"Dreadful Collision on the Cumberland Valley Railroad"

By September 26, 1862, the threat of General Lee invading Pennsylvania was over, most of the Emergency Militamen had been mustered out of state service, and were on their way home.  For the militiamen, Lee's Maryland Campaign of 1862, had been a relatively bloodless adventure [one militiaman had been accidentally shot and wounded by a nervous comrade while on picket duty near Williamsport, MD].  However, on this day 149 years ago, men of Co. I, "the Halleck Infantry" [aka "Spruce Ward Guards"], of the 20th PA Emergency Militia, from Reading, would become the first casualties of the Emergency Militia of 1862, while in the service of their state.*  Surprisingly, the carnage occurred far from any battlefield.  An account of the tragedy appeared in the Carlisle Herald, the following week:

     On Friday morning last, about 7 o'clock, a horrible railroad accident took place on the Cumberland Valley Railroad at Bridgeport [now Lemoyne, PA] in this county [Cumberland].  

     A troop train of some twenty freight cars, containing the 20th Regiment Pennsylvania Militia, including the Corn Exchange Company [Cos. A, D, & F] and Revenue Guards of Philadelphia [Co. K], was on the way from Greencastle [Franklin County], where they had been encamped for few days.

     The train was behind time, and had been waiting for a train at this place, but none coming, the train proceeded.

     The weather was very foggy, and it was with the utmost difficulty that objects could be described along the track, but everything went on smoothly until within about a mile of the [Susquehanna River] bridge, when the train came suddenly on an engine stationed on the track. 

     The engineer of the troop train immediately reversed his engine, but too late to prevent the collision, and the engines came together with terrific force.

     The car immediately behind the tender of the troop train [which carried Co. I] was crushed into fragments, and nearly all of its occupants either killed or wounded.

     The second car was driven into the first and completely destroyed, and a number of persons badly hurt.  The third car was thrown on top of the second, the wheels crushing through the top.

     The most horrifying portion of the scene was the cries of the wounded, some thirty in number, and the sight of the dead.  They were all carried to a house close by, and surgeons sent for from Harrisburg.

     It should be remembered that the Cumberland Valley Railroad was not managed by its own officers, but by persons appointed by the government.  The Company therefore is not responsible for any mismanagement, though it has been censured by many who are ignorant of the circumstances.  The three months troops, nearly 80,000 in number, who were sent to the Upper Potomac, were all carried over the road without a single accident, but it was then controlled by its own Superintendent, and the trains run by engineers and conductors who were well acquainted with the route.

     Since writing the above, two more of the wounded have died, and several others are lingering in their last agonies.

CVRR locomotive Utility, was stationed on the track the morning of September 26th, as the troop train, carrying the 20th PA EM, approached Harrisburg, colliding with the Utility

The 20th Pennsylvania Emergency Militia had been organized in Harrisburg on September 18th, too late to play any significant role in the Campaign, but were still sent south to the state border, traveling on the Cumberland Valley Railroad.  As the article points out, the CVRR, and all state military mobilization, was placed under the control of Thomas Alexander Scott, by Pennsylvania Governor Andrew Curtin.  Despite being clear of blame, the CVRR was constantly blamed for the accident in the Philadelphia press, which was where the majority of the 20th Regiment was from.  Ultimately, the CVRR was willing to pay $25,000 to the survivors who had been injured in the accident, which had been the worst in all of the Cumberland Valley Railroad's history. 

Casualties from Co. I, 20th PA Emergency Militia

KILLED**

2nd Sgt. Henry Fleck

Pvt. Augustus Keller

Pvt. Daniel Seiders

Pvt. Albert B. Werner

WOUNDED 

1st Sgt. Samuel Hamilton (collar bone & lower jaw broken)

Cpl. Zeno Hoffmaster (left leg broken)

Cpl. Alex Werner (legs & chest bruised)

Cpl. William R. Williams (head bruised)

Cpl. Nelson Bell (right arm broken)

Drummer, Henry Redmond (wrist dislocated)

Drummer, Jacob Hamilton (bruised in the hips)

Pvt. Jacob Crow (head cut & legs badly bruised)

Pvt. Adam Deem (right shoulder dislocated, arms & legs badly bruised)

Pvt. Richard Eagle (ankle sprained & injured)

Pvt. William Eisenbise (legs injured)

Pvt. Henry Fix (chest badly crushed, shoulder joint injured)

Pvt. Henry Goodman (bruised about the head)

Pvt. Jacob Herst (right arm crushed & amputated at the shoulder socket)

Pvt. John Herm (head & shoulder bruised)

Pvt. Evan James (bruised at the back & chest)

Pvt. William Keller (badly cut about head, right collar bone broken, left breast crushed)

Pvt. John Killian (left fore arm bone splintered)

Pvt. Daniel Lausch (ankle injured)

Pvt. Isaac Moore (internally injured)

Pvt. Lewis Newdorfer (shoulder dislocated & injured about head)

Pvt. Bernard Omacht [or O'Macht] (bruised about the head & body)

Pvt. James O'Neil [or O'Neel] (injured about head, back & chest)

Pvt. Mark O'Neil [or O'Neel] (head severely cut and body injured)

Pvt. William Schuler (bruised in chest, arm injured)

Pvt. William Statt (body bruised)

Pvt. Michael Smith (left breast badly bruised)

Pvt. Ely Williams (legs bruised)

*It is worth pointing out that many of the men of Co. I had been among the first to answer President Lincoln's call for troops at the outbreak of war in 1861.  Many of the wounded, including Sgt. Henry Fleck, who was killed, were members of the Ringgold Light Artillery.  To learn more about the Ringgold Light Artillery, and the rest of the 'First Defenders', please click here and here, to read posts by friend and 'First Defender' historian, John Hoptak.

**Additional newspaper accounts obtained after the publishing of this post note deaths in other companies of the 20th PA EM; between 8 - 11 deaths total.

sources:

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

Civil War Muster Roll and Related Records, 1861-1866, 20^th Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Militia, Records Group (RG) 19, Series# 19.11, Carton 127, Pennsylvania State Archives, Harrisburg, PA.

"Dreadful Collision on the Cumberland Valley Railroad", Carlisle Herald, October 3, 1862.

Westhaeffer, Paul J. History of the Cumberland Valley Railroad: 1835-1919. Washington, D.C. Chapter, National Railway Historical Society, 1979.  

"Some of the men...were walking armories of miscellaneous weapons"

Louis Richards, a Private in Co. G, 2^nd Pennsylvania Emergency Militia, wrote in 1883 of his experiences in September 1862.  Among his many recollections, Lewis gives us an interesting picture of how Emergency Militia of 1862 were supplied and outfitted.

On September 10, 1862, Pennsylvania Governor Andrew Curtin called upon all organized militias to report to Harrisburg for the defense of the Commonwealth.  Louis noted:
The companies were directed to be filled in accordance with the army standards of the United States, and as it was stated that the call might be sudden, the officers and men were required to provide themselves with the best arms they could procure, with at least sixty rounds of suitable ammunition, good stout clothing, uniform or otherwise; boots, blankets, and haversacks.

While still organizing in Reading, prior to taking the train to the capital, Louis describes his company’s supplies situation:
Arms of all kinds were in urgent demand.  Rifles and shot-guns, single and double-barreled, old and new; pistols of all designs, long and short, ancient and modern, together with some other unclassified implements of war, were brought out from their hiding-places, hastily cleaned and put in working order.  Some of the men, when equipped for the march, were walking armories of miscellaneous weapons.  The hardware stores were invaded in search of powder, shot, and ball.  A gum blanket, with which in most cases an army blanket, or in default thereof, a pair of ordinary red blankets, were rolled up; a haversack of canvas or oil-cloth, hastily put together at the saddler’s, a tin cup, knife and fork and spoon, made up the rest of the equipment.

After arriving in Harrisburg, Louis’ company received a welcomed surprise:

We were much relieved to find that we were to be furnished with arms and equipments by the State, as our force was far from effective in its present shape.  At the State Arsenal, on the Capitol grounds, we were supplied with Springfield muskets, knapsacks, haversacks, and canteens.  Delivered up our old guns to be returned home.  The muskets and bayonets, on first introduction, were handled with some curiosity.  As there were no scabbards provided for the latter, the bayonets had to be carried fixed to the pieces.  Of ammunition there was none on hand at present, but it was stated that a supply would be sent after us. 

Among the Governor’s call for militia to organize, was the strong suggestion for the troops to supply their own rations, for which Louis was very grateful after arriving in Harrisburg:
My haversack had been bountifully stocked by my good landlady at home, Mrs. B., whose liberality as a provider and kindness of heart will always be held in grateful remembrance by her guests.  The foresight of the Governor in mentioning in his proclamation the subject of rations, was generally commended, as little or nothing eatable seemed to be obtainable in this town since its occupation as a militia camp.

After leaving Harrisburg, and traveling south along the Cumberland Valley Railroad, the 2^nd PA Emergency Militia camped just outside Chambersburg.  While there, Louis watched as more companies arrived, with one well equipped unit making a lasting impression:
Regiments were continually arriving from the railroad, and the shrieks of the steam-whistles, the blasts of bugles, clatter of drums, and the cheering of the troops enlivened the day.  Among the accessions were the Blue Reserves, of Philadelphia, a uniformed organization, which made a handsome appearance.

On September 19, the men of the 2^nd were in position just outside Hagerstown, MD, when a report of “a considerable body of rebels” nearby spread through the ranks.  Though they were about to march into battle (as far as they knew), they were still lacking important equipment of war:
We were now supplied with sixty rounds of ammunition per man – the first we had received – and loaded our guns, which looked like business.  In default of the usual appliances [cartridge boxes] for that purpose, the cartridges were deposited in our overcoat pockets.  Thus ballasted, we were marched down the road…

Finally, in Maryland, Louis made a comical observation of one of his fellow soldiers, who had supplied himself with a beacon for ridicule:
J. H. F. [Jacob H. Forney], an ex-country justice of the peace, enjoys the distinction of being the only man in the company in regimentals, having donned a uniform made for him some years ago, when he was an orderly sergeant of a company which belonged to the Kutztown battalion.  His avoirdupois [weight] has greatly increased since the garments were made, and his harness is so tight that he finds marching very uncomfortable.  He stands upright a large part of the time from force of circumstances, and sits down with caution.

Illustration from Harper's Weekly showing the variety of the civilian "uniforms" of the militia

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

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.

Reading, PA Responds to the Emergency

In September of 1862, Louis Richards was a Private in the "5th Ward Guards" from Reading, PA.  Eventually his unit would be sworn into state service as Company G, 2nd Pennsylvania Emergency Militia.  Writing some twenty years after the events of '62, Richards offers us a comical, if not somewhat innocent, view into the ranks of a "green" militia unit, as well as the excitement, patriotism, and fervor that was bubbling over in the streets of Reading, PA.

"The night was one of much activity and excitement.  Drilling was done in Penn Square to the inspiring accompaniment of fife and drum, which gave the town a decidedly warlike appearance.  This exercise was continued daily and nightly until the militia had marched, and at no period during the entire war did military enthusiasm of the people reach a greater height.

In the instruction of the troops, the manual of arms had to be omitted, for there were no guns.  Officers had been hastily selected, and the commands in most cases given to experienced soldiers, whose services were in sudden and great demand.  The fidelity of the men was accepted without any suggestion to the test of an oath.  The companies recruited rapidly, and were not long in filling up to the standard.  Their evolutions, which were conducted to a large extent in the open square, under the cover of darkness, were at times edifying to witness.  As the battalions marched with sturdy tread up and down on either side of the central market-houses, collisions would now and then derange the symmetry of the forces.  Frequent resort to unmilitary language on the part of the commanders was necessary to bring up the laggard platoons, and movements were habitually executed for which no precedent could have been found in either Scott or Hardee [military drill manuals].  But it was patriotism and not tactics that was uppermost in the minds of all, and trifling imperfections of military discipline were, for the moment at least, sunk out of sight in the sense of common danger."

Photograph of Penn Square in Reading, Pennsylvania, ca. 1870.

Historical Society of Berks County

sources:

Gayley, Alice J. "Histories of the Pennsylvania Volunteer Regiments," accessed 26 June 2011; available from http://www.pa-roots.com/pacw/reghistlist.htm; Internet.

"Penn Street through the years," accessed 26 June 2011; available from http://www.berkshistory.org/pennst/; Internet.

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.