USA > Pennsylvania > Martial deeds of Pennsylvania, Vol. 2 > Part 22
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In person General Zulick is five feet eight and a half inches in height, and robust, with blue eyes, and dark brown hair. He was married on the 29th of July, 1846, to Miss Mary Hart McCalla, of Philadelphia, and has one son, Philip S. Zulick, who served in the Forty-fifth regiment. Of General Zulick's gallantry as a soldier, his superior officers bear ample testimony. "He began the war," says General Sherman, "as a Captain, and rose by his merits through all the grades to that of a General officer, and served in our Georgia and Carolina campaigns. Of course I de- sire to see him noticed and appreciated." General Geary, in whose division General Zulick was, says : " He has nobly served his country throughout a long and trying contest, with high dis- tinction ;" and that stern soldier, General A. W. Williams, adds : " He served under my command for over three years, while I was either division or corps commander. He was a very superior officer, capable, faithful, and zealous in the discharge of his duties. He merits the recognition and favor of the Government."
HOMAS A. ROWLEY, Colonel of the One Hundred and Second regiment, and Brigadier-General, a native of Pittsburg, was the son of John and Mary (Alger) Rowley. He received his education in the schools of that city, and during his early years was employed in a store as clerk. He joined a volunteer militia company in 1839, in which he continued to serve until the break- ing out of the Mexican War, in 1847, when he was appointed by President Polk a Second Lieutenant in the regular army. He participated with honor in the battles of Vera Cruz, Jalapa, National Bridge, Cerro Gordo, and Mexico, and won the promo- tion to Captain.
Upon his return he resigned his commission and resumed
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the practice of his profession. When hostilities opened in 1861, he again abandoned the toga for the trappings of war. He was active in recruiting first the Thirteenth, which he commanded during the ninety days of its service, and at its close the One Hundred and Second. At the battle of Fair Oaks, Colonel Rowley led his regiment to the support of Casey, hard pressed by the foe, and manfully contended against desperate assaults, holding his ground, and finally, when forced, retired in good order, firing as he went. In this battle he was severely wounded in the head. On the 29th of November, 1862, he was promoted to the rank of Brigadier-General, having performed most efficient service in the battles of Malvern Hill, Chantilly, and Antietam. He was in com- mand of a brigade at Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville and the three days at Gettysburg. After leaving the army he resumed the practice of his profession. He at various periods held offices of trust, having been an Alderman, Clerk of the Courts of Alle- ' gheny county, and was United States Marshal for the Western district of Pennsylvania in 1865. He still resides in his native city.
EORGE W. GILE, Colonel of the Eighty-eighth regiment, and Brevet Brigadier-General, was born on the 25th of Jan- uary, 1830, in Littleton, New Hampshire. His father, Aaron Gile, was a native of that State, well known for rectitude and patriotism, and at various times held offices of responsibility and trust. His mother, Persis (Rix) Gile, was a native of Canada. At the age of fourteen he entered a printing office, where he remained till the breaking out of the Mexican War. Moved by an impulse natural at the inexperienced age of sixteen, he enlisted as a private. Being an only son, the father insisted on his discharge, and he returned to his home at Littleton.
Wearying of inaction, he proceeded to Boston, where he soon found congenial employment. He chose the drama as his profession, and after careful preliminary training entered upon and for a season pursued it with great assiduity. In 1854 he removed to Philadelphia, and in the following year was united in marriage to Miss Emma Virginia Shuster, a native of that city, and a lady of much grace and refinement. Two sons were
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GEORGE W. GILE.
the issue of this marriage. In person he is over six feet in height, and in appearance is dignified and commanding.
At the opening of the late war he enlisted as a private in Company I, Twenty-second regiment, but was soon after commis- sioned First Lieutenant of Company D. This regiment, which was recruited for three months' service, was posted in the city of Baltimore, and the duty not being arduous, he applied himself to the study of his new profession. While thus engaged he was offered the position of Major of the Eighty-eighth, a three years' regiment, which he accepted. He was for some time busily employed in organizing and equipping the new command, and when ordered to the front was posted with a battalion of four companies in Alexandria, Virginia, where he was charged with the maintenance of order, and the protection of public and private property. For his fidelity in this position he was presented with a richly mounted and valuable sword, bearing the following inscription : "Presented to Major George W. Gile, 88th regiment, P. V., by the officers of his command and the loyal merchants of Alexandria, Virginia, as a testimonial of their esteem."
His first experience of field duty was in the campaign of Gen- eral Pope in Virginia, where his regiment manifested great activ- ity, and at the disastrous battle of Bull Run he proved himself a steadfast soldier. In the midst of the fight Lieutenant-Colonel McLean, who was in command of the regiment, was mortally wounded, leaving it in charge of Major Gile, and though making his first campaign, he led it with so much skill and bravery as to attract the attention of the General-in-Chief, who said in his report : "The conduct of Tower's brigade," to which the Eighty- eighth belonged, " in plain view of all the forces on the left, was especially distinguished, and drew forth hearty cheers. The example of this brigade was of great service, and infused new spirit into all the troops who witnessed their intrepid conduct." He was immediately after promoted to the rank of Lieutenant- Colonel, and honored with the brevet rank of Captain in the regular army.
On the morning of the 17th of September he led his regiment upon the field of Antietam, on the extreme right of the Union
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line, where the ground was being stubbornly contested. It had no sooner reached its position than it was attacked with fiery impetuosity by the rebel forces, which outflanked it; but with a courage and steadiness worthy of veterans, for two long hours it held its position. In the heat of the battle Colonel Gile was hit by a musket ball and was borne from the field. The wound was a painful and dangerous one in' the left thigh. It was long in healing; but by eminent surgical attendance, directed by Dr. Atlee of Philadelphia, the limb was saved, though he was left a cripple for life. He was soon after promoted to Colonel of the regiment; and, by brevet, Major and Lieutenant-Colonel in the regular army. When it became apparent that he could not soon resume command of his regiment, which was without a field officer present for duty, he was compelled reluctantly to resign his commission. Maimed by honorable wounds, this might reasonably conclude his military record; but a still more honor- able career was opening before him.
Early in the spring of 1863 the General Government deter- mined to form an élite corps of the wounded veterans of the volunteer army, to be employed in such service as their physical condition would permit. The first appointment in this corps was tendered to Colonel Gile, which he accepted. After laboring for a few months in its organization, he was ordered from Philadel- phia with a battalion of nine companies to Washington. Here a regimental organization was perfected, and three other regiments of the corps were ordered in to form a brigade. In the spring of 1864 three more regiments were added to the garrison of Washing- ton, which greatly increased the responsibilities of Colonel Gile.
In July of this year, when Early, with a large army, moved down the valley for the attack and capture of Washington, Colonel Gile marshalled his forces for its defence, and throwing them into position upon its front, on the line of the outer forts, engaged the enemy with such determination and skill that for two whole days and nights the rebel commander was deterred from ordering an assault. By the arrival of General Wright with two divisions of the Sixth corps, Colonel Gile was relieved at the front, and his command returned to its position in the city. For his gallantry upon this occasion he was brevetted Brigadier-
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DAVID M. JONES.
General, and his force increased to fourteen regiments of infantry and two of cavalry.
During his terin of service in Washington, General Gile enjoyed the friendship and confidence of President Lincoln, whose escort at the inauguration of 1864 he had the honor to command. It was also his melancholy duty to assist in the final escort of the remains of that great and good man to the train which bore them away from the Capital. Mr. Stanton, likewise, showed him many marks of his esteem.
Shortly after the close of the war, General Gile was detached from his command at Washington, and ordered South. In 1866 he was tendered and accepted an appointment in the regular service, and was transferred from duty in South Carolina to Florida, where he remained until the closing of the affairs of the Freedmen's Bureau, of which he had sole charge in that State. On the 15th of December, 1870, he was retired from active service, with the rank of Colonel. During his entire term cover- ing a period of nearly ten years, he was but ninety days absent from duty, except when disabled by wounds.
AVID MATTERN JONES, Lieutenant-Colonel of the One Hun- dred and Tenth regiment, was born on the 24th of April, 1838, in Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania. He was the son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Mattern) Jones. He received a good common school education and learned the trade of his father, that of a potter. In the three months' service of 1861, he was Corporal of Company D of the Third regiment. On his return from this, he recruited and was commissioned Captain of Com- pany A of the One Hundred and Tenth regiment, which was sent to the upper Potomac, joining the column of General Lander and participating in engagements against Jackson, and subse- quently, under Shields, in the hard-fought battle of Winchester, in which Jackson was driven. In a skirmish with a detachment of Ashby's cavalry, in one of the passes of the Blue Ridge, in June, 1862, Captain Jones manœuvred his company with so much skill as to attract the attention of his superiors, and he was promoted to the rank of Major. He participated in the hard fighting at Cedar Mountain, and in the Second battle of Bull
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Run, receiving in the latter a severe wound in the right wrist from a Minié ball which passed quite through, leaving the limb weakened and partially paralyzed. Shortly after the battle of Fredericksburg, in which he was engaged, he was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel, and at Chancellorsville, when the Colonel was killed, the command devolved upon him at a critical moment in the battle. At Gettysburg he was of De Trobriand's brigade, that held, unsupported in the early part of the battle, the rocky, wooded ground designated the Whirlpool, or Slaughter-pen. More bold or determined fighting has rarely been witnessed than was here displayed. It was a sad field for Colonel Jones; for while conducting the fight with matchless heroism he was shot through the left leg, and so severe was the wound as to necessitate ampu- tation. His heroic conduct called forth warm commendation in the orders of General De Trobriand. Being disabled for further field service, he resigned. He was married in 1864 to Miss Amanda J. Palmer, who died in 1867. In 1865 he was elected Register and Recorder of his native county, to which office he has been twice reelected, and which he now holds. He was a true soldier as he is an upright citizen.
OHN SMITH LITTELL, Colonel of the Seventy-sixth regiment, and Brigadier-General, was born in Hanover township, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, on the 20th of October, 1822. His father, William Littell, was a soldier of the war of 1812. His mother was Cynthia Smith. He received a good English education, paying special attention to surveying. He early joined a militia company, and in 1853 was elected Captain, and afterwards Brigade Inspector of the Nineteenth division.
He recruited a company for the Seventy-sixth Pennsylvania regiment, of which he was Captain. Soon after its organization it was ordered to the Department of the South, where it was en- gaged with the enemy at the capture of Fort Pulaski, and in the battles of Pocotaligo, James Island, Morris Island, and in the first and second assaults on Fort Wagner, in all of which he led his company with a steadiness and devotion which char- acterized his entire service. At Morris Island, on the 10th of July, he was slightly wounded, but kept the field. On the
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JOHN S. LITTELL .- T. ELWOOD ZELL.
following morning he was again hit, receiving a flesh wound in the right arm and side.
The assaults upon Fort Wagner proved very disastrous to the regiment, the losses being nearly half its entire strength. In the summer of 1864, it was taken to Virginia and attached to the Army of the James. On the 31st of May, Captain Littell was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, and on the follow- ing day, in the action at Cold Harbor, received a severe wound, the missile entering the right thigh, tearing quite through and emerging from the left. After lying in the hospital for a time, he was taken to his home; but his wound was slow in healing, and his recovery was protracted. On the 17th of August follow- ing, he was promoted to Colonel. In January he sailed with the expeditions, 'first under Generals Butler and Weitzel, and finally under General Terry, for the reduction of Fort Fisher, command- ing the approaches to Wilmington, North Carolina. Colonel Littell was of Pennypacker's brigade, and followed that gallant officer in the desperate assault upon this stronghold. In the midst of the struggle, and while leading on his regiment in the face of a destructive fire, he was struck by a Minié ball in the left thigh, which passed through, penetrating a pocket-book con- taining a roll of bank-notes, and finally lodging in the body. It was an ever memorable day for the armies of the Union, and though experiencing intense suffering, he still had strength and spirit to rejoice over the glorious victory achieved. He was re- moved to Fortress Monroe, after having the ball extracted, and when sufficiently recovered, to his home. As a merited recog- nition of his valor on this field, upon the recommendation of General Terry, he was brevetted Brigadier-General.
Since the conclusion of the war, General Littell has served a term of three years as Sheriff of Beaver county. He was married in 1845 to Miss Mary Colhoon.
ELWOOD ZELL. Colonel of Independent battalion, was born in Philadelphia, of Quaker parentage. His father's family was among the few Germans who embraced the Quaker faith, emigrating under the immediate auspices of William Penn, and settling in Montgomery county. His mother's family name was
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Ogden, and her ancestors accompanied Penn in his first voyage in the ship Welcome, landing with him at Chester. His great- grandfather served in the Revolutionary struggle and filled the post of Quartermaster in the patriot army. His earliest military experience was gained in Texas, where he acted as a volunteer in aiding to protect the frontier from the ravages of a general Indian war which broke out while he was spending the winter there. At the breaking out of the Rebellion, he assisted in form- ing a military organization in Philadelphia for the purpose of drill. He was offered the place of Lieutenant in the Lancers, Sixth cavalry, and that of Captain in the Fifty-eighth, both of which he felt it his duty to decline. He subsequently entered the One Hundred and Twenty-first regiment as Captain of Com- pany D, and served with credit until compelled-by disabilities caused by the exposures of the service-to resign, carrying with him the respect of his brother officers and of his command. Sub- sequently, when the State was about to be invaded by Lee, Captain Zell was authorized to raise a regiment of infantry ; but before it was filled he was mustered as Lieutenant-Colonel commanding the battalion, and was almost immediately ap- pointed chief of staff to General W. D. Whipple of the regular army, which position he held for several months, and subse- quently Inspector-General of cavalry. Upon the transfer of General Whipple to the staff of General Thomas, Colonel Zell was chief of staff for a short time to General Sigel, and was afterwards assigned to duty in Philadelphia as Post Assistant Provost-Marshal-General at the military barracks at Fourth and Buttonwood streets, where he remained until the expiration of his term of enlistment.
MORRISON WOODWARD, of Puritan and Huguenot origin, was the son of James S. and Rebecca Anna (De-la- Montaigne) Woodward, and was born in Philadelphia, March 11th, 1828. He received a liberal education at a private school. Influenced by the love of adventure, he sailed around Cape Horn to California, and spent several years in roaming through that State, Mexico, and South America, returning eastward across the continent. He studied law under John R. Vogdes of Philadel-
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E. MORRISON WOODWARD.
phia, and was admitted to the bar. Turning his attention to literature soon afterwards, he wrote the History of the Citizen Soldiery of Philadelphia from 1704 to 1845. He was connected with the Sunday Mercury, and became assistant editor. Upon the breaking out of the Rebellion, he organized a company and was commissioned Captain, on the 19th of April, 1861. The Second Reserve, to which he was attached, moved to the front without being mustered into the United States service. On being paraded for the purpose, some dissatisfaction having arisen, two-thirds of the men refused to take the oath. His own company and four others having been disbanded, to induce his men to remain true to their flag, he exchanged the sword for the musket, promising to stay with them to the last. Subsequently he was promoted to Sergeant-Major, and served as such throughout all the hard- fought battles in which the Reserves participated on the Penin- sula, in Pope's, and the Maryland campaigns. At Antietam, the Second was left with but one commissioned officer, the command of the left wing devolving upon Woodward, and the desperate resistance which it made to an assault of the enemy gained for him. the rank of Adjutant. In the memorable charge of the Re- serves at Fredericksburg, the Second turned a rifle-pit, and, swing- ing round upon the heights, cut off the retreat of its occupants. The Seventh Reserve being in front of the pit, and not knowing the position of the Second, fired into it continuous volleys, which the Second in the heat of the battle did not discover and poured in a terrific fire at short range in return. The enemy in the meantime remained passive, neither giving token of surrender nor attempting defence. Finally Adjutant Woodward, discovering the situation, strove to stop the fire, and sheathing his sword, with cap in hand, advancing between the two lines, asked if they wished to "fight or surrender." "We will surrender if you will allow us," was the reply. The entire body with their flag was thereupon sent over to the Seventh. In this encounter Wood- ward had thirteen bullet holes through his clothes, leaving some wounds, but none serious. For his gallantry he was brevetted Major. He served with his regiment at Gettysburg and in other battles. After the war he settled among the green hills of his native State. While in the army he wrote the Picket Letters,
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which attracted considerable attention, and afterwards Our Campaigns, and the History of the Third Reserve and the One Hundred and Ninety-eighth regiments.
ICHARD BUTLER PRICE, Colonel of the Second cavalry, and Brevet Brigadier-General, was born in the city of Phila- delphia, on the 15th of December, 1809. His ancestors came to this country in the time of William Penn; his great-grandfather, John Price, having married May Chandler, daughter of John Chandler, a companion of Penn in his voyage to America. His grandfather, Jonathan Price, who was an officer in the Revolu- tionary war, and died in the service, married Anne De Le Plaine, daughter of a French gentleman who escaped from his native country during the Huguenot troubles, his father, Count De Le Plaine, having been thrown into prison and estates confiscated. His father, Chandler Price, was a prominent shipping merchant of Philadelphia. His mother, Ellen (Matlake) Price, was daugh- ter of White Matlake, who was also an officer in the Revolution.
His boyhood was passed in his native city. At the age of fifteen he went to France, where he remained several years per- fecting his education and receiving military instruction. After his return he served as a volunteer in the First Troop. On the day after the attack on Fort Sumter he tendered his services to the Government, and during the three months' campaign served on the staff of General Patterson, a part of the time as his Adju- tant-General. At the close of this term he returned to Philadel- phia, and commenced recruiting a cavalry regiment, which be- came the Second Pennsylvania, Fifty-ninth of the line, of which he was commissioned Colonel. His command was ordered to the Army of the Potomac, and formed part of the brigade under General Buford, which remained in the column of McDowell, and subsequently of Pope. The service during the campaigns of these officers in the summer of 1862 was very severe, and though not resulting in any general battles, the frequent skirmishing and manœuvring in an enemy's country were even more trying than meeting the enemy in a fair field in greater masses.
Upon the promotion of General Buford to the command of the cavalry of the Army of the Potomac, Colonel Price was given
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R. BUTLER PRICE .- JAMES L. SELFRIDGE.
the leadership of the brigade, and in November, 1862, was assigned to the command of all the cavalry in the Department of Washington south of the Potomac. It consisted of eleven regiments, and the field of operations extended from the Potomac to the Blue Ridge. In October orders came for him to detach a thousand men and send them for a special object to Winchester. As it was a delicate and hazardous duty, Colonel Price deter- mined to head the expedition in person. The main design was frustrated; but while out, he met a regiment of the enemy's cavalry under Colonel Green. One of the few, open, hand-to-hand cavalry engagements of that period ensued, which resulted in a complete victory to the Union arms. Colonel Green with many of his officers and men were wounded and taken prisoners, and his command completely routed. For this brilliant action Colonel Price received honorable mention, and was brevetted Brigadier-General.
He continued to hold command of his brigade until the day before the battle of Gettysburg. In the meantime General Pleasanton had become Chief of cavalry, and he recommended several officers to the Government for promotion to Brigadier- Generals with a view of giving them the command of his brigades. This was accorded, and the advancement of the new men occasioned an entire reorganization of the divisions, which threw the old officers out who were in the way of promotion. On this account Colonel Price returned to his regiment, and was ordered for duty with the head-quarters of the army. He re- mained thus in command until the beginning of 1864, when, feeling that an indignity had been put upon him, he applied for detached service, and was ordered to Washington, where he served on a military commission till the close of the war. In person General Price is six feet in height, and of a muscular frame. He married Elizabeth Hartt, daughter of C. C. Hartt, of the United States Navy.
AMES LEVAN SELFRIDGE, Colonel of the Forty-sixth regiment, and Brevet Brigadier-General, was born in Berks county, Pennsylvania, on the 22d of September, 1824. His father was a Scotch-Irishman, and his mother of German and French extrac- 51
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tion. He was educated at Lafayette College, on leaving which he studied law with Henry King, of Allentown. He afterwards took charge of the Lehigh Transportation Company of Philadel- phia, of which his father had been one of the projectors. Having a taste for business, he entered a commission house, and, in 1850, opened on his own account. In 1857 he removed to Bethlehem, where he was engaged in the coal and real estate business up to the breaking out of the Rebellion. The call for troops found no more prompt or active respondent, and so popular was his stand- ard that on the 18th of April, 1861, he reported with his com- pany at Harrisburg, and it was on that day mustered into service as Company A of the First Pennsylvania regiment, in which he served with Patterson, and at whose request it remained ten days beyond the period of its enlistment.
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