USA > Pennsylvania > Martial deeds of Pennsylvania, Vol. 2 > Part 12
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
681
MATTHEW S. QUAY .....
no cause for surprise ; for I had seen you at Shepherdstown, at Fredericksburg, and Gettysburg." "Gallant and ever reliable as an officer," says that bold soldier, General Griffin, "he was humane and considerate towards those under him, always being solicitous for their welfare. On the field of battle, or in camp, his manly bearing won for him the friendship of all. His record is one that he not only should feel proud of, but his State should prize as belonging to one of her sons." "With a moral courage," says Major-General Chamberlain-late Governor of Maine-who served with him, "scarcely excelled by his physical daring, he won and held my perfect confidence and love."
ATTHEW STANLEY QUAY, Colonel of the One Hundred and Thirty-fourth regiment, was born on the 13th of Septem- ber, 1833, at Dillsburg, York county, Pennsylvania. He was the son of Anderson B. and Catharine (Kane) Quay. He was educated at Jefferson College, where he graduated at the age of sixteen. After completing his course he travelled in the South, but finally settled in Beaver as a student at law, where he was admitted to the bar in 1854. In 1856 he was appointed Pro- thonotary of Beaver county, and in the fall of the same year was elected to that office by the people, and reelected in 1859. When the tocsin of war was sounded in April, 1861, he resigned his civil employment, and received the appointment of Lieuten- ant in Company F, Tenth Reserve regiment. In June following, he was elevated to a more arduous and responsible position, that of Assistant Commissary-General of the State. : On the Ist of January, 1862, he was selected by Governor Curtin as his private Secretary. In August, when the General Government was importunate for troops, he again took the field as Colonel of the One Hundred and Thirty-fourth regiment. He was brought upon the ground at Antietam near the close of the battle, and remained under arms in momentary expectation of a renewal of the fight, until it was discovered that the enemy had fled. On , account of serious ill health he was obliged to tender his resigna- tion, which was accepted about a week previous to the battle of Fredericksburg. When he ascertained that a battle was immi- nent, he refused to leave the field, and volunteered as aid upon
682
MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA.
the staff of General Tyler, commanding the brigade to which his former regiment belonged. In this capacity he was in the hottest of the fight at the Stone Wall on Marye's Heights, and by his courage and endurance won the high commendation of his com- mander, both upon the field and in his official report. In closing the detail of the action of his brigade, he says: "Colonel M. S. Quay, late of the One Hundred and Thirty-fourth Pennsylvania infantry, was on my staff as a volunteer aide-de-camp, and to him I am greatly indebted. Notwithstanding his enfeebled health, he was in the saddle early and late, ever prompt and efficient, and especially so during the engagement."
When his health had become measurably restored he was appointed agent of the State at Washington, where he per- formed highly important and useful labor in looking after and protecting the interests of Pennsylvania soldiers. He had not been long engaged in this capacity when he was recalled to Harrisburg, to perform official duty near the person of the Governor. At the State election, in October, 1864, he was chosen, by the almost unanimous vote of his district, a member of the Legislature, where he exerted a commanding influence, and on being returned for the succeeding term was selected as Chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means-the virtual leader of the House. He was returned for a third term, when he was a prominent candidate for Speaker. After retiring from this office he founded at the seat of his county the Beaver Radical, an eight-page sheet, which, under his skilful and able management, gained a large circulation and an influence scarcely second to any in the State. When Governor Hartranft, at the opening of 1873, formed his cabinet, he called Colonel Quay to occupy the first place-that of Secretary of State-which he still worthily holds. In person he is above the medium height, well formed, and of a vigorous and determined mien. In debate he is ready and persuasive; and as a writer, terse and sententious, with few equals in the editorial corps.
ACOB H. DEWEES, Colonel of the Thirteenth cavalry, was born in Philadelphia on the 5th of December, 1831. He was the son of Henry and Louise Charlotte (Schollosser) Dewees.
Engª by Gec. E. Penne, New York
683
JACOB H. DEWEES .- EVERARD BIERER.
He was brought up upon a farm, and received a liberal English education at the public schools and at the Lower Dublin Acad- emy, especially distinguishing himself in mathematics and civil engineering. He was fond of field sports, and was a good horse- man.
Before entering the United States service he had been con- nected with a volunteer company, known as the Washington Cavalry, where he acquired some knowledge of this arm. In May, 1862, he was commissioned Captain of Company A of the Thirteenth Pennsylvania cavalry. For the rough riding, in which he delighted, he now had ample opportunity ; for bands of the enemy led by the daring partisan chieftains Moseby, White, and Imboden were active in the Shenandoah Valley, whither with his command he was sent, and it required all the skill and courage of which the Union forces were master to match them. In November, 1863, Captain Dewees was promoted to Major, and in the campaign of the Wilderness rode with Sheridan in advance of the Grand Army. The cavalry was tireless in this campaign, raiding upon the enemy's communica- tions, pushing up to the very doors of Richmond, and away on the Trevilian Station enterprise. Finally, in the hard battle at St. Mary's Church, on the 24th of June, 1864, Major Dewees was taken prisoner, and for a period of nearly nine months, at a time when Union captives were treated with the greatest severity, was in the enemy's hands, being confined first at Macon, Georgia, for two months under fire of the Union siege guns in the city of Charleston, and finally at Columbia. Early in March he was released, and on rejoining his regiment was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel. At the conclusion of the war, he returned to his home in Philadelphia, and has since been actively engaged in the construction of railroads, for which he has natural talent. He was married on the 29th of January, 1867, to Bella M. Dale, of Venango county, Pennsylvania.
VERARD BIERER, Colonel of the One Hundred and Seventy- first regiment, was born at Uniontown, Fayette county, Pennsylvania, on the 9th of January, 1827. His father, Ever- hart Bierer, was a native of Wurtemberg, Germany, having
684
MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA.'
been born in 1795, near Stuttgard. His mother was Catharine Margaretta Rukenbrod. He was reared amidst agricultural pursuits. He received his education at the common schools, and at Madison College, in his native county. A few days after the call of the President for troops, he commenced recruiting, and on the 23d of May was commissioned Captain of Company F, Elev- enth regiment of the Reserve corps. He did good service with his company at Beaver Dam Creek, and in the desperate fighting to which his regiment was subjected on the following day at Gaines' Mill-where it was brought up as a forlorn hope-was taken prisoner. With other officers captured on that field, Cap- tain Bierer was marched to Richmond, gratifying the eyes of the populace eager for a sight of Yankee prisoners, and was confined in Libby Prison. He was released on the 14th of August, and returned to his command in time to lead his company in the assaults at South Mountain. In the midst of the battle, while the enemy was contesting every inch of ground with the greatest obstinacy taking shelter behind rocks and wooded heights, the regiment was ordered to charge. Captain Bierer was the first of his company to issue from the covert of woods through which the line was moving, and, dashing forward into an open field amidst a storm of bullets, led the way. His heroic conduct re- assured his men, and their onward move was resistless; but before the summit of the mountain was reached, while pressing on, he was struck just above the elbow, breaking the arm and injuring the joint. He was carried off the field, and his wound dressed ; but not until the 25th of November was the ball ex- tracted. The wound finally healed and the arm was saved.
As soon as he was fit for duty, he was appointed, by the Gov- ernor, commandant of Camp Curtin, near Harrisburg, with the rank of Colonel, and not long afterwards was chosen Colonel of the One Hundred and Seventy-first regiment. With this he was sent first to Suffolk, Virginia, and thence to North Carolina, where he was engaged against the rebel General Hill. At Blount's Creek, on the 9th of April, the brigade of Spinola was obliged to retire before superior numbers. To Colonel Bierer was assigned the command of the rear guard. The duty was critical, the enemy crowding upon him and attacking in heavy force. Nearly
685
ROBERT THOMPSON.
the entire night, in the midst of intense darkness, through pine forests and cypress swamps, the march was pushed, and he finally. succeeded in bringing off the column, with the trains and all the wounded. He was subsequently advanced to the command of the brigade, which he led in a diversion towards Richmond, from Fortress Monroe, and subsequently to Maryland, to the aid of the Army of the Potomac in its conflicts with Lee. The term of service of his regiment soon after expired, when he was mus- tered out. In person he is nearly six feet in height, of an iron frame, and was never sick except when confined in Libby. Stu- dious and industrious, he has acquired varied information, and by his integrity and worth commands respect and confidence. In October, 1850, he was elected district attorney of Fayette county, and in November, 1864, was one of the Presidential electors for Pennsylvania. He was married on the 8th of April, 1852, to Miss Ellen Smouse. In 1865 he removed to Hiawatha, Brown county, Kansas. In November, 1867, he was elected a member of the Kansas Legislature. His occupation has in the main been that of farming, stock-raising, and the practice of law.
OBERT THOMPSON, Colonel of the One Hundred and Fifteenth regiment and Brevet Brigadier-General, was born on the 19th of July, 1828, in Philadelphia. His father was Robert Thompson. His mother was daughter of Dr. William Delaney, a surgeon in the Revolution, and a niece of Sharp Delaney, a prominent patriot in that struggle, contributor to the Robert Morris fund, first Collector of the Port of Philadelphia, having been appointed by Washington, and the founder of the Friendly Sons of Saint Patrick, from which strictly the First Troop, Phila- delphia City Cavalry, originated. He received a thorough educa- tion in the schools of his native city. In the July riots of 1844, he served with the Washington Grays, an artillery corps, and. subsequently, in 1849, attached himself to the First Troop. In 1852, he was married to Elizabeth S. Winebrener. Just pre- vious to the breaking out of the Rebellion he raised a militia company, known as the State Guard, which became Company E of the Seventeenth regiment, commanded by Colonel Francis E. Patterson, and served as Captain through the three months'
686
MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA.
campaign. When, in April, 1862, the One Hundred and Fifteenth · regiment was formed, he was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel. His first duty was to take charge of five hundred rebel prisoners cap- tured in the fight at Winchester, in April, 1862, whom he took to Fort Delaware, and thence proceeded to Fortress Monroe with his regiment. He joined the Army of the Potomac in July, and had part in the second engagement at Malvern Hill. In the fierce fighting at Bristoe Station, with the enemy under Stone- wall Jackson, and at Bull Run, which immediately followed, Lieutenant-Colonel Thompson commanded the regiment, in the former being particularly commended for a charge in which he led, and in the latter was complimented by General Carr, in the report of the battle, for his courage and gallantry in the face of a bold and defiant foe. At the close of Pope's campaign, he was obliged to leave the service on account of illness and loss of hearing incurred in the line of duty, the last four days of this campaign having been very depressing and exhausting. The command was without food, blankets, or covering during all this time, and he was compelled, from the loss of his horse, to march fifty miles, and led in three battles. Upon the recommendation of General Joseph Hooker, who commanded the division, he was brevetted Colonel, and Brigadier-General, which appointments were confirmed by the Senate.
OSEPH H. HORTON, Lieutenant-Colonel of the One Hundred and Forty-first regiment, was born at Tarrytown, Bradford county, Pennsylvania, on the 2d of June, 1842. He received a common school education, and engaged in mercantile pursuits previous to entering the service of the United States. He en- listed in August, 1862, in the One Hundred and Forty-first Penn- sylvania regiment for the war, and was elected First Lieutenant of Company A. In August, 1862, he was promoted to Captain. At Fredericksburg he had his first experience of severe fighting, his regiment being in Birney's column. The battle of Chancel- lorsville brought hard marching and sharp conflict, the regiment sustaining heavy losses. At Gettysburg it performed important service, holding a very exposed position, and keeping back the masses of the enemy until it was finally pushed by sheer weight
687
JOSEPH H. HORTON .- JOSEPH W. HAWLEY.
of numbers. "Captain Horton," says the Colonel of the regiment, " though severely stunned by the concussion of a shell, remained on the field, and I am greatly indebted to him for his services, as he was the only Captain left with the regiment." He was at Auburn, Bristoe Station, Mine Run, United States Ford, and the Wilderness, preserving, by his devotion to duty, his title to gallantry. At Spottsylvania he was wounded in the left arm and left hip by a gun shot. Neither proving serious, he was on duty again in time to take part in the battle of Cold Harbor, and continued through the siege of Petersburg down to the surrender of Lee. In January, 1864, he was promoted to Major, and in March, 1865, to Lieutenant-Colonel. The regiment made the final campaign under his command, and when he was about to start for home, on the morning of May 30th, 1865, General Pierce, who commanded the brigade, said : " I regret that the early hour at which you leave will forbid my turning out the brigade and firing a salute as you start for those homes you left some three years ago to battle for your country. You have all performed your duties faithfully, and the result is, our country is redeemed from traitors, the old flag now waves over every State in the Union, and you go home to be received by a grateful people, who will, I trust, not forget your sufferings and deeds of valor." Since the war, Colonel Horton has been Superintendent of the Sullivan Anthracite Coal Company.
OSEPH W. HAWLEY, Colonel of the One Hundred and Twenty- fourth regiment, was born in Lionville, Chester county, Pennsylvania, on the 14th of July, 1836. His boyhood was spent at school and in the intervals in a country store. He re- ceived, in addition to that of the public schools, instruction for a year and a half in the best academies of the county. At the breaking out of the war he was paying teller of the Bank of Ches- ter County, at West Chester. He was granted leave of absence therefrom, and recruited a company for the nine months' service, of which he was made Captain. It became part of the One Hundred and Twenty-fourth Pennsylvania regiment, which was ordered to the front under his command with the expectation of having Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas S. Bell of the Fifty-first made
688
MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA.
its leader. But this was not permitted, and Captain Hawley was commissioned Colonel. In the battle of Antietam his regiment was in the hottest of the fight, and was terribly decimated. Colonel Hawley received a rifle ball in the neck which just missed the jugular vein, lodging in the muscle. Its removal being considered dangerous it was allowed to remain, where, after the lapse of more than ten years, it still holds its place. His wound was sufficiently healed at the end of sixty days to enable him to return to his regiment, which in the battle of Chancellors- ville was again exposed to a withering fire, and lost heavily. Its term of service expired a few days afterward, and Colonel Hawley returned to his place in the bank. He was afterwards commis- sioned Colonel of the Twenty-ninth regiment, Pennsylvania vol- unteer militia, called out for the emergency in 1863, but was in no engagement with the exception of a slight skirmish at Clear Spring, Maryland. On being mustered out he returned to his former duties. In January, 1864, he was appointed paying teller of the First National Bank of West Chester, and in March fol- lowing was made cashier of the First National Bank of Media, Delaware county.
OHN HERRON CAIN, Colonel of the One Hundred and Fifty- fifth regiment, was born at Pittsburg, on the 18th of November, 1839. He is the son of Henry P. Cain, a native of Trenton, New Jersey. His mother was Caroline (Wilson) Cain. He was educated at Bethel under the instruction of the Rev. George Marshall, receiving a good English training. He enlisted on the 19th of April, 1861, in the City Guards of Pittsburg, which subsequently became Company K, of the Twelfth Pennsylvania regiment, and for a term of three months served as a private. He was here associated with Alexander Hays, killed in the Wilderness campaign, with James H. Childs, who fell while leading a brigade at Antietam, with A. S. M. Morgan, who was fearfully wounded at the head of his regiment at Fair Oaks, and with A. B. Bonaffon, who also became eminent as a soldier, and yielded up his life while in the line of duty. On the 20th of August, 1862, he was chosen Captain of Company C, of the One Hundred and Fifty-fifth Pennsylvania regiment, which he had
689
JOHN H. CAIN .- HORATIO N. WARREN.
been instrumental in recruiting, and three days thereafter was made Major. In this capacity he participated in the battles of Antietam and Fredericksburg. In the latter, the regiment was subjected to an ordeal such as seldom falls to the lot of even veteran soldiers. In this trying situation he acquitted himself gallantly, and two weeks after was promoted to the rank of Lieu- tenant-Colonel, and given the active command of the regiment. At Chancellorsville, on the morning of the 3d of May, he was brought into conflict with the hitherto invincible troops of Stonewall Jackson, and the fighting was of a desperate character. When the division of Humphreys, to which the One Hundred and Fifty-fifth belonged, was obliged to fall back behind the guns, Lieutenant-Colonel Cain conducted the movement of his own men with much skill. In the battle of Gettysburg he was posted on the summit of Little Round Top, and was largely instrumental in holding that key-point of the field. Sharpshooting was rife, as almost every bush and rock concealed a rebel marksman, and many brave men of his command fell. A month after this battle he was promoted to Colonel, and soon afterwards resigned. Since the war he has been engaged in producing oil at various points in Venango county.
ORATIO N. WARREN, Colonel of the One Hundred and Forty- second regiment, was born in Clarence, Erie county, New York, on the 26th of October, 1838. He received a good English education in the Clarence Academy. His early occupation was that of a clerk, and he afterwards engaged in business on his own account. He was married on the 9th of September, 1861, to Miss Mary M. Everhart. On the Sth of August, 1862, he was commis- sioned Captain of Company A, One Hundred and Forty-second regiment. He at once took the field, and in the battles of Freder- icksburg, Salem Church, and Gettysburg, led his company, ex- hibiting soldierly qualities. In February, 1864, he was promoted to Major and took command of the regiment. In that terribly wasting and bloody campaign from the Rapidan to the James, and subsequently before Petersburg, he displayed the most devoted gallantry, never having been absent from his command for an hour from the time when the army first plunged into
44
C90
MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA.
the Wilderness, on the 4th of May, to the 4th of July, when it finally settled down to the siege of Petersburg. He was com- missioned Lieutenant-Colonel on the 17th of September, and in the actions of the Weldon Railroad, Hatcher's Run, Dabney's Mill, where he had his horse shot from under him, and Boydton Plank Road, he displayed like devotion and steadfastness. In the battle of Five Forks, on the 5th of April, 1865, he was severely wounded, and had to be removed to the hospital at City Point. For his gallantry in this action he was promoted to Colonel, and at the close of the war was mustered out of service with his regiment.
AMUEL B. M. YOUNG, Colonel of the Fourth cavalry, and Brevet Brigadier-General, was born on the 9th of January, 1840, at Forest Grove, Allegheny county, Pennsylvania. His father, John Young, was of English descent as was his mother, Hannah (Scott) Young. Ilis early years were spent upon the farm and at school, where, in addition to the common English branches, a knowledge of civil engineering was acquired. His youthful inclination was for a military life, and the opening of the Rebellion, just as he was coming of age, afforded him the coveted opportunity. He enlisted in the Twelfth United States infantry, in April, 1861, and was made Corporal in the following June. On the 6th of September, 1861, he was commissioned Captain in the Fourth Pennsylvania cavalry. At the Peach Orchard, and at Charles City Cross Roads, he had experience in hard fighting, and, mere youth though he was, showed that he was constituted with those qualities of which heroes are made.
He led the famous charge of one squadron of his regiment, and one section of Tidball's guns under Lieutenant Dennison. across the Stone Bridge on the left centre of the line, in the battle of Antietam, where in the mortal conflict which ensued in defence of the Union guns the gallant Colonel Childs met his death. In November, 1862, with two squadrons of the Fourth, he attacked the rear of J. E. B. Stuart's column at Jeffersonville, Virginia, and dismounted two guns, destroying the carriages before the supports arrived. In the Fredericksburg and Chan- cellorsville campaigns the Fourth regiment was with Averell, and
691
SAMUEL B. M. YOUNG.
had little hard fighting, though in the latter the cavalry was in motion towards Gordonsville. . But in the Gettysburg movement a close conflict occurred at Aldie and Upperville, where Major Young led his battalion in repeated charges with the steadiness and determination of a veteran officer. Moving on the right flank of the Union army this regiment stretched away in its course to the Susquehanna river, arriving at the Wrightsville head of the Columbia bridge just after its destruction. Hastening back, it came up on the flank of the army upon the Gettysburg field during the morning of the 2d of July. In the remainder of the struggle, and in the pursuit of the enemy upon his retreat, it was kept in constant service.
On the 12th of October, when Lee attempted his flank move- ment, the Fourth was sent to the relief of the Thirteenth Penn- sylvania cavalry, which, while on picket duty near Jeffersonville, on the right bank of the Rappahannock and opposite the White Sulphur Springs, was attacked and hard pressed by the advanc- ing enemy. What bravery could accomplish was done, the two regiments making a bold stand and fighting with remarkable courage; but it was hopeless, as the overwhelming masses of the enemy were pressing forward from all sides, and a large number of both regiments were killed, wounded, or taken prisoners. Major Young was conspicuous for his valor, and in the heat of the engagement was struck by a Minie ball in the right elbow- joint, inflicting a painful and serious wound. After six months of intense suffering, the arm was saved; but the joint was left permanently stiff. In an action on the 20th of July, 1864, this arm was again hit, both bones of the fore-arm being broken. Youth and a good constitution favored recovery, and in a com- paratively brief period he was again with his regiment. In the following year the same arm was a third time struck; but from all its hard fate it holds out, and in striking for country is a good arm yet.
In October Major Young was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel, and in December following to Colonel. The action at Hatcher's Run, in February, 1865, proved unfortunate for the Union arms; especially disastrous was it to Crawford's division .. After an unsuccessful attempt had been made by an infantry brigade to
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.