USA > Pennsylvania > Martial deeds of Pennsylvania, Vol. 2 > Part 32
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Colonel Pennypacker's wound was a ghastly one in the right side and hip, made by a Minié ball, the pelvis being shattered.
903
GALUSHA PENNYPACKER.
As soon as it was deemed safe he was taken to the Chesapeake Hospital, at Fortress Monroe, where he received the best surgical and medical attention. His recovery was for a long time con- sidered doubtful, and his suffering intense.
Immediately after this action, the rank of Brevet Brigadier- General was conferred upon him, and soon after that of a full Brigadier. Upon the recommendation of General Terry he was also made Major-General by brevet for gallant and meritorious services during the war.
As soon as he was so far recovered as to travel with safety, he returned to his home at West Chester. He was received on his arrival with the most flattering demonstrations of respect and esteem, by an organization of citizens, accompanied by the cadets of the two military schools, the populace crowding to behold the maimed soldier. He was formally welcomed by Senator Wilmer Worthington in a delicate and graceful eulogy of his faithful service. Though gradually recovering his strength he was still unfit for field duty, and after twice tendering his resignation it was finally accepted on the 30th of April, 1866, he being the last of his regiment to leave the service, as he was the first to enter it. He was the youngest general officer who served in the army during the war, having been confirmed as Brigadier and Brevet Major-General at the age of twenty-two.
Relieved from martial duties, though with wounds unhealed, General Pennypacker at once commenced the study of law. But the Government could ill afford to spare the services of so true and good a soldier, and on the 1st of December, 1866, he was appointed a Colonel in the regular army and assigned to the command of the Thirty-fourth infantry. He was permitted to delay joining his regiment for several months that he might have proper surgical treatment. In the meantime he was nominated and confirmed a Brevet Brigadier and Brevet Major-General in the regular army.
On the 20th of May, 1867, he joined his regiment, then sta- tioned at Grenada, Mississippi. He was afterwards President of a military commission convened at Vicksburg, and for a short time commanding officer of the sub-district of Mississippi. Sub- sequently the Twenty-fourth infantry was discontinued as an
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MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA.
organization, when General Pennypacker was assigned, on the 25th of March, 1869, to the command of the Sixteenth infantry, which position he still holds.
Previous to the nomination for Governor in 1872, General Pennypacker was urged by many influential papers throughout the State for that high office. In the effort to harmonize con- flicting interests, the propriety of selecting a candidate so de- servedly popular, in order to secure the united support of all parties, was regarded as of the first importance. For the in- tended honor he expressed to his friends in the convention grateful appreciation, but respectfully yet positively declined to be considered a candidate, preferring to retain his position in the army. His name was accordingly withdrawn from the conven- tion before a ballot was taken. His age was barely that fixed by the Constitution for Governor.
ILLIAM J. PALMER, son of John and Matilda (Jackson) Palmer, was born near Smyrna, Delaware, on the 18th of September, 1836. He was educated at the Central High School of Philadelphia, and spent a year in inspecting practical mining and engineering in England, becoming soon after his return private secretary to J. Edgar Thomson, President of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. He formed and was made Captain of the Anderson Troop for escort duty to General Ander- son on taking command in Kentucky. Captain Palmer subse- quently set about recruiting a regiment of cavalry, and when partially completed it was sent into the Cumberland Valley to meet the enemy in his Maryland campaign. Soon after Antietam Captain Palmer volunteered to go into the enemy's lines on delicate duty, was taken prisoner, and was not released until January, 1863. He had in the meantime been promoted to Colonel, and on rejoining his regiment, now with Rosecrans in Tennessee, soon brought it to an effective state. He was active in the Chickamauga campaign, in the battle of Missionary Ridge, and in the operations against Longstreet in the valley of the French Broad River, in the winter of 1864. In the Atlanta campaign he had charge of a portion of the line of supply, and when Hood moved on Nashville, Palmer was set upon his rear,
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WILLIAM J. PALMER .- SAMUEL K. SCHWENK.
burning a pontoon train near Russellville, destroying a supply train near Aberdeen, and subsequently routing a column under General Lyon. In the spring of 1865, having been made a Brevet Brigadier-General, he was given a brigade and sent into North Carolina, and when Johnston surrendered was placed over a division and put upon the track of Jefferson Davis, then trying to escape to the Gulf. Palmer with others pushed the pursuit, and he was close upon his trail when the rebel President was captured in his female paraphernalia. On leaving the service he was chosen Treasurer of the Kansas Pacific Railroad Company, and builder and manager of construction of the last two hundred and thirty-two miles. After the lapse of a little more than five years he organized the Denver and Rio Grande Railway Com- pany, the main line to extend to El Paso in Mexico, the track having a gauge of only three feet. In 1870 he married Miss Queen Mellen, of Flushing, Long Island. He has established his home in a wild gorge of the Rocky Mountains, which he has named Queen's Canon. General Thomas said of him : "There is no officer in the regular or volunteer service who has performed the duties which have devolved upon him with more intelligence, zeal, or energy, than General Palmer, whose uniform distin- guished success throughout the war places his reputation beyond controversy."
AMUEL KLINGER SCHWENK, Colonel of the Fiftieth regiment, and Brevet Brigadier-General, was born on the 8th of May, 1842, in Dauphin county. He is descended from the Von Schwencks of Germany, a noble family, several of whom served with distinction in the late Franco-German war, and both pater- nal and maternal ancestors served in our Revolutionary war and in the wars of Napoleon. He was educated at Dickinson Semi- nary, which he left in his senior year to enlist in the service of his country. He studied military tactics when but a boy, with an old French officer, and at the age of sixteen was appointed Lieutenant of the Germanville artillery. While at college he instructed the Dickinson Cadets, composed of the teachers and students of the college. On the 19th of August, 1861, he was appointed a First Lieutenant in the Fiftieth, and proceeded with
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MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA.
it to South Carolina. In affairs at Beaufort and twice at Port Royal Ferry he acted with skill, and received the thanks of Generals Stevens and Hunter. He returned to Virginia in time to take part in the battles of Bull Run and Chantilly. At South Mountain he was wounded in the ankle. At Antietam he was still with his company, though scarcely able to walk, and was given command of the sharpshooters on the Ninth corps front, where he was pitted against the famous Palmetto sharpshooters, whom he drove, and opened connection with Hooker's corps on the right, receiving handsome mention from Generals Wilcox and Burnside. At Fredericksburg he again led the skirmishers, and reached out on the left until he joined hands with those of Frank- lin's Grand division. The Ninth corps was sent west in the spring of 1863, and at Blue Spring and. Hough's Ferry, where the advance of Longstreet was met, Captain Schwenk performed one of those daring feats with which his name was often associated. Hle not only fought the enemy's skirmishers and captured a number of them, but actually went within the hostile lines, gain- ing full information of the position and numbers, and in the end took a party sent out to demand his own surrender. "At Campbell's Station," says his brigade commander, General Cutch- eon, "he behaved most bravely," and during the entire siege of Knoxville was "especially distinguished for his coolness, prudent judgment, and determined gallantry, as well as professional skill in the construction of defences." The same officer further says : " During the battles of the Wilderness and Spottsylvania his regi- ment fought side by side with the Twentieth Michigan, of which I was then the commanding officer. In the first of these actions his gallantry was conspicuous and remarked by all who witnessed it. At the passage of the Ny River, on the 9th of May, 1864, his services were more valuable and permanent, being in com- mand of the right company of the Fiftieth Pennsylvania, hold- ing the extreme right of our line. The enemy charged and attempted to turn that flank. Most of the regiment gave way and fell back from the crest. Our flank seemed to be turned. At this moment Captain Schwenk, by his great personal exertions and bravery, rallied a part of his regiment, charged the enemy with the bayonet, and repulsed them from the crest, thus saving
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SAMUEL K. SCHWENK.
the brigade from serious disaster. Again on the 12th of May, in the battle of Spottsylvania Court House, he greatly distinguished himself, so as to draw the attention and admiration of the whole brigade." At the North Anna. and at Shady Grove he was alike conspicuous, always upon the advance line, where dangers thick- ened and peril was most imminent. In the severe fighting at Cold Harbor he was severely and at the time thought mortally wounded. A ball entered the side, split and traversed a rib bone, carrying away a portion of the vertebra. It was treated by men eminent in the medical profession, the case being re- garded as remarkable, many months elapsing before he could - move about. In the meantime an examining board had pro- nounced him permanently disabled, and the order for his discharge on account of "physical disability from wounds received in
action " had been issued. On the day following that on which
this was promulgated, Governor Curtin had ordered his promo- tion to Lieutenant-Colonel. On six several occasions he went
before the examining board to have the revocation of the order of discharge recommended, before he succeeded, and then with his wounds still open. He proceeded immediately to the field and assumed command of his regiment, with the rank of Major. At the retaking of Fort Steadman and in the :final capture of Petersburg he was engaged, leading his troops with marked skill and enterprise. He was promoted to the rank of Colonel and Brigadier-General by brevet for "skilful and meritorious services during the war." Upon the occasion of laying the corner-stone of the national monument at Gettysburg, in July, 1865, Colonel Schwenk's regiment was selected, upon the recom- mendation of General Grant, to represent the infantry of the army. At the muster out of service, on the 30th of July, only 134 men and two officers, out of 940 who originally went forth, remained. In his farewell order to his men he said : "The story of the old regiment, with the incidents of the past four years. will always be remembered and cherished with the memory and virtues of our noble comrades, whose remains are mouldering in ten different States. Your deeds of valor and trials of endurance, with the achievements of thirty-two battles, will brighten many pages in the annals of your country's fame."
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MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA.
Soon after his discharge General Schwenk entered Hancock's First Army corps, and served for a time in Michigan. Near the close of the year 1866 he was appointed First Lieutenant in the Forty-first regular infantry, which he joined at Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in March following, and was shortly after made Adju- tant. He was in succession brevetted Captain, Major, and Lieu- tenant-Colonel in the regular army for conspicuous gallantry and skilful and meritorious services at Ny River, Spottsylvania, and Cold Harbor. He was stationed at Brownsville, Texas, in 1867, and was Adjutant-General to General Mackenzie in command upon the Rio Grande. During the prevalence of yellow fever he in addition performed the duties of Regimental and Post-Adju- tant, until he was himself stricken with the fever, of which, after having nearly recovered, he suffered a violent relapse which came near carrying him off. He was promoted to Captain in December, 1867, and stationed at forts along the Texas frontier, where he had several encounters with the Indians. In July, 1868, he was President of the first Military Commission for Texas under the reconstruction acts of Congress. A year later he was sent to Nashville, Tennessee, in charge of recruiting service, with offices in Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi. When the army was reduced in 1871, he was assigned to the Eighth cavalry, but in consequence of disability from wounds, of which he received eight during the war, he was compelled to give up active service and will probably have to go upon the retired list of the army
ARTIN D. HARDIN was born on the 26th of June, 1837, in Jacksonville, Illinois. His father, a native of Kentucky, a member of Congress, was killed in leading a charge in the battle of Buena Vista. His grandfather, Martin D., for whom he was named, was a member of the United States Senate, and his great-grandfather, born in western Pennsylvania, was a distin- guished soldier in the Revolutionary War. His mother, Sarah Ellen (Smith) Hardin, married, in 1851, Chancellor Walworth of New York. He was educated at West Point, where he graduated in 1859. He entered the service as a Lieutenant of artillery, and, after a brief term at Fortress Monroe, was sent with a
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MARTIN D. HARDIN.
detachment of three hundred men to the Pacific coast, and posted at Fort Uniqua, Washington Territory. He returned at the opening of the Rebellion, and was stationed with his company in the defences of Washington, and served with it in Mcclellan's column until after the battle of Yorktown, when he was for some time prostrated by sickness. He returned to duty in time to participate in the Seven Days' battle, during which he served on the staff of General Hunt, Chief of Artillery. In July, 1862, he was made Colonel of the Twelfth Reserve regiment, and in the battle of Bull Run led Jackson's brigade, holding open ground with determined courage, and near the close of the engagement received a severe and dangerous wound. He participated in the battle of Gettysburg, and at Mine Run by his gallantry broke through the enemy's mask, disclosing his purposes. Near the close of 1863, while on duty near Catlett's Station, he was shot by guerillas and severely wounded, losing his left arm. He served on a board to examine prisoners of state, and in charge of draft rendezvous at Pittsburg until the opening of the spring, when at his earnest solicitation he was restored to his regiment, and put in command of a brigade of the Reserves. He was wounded at the North Anna, and distinguished himself at Bethesda Church. On the muster out of the Reserve corps, on the following day, Colonel Hardin was put in command of the defences of Washington north of the Potomac and promoted to Brigadier-General. When attacked by Early, in July, 1864, he rendered important service in holding him in check until the arrival of the Sixth corps. On the 15th of August, 1865, he was assigned to the command of a district in North Carolina. In July, 1866, he was commissioned Major of the Forty-third Vete- ran Reserve, and was stationed at Detroit. In June, 1867, he was given leave of absence and spent a year in Europe. On his return he served in Michigan and at Buffalo, New York, until Decem- ber, 1870, when he was retired from active duty with the rank of Brigadier-General, having been advanced by brevet through all the grades to that of Brigadier in the regular service. On retiring he studied law, and was admitted to practice in Chicago, in July, 1871. He was married in 1864 to Miss Estella Graham, second daughter of James Sutton Graham, of Harrodsburg, Kentucky.
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MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA.
ENRY MARTIN HOYT, Colonel of the Fifty-second regiment, and Brevet Brigadier-General, was born in Luzerne county, on the 8th of June, 1830. His parents were natives of Connecticut. He was educated at Lafayette and Williams' Col- leges, graduating at the latter in 1849. He studied law in the office of George W. Woodward, and early took a good rank at the bar. The national cause found no more ready supporter, and he was commissioned Lieutenant-Colonel of the Fifty-second in August, 1861. While on an examining board at Washington he studied diligently books upon tactics, engineering, fortifica- tions, and the various requirements of a soldier. On the Penin- sula he was of Naglee's brigade, and participated in the recon- noissance from Bottom's Bridge to Seven Pines in advance of the whole army, and commanded the party which constructed the bridges across the Chickahominy. When the battle of Fair Oaks opened he rendered signal service by communicating to General Sumner the exact position of the Union troops, joining Sumner's column as it moved to the support of Heintzelman in that battle, and fighting under him to the end. This brigade had the honor of being selected to hold the enemy in check at the passages of the Chickahominy, and when recalled joined Franklin at White Oak Swamp, in both situations exhibiting the most undaunted courage.
At the close of this campaign Colonel Hoyt was ordered first to North Carolina, and thence to South Carolina, where he was engaged in the siege of Fort Wagner, the first serious obstacle to the reduction of Charleston. The operations were laborious and conducted under the terrible fire of the enemy and the more wasting effect of the summer's heat. For forty days the work was pushed. A single paragraph from a letter written by Colonel Hoyt at the time will illustrate its nature. After describing the busy scenes of a detail, he says : "Over all this diversity of labor were constantly exploding, at night, the shells of the enemy. 'Cover Johnson!' would be called out from one lookout. There is a flash away across the harbor. In ten or fifteen seconds comes a report. Away up in the air is seen a small unsteady twinkle. Presently it 'whistles,' and 'wobbles,' and roars like a coming storm. Down, down on the heads of the men crouching behind
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HENRY M. HOYT.
their mounds of sand, lower and lower still, and in very immi- nent proximity, it winds up with a bang, and a villainous whirr-r-r of half a hundred pieces humming into the marshes, or mayhap into the living muscles of its poor victims. Then the Bull of the Woods would open its pyrotechny, and Bee, and Beau- regard, and the Peanut, and Haskell, and so the thing was kept up until, tired, and weary, and mangled, the detail went out of the trenches at dawn." When all, was ready, a hundred heavy guns opened upon devoted Wagner and the troops were held in readiness to assault, Colonel Hoyt having been assigned the task of charging Fort Gregg; but before the time for the movement had come the enemy evacuated and the stronghold fell without a blow.
In June, 1864, a plan was devised to capture Charleston by surprising the garrisons guarding its approaches. The attempt was made on the night of the 3d of July, in three divisions, Colonel Hoyt, closely supported by other troops, leading that which was to capture Fort Johnson. The channel was difficult, and the pilot, either through ignorance or treachery, utterly failed in his duty. Colonel Hoyt, determined to carry out his instructions, undertook the guidance and triumphantly cleared the bar. But precious time had been lost, and as he approached the fort he was discovered and a simultaneous, rapid fire was opened upon him. His supports failed to follow, though of this he was ignorant, and pushing boldly forward, landed, and with 135 men, his whole party, charged and captured a two-gun battery. The heavy guns of Fort Johnson, two hundred yards beyond, were beginning to open their hoarse throats, while the intervals were filled with the sharp rattle of musketry. No sign of wavering was seen in the intrepid band as they moved steadily forward, led by Colonel Hoyt. They crossed the parapet, strug- gled at the crest face to face with the foe, and began to leap into the fort, when the astounding and mortifying fact was disclosed that they were unsupported. The whole garrison was now alive and swarming upon all sides. It was plain that a further struggle would be useless, and the detachment surrendered as prisoners of war. The skill and daring displayed by Colonel Hoyt and his men extorted the highest praise from friend and
-
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MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA.
foe. The Charleston Mercury of July 6th said: "The second column, under Colonel Hoyt of the Fifty-second Pennsylvania, who also had command of the expedition, attacked the Brooke gun, and landing, Lieutenant Boworth of the Second South Caro- lina artillery was compelled to fall back, after himself and men fighting bravely. The enemy, cheered by this success, with their commander at their head waving his sword, advanced in heavy force upon Fort Johnson ; but these were received with a terrific fire by the light and heavy batteries on the line." General Foster, in command of the department, said in orders : "The boats commanded by Colonel Hoyt, Lieutenant-Colonel Conying- ham, and Lieutenants Stevens and Evans, all of the Fifty-second Pennsylvania, rowed rapidly to the shore, and these officers with Adjutant Bunyan (afterwards killed) and 135 men, landed and drove the enemy, but, deserted by their comrades, were obliged to surrender to superior numbers. Colonel Hoyt bestows unquali- fied praise on the officers and men who landed with him; of these seven were killed and sixteen wounded. He himself deserves great credit for his energy in urging the boats forward, and bringing them through the narrow channel, and the feeling which led him to land at the head of his men was the prompting of a gallant spirit which deserves to find more imitators." General Schemmelfinnig said, after recounting the preliminaries : "After this you placed yourself at the head of the column and led them most gallantly, faithfully carrying out as far as possible with the small number of men who landed with you the orders given you by me. Had you been supported as your brave con- duct deserved, it would have ensured the success of the important operations then being carried on in front of Charleston."
Colonel Hoyt with other Union officers was sent to Macon, and subsequently to Charleston, where they were exposed to the sweep of the Union guns. On his way thither he, with some companions, leaped from the cars and undertook to make their way to the Union fleet, but were tracked by bloodhounds and all captured. After his exchange he returned to his regiment, and at the close of hostilities, which occurred not long after, resumed the practice of his profession. In 1867 he was appointed by Governor Geary an additional law judge of the eleventh dis-
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J. P. S. GOBIN .- J. BOWMAN SWEITZER.
trict. He discharged its duties with honor and dignity until the ensuing election, when one of the dominant political party was chosen to succeed him. In person he is full six feet in height, well proportioned, and of a dignified presence. He was married in 1855 to Miss Mary E. Loveland.
OHN P. S. GOBIN, son of Samuel S. and Susan A. (Shindel) Gobin, was born on the 26th of January, 1837, at Sunbury. His great-grandfather, Charles Gobin, was a Revolutionary soldier. He learned the printing business in the office of the Sunbury American, studying law in the meantime. In the three months' campaign he served in the Eleventh regiment as Lieutenant, after which he entered the Forty-seventh as Captain, and advanced through the several grades of Major, Lieutenant-Colonel, Colonel, and Brevet Brigadier-General. He was early sent to the Depart- ment of the South, where he participated in the actions of Pocotal- igo, St. John's Bluff, Sabine Cross Roads, Pleasant Hill, and Cane River Crossing. During 1862 and part of 1863 he was Judge Advocate-General of the Department of the South. He returned north in the summer of 1864, and made the campaign with Sheridan in the Valley, a portion of the time commanding a brigade in the Nineteenth corps, participating in the battles of Opequan and Fisher's Hill, and particularly distinguishing him- self at Cedar Creek. His regiment was here the right of Sheri- dan's line, and when a portion gave way from the severe pressure of the rebel front which overlapped the Union, he held fast and gave the enemy his first repulse, the turning point in the battle. Returning to the South in June, 1865, General Gobin was placed in command of the First Sub-district of Charleston, and was Provost Judge from July to January, 1866, when the term of service of his regiment ceased. He married, in October, 1865, Miss Annie M. Howe, of Key West, Florida. Since the war he has practised his profession in Lebanon.
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