Martial Deeds of Pennsylvania, Samuel P. Bates, 1876 - Part 2, Chapter 12, 810-
847

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                         MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA
                                       by
                                SAMUEL P. BATES.

                     PHILADELPHIA: T. H. DAVIS & CO., 1876.

MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA - 810

                              Part II.  BIOGRAPHY.

                                   CHAPTER XII.

SAMUEL WYLIE CRAWFORD, Colonel of the Second infantry, Brigadier-General of 
volunteers, and Brevet Major-General, was born in Franklin county, Pennsylvania, 
of Scotch descent.  He was educated at the University in Philadelphia, where he 
graduated in the Collegiate department in 1846, and in the Medical in 1850.  He 
was appointed Assistant Surgeon on the 10th of March, 1851, and till 1856 served 
in Texas and New Mexico, in the practice of his profession and in scientific 
research.  During this time he made extensive collections in natural history, in 
a region hitherto little known-El Paso del Norte; and wrote a treatise on the 
fauna and flora of the country upon the head-waters of the Rio San Saba, which 
was published by Congress.  Receiving orders to return, he passed through 
Mexico, and upon his arrival at the city of Mexico, the United States Minister, 
by consent of the War Department, retained him at the legation to assist in the 
negotiation of a treaty then pending.  In 1857 he bore a barometer to the summit 
of the volcano Popocatepetl, reaching the crater in company of a single guide.  
The measurement which he made of its altitude was reported to the Prussian 
Government by a party of scientists sent out to verify Humboldt's discoveries, 
but who failed to make the ascent.  Not content with his first experience he 
again wended his way to its dizzy heights, remaining all night in the crater, 
was let down by cords into its depths, and brought out valuable mineralogical 
specimens, which were deposited in the cabinet at West Point.  He also ascended 
Istuchihuatle (the White Woman), verifying the fact that no traces could be 
discovered of volcanic activity.  For his explorations here he was

S. WYLIE CRAWFORD - 811

made a member of the Geographical Society of Mexico.  At the conclusion of leave 
of absence he was the bearer of dispatches to Washington, and after his arrival 
was ordered to duty as Assistant Surgeon with the troops in Kansas.  In 1860 he 
was assigned as Surgeon with the forces at Fort Moultrie, in Charleston harbor, 
reporting to Lieutenant-Colonel John Gardner of the First artillery.
  On the ever memorable evening of December 26th, 1860, the faithful and 
chivalrous Major Anderson determined to abandon Moultrie and remove all to 
Sumter, an act to which he was incited by the highest considerations of 
patriotic duty.  In an enterprise of hazard like this Surgeon Crawford could not 
be content to confine himself to the simple duties of his post, and upon the 
seizure of Sumter applied to be assigned as an officer of the line, illustrating 
the sentiment of the hero in Ivanhoe:  "Thou knowest, not how impossible it is 
to one trained to actions of chivalry to remain passive as a priest or a woman 
when they are acting deeds of honor around him.  The love of battle is the food 
upon which we live-the dust of the melee is the breath of our nostrils.  We wish 
to live no longer than while we are victorious and renowned."  He was assigned 
as desired, and throughout the bombardment commanded a battery of two thirty-two 
and one forty-two pounders.  He assisted Captain Foster in spiking the guns at 
Moultrie, on the 26th, and on the following day returned to that fort and aided 
in destroying the gun carriages, and in the removal of the ammunition and 
stores.  His nerve in the fight was the subject of commendation by Major 
Anderson in his communications to the War Department and he was recommended for 
the rank of Brevet Major.
  With honor unsullied, having defended the fort until their supplies were 
exhausted and their quarters burned, the troops under Major Anderson retired and 
proceeded to New York, where Crawford was assigned to duty at Governor's Island.  
While here he was appointed Major of the Thirteenth infantry, and ordered to 
duty with General Rosecrans, then operating in West Virginia against the rebel 
General Floyd.  Upon his arrival he was appointed Assistant Inspector-General of 
the department and was employed in this capacity, and as special

MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA - 812

Aide-de-camp to the General in that short but brilliant campaign which routed 
the enemy.  On his return with General Rosecrans to Wheeling, he was recommended 
for appointment to Brigadier-General, in response to a request from General 
McClellan to name two officers from that department for that rank.  He was 
appointed accordingly, and ordered to report for duty to General Banks in the 
Shenandoah Valley.  He was with that General, acting upon his staff, at the 
battle of Winchester, and in the retirement to the Potomac was assigned to the 
command of a brigade, which he continued to lead in the movement up the valley.  
On the 3d of August he made a reconnaissance to Orange Court House, and in a 
brisk action discovered that Jackson and Ewell were concentrating at 
Gordonsville and Louisa Court House.  On the 8th of August he was sent to the 
support of Bayard who was falling back with his cavalry, and established himself 
at Cedar Run, checking the enemy's advance.  In the battle of Cedar Mountain, on 
the following day, Crawford had the extreme right of the line.  At a critical 
juncture he moved under a severe fire, flanking the enemy upon the left and 
turning him out of his position, but was in turn driven, Jackson having been 
heavily reinforced.  For three days skirmishing was kept up upon the 
Rappahannock, and during the Second Bull Run battle he commanded a division.  At 
Turner's Gap and at Antietam he led a brigade of seven regiments, and, after the 
fall of General Mansfield, a division.  At daylight on the 17th of September, on 
the Antietam field, he advanced to battle and drove the enemy across the 
Hagerstown road.  In an attempt to clear the wood around the Dunkard Church he 
was severely wounded, but refused to leave the field, and when General Franklin 
subsequently came to his relief, accompanied him in his advance, pointing out 
the positions held by the foe.  His wound becoming painful, he retired to a 
hospital.  Before recovering completely he applied for light duty and was 
appointed a member of a military commission sitting in Washington.
  On the 19th of May, 1863, General Crawford was assigned to the command of the 
Pennsylvania Reserves, and, on the 23d of June, was ordered to join the Army of 
the Potomac, marching with the Fifth corps to Gettysburg.  On the afternoon of 
the 2d

S. WYLIE CRAWFORD - 813

of July he was sent to the left, and took position on the slopes of Little Round 
Top.  Four of his regiments under Colonel Fisher he ordered to the support of 
Vincent's brigade, then engaged in a mortal struggle with Hood.  The balance of 
his command he formed for a charge to meet the oncoming enemy, who had broken 
and driven every Union force hitherto sent against them.  Knowing that the 
moment was a critical one he rode down the line, calling upon his troops to move 
forward, and seizing the flag of the first, advanced to the charge.  An act like 
this has never failed to inspire men.  A similar instance is recorded of 
Reynolds at Bull Run; and at Charles City Cross Roads the dauntless Kearny, 
seeing the right of his brigade giving way, with his reins in his teeth, his 
only arm wielding his sword, dashed down between the hostile lines where the 
missiles of death were mercilessly raining.  Awed by the majesty of the act, 
both sides ceased firing.  Crawford's men were not less susceptible, and when 
the word was given to advance they moved with unfaltering step, breasted the 
storm that was beating full in their faces, reached the stone wall behind which 
the enemy had been sheltering themselves, and drove them in confusion.  On the 
following day, under the immediate supervision of General Meade, Crawford's 
command moved upon the forces of Hood, made some captures, and held the ground 
which had been lost on the previous evening.
  After leaving Gettysburg, General Crawford took part in the operations at 
Falling Waters, Manassas Gap, Rappahannock Station, and Mine Run, and during the 
succeeding winter was posted on the line of the Orange and Alexandria railroad.  
In the reorganization of the army for the spring campaign he was given command 
of the Third division of the Fifth corps.  In the Wilderness he had the advance 
of his corps, and on the second day had position on its right near the centre of 
the army.  At evening he was sent to the support of the Sixth corps on the 
extreme right of the whole line, where the enemy had attempted a surprise.  The 
operations at Laurel Hill, Spottsylvania Court House, and the North Anna were 
protracted from the 7th to the 30th of May, and were almost one ceaseless 
battle.  On the latter date was the engagement at Bethesda Church, in which the 
Pennsyl-

MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA - 814

vania Reserves bore a conspicuous part.  It was their last battle.  Their term 
of service ended on the following day; the time of a part of them had already 
expired, and they were fighting for the love they bore the flag.  The battle was 
severe, but the Reserves were triumphant.  It was characterized by the Richmond 
papers as "sad and distressing."
  The Union army crossed the James on the 16th of June, 1864, and found its old 
antagonist seated in front of Petersburg.  On the 18th and 21st of August there 
was severe fighting at the Weldon Railroad, near the Yellow or Globe Tavern, in 
which Crawford was warmly engaged.  He had advanced over rugged ground and 
received from General Warren, who commanded the Fifth corps, the following 
commendation of his conduct:  "You have done well in getting forward through 
that difficult country.  Make yourself as strong as you can, and hold on.  I 
will try to reinforce you."  But the line was too attenuated and too much 
concealed from observation, and the enemy, seeing his advantage, massed his 
forces and broke through, blanking the position and making considerable 
captures.  To add to the confusion the Union artillery, seeing the rebel 
infantry in rear of the Union line, opened upon them, destroying friend and foe 
alike.  It required a master hand to extricate the forces from this sad 
situation.  But the lines were reformed, and advanced to the position from which 
they had been driven.  A sharp action at Hatcher's Run on the 27th of October, 
and the raid to Sussex Court House and Hicksford on the 5th of December, closed 
the operations of the year.
  The spring campaign of 1865 opened on the 5th of February, when Crawford moved 
with his division, in connection with a heavy body, to Dabney's Mills.  The 
enemy had anticipated the move, and was in waiting to receive him.  A sharp and 
protracted encounter followed, in which the rebel General Pegram was killed and 
General Sorrel wounded.  For the good conduct of his division here he received 
the commendation of Generals Warren and Meade.  After his return to camp he was 
offered the command of all the cavalry of the Potomac army, which he declined.  
On the 30th of March General Crawford led his division out for the last time-a 
campaign then opening which ended in the sur-

S. WYLIE CRAWFORD - 815

render of Lee with his entire army.  At the White Oak Road, near Gravelly Run 
Church, he moved upon the rebel rear over difficult ground and promptly attacked 
while Griffin and Ayer pressed in front.  The movement was opportune and 
skillfully executed.  The fighting was severe but entirely successful.  "A four-
gun battery," he says in his report, "under Colonel Pegram, and the battle-flag 
of the Thirty-second Virginia infantry were captured and the enemy routed in 
confusion.  We were now within the enemy's intrenchments, and he was retreating 
before us.  Here I met and joined Griffin's division, and, changing direction 
again under General Warren's orders, we moved in a southeasterly direction until 
dark, when all the enemy had fled.  In this battle I lost over three hundred in 
killed and wounded."  With relentless earnestness the pursuit was pushed, and on 
the 9th the surrender was made.
  General Crawford returned to Washington, and during the succeeding summer his 
division was mustered out, but he continued in the volunteer service until 
January, 1866.  From that date until the 30th of July, 1867, he was on leave of 
absence awaiting orders, at the end of which time he joined his regiment and had 
command of the military post at Louisville, Kentucky.  Upon the reduction of the 
infantry from forty-five to twenty-five regiments he was selected to command the 
Second, though the last Colonel promoted.  In April, 1869, he was transferred to 
Alabama, and placed in command of the post at Huntsville and of the troops in 
the State, besides performing important general court-martial duty.  On the 21st 
of December, 1871, he was granted leave of absence on surgeon's certificate, and 
on the 19th of February was reported by the Army Board "incapacitated for active 
service by reason of a gunshot wound received at the battle of Antietam, 
September 17th, 1862, while holding the rank of Brigadier-General of volunteers, 
and exercising the command of a Major-General," and the President directed "that 
his name be placed on the list of retired officers of that class in which the 
disability results from long and faithful service, or from wounds or injury 
received in the line of duty."  His attainments in science have earned for him 
merited recognition.  He is a member of the Historical Societies of New York and 
Pennsylvania, of the Geographical Society

MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA - 816

of New York, and of the Society of Natural History of Philadelphia.  The degree 
of LL.D. was conferred upon him by the University of Pennsylvania in 1870.

CHARLES ALBRIGHT, Colonel of the One Hundred and Thirty-second regiment and 
Brevet Brigadier-General, was born on the 13th of December, 1830, in Berks 
county, Pennsylvania.  He was the son of Solomon and Mary (Miller) Albright.  He 
was educated at Dickinson College, and studied law at Ebensburg with Robert L. 
Johnson.  He subsequently removed to Mauch Chunk, where he acquired a commanding 
influence both in his profession and in politics.  He was married in 1852 to 
Miss Naomi E. Wingard, daughter of Valentine Wingard.  In stature he is above 
the medium height.  He is methodical and temperate, eschewing altogether tobacco 
and spirituous liquors.  In 1854 he went with Governor Reeder to Kansas, where 
he was involved in the troubles of that infant State, allying himself actively 
with the Free State party, and contending, as was the right of citizens, for the 
consecration of that virgin soil to the cause of freedom forever.
  Returning to his native State he became absorbed in the great questions 
overshadowing every other, which finally culminated in civil war.  His interest 
in the safety of the incoming administration led him to Washington on the 
occasion of the inauguration of President Lincoln in 1861, and though seeing 
this happily accomplished he could discern the low mutterings of the coming 
storm, and remaining at the Capital attached himself to the Clay battalion for 
its defence.  He was subsequently appointed Major of the One Hundred and Thirty-
second regiment, and after the battle of Antietam, when the Colonel was killed, 
he was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel.  At Fredericksburg nearly one-half of 
this gallant body was either killed or wounded.  In January following he was 
made Colonel, and was assigned to the leadership of a brigade in the Second 
corps, distinguishing himself in the battle of Chancellorsville.
  In June, 1863, he was assigned to the command of Camp Muhlenburg, at Reading, 
and in the emergency occasioned by the invasion of the State by the rebel army 
was appointed Colonel

CHARLES ALBRIGHT - 817

of the Thirty-fourth militia, with which he was sent to Philadelphia in 
apprehension of trouble from the enforcement of the draft.  The turbulent 
elements were greatly excited, and riot and bloodshed seemed imminent.  Colonel 
Albright went fully determined to maintain order.  To avoid the appearance of a 
challenge he halted his column in Chestnut street, and ordered an inspection and 
a discharge of all loaded arms.  Moving to camp where disturbance was feared, by 
a free conference with persons having great influence with the masses he gave 
assurance of his pacific desires, but of his resolute intentions if put to the 
test.  His reasonable temper had the effect to allay excitement.  Peace was 
preserved throughout the city, while at New York, where a less judicious course 
was pursued, riot and civil strife reigned supreme.  His temperate management 
here drew upon him the favorable regard of the Government, and when troubles 
arose in the coal regions he was sent among the miners to quell a threatened 
uprising.  By rare tact he discovered the ringleaders, had them arrested, and 
soon brought the entire section to a peaceable condition.  In August, 1864, he 
was commissioned Colonel of the Two Hundred and Second regiment.  Soon after 
taking the field he was detached and sent to quell troubles existing in Columbia 
county, where lawless men, inspired by crafty leaders, were defying authority.  
Speedily were the operations of the band discovered, their evil machinations 
brought to light, and further trouble averted.  Returning, he resumed command of 
his regiment, and was sent out upon the Manassas Gap Railroad infested by 
numerous bands of guerillas bent upon interrupting trains employed in 
transporting stores to Sheridan in the Valley.  He here succeeded to the command 
of a brigade.  A warm engagement occurred near Fairfax Station, in which Moseby 
was routed and the disposition to attack broken.  When no longer needed for this 
purpose the road was abandoned and his command went into quarters at Fairfax 
Station.  Against this isolation he protested, being eager to join the Grand 
Army before Petersburg; but the Government refused to listen to his appeals.
  On the 25th of March, 1865, he was appointed and confirmed Brigadier-General 
by brevet.  He continued in service until August, when he returned to his home 
at Mauch Chunk and re-

MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA - 818

sumed the practice of his profession, where he has also been largely engaged in 
iron, slate, and mining interests, and as President of the Second National Bank.  
He is known and esteemed as a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which 
he has been an active worker for many years, and was one of the two lay 
delegates from the Philadelphia Conference to the General Conference which 
convened in Brooklyn in 1872.  He was a delegate to the Chicago Convention which 
put in nomination Mr. Lincoln for the Presidency, and also to that which sat in 
Philadelphia and renominated President Grant, where he acted as chairman of the 
Committee on Permanent Organization.  At the general State election held in the 
fall of 1872 he was chosen one of the representatives at large to the United 
States Congress, in which capacity he is now serving.

IRA AYER, Jr., Colonel of the Tenth Reserve regiment, was born in Erie county, 
New York, on the 14th of July, 1836.  He was the son of Ira and Julia M. 
(Wadsworth) Ayer.  At the opening of the Rebellion he was a student of Allegheny 
College.  Without waiting for authority he called together his fellow-students, 
and having had some training in the Sixty-seventh militia, of which his father 
was Colonel, commenced drilling them.  Though earnest in his appeals his company 
failed of acceptance, until the Reserve corps was authorized, when it was 
mustered as Company I of the Tenth.  He was first in action at Dranesville.  He 
seems to have had a poetic appreciation of valor; for when General Ord, who 
commanded in the battle, came galloping forward, leading Easton's battery into 
action, he thus records his impressions:  "Just then Ord came dashing up.  'Make 
way for my artillery,' he shouted, and without slackening his speed dashed by, 
while his 'war-dogs' followed close behind.  The General was an old artillerist, 
and knew well how to value this arm of the service.  The scene was, I think, the 
most animated that I witnessed during the war.  He was mounted on a beautiful 
bay, and as he rode up, his eyes flashing fire and every lineament of his 
countenance betokening courage, his presence inspired all with confidence."
  In the battle of Beaver Dam Creek he was sent forward with

IRA AYER, Jr. - 819

his company to occupy the skirmish line, and remained in this advance position 
during the entire engagement, the regiment acquitting itself in the most gallant 
manner.  "About ten o'clock," he says, "the roar of artillery had ceased.  In 
our advanced position we could hear distinctly the movements of the enemy, and 
the cries and shrieks of the wounded and dying, as they lay where they had 
fallen or were being moved from the field."  In the battle of the following day, 
at Gaines' Mill, he received a gunshot wound in the right side and a severe 
contusion of the right arm.  "Colonel Warner," he says, "mustered the regiment 
on the 30th, and I shall never forget the glow of soldierly pride with which he 
commended the company's bravery, and viewed its thinned but still compact 
ranks."  And now came the change of base, with infinite discomfort to the 
wounded and worn-out soldiers.  But a place of rest had not been gained before 
the enemy attacked, now at Charles City Cross Roads.  The Reserves felt the 
first shock and were terribly scourged, but suffered no diminution of gallantry.  
In the Seven Days of this contest Captain Ayer's company lost more heavily in 
killed and wounded than any in the division.  As it was the representative of 
one of the most prominent colleges in the State, the fact may be regarded as 
significant.
  At Bull Run, Captain Ayer received a severe wound.  Passing over this field 
nearly a year afterwards the recollections of the battle were brought vividly to 
his mind and he thus wrote to a friend:  "A little farther on we came to the 
scene of our last year's operations.  There is the very field where we lay, 
Thursday night, August 28th, all day under a hot sun, covered a little from the 
enemy.  This was near Groveton.  Yonder is the wood where our regiment made a 
charge to take a rebel battery, but without success, and there is the field 
where they shelled us after dark, throwing their missiles very accurately, but, 
as it happened, without effect.  That was Friday evening, the 29th; and there is 
the field where our regiment stood picket the same night.  Passing on a little 
farther we come to the house near which we lay Saturday, before we were ordered 
into the engagement.  But here to the right is the very spot where the regiment 
fought.  There fell Captain Hinch- 

MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA - 820

man, of Company A, and it is said that he is buried in that little rail 
enclosure.  Here, too, fell Tryon and Pearl; and Phelps, our Lieutenant, a bold 
and dashing officer, was here shot through the breast.  No better men graced the 
ranks of the Union army.  On this same ridge the rebel bullet struck my arm, and 
another went through my hat.  The former made a sad hole in my canteen, causing 
all my cold coffee to run out.  The boys in going over the field to-day found 
what they asserted to be the self-same canteen; but they were mistaken, for I 
carried it off with me."  His wound was a severe one, fracturing the left 
forearm.  At Gettysburg, while reconnoitering, he was fired at by two 
sharpshooters from an unexpected quarter, but was not hit.  Turning suddenly 
back, a third shot was fired, which just grazed his side, making a deep 
abrasion, and would have done certain execution had it not been fired at the 
instant of his turning away, carrying him out of aim after the missile had 
actually left the piece.
  He had been promoted to the rank of Major on the 18th of October, 1862, and on 
the 18th of December, 1863, was advanced to Lieutenant-Colonel and placed in 
command of the regiment.  When it entered the Wilderness campaign it went with 
the free step and the resolute mien of the best trained and organized soldiers.  
It had not penetrated far before the old foe was met.  In a letter dated May 
6th, the second day of the battle, he says:  "Our division had been rapidly 
ordered forward, preparatory as was supposed to a charge upon the enemy's works.  
I was leading my regiment into line when hit by a bullet from one of the enemy's 
sharpshooters, which passed through the large bone of my leg, causing a very 
painful though I hope not dangerous wound.  I was compelled to leave the field 
at once, which I did after exhorting my men to do their duty."
  For more than a year after the Reserve corps had completed its period of 
service and been mustered out he was disabled.  He was brevetted Colonel for 
this action, and was warmly complimented by Generals Crawford and Fisher.  Only 
by wounds, however, was he kept from the field, possessing a good constitution 
and actuated by real patriotism.  In person he is six feet in

HENRY J. SHEAFER - 821

height, well formed, and of fair complexion.  At college he manifested a strong 
liking for mathematics and natural science, and later in his course for lingual 
studies.  Strictly temperate-of tobacco and spirituous liquors abstemious-he was 
little affected by temptation, as the habits of youth are strengthened and 
confirmed by time.
  Colonel Ayer was married on the 21st of December, 1863, to Miss Jennie James, 
whose mother had, during the war, ministered at the bedside of many sick and 
dying soldiers, evincing a patriotism as sincere and fervid as the man who bore 
the musket and met face to face the foe.  She watched at the side of one of the 
brave men of Ayer's company, Edwin B. Pier, a scholar of promise, and after his 
death wrote a most touching letter, descriptive of the Christian fortitude of 
the departed young soldier.  When Ayer next visited Washington, he called upon 
the family to tender his acknowledgments for the kindness shown his beloved 
companion-in-arms, and then for the first time met the daughter.  The 
acquaintance ripened into esteem, and finally resulted in their marriage.  At 
the close of the war, Colonel Ayer settled in Virginia, and now resides at 
Norfolk, where he holds a responsible position in the civil service of the 
General Government.

HENRY JACKSON SHEAFER, Brevet Colonel of the One Hundred and Seventh regiment, 
was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, on the 21st of May, 1826.  His 
grandfather, George Sheafer, emigrated to this country from Alsace, France.  His 
maternal ancestors were Scotch.  His opportunities for education were limited.  
At the age of fifteen he was apprenticed to a druggist.  At twenty he went to 
South Carolina, but returning north two years later, engaged in mercantile 
business in Milton, Northumberland county, and was united in marriage to Annrica 
O. Wood, daughter of Nicholas B. Wood, of Harrisburg.  In 1856 he removed to 
Minnesota, where he was largely employed in the lumber trade.  In 1858 he was 
elected a member of the Minnesota Legislature from Dakota county.
  Returning to Pennsylvania at the opening of the war he recruited a company for 
the One Hundred and Seventh, of which 

MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA - 822

he was Captain.  He remained with McDowell during the Peninsula campaign, and 
was at Thoroughfare Gap, and in the Second Bull Run battle.  At South Mountain, 
and again at Antietam, he particularly distinguished himself, in the latter 
engagement commanding one wing of the regiment, and holding it on the hottest 
part of the field until every cartridge had been spent.  He was again sharply 
engaged at Fredericksburg.  At Chancellorsville, after the Union army had 
retired to its more contracted position, he was sent upon the skirmish line with 
four companies, where he was obliged to stand for forty hours without relief, 
and where the officers were obliged to use harsh words and even resort to blows 
to keep the men awake.  He had some time previous been commissioned Major.  In 
the battle of Gettysburg he was severely wounded on the first day.
  In the subsequent campaign of 1863, and in the Wilderness campaign of 1864, 
Major Sheafer was constantly at the post of duty, a considerable portion of the 
time having command of the regiment, and in all places proving himself a cool, 
brave, and reliable officer.  He served through the siege of Petersburg, and was 
mustered out at the expiration of his term, in March, 1865, having been 
brevetted, in the meantime, Lieutenant-Colonel and Colonel.  On retiring from 
the army he engaged in an active business life in Harrisburg.  In 1872 he was 
elected Sheriff of Dauphin county, which position he now fills.

JAMES GETTYS ELDER, Colonel of the One Hundred and Twenty-sixth regiment, was 
born on the 13th of February, 1822, in Franklin county, Pennsylvania.  He was 
the son of James and Rachel (McAfee) Elder.  He received a common school 
education, and learned the trade of a saddler, but engaged in mercantile 
pursuits.  For a period of twenty years he served in the militia, holding the 
ranks of Captain, Major, and Brigade Inspector.  He served as Captain in the 
Second regiment for three months' service.  He was afterwards active in forming 
the One Hundred and Twenty-sixth regiment for nine months, of which he was 
commissioned Colonel.  He first led his command into battle on the disastrous 
field of Fredericksburg-doubly disastrous to Colonel Elder.  He was in Tyler's 
brigade of Humphrey's division which

JAMES G. ELDER - JAMES F. WEAVER - P. H. ALLABACH - 823

was led against Marye's Heights, at a point where the rebel line was 
impregnable, and against which the Union forces dashed in fiery waves.  In one 
of these Colonel Elder led his command, and when the storm of battle was at its 
height was struck by two musket balls in the thigh, inflicting dangerous and 
ghastly wounds.  He was carried from the field and his wounds dressed; but for 
many months was unable to move, and when, after great suffering, he came forth 
from the hospital where his life had been in peril he came with one limb 
permanently shortened.  Previous to the war Colonel Elder had served as a 
justice of the peace, and after its close he was elected Treasurer of Franklin 
county.  He has richly earned the title of a defender of his country.

JAMES F. WEAVER, Colonel of the One Hundred and Forty-eighth regiment, was born 
on the 6th of November, 1830, near Bellefonte.  He was the son of John and 
Elizabeth (Poorman) Weaver.  He received a common school education, and at the 
age of seventeen was apprenticed to the business of printing, and became editor 
of the Centre Democrat.  He was married in December, 1851, to Miss Mary M. Hall, 
daughter of T. M. Hall, of Milesburg.  He displayed untiring zeal in recruiting 
troops for the One Hundred and Forty-eighth regiment, and was commissioned 
Captain of Company B.  He participated in the battles of Chancellorsville, Po 
River, Spottsylvania, and in the actions before Petersburg.  He was struck by a 
fragment of shell at the Po, but not disabled.  For his conduct at Ream's 
Station he was complimented upon the field by General Miles, commander of the 
division.  He received the successive promotions of Major, Lieutenant-Colonel, 
and Colonel.  He commanded the regiment in the final campaign, and returned with 
it to be mustered out of service.  In person he is six feet in height, slender 
but erect, and of manners affable and courteous.

PETER HOLLINGSHEAD ALLABACH, Colonel of the One Hundred and Thirty-first 
regiment, was born on the 9th of September, 1824, in Luzerne county, 
Pennsylvania.  He was the son of Peter and Elizabeth (Van Camp) Allabach.  At 
the age of fifteen he was apprenticed to a millwright, where he remained

MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA - 824

three years.  On the 25th of November, 1844, he enlisted as a private in the 
regular army, serving in the Third infantry.  In July, 1845, he went to Texas 
under General Taylor, and in the war with Mexico took part in the battles of 
Palo Alto, Resaca de la Palma, Monterey Vera Cruz, Cerro Gordo, Contreras, 
Cherubusco, Chapultepec, Garita de Belen, and street fights in the city of 
Mexico.  He displayed great gallantry at Cherubusco, placing the flag of his 
regiment on the ramparts, for which he was recommended for promotion.  In 1849, 
after a service of five years, he left the army.  In 1851 he was married to Miss 
N. Gertrude Blanchard.
  When the One Hundred and Thirty-first regiment was formed, he was appointed 
Colonel.  The five years of service in the regular army now proved of signal 
benefit, and when his regiment reached the field he was placed in command of a 
brigade, which he continued to exercise until the expiration of the nine months 
for which his regiment was enlisted.  At Fredericksburg, he took the lead of his 
brigade in the charge on Marye's Heights, where the earth was slippery with 
patriot blood.  But he was unable to effect more than those who had gone before, 
and was recalled to give place to other victims.  The heroism of his troops was 
tested, as it has rarely been in the history of warfare, and they were not found 
wanting.  At Chancellorsville, his brigade met the enemy in his first advance on 
the 1st of May, and again on the 3d, when the army was struggling to gather up 
its strength after the fatal blow of Stonewall Jackson.  The fighting was 
desperate, and it was only by the most determined courage that the army was 
saved from destruction and brought behind a new fortified line.  When the term 
of the regiment had expired, he was mustered out of service and returned to 
private life.

DAVID B. McCREARY, Colonel of the One Hundred and Forty-fifth regiment and 
Brevet Brigadier-General, was born in Erie county, Pennsylvania, on the 27th of 
February, 1826.  He was of Scotch-Irish extraction, his ancestors having 
originally settled in Lancaster and Dauphin counties, whence his parents removed 
to the place of his birth early in the present century.

DAVID B. McCREARY -JAMES A. GALLIGHER - 825

He was educated at Washington College.  Like many other soldiers who attained 
distinction in the late war, he passed his novitiate in the Wayne Guards, under 
command of John W. McLane, and when that sterling officer recruited the Erie 
regiment for three months McCreary served with him as a Lieutenant.  In the 
raising of the One Hundred and Forty-fifth he labored assiduously, and was 
elected Captain of Company D. and afterwards Lieutenant-Colonel.  He reached the 
front just as the two armies were joining battle on the field of Antietam, and 
was under fire.  He participated in the battles of Fredericksburg, 
Chancellorsville, Mine Run, Cold Harbor, and Petersburg.  At Fredericksburg the 
slaughter was terrible.  At Petersburg, on the 16th of June, 1864, his brigade 
made a daring charge over open ground upon an enemy well intrenched.  The 
movement was heroically executed, but it proved vain, and while endeavoring to 
establish a line the force was flanked and the entire body, including Colonel 
McCreary, who was in command of the regiment, fell into the enemy's hands.  For 
a period of ten months he had experience of Libby, Macon, Charleston, and 
Columbia.  Upon his release the war was well nigh at an end, and he was mustered 
out with his regiment.  He was commissioned Colonel, and was brevetted Colonel 
and Brigadier-General by the President.  Upon his return to private life he 
resumed the practice of law, which he had abandoned on going to the field.  
General McCreary was a member of the Legislature of Pennsylvania at the sessions 
of 1866, 1867, and 1870, where he took high rank as a debater and working 
member, and was Adjutant-General of the State under Governor Geary in 1867-'68, 
and 1869.

JAMES A GALLIGHER, Colonel of the Thirteenth cavalry, was born in Philadelphia, 
on the 4th of April, 1814.  His father, Philip Galligher, was a native of 
Belfast, Ireland.  He was educated at Gettysburg, but in his youthful exuberance 
of spirits cared more for equestrian exercise than the abstruse principles of 
science.  He finally became an instructor of horsemanship and sword practice.  
He was active in recruiting at the opening of the war and became Colonel of the 
Thirteenth cavalry.  He was ordered to duty at Point of Rocks, and while 
scouting in

MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA - 826

that vicinity his troops brought in a Captain Jones, of the British army, who 
had upon his person photographs of all the fortifications in and about Richmond, 
and of over a hundred rebel ladies and army officers.  In the campaign in the 
Shenandoah Valley under General Milroy, Colonel Galligher was ceaselessly 
employed against the irregular bands of Moseby and White, who, by their complete 
acquaintance with he country and having the population in their interest, were 
able to do great injury to the Union forces.  In a charge upon the enemy at 
Fisher's Hill he was thrown from his horse and received internal injuries which 
eventually compelled him to withdraw from the service.  He was subsequently 
appointed Assistant Assessor of Internal Revenue for the Fifth District of 
Pennsylvania.  Colonel Galligher was by natural taste and inclination a soldier.  
His regiment was kept in excellent condition, for which he was especially 
complimented by his superior officers.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN WINGER, Lieutenant-Colonel of the Second artillery, was born 
in Lancaster county, on the 27th of November, 1835.  He was the son of Joseph 
and Esther (Buckwalter) Winger.  He was ambitious for a military education, and, 
failing in an application to the member of Congress from his district, he sought 
the appointment at large to West Point from Jefferson Davis, then Secretary of 
War, but without success.  He served as Captain in the militia and aid to the 
General of division.  He was married on the 20th of May, 1857, to Miss Susan J. 
Duffield.  In August, 1862, he was commissioned a First Lieutenant in the Second 
artillery, and in that capacity served in the defences of Washington until 
detailed on duty as Assistant Inspector-General in the defences north of the 
Potomac.  In the summer of 1864, this regiment, which numbered over 4000 men, 
was organized as two infantry regiments and sent to the front.  Lieutenant 
Winger was commissioned Captain of Company B, of the new regiment, but declined 
this honor, preferring to remain with his old company.  For fifty-five days his 
command was kept in the trenches.  In one instance he was ordered by General 
Ames to advance between the hostile lines, where several officers while 
examining the picket posts had been

BENJAMIN F. WINGER - RICHARD B. ROBERTS - 827

captured, and lay an abates for their protection.  This he promptly undertook 
and accomplished without loss, and without even drawing the fire of the foe.  At 
another time he was ordered to occupy an old picket line on the Petersburg 
front, and was compelled to advance directly over the breastworks in the face of 
a storm of bullets.  Calling for volunteers, he effected his purpose with small 
loss, the new line being permanently held and strengthened.  In September, the 
remnants of the two regiments were reunited, and in January following Captain 
Winger was promoted to Major.  In May, to Lieutenant-Colonel of the combined 
regiments.  After the close of the war he resumed mercantile pursuits, for which 
he had early manifested aptitude.  At the end of two years he was elected a 
member of the Pennsylvania Legislature, for the counties of Franklin and Perry, 
and at the conclusion of his term commenced the study of law in the office of 
Judge Rowe, which he now practices at the courts of Franklin county.

RICHARD BIDDLE ROBERTS, Colonel of the First Reserve regiment, was born at 
Pittsburg, August 25th, 1825.  He was the son of Edward J. and Eliza (Campbell) 
Roberts.  He received a liberal education, and showed an aptness for the 
profession of law, upon the practice of which he early entered.  When 
hostilities opened he lost no time in volunteering, and aided in raising the 
Twelfth regiment, in which he was commissioned Captain, but was soon after 
promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel on the staff of Governor Curtin.
  Upon the formation of the celebrated Reserve corps, he was commissioned 
Colonel of its First regiment.  In the opening engagement of the Seven Days' 
battle on the Peninsula, five companies of this regiment were the first to be 
attacked; but, from the sheltered position which they finally assumed behind 
Beaver Dam Creek and from which the united regiment fought, little loss was 
experienced, though the enemy was terribly scourged.  At Gaines' Mill, on the 
following day, Colonel Roberts fought under the eye of General Porter, in chief 
command upon the field, and won his approval by the gallantry and steadiness 
with which every order was executed.

MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA - 828

  The army of the Potomac was never in more imminent danger of rout and 
destruction than at Charles City Cross Roads on the 30th of July, 1862.  The 
Reserves, thirteen regiments of infantry, were drawn up in two lines across the 
New Market road, covering the Charles City and Quaker roads.  The flanks not 
connecting immediately with other troops were exposed, and when the attack was 
pressed suffered severely; but the valor of the Reserves was successful in 
breaking the force in their front until nightfall, when the battle ceased and 
the foe retired from the contest, abandoning his cherished purpose of severing 
the Union army and beating it in detail.  General McCall, who commanded the 
Reserves, says in his official report:  "Cooper's and Kern's batteries, in front 
of the center, were boldly charged upon, each time a regiment dashing up to 
within forty or fifty yards.  They were then hurled back by a storm of canister 
and the deliberate fire of the First regiment, Colonel Roberts, whom I had 
placed immediately in the rear of Kern's, and the Ninth, Colonel Jackson, in the 
rear of Cooper's.  The contest was severe and put the steadiness of these 
regiments to the test; both suffered heavy loss, but particularly the First 
regiment, whose gallant Lieutenant-Colonel (McIntire) was severely wounded."
  Not less gallant was the conduct of Colonel Roberts at South Mountain.  The 
Reserves were the first to come up to Turner's Gap, where the rebel troops were 
strongly posted in the fastnesses of this great natural barrier.  Far down on 
the breast of the mountain was a stone wall behind which was the rebel skirmish 
line.  Against this Colonel Roberts led his men with unflinching bravery.  The 
fire was severe; but undaunted he pushed forward, and, scaling the rugged 
breastwork and following up the advantage, wavered not until rock and steep 
acclivity were passed and the enemy driven from his well-chosen position.
  At the close of this campaign Governor Curtin called Colonel Roberts again to 
his assistance.  His executive and legal ability, with his knowledge of the 
special duties of the position, fitted him to decide the delicate questions 
involved in granting promotions with rare tact.  To this call he acceded, and, 
having been discharged at the Governor's request, at once resumed its duties.  
By the report of his department for the year 1864 it appears

CHARLES H. BUEHLER - 829

that four thousand commissions were issued upon orders from his office.  When it 
is remembered that for almost every one of these were several applicants, and 
that all the testimony in each case had to be considered, weighed and acted on, 
some idea can be formed of the amount of patient labor involved.  Thirty 
thousand commissions had been issued previous to the year 1864.  Before the 
opening of the Rebellion Colonel Roberts had held the office of Clerk to the 
United States District Court for Allegheny County from 1853 to 1856, and United 
States Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania from 1857 to 1861.  He 
married in 1854 Miss Mary H. Anderson.  In 1869 he removed from Pittsburg, 
where, after the close of the war, he had resumed the practice of his 
profession, to Chicago, where he now resides.

	CHARLES HENRY BUEHLER, Colonel of the One Hundred and Sixty-fifth 
regiment, was born at Gettysburg, on the 9th of February, 1825.  He was the son 
of Samuel H. and Catharine (Doenner) Buehler.  He was educated in the 
Pennsylvania College at Gettysburg, and afterwards learned the business of 
printing in the office of the Gettysburg Sentinel.  He subsequently became one 
of the editors and proprietors of the Gettysburg Star.  For a number of years he 
was Captain of the Independent Blues, a volunteer company, and at the breaking 
out of the war was a Brigadier-General of the State militia.  He promptly 
tendered the services of his company and was ordered into camp at York.  He 
served with Patterson during the three months' campaign in the Shenandoah 
Valley. At its conclusion he was chosen Major of the Eighty-seventh.  He was at 
first posted on the Northern Central Railway, and subsequently was sent into 
West Virginia, where he acted in the columns of Kelly and Milroy.  After a 
service of one year and three months he resigned to accept promotion to Colonel 
of the One Hundred and Sixty-fifth, to which he had been unanimously elected, 
and which was composed largely of men from his native town.  With his command he 
participated actively under General Peck in the defence of Suffolk.  He was 
selected by General Foster to head a force consisting of his own, the One 
Hundred and Sixty-sixth Pennsylvania, the Sixth Massachusetts, and a section of 
Neil's battery, ordered to

MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA - 830

make a sortie on the Sommerton road on the 24th of April, 1863, while General 
Corcoran with a more powerful body should attack the enemy on the Edenton road.  
Colonel Buehler advanced about two miles, and having made his dispositions 
opened fire, feeling the enemy's intrenched position and making a strong 
demonstration.  During the entire afternoon, and until recalled in the evening, 
he held the enemy at bay, and when he retired brought in all his killed and 
wounded.  The siege was pushed by Longstreet with great energy and persistence 
for nearly a month, but he was foiled in all his attempts to carry the place and 
was finally compelled to retire.  At the end of nine months, for which his 
regiment was called, he was mustered out.  He is six feet and two inches in 
height and well proportioned.  He is eminently social and personally popular.  
He was married in May, 1860, to Miss Annie Foehnestock, of York.  He has held 
the office of Chief Burgess of Gettysburg, and is much respected and esteemed as 
a citizen.

CHARLES C. CRESSON, Colonel of the Seventy-third regiment, was born on the 24th 
of February, 1845, in Philadelphia.  He was the son of John B. and Amanda (Webb) 
Cresson, natives of that city through a remote ancestry.  He was barely sixteen 
when the war broke out, and though his collegiate education was but partially 
completed, volunteered as Second Lieutenant in the Sixty-sixth regiment.  After 
an existence of eight months, during which it was in the army of General Banks, 
not having the minimum strength it was disbanded, and the company to which 
Lieutenant Cresson was attached was assigned to the Seventy-third.
  In the battle of Bull Run he was wounded in the right arm.  Colonel Koltes, 
who led the regiment, was in the act of complimenting the Lieutenant for gallant 
conduct in taking an intrenched battery, and was but a few feet off when he was 
struck by a shell and instantly killed.  After the battle, Lieutenant Cresson 
was promoted to Captain of his company, being the youngest commissioned officer 
in the service.  At Chancellorsville his regiment was in the Eleventh corps, 
Buschbeck's brigade, the only one which offered anything like a well-regulated 

CHARLES C. CRESSON - 831

defence.  Captain Cresson was here severely wounded in the left side.  He was 
sufficiently recovered to again lead at Gettysburg, his regiment covering the 
First and Eleventh corps in their retreat through the town, on the evening of 
the first day, having been posted in the houses and behind stone walls near the 
junction of the Emmittsburg with the Baltimore pike, and holding the approaches 
to Steinwehr's guns.  In the formation for the second day, the regiment was put 
into position on Cemetery Hill on that part of the field where the line crossed 
the Taneytown road.
  Soon after this battle Captain Cresson went with his corps to reinforce the 
Western Army at Chattanooga, and on the 1st of January, 1864, was promoted to 
the rank of Major.  In the remarkable campaign of Sherman in his advance upon 
Atlanta, and in the no less noted March to the Sea, Major Cresson commanded his 
regiment, nearly all its field and line officers and many of its men having been 
captured in the assault upon Tunnel Hill on the extreme left of the line in the 
battle of Missionary Ridge.  At Pine Knob he was wounded in the right shoulder, 
but kept the field.  At Kenesaw Mountain he especially distinguished himself by 
the determined manner in which he held his position, when hard pressed by the 
foe.  Resaca and Atlanta were no less disastrous to his command, and in each he 
rendered the most soldierly service.  He was mentioned in general orders for 
perseverance and bravery in front of Savannah, while commanding a post of 
observation at Hutchinson's Island.  Near the close of the year he was promoted 
to Lieutenant-Colonel, and on the 1st of May, 1865, to Colonel, the lack of 
numbers in his regiment and the fact that the officers holding these positions 
were still in captivity preventing the promotions sooner, though he had long 
performed the duties.  At the conclusion of the war he was appointed a Second 
Lieutenant, afterwards promoted to First Lieutenant and Brevet Major, in the 
regular service.  Few officers in all the great army of the Union entered it so 
young, and won their way by steady promotion to the highest rank known to the 
regiment, as did Colonel Cresson.  At sixteen he commenced his career as 
Sergeant.  At twenty, a bronzed veteran, he left it a Colonel, having exercised 
its functions in three of the

MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA - 832

most famous campaigns of the war.  In the exciting operations against the Modocs 
among the lava beds of California in the spring of 1873, he participated with 
his company coming often to close quarters with the treacherous savages, having 
several of his men killed and wounded, and finally sharing in the satisfaction 
of seeing Captain Jack and all his tribe, the murders of Canby and Thomas, 
captives at his feet.

HENRY B. McKEAN, Lieutenant-Colonel of the Sixth Reserve regiment, was born on 
the 13th of September, 1831, in Troy, Bradford county, Pennsylvania.  At the 
outbreak of the Rebellion he enlisted with two companies recruited at Towanda 
for the three months service; but finding, on reaching Harrisburg, that more 
troops had been accepted than were needed, they were placed in camp and 
organized as a part of the Sixth Reserve of which he was made Adjutant.  At 
Dranesville this regiment had the center of the line of battle, and here 
Adjutant McKean distinguished himself for his daring.  Before its departure for 
the Peninsula he was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel, which position he held in 
the Seven Days' battle, and in Pope's and the Maryland campaigns.  At South 
Mountain his regiment had the right of the line, and charged up the rugged 
declivity with complete success, flanking the enemy and putting him to rout.  
Not less determined was its conduct at Antietam, where, on the afternoon of the 
16th of September, 1862, the Reserves opened the battle, and maintained their 
ground through the night, renewing the contest in the morning, and holding the 
foe at bay until ordered back.  On account of severe and protracted illness he 
resigned on the 25th of November, 1862.  Upon the invasion of the State in 1863, 
he raised a company for its defence, and was commissioned Colonel of the Thirty-
fifth militia, which he commanded during the period of its service.  Since his 
return to private life he has practiced the profession of law at Towanda.

DAVID McCONAUGHY ARMOR, Lieutenant-Colonel of the One Hundred and First 
regiment, was born at Gettysburg, on the 2d of March, 1832.  He was the son of 
George and Sarah (Gillespie) Armor.  He was educated at the Pennsylvania College

H. B. McKEAN - D. M. ARMOR - J. G. FRICK - 833

at Gettysburg.  In youth he was employed as a clerk in a store.  In July, 1861, 
he was commissioned Captain of a company in the One Hundred and First regiment, 
which he led throughout the entire Peninsula campaign.  He was in the midst of 
the hard fighting at Fair Oaks, and at its close was promoted, for "great 
gallantry and efficiency," to Major and three months later to Lieutenant-
Colonel.  After leaving the Peninsula his command was sent to North Carolina, 
where he participated in the battle of Kinston.  His health from the outset had 
not been firm, and he was finally compelled to resign, which he did on the 2d of 
May, 1863.  Colonel Armor had three brothers in the army:  Thomas, who served in 
the Twenty-eighth, and upon the staff of General Geary; the other two in the One 
Hundred and First James C. expiring of typhoid fever at Roanoke Island, North 
Carolina.

JACOB G. FRICK, Colonel of the One Hundred and Twenty-ninth regiment, was born 
on the 23d of January, 1825, at Northumberland.  He was the son of John and 
Elizabeth (Gotshall) Frick.  In the Mexican War he served as Second Lieutenant 
in the Third Ohio volunteers, and at its close was promoted by President Polk to 
Second Lieutenant in the Eleventh infantry.  When the war of rebellion opened he 
was made Lieutenant-Colonel of the Ninety-sixth, and with that body participated 
in the battles of West Point, Gaines' Mill, Charles City Cross Roads, Malvern 
Hill, and Bull Run.  Shortly afterwards he resigned to accept the position of 
Colonel of the One Hundred and Twenty-ninth regiment, one of the nine months' 
organizations.  At the battle of Fredericksburg Colonel Frick led his command 
boldly forward, up to the very ramparts where the enemy, secure in his 
intrenchments, poured a merciless fire upon him.  General Tyler, who commanded 
the brigade, says in his report:  "These officers discharged their duties 
creditably and satisfactorily, their voices being frequently heard above the din 
of battle, urging on their men against the terrible shower of shot and shell, 
and the terrific musketry as we approached the stone wall.  Of their conduct I 
cannot speak too highly."
  At Chancellorsville, on the morning of the 3d of May, Colonel

MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA - 834

Frick was brought into action on the ground where the heaviest fighting 
occurred.  After holding his position against superior numbers until many of his 
men had fallen, he fell back, in obedience to orders, behind the artillery which 
had been brought up and was ready to open.  Colonel Frick was of the rear guard 
in this retrograde movement, and so close did the enemy press upon him that 
there was hand-to-hand fighting in the wood through which they retired, some of 
his men falling into the enemy's hands.  "No man," says Tyler," ever saw cooler 
work on field drill than was done by this regiment.  Their firing was grand, by 
rank, by company and by wing, in perfect order."  The term of the regiment 
expired soon after this battle, and with it Colonel Frick was mustered out of 
service.  He has since been extensively engaged in the manufacture of wire coal 
screens, at Pottsville.  He was twice married; in 1850 to Miss Catharine 
Schuyler, and in 1865 to Miss Priscilla H. McGinness.  In person he is of Saul-
like stature, being six feet two inches in height and well proportioned.

DAVID MILES, Colonel of the Seventy-ninth regiment, was born on the 26th of 
November, 1831, at Chambersburg.  He was the son of William and Mary E. 
(Doessher) Miles.  At the age of fifteen he was apprenticed to a tinsmith, and 
at seventeen joined a militia company, in which he served until the opening of 
the Rebellion.  He was married in 1851 to Miss Mary E. Huffnagle.  He served as 
Orderly Sergeant of Company F, First regiment, for the short term, and upon the 
organization of the Seventy-ninth for three years was commissioned Captain of 
Company B.  In the battle of Perryville, Starkweather's brigade is credited with 
having saved the day in a most critical part of the battle.  The loss in the 
Seventy-ninth was thirty-seven killed and one hundred and forty-nine wounded.  
After this battle, Captain Miles was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel.  
At Chickamauga, near the close of the first day, after having led his regiment 
with dauntless bravery, he was taken prisoner, and for eleven months was 
confined in loathsome rebel dens, first at Libby, and afterwards at Charleston 
under the fire of the Union guns.  After his release he rejoined his regiment, 
at that time

DAVID MILES - HENRY G. ELDER - EDWARD R. BOWEN - 835

advancing with Sherman through Georgia.  At the battle of Bentonville, one of 
the last of the war, Colonel Miles led a brigade which sustained great loss, and 
himself was severely wounded.  He was especially commended for his gallantry by 
General Carlin, leader of the division.  He was mustered out of service with his 
regiment on the 12th of July, 1865.

HENRY GORE ELDER, Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel of the One Hundred and Forty-second 
regiment, was born on the 13th of June, 1842, in Somerset county, Pennsylvania.  
He was the son of Clifford and Rosanna (Benford) Elder.  He was educated in the 
Philadelphia Central High School, and at the Polytechnic College.  On the 27th 
of August, 1862, he was commissioned First Lieutenant of Company C, One Hundred 
and Forty-second regiment.  In the battles of Fredericksburg, Salem Heights, 
Wilderness, Spottsylvania, North Anna, Bethesda Church, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, 
Weldon Railroad, and Hatcher's Run he bore an honorable part.  In the stirring 
battle of Five Forks he received a painful wound but kept the field.  He had two 
horses shot under him during the final campaign, and was promoted to Major and 
Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel for gallantry.

EDWARD ROSCOE BOWEN, Colonel of the One Hundred and Fourteenth regiment, was 
born on the 16th of October, 1839, in Philadelphia.  He was the son of William 
E. and Elizabeth (Kirtley) Bowen.  At the age of seventeen he entered upon 
mercantile employment.
  In April, 1861, he volunteered as a private in the Commonwealth Artillery, and 
served in the three months' campaign at Fort Delaware.  At the expiration of his 
term he was appointed Second Lieutenant in the Seventy-fifth regiment, Colonel 
Bohlen, where he served for one year, and was then transferred and received the 
appointment of Captain of Company B in the One Hundred and Fourteenth.  He was 
wounded at Chancellorsville in the shoulder.  Shortly after the opening of the 
fight on Sickles' front on the second day in the battle of Gettysburg, Major 
Bowen, who had received promotion, succeeded to the command of the regiment, and 
when the corps, after contending

MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA - 836

with unexampled heroism, was forced to retire, led it back to the new line of 
battle, where it remained facing the foe until the close of the conflict.  At 
Auburn, Locust Grove, Kelly's Ford, Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, and 
the Petersburg front, he was with his regiment, and much of the time in command.  
With it he was mustered out at the close of its term of service.

JOHN EMORY PARSONS, Colonel of the One Hundred and Eighty-seventh regiment and 
Brevet Brigadier-General of Militia, was born on the 23d of December, 1837, on 
Duncan's Island, Dauphin county.  He was the son of William and Catharine 
(Leibrick) Parsons.  By the death of a kind father, before he had completed his 
fifth year, he was robbed of that guiding hand; but a devoted mother, possessed 
of great energy, by her moulding influence gave fortunate bent to his character.  
Soon after this bereavement the family removed to the little village of Halifax, 
on the Susquehanna, where he received a common school education.  He early 
turned his attention to civil engineering, and was at successive periods 
associated with the corps engaged upon the lines of the Northern Central, and 
Philadelphia and Erie Railroads.  An incident occurred at this period which well 
illustrates his character.  He had been employed for some time on the latter 
line, when he received notice at evening that on the following morning he was to 
take the place of the chief of the staff.  Besides not having had any previous 
practice, he had grown forgetful of the principles.  What was he to do?  Should 
he acknowledge his weakness and decline the place?  His pride was touched.  
Securing the necessary books, he sat up all night by the cabin fire in the deep 
forest where the work was progressing, and by morning had the subject so 
familiarized as to take the helm with a steady hand.
  On the 30th of August, 1862, he entered the service of the United States as 
Adjutant of the One Hundred and Forty-ninth regiment, the first of the Bucktail 
brigade.  Soon after reaching the field he was detailed to staff duty as Acting 
Assistant Adjutant-General, in which capacity he served in the battles of 
Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Tolopotomy,

JOHN E. PARSONS - 837

and Bethesda Church.  General Stone, on whose staff he was engaged, after 
mentioning him in commendatory terms, as a gentleman and a soldier, 
particularizes his qualifications as a disciplinarian, and his sagacity and 
self-possession in an engagement.  As a marked illustration of the latter, he 
cites his conduct during the first day in the Wilderness, where, by his keen 
discernment amidst the wildest confusion consequent upon a surprise of the 
skirmishers, he saved the guns from inevitable capture.
  On the 30th of June, 1864, President Lincoln appointed him Assistant Adjutant-
General, with the rank of Captain, and he was assigned by the Secretary of War 
to a brigade of the Fifth corps.  General H. G. Sickel, in whose command he 
acted, says:  "I found in him a gentleman of fine attainments, including 
extensive military knowledge, and of excellent executive ability, enjoying the 
confidence and respect of all with whom he had official intercourse.  Among the 
acts most worthy of notice is that at Poplar Spring Church, or Peebles' Farm.  
While our brigade was forming for a charge upon the enemy's fortifications, one 
of the regimental commanders misunderstood the order, and filed his regiment 
into a piece of wood in the rear, and there remained, leaving our left 
unprotected.  When the right of the line reached the enemy's works, I found our 
flanks exposed and threatened by the enemy's infantry, and a disaster might have 
been the result, but for the discerning sagacity of Captain Parsons, who 
galloped off through a storm of bullets, reformed the tardy regiment referred 
to, and directing the charge in person, routed the enemy, and the result was a 
complete victory for the Union arms.  His conduct at the battle of Hatcher's 
Run, and upon other occasions, was equally commendable, though not so marked."  
General Chamberlain, late Governor of Maine, says:  "I recommend him for 
appointment as Adjutant-General of my brigade on the ground of his soldierly 
bearing and acquaintance with his duties.  He recommended himself much to me by 
his fidelity and strictness of discipline."
  On the 27th of January, 1865, he was commissioned Lieutenant-Colonel of the 
One Hundred and Eighty-seventh, and subsequently Colonel, in which capacity he 
served till the close of the

MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA - 838

war, when he retired to his home in Halifax, and was for two terms elected a 
member of the House of Representatives of Pennsylvania.  He was appointed by 
Governor Geary upon his staff, with the rank of Brevet Brigadier-General.  He is 
at present Cashier of the Real Estate Savings Bank of Harrisburg.  In person he 
is above the medium height, well proportioned, and of a fair complexion, 
indicative of health.  In manners he is peculiarly courteous and affable.  He 
was married on the 9th of October, 1873, to Miss Georgianna, youngest daughter 
of Benjamin Parke, LL.D., of Parke Vale, Susquehanna county.

ROBERT C. COX, Colonel of the Two Hundred and Eighth regiment and Brevet 
Brigadier-General, was born on the 18th of November, 1823, in Lycoming county, 
Pennsylvania.  He was the son of William and Hannah (Courson) Cox, both of 
German descent.  His earliest impressions of life were amid rustic scenes, and 
he received his education in the common schools.  For a period of seven years he 
served in a company of volunteer cavalry, and was for six years Brigade 
Inspector of militia.  He was married in April, 1846, to Miss Lydia A. Wheeland.  
He entered active service in April, 1861.  In November, 1862, he was 
commissioned Major of the One Hundred and Seventy-first militia, and was in the 
affairs at Blunt's Creek and Jacksonville, North Carolina, in February, 1863, 
and New Hope School House in March.  Returning home he devoted himself to 
recruiting a volunteer regiment, of which he was made Colonel.  This he led to 
the field, which was for a time stationed on the investing line before 
Petersburg, occupied by the Army of the James, but was subsequently incorporated 
with the Ninth corps, Hartranft's division.  When the enemy, at dawn on the 25th 
of March, 1865, captured Fort Steadman, Colonel Cox had his regiment promptly 
under arms and joined in the assault for its recovery.  With four companies, 
which he led in person, Colonel Cox dashed on, disregarding the enemy's fire, 
and was himself among the foremost to reach the hostile lines and rescue them 
from the invader's grasp.
  But even more courageous and daring was his conduct in storming and capturing 
the rebel works on the 2d of April, when

ROBERT C. COX - 839

Petersburg after a siege of nine months finally yielded to Union valor.  At two 
o'clock on the morning of that day his camp was alive, and at a little after 
three he led his regiment out and formed it for the assault, just in front of 
Fort Sedgwick, popularly known as Fort Hell, the left resting on the Jerusalem 
plank road.  Opposite was the rebel Fort Mahone, with the equally suggestive 
title of Fort Damnation.  The works were of exceeding strength.  A double line 
of chevaux-de-frise, a well-strengthened picket line, a ditch and a strong main 
work had to be encountered in front, while to right and left were forts and 
angles, whence a devastating cross fire of artillery could sweep the ground 
which an attacking force would pass.  In breathless silence the moment was 
awaited by this devoted regiment when the trial of fortitude should come.  
Scarcely was so desperate a work attempted in the whole progress of the siege, 
or during the war, and it was only equaled in temerity by the charge of 
Pickett's division at Gettysburg.  Finally the rocket, which was to be the 
signal, shot up into the heavens, and General Hartranft gave the order to go.  
Colonel Cox did not assign to subordinates the duty of conducting the movement; 
but dismounted, with drawn sword, took his place in the front rank and cried, 
"Come, boys, let us do or die!"  The enemy's artillery had for some time been in 
full play, and the booming of the cannon, the screaming and bursting of the 
shells and the almost hopeless work before them were enough to fill the heart 
with dismay; but when the order came and the call of the leader was heard, not a 
soldier faltered.  As they went forward men fell at every step, and all the 
ground over which they advanced was strewn with the dead and the dying.  The 
axemen severed the links which bound the chevaux-de-frise, and it was rapidly 
opened; but time was consumed, every second of which was costing precious lives.  
From the neck of Colonel Cox bullets cut the hair, and his coat was riddled; but 
he remained unscathed, almost miraculously preserved, and pressing on led the 
survivors over the enemy's works, clearing the way at the point of the bayonet 
and planting his flag upon the wall of the hostile line.  Such an exhibition of 
bravery and so complete a triumph it has rarely been the lot of a soldier to 
know.  His gallantry was not long without reward,

MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA - 840

for the President had no sooner heard the joyful tale than he conferred upon him 
the rank of Brigadier-General by brevet.  In his own official report he says:  
"Officers and men fell on every side.  My color sergeant, George J. Horning, was 
shot down, pierced with seven balls, and three of the color guard fell by his 
side."  General Matthews, who was at the head of the brigade, says:  "To Colonel 
R. C. Cox, who commanded the leading regiment, I owe the entire success that 
attended the charge.  Foremost among those who scaled the enemy's works, 
cheering his men by his courage, preparing them to meet the many charges of the 
enemy to retake the lines, he is deserving of the highest praise."  Thirty-seven 
of his men were killed, one hundred and forty wounded, and eight missing.  The 
foe repeatedly essayed to regain their works, but were as often hurled back.  
When the enemy found the city no longer tenable, he fled in confusion.  Pursuit 
was promptly ordered, and a week later the entire rebel army laid down its arms 
at Appomattox Court House.  Since the war General Cox has filled several offices 
of honor and responsibility, having been a justice of the peace, school 
director, and Treasurer of Tioga county.  On the 2d of April, 1865, he was 
commissioned by Governor Geary Major-General of the Thirteenth division of the 
National Guards.

HENRY SHIPPEN HUIDEKOPER, Colonel of the One Hundred and Fiftieth regiment and 
Major-General of the National Guard, was born on the 17th of July, 1839, at 
Meadville.  He was the eldest son of Edgar Huidekoper, and a grandson of H. J. 
Huidekoper, a native of Holland, one of the early settlers in the northwestern 
part of the State.  His mother, Frances (Shippen) Huidekoper, was a daughter of 
Henry Shippen, formerly President Judge of the sixth judicial district.  He 
early manifested a taste for mechanism, and those sports and occupations common 
to country life.  He was educated at Harvard University, graduating in the class 
of 1862.  The war had aroused a martial spirit even beneath the peaceful shades 
of the university, and before leaving it, he had given considerable time to the 
study of tactics and to battalion drill.
 On returning to his home he found operations in progress for

HENRY S. HUIDEKOPER - 841
 
the information of the Bucktail brigade, and immediately embarked in the 
enterprise.  On the 30th of August, 1862, he was commissioned a Captain in the 
One Hundred and Fiftieth regiment, and was soon afterwards made Lieutenant-
Colonel.  Most of the winter was spent in the city of Washington, where he 
served on a general court-martial.  Early in the spring this brigade was 
incorporated in the First corps.  The campaign of Chancellorsville involved much 
hard marching in its preliminary stages, and anxious reconnaissance, but little 
severe fighting on the part of this corps.  The march to Gettysburg followed 
close upon the retirement from this field, and here Colonel Huidekoper fought 
his first and his last battle.  But though confined to half of a single day it 
was such a baptism of fire as a soldier rarely receives in a long life of 
service.  The regiment moved to its position, midway between Willoughby Run and 
Seminary Ridge, at noon on the first day of the battle.  Earnest fighting soon 
commenced, the open ground where the regiment stood being raked by the enemy's 
artillery.  When shot and shell failed to move it, rebel infantry advanced to 
the attack, and from right and front bore down upon it with overwhelming force.  
The troops which stood next it, Wadsworth's, yielded and retired to the wooded 
heights in rear.  But the men who wore the Bucktail, though more exposed than 
any other part of the line, remained immovable as the rock against which the 
billows unavailing beat!  "I relied greatly on Stone's brigade," says Doubleday, 
"to hold the post assigned them, as I soon saw I would be obliged to change 
front with a portion of my line, to face the northwest, and his brigade held the 
pivot of the movement.  My confidence in this noble body of men was not 
misplaced.  They repulsed the repeated attacks of vastly superior numbers at 
close quarters, and maintained their position until the final retreat of the 
whole line.  This brigade in common with almost every regiment in the Third 
division was composed of Pennsylvanians, who were actuated by a heroic desire to 
avenge the invasion of their native State."
  The storm had not been long raging before Colonel Stone was shot, and Colonel 
Wister, of the One Hundred and Fiftieth, succeeded him.  This threw the whole 
responsibility of directing the regiment upon Lieutenant-Colonel Huidekoper at a 
most critical

MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA - 842

stage of the battle.  The enemy was just then coming down upon it with 
overwhelming force.  "The rebels now advanced," says General Doubleday, "from 
the northwest to flank the two regiments in the road, but the One Hundred and 
Fiftieth, under Lieutenant-Colonel Huidekoper, changed front-forward, and met 
the enemy precisely as Dwight had met them, with two volleys of musketry and a 
gallant bayonet charge, led by Colonel Wister in person.  This dispersed them.  
Another desperate onslaught came from the north, passed the railroad cut, and 
almost reached the road, only, however, to encounter another defeat from the 
irresistible bayonets of our men.  The next attach came from the west, but was 
again repulsed by the indomitable One Hundred and Fiftieth regiment. . . .Just 
previous to this the brave and resolute Lieutenant-Colonel Huidekoper had faced 
four companies to contend with the opposing forces from the west, while six 
companies kept off an entire brigade from the north. . . .Every regiment of 
Stone's brigade changed front forward, and two changed front to rear, while 
closely engaged.  The most eminent military writers regard the first movement as 
difficult, and the last as almost impossible to execute under fire."  In the 
midst of these intricate manoeuvres, and while battling with a lion-hearted 
determination, Colonel Huidekoper received a wound in the leg and another severe 
one in the right arm.  Not long after the remnants of this gallant brigade were 
forced to yield, and when the enemy, pushing eagerly forward, gained possession 
of the field, Colonel Huidekoper was insensible upon the operator's table.  He 
woke to find himself a prisoner, and that good right arm no longer his.
  When the battle was over and the echoes of the great conflict had died away, 
Colonel Huidekoper, with thousands of the Union wounded left upon the field, 
came again under the old flag.  He was taken to Philadelphia, where he was cared 
for by kind friends, and his wounds soon healed.  He returned to the field, and 
in February, 1864, was promoted to Colonel; but on the 5th of March following, 
feeling himself incapacitated for field duty, resigned.  That heroic soldier, 
General Doubleday, under whose eye he fought, in a communication to the War 
Department, said:  "There is not a more gallant officer or more perfect

JACOB M. CAMPBELL - 843

gentleman in the Army of the Potomac than Colonel Huidekoper, and when the 
history of the war is written no harder fighting will be recorded than that of 
the One Hundred and Fiftieth regiment Pennsylvania volunteers during the first 
day at Gettysburg."
  Colonel Huidkoper was married on the 26th of October, 1864, to Miss Emma 
Gertrude, daughter of Thomas W. Evans, of Germantown, Philadelphia.  In person 
he is five eight inches in height, compactly built, and of an erect and 
determined mien.  Since the war he has devoted himself extensively to the 
manufacture of woollen cloths, in which he has achieved great success.  When the 
National Guard of Pennsylvania was organized he was selected by Governor Geary 
to command the Twentieth division, as Major-General, which position he still 
holds, his being notably one of the best drilled and most efficient divisions in 
the entire corps. 

JACOB MILLER CAMPBELL, son of John and Mary (Weyand)Campbell, was born near the 
summit of the Allegheny mountains, in Somerset county, on the 20th of November, 
1821.  He learned the trade of a printer, but being fond of adventure was 
successively clerk, mate, and part owner of a steamboat running on the 
Mississippi.  He was the first at Camp Curtin with his company for three months, 
during which he was Quartermaster of the Third regiment.  He was made Colonel of 
the Fifty-fourth, with which he served over three years in West Virginia along 
the line of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and in the Shenandoah Valley.  The 
duty was hazardous and put the metal of the troops to a constant strain, as the 
hour could not be divined when a superior force would come down upon them.  
Skirmishing and hard fighting were frequent, and he was engaged in several 
severe battles, among which were New Market, Piedmont, Lynchburg, Winchester, 
and Cedar Creek where he was wounded.  He was much of the time in command of a 
brigade, and occasionally of a division, and was recommended for a Brigadier's 
commission.  It was long delayed, but finally granted for his gallantry at 
Piedmont in June, 1864.  He was for two terms Surveyor-General of Pennsylvania.  
He was married in 1847 to Miss Mary Rankin Campbell.

MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA - 844

HORATIO GATES SICKEL, Colonel of the Third Reserve regiment, Brevet Brigadier 
and Major-General, was born in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, on the 3d of April, 
1817.  His paternal ancestors were descended from an old Holland family, his 
maternal from English Quakers who came to this county with William Penn.  For 
several generations both branches had been well-to-do farmers in the 
neighborhood of Philadelphia.  His mother, Elizabeth (Vandergrift)Sickel, an 
intelligent and refined lady, died when he was but seven years old, and he 
afterwards found a home in the family of an elder sister, Mrs. Henry Kuhn, where 
he wrought upon a farm in summer and attended school in winter.  At the age of 
eighteen, having a mechanical turn, he apprenticed himself to the business of 
smithing, reserving the right to three months attendance annually in the 
Friends' school at Byberry.  On arriving at his majority, being possessed of a 
good business education and a small legacy from his grandfather Vandergrift's 
estate, he established himself in smithing and coachmaking at Quakertown.  In 
1842 he married Eliza, daughter of William Van Sant, of Northampton, and three 
years later removed to Philadelphia, where he engaged in manufacturing and 
mercantile business, which he prosecuted with success. 
  For more than twenty years previous to the Rebellion he had been an officer of 
the volunteer militia, commanding the Old Washington Grays of the Second, and 
the Mechanics; Rifles of the First Division.  Among his earliest lessons was 
that of devotion to country.  His eyes had first seen the light in the 
neighborhood of some of the most stirring exploits of Washington and the 
patriots of the Revolution.  Familiar with the story of their trials and 
sufferings and imbued with the spirit which moved them, he rendered prompt 
obedience to the call for aid in the spring of 1861, and was unanimously elected 
Colonel of the Third Reserve, organized in the camp at Easton.  His discipline 
was methodical and exact, and withal so mildly yet firmly enforced that it 
encountered little question or resistance.  He exercised special care for the 
health, comfort, and well-being of his men, and while encouraging manly sports 
and diversions, discountenanced gaming and kindred vices.  The social 
intercourse at his head-quarters was agreeable and elevated.

HORATIO G. SICKEL - 845

  He went to the Peninsula just previous to the opening of the Seven Days' 
battle, and participated in the hottest part of the actions at Beaver Dam Creek, 
Gaines' Mill, and Charles City Cross Roads, having a horse shot under him in 
each of the last two engagements, and was honorably mentioned in the reports of 
Generals Meade and McCall.  In the last battle General Meade was disabled; 
whereupon Colonel Sickel succeeded to the command of the brigade, which he 
continued to exercise until it reached Acquia Creek, on its way to join Pope.  
In the trying campaign which followed, he lead his regiment, and though 
suffering from sunstroke in the battle of Bull Run, continued with his men to 
the last.
  Recovering from a sever indisposition he rejoined the army at Sharpsburg, and 
moving down the Valley of Virginia acted with great gallantry in the memorable 
charge of the Reserves in the battle of Fredericksburg.  Soon afterwards, upon 
the promotion of General Meade to the command of the fifth Corps, Colonel Sickel 
succeeded to that of the Reserves, and in February, 1863, was placed over the 
defences of the city of Alexandria.  In April, 1864, he was ordered to the 
command of a brigade, under General Crook, in West Virginia, and participated 
with distinction in the campaign from the valley of the Kanawha to Wyattsville 
and Doublin on the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad.  On the 9th of May a heavy 
force of the enemy, under General Jenkins, was discovered posted near the summit 
of Cloyd Mountain in an apparently impregnable position.  An assault was at once 
ordered.  When arrived near the hostile works, Colonel Sickel, seeing that his 
men were exposed to a destructive fire, ordered two regiments to lie down and 
crawl stealthily forward.  While the attention of the foe was attracted by 
these, he sent the balance of the brigade to the right.  Proceeding under cover 
of the high ground their progress was not discovered until, with a wild shout, 
they burst like a whirlwind upon the rebel left flank, driving it in confusion 
and achieving a complete victory.
  On the following day, General Crook, on account of sickness, turned over the 
entire command of the army to Colonel Sickel.  The destruction of the depots and 
warehouses, with immense stores and military equipage, was promptly commenced.  
The

MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA - 846

railroad for a distance of six miles was utterly destroyed, the rails being 
twisted and the culverts blown up.  Advancing eastward, at New River Bridge 
Sickel encountered the enemy under General McCausland, whom he defeated after an 
obstinate resistance, driving them over the bridge, an immense covered structure 
a mile and a half in length, which was totally destroyed.  The army moved to 
Meadow Bluff, when the three years' term of service of the two Reserve 
regiments, which were of Sickel's brigade, expired.  He was accordingly ordered 
to move with them to Philadelphia, where, on the 17th of June, they were 
mustered out.  But Colonel Sickel was not the man to desert his country's armies 
in this her hour of need.  He at once tendered his services to Governor Curtin,  
and was offered the command of a veteran regiment, but accepted instead that of 
one of the new ones just then being recruited by the Union League Association of 
Philadelphia, the One Hundred and Ninety-eighth.
  On reaching the front it was placed in the First brigade, First division of 
the Fifth corps, and Sickel was given command of the brigade.  He at once won 
distinction, leading with marked skill in the battle of Peebles' Farm and in the 
movements of the 1st, 2d and 3d days of October, being honored at their 
conclusion with the brevet rank of Brigadier-General.  He was engaged in the 
demonstration upon the South Side Railroad, and on the 6th of December in the 
destruction of the Weldon Railroad.  At Hatcher's Run, on the 6th of February, 
1865, seeing the Second brigade hard pressed, he led his force to its support, 
and with sword in hand headed the charge which ended the struggle and brought 
victory to the Union arms.  In the heat of the engagement he received a painful 
flesh wound.  Fortunately it soon healed, and he returned to duty in time to 
take part in the action at Lewis' Farm or Quaker Road, one of the principal 
military achievements of his life.  General Chamberlain, of Maine, since 
Governor, in referring to General Sickel's conduct, thus describes it: "His 
regiment greatly distinguished itself here, the gallantry of its charge being 
fully equalled by the fortitude with which it withstood a heavy and determined 
countercharge, and for more than an hour disputed the ground. . . . . While all 
this was going on, General Sickel and his command were behaving in the most

HORATIO G. SICKEL - 847

admirable manner.  Though repeatedly forced to yield ground, he constantly 
rallied and fought so determinedly as to hold the enemy in check until we had 
restored the left, and being reinforced made one final and decisive assault.  In 
the midst of this noble conduct General Sickel fell severely wounded; but his 
spirit still pervaded his men.  This was a severe action, in which we pressed an 
assault for nearly two hours before being reinforced against Wise's and 
Wallace's brigades, supported by other troops of Johnson's and Anderson's 
commands.  In the final assault we carried the ground, the enemy's dead and 
wounded falling into our hands, and we intrenching beyond the Boydton Plank 
Road, which was our objective point.  We buried one hundred and thirty-five of 
the enemy's dead."  In his official report of this action General Chamberlain 
said: "I cannot fail to speak of the unflinching fortitude and commanding 
courage of Brigadier-General Sickel, whose example and conduct made my presence 
needless on that part of the line, until he was borne from the field severely 
wounded."  This was a fitting termination to his service; for long before his 
wound had healed the war had ended gloriously for the Union arms, and the 
legions of the Grand Army had come marching home.  The Government was prompt in 
bestowing upon him the brevet rank of Major-General.
  Not long after the close of his service, he was appointed by Governor Curtin 
Health Officer of the Port of Philadelphia.  He was subsequently appointed 
Collector of Internal Revenue for the fourth district of Pennsylvania, and is at 
present United States Pension Agent for that city.  He early took a deep 
interest in the public schools, was for several years a director and for two 
terms president of the fourteenth section.  He has for a long period been a 
member of the Board of Health, President of the Philadelphia, Newtown and New 
York Railroad Company, and is intimately connected with the mining and banking 
interests of the State.  In person he is above the medium height and of powerful 
frame, with dark brown hair and gray eyes.  In society he is taciturn, but with 
the mien of one possessing decided opinions and reserved power.  His high sense 
of honor and moral worth endear him to all.