USA > Pennsylvania > Martial deeds of Pennsylvania, Vol. 1 > Part 49
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50
542
MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA.
wind, and, like many another involved in that catastrophe, his fortunes were wrecked. Possessed of great buoyancy of spirit, and endless resources within himself, he determined to remove to Pennsylvania, and settled, first at Lancaster, and afterwards at Harrisburg, engaging in active business in both places, and meet- ing with success. Of pleasing manners, generous and hospitable to a fault, he was deservedly popular. In religion, he was a Roman Catholic, and his children were all brought up in the same faith. He died in the fall of 1844.
The son, being intended for mercantile life, received a good education in those branches best calculated to be useful to him. On leaving school, he entered his father's store; but, that he might have the best advantages which could be afforded, he was placed in a large mercantile house in the city of New York, where he remained until the spring of 1845. On coming to his majority in the following year, he had perfected his arrangements for entering business on his own account, when the Mexican War broke out, and he volunteered as a private in the Cameron Guards. He was made Sergeant, and while serving in that capacity at Vera Cruz, was appointed a Second Lieutenant in the Eleventh United States Infantry, by President Polk. In this position he served to the close of the war-having been in some of the most memorable engagements of the campaign.
He was sent by General Scott to Washington, with confiden- tial despatches to Mr. Marcy. then Secretary of War, which having been delivered, he was ordered to recruiting duty at Philadelphia, and afterwards at Easton, in both places being eminently successful. Preferring to be with his regiment in the field, in response to his solicitations he was ordered forward ; but, when on the eve of sailing, the order was countermanded, and he was sent to Fort McHenry, near Baltimore, to aid in organizing fresh levies. Upon the conclusion of the war, he was transferred to Fort Hamilton, New York harbor, to assist in the discharge of troops. Recognizing his ability as a soldier, he was urged to continue in the service; but, yielding to the solicitations of his family, he resigned, and, returning to private life, settled in Hollidaysburg. He was energetic in business, as he had been in the army, and bore a conspicuous part in the political strug-
-
543
WILLIAM G. MURRAY.
gles of the time. In 1851, he was married to Miss Elizabeth Daugherty, by whom he had three children, two of whom survive him. In 1852, he was appointed Postmaster of Hollidaysburg by President Pierce, and was re-appointed by President Buchanan.
At the outbreak of the Rebellion, he took strong grounds with the Union side, and avowed his intention of entering the army. A. Captain's commission in the regular service was tendered him, but, his wife being in the last stages of consumption, he declined it. Having had much experience in recruiting and organizing troops, his counsel was sought, and his services were invaluable in enlisting and pushing forward recruits for the volunteer force. His wife died in August, 1861. A short time afterwards, he received authority from Governor Curtin to recruit a regiment of infantry, and, obedient to the promptings of duty, he at once set about the work. When it was known that he would take the field, the hardy farmers and mountaineers from Blair and Clearfield counties came in large numbers to his standard.
On the 19th of December, 1861, his regiment, the Eighty- fourth, marched from camp, and was drawn up before the Capitol to receive its flag. Governor Curtin, in presenting it, referred to Colonel Murray as a tried soldier, and to the men as actuated by the purest and loftiest patriotism, leaving wives, mothers, and children, and the endearments of home, to maintain the laws and the Constitution with the sword. In response, Colonel Murray said : "I accept this beautiful standard, presented by the Legis- lature of the Keystone State, through you, its honored Chief Magistrate, in such glowing and eloquent terms. As the period for speech-making has passed, and the hour for energetic action has arrived, my remarks on this occasion shall be brief. as be- comes a soldier. In accepting this flag on behalf of the regi- ment, I do it with a full consciousness of the relations which both officers and men bear to our noble State, and the Nation whose cause we have espoused. Permit me to thank you, sir, for the terms of commendation in which you have been pleased to speak of the Eighty-fourth, and of my humble self, and to assure you that whatever our fate may be in the future, we will endeavor by good conduct, and a strict discharge of our duties, to make such a record as will bring no dishonor upon the Stars and Stripes,
54-1
MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA.
which we go to maintain and defend, or the proud Commonwealth whose sons we deem it an honor to call ourselves.
'No shrewish tears shall fill our eyes, When the sword-hilt's in our hand ; Heart-whole we'll part and not a sigh For the fairest of the land. Let piping swain and craven wight Thus weep and puling cry ; Our business is like men to fight, And Hero-like to die.'"
The Colonel delivered the flag into the hands of Sergeant Stokes, with this injunction : "Into your hands I entrust this standard. Answer for its safety with your life." The Sergeant replied : " Governor and Colonel: If I don't return this flag, 'twill be because Ned Stokes will occupy five feet eight of ground."
The active campaigning of the regiment commenced on the Ist of January, 1862, when it was led by Colonel Murray to Bath, Virginia, to the relief of the Thirty-ninth Illinois and a section of artillery commanded by Lieutenant Muhlenberg, crossing the Potomac at Hancock, Maryland. The opposing force greatly outnumbered them, being estimated at from sixteen to twenty thousand men. After twenty-four hours of irregular skirmishing, the Union force succeeded in withdrawing across the river and bringing off the guns. On t' e following day, Gen- eral Lander arrived with reinforcements. The campaign was an arduous one; but despite all the difficulties which the division had to encounter, the troops succeeded in opening the country before them to Winchester, where they arrived on the 12th of March. On Tuesday morning, March 18th, General Shields, who, upon the death of General Lander, had succceded to the chief command, ordered a reconnoissance in force on the Stras- burg road. The enemy was met and driven to a point five miles below Strasburg. On Thursday, the 20th, this force returned to camp, making a march of twenty-two miles. General Williams' division was now ordered away to Washington, starting on Satur- day, the 22d, leaving only the division of Shields and the Michi- gan Cavalry. When it was known that the Union force had been thus depleted, Stonewall Jackson, who was in command of the rebel army, having been reinforced by Longstreet and Smith,
اليا =
--------
545
WILLIAM G. MURRAY.
advanced upon Winchester with the design of crushing Shields in his weakened condition. At five p. M. of Saturday, the 22d, the Union pickets were driven in; but the enemy was checked, and a portion of the division was pushed out two miles in ad- vance of the town, where the men lay on their arms during the night. It was evident that a general battle would occur on the following day, Sunday. At dawn the troops were formed, and they had not long to wait. The enemy attacked with great spirit and determination ; and from eleven in the morning until three in the afternoon the battle raged furiously. At this juncture, Shields ordered a charge. The Eighty-fourth, which, from the hard service to which it had been subjected, had been reduced to barely 300 men, was selected to lead in the assault upon the enemy's batteries, which were securely posted, and were particu- larly destructive. The ground was open which they had to cross, and repeated charges were made, which Colonel Murray led with great gallantry, officers and men falling on every side, strewing the ground with the dead and the dying. In the midst of the struggle, his horse was shot under him. Extricating him- self, he renewed the charge on foot. A little later, his cap-cover was shot from his head. The carnage was now terrible, the enemy screening themselves behind a stone wall and a curtain of wood. But, nothing daunted, Colonel Murray led on his regi- ment, and just as it was entering the grove which crowned the summit, while rushing on with sword in hand, and exclaiming, "Charge, boys ! charge!" he was struck by a rifle ball which, crashing through the bugle of his cap, carrying the figures 84 with it, passed through his brain, tearing away the top of his skull. But though fallen, his heroism was not without its re- ward; for the stronghold, in carrying which he had sacrificed his life, was taken and the victory gained. His body was received in Harrisburg with imposing ceremonies, the Governor, heads of departments, the two Houses of the Legislature, and military and civic societies, moving in the sad procession. It was the first Colonel fallen in battle whose remains. had been returned to the State Capital, from whence so many had been sent forth. and the solemn event produced a decp impression. Flags were at half- mast, many of them draped in mourning; and while the train
35
516
MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA.
was moving, the bells of the city were tolled. The body lay in state at the residence of his mother, and was viewed by great numbers. From the Capital it was taken to Hollidaysburg, where even more universal sorrow was manifested, and tokens of respect were shown. At the residence of his father-in-law, John Daugherty, Esq., thousands of sorrowing friends and rela- tives gathered, eager to take a last look at the fallen soldier. At St. Mary's Church, High Mass was celebrated, and a most touch- ing and eloquent discourse was delivered over the remains, by the Rev. John Walsh. He was finally laid to rest beside his wife, whom he had but a few months before followed to the grave.
The New York Tribune, in speaking of the action in which Colonel Murray fell, after describing the varying phases of the fight up to the last decisive moment, says : "General Tyler, com- manding our left, ordered another charge on the batteries on his left. Two advances were successively repulsed by the enemy, with slaughter; but the third prevailed, routing the rebels who opposed it, capturing two guns and four caissons. Of the Eighty- fourth Pennsylvania, which led this charge, Colonel Murray and twenty-six other men were killed and eighty-three wounded-in all, one hundred and nine-out of three hundred who followed the standard into the fight. This success decided the fate of the battle." The flag was carried that day by private Graham. His left hand, which bore it aloft, was shot off; but before the starry emblem fell, he grasped it in the remaining hand, and held it triumphantly. The right arm was next disabled; but still cling- ing to the flag, he suffered it not to touch the ground until he was shot dead.
Colonel Murray was a man of large and active benevolence, warm and ardent in his impulses, though singularly calm and equable, and energetic and untiring in the path of duty. In per- son, he was six feet in height, with a large and muscular frame. Hle was of light complexion, brown hair, eyes of a light grey and expressive, features prominent, movements quick, and to courage of the highest order was united a strong sense of religious re- sponsibility.
JOHN D. MUSSER .- JOHN M. GOSLINE .- MARTIN TSCHUDY. 547
OHN D. MUSSER, Lieutenant-Colonel of the One Hundred and Forty-third regiment, was a native of Pennsylvania. He enlisted in Company K, in October, 1862, which he was active in recruiting, and of which he was made First Lieutenant. In the following month he was promoted to Major, and in June, 1863, to Lieutenant-Colonel. He was placed in command of the regiment at the battle of Gettysburg-Colonel Dana having succeeded to the leadership of the brigade -- which he continued to exercise for a considerable portion of the time, until the second day in the Wilderness, May 6th, 1864, when he was killed. He was a faithful, fearless officer.
OHIN M. GOSLINE, Colonel of the Ninety-fifth regiment, was born on the 7th of February, 1826, in Medford, New Jersey. He was the son of John Gosline, a native of Pennsyl- vania. His experience in militia service previous to the Rebel- lion was extensive, having entered the National Guards when nineteen years of age, and having served sixteen years. He was characterized by the Colonel of his regiment as a thorough disciplinarian. He entered the service of the United States as a Captain in the Eighteenth regiment of the three months' campaign, and at its conclusion reentered, as Colonel of the Ninety-fifth, on the 12th of October, 1861. He marched with his regiment to the Peninsula in time to join Mcclellan's army, as it moved up the Chickahominy, being attached to Franklin's division. On the 27th of May, 1862, the rebel army, having come out from Richmond in strong force, attacked the isolated corps of Fitz John Porter at Gaines' Mill, the larger portion of the army being on the opposite side of the Chickahominy. Franklin's division was hurried across to the support of Porter, and in the desperate struggle which ensued Colonel Gosline was killed, and nearly a hundred of his men were lost.
ARTIN TSCHUDY, Lieutenant-Colonel of the Sixty-ninth regiment, was born in Charleston, South Carolina, in the year 1824. He was the son of an Episcopal clergyman, and previous to the Rebellion was practising law in Philadelphia. IIc was commissioned Lieutenant and appointed Adjutant of
548
MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA.
this regiment on the 19th of August, 1861, was promoted to Major on the Ist of January, 1863, and to Lieutenant-Colonel on the 31st of March following. While he was Adjutant, which was practically until the opening of the Gettysburg campaign, a great responsibility rested upon him, as much of the care of every regiment devolves upon that officer. As Lieutenant-Colonel he went into the battle of Gettysburg. On the evening of the second day, at the point where the enemy believed he had effected a lodgment in the Union lines-and actually sent off des- patches to Richmond that the day was won-it was there that he met the Sixty-ninth and other brave regiments, and, after manifesting unexampled heroism, was thrust back. In that struggle, Colonel Tschudy was badly wounded. But so eager was he to be with his men to the last, and to beat the foe, that he refused to go to a hospital, and remained at the head of his column. On the afternoon of the following day came the great charge, and it fell full upon the spot where this heroic officer stood; and in the midst of the wild storm of battle, when the sheets of flame, that wrapped friend and foe, leaped from myriads of guns, he perished, illustrating, in his life as in his death, the highest type of the soldier, exemplifying the sentiment of the poet :
" That is best blood that has most iron in't To edge resolve with, pouring without stint For what makes manhood dear."
ENNIS O'KANE, Colonel of the Sixty-ninth regiment, was born in Ireland in 1824. He entered the service, as Major of the Twenty-fourth regiment, on the 1st of May, 1861, and at the conclusion of its three months' term, on the 19th of August following, reentered it as Lieutenant-Colonel of the Sixty- ninth, and was promoted to Colonel on the Ist of December, 1862. The excellent fighting qualities of this regiment gave its leader, Colonel Owen, special prominence, and he was early put at the head of a brigade, and on the 20th of November was pro- inoted to the rank of a Brigadier-General. This threw the entire care of the regiment upon the Lieutenant-Colonel. The fighting at White Oak Swamp and Charles City Cross Roads, in the Peninsula campaign, and at Antietam and Fredericksburg, was
-
549
DENNIS O'KANE .- GEORGE W. GOWEN.
severe. At Gettysburg Colonel O'Kane led his regiment, on the second day, with great steadiness, performing a prominent part in repulsing Wright's rebel brigade from its determined assault to gain the left centre, and on the following day won immortal renown in repulsing the charge of Pickett, in the last grand effort of the battle. Here the Sixty-ninth stood in the very centre-the target of the enemy's supreme effort-battling with deathless energy and holding on immovable to the last; and here, at its head, was Colonel O'Kane until cut down, breath- ing his last in the midst of the strife.
FORGE W. GOWEN, the third Colonel of the Forty-eighth regiment, soon after the breaking out of the war volun- teered for service for a term of three years, and was com- missioned First Lieutenant of Company C. After the arrival of the regiment at Hatteras Inlet, North Carolina, he was made Provost-General of Hatteras Island by General Williams. Subsequently he was ordered to detached duty with Battery C, First United States Artillery, where he showed himself pos- sessed of marked ability in that arm of the service, his gun rendering efficient duty in the reduction of Fort Macon. In June, 1862, he was made acting Adjutant of the Forty-eighth. In this capacity he passed through the campaign of Pope in Virginia, and that in Maryland under Mcclellan, evincing throughout the rarest qualities of an officer, and at its close was made Captain of his company.
In the spring of 1863, his regiment, together with the rest of the Ninth corps, was sent to Kentucky, and he was put upon detached service, in the construction of fortifications about Camp Nelson. His tact displayed in securing the services of negroes for the execution of this labor was remarkable, as the inhabitants were exceedingly jealous of any interference in their employ- ment. This work having been successfully accomplished, he was ordered to duty, with a corps of officers, in making a survey of a military railroad to connect with the Kentucky Central at Nicholasville. His ability as an engineer was conspicuous, he having, in civil life, made it a study and a business. His skill in this secured him the appointment of Assistant Chief-Engineer
550
MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA.
of General Burnside, upon the advance of that officer into East Tennessee. During the siege of Knoxville, which followed hard upon, his talent found ample scope, and to his judicious prepara- tions may be attributed largely the success of the defence on that part of the line where he was posted. He was made a personal Aide-de-camp on the staff of General Parke, after the raising of the siege.
He returned with the Ninth corps to the Army of the Poto- mac, and joined in the spring campaign of 1864, under General Grant. For his gallantry at the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Tolopotomy, Cold Harbor, and Petersburg, he was brevetted Major and Lieutenant-Colonel of his regiment, and in December was made its Colonel. In the assault of the enemy's works at Fort Mahone, on the morning of the 2d of April, 1865, he led his command with great heroism. Seeing his troops about to give way, after being fearfully decimated, he sprang to the front, and, raising his cap in one hand and waving his sword with the other, led them forward with such courage, that the rebel stronghold, which for many months had defied every attempt to take it, yielded, and the triumph was complete. But in the midst of the act, and at the moment of victory, he fell mortally wounded and poured out his lifeblood upon the field of his noble exploit. Says his biographer, Mr. Wallace, "Colonel Gowen died, beloved, honored and mourned by all who knew him. Thus when for- tune seemed ready to crown the manly efforts of one so promis- ing, he fell, a martyr to the cause of freedom. For his many social qualities, for his genial, frank, honest nature, and for his military abilities, he is mourned."
ETER KEENAN, Major of the Eighth Pennsylvania cavalry, was born on the 9th of November, 1834, in the town of York, Livingston county, New York. He was the son of John and Mary Keenan, natives of the county of Lowth, Ireland, who emigrated to this country in 1834, and are still residents of Friendship, Allegheny county. The son, at an early age, was taken into the family of Philip Church, by whom he was reared and educated. As soon as he had arrived at a suitable age, he was set to surveying wild lands, of which the Church family had
.
------
551
PETER KEENAN.
extensive tracts. In 1857, he went to Philadelphia to visit some relatives, and remained there until the breaking out of the war, being, at that time, in the employ of Mr. Boyd. Early in the summer of 1861 he proceeded to Williamsport and assisted in recruiting the Eighth cavalry, and was mustered into service on the 19th of August, as Captain of Company C, Captain David MeM. Gregg, of the Sixth Regulars, being appointed Colonel.
Samuel Wilson, an intimate companion-in-arms of Keenan, and who afterwards rose to Colonel of this regiment, says of him : " Hle never appeared to be so full of life and enjoyment as when engaged in a lively brush with the enemy. He never waited until ordered, but if he saw an opportunity of meeting the enemy, he would seek permission to 'go in.' If the army was advancing, he would manage to have command of the advance guard, and if on retreat, to be with the rear guard, always choosing the post of danger. In the advance on Richmond, under MeClellan, in 1862, our regiment was in the advance of the left wing, Keyes' corps. On arriving at the Chickahominy, where it is crossed by Bottom's Bridge, the enemy was discovered at a wood in front, where they were busy felling trees. Keenan reported the fact, and was ordered by Colonel Gregg to send twelve picked men to flank the position and ascertain if artillery was being masked. The order was executed, and as the foe seemed not to be in much force, and that he might be entirely certain of his information. he charged upon a mound which he suspected might cover a gun, but which he found to contain only two or three rebels. Nothing but a reliable report would satisfy him. During the seven days' fighting before Richmond he was frequently sent for to report to head-quarters of the army, having often scouted from Bottom's Bridge and Savage Station, off towards White Oak Swamp, Willis' Church, and Malvern Hill, at one time going in the night, without any accompanying force, entirely through Gen- eral Wise's command, to the James river, so that he was able to give reliable information. During the night after the battle of Malvern Hill, he was summoned to the head-quarters of the army at nine in the evening, and again at two in the morning."
There were but three cavalry regiments in the battle of Chancellorsville. One of these was the Eighth Pennsylvania,
552
MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA.
and, at a critical period in the battle, it played a conspicuous part. On the evening of Saturday, the 2d of May, 1862, the Eleventh corps, which was occupying the right of the line, had been routed by Stonewall Jackson, and driven in upon the centre. Jackson's column, which consisted of 25,000 men, was seen pass- ing across the Union front from left to right, early in the day ; but the belief prevailed that it was retreating towards Gordons- ville. Sickles, who occupied the left centre of the line, had taken out a part of his corps, with the cavalry, under Pleasanton, to harass this passing column, and was handsomely at work, making some captures, when the noise of Jackson's assault, and the rout of Howard's troops, reached his ears. It was a perilous moment for the safety of the army; for upon the left centre was open, elevated ground, which commanded the field, and was, indeed, the key to the position. The whole Union left wing was in rout, and the massed columns of the victorious foe were pressing on. They had almost reached this elevated ground, and no force was in readiness to hold it. Pleasanton, who was with Sickles out in advance, had suggested, as the country there was a dense wood, and unsuited to the action of horse, that it had better be taken back to the open ground which they had left, and it was on its way thither when the assaults of Jackson were made. " As I was going back at a trot," says Pleasanton, "an aide-de-camp came up to me and said, 'General, the Eleventh corps is falling back very rapidly, and some cavalry is necessary to stop it.' I under- stood pretty well what that meant. I had only two regiments of cavalry with me; one of them having been retained by General Sickles at the front to protect his right, and there was one battery of horse artillery with me. When I came to this open space which I had before left, I found it filled with fugitives, caissons, ambulances, guns, and everything. I saw the moment was critical, and I called on Major Keenan of the Eighth Pennsyl- vania, and gave him his orders. I said to him, 'Major, you must charge in these woods with your regiment, and hold the rebels until I can get some of these guns into position.' Says I, 'You must do it at all cost.' .I mentioned the Major, because I knew his character so well, that he was the man for the occasion. He replied to me, with a smile on his face, though it was almost cer-
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.