1800-1915, Volume I, Part 32

Author: McKnight, W. J. (William James), 1836-1918
Publication date: 1917
Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers
Number of Pages: 650

USA > Pennsylvania > Jefferson County > Jefferson County, Pennsylvania : her pioneers and people, 1800-1915, Volume I > Part 32

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ery, Samuel W. Miles, William McLaughlin. Thomas Neal. Thomas Nolf. L. S. Newberry, Barton A. Nicholson. Eli Phillips, A. W. Per- rin, Henry A. Reigle, John J. Robinson, David J. Reigle, Thomas Rock, Thomas F. Rush, John Reif, Samuel Steele. George Shick. Joseph Smith, George Surdam, Loran Skin- ner. J. W. Shellabarger, George Slack. Wil- liam Steele, Thomas W. Sallada, Giles Skin- ner, John Sheesly, Moses M. Sugards, Win- feld S. Taylor, James A. C. Thom, Madison .A. Travis, Robert M. Wilson, Levi B. Wise. Robert N. Williams, Thomas T. Wesley. James P. Williams, Andrew Waley, Allen C. Wiant, HI. S. Wiant, Reuben Weaver, George R. Ward, Perry \. Welch."

Company I, Sixty-second Regiment P. V.

"Capt. Robert R. Means, of Brookville, raised a company. Col. Samuel W. Black, of Pittsburgh, by authority from the secretary of war, Gen. Simon Cameron, commenced to recruit a regiment, and Captain Means at once offered his company for this new organization and was accepted. A company had been partially recruited in and near Punxsutawney, and was joined to that of Captain Means, and the company with full ranks left Punxsutaw ney July 24, 1861, and proceeded to Camp Wright, near Pittsburgh, where it was mus- tered in as Company I. Thirty-third Inde- pendent Regiment. The election of officers resulted in the election of Robert R. Means. captain ; Edwin H. Little, first lieutenant ; and John T. Bell, second lieutenant.

"The regiment was at once ordered to Camp Cameron, near Harrisburg, where it arrived with full ranks and splendidly organized and officered. It proceeded in a few weeks to Camp Rapp, in the northern suburbs of Wash- ington city, where it was equipped with cloth- ing, arms, etc. ; six companies receiving the new Springfield rifles and the balance smooth- bore muskets.

"On the rith of September the regiment moved across the Potomac, going into camp near Fort Corcoran, where it was assigned to the Second Brigade of Gen. Fitz John Porter's Division. Drill was commenced, but owing to the men being constantly on detail for fatigue duty at work constructing roads and throwing up entrenchments, but little was accomplished. On the 26th the regiment was moved with the new line, which was advanced by the enemy falling back from Munson's till. It remained here at Fall's Church for a few weeks, when it moved to Minor's Hill

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and went into winter quarters. The new camp was called Bettie Black, for the Colonel's youngest daughter.

"Here the regiment was renumbered as the Sixty-second P. V. Here drill and discipline was rigidly enforced, and a school established for the officers. Both officers and men soon became proficient in 'tactics.' In December. at Hall's Hill, the State colors were presented to the regiment. Colonel Black receiving them in behalf of the regiment in his usual eloquent and happy manner. Here, also, the regiment received the new zouave outfit, the most com- plete in all its details of any uniform furnished the volunteer soldiers. The men took pride in keeping their camp in the best of order, and much taste was displayed. The streets were lined with rows of cedars, and at the end of every street was an arch, with the letter of each company in a wreath suspended in its center. The reporter of the New York World wrote of it as 'the model camp of the Army of the Potomac.' During the early part of the winter much sickness prevailed in the regi- ment, and several died out of Company I. The surgeon placed the camp under the strict- est sanitary measures, and the disease soon abated.

"Capt. Robert R. Means resigned January 13, 1863. when Lient. Edwin II. Little was promoted captain, and proved a brave and faithful officer until the battle of Gettysburg. when he was killed while fighting desperately at the head of his company, in that fearful hand-to-hand conflict in the wheatfield. July 2d. Captain Little was a son of Jacob and Anna Little, née Shunk, and was born in Bridgewater, Beaver Co., Pa., on the 14th of August, 1833. He removed with his parents to Punxsutawney in 1852.

"When Captain Little fell the command of Company I devolved upon Lieut. John T. Bell, who was promoted captain September 12. 1863. Captain Bell was wounded and taken prisoner at Gaines's Mill, and again wounded in the Wilderness. He commanded the com- pany efficiently until its muster out. Com- pany I took part in the battles of Yorktown, Hanover Court House, Gaines's Mill. Malvern Hill, Antietam, Second Bull Run, Fredericks- burg. Chancellorsville, Rappahannock Station. Locust Grove Church, the Wilderness, Spott- sylvania. North Anna, Tolopotomy. Bethesda Church, Petersburg. June 18, Jerusalem Plank Road. The company lost by battle and disease the following :

"Killed at Gettysburg-Capt. E. H. Little, Sergt. Isaac S. Osborne, William Orr. II. C.

Tafel; at Gaines's Mill, Sergt. Clarence R. Thompson.

"Died of wounds and disease-Ephraim Myers. A. W. Armagost. John Bouch, David Burkett, Samuel Crissman, William Farley. James A. Fairman, George Leech, Adam W. Musser, Jacob II. Trout, James Spencer ; G. Vancampment. at Andersonville, Ga. John Kaylor, wounded, with loss of arm, at Han- over Court House, died at Kittanning, Pa .. on his way home. July 17. 1863 .*

"The following Jefferson county men served in Company I, Sixty-second Regiment : Cap- tains. Robert R. Means, Edwin H. Little, John T. Bell; first lieutenant. Samuel W. Temple ; first sergeants, John M. Steck, Isaac S. Osborne; sergeants, George Mack, David W. Kerr, George S. Campbell. C. R. Thomp- son ; corporals, Thomas A. Hendricks, Alex- ander Glenn, William Smith, Arr Neil, Charles F. Liebrick, Thomas H. Budlong, Ephraim Myers, Ephraim B. Johnston, A. W. Arma- gost. John Shannon, Thomas Anderson, San- uel Crissman, Ira Felt. Watson Guthrie ; musicians, William R. Depp, John Ready. Privates. Paul Broadhead, Philip Black, Joseph T. Burns, John Bouch, David Burkett, Joseph L. Burly. George Berger, George Christy. Harrison Covill, Edwin B. Cavinore. James C. Cavinore, Thomas Connell, James Caldwell. Fleming Caldwell, John Collins, Wil- liam Cunningham, Samuel J. Denny, Fred- erick C. Eshbaugh, Thomas Edmonds, George M. Emrick, John W. Frost. William M. Fair- man. James A. Fairman, William Farley, James Geer, Mathew Griffith, Solomon Heim, David Hopkins, Isaac Hendricks, James B. Jordan. John Kaylor. Hughes Kelly. Francis Lyman, John H. Love, George Leech, Abra- ham Milliron, Josiah Morehead. Adam W. Musser. William F. Meeker, John Maginnis, David McKee, Neil Mckay, James McSpar- rin. James McKee. George W. McKinly, Charles H. McCracken, Frederick Nulf, H. N. G. Nutting. William Orr, John Oyster, Lyman H. Phelps, Samuel Reynolds, George WV. Richards. William Rowley, Joseph Rich- ards. William Randolph, Clark Rodgers, Henry Slagle. Simon J. Shanafelt, Henry Shearer, Joseph Sterrett. R. W. Shaffer. Henry C. Shuey. James Spencer, George L. Smith, Adam Smith, Noah Shotts. Absalom Stoner. Benjamin Smyers, Adam Smouse, James C. Shields, Samuel Shaffer, Jacob S. Trout. II. C. Tafel. Joseph M. Temple, George Van- horn, G. VanCampment, David J. Watt, Rob- ert Welsh. Noah Wensell, John Warner, John M. Weaver.

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"The following men from Company I, Sixty-second P. V., reenlisted in Company I, One Hundred and Fifty-fifth P. V .: Capt. John T. Bell; First Sergt. Thomas C. Ander- son; Sergt. Ephraim B. Johnston ; Corporals Sylvanus F. Covill, George L. Smith, Robert W. Shaffer, Samuel Reynolds, died; Noah Wensell, killed at Spottsylvania; Privates Joseph L. Bucley ( Burly ), Samuel J. Denny, killed at Peeble's Farm, Va .; John Maginnis, William F. Meeker, John W. Oyster, Lyman S. Phelps, Joseph Richards, Absalom Stoner, Samuel Shaffer."

One Hundred and Fifth Pennsylvania Regi- ment-Wild Cat Regiment

"The Wild Cat Regiment, so called from the old name of the Congressional district which embraced Jefferson county, from which it was principally recruited, was raised in ac- cordance with authority granted by the war department to Amor A. McKnight, Esq., of Brookville. Pa. The regiment was organized at Pittsburgh. September 9, 1861, and pro- ceeded immediately to Washington city, going into camp at Kalorama Heights on the 11th of September. Ilere a company from West- moreland county, commanded by Capt. M. M. Dick, seceded from Colonel Leasure's Round- head regiment and joined Colonel McKnight's regiment. This, one of the best companies in the regiment, was afterwards known as Com- pany E. In a few days the regiment was moved across the Potomac into Virginia and . encamped upon the farm of llon. George Mason, one of the most bitter Rebels in the Old Dominion, and whose life during that winter was one season of discontent, caused by the presence of the hated bluecoats en- camped at his very door. This camp, situated on a slight eminence, about one and a half miles from Alexandria, was called Camp Jameson, after the gallant Gen. Charles D. Jameson, of Maine, to whose brigade the regi- ment was assigned. This noble officer, who, while in command of his own tried regiment, the Second Maine, had won his stars at Bull Run, soon became a great favorite with the men of the Wild Cat Regiment. Himself a lumberman, he could appreciate the hardy, stalwart sons of the forest. On one occasion some of the boys who had been detailed to

* These are all that are reported as having been killed or died from Company I, but the records of the company are not full, as forty-two names are reported "not on muster-out roll," and it is more than likely that some of these were killed or died.

cut firewood employed their time instead in gathering chestnuts and returned to camp bringing only a few fence rails. As a punish- ment for this breach of discipline Colonel Mc- Knight ordered them to 'walk the ring,' each man carrying a rail. General Jameson passing by, the boys came to a halt and saluted him by bringing their rails to 'present arms.' The General returned the salute, seemingly much amused. An election for field officers was held soon after the regiment reached Camp Jameson, which resulted in the election of Amor A. McKnight, colonel; W. W. Corbet. lieutenant colonel; M. M. Dick, major. The regiment, which was now called the One Hundred and Fifth Pennsylvania Volunteers, was assigned to the First Brigade, First Divis- ion, Third Corps, which place it kept from that time until the glorious old Third was con- solidated with the Second Corps, and, with the Sixty-third Pennsylvania Volunteers, were, I think, the only regiments that kept their original place in the same brigade. This brigade was at first composed of the Fifty- seventh, Sixty-third, and One Hundred and Fifth Pennsylvania Volunteers, and the Eighty-seventh New York.

"Gen. Charles K. Graham, under whom the One Hundred and Fifth did some of its most heroic fighting, gives me in a recent letter this unsolicited tribute to the regiment : 'The One Hundred and Fifth was composed of unusually fine material. Young in years and strong in brawn, Colonel MeKnight, too, was a very capable drill officer and fine discip- linarian and taught his men to excel in their manœuvres. Frequently, when I commanded the brigade, I visited the headquarters of the regiment to witness the bayonet drill, in which the regiment was particularly proficient.'

"On the 26th of January, 1862, Captains Rose and Altman and Lieutenants Brady, Worrall, J. G. and C. J. Wilson resigned. Capt. L. B. Duff, of the Ninth Pennsylvania Reserves, was given the command of Com- pany D. Capt. James Hamilton, of the same regiment, was assigned to Company I, and Lieut. A. C. Thompson, of Company B, to the command of Company K. This was for a time deeply resented hy the men of these com- panies, but when they found how brave, cap- able and honorable these officers were they forgot their grievances, and no officers in the regiment were more highly honored or more popular. January 5, 1862, the One Hundred and Fifth was presented by the State with an elegant stand of colors, Gen. J. K. Moorhead. of Pittsburgh, making the presentation on be-

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half of Governor Curtin, and Colonel Mc- Knight receiving the flag on behalf of his regi- inent.

"On March 17th the One Hundred and Fifth embarked on the steamer 'Catskill,' for Fortress Monroe, arriving there on the even- ing of the 19th. They disembarked in the midst of a fearful rainstorm, and in this were marched about a mile north of the fort and halted for the night. This was their first field experience, and not relishing the prospect of lying all night in the rain, the regiment, with- out orders, broke ranks, and officers and men sought refuge from the storm in some cavalry stables of the. Eleventh Pennsylvania Cavalry, who gave the drenched and suffering soldiers shelter, and with the Sixteenth Massachusetts Infantry, who were on guard near by, pre- pared hot coffee for both the One Hundred and Fifth and Sixty-third. They remained in the vicinity of Yorktown until the 5th of May, when the First Brigade, which had been de- tached from the division, was ordered to rejoin it and were hurried forward at a 'double quick' past all obstruction through the rain and mud. As they neared Williamsburg General Heintzelman rode out to meet them, while the rest of the division received them with a cheer. The other brigades of the divis- ion were almost used up, but when they heard the enthusiastic cheers of Jameson's brigade as it hastened to their relief it infused new life into their weary, bleeding ranks, and they, rallying, made charge after charge until the enemy gave way. Jameson's brigade was hurried to the front, but the enemy did not venture to attack, and, our forces not caring to attack their works that night, the division was formed in line and lay there all night in the pouring rain without overcoats or blankets. The next morning the One Hundred and Fifth was deployed as skirmishers to enter the town, General Jameson and Colonel McKnight both with them. Company C, which occupied the center as the advance, was the first to enter the town, and the regimental flag was hoisted on the courthouse by Sergeant MeNutt of that company. As our troops entered the castern end of the town the last of the Con- federate infantry could be seen leaving from the west. The regiment was deployed in and about the town and captured several prisoners. Sergt. Joseph Craig, of Company C, captured a Confederate cavalryman with his horse and arms. Company K captured the sabre, sash and dress suit of Major General Wilcox, of the Confederate army. Captain Thompson appropriated the sash, Lieutenant Lawson the 11

sabre, while the boys 'parted his raiment among them.' The One Hundred and Fifth was detailed to guard Williamsburg, Lieut. Colonel Corbet being appointed provost mar- shal. They remained here until the 9th of May, when they left Williamsburg and until the 3Ist of May were employed on guard and picket duty between Williamsburg and the Chickahominy River.

"On the morning of May 31 firing began in their front, which rapidly grew heavier, and at four o'clock p. m. the brigade was ordered to the front. The One Hundred and Fifth, with seven companies, leaving all baggage be- hind, marched at 'double quick' down the rail- road, past Savage Station about half a mile, where they were halted for a few minutes in the woods. To their right was an open field, across this a rifle-pit filled with our men, wait- ing the onset of the enemy. On their imme- diate front was a narrow 'slashing' of fallen timber, beyond which was Casey's camp, now in possession of the enemy. The One Hun- dred and Fifth turned to the right out of the woods in front of the rifle-pit, where they were brought to the front, and ordered by General Jameson to charge through the 'slash- ing' upon the enemy. They relieved the Tenth Massachusetts, and as they moved forward at double quick, found the Confederates about to attack them, and the two forces met almost on the edge of Casey's camp. So impetuous and deadly was the charge that the enemy gave way and were driven across and out of Casey's camp. Not being able to get their horses into the fallen timber, the officers, dis- mounting, turned them loose and went into the fight on foot. The One Hundred and Fifth pursued the flying foe until our entire right gave way, and the heroic little band was with difficulty withdrawn through a swamp on their left. The two companies, C and I, who could not join their regiment at the com- mencement of the fight, came up as soon as possible and were ordered by General Heint- zelman to form on the right of the Fifty- seventh Pennsylvania Volunteers, and advance into the woods upon the enemy and hold the road, if possible. This they did until, the Fifty-seventh being obliged to retire, they also fell back, loading and firing as they went. Four of Company C were wounded, but there were no casualties in Company I. During the night they were joined by the survivors of the other companies.

"General Jameson, in his report of the bat- tle of Fair Oaks, says: 'I had disposed of all my command at different points, with the ex-

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ception of three hundred and forty-eight men of the One Hundred and Fifth Pennsylvania Volunteers, under Colonel MeKnight. All our men had fled from the abatis in the vicinity of the Richmond road. Our only alternative was to make the best possible stand with the handful of men under Colonel McKnight. We led them across the open field to the Rich- mond road and into the abatis, at double quick and under a most terrific fire, deploying one half on either side of the road. For more than an hour and a half this small force held every inch of the ground. At last the enemy broke and ran, and McKnight pursued them through Casey's camp. . No other evidence of the valor displayed by this heroic little band is necessary than the list of their killed and wounded. Every eighth man of their number has, since the fight, been buried on the field, and just one half their number killed or wounded. Of the eighteen commissioned of- ficers thirteen were killed or wounded. Gen- eral Kearny's horse and mine were killed. A parallel to this fighting does not exist in the two days' battle, nor will it exist during the war.'

"Headly, in his 'History of the Rebellion,' says of the conduct of the One Hundred and Fifth at Fair Oaks: 'Napoleon's veterans never stood firmer under a devastating fire.'

"In this fight the One Hundred and Fifth lost two of its best officers, Capt. John C. Dow- ling, of Company B, and Lieut. J. P. R. Cum- miskey, of Company D ; forty-one enlisted men killed, one hundred and seventeen wounded. and seventeen missing. Colonel McKnight, Captains Duff, Greenawalt, Kirk and Thomp- son, and Lieutenants Craig, Markle, Shipley. Geggie and Baird were wounded.

"From the battle of Fair Oaks to the 25th of June the regiment remained quiet, doing picket duty. General Jameson, so beloved by the regiment, had been seriously injured by his horse falling upon him, which, added to sickness caused by exposure, etc., had caused him to resign, and the command of the brigade devolved upon General Robinson. On the 27th of June, while engaged as skirmishers, two men were killed and six wounded. On the 30th of June and ist of July the One Hun- dred and Fifth was hotly engaged at Glendale and Malvern Ilill, losing, during the two days, one hundred and three killed and wounded- more than half the entire force of the regi- ment-but their loss was not to be wondered at, for at Glendale the regiment was hotly engaged from two p. m. until dark, the enemy making desperate attempts to capture a battery

which it was supporting. 'The battle of Glen- dale,' says the Compte de Paris, 'is remark- able for its fierceness, among all those that have drenched the American forests with blood.'

"The night after this fight they retired to Malvern Hill, where they were sharply en- gaged next day, standing for over four hours under an incessant fire of musketry and artill- ery, with no protection but a rail fence. Each man was supplied with one hundred and fifty cartridges, and not a man left his post while he had a cartridge left. At times the Con- federates came so close that our men could almost touch them with their bayonets, and they fought with desperation. Col. C. . 1. Craig, in writing of this battle, says: 'We are not a blowing regiment, or a blowing divis- ion, but if men can fight better than Kearny's Division, it will be more than I have imagined in the art of war.'

"On August 23d the regiment embarked upon truck cars for Manassas Junction, the different companies being detailed to do guard duty at Manassas. Catletts, Bristoe, and the high bridge at Turkey Run. Companies E and K were relieved at Bristoe on the 29th by part of the Eighty-seventh New York, and by sundown started down the railroad towards Catletts, picking up the men stationed on the road as they went along. This saved them from capture, as Stonewall Jackson's column, thirty thousand strong, struck Bristoe a few minutes after they were relieved. They had barely reached the switch, when, hearing fir- ing in the direction of Bristoe, they started back, but finding the enemy in force Captain Greenawalt, commanding the detachment. retired to Kettle Run bridge, which they were preparing to defend when a detachment from Sickles's Excelsior Brigade was sent to their relief. The officer in command ordered them to board a train coming north, which was ordered back towards Bristoe. When they reached the brow of the hill overlooking Bris- toe, they beheld spread out before them the Rebel camp. They moved back to Kettle Run. where they made a stand to save the brigade, but a battery and a large force of Rebel in- fantry was sent after them, and not being able to cope with so large a force they were again put aboard the train and run back to Catletts. to find their regiment in line. having been ordered to join Hooker, who, with the Third Corps, was moving back to meet Jackson. They found the bridge at Kettle Run de- stroyed, and had a brisk engagement. The One Hundred and Fifth supported a battery

JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

on the left of Hooker's line, on the hill over- looking Bristoe, and the Confederates made furious attempts to take it. General Hooker rode up and turned one of the guns upon the enemy himself. The next morning they marched to Manassas Junction, from which the enemy had retired during the night. Here Companies B and G had been left under com- mand of Capt. S. A. Craig, who had in addi- tion about thirty-five men of the Eighty- seventh New York, and four or five pieces of artillery in charge of Lieutenant James. The heroic little force tried gallantly to defend and hold the place, but after a short resistance were obliged to yield to the large force op- posed to them. This force was composed of the 'Louisiana Tigers' and a North Carolina- Georgia battalion, and was commanded by the late General Gordon. About half of Captain Craig's command was captured, the rest escap- ing in the darkness. Captain Craig was wounded and taken prisoner. Three men of Company B were killed.

"On August 29th the regiment started for Bull Run, meeting on the way those of their comrades captured at Bristoe and Manassas, whom Jackson, not wishing to be hampered with prisoners, had paroled. On reaching the battlefield the First Brigade was placed on the extreme right, facing Bull Run. Here they lay all day under a heavy artillery fire, but being protected by a rail fence and the woods in their front no casualties occurred in the One Hundred and Fifth. It was a great relief, however, when about five o'clock p. m. Gen- eral Kearny formed his column for attack, and led them into the fight. This column was formed of the Twentieth Indiana on the right, the Sixty-third Pennsylvania Volunteers on the left, the Third Michigan on the right, and the One Hundred and Fifth the left center. They charged through the woods, and drove the enemy from the embankment and some distance beyond, but he rallied in force, and, though they again and again repulsed him, they were at last obliged to give way, and lost all the ground they had gained. The One Hundred and Fifth was the last to leave the railroad. and held their position for some time after the balance of the brigade had left them. The Confederates, having crept up under cover of the embankment of the old railroad, suddenly delivered a heavy fire straight in their faces, causing the old regiment to reel and stagger like a drunken man. Captains Kirk and Thompson, finding themselves in a crowd from all companies, at once began to form their lines as on dress parade, and soon

had the regiment in order again. It was here that the regiment sustained its heaviest loss. Capt. C. A. Craig, in command of the regi- ment, was shot through the ankle and his horse killed. Captains Hastings and Thomp- son were both severely wounded, and Lieuten- ant Gilbert, it is supposed, killed, as no trace was ever had of the brave young officer after- wards. Captain Duff and Lieutenant Clyde brought the regiment off the field. The loss stistained was twelve killed, forty-three wounded, and three missing. When the re- treat began, the regiment was ordered to cover the road from Centreville, which they did, lying perfectly still until the army had all passed safely, when the brigade was ordered to march off the field without noise.

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Jefferson County, Pennsylvania : her pioneers and people, 1800-1915, Volume I, Part 32

Author: McKnight, W. J. (William James), 1836-1918 Publication date: 1917 Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers Number of Pages: 650

Author: McKnight, W. J. (William James), 1836-1918
Publication date: 1917
Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers
Number of Pages: 650