USA > Pennsylvania > Martial deeds of Pennsylvania, Vol. 2 > Part 9
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ULLIVAN AMORY MEREDITH, Colonel of the Fifty-sixth regi- ment, and Brigadier-General of volunteers, was born in Philadelphia on the 5th of July, 1816. He was the son of the late William Meredith, an eminent lawyer of that city, and a brother of the Hon. William M. Meredith. He was educated at St. Mary's College, Baltimore. In 1835 he went to the South- west, and resided at Natchez, Mississippi, for a period of three years, when, owing to the great commercial revulsion of 1837, he returned to Philadelphia. In 1840 he sailed for the west coast of South America, and after visiting the principal cities along the Pacific shore, returned and took up his residence in the city of New York, where he remained in business until 1849. Gold had then just been discovered in California, and he joined a com
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pany who proceeded thither by the way of Mexico. It num- bered a hundred strong, and sailed from New York to Vera Cruz. Here he organized a squadron of ten picked men, who elected him their Captain, and having purchased horses, pro- ceeded across the country to San Blas, on the Pacific shore, by the way of Jalapa, Puebla, City of Mexico, Guadalaxara, and Tepic. This was the first company that reached California by that route. After two years he again returned to New York.
At the breaking out of the Rebellion he was in business in Philadelphia, and at the first call for men by President Lincoln tendered his services to Governor Curtin, and was elected a id commissioned Colonel of the Tenth Pennsylvania regiment, called for a term of three months, which he led in Patterson's campaign in Northern Virginia. Upon his return at the close of this service he was appointed, by the Governor, Colonel commanding at Camp Curtin, near Harrisburg, where he superintended the drill and forwarding to the seat of war of more than 40,000 men. He organized and was made Colonel of the Fifty-sixth regiment, enlisted to serve during the war. In the winter of 1861-'62 he garrisoned Fort Albany. In April following he was ordered to the lower Potomac, and after reaching Fredericksburg was assigned. to McDowell's corps. With this he served during the entire cam- paign, up to the Second battle of Bull Run, when on the 31st of August, 1862, he was severely wounded. His immediate com- manding officer at this period says in a letter in which he refers to Colonel Meredith : "None is better fitted to command than he, and his conduct in battle has always excited my highest admira- tion." He was held in high esteem by his men. .
For his gallantry in this engagement he was promoted to Brigadier-General, his commission bearing date of August 29th, 1862. When so far recovered from the effect of his wounds as to attend to business, he was appointed commissioner for the exchange of prisoners, and in the spring of 1863 proceeded to Fortress Monroe, where he remained until late in that year, per- forming the delicate duties of his office to the entire satisfaction of the Government. Early in 1864, he was ordered to report to General William S. Rosecrans at St. Louis, Missouri, under whose command he served until the close of the war. He was
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ALGERNON S. M. MORGAN.
honorably discharged on the 24th of August, 1865, having been in the service four years and six months.
LGERNON SIDNEY MOUNTAIN MORGAN, Colonel of the Sixty- third regiment. The science of surgery made great gains during the late war, though at a fearful expense of life and limb .. In many cases it was matter of astonishment how small an injury would produce death, while in others, what would seem almost certain to prove mortal, resulted in complete recovery. The sub- ject of this sketch was of the latter class, and though wounded in a ghastly manner, was almost miraculously restored.
He was born on the 9th of May, 1831, at Morgansa, Washing- ton county, Pennsylvania. His father was James B. Morgan, and when a youth of only sixteen, shouldered his musket, and with a company raised in the county marched across the moun- tains to meet the British, who, after burning the Capitol and Presi- dent's House at Washington, were moving on Baltimore. His grandfather, General John Morgan, entered the army as an ensign at an early age, and served as aid to General Butler, at St. Clair's defeat. His great-grandfather, Colonel George Morgan, was in the service during the entire war of the Revolution. His mother was Susan S., daughter of James Mountain, a lawyer of Pittsburg. The year after his birth his parents removed to that city, where he was educated, graduating in the class of 1849 at the Western University.
Following the example of an illustrious line of ancestry, he enlisted in the First regiment, and served in the three months' campaign. Active in raising the Sixty-third regiment for three years, he was elected Lieutenant-Colonel, being associated with that sterling soldier, Alexander Hays, who was its Colonel. Morgan was very assiduous in drilling the regiment, though never having had any military education, and under the direc- tion of Hays, who was a graduate of West Point, became an excellent drill-master. With the army of Mcclellan he went to the Peninsula, and at Fair Oaks was terribly wounded. The battle had been for a long time in progress before the division of Kearny, to which this regiment belonged, was ordered up. When the command was at length given, it marched at double-
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quick, and went into position in a wood, a part of which was already filled with masses of the foe. Nearly every tree con- cealed a sharpshooter. The action was of the most determined and desperate nature, and until after nightfall the crash of mus- ketry was incessant. The Sixty-third sustained severe losses- the dead and wounded covering all that blood-washed ground. In the midst of the fight, Colonel Morgan was struck by a musket ball in the left hip, just above the joint, which went tearing through, and issued from the right hip at almost the exact cor- responding place. He was immediately carried off the field, and was transported to Philadelphia, where he was attended by Dr. George W. Morris, among the most eminent of his profession. His case was regarded as a remarkable one, and attracted the attention of many surgeons. He was afterwards removed to his home in Pittsburg, and for a year was helpless. He then began gradually to regain his strength. He finally recovered the use of his limbs, but with a broken constitution and greatly im- paired health. All hope of ever being able to rejoin his regiment having been given up, he was, in April, 1863, mustered out of service. In December of that year, he was appointed military storekeeper, Ordnance Department of the Allegheny arsenal, near Pittsburg, which position he still holds.
rc WEN JONES, Colonel of the First cavalry, Fourteenth Re- serve regiment, was born on the 29th of December, 1819, in Montgomery county, Pennsylvania. He was educated at the University of Pennsylvania, and read law with the Hon. William M. Meredith, of Philadelphia. After his admission to the bar he turned his attention to agricultural pursuits with a genuine zest. He was a member of the Board of Revenue Commissioners on the part of Montgomery and Bucks counties, and represented the fifth Pennsylvania district-comprising Montgomery county and part of Philadelphia city-in Congress, during a portion of Mr. Buchanan's administration. He entered the army as a Cap- tain in the First Pennsylvania cavalry, on the 1st of August, 1861, was promoted to Major, August 5th, and to Lieutenant- Colonel in the October following. He was with this regiment at Dranesville, and when Stonewall Jackson made his appearance
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. OWEN JONES .- WILLIAM D. DIXON.
in the Shenandoah Valley, creating consternation and horror by the superiority of his numbers, and his tireless energy, the First cavalry was sent thither. By forced marches it reached the valley in time to follow and engage the rebel rear-guard. For more than a week the action of the cavalry was almost constant, and at Harrisonburg, Port Republic, and Cross Keys, sharp encoun- ters occurred. When the rebel army, after the close of the Pen- insula campaign, began to press upon Pope's front, the cavalry was thrust out in all directions to hold him in check, and be informed of his movements. At the opening of May, 1862, Jones was promoted to Colonel, and now had the entire command of the regiment. At Cedar Mountain, in all the preliminaries to Bull Run, and throughout the trying battles at Groveton and Chantilly, he was where duty called, and rendered a service which must ever command the respect and gratitude of his countrymen. He was here under the immediate command of those heroic soldiers, Generals Reynolds and Bayard, and won their hearty approval. In the battle of Fredericksburg he had the advance of Franklin's grand division, and with his regiment opened that bloody contest. He afterwards had command of the cavalry on the left of the line. Upon the accession of General Hooker to the head of the Army of the Potomac, he resigned, and has since been exclusively employed with his private affairs.
ILLIAM DUNLAP DIXON, Colonel of the Sixth Reserve regi- ment, and Brevet Brigadier-General of volunteers, was born at St. Thomas, Franklin county, Pennsylvania, on the 11th of December, 1833. He was the son of David and Catharine (Jeffery) Dixon, natives of that county, of Scotch-Irish descent. His ancestors on both sides served in the Revolutionary war, his grandfather, William Dixon, having been also a soldier in the French and Indian war, and his maternal grandfather, Benjamin Jeffery, having received a severe wound at the battle of the Brandywine, where he was captured and for over a year endured the horrors of British imprisonment. He was employed in early life in the varied occupations of the farm, where his frame was well developed by exercise, and the vigor imparted by much exposure to sunlight and pure air. He was educated at
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the public schools then just being inaugurated throughout the State, and at Millwood Academy, Shade Gap, where he obtained a good English and classical training. For three years before the breaking out of the war he had been a member of a militia company.
Among the first to respond to the call for troops to suppress the Rebellion, he was, on the 18th of April, 1861, mustered into service for three months, and upon the expiration of this term recruited a company in his native county, for the Reserve corps, which became Company D of the Sixth regiment. In the battle of South Mountain, on the 14th of September, the Reserves ren- dered signal service in turning the left flank of the enemy, and gaining possession of the mountain pass which insured a speedy advance upon his main body. Captain Dixon led his company with marked skill and ability, carrying one after another a series of strong defensive positions occupied by the enemy, and finally emerging upon the summit forced him to retire. For his gal- lantry in this engagement, and in that which followed two days after at Antietam, he was promoted to the rank of Major.
At Fredericksburg, on the 13th of December, 1862, where the Reserves led the main assault of Franklin's column, and achieved a temporary success, as brilliant as it was dearly bought, Major Dixon's regiment was on the advance line of the brigade, leading the way with a heroism unsurpassed, bearing down all before it, but suffering most grievous losses. His valor in this charge won for him the commission of Lieutenant-Colonel, to date from the day of the action. In the battle of Gettysburg he was engaged with his command on the left, where he was brought to the assistance of Sickles' hard-pressed troops and won lasting honor. He received a slight wound in this engagement and was bre- vetted Colonel. In consequence of great losses sustained by the Tenth Reserve regiment in the Wilderness, Colonel Dixon was ordered by General Crawford to take command of it, which he did, and continued to lead it until the close of its service. At Spottsylvania Court House, in the Wilderness campaign of 1864, he was again conspicuous for nerve and daring, which won for him ready recognition and the brevet of Brigadier-General. On the last day of his service, he fought with his division at Bethesda
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JOHN F. BALLIER.
Church, and received two wounds, but fortunately slight. On the following day, the three years for which the Reserves had en- listed expired, and with the corps, after having shared their for- tunes with singular steadfastness and fidelity, he was mustered out of service. General Dixon is in person six feet in height, muscular, of robust health, and in disposition quiet and taciturn. He held the office of Postmaster in his native town under the administration of President Buchanan. He was married on the 14th of June, 1856, to Miss Martha Gillan.
OHN FREDERICK BALLIER, Colonel of the Ninety-eighth regi- ment, and Brevet Brigadier-General, was born on the 28th of August, 1815, in Wurtemberg, Germany. He received a good education in his native tongue in the place of his birth, and during the years 1833-'34 was a student in a military school in the city of Stuttgard. On leaving this he came to America, and settled in Philadelphia, where, from 1839 to 1845, he was a member of the Washington Guard, a volunteer militia company. For the Mexican War he volunteered as a private in the First Pennsylvania, in which he was made First Lieutenant of Com- pany E. On his return from Mexico, he again joined the volun- teer force, and became Captain and Major. From 1853 to the breaking out of the Rebellion in 1861, he was employed in the United States Mint at Philadelphia.
He was commissioned Colonel of the Twenty-first regiment for three months' service, which he had been active in recruiting, and which had received the designation of the First Rifle regi- ment. With this he served in the Shenandoah Valley, and after being mustered out at the expiration of the term, was authorized to recruit the Ninety-eighth regiment for three years, and was made its Colonel. He was with Mcclellan upon the Peninsula, was on the advance guard from Williamsburg to Richmond, and until arrived at Malvern Hill participated in all the actions of the campaign. At Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Get- tysburg, and that entire series of actions from the Rapidan to Petersburg, and in the siege of that place, down to the surrender at Appomattox Court House, including the brilliant campaign in the Shenandoah Valley, which was an episode to the regular
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season's work, the Ninety-eighth bore an important and honora. ble part. In the action of Salem Heights, where the Sixth corps was saved from annihilation by the steady valor of this, together with the One Hundred and Second Pennsylvania, Colonel Ballier received a painful wound which completely incapacitated him for duty. In the action at Fort Stevens, before Washington, in July, 1864, where the rebel General Early sought by a sudden dash with his corps to capture the Capital, he was again wounded. He was, in this battle, in command of the First brigade Second division. The last wound proved serious, causing a rupture and permanent disability. He was promoted to Brevet Brigadier- General for meritorious services. After the close of the war he was employed as Inspector in the United States Custom House at Philadelphia, until 1867, when he was made City Commis- sioner, in which capacity he served until 1871.
AMES STARR, Major of the Sixth cavalry, was born at Phila- delphia, on the 19th of July, 1837. He was the second son of Isaac and Lydia Starr, and was educated at Harvard Uni- versity, where. he graduated in 1857. He served as a private in Company F, Seventeenth regiment, in the three months' cam- paign, and at its close recruited Company I of the Sixth cavalry, of which he was commissioned Captain. At the First Fredericks- burg he served as Aide-de-camp to General Franklin, commander of the left Grand Division. He was with the head-quarters of General Hooker at Chancellorsville, and aid to General Meade at Gettysburg. In March, 1864, he was promoted to Major, and took command of his regiment in the spring campaign. In the action of Todd's Tavern, on the 7th of May, he received a gun- shot wound in the face, by which he was for a time disabled for field duty ; but returned to his command, then before Petersburg, on the 12th of July. He led his regiment in Sheridan's cam- paign in the Shenandoah Valley, and was mustered out at the expiration of his term of service in October. He was brevetted Lieutenant-Colonel " for highly gallant conduct at the battle of Todd's Tavern," and Colonel " for meritorious services during the campaign in the Shenandoah Valley, and while in command of the Remount Camp at Pleasant Valley, Maryland."
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. JAMES STARR .- DE WITT C. McCOY.
E WITT CLINTON McCOY, Colonel of the Eighty-third regi- ment, was born January 18th, 1824, near the town of Mercer, Pennsylvania. He was the son of John and Elizabeth (Mourer) McCoy. Until the age of sixteen he was employed upon such work as he was able to perform in his father's shop, which was that of a wheelwright. He was then apprenticed for a term of three years to learn the business of chair-making. His oppor- tunities for early education were, consequently, very limited, not having had the advantage of more than twelve months' instruc- tion, and this of a few weeks at a time, at long intervals between the ages of nine and fifteen. But being endowed by nature with a good degree of mental activity he acquired a large stock of useful information, as many another has done, without the aid of teach- ers. After serving faithfully his apprenticeship, he commenced business on his own account in the village of Sheakleyville, Mer- cer county. In 1850, he was elected a Justice of the Peace for a period of five years. In the following year he sold out his interest in the chair factory, and procuring the necessary books commenced in earnest the study of the law, which he designed to make his permanent business, and in which he found employment congenial to his tastes. This he diligently prosecuted in the inter- vals of his official business until 1853, when he was admitted to practice in the courts of Crawford county. In the following year he resigned the office of Justice, and. removed to Meadville, where he commenced the practice of his profession. In 1859 he was elected District Attorney for a term of three years. But when the cry was heard for troops to crush rebellion, he left a lucrative and honorable office, and buckling on his sword, went to the field as Captain of Company F of the Eighty-third regi- ment, commanded by John W. McLane. Upon the Peninsula, Captain McCoy led his company in the siege of Yorktown, in the battles of Hanover Court House and Gaines' Mill. In the latter, when the fighting was of the most desperate character, he was · wounded.
Returning, after a brief absence, he was engaged at Bull Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg. In the latter battle the brigade of Vincent, in which was the Eighty- third, performed prodigies of valor, preserving to the Union com-
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mander Little Round Top-the key point of the whole Gettys- burg field-when attacked by the impetuous General Hood lead- ing on a powerful body of the foe, fully intent on possessing it. The company of Captain McCoy occupied a prominent place on the very breast of the little mount, looking toward the Devil's Den; but fortunately being shielded by rocks and small trees, was able to inflict grievous slaughter, without being itself greatly injured. Early in the year 1864, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel.
On the first day in the battle of the Wilderness, the leader of the Eighty-third, Colonel Woodward, was severely wounded and the command devolved on Lieutenant-Colonel McCoy. It was at a moment of great peril in the fortunes of the day, but ably did he execute the trust, pushing forward with unflinching valor and sweeping the enemy far back through the thickets of that gory field. Through all the battles of this terribly wasting and bloody campaign, from the Rapidan to the opening of the siege of Petersburg, he continued to have the leadership of the Eighty- third, manœuvring his command in the face of the enemy with the skill of a veteran officer. As an instance of this, the follow- ing, given by Mr. Greeley, in his History of the American Conflict, may be cited. The regiment had just crossed the North Anna, and was hastening to the relief of imperiiled troops. "In making this advance," says Greeley, "the Eighty-third Pennsylvania, Lieutenant-Colonel McCoy, swept closely past the flank of Brown's (rebel) column, when McCoy instantly wheeled his forward companies into line, and gave a volley, which, delivered at close quarters on the flank and rear of the rebel column, threw it into utter disorder and rout, one of McCoy's men seizing Brown by the collar and dragging him into our lines, while nearly a thousand of his men were gathered up as prisoners."
At the expiration of his term, on the 14th of October, 1864, he was mustered out of service. On the 25th of April, 1865, he . was brevetted Colonel, to date from August 1st, 1864, by the President, " for gallant and distinguished services at the battles of Spottsylvania and the North Anna." Upon his retirement from the army he resumed the practice of his profession, and
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cine New York
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JAMES A. BEAVER.
became associated with Joshua Douglass, the firm, under the title of Douglass and McCoy, attaining a rank as one of the most eminent and successful in the State. In person Colonel McCoy is above the medium stature, deep-chested and powerfully made, and of a grave and dignified bearing. In military dress, which his grey locks set off to admirable advantage, he has the look and bearing of the ideal soldier. He was married on the 17th of April, 1846, to Miss N. J. Nelson.
AMES ADDAMS BEAVER, Brevet Brigadier-General, was born on the 21st day of October, 1837, at Millerstown, Perry county, Pennsylvania. He was the son of Jacob and Eliza (Addams) Beaver. He was educated at Jefferson College, Can- nonsburg, where he graduated in August, 1856. Subsequently he studied law and was admitted to practice at Bellefonte, Centre county, in January, 1859. He was for some time Lieutenant of the Bellefonte Fencibles, a volunteer company of which Andrew G. Curtin-since Governor of the Commonwealth-was Captain, and acquired some knowledge of elementary tactics.
When the echoes of rebel guns turned upon Fort Sumter aroused the loyal North, few troops were more prompt to rally to the national standard than the Bellefonte Fencibles. It was the third company to arrive at the camp of rendezvous at Harris- burg, and of this he was chosen Second Lieutenant. It became Company H of the Second regiment, and he was soon after pro- moted to First Lieutenant. He served in this capacity to the close of his term, and after being mustered out was commis- sioned Lieutenant-Colonel of the Forty-fifth regiment. With this organization he proceeded to South Carolina, and was stationed in command of a battalion of five companies, at Fort Walker, occupying the fortifications commanding the entrance to Port Royal Bay. For several months he was engaged in active duty upon the sea islands before Charleston, for the most part having an independent command, and frequently meeting the enemy, by day and by night, in hostile encounters.
Towards the close of July, 1862, the regiment returned north, and, near the beginning of September, Lieutenant-Colonel Beaver was promoted to Colonel of the One Hundred and Forty-eighth,
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one of a number of new three year regiments then being re- cruited. The Antietam campaign was just opening when he assumed command, and he was ordered to guard a portion of the Northern Central Railway most exposed to incursions by the enemy, and one of the main lines of supply for the Capital and the army. Upon the eve of the battle of Fredericksburg, he was ordered up, but was not put into the fight. At Chancellorsville, Colonel Beaver, while leading his command and while at close quarters with the enemy, was shot through the body and carried off the field. He was removed to a hospital in Washington, where he received the most skilful medical aid and attendance. It was near the middle of July before he was sufficiently recovered to return to his regiment. In the meantime the battle of Gettysburg had been fought and won, and the army was again advancing into Virginia. At Bristoe Station, and at Mine Run, he was actively engaged, at the former place the enemy being handsomely repulsed.
At Po River, on the fourth day after the opening of the spring campaign of 1864, Colonel Beaver led his command in a deter- mined fight, holding his ground in the most intrepid manner. At Spottsylvania, the North Anna, and Tolopotomy, the struggle on the part of the two armies was no less desperate, but still indecisive. In the first of these, Colonel Beaver was struck by a Minié ball, but fortunately was shielded from its full effect by a memorandum book, in the thick cover and leaves of which its deadly power was spent. In the charge delivered at Cold Harbor by the division to which he was attached, the most desperate resistance was met, and upon the fall of the leader of the brigade, Colonel Beaver succeeded to its command. Here, too, he was again struck, but not disabled.
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