USA > Pennsylvania > Martial deeds of Pennsylvania, Vol. 2 > Part 6
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MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA.
LIVER BLACHLY KNOWLES, Colonel of the Twenty-first cavalry. The death of no officer since the close of the war has called forth more universal and heart-felt sorrow in the circle of his acquaintance than that of General Oliver B. Knowles. Having passed through all the grades of honor, from that of a private, entering the ranks at the age of eighteen, up to that of Brigadier- General at the age of twenty-two, and earning every promotion by the sterling qualities of his head and his heart, without the patronage or assistance of those in place, his death has caused a void in the breasts of all who had come to know his worth, and has sent a pang to the heart of every one who had felt the influ- ence of his open and frank demeanor and that unaffected kind- ness and sympathy which he was ever ready to bestow.
Oliver Blachly Knowles was born on the 3d of January, 1842, in the city of Philadelphia. His father, Levi Knowles, was a native of New Jersey, and has for many years been an honored and respected merchant of Philadelphia. His mother was Eliza- beth Adeline Croskey, a native of that city, an intelligent lady with great force of character. The boy early evinced a strong predilection for equestrian exercise, and soon became a good rider. He was educated in the public schools of the city, spending two years in the High School, and at the age of fifteen entered the business house of his father, where he was actively employed at the breaking out of the war.
At the first drum-beat for troops, young Knowles was alive to the call of patriotism, and enlisted as a private in Company C of the First New York (Lincoln) Cavalry. The order authorizing the raising of this regiment was originally issued to General Carl Schurz, with the design of obtaining a company from each of the several States. But soon after receiving the order, Schurz aban- doned the project, and transferred the authority to another, and the regiment, with the exception of this company which was from Philadelphia, was recruited in New York. Knowles was active in securing men for his company, urging the firemen and his associates to enlist; and he was early selected its clerk. It is related by Captain Boyd, who commanded the company, as an example of his obedience and strict fidelity, that on one occasion he himself rode with him to the post-office, and having to attend
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OLIVER B. KNOWLES.
to some business in the next street, directed him to await his return. Forgetting the injunction, Boyd went back to head- quarters by another route, and did not again think of his orderly until late in the day, when, hastening to the post-office, he found this faithful officer where he had ordered him to remain.
Scarcely a month from the time the company received its horses and arms, and before the men had fairly learned to sit their saddles, it was sent on a scout towards Fairfax Court House. When near Pohick Church, and moving leisurely along, it came suddenly upon a force of the enemy's cavalry concealed behind a wood. At sight of these the advance guard turned, and gallop- ing in, reported a hostile army in front, which so terrified the men that they instinctively wheeled and began a hasty retreat. Knowles, who was with the advance, having carefully noted the enemy's force, dashed past his comrades, and soon reaching the rear of the column, informed the Captain that the foe was in no greater force than his own. Relying upon this report, the retreat, by his assistance, was suddenly stopped, and after forming, and preparing the minds of his men by encouraging words, the bugles sounded the charge. Dashing forward with shouts for the onset, and using their pistols as they came to close quarters, the enemy, after firing one volley, was put to disorderly flight. Thus at the very outset of his career he manifested, though but a private, a coolness, intelligence, and courage which saved the force from what was likely to become a disgraceful panic, and led to a spirit- stirring victory, the effect of which was never lost upon the com- pany. For his gallantry here he was soon after, in September, 1861, promoted to Corporal, though it was only by the entreaties and finally the commands of the Captain that he was induced to accept it. From this point his advancement was rapid. In January following he was made Orderly Sergeant, a position of more responsibility than that of any other non-commissioned offi- cer, where he was at once brought into intimate relations with the entire company, among whom he inspired respect and love. This regiment being a New York organization. all promotions to posi- tions in the line had to come from the Governor of that State, and the field and staff, through whom advancement was regularly procured, were citizens of that Commonwealth. But by the
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recommendation of Governor Curtin, at the instance of Captain Boyd, he was, at the close of the Peninsula campaign, in which he participated with distinguished gallantry, promoted to the rank of Second Lieutenant. Captain James H. Stevenson, of the same regiment, in speaking of him at this period, says : " He soon be- came a favorite in the regiment, and he was the idol of his com- pany. He was impelled by no mean'or mercenary spirit in going out to serve his country, so he submitted patiently and cheerfully to all the privations of the camp and field, thus setting a good example to the men, and winning the hearts of his superior officers. He was never sick, always ready for duty, and seemed to regard the most fatiguing service or hazardous undertaking as pastime."
Ile was on the advance line in the Antietam campaign, and met the enemy in spirited engagements at Hyattstown, Frederick, Antietam, and Williamsport. His regiment now became part of the army commanded by General Milroy, stationed in the Shenan- doah Valley and along the valley of the Potomac. Here guerilla warfare was rife, and duty more hazardous than with the Grand Army. The sagacity and courage of Knowles proved invaluable, and many were the dashes he executed, which by his strategy and daring were almost invariably attended with success, binding new laurels about his brow. So marked were these that in April, 1863, he was commissioned First Lieutenant.
In June following, he obtained a furlough of a few days-the first since his enlistment-and had just reached home when he heard that disaster had befallen Milroy's command. The entire army of General Lee, on its way to Pennsylvania, in the Gettys- burg campaign, had come upon Milroy unawares, and before he could extricate himself was surrounded, and had to cut his way out, sustaining great loss. The instant Lieutenant Knowles heard of the discomfiture of his comrades he decided to forego the pleasure of home and the society of friends, and return at once to his command. At Harper's Ferry he learned that his company had escaped into Pennsylvania, by the way of Bloody Run. He accordingly hastened to Harrisburg, where he met it, and at once entered upon that campaign in his native State ever memorable and ever glorious.
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OLIVER B. KNOWLES.
. His company was now put upon the extreme front, and scouted the Cumberland Valley, while the Confederate army was moving on Harrisburg. In one instance, he, with only seven men, sur- prised a party of the enemy near Chambersburg, and took over thirty prisoners with their horses and equipments. On another occasion he captured a party of seventeen horsemen-his own men not having a charge of powder in their pistols, nor any ammunition upon their persons except what had been ruined by excessive rains. On the 2d of July, with fifteen of his company, he charged into Fayetteville, where a Confederate column was passing, and captured fifty prisoners and a number of horses, snatching them from between the main body and its rear guard, and while neither was more than 500 yards away. Send- ing his prisoners to Harrisburg, he started over the mountains towards Gettysburg, and on the 4th dashed into Arendtsville and captured eighty prisoners, nine wagons, and a large num- ber of horses. On the 6th, he took thirty-one prisoners near Waterloo. Of his conduct in this stirring campaign, Captain Boyd says: "It is worthy of being recorded in letters of gold. Were I to recount all that he did during that exciting time, I fear it would take longer to write than the campaign lasted."
In recognition of the services rendered by this company during the campaign, Governor Curtin gave its Captain command of a new regiment just then being recruited, and to Licutenant Knowles the position of Major. So attached was the latter to his old com- pany in the Lincoln Cavalry that it was with difficulty he could be induced to leave it, and not until the new regiment was re- organized at the end of six months for a further period of three years did he consent to accept this honorable promotion. During the time which expired between his original appointment and his acceptance in March, 1864, the Lincoln Cavalry was engaged in the most active and fatiguing campaigns of the war.
The new regiment to which he was transferred, after having been mounted and drilled as cavalry, was temporarily ordered to act as infantry, and in that capacity bore an active part in the hard-fought battles of Bethesda Church, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, Jerusalem Plank Road. Explosion of the Mine, Weldon Railroad, and Poplar Grove Church. In the last four of these engagements
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the regiment was commanded by Major Knowles, his superior officers having been wounded.
On the 8th of October, the regiment was remounted, and in November, Major Knowles was promoted to Colonel-the wounds of Colonel Boyd unfitting him for field duty. Joining the cavalry corps of General D. McM. Gregg, under that able commander Colonel Knowles led his regiment in the severe engagements at the Boydton Plank Road, and in the raids to Stony Creek and Bellefield, in both of which he acted as rear guard. In the movement to Hatcher's Run he commanded the brigade. On the 29th of March, the final campaign of the war opened, and at Dinwiddie Court House, Amelia Springs, Cedar Creek, Farmville, and Appomattox Court House, he followed General Sheridan, and won the commendation and warm approval of that fiery and impetuous leader. The last charge was actually delivered after the terms of surrender had been agreed upon. The operations of the morning of the 9th of April were being actively pushed, the Confederate General Rosser having been hard pressed, and driven nearly a mile, where he took a sheltered position and made a firm stand. The brigade had been drawn up for a charge, and the word to advance given, when news of the surrender was received. Colonel Knowles failed to get the notice, and led his regiment in a gallant charge alone. Seeing that he was unsup- ported by the rest of the line, he halted, when the recall was sounded, and the four years of fighting in the Army of the Potomac ceased.
The conduct of Colonel Knowles throughout his entire military career, from that of a private carrying the carbine to his last charge when the foremost of all the Confederate leaders had been compelled to surrender, was most devoted and heroic, winning the respect and affection of those beneath him, and the confidence and admiration of his superiors. His unaffected simplicity of manner, genial bearing, and never-failing wit won for him troops of friends wherever he moved. As a token of their esteem, he was presented by his companions in arms with a horse, sword and equipments. He was warmly commended by Generals Sickel, Gregg, and Sheridan, and it was at the suggestion of the two latter that shortly after the surrender he was commissioned
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OLIVER B. KNOWLES.
a Brigadier-General, as a special recognition of his merit in the final campaign.
On the 4th of July General Knowles was honorably dis- charged, and mustered out of service. Returning to Philadelphia, he began to look about him for an opportunity to engage in an active business life. He chose the city of Milwaukee, as one of the great grain entrepôts of, the West, and was soon settled in trade in that commodity, commanding by his excellent business capacity and assiduous attention to duty the trust of all with whom he came in contact. Possessed of a good constitution and robust health, a long life of activity and usefulness seemed open before him. But, alas! man's ways are not as God's ways, and His purposes are past finding out. At midnight of the 5th of December, 1866, he was stricken with cholera, and in five hours the strong man, the pride of his family, and the centre of a wide circle of friends, was no more. For a day or two he had not been in his usual health, but had attended regularly to business, and on the evening before his death was present at an exhibition in Music Hall. He left before the close of the performance, but not until midnight was medical aid called. Two of his friends who were with him at the entertainment, Captain Goodrich and Mr. Boyd, noticing his departure, and the unwonted pallor of his face, went to his room at that hour, and found him suffering. Physicians were summoned and were speedily at hand; but it was obvious from the first that his sickness would prove mortal. He sent messages of affection to his family, and said he was not afraid to die.
The Chamber of Commerce of Milwaukee, of which he was a member, passed resolutions of respect and sympathy of more than the usual formal expression of sorrow, delegating one of their number to accompany his remains to his parents in Philadelphia, and in a body followed in procession to the train which bore him away. His comrades of the Lincoln Cavalry, and of the Twenty- first Pennsylvania cavalry, which he led so gloriously, also passed resolutions of fraternal respect and tenderness. On the day of his death notice of his appointment by the Secretary of War as Major in the regular army reached his home-a signal mark of the confidence which his military life as a volunteer had in-
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spired. But, when the intelligence of this honor came, the ear which it was intended to gladden was heavy, and the brow it was to glorify cold in death. He had passed to that unseen world where the noise of battle never comes, and the carnage of mortal strife is unknown.
The death of one so young, so brave and so good, so untimely cut off, occasioned a shock of sorrow and grief seldom witnessed. There now lies open before the writer a volume of letters of con- dolence framed in a rare spirit of tenderness and affection. The following, written by Captain James H. Stevenson, who com- manded the company in the Lincoln Cavalry of which he was Lieutenant, is selected on account of the intimacy of the relations which subsisted between them. It was written on the receipt of a photograph of the deceased presented him by the father. "As I gaze," he says, "on the likeness of his youthful and manly face, I call to mind the many hardships and dangers through which we passed together, and his patient and soldierly bearing under the most trying circumstances. His goodness of heart was only equalled by his courage and patriotism. His gentlemanly and truly modest deportment, his cheerful obedience, and his faithful, prompt, and intelligent execution of all orders, first attracted my attention to him, and I mentioned him to the Captain for promo- tion. But he needed no 'friend at court,' for he earned his own promotion in the very first engagement, only one month after muster into service. All acknowledged his promotion merited, and recognized him as a worthy leader. He was beloved by all the men, and they rejoiced at his success. He was more con- spicuous in deeds than in words, and, recognizing this, his comrades rendered it unnecessary for him to sound his own praises. He had the talent to command in the midst of danger, and presence of mind to meet and surmount extraordinary perils. His presence seemed to dissipate fear, calm disturbed minds, and . inspire confidence in the breasts of all under his charge. He had the faculty of enforcing discipline under the guidance of justice, moderation and good sense. Always yielding a cheerful obedi- ence, he set an example to his inferiors which secured their obedience in return. . . . When I rejoined the old company as Captain, he came as my First Lieutenant. We ate, slept, rode,
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ANDREW H. TIPPIN.
enjoyed ourselves, and suffered hardships together, and I came to love him as a brother. When he was promoted Major of another regiment and took leave of me, although I rejoiced at his well- deserved and hard-earned promotion, I felt as though I had lost my only friend and companion. I never heard of his promotion afterwards without feelings of pride, and when the news of his sudden death reached me, I felt as though an arrow had pierced me. I trust he has entered into his rest and is in possession of the crown and palm and glorious robe."
General Knowles died at the early age of twenty-five, not on the field of battle, where in the face of the foe he had often courted death, but in the quiet walk of life. In person he was of a most noble and commanding presence, being six feet and two inches in height, well-proportioned, and of fair complexion. He was unmarried. His remains were buried in Laurel Hill cemetery, and upon the stone which marks his resting-place is inscribed by the hand of affection these most truthful words :
"He was : Gentle, yet Courageous, Firm, but Magnanimous, Beloved by all."
NDREW HART TIPPIN was born on Christmas day, 1823, in Plymouth, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania. His father, George Tippin, was of Irish descent, and his mother, Catharine (Hart) Tippin, of German origin, though both Pennsylvanians by birth. He received a fair English education in the schools of his native place, and afterwards learned the printing business. He at one time published the Montgomery Ledger at Pottstown. Hc was possessed of a strong desire for knowledge, and became a voracious reader.
At the breaking out of the Mexican War, he received the appointment of Second Lieutenant in the Eleventh United States infantry, his commission bearing date of the 9th of April, 1847. and a few months later that of First Lieutenant. He became Adjutant of the regiment, which position he held during the greater part of the war. He was engaged at the National Bridge, Contreras, Cherubusco, Molino del Rey, Chapultepec, and Garita
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de Belen; and received two brevets for gallant and merito- rious conduct in these actions.
At the opening of the late war he was commissioned Major of the Twentieth regiment in the three months' service, and afterwards Colonel of the Sixty-eighth, for three years. With the latter regiment he joined the Army of the Potomac and was assigned to duty in Birney's division of the Third corps, partici- pating with it in all the engagements in which that fighting division had a part. At Gettysburg the regiment was in Graham's brigade, which held the noted angle at the Peach Orchard, where so many brave men fell, battling with heroic valor to hold the ground against a vastly superior opposing force. Here Colonel Tippin received a slight wound, but remained upon the field.
In a sharp encounter at Auburn, Virginia, on the 14th of Oc- tober, 1863, he was taken prisoner and marched away to Libby, where for over nine months he was subjected to the hard usage accorded to the inmates of that loathsome den. On being released he returned to his regiment, and was with it in the campaigns before Petersburg, and until the close of the war. At Sailor's Creek, just previous to the final surrender, Lieutenant- General Ewell and nearly his entire command were taken prisoners. The head-quarters brigade of the Potomac army, of which Colonel Tippin had command, was detailed to escort the captives to City Point. "Among the prisoners," says Colonel Tip- pin, in describing this event, "were Lieutenant-General Ewell, Major-Generals Custis Lee, Kershaw, and other prominent Gene- rals of the rebel army together with about 600 officers of lesser grade. At a point on the route where we all rested for a short time, I received a despatch that General Lee had surrendered. I communicated the intelligence to Generals Ewell and Custis Lee, but both doubted its truthfulness. They could not think it possible. In a very short time, and before leaving our resting- place, General Benham came up with his engineer brigade, and gave the terms of the surrender. Young General Lee dropped his head on his breast, and General Ewell threw up his arms, exclaiming, 'The jig is up.'"
Colonel Tippin was above the medium stature, being five feet
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ALFRED B. McCALMONT.
eight inches in height, and possessed of an excellent constitution. He was married on the 11th of August, 1846, to Miss Ellen Lightcap, of Pottstown. He at various times held offices of public trust, having been Clerk of the Orphans' Court of Mont- gomery county, Clerk of the Sessions and of Oyer and Terminer, Chief Deputy of the United States Marshal for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and agent of the State on the Columbia Railroad. He died in February, 1870.
LFRED B. McCALMONT, Colonel of the Two Hundred and Eighth regiment, and Brevet Brigadier-General, was born on the 28th of April, 1825, at Franklin, Pennsylvania. He was the son of Alexander McCalmont, and brother of John S., of the Tenth Reserve. He was for one term, in 1840, a student in Alle- gheny College, and graduated in 1844 at Dickinson College, stand- ing second in a class of twenty. He studied law at Franklin with his father, then President Judge of the Eighteenth Judicial Dis- trict, and was admitted to the bar in 1847. He commenced practice in Pittsburg. In 1853 he became associated with T. J. Keenan in conducting the Daily Union and the Pittsburg Legal Journal. In 1855 he was appointed Prothonotary of the Supreme Court for the Western District of the State, and resigned in May, 1858, to accept a position in the office of the Hon. Jeremiah S. Black, who was then Attorney-General in the cabinet of President Buchanan. On the creation of the office of Assistant Attorney- General, Mr. Black appointed Mr. McCalmont to that place, which he held during the continuance of Mr. Buchanan's administra- tion. He resumed the practice of his profession at Franklin in June, 1861, in partnership with James K. Kerr, who soon after entered the volunteer service of the United States, as Major of the Fourth Pennsylvania cavalry. Mr. McCalmont followed his partner the next year, and after recruiting a company, entered the service on the 1st of September, 1862, as Lieutenant-Colonel of the One Hundred and Forty-second regiment. After the fall of the Colonel of the regiment, at Gettysburg, McCalmont received a commission to fill the vacancy; but could not be mustered, as his regiment was reduced in number below that required by the regulations of the War Department. He, in common
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with many other officers, complained of the injustice of a rule which virtually stopped promotion in all regiments that had seen hard service. ITis case, in particular, was made the subject of an eloquent appeal to Congress by a brother officer, Colonel Webster, of Maryland, who labored in vain to abolish the objectionable regulation.
In the fall of 1864 he was allowed to accept the position of Colonel of the Two Hundred and Eighth regiment, by way of indirect promotion. He served during the remainder of the war in General Hartranft's division of the Ninth corps, in front of Petersburg, and commanded a brigade in the assault upon, and capture of the enemy's works and the occupation of that city on the morning of the 2d of April, 1865. In recognition of his gallantry and soldierly conduct throughout the war he received from Secretary Stanton the brevet rank of Brigadier-General. After the close of the war he pursued the practice of the law at Franklin, his native town.
He was appointed to deliver the address before the Society of the Army of the Potomac, on the occasion of the annual reunion to be held at Harrisburg on the 12th of May, 1874; but having submitted to an operation by an eminent surgeon, for a tumor upon the face, he was attacked with erysipelas, which terminated his life on Thursday, May 7th, 1874, at Phila- delphia. His remains were returned to Franklin, where they were consigned to the grave with much ceremony, and many demonstrations of respect to his greatly esteemed public and private worth.
EORGE ARCHIBALD McCALL, Major-General of volunteers, the first commander of the Pennsylvania Reserve corps, was born in Philadelphia, on the 16th of March, 1802. He received the appointment of a Cadet at West Point in ISIS, whence he graduated in due course. In April, 1831, he was made Assistant Adjutant-General on the staff of General Gaines, then at the head of the Western Department of the United States. In Sep- tember, 1836, he was promoted to Captain in the Fourth infantry, and in that capacity distinguished himself under Colonel Worth in Florida, being recommended by that officer for the brevet rank
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