Bucks County PA Archives Military Records..... Reunion of Durell's Battery in Reading, 1903
Civilwar Durell's Battery
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Neil Scheidt neilain@dejazzd.com December 8, 2013, 6:35 pm

Reunion Of Durell's Battery In Reading, Pa.
Reading Eagle- Sep 13, 1903

Reunion of Durell's Battery in Reading

Transcribed by N.D. Scheidt Dec 10, 2013 



Although Durell's Battery was organized and mustered into the the service at 
Doylestown, fully half of the men were from Reading and Berks County, 
including  Capt. G.W. Durell. The battery was started in connection with the 
organization of the 104th Pa. Vol. Infantry, under commans of Col. W.H.H. 
Davis, of Doylestown, who had received authority from the War Department to 
organize a regiment of infantry and a battery of artillery under President 
Lincoln's first call for 300,000 volunteers for 3 years service.

The battery was formed by Captain Durell, fresh from his service as orderly 
sergeant of the Ringgold Light Artillery(First Defenders), from a squad which 
soon grew to the maximum number required to man a 6-gun battery of light 
artillery. The lieutenantsnamed, Lemuel Gries, Howard McIlvain and George W 
Silvis, were all from Reading.

IN ARTILLERY DUEL

Lieut. Howard McIlvain was the only officer killed in action, and Lieut. 
Cuppel, in the history of the battery, gives this account of the "artillery 
duel at Sulphur Springs" on November 15, 1862, when he was killed.

"Reveille sounded at 5 0'clock on the 15th and about 7 the command was on the 
march, passing through the village and by the burned bridge which had spanned 
the Rappahaock, where a turn was made up the hills from the river. This was the 
bridge which the union soldiers had such a hard time setting on fire on Pope's 
retreat. Ascending the hill, the enemy's cavalry appeared upon the opposite of 
the river, emerging from the woods in squads. A small body of Union cavalry on 
duty near the ruined bridge forded the stream and, advancing toward them, 
engaged in a skirmish. A few moments later the enemy's artillery opened upon 
the division wagon train which was bringing up the rear of the column and 
threatened to capture or destroy it. A staff officer rode up to Captain Durell 
with orders to return a section of  his guns to the river hill and engage the 
enemy's artillery. The left section, Lieut. Howard McIlvain commanding, was 
sent to this duty. Posting his guns in a peach orchard on the top of the hill, 
he opened upon the opposing battery. The Confederate Cavalry made a charge down 
to the river and were about to ford the stream, when the 35th Massachusetis 
Infantry, which was lying in wait for them, poured a volley into the advancing 
horsemen, which sent them whirling back. Six empty saddles were counted. The 
Confederats served their guns unusally well, delivering effective shots among 
the wagons. which greatly demoralized the teamsters. The wagon master turned 
back his wagons that had not reached the exposed part of the road, as soon as 
the fight began, and ordered them to join the division by another route.

The battery paid no attention to the Union guns so long as the wagons were to 
view, but after the last had passed out of sight, McIlvain's guns received the 
undivided attention of the Confederate gunners. Unfortunately the Union 
ammunition proved to defective, many of the shells exploding before reaching 
the river. Only an occasional shot carried near to the mark. This unequal 
contest was kept up for more than an hour before support was received from the 
other 4 guns of the battery which took position on the opposite side of the 
road. Their ammunition was also poor. The enemy's guns coninue to pound the 
left section, their shells bursting all around.

FRIGHTFUL WOUND

A solid shot from a 20-pound gun struck the gallant McIlvain taking off his 
right arm and inflicting a terrible wound in his side. He had just encouraged 
his men with the words, "Stick to you guns, boys, watch that smoke!" It was the 
smoke from the gun that sent the fatal shot. He wanted his gunners to aim their 
pieces at it. He was carried back in rear of the timbers; but he requested the 
men to return to their guns and let him lie there. Shortly after, a shot struck 
Henry B. Ives, one the detached men from Wadsworth's Brigade, driver of the 
lead team of the 4th piece and shattered his right arm. He was immediately 
cared for. A surgeon amputated the limb on the field. The projectiles for the 
left section being exhausted, it retired to the caissons for a fresh supply and 
later returned to the fight. The battery expended in this engagement over 300 
rounds of ammunition. In the meantime, Benjamin's Battery of 20-pound Parrott 
guns came up and the Confederates were soon silenced. Besides the casualities 
above mentioned, Private Antrim, of Berks county, received a contusion of the 
face from a piece of shell.

"Lieutenant McIlvain bore his suffering with marvelous fortitude until about 8 
0'clock in the evening, when he passed away into the sleep which knows no 
waking. He died the death of a hero, bravely fighting for his country, like the 
soldier that he was. The entire command, officers and men, lamented his death 
and regarded it as an irreparable loss. He was beloved by the whole battery, 
and especially by the men of his own section. The captain keenly felt the loss 
of his right hand and trusty lieutenant, the one to whom he always turned when 
an important duty was to be performed. Whenever

a responsible or dangerous task was to be executed McIlvain was called to lead. 
He did not appear to know fear, but was as cool and collected in the thick of 
the fight as when calmly sleeping under the white canopy of his tent. He was 
kind and just to his men and would have resented an act of injustice to any one 
of them, no matter if it was imposed by the general commanding. He was capable 
of manoeuvering and fighting a much larger command, and would, no doubt, have 
been advanced to high rank in the service had his life been spared to the close 
of the war." 

A staff war correspondent of the New York Tribune, who was in the midst of the 
fight, wrote as follows of Lieut. McIlvain: "All who have come in contact with 
McIlvain pronounce him a young man of remarkable promise and most excellant 
qualities, social and otherwise, and one who would have made a noteworthy mark 
in the world had he been spared. He is unversally lamented in his corps with 
which he had been connected since the 11th of last August, and Capt. Durell 
mourns in him his best and most trustworthy officer, which is saying nothing 
derogatory to the other brave men in his command."

The battery lost quite a number of men by malaria, that number exceeding the 
killed. The command was equipped with 6 10-pound Parrott guns. The late 
Christopher Loeser also served as lieutenant.

SILENCED BATTERY AT ANTIETAM

At the battle of Antietam Durell's battery engaged a Confederate battery in its 
immediate front and silenced it, driving the men from their guns. Durell then 
slackened the fire of his guns, upon which the men of the opposing battery were 
seen to return by  ones and twos and renewed the fight. Again were their guns 
silenced and their cannoneers driven away. These efforts of the opposing 
battery to renew the fight were repeated several times, when finally a shot 
struck one of their caissons and blew it up, creating such havoc and 
demoralization among the Confederates that all of their number that could move 
left the field.

It has been a much mooted question among the survivors of Durell's battery as 
to whom of the gunners of the left section belonf the honor of firing the 
destructive shot, as both guns were discharged about the same instant. The 
gunners were Corporal Robert Conrad, of Bucks county, serving the third gun, 
and Corporal John O. Burdan, of Berks county, serving the fourth gun, skilful 
marksmen. The evidence of the comrades, however, preponderates in support of 
the claim that Corporal Conard blew up the enemy's caisson.

After the Confederates artillery had been silenced, the battery's fire was 
directed upon the broken and retiring ranks of the enemy, who were being driven 
back on the right of Hooker's vigerous attack. The battery's elevated position 
on the Antietam hills afforded a view of the greater part of the battlefield, 
from which it was clearly seen that the enemy's lines were badly broken. They 
were falling back over a large newly-plowed field in great numbers. Into this 
mass of bady demoralized troops the battery hurled its 10 pound Parrott 
projectiles with telling effect. The distance was about 2,640 yards, or 1 1/2 
miles. While thus engaged the gunners attention was suddenly drawn to the 
rising clouds of heavy dust above the woods within the enemy's line in front, 
which proved to have been caused by the marching of Jackson's troops from 
Harper's Ferry, coming up on a double-quick to reinforce Lee's sorely pressed 
left. The fire of Durell's guns was now directed to the vicinity of the cloud 
of dust and kept up vigorously until it disappeared. A white horse, supposed to 
be mounted by a Confederate officer of high rank, appeared on a ridge in the 
distance to the right. One of Durell's guns was aimed at the horse and fired, 
the shot taking effect. Gen. Longstreet tells this story, showing that Gen. 
D.H. Hill had been the target on this occasion. "During the progress of the 
battle of Sharpesburg, General Lee and I were riding along my line and D.H. 
Hill's, when we received a report of movements of the enemy, and started up the 
ridge to make a reconnaissance. General Lee and I dismounted, but Hill declined 
to do so. I said to Hill, 'If you insist on riding up there and drawing the 
fire, give us a little interval so that we may not be in the line of fire, when 
they open up on you!' General Lee and I stood on top of the crest with our 
glasses, looking at the movements of the Federals on the left. After a moment I 
turned my glass to the right, the Federal left. As I did so, I noticed a puff 
of white smoke from the mouth of the cannon, 'There is a shot for you', I said 
to General Hill. The gunner was a mile away and the cannon shot came whisking 
through the air for 3 or 4 seconds and took off the front legs of the horse 
that Hill sat on and let the animal down upon his stumps. The horse's head was 
so low and his croup so high that Hill was in a most ludicrous position. With 
one foot in the stirrup he made several attempts to get the other leg over the 
croup but failed. Finally we prevailed upon him to try the the other end of the 
horse and he got down. He had a 3rd horse shot under him before the close of 
the battle. That shot at Hill was the second best shot I ever saw. The best was 
at Yorktown. There a Federal officer came out in front of our line and sitting 
down to his little platting-table began to make a map. One of our officers 
carefully sighted a gun, touched it off and dropped a shell into the hands of 
the man at the table.



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