USA > Pennsylvania > Martial deeds of Pennsylvania, Vol. 2 > Part 11
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A notable example of General Hartranft's presence of mind and soldierly judgment is afforded in his conduct at the Weldon Railroad, on the 18th of August. His brigade was supporting General Warren, who had captured an important portion of the road. There was danger that the enemy would assault at some
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vulnerable point and retake it. Towards the close of the day he was ordered to go to the assistance of General Ayers, the enemy just then attacking. But he had but a few moments before come from the head-quarters of that officer, and knew from the sound of the fray that Ayers was not in danger. He accordingly acted upon his own judgment and replied, "I will move in the di- rection of the fire." Most fortunate was the decision ! For the rebel General Mahone, having attacked, routed and captured a considerable part of Crawford's division, was bearing down all before him, and making for the very vital point in Warren's corps. Forming rapidly, Hartranft met him, and after a deter- mined struggle beat him back and saved the whole corps from inevitable discomfiture. Hartranft's horse was killed under him, and his losses were very severe.
In December, 1864, General Hartranft was assigned to the command of a division of new troops, consisting of six full regi- ments-all Pennsylvanians. To the disciplining of this force, 6000 strong, he gave himself unreservedly. With this division he was engaged in two actions which will be ever memorable in the history of this war. The first was the recapture of Fort Steadman. Early on the morning of March 25th, 1865, the rebel commander, having assembled a powerful body of his best troops, assaulted just before day, and captured. this strong fort with all its outlying works, and was advancing unchecked upon the rail- road that led to City Point, where were the immense stores of the whole army. At four in the morning General Hartranft was aroused from sleep by an unusual noise, occasioned by the moving of signal officers upon the roof of his head-quarters. Springing from bed, he had not had time to dress, before it was reported to him that the enemy had assaulted and captured Fort Steadman. His faithful aide, Captain Dalien, was despatched to verify the report, and he at once got his division under arms. In the meantime he received orders from Parke, who commanded the corps, to support Wilcox, whose division was upon the front and had been thus suddenly broken in upon. His whole division was speedily in motion, all bearing upon the dissevered line. Wilcox was found, but was in total ignorance of the real condition of affairs-his Adjutant-General and McLaughlin's brigade having
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been captured-and was mounted with his staff, his tents struck, in readiness 'for a movement to the rear. Hartranft perceived at a glance that what was to be done must be done quickly, and that he must rely upon his own troops unaided. He accordingly made his dispositions, and having drawn a cordon around the break, and resolutely driven back the enemy from his advanced position, ordered an assault along his whole line. At the moment of moving he got an order from General Parke to defer his attack until support should be sent. But his troops were full of spirit and confident of success; and he deemed it unwise as it would have been difficult to arrest a movement which was already in progress. He accordingly led on, and though fearfully exposed on all sides and suffering severe losses, he paused not until the entire works were in his possession, and nearly the whole rebel force were captives in his hands. His loss in killed and wounded was less than two hundred and fifty, while that of the enemy, in killed, wounded, and prisoners exceeded three thousand. "When you were about to make your final charge," said a rebel officer to Captain Sholler, who was detailed to deliver up the dead under flag of truce, "our Generals were holding a council of war; but it was the shortest council of war you ever saw; for when they beheld such magnificent lines advancing, they adjourned by each taking to his heels without ceremony.". This action brought the eyes of the whole army upon Hartranft, and he received uni- versal applause. The President immediately conferred upon him the rank of Brevet Major-General, and he was everywhere hailed as the HERO OF FORT STEADMAN.
The second action was his assault upon and capture of the enemy's works before Petersburg, on the 2d of April. As a military exploit it far exceeded, in daring and resolute courage that at Steadman, and had it been executed before the army had moved on its final victorious campaign, when the whole heavens were resounding with the noise of battle, it would have been bruited as one of the great triumphs of the war. The rebel works stood as they had for nearly a year previous, defying the best efforts of the Union arms. They were manned by as strong a force as they had ever been ; the only difference being that there were no supports behind them. IJis division had never been in
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but one heavy engagement before-that at Steadman-and in that it had been successful. It accordingly went to the work with a confidence that old troops would have lacked. The left of his line rested upon the Jerusalem Plank Road, with a part of Wilcox's division upon his right, and Potter's upon his left. The enemy were on the alert and their artillery was in full play, the sky being ablaze with bursting shells, and the fiery trails of the mortar missiles. At daybreak a rocket was sent up from the head-quarters of Hartranft, which was the signal for the advance. It was gallantly executed, Colonel Cox of the Two Hundred and Seventh leading the way. A murderous fire from the whole rebel front tore their ranks; but they unfalteringly moved on, fired by the spirit of their leader, and rested not until they had passed picket line, double line of chevaux-de-frise, moat and ditch, and had scaled the steep sides of the main works. The victory was complete, the enemy being driven, and his own guns turned upon his fleeing troops. The rebel cordon of works was broken, and that city which for so many months had defied the most subtle arts known to war, was finally compelled to yield to the gallant division of Hartranft.
Hostilities soon after ceased and the armies returned home. In the meantime the good President had been assassinated, and the conspirators who had plotted the foul deed had been appre- hended. The Secretary of War was seeking some fearless, vigilant officer to take charge of them and hold them securely. General Hancock was consulted. He named Hartranft, and the appointment was immediately made. It was a just tribute to a true man. He executed that trust, as he had all others, with fidelity, and, while he showed the prisoners every kindness, he suffered no laxity of duty.
In the summer of 1865 he was nominated for Auditor-General of Pennsylvania, an office the most responsible of any in the gov- ernment, even more so than that of the executive. He was triumphantly elected. At the end of three years he was reelected, and by the unanimous action of the Legislature held it for a part of a third term. In 1872 he was nominated for Governor, and though, in the complication of party and personal interests, he was violently opposed, he was again triumphant.
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RICHARD COULTER.
In person Governor Hartranft is tall and commanding, of dark complexion, with a fine prominent eye, and is well preserved by temperance and sobriety. In all that pertains to executive ability in the management of the complicated affairs of State he is unsurpassed, the Commonwealth having rarely if ever had an executive so fully master of every subject himself, and so little dependent upon his constitutional advisers. He was married on the 26th of January, 1854, to Miss Sallie Douglas Sebring, daughter of William L. Sebring, of Easton. The issue of this marriage has been six children, of whom four survive-two sons and two daughters.
ICHARD COULTER, Colonel of the Eleventh regiment, and Brevet Brigadier and Major-General. The Mexican War schooled many a soldier who figured prominently on either side in the War of the Rebellion. Of such, none proved a more apt scholar and none served in the latter contest with more signal ability than Richard Coulter.
He was born in Greensburg, Westmoreland county, Pennsyl- vania, on the 1st day of October, 1827. His father, Eli Coulter- an active business man and prominent politician, holding the office of prothonotary for many years-was a brother of the Hon. Richard Coulter, a Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsyl- vania, and died on the 18th of April, 1830. His mother was a daughter of Colonel John Alexander, of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, an officer of the Revolution, and a sister of Major John B. Alex- ander, of Greensburg, and of General Samuel Alexander, of Carlisle. She was a woman preeminent for her Christian charac- ter, amiable disposition, and many virtues, and died on the 7th of August, 1854.
The son was educated at the Greensburg Academy, at the University Grammar School at Carlisle, and at Jefferson College. After leaving college in 1845, at the age of eighteen, he entered the office of his uncle, Richard Coulter, then a leading member of the Westmoreland bar, as a student at law, where he remained until the breaking out of the war with Mexico.
On the 24th of December, 1846, he was enrolled in the service of the United States, as a private in Company E, Second regi-
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ment, Pennsylvania volunteers, to serve during the war, and was on active duty throughout its entire period of service. He was engaged in the siege and capture of Vera Cruz, in the battles of Cerro Gordo, at the storming of Chapultepec, Garita de Belen, and in the capture of the City of Mexico. Returning at the close of the war he was mustered out of service, with his regiment, at Pittsburg, on the 14th of July, 1848.
He immediately resumed the study of the law, and was admitted to practice on the 23d of February, 1849. His uncle having in the interim been elevated to the Supreme bench, the nephew, upon his admission to the bar, succeeded to the business of the office, and zealously pursued his profession until the open- ing of the Rebellion.
The mutterings of treason were listened to with. an attentive ear, and when, in the early spring of 1861, the intelligence was brought to the young lawyer that the old flag had been fired on, he had no question as to his duty. Turning his back upon a suc- cessful and lucrative practice, he sounded the call for recruits, and on the 20th of April reported at Camp Curtin, in Harrisburg, with a full company, of which he was chosen Captain. His company became part of the Eleventh regiment, of which he was made Lieu- tenant Colonel. At Falling Waters this, with other troops, was pitted against rebel forces commanded by the afterwards famous Stonewall Jackson, and in the brisk skirmish which ensued that commander was driven, Coulter's regiment bearing a leading part and being crowned with the credit of that achievement.
At the conclusion of the three months' service, for which all Pennsylvania troops had been called, Colonel Coulter set about reorganizing his regiment for three years. It was composed largely of the men of the old regiment, and retained its former number. Of this he was appointed Colonel. During the Penin- sula campaign he remained with McDowell, opposing the demon- strations of Jackson in the Shenandoah Valley. In Pope's campaign he rendered signal service at Cedar Mountain, upon the line of the Rappahannock, and at Thoroughfare Gap, in opposing the progress of the rebel army ; and in the battle of Bull Run his command suffered great loss in men and officers. In the midst of the latter battle, the fall of General Tower and Colonel
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Fletcher Webster left Colonel Coulter at the head of the brigade, who, with his accustomed heroism and daring, succeeded in checking the enemy's onset, and in bringing off his command.
On the morning of the 17th of September, the brigade, now commanded by General Hartsuff, was led into action on the field of Antietam with the corps of Hooker. With almost the first shot, Hartsuff was wounded, and Coulter took command of the brigade. For four hours he faced the enemy fighting to maintain their well-chosen position ; but the valor of those troops led by the gallant Coulter proved superior, and the enemy was forced back. When relieved, one-half of the effective strength of the brigade had fallen, having lost six hundred and three out of twelve hundred and eleven. In the battle of Fredericksburg Colonel Coulter was severely wounded, and for a considerable time he was confined to the hospital; but a few days before the battle of Chancellorsville he was so far recovered as to resume command, and led his regiment in the desperate fighting of that unfortunate field.
At Gettysburg Colonel Coulter was upon the soil of his native State, and within sound of the homes of many of his relatives and friends; and never did the begrimed veterans of this regiment meet the storm of battle with stouter hearts. They were of the First corps, which soonest met the shock, and the ground on the right flank, where repeated assaults were triumph- antly met, and the desperate charges of his men were rewarded with substantial fruits, is thickly strewn with the graves of friend and foe. In the desperate encounter of that First corps, when opposed by thrice their number, the commander of the First brigade, General Paul, was severely wounded. Thereupon the Eleventh Pennsylvania regiment was transferred from the Second brigade, where it belonged, to the First, and Colonel Coulter was ordered to assume command in place of the fallen General. In the last desperate struggle, on the afternoon of the third day of the battle, Colonel Coulter, while in the act of lead- ing his brigade to a threatened part of the line, received a severe wound in the arm; but he persisted in remaining with his com- mand until the battle was ended.
In the campaign of the Wilderness and before Petersburg,
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Colonel Coulter was constantly at the post of duty, leading his own regiment, endeared to him by years of constant and devoted service, or the brigade and division as the exigencies required. For his services in these campaigns he was made a Brevet Brigadier-General, a recognition tardily bestowed, and not until after many an officer with far less experience and merit but more pretension had received it. General Coulter was now assigned to the command of the Third brigade, and started on the spring campaign with the Grand Army in its last struggle with the foe. It was of but short continuance, and ended in triumph at Appomattox Court House, General Coulter sharing the fortunes of his brigade to the last: hour of its service, and until every enemy of the Government was willing to lay down his arms, and acknowledge that flag which in the beginning had been derided and trampled in the dust.
The rank of Brevet Major-General was conferred upon General Coulter for meritorious services in the final campaign, and in four years of constant and devoted duty. The record of the casualties which befell him show how well he deserved of his country. In the Second Bull Run, his horse was shot under him. At Fredericksburg, he was severely wounded, in the heat of the battle. At Gettysburg, he was struck in the arm. On the first day in the Wilderness, he had his horse killed and on the second day another horse wounded. At Spottsylvania, while drawing up his brigade for a charge upon the enemy's works, he received a wound in the left breast from a missile of the enemy's picket.
On being mustered out of service at the conclusion of the war General Coulter returned to the practice of his profession at Greensburg. In person he is five feet and eleven inches in height and stout, of fair complexion, and blue eyes.
DOLPH BUSCHIBECK, Colonel of the Twenty-seventh regiment and Brigadier-General. On the evening of Saturday, the 2d of May, 1863, the Eleventh corps of the Army of the Potomac, while in position on the right wing on the field of Chancellors- ville, was attacked on its right flank and rear by Stonewall Jackson, with an overwhelming force of the rebel army. At the time this attack was made, Buschbeck's brigade was occupying a
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position on the extreme left of the corps. "At about four o'clock P. M.," says General Steinwehr, who was commanding the division, in his report to General Howard, "you ordered me to send the Second brigade, General Barlow commanding, to support the right wing of General Sickles' corps, then engaged with the enemy. The brigade started immediately and, accompanied by yourself and myself, reached the right wing of General Birney's division of Sickles' corps in about an hour's time. We found General Birney's sharpshooters skirmishing with the enemy, and as no engagement was imminent, I returned to the First brigade, Colonel . A. Buschbeck, commanding, near Dondall's Tavern. Soon I heard heavy firing in that direction, which showed that a strong attack was being made upon our corps. When I arrived upon the field I found Colonel Buschbeck with three regiments of his brigade still occupying the same ground near the tavern, and defending this position with great firmness and gallantry. The fourth regiment he had sent to the south side of the road to fill the place lately occupied by the Second brigade. The attack of the enemy was very powerful. They emerged from the woods in close columns, and had thrown the First and Third divisions -which retired toward Chancellorsville-into great confusion. Colonel Buschbeck succeeded to check the progress of the enemy, and I directed him to hold his position as long as possible. His men fought with great determination and courage. Soon, how- ever, the enemy gained both wings of the brigade, and the enfilading fire which was now opened upon the small force, and which killed and wounded nearly one-third of its whole strength, forced them to retire. Colonel Buschbeck then withdrew his small brigade, in perfect order toward the woods, the enemy closely pressing on. Twice he halted, faced around, and at last reached the rear of General Sickles' corps, which had been drawn up in position near Chancellorsville. There he formed his brigade in close column and you will recollect offered to advance again to a bayonet charge."
Rarely on any field were soldiers subjected to such an ordeal as were those of Colonel Buschbeck in this terrible conflict. The whole right wing of the army was flying in disorder. The first troops to meet and interpose a check to the hordes of the enemy
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rushing forward, exultant and victorious, was this small brigade. The heroism there displayed is of so signal and pronounced a character that it stands out as one of the striking events in that battle, and as a brilliant achievement in the life of its commander.
Adolph Buschbeck was born on the 23d of March, 1822, in Coblentz, Prussia. His father, Adolph Buschbeck-Major in the Engineer corps-and his mother, Minna (Morgenstern) Busch- beck, were natives of Dresden, Saxony. From his eleventh to his seventeenth year he was a cadet in the military school at Berlin. He received the full education necessary to enter the University, besides instruction in tactics for infantry, cavalry, and artillery, practical surveying, and in the German, English, and French languages. Upon his graduation from the military school, he was commissioned a Lieutenant in the Prussian army, and in 1846 was commended by the then Prince of Prussia, now the Emperor William. General von Steinwehr said of him, "I can also state from personal knowledge that Colonel Buschbeck is one of the most thoroughly educated officers of the service."
Colonel Buschbeck came to this country several years before the war, and in September, 1861, was commissioned Lieutenant- Colonel of the Twenty-seventh Pennsylvania volunteers. A month later he was made Colonel of the regiment, and on the 25th of October, 1862, was assigned by General Banks to the command of the First brigade, Second division of the Eleventh corps. During the winter of 1864 he commanded a division of this corps, and was subsequently brevetted a Brigadier-General of volunteers.
Of the character of General Buschbeck, the authority of his superior officers will be received as conclusive. General Sherman, in his report of the 19th of December, 1863, says : "The brigade of Colonel Buschbeck, belonging to the Eleventh corps, which was the first to come out of Chattanooga to my flank, fought at the Tunnel Hill, in connection with General Ewing's division, and displayed a courage almost amounting to rashness. Follow- ing the enemy nearly to the Tunnel gorge, it lost many valuable lines." General von Steinwehr, in a communication of the 26th of February, says of him: "He distinguished himself partic-
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ularly in the battle of Cross Keys, where he saved his regiment and a battery attached to it during the action, by resolute determination and intrepidity." General Hooker says, in a com- munication addressed to the Secretary of War, dated March 3d, 1864, at his camp in Lookout Valley : " His mnode of governing men and enforcing discipline is excellent. He is cool, prompt, and fearless in battle and his private relations are unexceptiona- ble." General Buschbeck since the close of the war has for the most part resided in Philadelphia, where he married Agnes, youngest daughter of the late Doctor William E. Horner, Pro- fessor of Anatomy in the University of Pennsylvania.
HARLES P. HERRING, Colonel of the One Hundred and Eighteenth regiment, and Brevet Brigadier-General, was born in the city of Philadelphia. Until the opening of the Rebel- lion he was engaged in mercantile pursuits. In June, 1861, he became Second Lieutenant of Company C, of the Grey Reserves, commanded by Captain Charles M. Prevost. In May, 1862, he acted as Adjutant of the battalion under Colonel Charles S. Smith, in its service in quelling the Schuylkill county riots. In August, 1862, he was commissioned Major of the One Hundred and Eigh- teenth regiment, and commanded the camp for recruits in Indian Queen Lane, near the Falls of Schuylkill. With little opportunity for drill the regiment was called to the front at a time when the Antietam campaign was in full progress. On the 20th of Sep- tember, 1862, two days after the battle of Antietam, Barnes' brigade, which embraced the one Hundred and Eighteenth, was ordered across the Potomac to follow up the retreating foe. But Lee had left a strong rear-guard under A. P. Hill, which was held in ambush, and this regiment, which was in advance, was no sooner over than the enemy attacked and overwhelmed it, killing, wounding, and capturing considerable numbers. Its com- mander, Colonel Prevost, received a severe wound, when the direction of affairs partially devolved upon Major Herring, who with rare tact and judgment brought off the remnants of his troops. In the battle of Fredericksburg he was wounded in both arms, and at Chancellorsville was in command of the rear-guard in the retreat of the army across the river. The service at
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Gettysburg was no less trying. He was brought upon the field at a critical period in the fortunes of the day on the afternoon of the 2d of July, 1863, and aided in checking the foe in his crushing blow aimed at the Third corps.
In November he was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel. On the 7th of May, 1864, in the midst of the fierce conflicts of the Wilderness, Colonel Herring was placed in command of a brigade of five regiments, two of them of the regular army, and with it made a brilliant charge, driving the enemy and holding his ground. On the following day, at Laurel Hill, occurred the most notable act of his military life. General Crawford was moving forward with his command to charge the enemy when, at five P. M., Colonel Herring with his brigade arrived upon the ground, and was ordered forward to support the movement. He had been on picket all the previous night and had been marching all day, but he went gallantly out, and met and signally repulsed one of the most determined and desperate charges made by the enemy, preserving throughout the struggle an immovable front, inflicted terrible slaughter, captured two hundred prisoners, and took two stands of colors. General Warren, in a familiar letter written just two years later, says : " Your successful engagement of the enemy on the evening of the 8th of May, two years ago, with its captures, will help relieve a record made up of many gloomy repulses so trying to us all." He continued with the army under General Grant, and was conspicuous in all the engagements in which his regiment had a part before Petersburg and Richmond. On the 6th of February, 1865, at Dabney's Mill, while at the head of his command, he was severely wounded in the leg, which resulted in its amputation. For his gallantry here he was brevetted Brigadier-General. After his recovery he sat upon a general court-martial convened in Philadelphia, and soon after his muster out of the service, in June, 1865, was appointed Brigade Inspector of the National Guard, in which capacity he was influential in resolutely holding up the standard of excel- lence. In a remarkable degree he had the confidence and friend- ship, not only of his own command, but of his superior officers. General Barnes, in allusion to his loss of a limb. said: " You bear with you the evidence of the perils of the field. This gives me
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