USA > Pennsylvania > Montgomery County > Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, a history, Volume I > Part 9
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The 68th Regiment was recruited in Philadelphia and in the adjacent counties of Montgomery and Chester during the summer of 1862, the first company being mustered in on the 4th of August, and was fully organized by September. A camp was established at Frankford, a sub- urb of Philadelphia. The field officers were: Andrew H. Tippen, col- onel, A. H. Reynolds, lieutenant-colonel; Thomas Hawksworth, major. Though above the minimum, its ranks were not up to the maximum standard, and the men were only partially uniformed and equipped. It broke camp on the evening of September Ist and proceeded to Wash- ington. The army was just then falling back to the heights around the capital. The regiment was immediately ordered across the Potomac, and went into camp at Arlington Heights. Here it was armed, and fur- nished with a complete outfit for an active campaign. It was assigned to Robinson's brigade of Stoneman's division. Soon after the battle of Antietam the regiment moved from camp, and passing through George- town, proceeded to Poolsville, arriving on the 10th of October, the day on which the rebel Generals Stuart and Hampton, with a force of cav- alry, made their famous raid on Chambersburg, and a complete circuit of the Union army. Intelligence soon spread of the daring ride, and the regiment was marched rapidly to Conrad's Ferry, in expectation that the bold raiders would attempt to cross the Potomac, on their return into Virginia, at this point. But they made for a ford considerably lower down the stream, and passed over without opposition. After remaining several days in the vicinity of the ferry, it rejoined the brigade and
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proceeded southward with the rest of the army. While on the march the rebel cavalry under White suddenly dashed in upon the train moving with the brigade, and captured wagons belonging to the 68th, contain- ing officers' baggage, books, papers and camp and garrison equipage, overpowering and making prisoners of the feeble guard which had it in charge. About forty of the 68th were taken, who were sent to Richmond and kept in confinement several months.
This regiment was in the movement against Chancellorsville and the operations below Fredericksburg. It captured thirty-five officers and men of the 10th Virginia Regiment, with the colors and color-guard. At the opening of the battle of Gettysburg, July 1, 1863, the regiment was. at Emmettsburg, but rapidly moved forward, hearing the heavy firing in the distance. Its position was between Seminary and Cemetery ridges, finally at Peach Orchard, and there encountered heavy fighting, this point being the real key to the position. Colonel Tippen made this record of the part his command took in that memorable fight-possibly the turning point in the Rebellion: "It was a terrible afternoon, and all were anxious for the Fifth Corps to come up, as we were being deci- mated by the artillery. In that orchard the lieutenant-colonel and major were wounded and ten other officers killed or wounded, leaving with me but four to bring the regiment out of the fight, having had in all but seventeen present for duty. Just at sunset the rebel infantry charged upon the position and the brigade, weakened by its losses, was forced to yield, yet contesting every inch of ground." On the third day the regi- ment was held in reserve on the lower part of the entire field, exposed to a terrible fire from the enemy artillery. Colonel Tippen had his horse shot from under him and killed on that day. The loss here was about sixty per cent. of the number engaged. The regiment went into winter quarters at Brandy Station, and early in January, 1864, the few left in the command reenlisted. April 18, 1864, the regiment was ordered to General Meade's headquarters, where it was placed under command of General Patrick, Provost-Marshal General of the army, and employed in guard duty, continuing until the end of the war. After the return of the regiment to Virginia for the last fall campaign, in a sharp turn made by General Meade, Colonel Tippen was taken prisoner and confined in Libby prison for almost nine months. He was exchanged June 25, 1864, and resumed command of his regiment.
Colonel Tippen, of Montgomery county, commander of the brigade, having just got out of prison, in his report says :
The brigade was under my command. Among the prisoners were Lieutenant General Ewell, Major-Generals Custis Lee, Kershaw and other prominent generals of the rebel army, together with about six hundred officers of lesser grade. At a point on the route where we all rested for a short time, I received a dispatch that General Lee had sur- rendered. I communicated the intelligence to Generals Ewell and Custis
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Lee, but both doubted its truthfulness. They could not think it possible. In a very short time, and before leaving our resting-place, General Ben- ham came up with his engineer brigade, and gave the terms of sur- render. Young General Lee dropped his head on his breast, and General Ewell threw up his arms, exclaiming, "The jig is up."
In the last charge made upon the enemy's lines at Petersburg, before the final move, the regiment, though employed in provost duty, was of the storming-party. In the sharp conflict which ensued, Major John C. Gallagher was mortally wounded and a number of officers and men were lost.
After the capture of Lieutenant-General Ewell and his forces at Sailor's Creek, this regiment, in conjunction with others then consti- tuting the headquarters brigade, was detailed to guard the prisoners, and proceed with them to City Point. The brigade was under the com- mand of Colonel Tippen, and the order was faithfully executed without the loss of a man. This duty done, the regiment returned to the head- quarters of the army, having in charge about 6,000 recruits that had accu- mulated at City Point. It had been but a short time with the moving column when General Meade ordered it to proceed, in company with the 143rd Pennsylvania, to Hart's Island, near the city of New York, to have charge of rebel prisoners confined there. Here it remained until the 9th of June, when it was mustered out of service.
In the 93rd Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, the following offi- cers and enlisted men were recruited in and accredited to Montgomery county. The regiment ranked among the veteran organizations of the State, and was among the best volunteer regiments in the service. There being no company organization accredited to the county, we omit the field and staff roster and the general history of the command. The regi- ment was organized at Lebanon, November 3, 1861.
The 95th Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers was organized as the Pennsylvania Zouaves, then as the 45th and finally as the 95th. It was mustered into the service August, 1861, for three years. The regiment served in the army of the Potomac from its organization to the close of the war, and its losses in the service are reported as the most severe experienced by any Pennsylvania regiment in the field.
The 106th Regiment was organized, with the exception of Company K, between the 14th of August and the 31st of October, 1861, in Phila- delphia. Company K was transferred to it from the 67th Regiment on the 28th of February, 1862. A large proportion of officers and men had served in the 22nd Regiment, and previously in the Philadelphia Light Guard, a militia organization of long years standing. The following were field officers: Turner G. Morehead, colonel; William L. Curry, lieutenant-colonel ; John H. Stover, major. At Yorktown this regiment participated in the engagement and all that season on marches and travel otherwise. This regiment participated at Fair Oaks, where Lieutenant-
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Colonel Curry was taken prisoner, taken to Libby prison, and later to Salisbury, where he was illy treated, but after three months was ex- changed. The regiment saw service at Charles City Cross Roads, at Peach Orchard, at bloody Antietam Creek, where in ten minutes time one-third of the entire regiment was stricken down, and at the end of the engagement the dead lay in line as they had stood in the fight. Cap- tain Timothy Clark and Lieutenant William Bryan were among the killed. In all these places named this regiment was known for its bravery.
At Fredericksburg, in the main battle, which was fought on the 13th, the regiment was formed for a charge, with the 69th on its right and the 127th Pennsylvania on its left, and advanced under a terrific fire of artillery to a position within about seventy-five yards of the enemy's works. From midday until nightfall, under a ceaseless fire from two lines of battle, it stood with a coolness and determination rarely paral- leled, and though losing heavily, held the ground until darkness closed in upon the combatants and the sound of battle died away. Retiring after the battle to its former camp, it remained, with unimportant excep- tions, until near the close of April. At the opening of the Chancellors- ville campaign the brigade was taken to Banks' Ford, where it was employed in driving out the enemy and protecting the engineers while laying a pontoon bridge. It was afterwards engaged in guarding the reserve artillery. On the 3rd of May, the regiment crossed the river and advanced to the assistance of Sedgwick, in command of the Sixth Corps, who was struggling against overwhelming odds at Salem Church. Re- turning to the bridge, entrenchments were thrown up, and the position held until Sedgwick's corps had crossed, when it returned again to camp.
In the battle of Gettysburg, which opened on the Ist of July, the 106th bore a conspicuous part, arriving with the corps upon the field at a little after midnight of the Ist, and taking position on the extreme left of the brigade, behind the low stone wall on the right centre of the line, in front of and to the left of General Meade's headquarters. The fighting commenced on the afternoon of the 2nd, on the extreme left, where Sickles stood, but soon swept around until it enveloped the whole left wing of the army. Fighting in the open field without defensive works, Sickles' men, though contesting the ground with a valor unsur- passed, were forced back, and line after line was crushed. While the conflict was thus raging on the left, the brigade was lying upon the ground in rear of the crest of the little hill which overlooked the field ; but as the wave of battle rolled on towards the right, recognizing the danger to which the left wing was exposed, and seeing that there was a gap in the line to the left, General Webb, in command of the brigade, ordered it to march by the left flank, then by the right, and as it reached the crest beheld the enemy not sixty yards in front, marching on, elated by success, as to assured victory. "Fire! Charge bayonets!" rang out
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from the voice of the commander. A crash as from a single piece was the response, and in the twinkling of an eye bayonets were fixed, and, with a cheer that betokened the determination which fired each breast, the line went forward, striking the enemy upon his extreme left flank, and hurling him back in dismay. The 106th and two companies of the 2nd New York pursued the retreating foe as far as the Emmettsburg road.
The regiment returned to its place in line, but was scarcely in posi- tion when it was ordered to the extreme right, where the Twelfth Corps was engaged. It did not arrive, however, until the fighting at that point had subsided, and soon after was ordered to Cemetery Hill to the sup- port of the Eleventh Corps, where it went into position at ten p. m., on the right of the Baltimore pike, near Ricketts' battery, where it remained under the terrific cannonade of the following day, and until the close of the battle.
On the 3rd of May the regiment broke camp, and after a severe march crossed the Rapidan, and arrived on the 5th on the Wilderness battle- ground. The fighting for three days in the tangled wilds of that ever memorable field was for the most part at close quarters and very severe. From the Wilderness the regiment marched towards Spottsylvania Court House, but before reaching it encountered the enemy, and the contest was renewed. On the afternoon of the 11th the brigade withdrew from the breastworks in front of the court house, and marched with the corps to the left of the line, where, at dawn of the 12th, Hancock led his col- umns upon the enemy's works. Delivered in strong force and at an un- expected hour, the charge was successful, the works being taken with numerous captives and guns. The 106th in this encounter suffered severely. Lieutenant-Colonel Curry, in command, was mortally wounded, and Lieutenants Charles S. Schwartz and Joshua A. Gage were among the killed. The regiment was held upon the front line, where constant skirmishing was kept up until the 18th, when another attempt was made to rout the enemy, which was unsuccessful. Again moving by the left flank, the corps encountered the enemy at North Anna and again at Cold Harbor. In the engagement at the latter place the brigade was ordered to charge and drive out the enemy from his intrenchments.
On the 27th of July the veterans and recruits were organized into a battalion of three companies, which was united for field service to the 69th Pennsylvania. The remainder of the regiment was mustered out of service at the expiration of its term, at Philadelphia, on the 10th of September, 1864. The battalion remaining in the field participated in the actions at Ream's Station and Boydton Plank-Road and in the spring campaign which closed the Rebellion. It was mustered out of service on the 30th of June, 1865.
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The 129th Regiment only had one company from Montgomery county, Company I. It rendezvoused at Camp Curtin, Harrisburg, where on August 15, 1862, an organization was effected and officers elected as follows: Jacob G. Frick, colonel; William H. Armstrong, lieutenant-col- onel; Joseph Anthony, major. By August 18th the regiment went into camp at Alexandria, near Washington. Two companies were detailed to build a bridge over Bull Run. In December, 1862, the division crossed the Rappahannock, and proceeding through the town to a position in full view of the field, awaited the order to enter the fight. It was not long delayed, and again advancing by a main road, the brigade halted in low, open ground, where the men were ordered to lie down. Tempted by the easy range and unprotected situation of the brigade, the enemy opened a destructive fire from his batteries, by which Lieutenant Jacob Parvin, Jr., was mortally, and a number of privates severely wounded. Moving to the left of the road, the division was shortly after formed in line of battle on the crest of the hill, the brigade in two lines, the 129th on the left front. In the hopeless and fruitless charge which followed, made under a ceaseless fire of musketry and artillery from the impreg- nable position which the enemy held, officers and men did everything that true soldiers could do, traversing in good order the lines of dead and wounded left in previous charges, and pressing forward in the gather- ing darkness until they attained position in advance of every previous charge, and from which it was impossible to go farther. In the brief space that it was in motion the regiment lost one hundred and forty-two in killed and wounded. The caps of some were subsequently found close up to the famous stone-wall, and an officer and seven privates of Com- pany D were taken prisoners. Captain George J. Lawrence and Jona- than K. Taylor were mortally wounded. Captain Taylor was shot through the lungs early in the charge, but refused to leave the field, and retired with his command. Captains William Wren, Jr., Herbert Thomas, E. Godfrey Rehrer and Levi C. Leib and Lieutenant A. A. Lukenbach were wounded. Lieutenant Joseph Oliver was wounded and fell into the enemy's hands. The loss in killed was sixteen.
After dark the regiment was again marched upon the field for guard duty, but was withdrawn towards midnight. On the 14th and 15th it remained in the town, losing one man by the shot of a sharpshooter, and on the morning of the 16th, after having spent the night in throwing up a breastwork on the right of the town, recrossed the river and retired again to camp. The knapsacks which had been thrown aside before going into battle had been carefully guarded, but were not recovered. During the cold, rainy days preceding the 23rd of December, when extra clothing and blankets were furnished to supply the place of those lost, the men suffered greatly from exposure, one dying and many being thrown into hospitals. Drill and picket duty, which was at times severe, the Mud March from the 20th to the 24th of January, 1863, and occa-
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sional reviews, filled up the measure of its duty until the opening of Hooker's first campaign.
The regiment marched with the corps on the Chancellorsville cam- paign, though the time of many of the men had already expired, and took part in the fighting of the Ist, 2nd and 3rd of May. In the principal contest on the morning of the 3rd, it was closely engaged in its place in the division line of battle in the wood in front of the Union batteries. After nearly two hours of sharp musketry firing the ammunition became exhausted, and the right flank of the division was turned. The command was given to face by the rear rank and retire, in order that the batteries might have full play upon the rebel columns coming in upon the flank. It was executed in as orderly a manner as the thickly-wooded ground would permit, but the 129th, bringing up the rear, had not left the wood before the enemy closed upon it, and some spirited hand-to-hand en- counters occurred. The colors were twice seized, but were defended with great gallantry and brought safely off. Lieutenant-Colonel Arm- - strong fell into the enemy's hands, but made his escape in the confusion caused in his ranks by the fire of the Union batteries. Major Anthony was shot through the lungs, but was assisted off the field, and still sur- vives what was then considered a mortal wound. "The 129th," says General Tyler, in his official report, "was on our left, and no man ever saw cooler work on field drill than was done by this regiment. Their firing was grand, by rank, by company and by wing, in perfect order." The loss was five killed, thirty-two wounded and five missing. On the 6th the regiment recrossed the Rappahannock and returned to its camp near Falmouth. On the 12th, its term of service having fully expired, it returned to Harrisburg, where, on the 18th of May, it was mustered out. The return of companies to Easton and Pottsville was marked by flatter- ing and enthusiastic demonstrations on the part of the citizens.
The 138th Regiment at first called for nine months' men, before it was fully recruited it was made known by the government that no more short-term men were wanted, and that three-year men were needed. But this made no difference to the men; they enlisted for the longer term and counted it a pleasure to do "Uncle Sam's" bidding, believing he doubtless knew best what a civil war meant. Companies A, C, I and K were recruited in Montgomery county; B and G in Adams county ; D, E and F in Bedford, and Company H in Bucks county. They arrived at Harrisburg in August, and by the 26th had organized and mustered into the U. S. service. Charles L. K. Sumwalt, of Adams county, was appointed colonel, and under his command the regiment moved to Balti- more. It was assigned to guard duty along the then important railroad, the Baltimore & Ohio, with headquarters at Relay House, the Wash- ington Junction. In June, 1863, the regiment was sent to Harper's Ferry, to aid in heading off Lee. On subsequent campaigns they had their full share of camp and battlefield experiences. From Brandy Sta-
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tion the regiment entered the Mine Run campaign, and later the Wil- derness fight, where many men were sacrificed and but little accom- plished. They were in the battle at Spottsylvania, where Grant's move- ment by the left flank begun. The many engagements in which this regi- ment made good and proved itself worthy the name of American soldiers, are all too many to here be further mentioned. They were still fighting when Lee surrendered to Grant, and two weeks later made a forced march a hundred miles to support Sherman. But this was not needed, and they returned to Richmond by rail, and thence marched to Wash- ington, where they were present as a part of the Grand Review, being mustered out of service June 23, 1865.
The 160th Regiment, better known as 15th (Anderson) Cavalry, was in various ways unique in its form of organization and after history. It was recruited by officers of the old Anderson Troop, a company named after General Robert Anderson, hero of Fort Sumter. The date of its beginning was the summer of 1862. By an order from the Secretary of War it was finally recruited in the autumn of 1862 and designed for a special military service. The men who joined, waiving the right to vote for such officers as they needed, found later it was not a wise act on their part. They mustered in at Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Officers were provided for them by the post officers of the regular army then stationed at that place. They commenced to drill and were soon called out for actual field service. The officers and about three hundred men, under the leadership of Majors Rosengarten and Ward, rendered prompt obedience, but six hundred others of the regiment refused to comply. A fight was had at Wilkinson's Crossing, in which they met a body of rebel cavalry. Major Rosengarten was killed, and Major Ward mortally wounded. The men were forced to retire. Another charge was made but it also failed. The loss was thirteen killed or mortally wounded. Finally, General Rosecrans provided the regiment with proper officers, and a reorganization took place, after which the regiment did wonder- ful fighting.
Towards the close of April, 1865, intelligence of the surrender of Lee and Johnson having been received, the division of General Gillem, now commanded by General Palmer, was ordered to proceed south for the capture of Jefferson Davis and train. Night and day, with the most untiring energy and skill, the pursuit was pushed. On the 8th of May seven wagons, containing the effects of the banks of Macon, were cap- tured. "On the morning of the 8th instant," says General Palmer, in his official report, "while searching for Davis near the fork of the Appa- lachee and Oconee rivers, Colonel Betts, 15th Pennsylvania Cavalry, captured seven wagons in the woods, which contained $188,000 in coin, $1,588,000 in bank-notes, bonds and securities, and about four millions of Confederate money, besides considerable specie, plate and other val- uables belonging to private citizens of Macon. The wagons contained
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also the private baggage, maps, and official papers of Generals Beaure- gard and Pillow. Nothing was disturbed, and I sent the whole in by railroad to Augusta to the commanding officer of the United States forces, to await the action of the government." Two days after, Com- pany G, Captain Samuel Phillips, captured General Bragg, his wife, staff officers and three wagons, which were sent under guard to the head- quarters of General Wilson. On the 15th news was received of the cap- ture of Davis and party by Colonel Pritchard, of the 4th Michigan Cav- alry, detachments from Colonel Betts' command being close upon his trail. The regiment now started northward, and on the 12th of June arrived at Nashville, where, on the 21st, it was mustered out of service.
In the 162nd Regiment (7th Cavalry), the organization of Company L, composed of men from Montgomery county and some from Chester, was attended with some unusual circumstances. David B. Hartranft, propri- etor of the Jefferson Hotel, Norriton township, received authority to recruit a cavalry company, under the call of President Lincoln, July 2, 1862, for three hundred thousand volunteers to serve for three years or during the war. Under this call Pennsylvania was to furnish three regi- ments of cavalry, and the 16th, 17th, and 18th were raised. Hartranft had been an active member in Captain Leidy's Troop, a volunteer organiza- tion in the days of peace, but which melted away, like almost all other before-the-war military organizations. This period was favorable for enlistments. The Peninsula campaign, with that of General Pope in front of Washington, had closed with disaster. The fact was painfully manifest that the struggle was still gathering fury, and if the unity of the country was to be preserved, men from all classes would have to fill up the quota and make good the gap made in front of Richmond and Washington. This call appealed to married men as well as young single men. The romance had already been taken from the war, and men entering into this service felt it a serious matter.
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