The 79th Pennsylvania's 1st Reunion in 1877

On the morning of October 8, 1877 -- the fifteenth anniversary of the Battle of Perryville -- the veterans of the 79th Pennsylvania assembled for the first time since the war's end. Colonel Hambright led a parade through the streets of Lancaster that culminated in a meeting at Fulton Hall that featured singing, a history of the regiment by Sigmund Wisner, and an oration by E. K. Martin.

The Daily New Era reported, "Long will live in memory the recollection of the 8th day of October, 1877, for it was a gala day in Lancaster -- a day when the survivors of as brave a regiment as ever fired a gun met in fraternal good fellowship for the first time since the close of the bloody war which called them into existence."

A full report of the day's proceedings and speeches appeared in the New Era. See the following link for a scan of these newspaper articles: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1R_iwUQ48iwORhy832tYRUhhEWMgwSasc/view?usp=sharing

Recently, I acquired some ephemera related to this event on eBay. Appearing here are scans of the envelope, ticket, and program that were presumably saved by one of the veterans attending the event.

Hopefully a future post could go further in depth on the content of the speeches and the people present.

79th Pennsylvania Reunion Program, 1877 

Killed at Perryville

Detail of tombstone of Capt. Samuel J. Boone, Middle Octorara Presbyterian Church, Quarryville, PA

Thirty-seven officers and men of the 79th Pennsylvania died at the Battle of Perryville on October 8, 1862, making it by far the bloodiest day in the military history of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.  With another 149 wounded and and three missing, the regiment's casualties numbered 189 according to Bates' regimental history and an 1863 casualty list published in the 3/24 Intelligencer.  Of the wounded, at least 10 soldiers would die in Kentucky before the end of October, although most of the remainder appear to have returned to service.  As far as I know, of these 47 men killed or mortally wounded at Perryville, the remains of only five made it back to Pennsylvania.  They include:

1. Capt. Samuel J. Boone, Company C.  Killed in action.  Buried at Middle Octorara Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Quarryville.  
2. Lieut. Henry J. Test, Company C.  Killed in action.  Presumably buried in York.  
3. Corp. Frederick J. Sener.  Died October 24, 1862, of wounds.  Buried at Woodward Hill Cemetery.  [Plot location unknown.]
4. Corp. John A. Keller, Company B.  Died November 3, 1862, of wounds.  Buried at Lancaster Cemetery.  [Plot location unknown.]
5. Pvt. William Eckert [Eakert], Company B.  Killed in action.  Buried at Calvary Monument Bible Church Cemetery, Paradise.

The rest of the men killed in action were buried on the field by their comrades -- despite the wishes of many family members in Lancaster to have remains sent home.  Those remains, which did not retain any identification, were transferred to Camp Nelson National Cemetery after the war.  Others who died in military hospitals are buried in national cemeteries around Louisville.  

Two years ago, I went out to visit and photograph the graves of Capt. Boone and Pvt. Eckert, which are only a couple miles apart in southern Lancaster County.  In posts over the upcoming days, I'll post more about their lives and deaths and share some photos of their tombstones.  

Photos from Perryville

Back in May, I finally had the opportunity to visit the Perryville Battlefield State Historic Site, where on one afternoon in October 1862 the 79th Pennsylvania played a key role in saving the Union army from disaster.  The battlefield seems like it's an hour from anything else, but it's certainly a compelling and well-interpreted site.  While the armies engaged were relatively small, the casualty rates were extremely high.  The ground is a series of undulating ridges, which helps to delineate the engagements and understand their sequence.  I definitely recommend visiting the battlefield, preferably by foot or bike.

Map showing correct position of 79th PA at Perryville
By Hal Jesperson (Wikimedia Commons)

I got the chance to walk the battlefield, focusing on the site where the Lancaster County Regiment, and met with park manager Kurt Holman.  Besides dropping off some eagerly devoured primary sources (available here), we had a discussion to straighten out the 79th Pennsylvania's role in the battle.  Kurt -- probably using Ken Noe's book -- had them moving a couple different places over the course of the afternoon, where primary sources make it fairly clear that the regiment stayed in one place for the duration of the fighting.  We seemed to reach a pretty satisfying conclusion (matching what I wrote in a previous post), and Kurt updated park maps and files.

The 79th PA fought on a shoulder ridge that stretched south beyond a bend on the Benton Road from a hill on which the 1st Wisconsin and Bush's and Stone's batteries fought.  To their front was about a 100-yard down slope that ran into a wood lot on land not suitable for farming.  The 24th Illinois would have been to their right, but the ground drops off and it does not appear as if that regiment coordinated with the 79th PA.  So, it's not hard to imagine how the 79th Pennsylvania felt isolated in their position.

79th PA battle line, looking south (left to right) from left flank

79th PA battle line, looking north (right to left) from right flank

Left flank of 79th PA battle line, looking north.  Col. Hambright swung out his left two companies from this position to provide a flanking fire on Confederates to the regiment's front.  The 1st Wisconsin fought beyond the 79th PA's left flank on the hill with the artillery piece. 

View of 79th PA position from front left (roughly from the direction of the 1st Wisconsin.  

View of the 79th PA left flank position from the front

Gen. Rousseau Visits Lancaster

Late on the night of February 1, 1863, Major General Lovell H. Rousseau arrived in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, for a brief but planned stop on a journey from Tennessee to New York. The general had received national attention as a loyal Democrat and border state warrior who helped secure Kentucky for the Union, but his Lancaster hosts knew the “gallant Rousseau” better for the men whom he commanded. Under Rousseau, the “Lancaster County Regiment”—more formally known as the 79th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry—had fought its first battle four months earlier near Perryville, Kentucky, on October 8, 1862. In that battle, the regiment lost over one-third of its number as casualties in a successful stand against repeated Confederate assaults.

After Rousseau's arrival was announced, an “immense concourse of citizens” gathered the next night to hear Rousseau at the Caldwell House in Lancaster.  The 79th Pennsylvania's former regimental band, the Fencibles band, played a number of airs, including "Auld Lang Syne" and "Hail to the Chief."  J. M. W. Geist, editor of the Express, remarked,  

There was an appropriety in the occasion which was felt  no less by the General than by every member of the Band.  He had heard them play these same airs when both together shared the privations and dangers of the battle field, and they had seen the gallant soldier as cheers from the whole line indicated how warm a place the Kentucky patriot and soldier held in the hearts of the men of his Division.  It was a meeting of old friends and a waking up of old reminiscences.  And we need hardly add that the Band did full justice to its reputation on this interesting occasion.

The general responded by praising the Lancaster County Regiment, saying "a better drilled, more thoroughly disciplined, and braver body of men could not be found in the army."  Furthermore, Lancaster should be proud of Col. Hambright, "for the rebels had never yet seen the backs of the 79th. P. V."  Afterwards, Rousseau greeted many Lancasterians in the parlor of the Caldwell House, sought treatment for the throat ailment for which he was traveling to find a cure, and left the following morning on a train to Washington (not New York, as originally intended) in the company of journalist Josiah Rinehart Sypher and Lieut. Samuel L. Hartman--a 79th Pa officer on his staff.   

Rousseau’s visit represented a public testimonial to the Lancaster County Regiment’s sacrifice at Perryville and the community’s commitment to remember it. It showed how a regiment’s participation in a battle, even one that received relatively little national attention, still impacted the community five hundred miles that sent it off to war.  Presumably, this was an opportunity for at least a few men and women from families directly impacted by the Perryville casualty list to publicly remember their loss.

Another event taking place a few blocks away showed how a unit’s experience in battle could play upon notions of loyalty in that unit’s hometown. Instead of attending General Rousseau’s reception which coincided with the eve of city elections, many of Lancaster’s Democrats crowded Fulton Hall for a partisan political rally. Stuart A. Wylie, editor of one Republican paper, the Lancaster Daily Inquirer, could not resist comparing the two assemblages. After reviewing the courage of and sacrifices made by Rousseau, Wylie noted, “At one place we had a Kentuckian advising the people to be faithful, and a few minute’s walk distant, we had men counseling factious opposition and denunciation of the Government.” A letter to another Republican paper vilified Lancaster’s Mayor George Sanderson—a prominent Democrat and editor of the Lancaster Intelligencer—wondering if the mayor intentionally avoided the general because Rousseau, also a Democrat, was “too vigorous in his prosecution of the war…to be palatable to the very questionable political sensibilities of the Mayor.” The letter concluded, “‘Tis a burning shame that our city which has sent forth so many noble, patriotic sons…could not have a man as its chief magistrate who would extend the hand of fellowship and welcome to a General, who had so brilliantly led those sons—some to victory, and some to death! but all to glory!”

In addition to showing the notion of battlefield sacrifice as a central theme in commemorative appeals, General Rousseau’s visit illustrates a complex and evolving relationship between home front activities and support for soldiers from that community. From a purely political perspective, though, the parties generally desired to tether Lancaster County’s natural support for its own regiment to their own party platforms. Both Democrats and Republicans, who aligned with War Democrats to form the Union Party, attempted to appear as the regiment’s true home front advocate and the soldier’s friend. As the battle’s memory formed in the weeks and months succeeding October 1862, a variety of factors helped Republicans to depict the Democrats as outsiders looking in, as exemplified by accusations surrounding General Rousseau’s February 1863 visit.

The 79th Pennsylvania in the Battle of Perryville: The Fight

Engraving entitled ""Battle of Perryville--The Extreme Left--Starkweather's Brigade" (Library of Congress)
I wonder if this intends to show the Confederate attack on the 21st Wisconsin in the cornfield in front of the 1st WI/79th PA position.

The following narrative tells the story of the Lancaster County Regiment in its first battle, the Battle of Perryville.  It is my attempt to synthesize over a dozen primary source accounts of the 79th Pennsylvania with the story told by Ken Noe in his campaign study Perryville: This Grand Havoc of Battle.  If not explicitly referenced in the post, sources should be pretty obvious to identify in the "Sources" and "Battle of Perryville" tabs.  

At the Bend in the Benton Road: 2:30-5:30pm

A note about sources: The most confusing part of parsing battle accounts for the 79th Pennsylvania is determining what refers to actions on in each of the regiment's two positions.  For example, even after much reading, I'm still not sure whether the regiment took more casualties in its first or second position.  Quotes are presented where I think they belong, but do know that it's possible that I'm misapplying comments between the Benton Road bend position and the Starkweather's Hill position.  If you can correct/enhance/sharpen my hasty analysis, please feel free to contact me or leave a comment below.

Hoping to protect his other brigades from a Confederate attack on his left flank, Rousseau ordered Starkweather's two batteries and infantrymen forward to another ridge that extended his second line.  The regiment's hospital steward and newspaper correspondent, John B. Chamberlain, recorded his impressions of the advance:

The 1st Wisconsin and 79th were ordered up to support the battery and hold that position at all hazards.  As the solid, serried ranks of glistening bayonets and brave men moved onward with all the regularity and precision of a dress parade, and with the steadiness of veteran troops, the two regiments involuntarily paid a just tribute to the other by sending up long and loud cheers of hearty approval.  It was a spontaneous tribute to the others soldierly bravery and appearance.  Like twin brothers they marched on side by side and calmly awaited the enemy's onslaught.

A rookie regiment in Starkweather's brigade, the 21st Wisconsin, was (pointlessly?) stuck out in front on lower ground by a cornfield.  Behind that regiment was a stronger main line on the ridge, consisting from left to right of the more experienced 1st Wisconsin, 79th Pennsylvania, and 24th Illinois.

The exhausted and inexperienced brigade of William R. Terrill was positioned in front of Starkweather's brigade in a weak position that would have been Starkweather's had Jackson's division not cut in front of him on the march to the battlefield. The Confederate attack first hit Terrill, whose brigade was positioned on the "Open Knob."  After some hard fighting, Terrill's line gave way around 3:30pm and ran to rally behind Starkweather's line.

The advancing Confederates next hit the 21st Wisconsin, who also broke and fled to the rear after a couple volleys.  Col. Hambright later wrote that it was "sickening" that as soldiers on the retreat ran through his regiment's ranks, "shouting to my men to give the rebels a fire, then run."  Clark recorded in his diary that the routed Union soldiers yelled, "The Secesh are coming, run for your lives!"

Starkweather's three regiments (minus the 21st Wisconsin) and two batteries now had the responsibility of stopping two surging Confederate brigades.  Although roughly positioned to support each other the 1st Wisconsin, 79th Pennsylvania, and 24th Illinois lines were not fully connected, and to Col. Hambright it felt like the regiment stood alone on the hillside "without support of any kind, no artillery, nothing but their own determination."

Col. Henry A. Hambright
Commanding 79th Pa.
(Likely a photo from 1861)
Richard Abel Collection

As Col. Hambright moved his men into a position that Gen. Rousseau ordered "held at all costs," Rebel sharpshooters in dense woods and undergrowth in front of and below the regiment's line on the hillside.  Hambright wrote in a letter to his former senior captain (who had been captured by Morgan's raiders back in May), "the enemy opened a most destructive fire on us while moving by the flank, but it had no effect to cause unsteadiness.  We gained the point ordered too, and faced the enemy in largely superior numbers, and opened a fire that soon gave us a clear space in front."

From the point of view of Corp. Charles G. Fisher of Company G:

At this point the balls came thick and fast, and the whistling of them I shall never forget.  We were all lying flat on the ground and could hear them distinctly.  We were then ordered in line, which position we took on the double-quick, under a heavy fire, but before we had a chance to fire a shot, many a one of the glorious 79th fell.  There we stood and fired for three hours, as fast as arms could move, without giving way an inch.  

The Confederates aimed to seize one of Starkweather's batteries and struck the 1st Wisconsin.  The 79th Pennsylvania assisted with an oblique fire and began taking casualties as they traded volleys with Confederates attacking from a position covered with underbrush in front of the 79th Pennsylvania.

Two 79th Pennsylvania officers, Capt. Samuel Boone and Lieut. Henry Test of Company C, fell dead almost immediately.  Hambright recounted, "The men fell so fast at one time that it required all my efforts to close the lines."  Quartermaster Sergt. Marshall tied his horse by a hospital (never to see it again), grabbed a musket, and joined friends in Company B.  He wrote, "During the engagement we kept continually closing up to the right, so that as our line became shorter and shorter, we all knew what dreadful havoc the secesh balls were making in our ranks."

After the initial fighting, a Confederate battery that began firing from the left flank attracted Starkweather's attention and caused concern.  In response, he planned to move his line back to its position before ordered forward by Rousseau  First, he would remove his artillery, and his three infantry regiments were to follow.

Before Starkweather's plans could be executed, the Confederate brigades of Maney and Stewart--encouraged by the sight of the evacuation of the Union artillery--renewed their attack.  Sergt. Marshall wrote, "The rebels took courage at [the retreat of Starkweathers' batteries] and followed up their advantage with a yell.  The 79th was now exposed to the whole of their fire."   The regiment responded by delivering such a "raking fire that they scattered in all directions.  And then went up a yell such as only Lancaster county can give--well, the fact is, the boys were shouting and cheering and yelling all the time."

At the battle's height, General Rousseau paid a visit to the regiment in an incident frequently retold after the battle.  Marshall wrote that "Gen. Rousseau rode up to us, and waving his hat, said, 'The 79th never leave a stain on old Pennsylvania!' and we answered him with three deafening cheers, and all this during the hottest of the fire.  So you can perceive how cool and self-possessed the men were."  Chamberlain wrote that Rousseau called the 79th Pennsylvania "his 'Stonewall.'"

Corp. William T. Clark
Wounded three times
Richard Abel Collection

Sergt. John Dean of Company A was the color bearer and wounded in the wrist.  The colors were "shot away" four times.  Col. Hambright and Adjutant Lyman Bodie each took turns borrowing the flag to encourage the regiment, and/or wave a silk flag that Hambright produced from his coat.

The 1st Wisconsin on the 79th Pennsylvania's immediate left fought off the attackers in hand-to-hand combat to save the Union batteries.  In the smoke of battle, the Lancaster County soldiers perceived a dark blue Polk flag as a "black flag" and inferred the Confederates were under a take-no-prisoners policy, which only steeled their nerves.  As the 1st Wisconsin counterattacked, Col. Hambright swung his two leftmost companies, Companies B and G, out to "pour a cross fire that perfectly withered the advancing files of rebels."  One Confederate regiment left its flag behind as it fled, and the 1st Wisconsin picked up the flag and claimed credit for its capture, a source of griping for many in the 79th Pennsylvania after the battle.  Years later, Sergt. John Durham of the 1st Wisconsin received the Medal of Honor for retrieving this flag.  

"Polk Flag" captured by 1st Wisconsin
Shot down by 79th Pennsylvania?
(Wisconsin Veterans' Museum)

Casualties continued to mount.  Honorary Company B member Sergt. Marshall  was hit in the ankle harmlessly by a spent ball and nearly escaped when a shell exploded "within a few inches of my right foot and flew into a thousand pieces, severely wounding a man in the arm but without striking me at all."  Others weren't so lucky.  William T. Clark was wounded three times but kept fighting, writing about it at day's end, "I am wounded in the side flesh wound, buck shot between the elbow & one near the right shoulder, all flesh wounds & I will soon be able to take my place in line." Sergt. William Eckert was wounded twice before struck by a third ball that killed him.

Lieut. William S. McCaskey
Richard Abel Collection

Two corporals in Company B, Frederick H. Sener and John A. Keller, of a group of four friends who had worked as typos in the Examiner and Herald officer were mortally wounded.  Their friend and lieutenant, William McCaskey, wrote afterward in a letter to his sister:

I looked around where Fred fell, and he was looking toward me, as soon as he noticed me, he beckoned for me.  I stepped aside a few steps, for he was shot alongside of me, and I got him out of ranks, he bid me goodbye, and told me not to attend to him, but return and revenge him, this I done as well as possible, and bullets never went into hotter muskets with a more stead and determined hand.  You could see the miserable looking varments trying to creep up on you, crack would go our muskets, down go the game.  I don't know, but I think they got their fill, and I am certain in saying that Sener and Keller were revenged.  In Fred's last moments he was insane, and accused me of having water by his side, and refused him a drink.

In Company G, Corp. Fisher described the losses:

Many, many a man fell by the balls of the 79th, and our ranks suffered severely as the accounts will show.  My right-hand man was wounded; my rear man also.  H. Snyder and H. Young, both next me on the left, were wounded and fell, and I was left alone for awhile.  There were sixteen wounded in our company.  D. Leonard was slightly wounded in the hip, the ball going through his cartridge box; but he still kept blazing away.

After repulsing the series of Confederate attacks and allowing the Union cannon time to be safely removed, Starkweather's line was able to move back to its second position.  The 1st Wisconsin, 79th Pennsylvania, and 24th Illinois, kept their alignment but now stood behind a low stonewall on a steeper, higher ridge.  Marshall wrote, "We changed our position, and it all seemed as cool as though going through a dress parade."

Map of Battle of Perryville, 3:45pm on Oct. 8, 1862
By Hal Jesperson (Wikimedia Commons)
Based on maps in book by Ken Noe

The 79th Pennsylvania in the Battle of Perryville: Arrival on the Battlefield

The following narrative tells the story of the Lancaster County Regiment in its first battle, the Battle of Perryville.  It is my attempt to synthesize over a dozen primary source accounts of the 79th Pennsylvania with the story told by Ken Noe in his campaign study Perryville: This Grand Havoc of Battle.  If not explicitly referenced in the post, sources should be pretty obvious to identify in the "Sources" and "Battle of Perryville" tabs.  

Arrival on the Battlefield 

On the morning of October 8, 1862, the 79th Pennsylvania and the rest of Col. John C. Starkweather's brigade found itself just west of the town of Mackville with the supply wagons of their division, commanded by Gen. Lovell H. Rousseau.  Rousseau's other two brigades had started off around dawn with orders to move towards Gen. Braxton Bragg's Confederates located at Perryville, but Starkweather's men required more time to draw supplies.  Gen. James Jackson's division wouldn't wait for Starkweather and preempted the brigade in the line of march along the Mackville Road, making the 79th Pennsylvania one of the last regiments to arrive on the northern end of the battlefield.

Despite Buell's plans to strike at Bragg, the Confederate commander thought the Union forces he faced to only be a small fragment of the Union army, and ordered a general assault.  The battle opened in the morning as the two sides clashed over possession of a precious pool of water on the drought-stricken landscape.  Bragg's main assault was to take place in the afternoon, starting from the north (where the 79th Pennsylvania was arriving) and unfolding to the south.  

Three miles from the sound of fighting, Starkweather's brigade's march slowed to due to congestion on the road.  Worried about missing another battle and sensing the urgency of the moment, the brigade abandoned the road and cut through fields and woods. Quartermaster Sergeant James H. Marshall recounted, "We had gone but a few miles when heavy cannonading was heard about six miles ahead.  The 'boys' all seemed to rejoice and were afraid it would be over before they would catch up.  Each man seemed to step forward more briskly and no one fell back." 

Corp. William T. Clark of Company B noted, " The country is hilly & very little water to be had. Firing is becoming more regular & with some infantry being engaged. About noon we came near the scene of action, stacked arms & rested.  The battle is raging in front of us."

Finding the left of Rousseau's other brigades, Starkweather positioned his men to to the left (north) and slightly set back from the Union line, and notified Rousseau of his position.  Of this time, Marshall wrote, "About half past two in the afternoon we marched over the fields and stacked arms at the edge of a dense wood, while our artillery commenced shelling the enemy, who appeared only in small squads on our left.  We were soon ordered out of the woods and drawn up in line of battle."

Around 2:30pm, orders came to advance to support the brigade's artillery, and the Lancaster County Regiment formed in line of battle and marched forward.

To be continued in a post tomorrow...

Map of the Battle of Perryville
2:00 PM, October 8, 1862
Drawn by Hal Jesperson (Source)
Based on the maps of Ken Noe's book.

'In Hot Pursuit': The March to Perryville

Buell's Army in Pursuit of Bragg (HW 10/25/1862)

After what amounted to a long weekend in Louisville that ranked among "the most agreeable and pleasant times" we have experienced since our departure from home," the 79th Pennsylvania was back to active campaigning.  Reveille sounded at 4am on October 1, 1862, as the Lancaster County Regiment drew three days' rations and joined Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Buell's Army of the Ohio to set out on the offensive.  The army marched out of the city on three roads and aimed to converge forty miles south of Louisville at Bardstown, Kentucky. 

The countryside through which Alexander McCook's First Corps passed started off lush and welcoming.  Abandoned picket posts constructed by Confederate cavalrymen out of fences dotted the roadside every few miles.  Farmer and diarist Corp. William T. Clark of Company B praised it as "fine grazing country," but questioned how they harvested corn.  At the town of Taylorsville, the citizens cooked "everything they had for us," despite resources like salt and eggs being very scarce.

On October 5, the regiment bade farewell to Lieut. Col. John H. Duchman, who deemed one more campaign too much for him to handle.  Duchman, whose son was also an officer in Co. K, 77th Pennsylvania, had a valid excuse; after all, he was years old and a bona fide veteran of the War of 1812.

By October 6, the ground over which the column marched became more and more barren with that part of Kentucky suffering a historic drought.  Camping outside of Chaplin, Clark and a fellow non-commissioned officer tracked a dry creekbed for a mile before they found water, which was in a pool.

On the morning of October 8, the regiment found itself just inside of ten miles from where fighting was breaking out.  The arrived on near the battlefield around noon, stacked arms, and rested.  Shortly after that, the regiment advanced in a line of battle until close enough to see the Confederates.  The men laid down, rose up, waited for fragmented Union soldiers to pass through, and fired.

The march to Perryville, covering roughly 80 miles.
(Based on diary entries of William T. Clark)

References

• Letter of Hospital Steward John B. Chamberlain in the October 13, 1862, Daily Inquirer <link>
• Diary of William T. Clark
• Noe, Grand Havoc, 98-99.