Twentieth century history of Altoona and Blair County, Pennsylvania, and representative citizens, Part 34

Author: Sell, Jesse C 1872-
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: Chicago, Richmond-Arnold Publishing
Number of Pages: 1036

USA > Pennsylvania > Blair County > Altoona > Twentieth century history of Altoona and Blair County, Pennsylvania, and representative citizens > Part 34

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After the close of the Antietam campaign the regiment remained in Maryland until the first of November, when it crossed the Potomac into Virginia, where it was for a short time stationed on Loudon heights. On the tenth it marched via Leesburg to- wards the Rappahannock, whither the main body of the army had preceded this corps. It advanced to a point near Dumfries, but being too late to take part in the battle of Fredericksburg, moved back to a camp at Fairfax station. On the 28th of December it moved out from this camp to Wolf Run shoals, where it was engaged in action with the enemy's cavalry, and returned to camp on the 29th, the men having suffered terribly from cold, fires not being allowed on account of their near proximity to the enemy. On the 8th of January the regiment again took part in a movement against the enemy at Wolf Run shoals.

In General Burnside's projected forward movement of the army in January, 1863, the regiment marched from camp on the twenty-ninth of that month, moving to Dumfries, to Stafford court-house, where it remained in camp, but constantly doing

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picket duty and frequently engaged in movements to neighboring points on ac- count of the near proximity of the enemy's cavalry. In March it was moved to a new station at Acqua creek landing. On the 28th of April the regiment, then in the Second brigade of Geary's division, of the Twelfth corps, moved to the Rappahan- nock,- crossing at Kelly's ford, thence to the Rapidan, crossing at Germania ford, and from thence to Chancellorsville, where it arrived on the afternoon of the 30th, and immediately went into line of battle. On the following morning the brigade ad- vanced east, soon encountered the enemy's pickets and drove them back to and through a belt of timber. On emerging from the woods, it was found to be in a very perilous position, far in advance of the other troops, and away from their support. The enemy in front opened a tremendous fire of artil- lery, and the brigade being in imminent danger of being flanked, was withdrawn with some difficulty, and retired to its posi- tion of the previous evening. During the night the men threw up some quite formid- able defenses, though they had no intrench- ing implements, and were obliged to use their bayonets and tin plates for the work, the enemy at the same time being only a few rods away in front.

On the following day (May 2), the regi- ment lay under a heavy artillery fire until 3 o'clock p. m., when it advanced with the brigade on the Fredericksburg plank road, and made a demonstration against the enemy in the woods and behind his defen- ses ; but failing to dislodge him, returned at about 6 o'clock to the position of the pre- vious evening. A little later in the day came the tremendous assault of Stonewall Jack- son on the Union right, which broke before the fury of the attack, and one division of the Eleventh corps came rushing in dis- order and panic to the position of the One Hundred and Twenty-fifth and its brigade, which was the first point where the wild re- treat of the fugitives was checked. Geary's

division formed line facing the rapid ad- vance of the exultant Confederates, and held them at bay during the night and until the middle of the forenoon. of the 3d, bravely holding the ground against re- peated attacks, in which canister was used at short range on both sides. At 10 o'clock a. m. of the 3d the enemy had succeeded in flanking the position on the right, and the division was compelled to fall back to a new and more contracted line, which was held with comparative ease, though the enemy made frequent and vigorous assaults upon it. During the remainder of the great bat- tle the regiment was continually in line and for many hours under a heavy fire, but was not again closely engaged. On the morn- ing of the 5th it was ordered to the left of . the line and commenced intrenching. In that position it remained during the day and succeeding night, and on the 6th recrossed the Rappahannock, and returned to the old camp at Acquia.

Chancellorsville was the last battle of the One Hundred and Twenty-fifth, as its term of service had expired. It was then ordered to Pennsylvania, and on its arrival at Har- risburg was received with unbounded en- thusiasm and admiration by thousands of people who had assembled there to greet its return. It was mustered out of service on the 18th of May. Many of the men of the Blair companies afterwards enlisted in other regiments and served until the end of the war.

NINETEENTH CAVALRY.

The Nineteenth cavalry, designated as the 1 18th regiment, contained one company from Blair county, Company L, commanded by Cap- tain D. Ross Miller, at present a prominent pension attorney of Altoona. The regiment was organized at Camp Stanton, Philadelphia, in the fall of 1863, and mustered into the service for a term of three years, under Col. Alexander Cummings, as its commanding of- ficer. In the first part of November it moved from Camp Stanton to Washington, D. C., where it was ordered to Eastport, Miss., but

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its destination was afterwards changed to Columbus, Ky., where it arrived on the 3d of December, and was assigned to duty in the cavalry division commanded by Gen. B. H. Grierson. The regiment was then commanded by Lieut. Col. Joseph C. Hess, Col. Cummings being absent on detached duty. In January, 1864, it was ordered on dtuy with Grierson's division in Mississippi in the destruction of railroads and Confederate magazines of sup- ply. In this the expedition was very successful, immense quantities of grain and cotton being destroyed. The regiment was several times slightly engaged with the enemy's cavalry, los- ing fifteen killed and wounded from the time of starting until its return to Memphis, Tenn.

About the Ist of April it again moved for- ward with the division against the rebel gen- eral Forrest. On this expedition it fought one entire day at Cypress Swamp, Miss. On the IOth of May it fought at Bolivar, defeating the enemy with severe loss. In June it was en- gaged at Guntown, where the Union forces were defeated and driven back with heavy loss. The Nineteenth fought dismounted and lost fifteen killed and wounded. In July and August a detachment of the regiment, operat- ing in Mississippi, fought in the actions at Grand Gulf, Port Gibson, Big Black, Cold- water and Oxford. On its return to Vicks- burg, the Nineteenth was ordered, with other troops, to Little Rock, Ark., and moved thence northward to Independence, Mo., to take part in the operations against the Confederate forces under General Sterling Price. There it fought in a number of engagements, among which were those of Marion, Greensboro, Pilot Knob, Osage, and Big Blue, taking part at the latter place in a daring and successful saber charge. Returning to Memphis it was sent eastward through Tennessee and Alabama, to operate against the forces of Gen. Hood, who was then advancing from Atlanta towards Nashville. In the latter part of November, it moved by steamer from Memphis to Nashville, Tenn., where it arrived December 3d, and on the 15th fought dismounted with the forces of Gen. Thomas, in the great battle at that place.

When the enemy fled in rout from Nashville the regiment mounted and joined in the pur- suit. It fought the cavalry rear guard on the 16th and again on the 17th. In the latter en- gagement it joined with other regiments in a gallant saber charge, driving the enemy. The Nineteenth in pursuing unintentionally charged into the main body of the Confederate in- fantry, where it was received by a storm of musketry and canister that caused it to recoil and fall back ; but the remainder of the brigade came up, another charge was ordered, and the regiment charged a strong position behind a stone wall, being at first repulsed, but soon afterwards charged the enemy's flank, and drove him to his next line of defense, where the regiment again attacked. The fight closed by the rout and flight of the Confederates. In this day's fighting the Nineteenth lost twenty- two killed, wounded and missing, but took about 350 prisoners and three stand of colors. Beyond Duck river the regiment continued the pursuit, and fought at Anthony's hill and at Sugar creek, where it lost eleven killed and wounded. This closed the campaign. The regiment then moved to Gravelly Spring, Ala., where, in February, 1865, it was consolidated into a battalion of six companies, and the supernumerary officers mustered out. Captain Miller had previously resigned and his men were transferred to Companies C and F. The battalion was afterwards engaged in Louisiana and Texas against guerrillas, and in April, 1866, the four companies concentrated at New Orleans, where they were mustered out on the 14th of May.

TWENTY-SECOND CAVALRY.

The Twenty-second cavalry, designated as the One Hundred and Eighty-fifth regiment, was formed February 22, 1864, at a camp near Chambersburg, Pa., by uniting seven com- panies which had been raised in 1861-62 in Washington county, and which was known as the Ringgold cavalry battalion, with five other companies which had been raised for the six months' service in July, 1863, and at the ex- piration of their term of service mustered out,

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then reenlisted and reorganized, to form the town and Martinsburg. The Twenty-second Twenty-second cavalry, with the Ringgold battalion. In the six months' battalion there was one Blair county company, D, commanded by Captain William L. Neff; first lieutenant, William Gayton; second lieutenant, J. Brown Wingate.

The field officers of the Twenty-second at its organization in February, 1864, as above mentioned were : Colonel, Jacob Higgins; lieutenant-colonel, Andrew W. Greenfield; and majors, George T. Work, Alias S. Troxell and Henry A. Myers. The consolidation of the various companies was effected at Cumberland on the 5th of March, 1864. It first did duty about Washington and in Maryland and in August, being then under command of Lieut .- Col. Greenfield, it joined the cavalry division of Gen. Torbert, in the Army of the Shenandoah, under Gen. Sheridan, and fought in numerous actions, including Kernstown, Opequan, Berry- ville, and Charlestown, Va. In the meantime a detachment of the regiment had joined the forces of Gen. Hunter and took part in that - general's campaign against Lynchburg, Va., where they fought on the 12th of July, and afterwards fought in the battles of Kernstown and New Market, it being then under com- mand of Major Work, and in the brigade com- manded by Colonel Higgins, of the Twenty- second. Afterwards it formed part of the forces which, under Gen. Averill, pursued the Confederate General McCausland in his retreat from the burning of Chambersburg, Pa., and overtaking him at Moorefield, Va., fought a decisive battle, totally routing the enemy and capturing all his artillery. In this engagement the battalion under Major Work performed very valuable service, and behaved with marked gallantry.

Soon after this the two detachments of the regiment were united at Hagerstown, and the entire regiment, then under command of Lieut .- Col. Greenfield, moved with the cavalry forces of Gen. Averill across the Potomac into Vir- ginia, taking part in engagements at Falling Waters, Darkesville, Bunker Hill, Stephen- son's Station, again at Bunker Hill, Buckle-

also took part in the furious charge of the cav- alry at Opequan, which ended in the entire rout of the confederate forces under Early, and sent them "whirling up the valley." At Fisher's Hill Early again stood for battle and again he was routed, the Twenty-second sus- taining its full share of the fighting, as it also did on the 26th at Mount Vernon Forge. On the 27th, Early's forces attacked in superior numbers, and the regiment suffered severely, but held its ground in the face of overwhelming odds, and did as much as any other regiment towards averting general disaster and saving the wagon-trains of the whole division. In the action of this day Major Work and Adj. Isenberg were seriously wounded, and several officers of the regiment taken prisoners. Lieut .- Col. Greenfield was on this occasion in com- mand of the brigade. On the 19th of October the regiment fought splendidly and sustained severe losses in killed and wounded in the historic battle of Cedar Creek, where the day was barely saved by the arrival of Sheridan "from Winchester, twenty miles away." A few days later the Twenty-second went into camp at Martinsburg, remaining there about two months. During the winter the regiment was constantly engaged in scouting and opera- tions against Confederate guerrillas in the mountain regions of West Virginia, in which service the men were kept almost continually in the saddle, exposed to every kind of hard- ship and privation. Most of the men of the regiment were mustered out in April, 1865, while some of them remained in the service for several months longer, being consolidated with the Eighteenth cavalry, and forming what was known as the Third Provisional cavalry, which remained on duty in West Virginia about four months longer, and was mustered out of service on the last day of October at Cumberland, Md.

ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY-SECOND REGIMENT.

This regiment was originally composed of fourteen companies, enlisted for 100 days' service, largely made up of members of the

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One Hundred and Twentieth regiment of militia, which had been called out in 1862, and again in 1863, with the short term troops which were put in the field to repel the Con- federate invasions which were defeated re- spectively by the battles of Antietam and Gettysburg.

The regiment was organized in July, 1864, and was stationed at Fort McHenry, John- son's island, Lake Erie, Gallipolis, Ohio, and at Ironton, Ohio, at the latter places guarding boats and stores, and was dis- banded November II, 1864.

In February, 1865, a second regiment, also designated as the One Hundred and Ninety-second, was organized for a one year's term of service, under command of Col. William W. Stewart. In this regiment was one company, D, composed largely of Blair county men. The officers were Cap- tain S. A. Andrews, First Lieut. James Rodg- ers and Second Lieut. John Swires. The regiment entered the field in the spring cam- paign of 1865, but never became actively en- gaged, as the surrender of General Lee at Appomattox, on the 9th of April, included all Confederate troops in Virginia and vir- tually ended the war. The regiment was mustered out on the 24th of August following.

TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTH REGIMENT.

The rendezvous of this regiment was at Camp Curtin, where it was organized on the 2d of September, 1864, and was mus- tered into the service for one year under the following-named field-officers, viz .: Col- onel Joseph A. Matthews, Lieut .- Col. William F. Walter, Major B. Mortimer Morrow, who had previously served with honor in the Eighty-fourth regiment. Many of the enlisted men of the Two Hundred and Fifth were vet- erans of the early service. Three companies were from Blair county, viz .: Company A, Company C and Company I.

The commissioned officers of the com- pany were Captain George C. Gwinner, First Lieut. Levi W. Port and Second Lieut. Morris Davis. Company C was commanded

by Captain Louis D. Spiece, with Henry A. Lower as first lieutenant, and David M. Butler and John Robertson as second lieu- tenants. Lieutenant Lower was killed at Petersburg, Va., April 2, 1865. Ira Ship- ley was captain of Company I, being suc- ceeded October 29, 1864, by John A. Mc- Cahan, who was subsequently promoted to be major. Henry Hawk was first lieuten- ant and Henry Elway second lieutenant.

On the 5th of September the regiment left Harrisburg and went to the front, camp- ing at Fort Corcoran, on the Washington defenses, but soon after moved to City Point, Va., as an escort to about 1,300 re- cruits and drafted men, destined for Gen. Grant's army in front of Petersburg. At City Point the regiment was engaged in fatigue and picket duty. Early in October it joined the army of the James, but about three weeks later it was transferred to the army of the Potomac, and assigned to Gen- eral Hartranft's provisional brigade, which was attached to the Ninth corps, and which, about the middle of December, became a part of the Third division of that corps, General Hartranft commanding the divi- sion, and Colonel Matthews the brigade. The camp of the regiment was at Fort Pres- cott, on the Army Line railroad, where, with the division, it made winter quarters, the other divisions of the Ninth corps holding positions in its front.

The first battle of the regiment was the retaking of Fort Stedman, which had pre- viously been captured by the enemy in a sudden and overwhelming assault. It was in the gray of the early morning, March 25, 1865, that the troops were formed in line for the assault. The Two-Hundred and Fifth was held in reserve, and in support of Hartranft's first line, where it remained for more than an hour. The assault was made with great impetuosity, and the work was carried in gallant style. The regiment cap- tured a number of prisoners, and lost ten wounded in the action. But the severest battle in which the Two Hundred and Fifth

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was engaged was the first assault on the works of the inner line at Petersburg, in the morning of April 2. The regiment formed at II o'clock p. m. of the Ist, and at I a. m. of the 2d moved forward to the rear of Fort Sedgwick, then ad- vanced and formed line of battle nearly on the picket line. At daylight the whole line advanced to the attack. The regiment as- saulted Battery No. 30, carried it, taking a number of prisoners, and held the work against several determined assaults made by the enemy during the day. It remained in the front line till 2 o'clock a. m. of the 3d, when it was relieved. In this engagement the regiment was exposed to the heaviest fire of musketry and artillery, and suffered a loss of 121 killed, wounded and miss- ing. Lieutenant Henry A. Lower of Com- pany C was among the killed; Major Mor- row was wounded, losing a leg. Others among the wounded were Captain Gwinner of Company A; Lieutenant David M. But- ler, of Company C, and Lieutenant David H. Geisinger of Company D.

On the 3d of April the regiment moved to the front of the Petersburg works, and found them evacuated. It then marched with the other troops to Burkesville junc- tion, repairing the South Side railroad as it proceeded. It remained at Burkesville till after the war had been ended by the sur- render of the Confederate armies under Lee and Johnston, when it moved back to City Point, and there embarked for Alexandria, near which place, at Fairfax seminary, it remained until ordered to Pennsylvania. It was mustered out June 2, 1865. Beautiful monuments in honor of the Two Hundred and Fifth and other Pennsylvania regiments of Hartranft's division, have been erected recently at Petersburg and Fort Stedman by the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, their unveiling being the occasion of the return to the former scenes of bivouac and strife of many of the survivors of the regi- ments. Lieutenant Henry Elway of Com-

pany I, was a member of the monument commission appointed by Governor Stuart.

TWO HUNDRED AND EIGHTH REGIMENT.

One company of the Two Hundred and Eighth regiment was composed principally of men from Blair county. This was de- signated as B company. The rendezvous of the regiment was at Camp Curtin, where it was organized September 12, 1864, under the following named field officers: Colonel Alfred B. McCalmont, Lieut .- Col. M. T. Heintzelman, and Major Alexander Bobb of Martinsburg. The regiment moved from Harrisburg and proceeded to Ber- muda Hundred, on the James river, where it was assigned to the First brigade, Third division of the Ninth corps, the division be- ing under command of General Hartranft. During the winter the regiment was on ac- tive duty and in the front, and frequently under fire. In February, 1865, it took part in an expedition to Hatcher's run, and re- turned after five days' marching, but with- out having participated in a general engage- ment.

On the 25th of March the enemy assaulted the Union lines with great fury and cap- tured Fort Stedman. The regiment was ordered forward, and made a vigorous at- tack, driving the enemy from the position. In the general assault made to retake the works, the Two Hundred and Eighth cap- tured Battery No. 12, with 300 prisoners, suffering a loss of forty-two killed and wounded. From the morning of the 27th it was constantly in motion until the 2d of April, when it took part in the final assault on Petersburg. Its position was a point in front of Fort Sedgwick, where the works were carried and held against repeated at- tacks made by the enemy during the day. The loss of the regiment in this engage- ment was forty-eight killed and wounded. At daylight on the 3d it was found that the Confederates had abandoned their last de- fenses, and the Union troops entered Peters- burg. In pursuit of the retreating enemy,

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the regiment moved with its division to Nottoway court-house, arriving there on the 9th, in the evening of which day the news was received of Lee's surrender. It remained there until April 20, when it moved to the rear, passing through Peters- burg to City Point, whence it proceeded by transports to Alexandria, near which place it remained in camp till the Ist of June, when the recruits were transferred to the Fifty-first regiment, and the Two Hundred and Eighth was mustered out of service.

Company B of this regiment was under the command of Captain James S. Shollar, with Calvin C. Hewitt as first lieutenant and William B. Blake as second lieutenant.

ONE HUNDRED AND TENTH REGIMENT.

Early in the summer of 1861, J. G. James, a citizen of Warren, received authority from the war department to recruit a brigade, to consist of three regiments. Recruiting was commenced on the 23d of August, and on the Ist of September, a camp of rendezvous and instruction was organized near Hunt- ingdon. About the Ist of December the troops occupying this camp were trans- ferrred to Camp Curtin, the arrangement for a brigade was changed, and independ- ent regiments were organized from them. The One Hundred and Tenth from compan- ies, recruited, A and H in Blair county, B and D, in Huntingdon, C in Blair and Bed- ford, E, F, C and I in Philadelphia and K in Center and Clearfield, was organized by the selection of the following field officers ; William D. Lewis, Jr., of Philadelphia, colonel; James Crowther of Blair county, lieutenant-colonel, and John C. Johnson of Philadelphia, major. Colonel Lewis had served in the militia and had commanded the Eighteenth regiment in the three, months' service. On the 2d of January, 1862, the regiment left Camp Curtin and proceeded to Hagerstown by rail, where it made a forced march to Hancock, the en- emy under Stonewall Jackson, at that time threatening the place. Arms were distrib-

uted immediately after its arrival at mid- night on the 4th, and it reported for duty to 'General Lander, in command of the Union forces at that point. On the morning of the 5th, the troops were formed to resist the crossing of the enemy, who had already approached the town on the opposite side of the Potomac and was demonstrating in force. After considerable shelling at long range by Jackson, which was replied to by Lander, the former withdrew and pushed on to Romney, that being his objective point. As soon as this was discovered, Lander made a corresponding movement to Cum- berland, where the main body of his division concentrated. Here the One Hundred and Tenth was assigned to Tyler's brigade, and during the ensuing months guarded the ap- proaches of the Potomac. On the 8th of March the regiment broke camp at Paw- Paw and proceeded by rail to Martinsburg whence it marched to Winchester. On the 18th the division moved on a recon- noissance to Strasburg, involving brisk skirmishing with Ashby's cavalry, the en- emy retreating and burning the bridges as he.went.

The command bivouacked at Strasburg on the 19th and on the 20th returned to camp, north of Winchester. Early in the morning of the 23d, the enemy under Jack- son approached in force, and attacked 'Shields' advanced brigade near the little village of Kernstown, four and a half miles from Winchester. Shields promptly or- dered his forces forward, Tyler's brigade being assigned to the duty of attacking and turning the enemy's left flank, which had been thrown forward to a commanding po- sition, screened by timber and by a stone wall. The One Hundred and Tenth occu- pied the extreme right of the line and in the charge upon the enemy was forced back through the woods by as destructive a fire as ever fell upon a retreating foe. Jackson with his supposed invincible Stonewall bri- gade, and their accompanying brigades, much to their mortification and discomfit-

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Twentieth century history of Altoona and Blair County, Pennsylvania, and representative citizens, Part 34

Author: Sell, Jesse C 1872- Publication date: 1911 Publisher: Chicago, Richmond-Arnold Publishing Number of Pages: 1036

Author: Sell, Jesse C 1872-
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: Chicago, Richmond-Arnold Publishing
Number of Pages: 1036