USA > Pennsylvania > Martial deeds of Pennsylvania, Vol. 1 > Part 40
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crossed the Rappahannock on the following morning, and shared in the charge made on Marye's Heights by French's division, supported by Howard's, on the long to be remembered 13th, when, with this portion of the right wing of his army, Burnside sought to pierce the rebel centre, defended by lines of riffe pits, and a stone wall along the base and sides of the encircling heights, and by numerous batteries that covered their summits. Over that fearful valley of death the One Hundred and Thirtieth advanced at a double-quick, enfiladed on both right and left, and with a tremendous fire in front. Twice it was ordered to lie down, the second time just in front of the enemy ; and here it is believed that some of our own shells from the guns on Stafford Ilills fell among its ranks. It is certain that some of its men were killed by bullets from Federal soldiers in their rear; for the column of attack was from twenty to forty men deep. Galled by so many fires, whole regiments of the attacking force fell back into Fredericksburg. Meagher's men, with their green emblems streaming in the air, had come flying back from their bloody charge with numbers sadly reduced. The One Hundred and Thirtieth was about to follow, when Colonel Zinn, rising up, clasping the banner which had been presented by the State in his left hand, and waving his sword with the right, called out :
"'Stick to your standard, boys! The One Hundred and Thirtieth never abandons its standard !'
" Hardly had he uttered the words when he fell, pierced in the temple by a Minie ball. But the regiment, now under the command of Captain Porter, stuck to its standard, and a portion of it did not leave the field until after night-fall."
Thus fell one of the truest and boldest spirits that went forth from the Keystone State to do battle for his country. It was not a reckless bravery-a daring without thought-but with appreciative heroism, he went with considered step to his death.
Say not so! 'Tis not the grapes of Canaan that repay, But the high faith that failed not by the way ; Virtue treads paths that end not in the grave ; No ban of endless night exiles the brave ; And to the saner mind We rather seem the dead that stayed behind.
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HENRY W. CARRUTHERS.
ENRY W. CARRUTHERS, Captain in the Ninety-seventh regi- ment. In the late war of the Rebellion, some of the most gifted of the young men of the nation, before whom there seemed opening in civil life a bright career, iter ad astra, were untimely cut off, giving up their lives as sacrifices on the altar of their country. Of these Henry W. Carruthers was one. He was born at Lawrenceville, Illinois, on the 5th of November, 1835. His father, George W. Carruthers, a promising young lawyer, died while his son was but a child. His mother, Jemima P. Carruthers, upon the death of her husband returned to Penn- sylvania, her native State.
At the age of fourteen Henry was apprenticed to his uncle, Hon. Henry S. Evans, editor of the Village Record, of West Chester, to learn the business of a printer, with whom he remained until he became of age, acquiring a good knowledge of the art, and manifesting skill and business talent. At the expiration of this period he commenced the study of law in the office of Joseph Hemphill, Esq., and in 1858 was admitted to practice in the courts of Chester and Delaware counties. Well read in his profession, and possessed of a graceful and popular style of oratory, he at once took a commanding position at the bar, and was acquiring a lucrative practice, when the Rebellion opened and he rendered a prompt obedience to the call of his country in her time of need.
He had previously been a member of the National Guards, a militia company of note, commanded by Henry R. Guss, and when the latter recruited his company for the three months' service, and again at the end of that period recruited the Ninety- seventh regiment for three years, Carruthers followed the fortunes of his leader in each, serving in Patterson's army as a private in the former, and as Adjutant of the regiment during the greater part of the term in the latter. In this capacity he was taken to the Department of the South, where he remained until the spring of 1864. His legal knowledge and his habits of accuracy in the transaction of business prepared him to discharge the duties of Adjutant with remarkable skill and ability, and made him an admirable adviser to his commander. During the siege of Forts Wagner and Gregg he had charge of the assignment and relief
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of working parties detailed from the brigade, a position of great peril and hardship, which he performed with singular success.
Upon the transfer of the regiment to the Army of the James, his ability was even more apparent and his skill in more constant requisition. While in the Department of the South he had acted at intervals as Assistant Adjutant-General on the staff of Colonel Guss. He was afterwards offered this position on the staff of Colonel Bell; but he steadily declined it, preferring to remain with his old companions in arms. On the 6th of June, 1864, while in front of the enemy's works at Cold Harbor, he received his commission as Captain of Company C of his regiment. In the battle of Strawberry Plains, on the 16th of August, Captain Carruthers received a mortal wound. He was taken to the General Hospital at Fortress Monroe, where he had devoted attention and surgical aid, but all without avail, and on the 30th of the month, in his twenty-ninth year, he expired, deeply lamented by his company and by his entire regiment.
The following resolution, passed by the bar of West Chester, shows the esteem in which he was held by his brethren of the legal profession : " Resolved, That in the death of our dear friend and brother we feel that one of the best and most promising of our circle has been taken from us; one who generously gave up his young life-so full of vigor and hope-in defence of his country. The industry with which he pursued his preparatory studies for the bar; the energy with which he applied himself to the duties of his profession ; his honorable bearing; the courteous, the kind and gentle spirit which always graced his intercourse with us; his loyalty, his patriotism, his humanity, his courage, and finally, his heroic death, make his brave and beautiful life precious to all his friends and brethren. In the manner of his death we are reminded that he is the fifth martyr from our midst, and we fondly associate his name with the honored names of Bell, Roberts, McIntire, and Nields, and will keep them all in affectionate remembrance."
ICHARD . HOBSON WOOLWORTH, Colonel of the Fourth Reserve regiment, was born at Mantuaville, Philadelphia, in November, 1824. After receiving a thorough education in the
Ateany W.Caruthers
ADJUTANT AND CAPTAIN CO . C . 97™ P V. .A A GENERAL IF BRIC 2ND DIV. TOMARMY CORPS
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RICHARD H. WOOLWORTHI.
schools of the city, he passed a novitiate in business in prominent commercial houses. He was afterwards connected with a leading house in stock exchange and brokerage, and two years before the opening of the war, established in this line a business of his own. He had been made Captain of a militia company in 1845, raised to protect the city against the riots which at that time threatened its peace, and when the call was made for troops to form the Reserve Corps, in 1861, he rendered signal service in drilling the new levies, and was finally made Captain of a company recruited in Germantown. Upon the formation of the Third Reserve, at Camp Washington, he was made Major, and subsequently, while the division was at Fredericksburg, just previous to its setting out for the Peninsula, he was ordered to the Fourth Reserve, in which he was commissioned Lieutenant-Colonel. At Beaver Dam Creek and Gaines' Mill he shared the fortunes of the Reserves, who were put at the fore front and did severe duty. At Charles City Cross Roads Colonel Woolworth was severely wounded, and on the day after the battle, while lying in the hospital, was taken prisoner and moved to Richmond. He was soon after paroled and sent to hospital at David's Island, New York, where, thirty days after the battle, portions of his coat were extracted from his wounds. While yet lame he rejoined his command, and led it in the battle of Fredericksburg, where he was struck by a spent ball, from the effect of which he was confined to the hospital for two weeks. On the 1st of March, 1863, he was promoted to Colonel. After the transfer of a portion of the Reserves to Harper's Ferry, he had for a time command of a brigade.
In the spring of 1864, General Crook headed a column which penetrated West Virginia, of which the Fourth Reserve formed part. In the sanguinary battle of Cloyd Mountain, fought on the 9th of May, 1864, while the Reserves, under General Sickel, were charging upon the enemy's position in the face of a fierce fire of artillery and small arms, Colonel Woolworth, in leading on his men with great gallantry, was mortally wounded by a grapeshot. He was buried on the field beneath a locust tree, upon the bank of the stream across which the brigade was charging.
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From first to last Colonel Woolworth maintained the character of exalted patriotism. Towards the close of the year 1863, a gentleman of wealth, Mr. Lewis Cooper, desired to form a business partnership with him, and requested the Hon. Charles Gilpin, an uncle of the Colonel, to transmit the proposition to him, then with his regiment on simple guard duty at Alexan- dria. The answer of Woolworth disclosed the conscientious re- gard for duty by which he was governed : "Dear Uncle :- I duly received thine of the 7th, and am truly grateful to our friend for his kind and generous offer. I should feel it my duty to accept it under other circumstances ; but as I have voluntarily sworn to serve the United States well and truly for three years, I do not feel at liberty to tender my resignation. I think that the officers are as much bound by their oath as the enlisted men, particularly as many of the latter have enlisted through the example of those higher in position. Officers who resign now are not much thought of by those who remain in the service. The remaining ten months will soon slip around, and then, should I be spared, I hope to be with you again. Tell my friend I am very sorry to decline his proposal, and hope I may have an opportunity of expressing my thanks to him personally." A just sense of honor, which would not allow him to lay down his sword while con- fronting the enemies of his country, carried him to the fatal field of Cloyd Mountain, where his life was sacrificed to the cause of freedom and good government. The body of Colonel Woolworth was subsequently removed to Philadelphia and buried in the Odd Fellows Cemetery, near the city, where a monument was erected to his memory.
FORGE ASHWORTH COBHAM, JR., Colonel of the One Hundred and Eleventh regiment, and Brevet Brigadier-General, was born on the 5th of December, 1825, in Liverpool, England. He was the second son of Henry Cobham, of Brasinces College, Saint Albans Hall, University of Oxford, who died five months before the son's birth, and who was descended from Henry, the first Baron Cobham, one of the followers of William, in his con- quest of Britain. The mother afterwards married the father's brother, George A. Cobham, and with him, and her two sons,
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GEORGE A. COBHAM, JR.
Henry and George A., came to this country in 1835, when the latter was but ten years of age, and settled five miles from Warren, on a tract which they named Cobham Park. Here the youth grew up a hardy pioneer, acquiring that athletic develop- ment which particularly characterized him to the end of his life, being six feet in height, well formed, and muscular. Though born in England, and having all his youthful associations there, he was, nevertheless, an American in thought and feeling.
When the cry for help against armed rebellion came from the National authorities, he said : "The Government must have defenders ; the Rebellion must be put down with a strong hand ; somebody must lead these men; if other and better men do not, I will try." When the One Hundred and Eleventh regiment was formed, in the summer of 1862, he was made Lieutenant- Colonel, and soon after taking the field, was promoted to Colonel. At Charlestown, Cedar Mountain, Antietam, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Wauhatchie, Lookout Mountain, Mission Ridge, Ringgold, Dalton, Resaca, Dallas, New Hope Church, Pine Moun- tain, Grier's Hill, Noses Creek, Marietta Cross Roads, Pawnee Springs, and Chattahoochie, some of these lasting many days together, and numberless minor engagements and skirmishes, Colonel Cobham led his command with skill and heroic courage. His last battle was at Peach Tree Creek, on the 20th of July, 1864, almost the last before the fall of Atlanta, the objective of the campaign. "For the first time in the campaign," says one who witnessed the fight, and whose account was at the time published in an English paper, the Bacup and Rosendale Nous. " a fight took place with neither party behind works. Almost the whole of Hooker's corps was struck simultaneously, al- though, as the wave of battle rolled from right to left, Ward's division was engaged a minute or two sooner than the others. Face to face the combatants stood pouring deadly volleys into each other's bosoms, at times the lines not being fifteen yards apart. On Colonel Cobham's centre the lines met each other so furiously that they passed one beyond the other, and changed front to renew the conflict. At this juncture a New Jersey regiment broke, which was either in or in front of Colonel Cobham's brigade, and whilst endeavoring to rally these men,
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Cobham was surrounded by the enemy, and called upon by an officer to surrender. With a rare nobility of character, he re- fused to yield, and for refusing was shot through the body by the rebel who made the demand. The ball entered his shoulder, glancing downwards, passed through his left lung, and came out under the shoulder blade. Mortally wounded, Cobham turned with the calm dignity that always characterized him, and ordered a soldier who stood near to shoot that fellow. The order was promptly obeyed, and the murderer paid with his life the penalty of killing one of the noblest soldiers that an army ever contained." This was the battle in which the impetuous Hood made his daring attack in hope of sweeping all before him, and turning the flank of Sherman's army. But he found in his way men equally stubborn and impetuous with himself, among whom none was more heroic than Cobham, and Hood was in the end routed with a loss of over 7000 of his best troops. Colonel Cobham was made Brigadier-General by brevet, to date from this battle. This promotion had been long de- served; for he had commanded a brigade nearly two years of the three he had been in the army.
The engagements in which the services of General Cobham were most conspicuous, were at Chancellorsville, where he led the advance; at Gettysburg, where his brigade received the weight of Ewell's shock and repulsed it; at Lookout Mountain and Mission Ridge, in both of which his troops were at the head of the assaulting party; and in charging the masked bat- teries at Resaca. In a letter addressed to his brother Henry, dated July 4th, 1863, Battle-field of Gettysburg, he says : "Yes- terday my brigade was attacked at three o'clock in the morning by Jackson's old troops, and from that time until noon we kept them in check. Our men fired 200 shots each. At noon they charged on us in solid column, and we mowed them down like grass, defeating them entirely. The slaughter was terrible on their side, and we have not all escaped. All around me as I write, our men are busy burying the dead. The ground is literally covered with them, and the blood is standing in pools. It is a sickening sight. Two thousand of the enemy were killed and wounded in front of our single division. I think the rebels
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GEORGE A. COBHAM, JR.
will make another stand before long, at some point between here and the Potomac." Touching the charge upon the rebel forti- fications at Resaca, in a letter to his mother, he says: "I led the charge on the rebel fort at Resaca, on the 15th, and cap- tured it, with the cannon it contained-four brass twelve- pounders, caissons, and ammunition-and held the position, re- moving the guns in the night. . . . I send you the original order I received on the battle-field from Major-General Hooker, to take command of all the troops in front of the rebel works, which I did. There had been several desperate charges on this point during the day, but all failed before I was sent in."
His admirable qualities as a man, a soldier, and a patriot, endeared him to all hearts. " We have seldom known," says a writer in the paper above quoted, "a man more unselfish. Despising the petty arts by which so many become distinguished on paper, he never allowed his doings to be gazetted by army correspondents. Duty was his guiding star; to it he bent all the powers of a strong body and a stronger will. This took him into the service. This kept him where danger was thick- est, attending to the details of the march and the battle, and performing much of the hard work for which others got credit." His place, whether in command of a regiment or brigade, was always at the fore front, where perils were greatest, and from which an officer of his rank might properly often withhold him- self. In one instance his life was miraculously saved by his watch, the deadly missile penetrating it and imbedding itself completely in its delicate works, leaving it a mass of ruin. But a few months before his death, while at home on a short visit, in response to a toast offered at a public dinner given him, he said : " I appreciate the honor of the occasion and am grateful for the kindness you have shown me. I recognize in this not only a compliment to my own services, but a just tribute to the bravery of the boys whom I have the honor to command. The One Hundred and Eleventh has left its blood on every battle-field since they were organized. They have endured long marches without a murmur, have faced the enemy again and again with- out a sign of fear, and stand to-day with a line of bristling bayonets, which is a barrier to rebel occupation in East Ten-
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nessee. The army is determined that the Rebellion shall be put down. I helped to plant the flag on the rugged top of Lookout Mountain, and, if God spares my life, I will help to make it float from the Potomac to the Gulf. I will carry back to the boys in the field the report of this reception, and there is not one but will clench his musket with a firmer grasp, and vow never to lay it down until the Rebellion is crushed."
Ile passed to his rest while the noise of the battle was yet resounding. Ile knew not of the final triumph of the grand army to which he belonged, nor of the complete supremacy achieved for the Government of his love; but in trust and confidence, he gave long and able service in the field in its defence, and finally yielded his life a willing sacrifice.
ICHARD ADOLPHUS OAKFORD, Colonel of the One Hundred and Thirty-second regiment, was born on the Sth of December, 1820, in the city of Philadelphia. He was the son of Joseph Lloyd and Ann (Cox) Oakford. The blood of several nation- alities mingled in his veins-English and Welsh on the father's side, and English and Swedish on the mother's-but for three generations his ancestors were American-born. He received his education at private schools in his native city and at Lafayette College. He was a proficient in Latin, French, and German, writing and speaking the two latter with ease. He was also skilled in mathematics. From childhood he exhibited an inquiring mind, was fond of reading, and became possessed of a large fund of gen- eral knowledge, derived both from books and from personal ob- servation, having travelled extensively through the western and southwestern States, just previous to the breaking out of the war.
He never exhibited any predilection for military pursuits until the call of his country for his services. In his early years he was expert in gardening, and had a taste for mechanics, with considerable aptness in the use of tools. After leaving school he studied engineering, and was a good draughtsman. As he grew towards manhood his health became delicate, and, hoping to improve it by country air, he went to the Wyoming Valley to learn farming. He finally settled there, and in 1843, married Miss Frances C. Slocum. The change of life from the
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RICILARD A. OAKFORD .- THOMAS M. HULINGS.
city to the country developed the pale, slender youth into a robust man, six feet in height, erect in carriage, courteous and gentlemanly in bearing.
At the breaking out of the Rebellion he was residing with his family at Scranton, which had been his home for ten years pre- vious, where he was exercising the functions of a Justice of the . Peace, the only civil office which he ever held. He was elected Colonel of the Fifteenth regiment, recruited for three months, which he commanded throughout the campaign in front of Johnston, in the Shenandoah Valley. Here he rapidly developed most admirable traits as an officer. He took up the tactics almost with the facility of a veteran, and with this, combined those other qualities, equally essential to the model soldier, but rarely found in the civilian-executive ability and the tact to enforce thorough discipline. In August, 1862, he was commissioned Colonel of the One Hundred and Thirty-second, a nine months' regiment, and soon after reaching the front was brought into action on the field of Antietam. The ground was warmly contested, and the fatal cornfield, that has become historic, witnessed the valor with which both officers and men of this regiment met the foe. "A glance at the position," says Colonel Kimball, who commanded the brigade, "held by the rebels, tells how terrible was the punish- ment inflicted on them. The cornfields on the front are strewn with their dead and wounded, and in the ditch first occupied by them, the bodies are so numerous that they seem to have fallen dead in line of battle." In the midst of the conflict, Colonel Oakford was struck by a Minie ball and died without a struggle. His loss at the very outset of its career was a severe blow to the regiment, and by his comrades, he was
" Mourned as brave men mourn the brave."
HOMAS MARCUS HULINGS, Colonel of the Forty-ninth regiment, was born at Lewistown, Pennsylvania, on the 7th of Feb- ruary, 1835. He was the son of David and Maria (Patton) Hulings, and a nephew of Judge Patton. His paternal grand- father was the first white settler on the Juniata river, and his ancestors were soldiers of the Revolutionary army. He was fond
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of military life, and when troops were summoned to defend the Capital, went as First Lieutenant of the Logan Guards, one of the five companies which first reached Washington, having suc- cessfully passed through an infuriated mob at Baltimore. At the close of the three months' service, during which his company remained at the Capital, and at Fort Washington twelve miles below the city, he returned to Pennsylvania, and was appointed . Major of the Forty-ninth regiment. With this he went to the Peninsula, in Mcclellan's army, being attached to Hancock's brigade, of Smith's division. He was first under fire in a recon- noissance made by Smith to Young's Mills, in April, 1862, where a sharp skirmish ensued in which Major Hulings exhibited remarkable coolness and bravery. At Williamsburg, Hancock led a brilliant charge in which Hulings bore himself with such gallantry as to win the favor and fast friendship of that able and accomplished soldier. IIe also took part in the actions at Gold- ing's Farm, Savage Station, and White Oak Swamp, "displaying throughout those terrible seven days," says Colonel Irwin, "the same cool bravery and resolution which on all occasions of danger distinguished him."
He was also at the Second Bull Run, though his regiment was not engaged, vieing with the stoutest acts of valor, and subse- quently at Crampton's Pass on the 14th of September, and at An- tietam on the 17th, having his horse shot under him in the latter battle while intrepidly performing his duty. He had previously, in February, 1862, been appointed Captain in the Twelfth United States Infantry ; but so much was he attached to the men of the Forty-ninth Pennsylvania, that he chose to remain with them. In October following, he was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel. In the second battle of Fredericksburg, which was really a part of Chancellorsville, his regiment was one of those selected to cross the Rappahannock in boats in face of the enemy, and storm the rifle-pits which lined the southern bank of that stream. This duty was heroically performed under a galling fire of musketry, and here Colonel Hulings was specially distinguished, being among the first to spring to the enemy's shore. During the passage of the river, some of those who were rowing the boat in which he was crossing, became terrified, and commenced backing
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