"Unharmed have I passed through where the dead and wounded were falling all around me" – Pvt. George Nickels, 89th NY

In a December 2012 blog post (read here), I shared the fascinating letter of Pvt. George Nickels, of Co. F, 89th New York.  In that letter, written September 30, 1862, Nickels details his regiment's actions late in the afternoon during the Battle of Antietam.  Nickels' regiment, part of Fairchild's Brigade, Rodman's Division, of the Union 9th Corps, had fought bravely, and ferociously that afternoon.  The 89th, and several other regiments, pushed further than any other Union regiments that day; reaching the outskirts of the small town of Sharpsburg.  Eventually, the timely arrival of Confederate reinforcements, lead by General A.P. Hill, arrived at just the right spot.  Hill's men crashed into the left flank of the 9th Corps, and brought an end to the forward movement of the 89th New York.  The 89th was forced to give way back across the killing fields they had struggled over just moments before.  Sundown would finally bring an end to the bloody Battle of Antietam.  Fairchild's Brigade would suffer the highest percent casualty rate of any Union brigade that fought that day; 48%.  Of the 455 casualties in the brigade, the 89th New York would suffer 103 men killed, wounded, and missing during the fight.

In the September 30th letter, Nickels mentions, "I have written one hasty letter since our fight," however, what this "hasty letter" contained, I thought would remain a mystery of history.  Until now. Just in the same unexpected manner as the September 30th letter made its way to me, another one of Nickels' Antietam accounts would appear before me.  This time, an ancestor of 89th NY veteran Oliver Orville, who had read my original post, and who had recently uncovered a copy of the letter written by Nickels, thankfully emailed me a copy.

In this letter, dated September 19, 1862, Nickels hastily takes a few moments to write to loved ones back home.  Letting friends and family know outright of his post battle condition, he goes on to provide updates on several friends and comrades, as well as give readers a glimpse into the chaotic and terrifying moments of the Battle of Antietam.  Aside from being historically fascinating, this 'prequel' letter also helped me identify and annotate a previously unidentified soldier who had been named in Nickels' September 30th letter; William B. [Byron] Livermore.

Another interesting aspect of this letter is that one of Nickels' comrades, James Northrup, takes the opportunity to piggy back off of Nickels' brief letter home, and tell his loved ones of his "close call".

Even 151 years later, you just never know what small pieces of a much larger and scrambled puzzle will emerge.  Each piece helps us see a little more history.  Enjoy!

Battle of Antietam 
Sharpsburg Md 
Sept, 19, 1862 

Dear Friend, 

I am still sound and well. Unharmed have I passed through where the dead and wounded were falling all around me. Our brigade charged up hill, over plowed ground at the enemy behind a wall and rail fence. When we got within 12 rods of the fence we stopped about five minutes and exchanged shots with the rebels and one at least fell dead from my shot and I drew good sight on a number more. Almond [Orville Oliver] they say just gave them a shot and was going to reload when he was struck by a bullet; we think in the thigh and fell disabled. We have not heard from him, but is probably in a hospital of ours or the enemy’s. 

We soon got tired of giving them the advantage of the fence and at the same time stand the fire of their cannon on our flank so we charged over the fence and drove them. We took a good many prisoners. Just then they brought up several thousands on our left. Their fire was terrible and the ground was covered with dead and wounded. We had to fall back or all be taken prisoners. 

When we formed in line we had only about 1/3 of the men who went in with us. The rest were killed, wounded and scattered. 
Byron Livermore had his right arm shattered above the elbow by a musket ball and had to have it taken off. He is doing well. The rest of the Lisle boys are well. Of ten boys at the right of our company where I stood 8 were killed and wounded. There were 23 killed, wounded or missing since the fight of day before yesterday in our company. Most of them are wounded. We had a brisk fight last Sunday [Battle of South Mountain] and have been in reach of the enemy ever since. Burnside gave us the credit Wednesday, of being one of the best fighting regt. In the service. No regt. was ever exposed to a more deadly fire. 

Well good bye, write soon. I have no time to write more.  

Yours truly, 
Geo L. Nichols [Nickels]

 Please say to our folks that I have no time to write, but I am alright. I was hit once, but my sword turned the ball and I was not injured. George has written all I suppose. I will write as soon as I get a chance to send a letter. 

In haste, James E. Northrup 

sources:
New York in the War of the Rebellion, 3rd ed. Frederick Phisterer. Albany: J. B. Lyon Company, 1912., available from http://dmna.ny.gov/historic/reghist/civil/infantry/89thInf/89thInfTable.htm. accessed September 12, 2013; Internet.

Rafuse, Ethan S., Antietam, South Mountain, & Harpers Ferry: A Battlefield Guide. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 2008.

September 17, 1862: 2nd PA Emergency Militia (L. Richards)

Read the previous day here.

 

 

150 years ago today, while the Battle of Antietam raged...

 



Drilled in the morning in the adjoining fields, and while thus engaged observed a renewal of the reports of artillery towards the south, heard on the day previous, and with still greater distinctness.  These proceeded, as we afterwards learned, from the battle-field of Antietam, some thirty miles off.  A dull gruff belch, at irregular intervals, accompanied by a sense of concussion, told the story of the distant conflict.  This inspired strange and solemn feelings.  Human lives were being offered up as a sacrifice upon the altar of our country, and thousands of homes would sit in dread suspense until it should be known upon whom the fatal blows had fallen.  The result, too, was of great concern to us, who were auxiliaries in reserve against an untoward crisis.  The evolution now assumed a significance they had not heretofore possessed.  Their object seemed no longer to be skill merely, but preparation.  The zeal for duty was quickened, and it was the idea of responsibility which was uppermost in the minds of all.  Additional regiments meanwhile arrived, among others two of the Gray Reserves and Home Guards of Philadelphia, which left Harrisburg yesterday.  With drilling, guard mounting, and the usual routine of camp duties, the day wore slowly away.  Another picturesque scene at night.  After roll-call crawled again into our comfortable domicil [sic] of cornstalks, with every reason to expect another good night's sleep.

 

About 11 o'clock...the beating of the ominous long roll aroused us from our peaceful slumbers, and the word quickly passed that we had received marching orders for Hagerstown, and were to be ready to leave at 12. The accouterments having been collected by the light of the fires, the regiment marched to the railroad, a mile off, where it was expected a train would be waiting for us. Alas! we here received our first practical lesson of the great uncertainty of military movements, and the mechanical nature of the duties of the soldier, who must obey orders, simply, without inquiring for reasons. In the quality of civilians, which we could not altogether consent to drop, our sense of individual importance was frequently infringed upon in our new capacity. Each in his turn felt disposed to divide with his superiors the responsibility of command. After waiting several hours in the crisp cool air of the autumn night without and train appearing, we lost all patience and lay down on our blankets for temporary repose. As the dews of heavens gently distilled upon our unprotected forms, the memory of the comfortable quarters we had just left did not add to the feelings of reconciliation to our present miserable situation. Morning broke at length and breakfast was improvised by the cooks.

- Louis Richards

September 17, 1862: 5th PA Emergency Militia

Read the previous day here.

After we enjoyed, more or less, a night's rest hardly worth mentioning we received marching orders without stating the exact time; but our good Officers who treated their men so affectionately "like a father treats his children," awakened us about 5 o'clock in the morning.  In the afternoon of the 17th we left Camp Horn [near Chambersburg, PA] in haste, without knowing exactly where we were going; but the breaksmen told us that we were going to Dixie.  On the same day the battle of Antietam Creek was fought, in which the army of the Potomac, under Gen. McClellan, crowned itself with the laurels of victory.  About midnight we crossed the line of Pennsylvania and arrived at Hagerstown.  After a short march from the depot, in the darkness we halted in one of the principel [sic] streets, when the order "Rest" rang along the line.  

Never was an order more promptly obeyed, for each one being fatigued gladly sought refuge on the hard pavement.  During this time the superior Officers were consulting with one another, what measures to adopt, wether [sic] to move forward to Boonsboro or to go back to the line of Pennsylvania.  Several Companies began to sing patriotic tunes in the midst of a secession den. - Silence like death reigned in the streets.  The windows only were dimly illuminated.

The sweet sounds of music appeared like the spirits of our departed sires rising from their graves, inspiring us with an ardent love and zeal towards our country.  Only one Union man stepped out stating that he had two sons in the federal army, and ordered his servant to refresh us with a drink of water.  We arrived at Hagerstown exactly 48 hours after the rebels had evacuated the town.  We marched for hours in full equipment double quick time, without knowing where we were to halt.  Some murmured that we were to have an engagement on the morrow.  Every one of us, except a few complaining creatures on Canon fever patients, were resolutely determined to stand of fall like men.  The officers finally decided to remain on an eminence north of the town, until morning, awaiting further orders.  

Expecting a sudden attack of the enemy's cavalry we slept on our arms for about two hours, on the dusty soil of Maryland. 

I embraced my musket like a romantic lover his darling bride, praying "Lord of hosts, lead me to victory or death", and fell asleep.

September 17, 1862: 2nd PA Emergency Militia (J. Witmer)

Read the previous day here.

We were awakened just before daylight with orders to pack our knapsacks and prepare to march. We hastily got our blankets rolled up, and all our goods packed into our knapsacks with the exception of our plate and tin-cups and awaited breakfast fully expecting to be hurried off immediately. We got coffee and fresh beef for breakfast this morning, with crackers as usual.  I wrote my first letter home this morning, telling of adventures. We heard very heavy cannonading which continued all day in the direction of Harpers-Ferry.  We afterwards learned that it was the Antietam battle. Still the orders to march did not come, and we waited patiently until night came, when we thought certainly we would be allowed to sleep once more in our shanties, in anticipation of which I drove in a couple of stout stakes just above where I lay to prevent my being rolled out again in the night. I had just got my stakes driven, and was thinking how completely every thing was fixed when we received orders to fall in. We now had 50 rounds of cartridge given us (I had 10 rounds before which made 60.) and were told that we were to march to the railroad to get transportation, for Hagerstown. Every one seemed in good spirits, they apparently did not know that in order to reach that place, the state line had to be crossed. We marched about 1 ½ miles before arriving at the railroad, and then waited a long time for the cars, they finally came, but owing to some mistake they had another regiment on board and we had to wait till morning. We lay down on the ground in our blankets without any fires, and in spite of our hard beds and the cold, slept quite soundly.

- John Witmer

September 17, 1862: 7th PA Emergency Militia

Before being sworn into state service for the "emergency", the 7th Pennsylvania Emergency Militia had been known as the 3rd Regiment Infantry Gray Reserves from Philadelphia.  With hostilities growing in 1861, the Grey Reserves had been organized, and made up of National Guard regiments from the city.  The National Guard was not what we think of today, however, it was a well trained and well equipped militia unit that could be called upon by State and Federal government.  Many such units provided the back bone of the famed Pennsylvania Reserves, which were originally intended to act as Pennsylvania's last line of defense at the outbreak of the Civil War, before they were sent to Washington to strengthen the Union ranks after the disaster at the Battle of 1st Bull Run.  Upon the reorganization, the 3rd Regiment was designated as the "1st Regiment of the Brigade" (the Gray Reserves), and was then referred to as the 1st Regiment National Guard of Pennsylvania.  

The 7th PA Emergency Militia was among the very few military organizations that were accepted into state service as an already organized regiment.  Generally, after Gov. Curtin's call of Sept. 4, militia companies arrived in Harrisburg, organized into Regiments, and then sent south toward Maryland.  Being allowed to keep their regimental structure allowed the 7th to be quickly transported to Harrisburg, and then quickly transferred down the Cumberland Valley Railroad to Hagerstown.  There was some displeasure at losing their familiar Regimental designation (1st Regiment), and being given a new one (7th PA Emergency Militia).  However, with their presence in the Emergency Militia, Pennsylvania was assured of at least one unit with solid military training and cohesion.  

We pick up the 7th's journey on late on the night of September 16th:  

The arrival [in Chambersburg on the 16th] was after dark, and the troops were quartered through the night in churches and school-houses, until the next morning when they moved out to a wood on the south side of the town to an encampment known as "Camp McClure."

Instead of a camp, it was scarcely a halt.  Orders immediately followed to re-entrain, and the regiment was again on its way, this time over the State line to Hagerstown, Maryland.  On the route an issue of ball cartridge was made, forty rounds for the cartridge-box and twenty for the pocket.  At eight o'clock on the evening of the seventeenth on its arrival at Hagerstown the regiment left the cars, stacked arms in the main street, and awaited the distribution of what proved to be a very limited supply of rations.  The commissariat, by those who looked to it to be fed, was pronounced a failure, and what the soldier got he had either brought with him or gathered up from his own pursuit of it of obtained it through purchase by his officers while on the move.  Coffee was a negligible quantity.  There was mischief somewhere - nobody cared to inquire where.  It was said there were ample stores at the depots, but supplied and consumers rarely met.

Knapsacks and baggage were left behind at Hagerstown, and with lightened load the regiment pulled out for its first real march to Boonsboro.  The distance was ten miles, which with an hour's halt at Funkstown was covered before daylight on the morning of the eighteenth.  "I remember," reads a note made of the occasion, "that weary march, and how we dropped like logs, in bivouac, at three o'clock in the morning, feeling the coming day might be fatal to some of us; for signs of war and battle were in the air, and the guns of Antietam had been making unwonted music to our ears.  Signals on the mountain tops, orderlies dashing by, broken caissons and vacated rebel camping grounds told us we stood on sacred soil; but the battle was over when we reached Boonsboro."

The march [to Boonsboro] was well along, when the regiment pulled out of the road and into the timber for a short halt and a brief rest.  Overstrained to the limit of endurance, the men were soon asleep.  Other troops began to pass along the road, and their tramp aroused some of the more restless.  One especially, bewildered at his sudden awakening, hurriedly gathered accoutrements, knapsack, and musket, and hastened to join the ranks of the moving column, thinking it his own, with the very natural inquiry for his own Company D.  "Yonder on the right," was the prompt response.  Our new recruit pushed along until he dropped into what he supposed was his place or very near it, neither he in the darkness recognizing any of the men about him, nor they him.  He had failed to extend his inquiry beyond the letter of his company.  What regiment it was had altogether escaped him.  By and by day began to break, strange faces were all about him, and the distant boom of the cannon indicated a near approach to a battle-field.  Suddenly it dawned upon him he had forgotten to ask for the regiment, and when he did, back came the answer, "Twenty-ninth Pennsylvania."  Without disclosing his mistake, he quietly let himself drift to the rear, and after some tribulation, much fatigue, and a bit of chagrin found his way back to his command again.

source:

Latta, James. History of the First Regiment Infantry National Guard of Pennsylvania (Gray Reserves) 1861-1911. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Co., 1912.

September 17, 1862: Byers' Independent Cavalry Co.

Read the previous day here.

Windy, signs of rain.  Left Spriggle's [Farm] at 7 A.M., for [Hagerstown], where we reported to Gen. Reynolds at 8 to 9.  Received orders to proceed to Jones' Cross Roads [modern day intersection of MD65 & MD68], six miles on the Sharpesburg Pike or road, where we arrived about 10 to 11 A.M.  Found great  bustle.  large numbers of the Anderson Cavalry about, riding back and forth as orderlies to and from the scene of the terrible fight there and all day going on in the neighborhood of Sharpsburg. 

We have been within very distinct hearing of the rapid and incessant discharges of artillery at the fight the whole day since daylight this morning.  Saw some secesh prisoners from the fight brought in while we were at the Cross Roads.  We reported there, as ordered, to Captain Palmer who is by no means of unassuming appearance a man of some 30 years of age, about 5 feet 10 inches high, quite thin, reddish face, quick and firm looking, but evidently...feeling and thinking himself to be some considerable [?], and that he was making that impression upon observers.  He inquired our force and how we were armed; said we would do very well, and ordered us to proceed to Williamsport, some four miles distant, by way of Manor Cross Roads to relieve, as I at finish understood him, a cavalry company there.  We started off and when within a mile or two [of] Williamsport were met by him coming from that direction.  How he had got round or ahead of us I cannot say, as we had left him at the Cross Roads.  He hurried us in on the gallop and sharp trot to Williamsport, and ordered us through Capt. [Byers], and his aid, one Samborn or Sambent, to proceed to the burning of the ware-houses, canal boats, board yards, etc. to prevent and obstruct the passage of the retreating rebels across the river into Virginia at that point.  Our fellows unhorsed and went into it with a will, and in a very short time - say from 10 to 15 minutes the ware-house, planning mill and lumber yards were in full and terrible conflagration.  Many of the leading citizens cursed and swore at what they chose to designate as a wanton useless and unauthorized destruction of property, calculated in no way to retard the progress of the rebels across the [Potomac] river.  They got up a great excitement against us, and for a time it seemed as if they had determined to make an attack upon us.  Capt. Palmer was there until the flams was fully going, and left there to direct us the aid above named.  There were no Union troops of any kind in Williamsport or nearer than one to two miles.  A brick dwelling house, said by the man who lived in it to belong to "dam rebel or secesh", was burned from the were heat of the burning warehouses nearest it, which were some 20 or 30 yards off, and the wind blowing parallel with and not toward the house any part of the time.  We got there about the middle of the day, and had our work accomplished, including the undermining of and preparation to blow up the wall of the aqueduct across the creek, and despositing a heavy amount of powder in it, awhile before sun set.  We had orders to remain there until notified by our pickets or by Union picket firing that the enemy was approaching, and then to leave on the Hagerstown road.  Our horses were tied round a certain warehouse on the main street, or near it and around a coal yard fenced in, not unsaddled, but with bridles off, eating hay.  We had laid down to sleep about 9 to 10 o'clock - myself and the bugler together.  He went to sleep soon.  I had not gone to sleep, when about 10 1/2 to 11, four picket shots followed by Captain's order, "Up men!" roused us, and in less than five minutes we were in our saddles and on the way out of Williamsport.  When out about 1 to 1 1/2 miles, we encountered a heavy picket of cavalry, which we at first took for rebels, drawn up along the side of the road.  They were uncertain of  our character and purpose for a time as we were of theirs.  Questions were hurriedly exchanged an "who are you?" and a shot fired on their side, (a warning shot, I suppose) I drew my right pistol and the Captain and I Leut Boyed advanced slowly.  Explanations took place and we turned out to be friends - they a picket of New York cavalry encamped near by where we encountered them.  We pass on and made our camp that night at Spriggle's [Farm], east of Hagarstown and some seven miles from Williamsport, an hour or two after mid-night. 

- Charles Rawn

source:

"The Militia Journal of Charles Rawn, September 9 to 23, 1862". ed. by Darin Smith. available from http://rawnjournals.com/papers/militia_journal_1862-09-09_to_1862-09-23#pdf; Internet.

Meet a Militiaman: Jacob C. Higgins (part I)

In 1826, Jacob Higgins was born in Williamsburg, PA, in what would later become part of Blair County.  Growing up in a rugged, mountainous region of the state, and coming from an ancestry of "hardy stock", Higgins learned early many of the characteristics of toughness, and independence.

"My father's side of the house," wrote Higgins, "came from the North of Ireland.  My mother's side came from Germany.  My mother died when I was seven years old.  My father died a year or two after and I was left penniless and to shift for myself as best I could.  I worked on a farm for a while for my victuals and clothes, then I got a few dollars per month, and finally went to the carpenter trade and worked at that until the Mexican War broke out."

With the outbreak of the Mexican-American War, Higgins soon joined "the Wayne Guards", Co. M of the 2nd Pennsylvania Infantry in 1847.  Heading to their muster point at Pittsburgh, Higgins and his company floated along the Pennsylvania Canal, until reaching Hollidaysburg.  Here they boarded the famous Allegheny Portage Railroad, and rode it's series of incline planes up and over the rugged terrain of Blair and Cambria Counties, arriving at Johnstown.  From here, the Co. once again boarded canal boats for the final leg of their journey to Pittsburgh, where they would be sworn into Federal service, organized with the rest of the 2nd Regiment, and shipped off to the seat of war in Mexico, where they would fight in the army of Gen. Winfield Scott.

Jacob Higgins, ca. 1860 - Minute Men of Pennsylvania

While on picket duty one night, in the Sierra Madres, Higgins had a memorable run-in with a "local":

"I was quietly seated on the little knoll and no enemy appeared to be near me except the frisky mosquito, but all of a sudden some wild animal appeared in the forks of the road.  It looked to me to be about six feet long.  I at once cocked my gun and the click of the lock attracted the attention of the animal as it squatted down and then in one bound leaped across the road and disappeared.  I afterwards learned that the animal was a jaguar or American tiger."

Another dramatic moment took place in the small Mexican village of Azotla.  Trying to catch up with a group of his fellow soldiers, who had gone to the village earlier in the day, Higgins entered Azotla and found it deserted.  Entering a store, which was left wide open, Higgins recalled that he, "...heard a noise and on looking behind me saw three large brawny Mexicans standing at the front door with large knives or cutlasses in their hands and two others standing in the back door.  There I was without any arms whatever to defend myself.  I just leaned back against the counter shelf with a sigh of despair and as my eyes dropped down, as it were, I saw a large Mexican sabre lying under the counter unsheathed almost at my feet.  I stooped down, picked it up and walked out from behind the counter in a careless manner, but not a word had been spoken yet by the Mexicans or myself.  But at this time I raised my sabre, pointing up towards the stairs and called out to my comrades, which I knew were not there, to come down.  That threw the Mexicans off their guard and I kept advancing toward the door, swinging the sabre above my head and glancing toward the stair until I got close enough to strike which I did with all the strength I was able to command.  I struck one on the left side of the neck and another on the right side.  One fell to the right and the other the left and the third one jumped out of the way.  I jumped out the door and if ever I did any fast running it was at that time."

By September 1847, Winfield Scott's army had pushed within striking distance of the Mexican capitol, but first had to assault the remaining stronghold at Castle Chapultepec.  Higgins described the charge toward the castle gates: "The grape and canister came down on us thick, not to mention the continual rattle of the musketry which showered us with bullets as thick as hail.  Men were falling all around me, but I escaped unscathed.  Many of the bullets came so close that the wind off them nicked my hair.  I consider that close enough.  Some of the rascals stood until we ran bayonets through them or knocked them out with clubbed muskets.  We found the road strongly fortified and had to charge right up to the mouths of the cannons and turn them on the men that used them until we could reach the city gates.  It was at this point that I was struck on the leg by a splinter off of the gate.  We held our position all night and the next morning we marched into the besieged city.  Here we planted the stars and stripes on the capitol where they now proudly wave."

Lt. Col. Higgins, 1st PA Cav - AHEC

Upon returning home from the war, Higgins began work at the Portage Iron Works, while remaining active in the Pennsylvania Militia.  When the Civil War broke out, Pennsylvania Governor Andrew Curtin looked to all able military leaders of the Keystone State.  Higgins became commissioned as Colonel of the 1st Pennsylvania Militia (not to be confused with the 1st Pennsylvania Volunteers, which served for three months).  In August of 1861, he raised and lead Co. G, 1st Pennsylvania Cavalry, and was soon promoted to Lt. Col.  At the Battle of Drainesville, in December, Higgins personally lead the 1st Pennsylvania in an attack on the town.

In 1862, Higgins resigned from his position in the 1st Pennsylvania Cavalry, and was soon commissioned as Colonel of the 125th Pennsylvania Infantry, which he also helped raise.  Filled with over 900 men from Higgins' native Huntingdon/Blair County region, the 125th was to serve an enlistment of nine months.  Rushed to the front, the veteran Higgins would lead his "green" regiment into their first battle, the Battle of Antietam, as a part of the Union army's 12th Corps.



125th PA flag - Capital Preservation Comm.

 Just days before Antietam, the 125th was pushed towards the fighting at South Mountain, where they were spectators to some of the carnage of that battle.  The sight of the lifeless body of Union General Jesse Reno, who had been killed during the fight, and was being carried to the rear, was a memorable event for the men of the new Pennsylvania regiment.


Three days later, during the terrible Battle of Antietam, the 125th moved toward the battlefield to support the Union I Corps, already in action early in the morning.  Upon arriving at the gruesome scene that nearly two hours of prior combat had created, Higgins and the 125th advanced into the hotly contested West Woods.  "I gave the command," wrote Higgins in his Official Report, "and my men started forward with a yell, driving the enemy before them and gaining possession of the woods.  Here I took some prisoners whom I sent to the rear."  Soon, however, the overwhelming pressure of rebel reinforcements took it's toll on the 125th.  "[The rebels] continued to advance, when I ordered my skirmishers to rally, and gave the command to commence firing.  A most destructive fire caused the enemy to halt.  I held him here for some time, until I discovered two regiments of them moving around my right, while a brigade charged on my front.  On looking around and finding no support in sight I was compelled to retire.  Had I remained in my position two minutes longer I would have lost my whole command."  Within a very short time, the "green" 125th Pennsylvania suffered 229 casualties.  [to read Higgins' entire Report, click here.]

History of the One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers


Having been on the march from Harper's Ferry, the 125th was not engaged during the Battle of Fredericksburg in December 1862. 

At the Battle of Chancellorsville, in May 1863, after a surprise attack on the Union flank, the 125th helped to rally the shattered troops that were fleeing in confusion.  When their brigade commander, Thomas Kane, was injured, Higgins took command of the brigade and shepherded it through the chaotic battle.  The 125th performed admirably once again, and they, along with the rest of Gen. Geary's 12th Corps division, were one of the last units to leave the field at Chancellorsville.  Their coolness under the stress of battle was personally commended by both Geary and Gen. Henry Slocum, 12th Corps commander.  Within days of the fight, the Regiment was headed back to Harrisburg, having finally reached the end of their nine month enlistment.  The 125th Pennsylvania was officially mustered out of service on May 18, after which time, Higgins returned home to Duncansville, where he resumed his work at the Portage Iron Works. 

However, as events unfolded that summer, Higgins would soon be marching off to war again, but this time the march wouldn't be nearly as far.

(read Part II here)

The Pennsylvania Reserve Corps (part II)

Check out The Pennsylvania Reserve Corps (Part I) here. 

The Battle of Antietam, September 17, 1862, still remains the bloodiest single day in American history, however, for the Pennsylvania Reserves, it would be two unforgettably brutal days.  On September 16^th, the Reserves, now under the command of Brig. Gen. George Meade, crossed the Antietam Creek at the "Upper Bridge", and battled until dark to gain a toehold in the now famous "East Woods".  During the fighting, the brave Col. Hugh McNeil of the 13^th Reserves "Bucktails" Regiment (named for the deer tails worn in their caps to show off their marksmanship prowess)  was killed leading his men forward.  That night, the Reserves remained on the battlefield, "sleeping feet to feet with the rebels", all the while exchanging fire with them.  With the rising sun on the morning of the 17th came all-out battle, as the remainder of the I Corps, under the command of Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker, joined in the fight.  Under Meade's command, the Reserve Corps performed very well, at one point bracing the Union line by beating back a Confederate counterattack through the hotly contested cornfield of farmer David Miller.  Still, they had been severely bloodied.  With the arrival of the XII Corps, the Reserves were finally able to fall back, and nurse their wounds.  

It is worthy to note that while the Reserves were going into action on the morning of September 17, 1862, Gen. Reynolds, their former commander, was not far.  Ten miles to the north, in Hagerstown, he desperately tried to get the Emergency Militia troops to move forward toward the sound of battle.  Frustrated, and always one to ride toward the sound of battle, Reynolds galloped to McClellan's headquarters, without his men, but that is a story for a future post.

The Battle of Antietam had been a battle the likes no one had ever experienced before.  At the end of twelve hours of fighting, there had been 23,110 Americans killed, wounded, or missing.  The Pennsylvania Reserve Corps had suffered roughly 500 casualties in a span of a few hours.  Antietam had been another crippling blow to the Division, as it had with the majority of the Union Army.  However, for the Reserves, who had been through many terrible battles over the past four months, including the often forgotten, yet just as fierce, Battle of South Mountain, a few days earlier, Antietam had left the Division in a deplorable condition.  

On October 15, Lieutenant John Mitchell of Co. A, 136th Pennsylvania, a new regiment, wrote home to the The Agitator, a weekly newspaper from Wellsboro.  While writing from camp near Sharpsburg, and describing the adventures, thus far, of the boys from Tioga County, Mitchell notes, "The Reserves and Bucktails are near by."  Discussing the abysmal condition of the Reserves,  he continued,  "They are veterans, worthy the names, soldiers and patriots.  They deserve a discharge from all danger, and the praise of Americans for their bravery and great sacrifices.  To see these old regiments so dwindled down makes one shudder for those who are left.  I saw the Bucktails going out to drill.  Their whole regiment numbers scarcely more than two of our Companies."

After taking command of the Reserves from Meade, who himself had taken command of the I Corps from a wounded Gen. Hooker, Brig. Gen. Truman Seymour sent a letter to the Adjutant General of Pennsylvania, painting a startling picture of what months and months of hard fighting had done to the proud Reserves.

Head Quarters Penn Vol Reserve Corps.

near Sharpsburg. Md.

September 27, 1862.

General:

            I beg leave to present to you, for the urgent consideration of His Excellency, the Governor, the general condition of the Regiments comprising this Division – a body of soldiery which has justly won every title to esteem, whether as respects the honor its services have already conferred upon the State, or those it is expected yet to render to the cause in which it is engaged.

           The numerical force of the Corps is 10,259 – its effective strength only 5050.

           The Effective [strength] of the strongest Regiment is 575 – of the weakest, 184.  Several Regiments are commanded by Captains: some have no Field Officers, and but one or two Captains. 

           The average strength of the strong Companies is 36 – many number not over 15 men, and not a few are commanded by Sergeants: several Companies in the same Regiment, even, are so commanded.

           After a few more Battles the “Reserve Corps” must become entirely dissolved, and cease to exist, except in name or on paper – unless its ranks are promptly filled.  Recruiting has thus far proved a failure, and cannot be relied upon.  It is respectfully suggested that, if the requisite number of men cannot be added by draft, or otherwise, to these skeleton companies (which is the best possible course to pursue) that new companies should be sent out with organization complete – and that those now in the field be consolidated in the proper standard.

           Failing some such actions it must very soon become necessary – and due to the public good – that these Regiments should be re-organized – the companies consolidated – and the Field Officers limited in number and rank to the then condition of their commands.

Very Respectfully, General,

            your most obe serv

T. Seymour

Brig. Genl comm. of Div



Brig. Gen. Truman Seymour - Library of Congress



In less than a year of hard fighting, the Reserve Corps had been dwindled down from the force of 15,000 that had left Pennsylvania for the front lines.  Seymour's letter, with it's staggering numbers, must have found it's way to Gov. Curtin, for on September 30, 1862, Curtin wrote to President Abraham Lincoln, requesting permission to bring the Reserves home in order to properly recruit and replenish the ranks.  "Most of our regiments that have participated in the recent battles are reduced to mere skeleton," Curtin wrote.  "The brilliant history of the Reserve Corps in the war, and the State pride which has followed them since they entered the service, together with the circumstances surrounding their organization, would, I have no doubt, prove such incentives to enlistment that the Corps could be filled to the maximum in a short space of time."  After receiving no response from Lincoln, Curtin pressed the issue to McClellan, who also declined to allow the Reserves to be removed from the front.  In the end, the companies and regiments of the Reserves were consolidated and reorganized, as Truman had described.  

The skeletal division that would remain after Antietam continued to fight on.  In December of 1862, the Reserve Corps produced the only bright spot for the Union Army during the Battle of Fredericksburg, as they pushed their way through a freezing swamp, to punch a hole in the position of Stonewall Jackson's troops.  Unsupported, however, they were forced to fall back after Jackson counterattacked, shedding more Keystone blood.  During the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863, the Reserves would arrive on the battlefield in time to hold back a Confederate force that was making a clean sweep through the hotly contested Wheatfield.  Six members of the 6th Reserves Regiment would earn the Medal of Honor at Gettysburg (most of their photographs can be seen here).  By the time enlistments ran out for the Reserve Corps in mid 1864, the division numbered some three thousand men, nearly one thousand of which would re-enlist for the remainder of the war, fighting with the 190th & 191st Pennsylvania Volunteers.

The story of the Pennsylvania Emergency Militia, while somewhat less known, intermingles with the story of the famed Pennsylvania Reserve Corps.  The men of the Corps kept alive the tradition of the Pennsylvania Militiamen who rushed to the call of 1776, and became everything many in the Emergency Militia of 1862 and 1863 hoped to live up to.  However, as Seymour's letter to Pennsylvania's Adjutant General Russel illustrates, the Reserves paid dearly for their legendary status, and for their beloved state.



"Last fight of the Pennsylvania Reserves" - Library of Congress



sources:
Bates, Samuel P. History of Pennsylvania volunteers, 1861-5 : prepared in compliance with acts of the legislature. Harrisburg: B. Singerly, State Printer, 1869.

Glover, Edwin A,. Bucktailed Wildcats: A Regiment of Civil War Volunteers. New York: Thomas Yoseloff, 1960.

Mitchell, John. "From Hammond's Company", The Agitator [Wellsboro, PA], October 29, 1862.

Newland, Ph.D., Samuel J. The Pennsylvania Militia: Defending the Commonwealth and the Nation 1669-1870. Annville, PA: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, 2002.

Nichols, Edward J. Toward Gettysburg: A Biography of General John F. Reynolds. The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1958.

Seymour, Truman. Letter to Adj. Gen. of Pennsylvania, September 27, 1862. Pennsylvania State Archives, Record Group 19, Office of the Adjutant General, Series 19.29, General Correspondence.

Sypher, Esq., J. R. History of the Pennsylvania Reserve Corps. Lancaster, PA: Elias Barr & Co., 1865.

The Pennsylvania Reserve Corps (part I)

Recently, while digging through the collections of the Pennsylvania State Archives, I unearthed a very interesting letter written after the Battle of Antietam, by Brigadier General Truman Seymour, which described the condition of the famed Pennsylvania Reserve Corps.  Many letters and accounts written by members of the Pennsylvania Emergency Militia note the Reserves, and describe their own volunteerism as not only in defense of Pennsylvania, but as almost a sort of rear-guard support for the Reserve Corps, who had been called to the front.  "The Reserves," wrote a soldier in the 2nd Pennsylvania Emergency Militia, "had been called away to succor the hard-pressed army of McClellan, and the borders were left wholly unprotected at the inviting season of harvest."  This, coupled with the discovery of the letter, prompted me to write a brief overview of the Pennsylvania Reserve Corps [a topic easily able to fill an entire blog...see http://www.pareserves.com/], as another link in the story of Pennsylvania's Emergency Men.
 
Long before Pennsylvania men rushed to fill the ranks of the Emergency Militia to act as the Commonwealth’s last line of defense, or front line in some cases, the Pennsylvania Reserve Corps had been raised for that same purpose.  On April 15, 1861, President Lincoln called for 75,000 troops to help quell the boiling rebellion in the southern states.  Initially, Pennsylvania’s quota was fourteen regiments (quickly raised to twenty five), which were to serve for a period of three months.  However, so many Keystone men marched forward, that nearly thirty whole regiments had to be turned away from Federal service.  "One of the greatest perplexities of the government," stated Lincoln, "is to avoid raising troops faster than we can provide for them."  

Harrisburg, at this point, had become overrun with organized militia companies from all over the state who were “itching to fight”.  Rather than waste the effort put forth by these troops, and the State, Pennsylvania Governor Andrew Curtin signed legislation on May 15, 1861, that would organize these militia companies into the “Reserve Volunteer Corps of the Commonwealth”.  According to the law, the Reserves would consist of thirteen infantry regiments, one cavalry, and one artillery regiment, to serve for a term of enlistment of three years, or for the duration of the conflict.  Similar to the Emergency Militia in the coming years, the Reserves were, “…liable to be called into the service of the State at such times as the Commander-in-Chief [Curtin] should deem their services necessary, for the purpose of suppressing insurrections, or to repel invasions."  

Gov. Curtin - Library of Congress

An early test for the Reserves came in late June 1861, when the 5^th (aka 34^th Pennsylvania Volunteers) and 13^th (aka 42^nd Pennsylvania, aka the “Bucktails”, aka the 1^st Pennsylvania Rifles) Reserve regiments were ordered to protect the Pennsylvania/Maryland border in southern Bedford County.  Confederate forces had been in the area of Cumberland, MD, and many in Pennsylvania feared the rebels would continue to move north.  The citizens of Cumberland urged the men of the Reserve Corps to enter Maryland and protect their city.  Just as many in the Emergency Militia of ’62, some in the Reserves discussed the, “…constitutional propriety of passing State troops beyond the State limits”.  In the end, the Reserves did enter Maryland, and successfully defended the town from a rebel attack. 

Over the next month, Gov. Curtin offered, several times, the services of the Reserve Corps to the Federal government, and each time they were refused.  It wasn’t until the days leading up to the Battle of 1^st Bull Run, that Curtin’s offer was finally accepted.  Perhaps this was due to the fact that many of the regiments in the Union Army would soon be heading home, since their enlistment periods were nearing an end, and a decisive battle had yet to be fought.  On the day of the Battle, July 21, and the days following the devastating Union defeat, Washington writhed in chaos.  The Capital sent many frantic messages to Gov. Curtin, demanding the assistance of the entire Reserve Corps for the stabilization and bolstering of the Union defenses.  From this point forward, the Pennsylvania Reserves would serve the Commonwealth, and the Nation, on the front lines.

Fighting with distinction and bravery during McClellan's Peninsula Campaign, the Battle of 2nd Bull Run, and the Battle of South Mountain, the Reserves earned a reputation as stubborn fighters that could be counted on in tough situations.  However, like most brave unit reputations earned during the Civil War, the Reserves paid for theirs in blood.  By the time the Reserve Division reached the battlefield along the Antietam in September of 1862 as part of the I Corps, they were hardened veterans, whose ranks continued to be cut down by enemy fire.  Again and again, newspapers around the state would note the actions and the losses in the Reserve regiments.  In the death notice of Capt. James S. Colwell, Co. A 7th Regt., who was killed at the Battle of Antietam, the author notes, "In the beginning of the war he volunteered his services to his country and was present with and participated in all the severe battles which will immortalize in history the names of the Pennsylvania Reserves."  

In the late summer of 1862, Gen. Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia began to push north through Maryland.  Fearing a rebel army crossing the Pennsylvania border, while no longer having the protection of the Reserve Corps within the state, Gov. Curtin scrambled to put together a force of Emergency Militia in the hopes of turning back a rebel invasion.  Curtin sought out a tested and experienced soldier to lead men who were, for the most part, very much the opposite.  "We want an active, energetic officer to command the forces in the field, and one that could rally Pennsylvanians around him", wrote Curtin in a message to Washington, "It is believed that General Reynolds would be the most useful..."  At the outset of the Maryland Campaign of 1862, Gen. John Reynolds, a Pennsylvanian, commanded the Pennsylvania Reserve Corps.  Many in the Army of the Potomac tried to keep Reynolds from being ordered away from the army to command the Emergency Militia.  Gen. McClellan responded by telling Washington, "He has one of the best divisions [the Reserves] and is well acquainted with it.  I cannot see how his services can be spared at the present time."  Despite these efforts, Reynolds, for the remainder of the campaign, was in command of the militia, and not his beloved Reserve Corps.

Gen. Reynolds - http://www.generalsandbrevets.com

Check out The Pennsylvania Reserve Corps (part II) here.

 

sources:

"Another Hero Has Fallen," Cumberland Valley Journal, October 4, 1862.

Bates, Samuel P. History of Pennsylvania volunteers, 1861-5 : prepared in compliance with acts of the legislature. Harrisburg: B. Singerly, State Printer, 1869.

Newland, Ph.D., Samuel J. The Pennsylvania Militia: Defending the Commonwealth and the Nation 1669-1870. Annville, PA: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, 2002.

Nichols, Edward J. Toward Gettysburg: A Biography of General John F. Reynolds. The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1958.

Richards, Louis. Eleven Days in the Militia During the War of the Rebellion; Being a Journal of the "Emergency" Campaign of 1862. Philadelphia: Collins, Printer, 1883. 

Sypher, Esq., J. R. History of the Pennsylvania Reserve Corps. Lancaster, PA: Elias Barr & Co., 1865.

Archive Find: Charley King, 49th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry

"All the rising generation is ruined by the heresy of secession" ~ Worthington G. Snethen

Recently, I have been spending time transcribing a handful of soldiers’ letters from the Maryland Campaign.  While each one is truly fascinating, and offers a distinct view of the events and actions of that September, one in particular jumped out to me, as it makes mention of a truly tragic episode, among the many, at the Battle of Antietam, September 17, 1862.

On September 9, 1861, Charles E. “Charley” King, of West Chester, PA, enlisted as a musician with Company F of the 49^th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry.  Even though the Muster Roll [see image below] of Charley’s company lists him as being 18 years of age, Charley was in fact only 12 years old.  On the Roll, he was noted as having brown hair, hazel eyes, light complexion, and an occupation of “school boy”.  Undoubtedly, this “school boy” was swept up with patriotic duty, and a sense of adventure, not to mention the $12 a month he would receive, before drumming his company off to war. 

Pennsylvania State Archives

A little over a year later, at the Battle of Antietam, the 49^th Pennsylvania was attached to General Winfield Scott Hancock’s brigade, of the Union Army’s 6^th Corps.  Arriving in the vicinity of the East Woods, in the northern end of the battlefield, Hancock was tasked with securing the Union position after a 2^nd Corps division, under Gen. John Sedgwick, had been flanked in the West Woods by a surprise rebel counterattack, several hundred yards to Hancock’s front.  With Sedgwick’s force shattered and swept from the field, the Confederates continued their push forward.  Hancock ordered his regiments to dash forward in order to break the oncoming enemy force, in order to stop them from over running a lone Union artillery battery, and completely devaste the Union right flank.   

National Park Service - Antietam National Battlefield

Corporal John Woods, a 21 year old in Company G, writing home to Spring Mills on September 22^nd,  remembered of the moment:

“We saw the two long lines of battle [on the left] in an open field about 200 or 300 yds apart fighting as hard as a battle can be fought and at the same time the artillery on both sides playing on each other just as fast as the artillerymen could handle themselves.  It would have been a beautiful sight if there had been no one killed or wounded.  We got to our position just in time – it was on a little hill and the rebels and us were doing their utmost to get the position first but we beet[sic] them by a few hundred yards.  Our Batteries were scarcely on the hill till they opened on the rebs and kept them back and such a shelling for a few hours I never heard.”

49^th Pennsylvania historian, Sgt. Robert Westbrook, of Company B, noted the desperate pace of the events:

“We were double-quicked in, and in line of battle Colonel Irwin’s orders were, ‘Steady, right dress;’ our lines are good; battery in our rear on a full gallop; we are afraid the rebels will get the position; we move a little to right oblique to make an opening for our battery; up [they] come to the crest and go into position; we support them; the position is ours; now the fighting is very sever on our immediate left; Company C is deployed as skirmishers; General Hancock is ordered to take command of General Richardson’s division, Richardson having been badly wounded today, and he leaves us at once; we kissed the ground to escape the flying missiles; now Colonel Irwin is taken away from us to take command of a brigade, and this leaves Major Tom Huling in command of our regiment; these changes were made in about five minutes, as there was no time to be lost...”
 

Of the ferocious artillery fire, Cpl. Woods stated that the men, “…had to lay flat on the ground and the rebel shell burst all around us.  Two pieces dropped within two feet of my head and one ball struck the ground a few feet in front and bounded over us and struck a tree back of us.  I felt the wind of it on my foot that had no shoe on."  [suffering from a swollen foot, and unable to wear his boot, Woods had made the march from Washington shoeless]  

It was at this point that Woods makes the simple, but tragic observation that, “…four of our Regt. Wounded and two I think have died since.  One little drummer boy of Co. F[Charley King] was shot through the lungs”.  Sgt. Westbrook added that King, “…fell into the arms of H. H. Bowles, of the Sixth Maine regiment;” a neighboring unit in Hancock’s brigade.

The 49^th Pennsylvania would remain in this location for the rest of the day, and all of the next.  When they finally moved forward in order to probe the Confederate lines, and determine their whereabouts, both Woods and Westbrook were startled by the carnage of what was the single bloodiest day in American History.  “We passed over the battlefield the next day and oh! such a sight.  I never saw anything like it before or never want to again.  The fields were just covered with the dead and all the way to the river bodies were strewn along the road,” wrote Woods.  “It was a horrible sight in the road – the dead rebels piled on top of one another, and there was no room to walk.  We took the field to the right, and came on the pike above Sharpsburg,” remembered Westbrook.

After his terrible wounding, Charley King was immediately taken to a hospital in the rear of the lines, where he lingered for three more days before dying on September 20, at the age of 13.  It is not fully clear whether his body was buried on the battlefield, where it still might remain, or whether his father was able to return his son to his native Chester County.  King is widely believed to be the youngest soldier killed during the entire American Civil War.

History of the 49th Pennsylvania Volunteers

Notes:

Civil War Muster Roll, 49^th Regiment, Records Group (RG) 19, Series# 19.11, Carton 24 & 25, Pennsylvania State Archives, Harrisburg, PA.

John Woods, to Mother, 22 September 1862, Woods Family Collection, Manuscript Group (MG) 188, Pennsylvania State Archives, Harrisburg, PA.

Marion V. Armstrong Jr., Unfurl Those Colors!: McClellan, Sumner, and the Second Army Corps in the Antietam Campaign (Tuscaloosa: The University of Alabama Press, 2008), 260-261.

Robert Westbrook, History of the 49^th Pennsylvania Volunteers (Altoona, PA: Altoona

Times Print, 1898), 125.

“Worthington G. Snethen to Winfield Scott, June 29, 1861[transcription],” accessed 29

June 2011; available from http://hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu/node/37295; Internet.