On the Road to Bentonville

Header of 3/25/1865 Daily Evening Express to accompany Lieut. Marshall's letter

Lieut. James H. Marshall
(79th PA Officers Oval)

While I lack the time now for an in-depth series of posts, I would like to at least observe the 150th anniversary of the Carolinas Campaign by providing two accounts from the 79th Pennsylvania in the two weeks leading up to the Battle of Bentonville, North Carolina.  Bentonville stands out as one of three battles (including Perryville and Chickamauga) in which the Lancaster County Regiment took around 30-40% casualties.  For background on this campaign, I refer you to Craig Swain's daily blog posts about the army's movements.  Note that the 79th Pennsylvania was in the First Division of the Fourteenth Corps.

Since crossing the Savannah River at Sister's Ferry on February 5, 1865, the 79th Pennsylvania and the rest of General Sherman's army cut off their line of communication to move aggressive through South Carolina.  Upon reestablishing communication on March 11, when the regiment reached Fayetteville, North Carolina, Lieut. James H. Marshall took the time write his first letter in several weeks for publication in the Daily Evening Express. 

Marshall essentially copied his diary to cover events of each day of the five week interval.  He reported that the "health of the regiment has been good," gave details on the march, and listed the names of soldiers captured while foraging.  Read the full letter, published in the March 25, 1865, Daily Evening Express here.

Picking up where Marshall left off, I'll excerpt a week's worth of diary entries from Sgt. William T. Clark (whose diary is in the collections of the Lancaster County Historical Society).  Clark recorded the regiment's movements as it marched forth from Fayetteville:

Sgt. William T. Clark
(Rick Abel Collection)

Sun., March 12th

Get my clothes washed for the first time since Feb. 17th. One boat has reached us from Wilmington & more are coming. Mail goes out at 1½ P.M. I write to Sister Agnes. Last night drew & issued some captured rice & 900 lbs. F. beef & this morning some tobacco. 1st Luke paid me 35 cts. due me for coffee for Capt. Nixdorf. Sergt. Rutt, Corp. Witmer, & Priv. Campbell of Co. “H” were captured on the 10th, the latter wounded near Fayetteville.

Mon., March 13th

Move at 7 A.M., cross river on pontoon bridge below burnt bridge & move on the Raleigh Road 2 miles & camp. Reb. pickets short distance in front. We expect to remain 3 or 4 days for clothing & rations. 2 Reb boats were captured here. Several boats come up from Wilmington tonight. Drew & issued 100 lbs. corn meal & 900 lbs. F. beef. Traded my mare for colt, black, with heavy mane & tail. Very small ears, small white spot between ears & eyes, hind feet white close to hoofs, & right hip down.

Tues., March 14th

New York & Phila. papers of the 3rd received today. Drew & issued tobacco. Sent in Provisions Return for 15 days, commencing 1st March & ending 15th for 287 men. Wrote to Father a brief sketch of our campaign. We have been out 54 days & marched 395 miles. Lieut. James H. Marshall, Major Locher & some Officers from Brig. Hd. Qrs. took the band & serenaded Gen. Sherman, who said, among things, that in 3 days we would connect with Gen. Schofield.

Wed., March 15th

20th Corps moves out this morning leaving its 2nd Div. in charge of their Corps trains. We nove at 10 A.M., our Brigade in advance & upon the Raleigh Road. Lieut. Russell visited me this morning Drew & issued 2 days rations & bought 5 pounds coffee for Lieut. James H. Marshall at 47 cts. pr. lb. amt. to 2.35$ & 1.00$ due me amt. to 3.35$. He gave me 5.$, thus leaving a balance in his favor of 1.65$. Lieut. Russell renews the acquaintance of Capt. McCaskey & Lieut. Marshall. They had formerly been schoolmates in Lancaster, Pa. I accompany him to his Regt. & take dinner with him. Country level today—soil sandy. Forage sufficient for animals, very little for man. Some Artillery firing on our right. We camp 12½ miles from Fayetteville, having marched 11 miles. Day wet. Rebels reported in our front in heavy force.

Thurs., March 16th

Move at 9 A.M. on the Raleigh Road, our Brigade in rear. I move up to the front, where Cavalry are skirmishing with Rebs. They have left one line of works. Road very bad. At John C. Smith's s plantation the skirmish merges with a fight. 1st & 3rd Divs. of 20th Corps relieved Cavalry. Artillery is freely used. Rebs are kept busy in front while one Brigade is sent upon their right flank, throwing them into confusion, capturing 4 pieces of Artillery & 100 prisoners. Many are killed and wounded. J. C. Smith's residence is used as a hospital. Cape Fear River runs nearly parallel with this road. Reb right rests upon the river. Johnston is in command of Rebel forces. Report says he has 2 Corps’. This is called the Battle of Averasboro. The 1st South Carolina Heavy Artillery are armed with muskets. Many of them were killed, wounded & captured. They were at Charleston untill its evacuation. Our 2nd Div. and 1st Brig, of our Div. were engaged this P.M. Drove the Rebs 6 miles & then quiet down for the night. Day wet. Our loss in killed & wounded is.

Fri., March 17th

Morning clear. Rebs have gone—commenced leaving at sunset yesterday. Their skirmishers were withdrawn at daylight this morning 3rd Div. of 20th Corps moves after them upon Raleigh Road. That town is 37 miles distant. Courier captured whose dispatch said that Johnston should hurry to Raleigh & Lee would give him enough troops. I go 1½ miles on the Raleigh Road & get some lard, then hear that our Corps & 1st Div. of 20th Corps are moving to the right on the Goldsboro Road. This place is 42 miles distant. Rebs have parked & burned their train near Smithfield 3½ miles from their works. Also abandoned many ambulances loaded with wounded. We cross Black River & camp 5 miles out, having marched 7 miles. 2nd Div. in front. Country better, soil sandy.

Sat., March 18th

Move at 6 A.M. on the Goldsboro Road, 2nd Div. in advance. Foragers pass troops & find Rebs 30 miles from Goldsboro and push them back & 27 miles from that town we had sharp skirmishing in which 4 horses were killed by a Rebel shell, & two skirmishers wounded by minnie balls, one man captured. They skedaddled when they saw our line of battle. Forage more plentiful. I get some potatoes & onions & return, finding Div. encamped 27 miles from Goldsboro. That town reported taken by Gen. Schofield. Marched 12 miles.

I'll try to follow up next week by posting letters from the Battle of Bentonville.

The Grand Welcome Home

On the evening of March 5, 1864, any soldiers of the 79th Pennsylvania who reenlisted as veterans were relieved of picket duty near Tyner's Station, about ten miles east of Chattanooga.  Early the next morning, they left camp and marched to Chattanooga, where they waited for a day before boarding a train for Loiusville.  The journey to Louisville took three days, and the 79th Pennsylvania passed many regiments that had just completed their furlough and were heading in the opposite direction.

The regiment arrived in Pittsburgh on the night of March 13, and were treated to splendid supper before boarding another train for an overnight journey east.  March 14 was spent completing to journey to Harrisburg, where the regiment spent a day preparing for their return to Lancaster by tending to some long overdue personal grooming.  Although the food in Harrisburg was worse than what they got on the front lines, the state legislature acknowledged the regiment's presence by unanimously passing resolutions offered by State Senator Benjamin Champneys of Lancaster.

At 7am on Wednesday, March 16, the 200 or so returning veterans of the 79th Pennsylvania boarded a train bound for Lancaster.  They arrived at the Dillerville Yard, where a procession formed led by the 79th Pa's former Lieut. Colonel, John H. Duchman, and marched through town to take part in a grand collation at Fulton Hall.  The citizens of Lancaster were certainly prepared for the 79th Pa's return.  The Daily Evening Express reported:

Upon their arrival [at Dillerville], the veterans were met and welcomed by an immense crowd of their fellow citizens, and the streets through which they passed were thronged with men, women, and children.  The display of bunting was magnificent, and reminded us of the patriotic uprising in 1861, when the demand for flags could not be supplied.  The Reception was altogether a magnificent affair, and the veterans after what they witnessed that day can have no doubt of how deeply the People sympathizes with the gallant defenders of the flag of the free.

The officers and men of the 79th looked like veterans as they are.  Their soldierly deportment in marching was noticed by every spectator.  There was not as much noisy enthusiasm as many expected to witness.  the regiment is under strict military discipline, and of course the men received all greetings with the dignity of military silence.  The general joy at welcoming home the gallant survivors was mingled with sadness at the memory of the lamented dead.  Many once familiar faces were missed from the veteran ranks; and as the torn colors of the regiment passed along, riddled by the deadly missiles of many a battle, we saw the tear start to eyes unused to weep.

At Fulton Hall, five long tables that stretched the hall greeted the veterans.  Dr. Henry Carpenter gave a greeting and Rev. F. W. Conrad of Trinity Lutheran Church gave a prayer before Mayor George Sanderson gave a lengthy welcome speech.  Private Edwin K. Martin of Company E, 79th Pennsylvania gave a response on behalf of the regiment, and collation concluded with music by the Fencibles Band and the Glee Club.

The joyous occasion was not without controversy, as could be expected given the deep divisions that existed between Lancaster's borderline peace Democrats and its pro-Lincoln Republicans.  Rather than describe it in detail, I'll defer to William T. Clark's diary entry for the day:

Took train at apptd. time, met committee on reception at Dillersville (one mile north of Lancaster). We disembarked, marched, halted, Artillery firing as salute to us. Procession formed at 10½ A.M. lead by (our former Lieut. Col.) John H. Duchman. Copperheads following their Copperhead leader. Marched through the different streets of town. Saw many friends. Stacked arms in front of Fulton Hall. Were marched in where a fine collation was spread. This has been done by deception on the part of Copperheads, only a few Patriot Daughters being among them. The Hon. Copperhead Mayor of Lancaster made a speech of welcome which greatly belies his former actions toward all soldiers. Col. H. A. Hambright made a few remarks excusing himself by saying he never made a speech. Ed Martin responded in behalf of the 79th P.V.V. in a splendid speech cutting Copperheads & all others leagued with Treason right & left. It gave many of them the short coughs & made them generally uneasy. We then ate heartily of the dinner prepared. An hour afterwards we fell in & drilled in Centre Square more than an hour, when we returned to the Hall, marched to the upper story, stacked arms & are given leaves of absence untill the 20th when we must answer to our names & receive our furloughs. 

For further information, see:

• Account in March 17, 1864, Daily Evening Express
• Account in March 22, 1864, Intelligencer
• Account in March 29, 1864, Intelligencer

Catching up with the 79th Pa: 'Veteran Fever' on Lookout Mountain

View from Lookout Mountain by George N. Bernard in February 1864 (Source)

Catching up with the 79th Pennsylvania as 1863 turned to 1864, we find them celebrating Christmas and New Years on the summit of Lookout Mountain near Chattanooga, Tennessee.  Although the food was more or less limited to sauerkraut and mess pork, the officers of the Lancaster County Regiment were invited to enjoy balls thrown by the 78th Pennsylvania and 21st Wisconsin while the 79th Pa's celebrated regimental band provided the music.  In his diary entry for Christmas, Sgt. William T. Clark of Company B recorded, "Tonight there are several balls, a colored one at Gen. Starkweather’s Hd. Qrs. The soldiers on Lookout have won & citizens on Missionary Ridge giving one to soldiers."

The regiment spent most of its time drilling on frozen ground and enduring winter storms.  Gen. John C. Starkweather inspected the regiment, and the regiment drilled to the compliments of an agent of Pennsylvania Governor Andrew Curtin to look after the Keystone State soldiers' comfort.  On January 15, the regiment exchanged its muskets for new and used Enfield rifles.  The most excitement occurred when Capt. McBride led a force of over 100 men from the regiment on a two-day expedition over January 6-8 to move a local Union-sympathizing woman, Mrs. Wilson, and her possessions from her residence somewhere near the Chickamauga battlefield to safety with a friend.  Here are Clark's diary entries from that expedition:

Wed., Jan. 6th
100 men, 8 Corps., 5 Sergts., Lieuts. (Hubley) Benson & Nixdorf & Capt. McBride in charge, leave at 6½ A.M. with two days rations. Went to Brigade, then to Corps Hd. Qrs., waited in town untill 8½ A.M., then started with Mrs. Wilson as guide to go within 4 miles of Ringgold to bring her family & personal property to live with a friend on the east side of & near Chickamauga Creek. Guide didn’t know the road we took wrong one. Came to Chickamauga Creek at Mill where Bragg burned bridge on road to C. Station—tis noon we must go three miles down stream to next bridge where 85th Ills. is doing picket duty. As these are our last pickets it was not prudent to go outside with our small force, therefore we camped untill the morning of
Thurs., Jan. 7th
when we start at 7½ A.M., pass the ruins of C. Station, keep the road over which Bragg retreated. The trail could be easily followed. Broken artillery & wagon wheels, artillery ammunition as well as that for small arms is scattered in profusion along the road. Several unfinished Forts beyond station, also at Graysville a newly graded R.R. intersects the Atlanta Road. Here we take road up creek, march 2 miles to Mrs. Wilson’s house load her things & are returning at 2 P.M. Two cows & calves with colt are the amount of live stock & are brought along. Roads are very bad, heavy mist falling. Mrs. Wilson don’t know where that friend lives to whom she wants to go. When within ½ mile of place let her out to hunt it. We go to camp at 9 P.M., same place as last night. Snowing.
Fri., Jan. 8th
Capt. McBride, Sergt. Carr & forty men take wagons, unload them & return when we start for camp on direct road, pass Orchard Knob and arrive at quarters at 2 P.M. to find that John Bowker who had not been sick more that one week had died (Thurs. Jan 7th) this morning at 1 o’ clock at Regimental Hospital & buried this afternoon at 3 P.M. Received letter of Dec. 29th from Cousin Hugh R. Fulton. Sat., Jan. 9th. Morning very cold. No rations today. There will be none untill a boat comes up.

Soldiers of the 78th Pa
on Lookout Mountain, 1864
(Library of Congress)

Some soldiers took advantage of their time in winter camp on a picturesque mountain to visually document their time in Uncle Sam's army.  The Lancaster Daily Evening Express even reported about this in their February 19, 1864, issue:

ENTERPRISING: A Chattanooga letter writer tells of two members of the 78th Pennsylvania who have taken possession of Lookout summit, erected a shed, hoisted up materials over a couple of ladders, and are now reaping an abundant harvest of greenbacks by taking pictures in this elevated  locality.  The soldiers crowd here in scores to cut hickory canes and grub the gnarled roots of the laurel for pipes and, attracted by the novelty of the matter, cannot resist the temptation to have a picture of themselves.  Accordingly they "strike an attitude" on the extreme verge of a cliff, twenty two hundred feet above the level of the Tennessee, either defiant and warlike or amusing and abstracted, as their genius prompts, and the man of chemicals does them in "melainotype" for three dollars, and sells them a fraim to put it in for five, and all in the short space of about ten minutes.

At least one of those pictures -- of Pvt. Henry McCollum, Company B, 78th Pa, and friends -- exists today as part of the Library of Congress's collection.

The most pressing issue was their reenlistment as veterans, an issue that the army hoped to resolve during the winter lull rather than at a critical moment in the middle of a campaign.  If three-fourths of the regiment reenlisted, the 79th Pennsylvania would continue to exist, and the veterans would receive special "veteran status" (designated by a chevron the sleeve), a bonus, and a 30-day furlough.  The initial response was muted, with some other regiments already headed home on furlough before a significant number of men in the 79th Pennsylvania reenlisted.  Colonel Hambright addressed the regiment on January 25, and acting regimental commander Capt. Jacob Gompf continued to promote it.  By January 27, Clark noted, "Interest on the increase relating to the Veteran Service. 22 members of Co. B upon the list this evening."  Despite his father's objections owing to his not being "able to attend to the affairs at home," Clark put his own name on the list on February 5, which then had 233 names.  By February 8, the regiment surpassed the three-quarters threshold and was sworn is as veterans.  A hard-earned furlough in Lancaster would be in the regiment's future.

Two letters, presumably by Hospital Steward John B. Chamberlain, appeared in the Express and elaborate on these events:

• Written on January 8, 1864, and published on January 25, 1864
• Written on February 7 and 9, 1864, and published on February 17, 1864

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.

Back to Kentucky (Twice)

On August 22, 1862, the 79th Pennsylvania undid six months' of work as it crossed the border to reenter Kentucky for the first time since February 28.  Rather than focus on the rapidly deteriorating situation situation in the Western Theater--which the soldiers don't really show a grasp of yet--the soldiers delighted in the abundant peaches and melons produced by a countryside that they had previously known as bleak and unwelcoming. 

After hitting the Kentucky line, the regiment seems to have stopped and participated in scouting operations back near Gallatin, Tennessee.  Sgt. William T. Clark noted that Company B was on picket duty at the plantation of Judge Josephus Conn Guild, which is now a museum (link). Clark recorded, "Two or three of us got our dinner there. She is a hard Secesh. and had a son in Morgan’s gang."

Rose Mont, Home of Judge Guild
Co. B, 79th PA, picketed here on August 25, 1862.

Gen. Lovell H. Rousseau (Source)

An important event occurred on August 28, 1862, as the Lancaster County Regiment learned it was now assigned to a division commanded by Gen. Lovell Rousseau, who impressed Clark as a "very fine looking man."  The regiment boarded train cars and traveled to fortifications near Columbia, started for Pulaski, and then returned to Nashville on August 29.  On September 4, the 79th Pennsylvania left Nashville again and hit the Kentucky line two days later.  This time, they would not leave Kentucky without a fight.

One perspective on the march came from Hospital Steward John B. Chamberlain, whose letter was published in the August 31, 1862, Daily Inquirer: (alternate link)

A Fourth of July Barbacue with the 79th Pa and the People of Shelbyville, Tenn

Union Soldiers in Shelbyville, Tennessee
(Harper's Weekly October 18, 1862)

After their expedition to Chattanooga in early June 1862 and a couple weeks of rest afterwards, the next excitement in the annals of the 79th Pennsylvania was an Independence Day celebration hosted by the citizens of Shelbyville, Tennessee.  Hon. Edmund Cooper was the orator of the day, which also featured cannon salutes, a sword presentation to Capt. Michael Locher of Company H, and a feast thrown by the citizens for Union soldiers in the region.  Soldiers commented with a spirit of thanksgiving that there more ladies present than they had seen in a very long time.

Stuart A. Wylie
Editor, Inquirer
(Source: Ellis and Evans)

The food--corn bread, pork, and mutton alternately described as a "barbacue" and a "basket dinner"--was appreciated by the soldiers, even if it didn't quite live up to Lancaster County standards.  William T. Clark wrote in his diary, "There was plenty to eat but it was evident they did not understand getting up such dinner in the manner they do in Pennsylvania."  Elias Witmer unenthusiastically described the dinner in a Daily Evening Express letter "to show the Lancaster county people, who have every luxury at their command, how some of the rest of mankind live."

The day's events were recorded in a letter from Hospital Steward John B. Chamberlain published in a new outlet for news in Lancaster.  The Lancaster Inquirer under the editorial direction of Stuart A. Wylie began a daily version, the Daily Inquirer, in early July 1862, just in time to publish interesting news from the Seven Days Battles which must have been eagerly consumed by the people of Lancaster.  It would be Lancaster's second daily paper and would last for two years.  I believe most of the first year is accessible on microfilm, and it will be an invaluable source of information about the 79th Pennsylvania in late 1862 and early 1863. 

From the July 12, 1862, Daily Inquirer: (alternate link)

The Attack on Chattanooga, June 7, 1862

Map of Road from Jasper to Chattanooga (on the right edge of the map)
Detail of Map by N. Michler, 1862 (Library of Congress)

From Sweeden's Cove to Chattanooga

After a perfectly executed surprise attack on Confederate cavalrymen at Sweeden's Cove on June 4, 1862, the 79th Pennsylvania and other units in Gen. Negley's command continued east towards the critically important city of Chattanooga.  They arrived in the town of Jasper, Tennessee, on June 5 where the collected prisoners from the battle the day before and stared up at the mountains before them.

Almost every account from the 79th Pennsylvania mentions hordes of Unionist refugees living under pieces of canvas in the mountains and swamps.  In his diary entry for June 6, Sgt. William T. Clark (bio) remarked

We passed through some pretty good country, the people showering blessing upon us. One woman gave a Cavalry man a flag with the inscription the Union & Constitution & Remember Washington. In another place we saw a family who had been driven from home because their son would not enlist in the rebel service. They were in a swamp with nothing but a piece of canvas to protect them from the weather. She said she hoped that God might bless us & our Cause. We caught seventeen prisoners. This is the most loyal part of the country we have been in yet.

In a letter to his wife on June 14, Pvt. Lewis Jones (bio) echoed Clark

when we got over the Cumberland mountins in to Eastern Tennssee ther was the firs union men I saw the first Union men I saw for months when they hear that we wer a coming a long they com out of the mountins  I saw one old man com to me and asked a bout his sons that had wen of in the night to Kentucky to join the union armey and he had bin liven in th ewood for weeks a frad to go to his sons  I saw women and childer a living in the oods that had bin run out of town on acont of ther sones a beaing in the union armey

The First Battle of Chattanooga

Sketch of Chattanooga (Source)

On June 7, the 79th Pennsylvania left its lofty bivouac early in the morning and began to descend the mountains to Chattanooga--scenery that Clark called "beautiful in the extreme."  Colonel Hambright's makeshift brigade arrived at the Tennessee River shortly after noon, and ascended a hill that commanded Chattanooga from the opposite side of the river.

As Hambright sent skirmishers forward to the river bank, Confederate infantry and artillery entrenched about 400 yards away on the city-side of the river opened fire and prepared to dispute any crossing.  The two artillery sections (four guns total) attached to Hambright's command replied very effectively.  (Note: the alleged first shot has been preserved and is now in a private collection.)  The cannonading and sharpshooting continued five hours until the Confederate guns became silent, although actual losses are hard to ascertain from official reports. [Link: Hambright's Official Report]

One 79th Pennsylvania soldier on the firing line was Pvt. James Fields of Company A, whose letter to his father was printed in the July 5, 1862, Weekly Mariettian.

In the morning...we continued our march over the mountain chain, toward the great city of Chattanooga at the foot of the great Cumberland mountain, where the rebels were laying with the city well fortified and entrenched with rifle pits and in readiness for us--but all this was of no avail, for we knocked theam into a three-cocked hat when we came.  We planted six cannon pointing right into the rifle pits and then we got reinforcements of the Ohio 5th, of four cannons, making ten pieces, which enabled us to give them brisk work.  The Colonel then employed skirmishers to go down to the river's edge to shoot them from the rifle pits while the cannon would fire on their entrenchments.  I was one of the number to skirmish, and we fired at them all afternoon while the cannon blazed away at them until their guns were disabled.  We could see them all afternoon carrying out their dead, and at sundown they ceased firing and evacuated the place, which we soon took possession of.      

View of Tennessee River
from Lookout Mountain
(Library of Congress)

The Union artillery reopened fire the next day but failed to solicit a response.  By afternoon, Negley declared his mission a success and started to make the return trip back over the mountains.  Remaining in Chattanooga would have meant vulnerability to attack and a very precarious supply chain (that would cause problems in October 1863 for the Union army) which Negley seemed to have no interest in testing.

Casualties on both sides are difficult to verify, but the 79th Pennsylvania did have one man wounded--the first battle casualty of the war for the regiment.  Pvt. Joshua Geiter of Company A was wounded in the arm, although he returned to the regiment, dying in the Battle of Chickamauga in September 1863.  Geiter also was the son in the only father-son combination that I know about in the regiment.  His father Henry, a printer by trade who wrote to the Lancaster Intelligencer later in the war, served the entire war in Company I.

Strategically, although Union forces did not end up taking possession of Chattanooga, they accomplished their goal of attracting Confederate attention and proving that a division-sized force could hop over the mountain range and strike quickly against the city.   The battle is credited with causing Confederate troop redeployment that allowed Union forces to capture the Cumberland Gap eleven days later.

The expedition with its heavy marching, tall mountains, cool streams, excited Unionists, and lopsided battles certainly made a positive impression on the men of the Lancaster County Regiment.  Elias Witmer (bio) counted marching three hundred miles over fifteen days (read his letter here), and claimed the title of the most active marchers in all the Union army during that time.  Pvt. Lewis Jones gave the best review, though, "I woul not mist the trip for fifty dollars."

(If anyone has assembled a more complete picture of the battle, please let me know.  Some of the details presented above regarding casualties, Confederate movements, other Union infantry, etc., are incomplete.)

The Battle of Sweeden's Cove, June 4, 1862

Map of Sweeden's Cove
Detail of Map by N. Michler, 1862 (Library of Congress)

The 79th Pennsylvania's very first engagement--on June 4, 1862, at Sweeden's Cove near Jasper, Tennessee--also happened to be perhaps its most tactically interesting and superbly executed mission of the entire war.  On May 28, the 79th Pennsylvania and other infantry, cavalry, and artillery under the command of General Negley left camp with twelve days' rations to march south again in the direction of Pulaski, Tennessee.  Instead of continuing south to Rogersville, as they had a couple weeks early, they veered east to march over mountainous roads to Fayetteville, Winchester, and ultimately the all-important city of Chattanooga approximately 90 miles east of Pulaski. Although I haven't seen it stated explicitly, I surmise the goal of this mission, which would have been planned by Negley and his superior General Mitchel, to feint towards Chattanooga to draw Confederate resources there and also encourage Unionist sentiment. 

The men of the Lancaster County Regiment enjoyed the first opportunity for real mountain marching, and soldier-correspondent Corp. Elias H. Witmer (bio) described the march on May 30 between Pulaski and Fayetteville:

The day is warm, the hills become steeper, the roads rougher, the poorly fed and worse cared for cavalry horses pant and fall to the ground, the artillery horses have become powerless, but the 79th is full of life--they laugh at their mounted fellow soldiers--the artillery call us the bull-dog regiment--the cavalry say we are the 1st Pennsylvania foot cavarly; we take it as a compliment, it gives us new life, and we push forward as fast as though the enemy, with 50,000 men, were on our heels.  We waded streams, crossed a small creek forty-one times, arrived at our place of bivouac, took a bathe, eat supper, made out bed, squatted, "good night," and were sound asleep. 

Confederate Col. John Adams
(Source)

Over the next few days, they continued marching east through a fertile valley and then through more mountains, reaching the peak of that section of the Cumberland Mountains on June 4.  Somewhere along the way, they discovered that Confederate cavalry, which Witmer plausibly estimates at 600-800, was encamped in the valley (Sweeden's Cove) that they were about to enter from the backdoor and descend.  The Confederate cavalry was a brigade under the command of Col. John Adams that had move out of Chattanooga and crossed the Tennessee River on May 29 and 30 under the orders of Gen. Beauregard. [OR Chap XXII, pp. 895-896]

After already having marched twenty miles that day, General Negley and acting brigade commander Col. Henry A. Hambright (bio) of the 79th Pennsylvania prepared to attack the rebels at the foot of the mountain.

Although it's not clear the specific roles of Hambright and Negley, they positioned two sections (four guns) of artillery just off the wood line and prepared their two regiments of cavalry out of sight.  Companies A, D, and F of the 79th Pennsylvania moved out of the woods and engaged the Confederates as skirmishers, soliciting the intended response of the cavalry being drawn up in a battle line. 

Satellite View of Sweeden's Cove near Jasper, Tennessee (Google Maps)
Union forces attacked from west to east (left to right on the map).

As soon as Adams' men were ready to charge, Hambright's artillery opened fire, initiating a panicked retreat by the Rebel horsemen.  One of the 79th Pennsylvania's skirmishers, Pvt. James Fields, wrote, "the moment [the Confederate cavalry] began the work [of attacking] we let drive and showered them in earnest from our cannon, which made them look two ways for Sunday." [7/5/1862 Weekly Mariettian]

It was then the Union cavalry's turn, and the 7th Pennsylvania Cavalry and 5th Kentucky Cavalry chased the routed Rebels for five miles.  Fields continued,

as the shot came thick and fast amongst them, they began to think about getting out of reach, and then our cavalry came rushing from the bushes and on them--and such getting away you never saw--they ran as if the devil was after them, dropping canteens, swords, sabres, guns, pistols, haversacks, overcoats... 

Sgt. William T. Clark (bio) recorded in his diary that the people in the nearby town of Jasper "told us the rebels didn't run, they flew."  The victory was decisive, and the pathway to continue the expedition to Chattanooga was now open.  

Besides captured ammunition and commissary wagons, the Confederates lost 20 killed, another 20 wounded, and 12 captured.  Clark mentioned on the next day that "Our cavalry found 20 bodies of the rebels that were killed yesterday," which must be those now buried in Bean-Roulston Cemetery in a mass grave.  Union losses were two killled and seven wounded, mostly among the 5th Kentucky, I believe.  The 79th Pennsylvania suffered no losses. 

From the June twenty-something (my notes were corrupted), 1862, Daily Evening Express, we have Corp. Elias Witmer's letter describing the engagement which contains Col. Hambright's report: (alternate link)

Sypher Dispatches: The Rogersville Expedition

Area of operations near Rogersville, Alabama
(Source: Library of Congress, U.S. Coast Survey, A. D. Bache, Supdt., 1865)
(View magnifiable extract of map here)

Fourth and fifth letters in the grand tour of Lancaster journalist J. R. Sypher.  Read an introduction here.

I'm not sure if any of the Lancaster County Regiment soldiers would have believed in when they left home in October 1861, but over seven months later they were entering Alabama without taking a single casualty in battle.  While the main elements of the Union and Confederate forces were maneuvering to the west in what would develop as the Siege of Corinth (Mississippi), General Negley's division under command of General Ormsby Mitchell was pushing forward into Alabama from camp at Pulaski, Tennessee.

On the morning of May 13, four regiments of infantry, several companies of cavalry, and four pieces of artillery under command of General Negley left camp, and after a day's worth of marching arrived in Rogersville, Alabama, a town just north of the Tennessee River.  Shortly after their arrival and just as the Lancasterians had started bathing in a stream that fed into the Tennessee River, an alarm came in and the regiment double-quicked it to Lamb's Ferry four miles away.  The cavalry and artillery arrived just in time to fire parting shots at a couple rebels retreating across the river, and a couple daring men of the 79th Pennsylvania succeeding in burning a ferry boat.  [WTC Diary]
 
On May 14, detachments scouted up and down the river.  On May 15, the regiment had a little more excitement with another trip to Lamb's Ferry (downstream?).  Corp. William T. Clark of Company B, 79th Pennsylvania, recorded:

When we arrived at the shore, 20 or more Rebels were seen on the opposite side. A few shot, and shell scattered them in every direction. We drew lots to see who would go over with the boat, when John Cramer, Fred Offlebach were drawn from our squad. They burned one large ferryboat, brought 2 flats, 2 dugouts and one large boat across with them.

Read more details in two letters by J. R. Sypher dated May 14 and May 15, 1862.

From the May 21, 1862, Daily Evening Express: (alternate link)


From the May 24, 1862, Daily Evening Express: (alternate link)

Settling In South of Nashville: Camp Andy Johnson

Lithograph of the First Union Dress Parade in Nashville, March 4, 1862 (Library of Congress)

After marching through Nashville on March 7, 1862, the 79th Pennsylvania and the rest of McCook's division spent the next couple weeks positioned a couple miles south of the city at Camp Andrew Johnson.  Here they spent time on an active picket line guarding against Rebels threatening from the direction of Franklin, Tennessee.  On March 9, the 1st Wisconsin--another regiment in the 79th PA's brigade--was attacked and suffered a few casualties including one killed. 

Their interactions with Southern civilians continued.  Sergt. William T. Clark of Company B recorded in his diary entry of March 12:

Two men came up in a carriage who had escaped from Memphis where the Rebels are drafting men for their Army. A black man came who wanted to go to his master who lived in Nashville & who had hired him to the Tennessee & Alabama R.R.Co. His wife lived with her master 27 miles from Nashville & near where he had been working. At Franklin he saw 100 Rebel Calvary who said they would attack us tonight.

(As an aside, see this excellent post  by William G. Thomas for a discussion of the role of slaves as railroad laborers in the South.)

View of the Capitol, Nashville
(Library of Congress)

Opportunities also arose for the men of the 79th Pennsylvania to go back and explore the city of Nashville.  According to Sergt. Clark, four men from each company could receive a pass to visit the city each day.  On Sunday, March 23, Clark took his turn to attend worship at First Presbyterian Church and visit the impressive Capitol building as well as the City Cemetery, where several notables including Confederate General Felix Zollicoffer were buried.  Clark remarked, "In this cemetery, side by side lays all that remains of what was once Loyal & Rebel soldiers."

Pvt. Flavius J. Bender of Mount Joy, Lancaster County, and Company C, 77th Pennsylvania--also in McCook's division--similarly experienced Nashville and recorded his thoughts in two letters published in the Church Advocate, a religious newspaper based in Lancaster. 

From the March 27, 1862, Church Advocate: (alternate link)


From the April 17, 1862, Church Advocate: (alternate link)


Finally, I add a letter discussing the same subjects--with a little more editorializing--by Jacob Cassell, Quartermaster of the 77th Pennsylvania. From the March 26, 1862, Daily Evening Express: (alternate link)

Into Tennessee

Railroad Bridge over the Cumberland River at Nashville (HW 3/8/1862)

The Lancaster County Regiment crossed the Kentucky-Tennessee line for the first time on the morning of February 28, 1862.  Two days later, they were on the outskirts of Nashville, which had surrendered on February 25.  They passed through Nashville on March 7, and continued south of the city towards Franklin and Columbia, where they would spend much of spring 1862.

A War Map of Tennessee (HW 3/8/1862)

Here's Sgt. William T. Clark's account of the movements over these eight days:

(Up next, I'll have letters from the 77th Pennsylvania and 79th Pennsylvania describing the journey to Nashville...)

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Fri., Feb. 28th

Wagons reached us last night, but did not unload. Started at 6 and ¼A.M. & had a clay road 7 miles. Rebels took the plank off a bridge. We crossed on the sleepers. We came to the pike at the Tennessee line at 9:15 A.M. Passed through Mitchelville which is a small place much scattered & now nearly deserted. Halted at a small creek to rest & get water. At the last named village there was a steam saw & grist mill & as we pass along see some very fine buildings. At noon I was attacked with a severe pain in my head & for that reason rode on the wagon the rest of the day. Marched 22 miles & camped on Sugar Creek.

Sat., March 1st

Left camp at 8 A.M. & our first halt was at Tiber Spring a celebrated “Watering Place”. We passed a small village called “White Hill”. Passed farm on which was 50 goats. We next passed Huntingsville & crossed the Memphis Branch R.R. & came in sight of the Cumberland River. Today we crossed a range of the Cumberland Mts. near Tiber Springs. We halted & camped near the Cumberland River where 2 turnpikes meet, the R.R. crossing both of them. Drew 2 days rations. Just as we came here a steam boat passed up the river. 2 of them brought rations to us. This is the junction of the Edgefield & Kentucky with the L. & N. R.R.

Sun., March 2nd

Left camp at 9 A.M. Soon after we meet a man under guard for trying to steal a horse mule from the 1st Regt. Wis. Vols. This pike is very dusty today. We had a very severe thunderstorm when within 2 miles of Nashville. We halted & stacked arms in a field close to the pike. While there the lightning struck a tree 50 yds. from where we stood. Half a Regt. of Calvary passed us while here. Passed sane very fine houses today. Formed line, marched a short distance & encamped in a woods. Received orders to be ready to move at 6 A.M. tomorrow.

Mon., March 3rd

This morning is cold & snowing. We were ready to move at appointed time when we were ordered to await further orders. At noon we unpacked & pitched tents. 3rd Ky. Cav., 1200 strong encamped near us.

Tues., March 4th

Just one year ago today “Old Abe” took his seat in the Presidential Chair. This morning a member of Co. “G” 3rd Ky. Cav. gave me a cracker. We had not drawn any for three days. This afternoon there was 100 men detailed to carry crackers from the boats to the wagons. This day was fine until 3 P.M. when it became cloudy & is now raining, Our Regt. drew 40 boxes crackers.

Weds., March 5th

The 3rd Ky. Cav. left today. We had Regt. Inspection. The 2nd Ind. Cav. encamped near us today. Our wagons came up tonight.

Thurs., March 6th

Received letter from Bro. Robert. We pitched the other tents today. Received orders to be ready to march early in the morning. The people of this region are nearly all Rebel & many of them are in the Rebel Army. Received 4 letters, one from Bro. John, one from Sister Agnes, one from Coz. Letitia P. Clark & one from Coz. Washington Clark.

Fri., March 7th

This morning we struck tents & left camp at 8 A.M. each Regt. in our Brigade leaving 2 Cos. in camp. We carried our knapsacks & crossed the Cumberland at 11 A.M. The old Pike Bridge was taken away by flood 10 years ago. The Rebels destroyed the R.R. bridge & New Pike Bridge in their retreat. They put 10 Bls. of burning fluid on the Pike Bridge (which was a wire one), but finding that it would not be destroyed in time to prevent us crossing they then cut the wires. The R.R. bridge is a “Draw One”. There is a gun boat just above the ferry. The Stars & Stripes were hoisted over the capitol in Nashville on the 24th of Feb. It is a very nice town & as large as Louisville. There is some of the finest houses & yds. in & around this place that I ever saw. We encamped 2 miles south of Nashville. I received a letter from S. J. Ankrim.

From Munfordville to Bowling Green with William T. Clark

A Map of the March from Munfordville to Bowling Green
(Office of the Chief of Engineers, National Archives)

On February 14, 1862, the 79th Pennsylvania left its camp of two months at Munfordville to join the rest of the armies in the West, which were pretty much already in motion.  They would get one of their toughest marches of the war out of the early, trudging over very rough roads in deep mud.

The Lancaster County Regiment actually started by marching north, instead of southwest towards Bowling Green.  Buell had originally planned to support Grant's army by sending McCook's division north to Louisville where steamboats would be waiting to take them down the Ohio River and up the Tennessee River.  A day into this journey, however, after Buell became much more optimistic about an overload approach due to the fall of Bowling Green, the order was countermanded, and the 79th Pennsylvania returned to Munfordville.       

The regiment spent the next week traveling the fifty miles or so to Bowling Green using a combination of the railroad and turnpike, stopping occasionally to help repair the railroad or visit caves along the way.  Col. Hambright's regiment arrived just opposite Bowling Green on February 23, but it wouldn't be until February 28 that the regiment actually crossed the river to enter the town. 

To learn more about this movement, I turn to the diary of Sgt. William T. Clark of Company B, 79th Pennsylvania.  The following is excerpted from the transcription by William G. and Janet Davis at the Lancaster County Historical Society:

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(Fri.) Tues., Feb. 14th

This morning at an early hour our Division began to move toward Louisville, Our Brigade moved at 11 a.m. The pike is in a bad condition, teams are continually stalling, one wagon upset & another with the tongue broken out. The marching was very hard & when we encamped there was but 12 men in line. We made fires on the left of the R. R. under shelter of a woods.

Weds., Feb. 15th (Sat.)

Our wagons are not here yet. Some of the men came in at 9 a.m. The ground is still covered with snow. Yesterday we met the cars, they were loaded with mules & wagons. Our wagon came up at noon, when there was a regular rush for meat. Receive orders at 3 p.m. to fall in & march back on the same road we came. Halted 2 miles north of Bacon Creek for the night.

Thurs., Feb. 16th (Sun.)

Started at 9 a.m. & marched 2 miles south of Green River. Wagons came up at 3 p.m. when we pitched our tents placed rails on the ground & covered them with straw. Tonight men & teams were detailed to go to Munfordsville for provisions.

Fri., Feb. 17th (Mon.)

This morning we were called early & told to have 3 days rations in our haversacks & be ready to march at 7 a.m. Left camp at 8 a.m. & marched down the pike to its end which was 4 miles. After that the road was very bad. Below Horse Cave we marched on the R. R. which was much better traveling. Stopped at Woodland Station to rest for half an hour. After we started down the R. R. we found the Rebels had torn up the ties & burned some of them when we had to take the mud for it. The Depot at Woodland as well as the hotel, stabling & Depot at Cave City were burned by Rebels. We came to Glasgow Junction & took the R.R. again. We soon came to where the pike commenced took it, marched 1 and ½miles, camped & called it Hambright. We were all nearly worn out & scattered so much that when they came to camp there was but 10 men to stack arms.

Sat., Feb. 18th (Tues.)

Last night I went to a cave close to camp. We went 50 feet down a ledge of broken rocks at the foot of which is a good spring of water, which runs into a trough, and buckets coming down by windlass from the top are filled with water, & drawn up on a wire. We went back ½ a mile into the cave but had to return as our light was burning low. Our wagons came in at 2 a.m. The men in some of the Regiments went out and shot some sheep, which was very disgraceful considering the cause for which we are fighting.

Wed., Feb. 19th

Last night after we had went to bed we were called out to cheer for the taking of Savannah with 15,000 prisoners. Our Brigade is detailed to work on the R.R.. Marched 2 miles back the pike where the order was countermanded on account of bad weather & we went to camp. I am on the Water Committee Received Forney’s War Press from Coz. R. L. Clark.

Thurs., Feb. 20th

Working on the R.R. leveling off the stones ready to lay the ties. Also cut a great many ties. Part of our force was cleaning out the tunnel which had been blown full of rocks from the sides by the Rebels. Two Brigades of us were at work today. 4 Batteries came today. Received 5 letters, one from Coz. Mattie, in which was one from Miss R. S. Neel of Reisterstown, Baltimore Co., Md., one from Coz. Maggie, one from Coz. Ele. Black, one from Aunt Lizzie Thompson & one from Bro. Robert.

Fri., Feb. 21st

Today we were marched 2 miles down the pike into a field where we were inspected (our Brigade) by Gen. Negley. Received the traveler’s guide this evening. Received letter from Coz. Lib.

Sat., Feb. 22nd

Wrote to Bro. John & Sister Rettie. This P.M. we worked at the tunnel, this nearly finished. Rained hard all day. We received orders to be ready to march at 7 A.M. tomorrow.

Sun., Feb. 23rd

Started at the time appointed with our knapsacks on our backs for Bowling Green, where we arrived at 5 P.M. Passed through very fine country, where there had been several encampments We had a fine day, marched 20 miles & were very tired & were glad to encamp, which we did on the right of the R.R. & on the bank of Barren River. This is the second time we have marched on Sunday.

Mon., Feb. 24th

Walked down the R.R. to R.R. bridge which had been blown up before Gen. Mitchell (who was in advance) reached here. It was a fine bridge, 200 yds. long. The Turnpike Bridge is burned also. As I came back I went to see a hill they had fortified on this side of the river. The works are well put up on the top of a hill. The banks are well sodded, from the top of this we have a fine view of the country & can see part of Bowling Green, which is on the opposite side of the river. We could also see another hill the Rebels had fortified further to the north. These fortifications would command the R. R., river, & turnpike & why they have abandoned what was considered one of their strongholds I cannot tell unless it was that they were afraid of being starved out. This evening a steamboat passed up the river by our camp.

Tues., Feb. 25th

This morning went out to drill & while there received orders to pack up & be ready to march at 3 P.M. We were soon ready & waiting. At 3 P.M. were ordered to unpack & pitch tents. While we were waiting there was a Brigade came here from Somerset & encamped on both sides of the R.R. Wrote to Bro. Robert.

Weds., Feb. 26th

Wrote to John Penny & Capt. Fulton. Received orders to be ready to march at daylight tomorrow with three days rations in our haversacks.

Thurs., Feb. 27th

Formed line just at sunrise. Our knapsacks are hauled for us. Marched to a flat piece of ground recently overflowed by high river where 9 teams & some artillery were swamped in the deep mud, horses sunk into their bellies in the mud & could not be got out. Others were lifted out with rails. We could hardly get to the river shore. There was 2 steam boats abreast in the river & flat boats from there to the shore. On these we crossed, then went ¼ of a mile, stacked arms & waited untill the teams crossed which took untill 1 P.M. We then took the pike through Bowling Green which is a small town with some fine buildings & at one time contained 35.00 inhabitants. Saw 3 other forts, one higher up the river & one lower down. The Rebels had stabling put up for their horses. Passed a very large spring called “Sinking Creek” which bubbles out of the ground over a short distance & passes out of sight in a cave. Saw some very fine buildings & were many times cheered by the sight of the Stars & Stripes flying to the breeze by Union Citizens. We passed through Franklin, a town, small, but well built. We encamped at 1 P.M. 1 mile south of Franklin.