USA > Pennsylvania > Martial deeds of Pennsylvania, Vol. 2 > Part 18
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
748
MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA.
IRAM L. BROWN, Colonel of the One Hundred and Forty- fifth regiment, and Brevet Brigadier-General, was born at North East, Erie county, Pennsylvania, on the 27th of October, 1832. He was the son of Hiram L. and Philena (Sears) Brown, both natives of this region. When but two years old the family removed to the city of Erie. He was educated at the county academy, and at the age of fifteen entered upon his novitiate in the business of printing, in the office of the Erie Gazette, and con- tinued it in that of the Observer, where he remained three years. In 1850, then at the age of eighteen, fired by the fever which carried multitudes to the new Eldorado, he went to California, and remained one year at the mines about Little Deer Creek and Nevada City. He then returned home, and after the death of his father, which occurred in 1853, he became proprietor of Brown's Hotel, widely and favorably known, and, with the exception of one year which he spent in Chicago, so remained until the opening of the war.
For a year previous he had been a member of that noted vol- unteer company, the Wayne Guards, which proved so excellent a school for the development of military talent, in which he was Corporal and Lieutenant, and was, besides, Major of militia. When troops were called for three months, he went as Captain of Company B in the Erie regiment, Colonel John W. McLane. A new regiment for three years' service-the Eighty-third-was promptly formed on the return of this, in recruiting which he was active. Tidings of the Bull Run disaster were then fresh, and on the Sunday morning after the sad intelligence was received, Captain Brown took his command by special train to Warren. sixty miles away, where a war meeting was that evening held. The military ardor was so aroused that volunteering was rapid, and Colonel McLane soon had the ranks of his regiment full.
Captain Brown's first engagement was at Hanover Court House, where the enemy under General Branch were driven. At the fierce battle of Gaines' Mill, fought shortly after, his clothing was cut in several places, and finally he was shot through the body, the ball entering just below the heart, passing quite through, and resting in his watch-pocket. The wound was supposed to be mortal. He lay all night under a tree upon
.
749
HIRAM L. BROWN.
the left bank of the Chickahominy. In the morning a soldier crossed upon a rude raft which he constructed, and brought the wounded Captain off. He was taken to Savage Station, where he was left in hospital, and where he fell into the enemy's hands. After lying here for a month, his wound in the meantime healing, he was exchanged. He saved his sword by an ingenious device. A brother officer, Captain John F. Morris, was so badly mangled as to necessitate his being carried through the city of Richmond on a straw tick. In the straw he con- cealed his cherished weapon, and it escaped observation. All other officers lost their arms. The return of Captain Brown was hailed with great joy, as of one resurrected from the dead ; for he had been reported among the killed, and his death had been noticed in the Erie, Buffalo, Cleveland, and Pittsburg papers, and the country press of that region. On his arrival at Erie the bells of the city were rung amid general rejoicing, and a committee of citizens from Buffalo were sent to express their gratification.
At this time the One Hundred and Forty-fifth Pennsylvania, a three years' regiment, was being organized, and Captain Brown was solicited to become its leader. Though regretting to leave his company in the Eighty-third, he accepted and was soon absorbed in bringing his new command to a condition of efficiency. He hastened to the front during the progress of the Antietam campaign, and was at first placed over the receiving camp at Chambersburg. He was afterwards sent with his own regiment, two pieces of artillery and a force of cavalry, by com- mand of General Reynolds, to Minor's Cross Roads, in which direction it was anticipated that the enemy might retire from the Antietam field. He was afterwards assigned to Meagher's brigade, Caldwell's division of the Second corps.
Colonel Brown was officer of the day on the 13th of December, 1862, on which the battle of Fredericksburg was fought, and was ordered to withdraw his pickets and rejoin his brigade as soon as General French had marched over them to open the battle. In the progress of the fight he was brought under the hottest of the fire, and was shot through the right lung. Though slightly stunned he moved forward, and shortly after received a wound through the leg above the knee. Just then the blood
750
MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA.
from the wounded lung began to be discharged from the mouth, when he became faint, and it was some moments before conscious- ness returned. He walked off the field, and was carried across the river to a hospital. ... Again was he reported mortally wounded. The slaughter in his regiment was fearful, more than half of an aggregate of nearly five hundred men being carried down in the fight. The flag, presented by the ladies of Erie, was pierced by forty-three bullets and one shell, the staff broken, the eagle which surmounted it carried away, and five color- bearers killed under it. In his official report General Hancock bore ample testimony to the conspicuous gallantry of the Colonel and his fine body of men.
In the Chancellorsville campaign, it was anticipated that resistance would be encountered to laying the pontoons at United States Ford, and Colonel Brown was sent, with his own and two regiments detailed from General French's command, to cover the work; but it was executed without opposition. He led his regiment in the various manœuvres of the army in the early part of the battle, and after the rout upon the Union left supported Pettits' battery, the enemy's shells, in response, firing the Chancellor House and burning it to the ground.
At Gettysburg he shared the fortunes of Caldwell's division, as it moved to action over the historic Wheat Field, where the struggle was obstinate and bloody throughout. The enemy was encountered in-his lurking places in the wooded ground and was temporarily driven.
Before entering upon the campaign in the Wilderness, in 1864, Colonel Brown was placed in command of a brigade in Barlow's division of the Second corps. This he led with marked gallantry on that sanguinary field. At the Po river he held the extreme right of the line, and was accredited in General Hancock's report with having repulsed two successive onsets of a division of Hill's men. During the early morning of the 12th of May, with the rest of Barlow's forces, he marched to the front near Spottsyl- vania Court House, where one of the most brilliant charges of the war was made, whereby an entire division with General Johnson, its leader, and twenty-two cannon were captured. While the fight was raging, Colonel Brown was cut off and taken captive.
751
..... HIRAM L` BROWN.
After enduring the hardships of rebel prisons for some time, orders came for fifty officers of the highest rank to prepare themselves with four days rations for removal. Confidently did these officers anticipate that this was for an exchange; but what was their astonishment to find themselves incarcerated in the Charleston jail in company with common felons! By the pay- ment of a one dollar greenback for a morning paper, Colonel Brown learned that they had been put under the fire of the Union guns by order of the Confederate authorities. The United States Government shortly put an end to this by exposing a like number, and of equal grade, of rebel officers, under the fire of their own guns on Morris' Island. This course brought a speedy exchange.
Soon after his return to the front, the army being before Petersburg, he was placed in command of a brigade of the Second corps, and was brevetted Brigadier-General. The earnestness with which General Hancock urged this promotion is shown by the following extract of a letter addressed by that officer to Judge Watts, of Carlisle: "I have recommended in an official manner, some months since, Colonel H. L. Brown, of the One Hundred and Forty-fifth, for promotion for Spottsylvania, May 12th. Since then I recommended him, in a formal manner, for a brevet as Brigadier-General for the same action, in order that, if he was not made a Brigadier-General of volunteers, he might be made a Brigadier-General by brevet. In these formal recom- mendations I recapitulated his faithful and gallant services, his wounds, so far as I was enabled to get the data. I trust he may be promoted and ordered here. We require the services of such brave men."
General Brown remained in the service until February, 1865, when, experiencing much trouble from the wound in his lung, from which he had never fully recovered, he was honorably dis- charged for physical disability contracted in the line of duty. On several occasions he was made the recipient of tokens of regard from his men, who could best appreciate his worth, and from admiring friends. The one which was perhaps most highly prized was that of a horse, saddle, and bridle, and full equip- ments, presented by the non-commissioned officers and privates
752
MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA.
of the One Hundred and Forty-fifth regiment, the pommel of the saddle being inscribed with the names of the entire number. General Brown is unmarried. In person he is over six feet in height, and stalwart. Since the war he has been for a term of three years Sheriff of Erie county.
OHN SWAYZE McCALMONT, Colonel of the Tenth Reserve regi- ment, was born at Franklin, Pennsylvania, on the 28th of April, 1822. His father, Alexander McCalmont, and his mother, Eliza Hart (Connely) McCalmont, were both natives of Pennsyl- vania, remotely descended from the Scotch-Irish, who form a sturdy and sterling element in the population of the State. He was early initiated into the mysteries of a printing office, where he labored for several years during the intervals in the terms of the public schools. He was afterwards put to the Latin school of the Rev. Nathaniel Snowden, and finally to Allegheny College, at Meadville. He entered the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1838, and graduated with credit in due course. He was brevetted Second Lieutenant in the Third regiment of infantry in July, 1842, and in the October following was pro- moted to Second Lieutenant of the Eighth infantry. Having a taste for civil pursuits, and tiring of the inactivity of army life in time of peace, after about a year's experience he resigned, and devoted himself to the law.
At the opening of the Rebellion, he was President Judge of the eighteenth judicial district, to which office he had been appointed by Governor Bigler in May, 1853, and elected in October of that year. As he warmly supported the national authorities, he tendered his services to Governor Curtin, and was commissioned Colonel of the Tenth regiment of the Re- serve corps. His knowledge of military duty was of great advantage, the mass of volunteer officers, as well as privates, being entirely destitute of experience in the art they were called to practise. Upon the organization of the division, Colonel McCalmont was assigned to the command of the Third brigade. which he exercised until superseded by General E. O. C. Ord. In the battle of Dranesville, which was fought on the 20th of December, 1861, Colonel McCalmont bore himself with gal-
4
753
JOHN S. McCALMONT.
lantry, and received the approval of Generals Mcclellan, Ord, and McCall.
Colonel Ayer, who was then serving as Captain of one of Colonel McCalmont's companies, makes the following mention of his chief in this engagement : "The action was opened by a smart firing between our own and the rebel skirmishers, and very soon the artillery of the enemy opened upon us. Our artillery, Captain Easton's battery, was soon in position and did terrible work, blowing up one of their ammunition boxes, killing eight or nine horses, and doubtless killing and wounding many men. Just previous, Colonel McCalmont had ridden up, and perceiving that they were shooting too high, called out, 'Point your pieces lower, my boys! You are firing over them! You must lower your guns !' They did so, and with what effect has just been described. Colonel McCalmont was everywhere, where his presence was most needed, during this engagement, displaying great courage and self-possession."
The operations of the army during the winter of 1861-'62 were dilatory, little congenial to the impetuous nature of Colonel McCalmont, and warned by failing health that he would be un- able to endure the hardships of a protracted struggle he resigned. The officers of his regiment in parting with him united in reso- lutions recounting his faithful services and gallantry as a soldier. " Colonel McCalmont," says Ayer, "was much respected by offi- cers and men. Of fine soldierly bearing and a high sense of honor, his presence was calculated to inspire all with confidence and esteem. A high-toned Christian gentleman, I believe the universal feeling was that of regret that we had lost so brave, considerate, and kind a commander." Previous to the war he had held several offices of honor and responsibility. He was Deputy Attorney-General of Clarion, Mckean, and Elk counties in 1846, a member of the House of Representatives of Pennsyl- vania in 1849-'50, Speaker of that body in the latter year, and a Presidential Elector in 1852, in addition to the judicial position above noticed. On leaving the service, he resumed the practice of his profession at Franklin. In 1872 he was a lay representative of the Erie Conference of the Methodist Protestant Episcopal Church in the General Conference held at Brooklyn,
48
754
MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA.
New York. In stature he is above the ordinary height, being six feet two and a half inches, spare but broad-shouldered, and of fair complexion. He was married on the 2d of March, 1848, to Elizabeth P. Stekley, of Harrisburg.
.
ANIEL WHITE MAGRAW, Colonel of the One Hundred and Sixteenth regiment, was born in the county of Down, Irc- land, on the 12th of June, 1839. He was the son of William and Rachael (Bailey) Magraw, both natives of Ireland. He came with his parents to this country when only three years of age, and settled in Pittsburg. He received a good common education in the public schools of that city, and on the 19th of September, 1859, was married to Miss Sarah J. Matthews. His first entrance to military service was in August, 1861, as a private, and he was promoted to Sergeant, Lieutenant, and in March, 1864, to Captain of Company H of the One Hundred and Sixteenth regiment. In the battle of Fredericksburg he was severely wounded in the left thigh, losing a portion of the bone. He led his company through the Wilderness campaign with gallantry, and in November was promoted to the rank of Major, having especially distinguished himself in the battles at Deep Bottom and Strawberry Plains. In December he was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel. In the action at Gravelly Run, on the 31st of March, 1865, he received a severe wound in the left leg. He was commissioned Colonel not long afterwards, and with his regiment was mustered out on the 14th of July, 1864.
N LIAS STEVENSON TROXELL, Lieutenant-Colonel of the One Hundred and Fifty-eighth regiment and Major of the Twenty-second cavalry, was born on the 14th of June, 1824, near Emmittsburg, Maryland. He was the son of Elias and Ruth (Stevenson) Troxell. His mother, soon after the birth of her son, was left a widow, with four children dependent upon her for support, with small means beyond her own exertions. His advantages for gaining an education were, consequently, limited. But his natural desire to learn, coupled with a strong will, enabled him to master the elements of a good English education, and to familiarize himself with general literature. He showed
755
D. W. MAGRAW-E. S. TROXELL .- J. M. WETHERILL.
some aptness in composition, and became a contributor to the Flag of our Union. At the age of twenty-six he removed to Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, where he married Miss Barbara S. Funk.
He was earnest and active in support of the Government when assailed by armed rebellion. In October, 1862, he was commis- sioned Captain in the One Hundred and Fifty-eighth Pennsyl- vania regiment, and in November following became Lieutenant- Colonel., During the winter of 1862-'63 he was stationed with his command at Newbern, North Carolina. While the move- ments were in progress, under the direction of General Prince, for raising the siege of Little Washington, he led the One Hun- dred and Fifty-eighth, and displayed energy and courage. He had embarked his men upon two small steamers in readiness to run up the Pamlico River, past obstructions and rebel batteries commanding the stream; but was prevented from undertaking this daring feat by the officer of the squadron, who was unwilling to trust the lives of the men without protection to such a fire as they were sure to encounter. He consequently debarked, and took part in the operations by land for the relief of the garrison. At the conclusion of his term of service he was mustered out ; but in March, 1864, again entered upon active duty as Major of the Twenty-second cavalry, a three-year regiment which had just been recruited, and which rendered important service in the Shenandoah Valley, and in West Virginia, during the campaigns of that and the following year. In the numerous battles and skir- mishes in which Major Troxell was engaged, he proved himself a reliable and most devoted soldier. He was mustered out of service finally in October, 1865. At the close of the war he be- came a resident of Martinsburg, West Virginia, and was in 1866 elected Clerk of the Circuit Court of Berkeley county. He has been three times in succession elected, his present term not expiring until January, 1879.
OHN MACOMB WETHERILL, Lieutenant-Colonel of the Eighty- second regiment, was born in Philadelphia, on the 11th of February, 1828. He was the son of William and Isabella (Macomb) Wetherill. He was educated in the schools of the city,
4
756
MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA.
and at the University of Pennsylvania, graduating at the age of eighteen. He had a natural liking for military duty, and joined a militia organization in which he rose to be Major, Lieu- tenant-Colonel and Colonel in succession, serving until the opening of the Civil War. On the 19th of April, 1861, four days after the call for troops, he was mustered into the service of the United States as Aide-de-camp, with the rank of Captain, for ninety days, the limit fixed by. the call. At the expiration of this term he was commissioned as Major of the Eighty-second regiment.
At Fair Oaks, on the 31st of May, this organization had its first experience of fighting, which indeed proved a baptism of fire. It was here that the enemy came out in heavy force and struck the division of Casey. The first intimation had that the enemy was advancing was the passing of a guard having in charge an aid of Johnston, the rebel General-in-Chief. Soon after, rapid firing gave token of the opening of the battle. Major Wetherill was in command of the regiment, which was drawn up on the Nine Mile road. In the progress of the battle the troops posted here were flanked, and in danger of being cut off by the yielding of Casey's line. In perfect order, and with the guns of a battery which the regiment was charged to support under guard, it retired a half mile and took up a position on the road leading to Grape Vine Bridge. Here it was attacked by an enemy confi- dent of victory, who was nevertheless repulsed. Seven times did he come on with ever renewed assurance, and with fresh troops; but numbers and reckless impetuosity availed not against the valor which fired the bosoms of the men of the Union on that devoted line. The victory was complete, and the dead and wounded of the foe upon its front were frightful to behold. Major Wetherill was warmly complimented for his soldierly con- duct on this field.
At Antietam, on the evening after the battle, he was sent forward with his regiment upon the skirmish line, near the Dunkard Church. The enemy still held the ground, and kept up a show of strength to cover his retreat. The rebel sharp- shooters had climbed up into the tall forest trees, and, hid- den from view by the dark foliage, directed an annoying fire
757
JAMES F. RYAN.
upon the men of the Eighty-second. Major Wetherill relaxed not for an instant the most rigid discipline, and, by a rapid advance on the morning of the 19th, scattered the enemy, taking one gun and several prisoners. His conduct here was com- mended, and he was, in the following June, promoted to Lieu- tenant-Colonel.
In the battle of Cold Harbor, where the Union army displayed as much stubborn courage as upon any field of the war, but, alas! to little purpose and with vast sacrifice, the Eighty-second, unfortunately, had more than its share of danger to meet, and disaster to endure. In the face of a fire which swept it as with . a flaming sword, it was led on, but, unable to reach the enemy's breastworks, fell to intrenching, and there passed the remainder of the day and the night following. At daylight the men were aroused from feverish and troubled rest to again charge. They had advanced but a few paces when the fire of the enemy became too terrible to withstand, and they again sank upon the earth for shelter. By the fall of Colonel Bassett, who commanded the regiment, the charge of the line fell upon Lieutenant-Colonel Wetherill. The position was a critical one. Seizing the flag he planted it in the earth and called upon the men to stand by it. His determined manner inspired confidence and renewed courage, and by desperate exertions a new protection was thrown up. It is thus that in times of peril the valor of the leader preserves the morale of his troops, and nerves the timid, even, to heroic action.
In the engagements before Petersburg, and at Fort Stevens in front of Washington, when menaced by the legions of Early, Colonel Wetherill led his command with the steady and resolute courage which had characterized him from the first. At the expiration of his term of service, on the 16th of September, 1864, he was mustered out. In the Convention of the State, which met in December, 1872, for the revision of the Constitution, he was a prominent member. In person he is of medium stature, in health robust, and possessed of a dignified presence.
AMES F. RYAN, Major of the Sixty-third regiment, was born in the county of Clare, Ireland, on the 3d of May, 1824. His parents emigrated to this country when the son was but a
758
MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA.
year old, and settled in Pottsville, Schuylkill county, but sub- sequently removed to Pittsburg. He was early inured to labor, but obtained, in the public and private schools of that city, a good English education. At the age of seventeen he was bound an apprentice to the business of tin and sheet iron making. He was married on the 6th of September, 1853, to Miss Mary McCloskey, of Pittsburg. He recruited a company for three years' service, of which he was commissioned Captain, and which became a part of the Sixty-third regiment. He was wounded by a fragment of shell in the battle of Charles City Cross Roads, but was only off duty in consequence a single week. At the Second Bull Run he received three wounds, but fortunately neither proved serious, and he remained on the field, and upon the fall of superior officers assumed command of the regiment. At Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, and Wapping Heights, in each of which he was at his post, he escaped unharmed, though the fighting of the regiment was desperate. After the battle of Chancellorsville he was warmly recommended for the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, but the return of officers to their positions made an adherence to the regular order of promo- tion imperative. At the conclusion of his term of service, on the Ist of April, 1864, he was mustered out, and returned to his home at Mckeesport.
HEODORE FREDERICK LEHMANN, Colonel of the One Hundred and Third regiment, was born in the Kingdom of Hanover, Germany, on the 1st of March, 1812. . His father, Frederick Lehmann, a descendant of an old Hanoverian family, was an officer in the army for fifty-two years, and participated in the European wars from 1783 to 1815, closing with the battle of. Waterloo. His mother was Augusta (Holscher) Lehmann. He was early put to the primary schools of his country, and was for several years in the gymnasia and college, which he left at sixteen to enter the military school. He was in the army for a period of six years. After having passed through the military school, he entered the Polytechnic, where for eighteen months he studied languages and the fine arts, giving particular attention to drawing and painting, for which from childhood he had mani-
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.