USA > Pennsylvania > Martial deeds of Pennsylvania, Vol. 2 > Part 34
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925
LOUIS WAGNER .- THOS. J. AHL .- JOSEPH M. KNAP.
was a migratory lumber dealer along the Mississippi River. He was in Arkansas when the Rebellion opened, and was offered the position of Sergeant in a rebel company ; but declined and returning to Pennsylvania, entered the Twenty-eighth regiment as Captain. This he led until after the battle of Antietam, when he was placed upon the staff of General Williams and subse- quently of General Slocum. In August, 1863, he was made Provost Marshal of the corps, acting until November, when he took command of his regiment, having previously been promoted to Colonel, and led it in the stirring actions of Lookout Moun- tain, Mission Ridge, and Ringgold, succeeding to the command of the brigade in the latter. He was honorably discharged on the 18th of March, 1864.
OSEPH M. KNAP, son of Thomas L. and Mary (Averell) Knap, was born at Ogdensburg, New York, on the 30th of Decem- ber, 1837. He was educated at the Rensselaer Institute, at Troy. He entered the service as a Lieutenant in the Twenty-eighth regi- ment, and was promoted to Captain of a battery formed especially for Geary's brigade, which became justly celebrated as Knap's Battery. At Cedar Mountain the artillery played a conspicuous part, Knap receiving a converging fire; but, says the Chief of artillery, Best, "Officers and men stood firm and unflinching to the end. . .. I can bear witness to the brave and determined manner in which Captain Knap and Lieutenant Cushing worked their guns." He was engaged at Rappahannock, Sulphur Springs, South Mountain, and Antietam. He was made Chief of artillery of the Second division, Twelfth corps, in December, 1862, and at Chancellorsville was put upon the front towards Fredericksburg where the first conflict occurred, and where, says Captain Best, in his report, "The enemy was effectually checked, Knap's bat- tery being most engaged and doing its work as usual well." Qu the morning of Saturday, the 2d of May, a fierce artillery duel occurred in which Knap's guns did effective service, blowing up two of the enemy's caissons and demolishing one of his guns, and in the afternoon when Hill pushed a heavy reconnoissance in front of the Chancellor House, "Knap," says an eye-witness, " had double-shotted twelve of his pieces with canister, and on
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MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA.
the enemy reaching the point mentioned, blazed away, literally mowing down the gray coats, and riddling the woods." He here had a horse shot under him. In the early part of the following day the action was terrible, and Knap's guns never failed to do fearful execution. Best was charged with covering the with- drawal of the army with his artillery, and in his report he says, "I gave the most important point to Captain Knap's, which he protected well." The enemy had carthworks and attacked. " For about an hour," says the authority above quoted, " the roar of artillery was deafening. Three of the enemy's caissons were blown to atoms and their batteries both silenced." Captain Knap was active in recruiting other batteries which also became renowned. But the Government had duty for him of more vital importance than that which he was rendering in the field, and in May, 1863, he resigned to take charge of the Government Cannon Foundry at Pittsburg, in which he was assiduously em- ployed while the war lasted, and where his skill and judgment in producing effective weapons were of inestimable value. The Councils of Pittsburg in 1864 voted him a service sword suitably inscribed, and he was promoted to Major. He married in 1864 Miss Sophia H. Day.
ILLIAM COOPER TALLEY, son of Rev. Lewis T. Talley, was born in Newcastle county, Delaware, on the 11th of December, 1831. He edited the Upland Union in Delaware county, and the National Democrat at Norristown, previous to the war. Entering the volunteer service in May, 1861, as Cap- tain in the First Reserve regiment, in November, 1862, he was advanced to Colonel. He was engaged in nearly every battle in which the Army of the Potomac had a part, down to the close of his term, leading his regiment, and at times a brigade, with great steadiness. At Charles City Cross Roads he was wounded, as he was also at Fredericksburg and Gettysburg. While leading a brigade upon the enemy's works at Spottsylvania Court House he was taken prisoner. He was rescued by Sheridan when ap- proaching the rebel capital, and mounting, fought in the column of cavalry until its return to the main body. He was with the Reserves in their last battle at Bethesda Church, and earned
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927
W. C. TALLEY .- J. NAGLE .- M. T. HEINTZELMAN.
the promotion to Brevet Brigadier-General. After the war he was appointed Collector of Internal Revenue for the Seventh Pennsylvania District. He was married in 1860 to Miss Mary Jane Webb. He resides in Media.
AMES NAGLE, Brigadier-General, was born at Reading, on the 5th of April, 1822. He served with distinction throughout the Mexican war, commanding a company which he had pre- viously organized as militia, the Washington artillery, one of the first five to reach the Capital in April, 1861. He led the Sixth regiment in the three months' campaign, and afterwards the Forty-eighth, and was with Burnside in North Carolina; with Pope at Bull Run, where he commanded a brigade and won the commission of a Brigadier-General; performed distinguished service at South Mountain and Antietam, and in the battle of Fredericksburg. He subsequently went to Kentucky with the Ninth corps. After a wearying service of some months, on account of a painful and alarming disease of the heart, aggravated by exposure and care, he resigned. Relieved somewhat by rest, he commanded the Thirty-ninth militia in 1863, and in the hundred days' service of 1864 the One Hundred and Ninety- fourth, and was given a brigade. General Nagle died of the disease of which he had long suffered, on the 22d of August, 1866.
ISH T. HEINTZELMAN was born on the 29th of June, 1830, in Schuylkill county. For the short term he served as a private in the Tenth regiment. In September, 1861, he became Second Lieutenant in the Seventy-sixth, from which he was honorably discharged, in August, 1862, on account of disability. He reentered the army on the 11th of November, 1862, as a Captain in the One Hundred and Seventy-second, in which he was promoted to Major. At the end of the nine months for which it was called he was mustered out, but returned again as Lieutenant-Colonel of the Two Hundred and Eighth, on the 7th of September, 1864, and was subsequently brevetted Colonel. The two most important actions in which he was engaged were at Fort Steadman and Fort Sedgwick; in both of these he led the regiment.
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MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA.
UDLEY W. GAZZAM was born at Allegheny City, on the 7th of May, 1836. His maternal great-grandfather was the Baron de Beelen, the first Austrian. Minister to the United States, whose favorable reports secured the interest of the Emperor Joseph. Ile received a liberal and military education at New Haven, Connect- icut, and read law. At the breaking out of the war he was com- missioned Captain of a company, which, failing of acceptance for three months, he took to Wheeling, West Virginia-then just organizing a provisional government-at the solicitation of its authorities. Not wishing to attract attention, he landed his men at various points, but soon had them collected in the city under the semblance of a military school. At the instance of General Oakes he took possession of guns and ammunition, stored below the city, likely to be used against the Union. Preferring to serve in a Pennsylvania command he returned to Pittsburg, and was elected Major of the One Hundred and Third regiment. Though prostrated by sickness he led at Williamsburg, and at Fair Oaks was on the forefront, sustaining fearful losses. By reason of dis- ability contracted in the line of duty, he was transferred, in 1863, to the Veteran Reserve corps, and was stationed at Nashville, and subsequently at Indianapolis. At the close of the war he resumed the practice of law at Utica, New York, and in 1870 established in New York city a collection agency.
OBERT E. WINSLOW, son of Robert and Jane (Cumming) Winslow, was born on the 1st of January, 1829, in Phila- delphia. He learned the trade of a type-founder. Volunteering for the Mexican War, he served with fidelity. In 1852 he went to California, remaining until near the close of 1856. He served in the Twentieth regiment with Patterson in 1861, and entered the Sixty-eighth, at its formation, as Captain, in which capacity he took part in the battle of Fredericksburg. He was shortly after promoted to Major, and was engaged at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. In the latter he received a gunshot wound in the head. After two months in hospital he returned with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, and not long after received the com- mand of the regiment, which he led at Kelly's Ford, Locust Grove, and Mine Run. Before the opening of the spring cam-
929
A. W. GAZZAM .- R. E. WINSLOW .- J. P. TAYLOR.
paign of 1864 he was ordered for duty with his command to the head-quarters of General Meade, and while thus detailed was engaged in the actions at Guinea Station, Petersburg, and Hatcher's Run. In the final charge on the Petersburg works, on the 2d of April, he led an assaulting party. "For faithful and meritorious services" he was brevetted Colonel and Brigadier- General.
OHN P. TAYLOR, Colonel of First cavalry, and Brevet Brigadier-General, was born on the 6th of June, 1827, in Kishacoquillas Valley, Mifflin county, where his ancestors for three generations had dwelt. He was the son of John and Eliza- beth (McMonigle) Taylor. His home was near the spring of Logan, the Indian chieftain, who was on friendly terms with the family. Planning to go clandestinely with the troops to Mexico, he was prevented by his parents. In a cavalry company, formed in 1859, he was a Lieutenant, which at a meeting held on the 29th of January, 1861, pledged its services to the Governor. He entered the First cavalry, upon its formation, as a Captain, and was promoted in September, 1862, to Lieutenant-Colonel, and to Colonel, January 30th, 1863. He was prominent at Dranes- ville, charging through the town, and followed Bayard at Har- risonburg, Cross Keys, Locust Grove, and Cedar Mountain, his horse in the latter battle falling on him, inflicting injury and leaving him in the enemy's lines ; but he adroitly managed to make his escape. "The coolness of Captain Taylor," says General Bayard, " in covering the retreat deserves the thanks of the commanding General." In the action at Brandy Station, where Colonel Taylor led in a daring sabre charge, and in the midst of the battle succeeded to the command of the brigade; at Culpeper, where dismounted he led his regiment to complete victory; at Mine Run, where he captured the entire skirmish line of the enemy; at Auburn, where he prudently aroused his brigade before dawn and was in readiness to receive a powerful attack intended as a surprise ; and in the movement of Sheridan upon the rear of the rebel army in the spring of 1864, where the fighting was almost continuous for many days, he illustrated the highest qualities of the accomplished leader. During the three years of
59
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MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA.
his service he was engaged in over thirty battles and skirmishes either as regimental, brigade, or division commander, and received frequent complimentary notices from his superior officers. Ile was honorably discharged at the conclusion of his term, General D. McM. Gregg saying in his farewell order : "To you, Colonel Taylor, my thanks are due for the efficient manner in which you have always performed your duty." He was promoted to the brevet rank of Brigadier-General in August, 1864. He is in person full six feet in height and robust. He was married in 1863 to Miss Sallie H. Nourse.
ILLIAM MOORE MCCLURE, son of Silas and Margaret (Moore) McClure, was born on the 5th of March, 1831, in Chester county. In 1854 he emigrated to Kansas and was elected a member of its first legal Legislature. Returning in 1859 he had leased a furnace near Danville, when the war came and he served during the short term as Captain in the Eleventh regiment, and subsequently in the Second artillery, posted in the defences of Washington. To supply the waste in the Wilderness campaign this regiment, now numbering nearly 4000 men, was organized in two and sent as infantry to the front. Captain McClure joined the Potomac army at Cold Harbor, where the losses in his regiment were very severe. It was kept on most exposed and exhausting duty with the musket and spade. In this Captain McClure so acquitted himself as to rise to the rank of Colonel and to the command of the reunited regiments. At the conclusion of his term, which was near the close of the war, he was honorably discharged.
ILLIAM RICKARDS was born in Philadelphia on the 18th of November, 1824. He entered the service as a Captain in the Twenty-ninth regiment, and was rapidly advanced to Lieutenant-Colonel and Colonel. At the battle of Winchester, under Banks, he was wounded and fell into the enemy's hands. He had been a jeweler, and at Libby he transmuted many a rough object into beautiful ornaments, thus earning comforts for himself and companions in misery. In the battles of Chancellors- ville and Gettysburg, where he was in command of his regiment
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931
W. M. MCCLURE .- W. RICKARDS .- W. SIRWELL.
and was of the brigade of Kane, he proved himself among the most reliable. At Wauhatchie, whither he was sent with the Twelfth corps, he was officer of the day, and by his penetration and foresight discovered the approach of the foe and prevented a midnight surprise of the camp. In the Battle above the Clouds he was the foremost in scaling the rugged heights of Lookout Mountain ; and in the battles of Missionary Ridge, Pea Vine Creek, Ringgold, Rocky Face, Resaca, and at Dallas during nine consecutive days, he acted with the greatest gallantry. In the battle of Pine Knob, while leading the first line of the brigade in a charge upon the enemy's works, he received a wound through the body, just below the lungs, which was judged to be mortal. General Geary, his division commander, riding up to him as he lay bleeding upon the field, and kneeling by his side, said : "Colonel, this is unfortunate. We can ill spare such men as you, for we have rough work ahead." " Has my conduct as a soldier been satisfactory ?" he faintly asked. "Yes," said the General, "none have been more faithful. If all were as trustworthy as you I should have little trouble." "That," said the Colonel, " is a comfort to a dying man." The General then believed that he would survive but a few moments. But on being taken to the hospital he revived, and by fortunate care recovered, and is still a strong man, illustrating the power of the human system to withstand terrible mutilation. Colonel Rickards was married in 1848 to Miss Eliza Tucker, of Baltimore.
ILLIAM SIRWELL, son of Richard and Elizabeth (Graham) Sirwell, both natives of England, was born in Pittsburg on the 10th of August, 1820. Of a military turn, he entered the militia service in 1839, and commanded in succession the City Blues, of Pittsburg, and the Washington Blues, Brady Alpines, and Kittaning Yeagers, of Kittaning. He was also for ten years Brigade-Inspector of Armstrong county. In person he is six feet in height, broad-shouldered, and robust. He was married on the 6th of November, 1840, to Miss Elizabeth McCandless. Upon the organization of the Seventy-eighth regiment he was commis- sioned Colonel, and was sent to the army then stationed in Ken- tucky. In the affair at Lavergne-one of the actions for the
932
MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA.
defence of Nashville-his regiment particularly distinguished itself, and its commander was complimented by General Negley, and by Andrew Johnson, then military governor of Tennessee. At Stone River the regiment captured the White Horse Artillery of New Orleans, consisting of four twelve-pounder brass Napoleon guns, the regimental colors of the Twenty-sixth rebel Tennessee, and the guidon of the Fourth Florida. As a reward of his service here, Colonel Sirwell was made Provost Marshal of Mur- freesboro and was afterwards placed in command of the Second brigade, First division of the Fourteenth corps. In the terrible conflicts at Chickamauga and Missionary Ridge, and in the subse- quent campaign of Atlanta, he rendered valuable services. At New Hope Church, so marked was his gallantry that he was commended by General Thomas. When Atlanta finally was taken after a campaign of a hundred days, in which the smoke of battle scarcely cleared away, it became difficult to keep open the base of supplies, stretching away to Chattanooga. Colonel Sirwell was assigned to this duty, and preserved unbroken the line of transportation, supplies being rapidly brought up. After his term of service had expired, at the solicitation of the com- mander of the department, Colonel Sirwell remained in the field, his regiment, as mounted infantry, being employed in attacking and pursuing Forrest's cavalry, through middle and southern Tennessee. He was mustered out on the 4th of November, 1864. Colonel Sirwell has held the offices of postmaster and justice of the peace, besides several municipal positions.
ENECA G. WILLAUER, son of Samuel and Hannah (Grubb) Willauer, was born in West Chester, on the 25th of Novem- ber, 1835. He entered the service as a Lieutenant in the One Hundred and Sixteenth regiment. In the battle of Fredericks- burg he was wounded by a shell which shattered the right leg. carrying away a large portion of the limb. He was promoted to Captain on the recommendation of General Hancock on the field for gallantry in battle, and in March, 1863, to Lieutenant- Colonel, but could not be mustered for lack of men. He was in the battle of Chancellorsville, and in the Gettysburg campaign commanded the regiment a part of the time, and for nearly a
933
SENECA G. WILLAUER .- ALBERT L. MAJILTON.
year thereafter. His conduct was particularly commended at Auburn and Bristoe Station. General Mulholland speaks of him as "brave and faithful," and General Hancock says, "I know Captain Willauer to be a brave and meritorious officer." He suffered severely from his wound at Fredericksburg, and was, in January, 1864, transferred to the Veteran Reserve corps, in which he was for thirty-six hours on duty before Washington in July of that year, holding General Early at bay until the arrival of the Sixth corps. At the Old Capital prison, Washington; at Johnson's Island, Lake Erie; and at Point Lookout, Maryland, he was on constant duty with his regiment, in the latter having an independent command. He was active in the search for, and arrest of Booth and Harrold, the assassins of the President, served at Plattsburg, in command of a camp of rendezvous, and at Albany on a court-martial. In April, 1866, he was assigned to the Freedmen's Bureau and ordered to Alexandria, Louisiana, in the Red River region, where he was in command for nearly two years, and was successful in organizing a large number of colored schools. He was elected Prothonotary of Chester county in 1869. In 1872 he was married to Ellen, daughter of Welling- ton Hickman.
LBERT L. MAJILTON was born in New Castle county, Dela- ware, on the 8th of July, 1826. His father was Adam Majilton, a native of Ireland. His mother, Dorcas (Morton) Majilton, was descended from the first Swedish settlers on the Delaware River, subjects of that renowned hero-king, Gustavus Adolphus. He was educated at the Philadelphia Central High School, and at the Military Academy at West Point, where he graduated number eighteen in a class of fifty-nine, in 1846. As Brevet Second Lieutenant he entered the Fourth artillery, and served in Mexico at Vera Cruz, Cerro Gordo, Contreras, Molino del Rey, and in the assault and capture of Mexico; and was made Second Lieutenant and Brevet First Lieutenant for gallant conduct. In 1848-'49 he was in garrison at New Orleans barracks, and in 1849-'50 was engaged against the Seminole Indians in Florida. In 1849 he was promoted to First Lieuten- ant, and served until 1857 in Kansas, New Mexico, Michigan,
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MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA.
and Florida. In June of the latter year he was commissioned Captain in his regiment, and in December resigned. He was commissioned Lieutenant-Colonel of the Second Reserve in 1861, and in October, Colonel of the Fourth. At Beaver Dam Creek his regiment was held in reserve, but in the more general battle of the following day at Gaines' Mill was hotly engaged and shared the fate of Porter's entire wing, being driven back with heavy loss. He was wounded at Charles City Cross Roads. Shortly after the battle of Fredericksburg Colonel Majilton resigned. For several months he was engaged as professor of infantry tactics in the Philadelphia Free Military Academy for applicants for commands in colored troops. In November, 1867, he was appointed Deputy Collector of Internal Revenue.
HARLES COMLEY MCCORMICK was born in Northumberland county. He was educated at Lewisburg, and at the Iron City Commercial College. Ile entered the Seventh cavalry as a private, and rose through the successive steps of a non-com- missioned and commissioned officer to that of Brigadier-General by brevet. In Kentucky and Tennessee he served with Buell and Rosecrans, particularly distinguishing himself at Lebanon, in May, 1862; at Nashville, in November; at Stone River, at the opening of 1863; at Chickamauga, in September, where he was taken prisoner ; and at Selma. In Sherman's Atlanta campaign he was Inspector-General of cavalry on the staff of General Thomas, and was with General Wilson on his exciting ride from Eastport, Mississippi, to Macon, Georgia. He was twice wounded, by a pistol shot in the breast at Lebanon, on the 5th of May, 1862, and on the 2d of April, 1865, while storming the works at Selma, Alabama, by a gun shot which broke the right leg, the missile still remaining in the limb. In person General McCor- mick is full six feet in height, erect and of well-rounded frame.
ENJAMIN CHEW TILGHMAN, son of Benjamin and Ann Maria (McMurtrie) Tilghman, was born in Philadelphia on the 26th of October, 1821. He was educated at the University of Pennsylvania, was admitted to the bar, applied himself to chemical and scientific studies, and spent several years in Europe.
935
C. C. McCORMICK .- B. C. TILGHMAN .- P. C. ELLMAKER.
He was of the first column which left Philadelphia in April, 1861, for the defence of the National capital, and afterwards became Captain in the Twenty-sixth regiment and was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel and Colonel. He participated in the battles of Williamsburg, Savage Station, Glendale, Malvern Hill, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville. In the latter engagement he was severely wounded in the right thigh by a rifle ball, by which he was for some time disabled. In August, 1863, on recovering from his wound he was appointed Colonel of the Third colored regiment, with which he served in South Carolina and Florida to the close of the war. He was brevetted Brigadier- General in 1865. The distinction of commanding the first three year regiment and the first colored regiment raised in Pennsyl- vania is due to General Tilghman.
ETER C. ELLMAKER, son of Jacob C. and Juliana (Seeger) Ellmaker, was born on the 11th of August, 1813, in Lan- caster county. At the age of fourteen he removed to Phila- delphia, and was employed in a wholesale dry goods house. In 1834 he enlisted in the Washington Greys, a volunteer artillery corps, with which he served for over twenty years, rising to the rank of Captain. When the Rebellion came he commanded the first regiment raised in the State. In August, 1862, he was com- missioned Colonel of the One Hundred and Nineteenth, then just organized. At the battle of Fredericksburg by his remarkable coolness he inspired his men with the courage of veterans. At Salem Church his regiment was subjected to a terrible ordeal, the numbers of the enemy being concealed and their lines protected. Colonel Ellmaker proceeded from Westminster on the night of the Ist and day of the 2d of July, 1863, by a forced march to Gettys- burg, a distance of nearly forty miles, arriving in time to support . and strengthen the wasted columns battling on that glorious field. In the action at Rappahannock Station he commanded the brigade of the Sixth corps which made the memorable charge, fit to rank with the most daring exploits. The assault was delivered under a terrific fire of artillery and musketry. But, filled with a spirit that no danger could appall, that devoted brigade went forward where at every step the dead and the dying fell from the
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ranks, and compelled the foe to lay down his arms and surrender prisoners of war. The victory was complete, and resulted in the capture of the strong position, with four guns, two thousand small arms, eight battle-flags, one bridge train, and one thousand six hundred prisoners. His gallantry in this action won for him the formal thanks of Generals Meade, Sedgwick, and Russell, and the applause of the whole army. After leaving the service he returned to the practice of his profession, and was for some time, as he had been before the war, a notary public. He was appointed Naval Officer of the Port of Philadelphia in 1848, by President Taylor. He was married in 1844 to Miss Sarah Ann Wade. In person he is six feet two and one-half inches in height, and well-proportioned.
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