'One of the Happiest Days': New Flags for the 79th Pennsylvania

Regimental flag of the 76th Pennsylvania by Evans and Hassall (PA Capitol Preservation Committee)
One of the 79th Pennsylvania's "Lancaster flags" would have looked very similar to this one.

 On February 23, 1863, three citizens of Lancaster arrived at the camp of the 79th Pennsylvania near Murfreesboro, Tennessee.  Besides carrying a large box of articles and letters for distribution to men in the regiment, they carried another set of items eagerly anticipated by the regiment.  A set of four beautiful flags purchased by the collected donations of Lancaster's citizens had finally arrived. 

The idea for purchasing these flags seems to have had its origins in a proposal published in the November 18, 1862, Intelligencer, edited by Lancaster's Mayor George Sanderson.  Sanderson proposed taking up a subscription at $1 each to purchase a new stand of colors for $200 to "show a proper appreciation" of the regiment's actions at the Battle of Perryville a month earlier.  Within a week, the fund was over-subscribed and the colors were purchased from Evans & Hassall of Philadelphia.  Extra money was donated to the Union Dorcas Society to provide relief for soldiers' families.  [Intell 11/18/1862, DEE 1/24/1863]

The flags were completed and around the New Year arrived in Lancaster, where they were displayed in the court house.  The January 6, 1863, Intelligencer described them:

The flags are four in number, the principal being the State flag; the second the regimental, (or National) and two small guide flags.  The first is of blue silk and yellow silk fringe, with an eagle surrounded by a halo.  From the claws of the eagle depends a scroll with the inscription--"Presented by citizens of Lancaster, Pa., to the 79th Regiment, P. V., for gallant conduct at Chaplin Hills, Ky., October 8th, 1862."  On the reverse is the coat of arms of Pennsylvania, above which in a halo are the words in guilt letters--"Chaplin Hills, Ky., October 8th, 1862."  Underneath, in a scroll, is the same inscription as on the first side.  This flag is very handsome and strongly made, and free from an over quantity of paint which figures so many presentation flags."  

The Regimental or National flag is made of strong heavy silk, bordered with yellow fringe.  On the centre bar on both sides are the letters in gold--"79th Regiment P.V."  The guide flags are of blue silk with yellow silk fringe, with the number of the regiment in gold letters.

Chosen to escort the colors to Tennessee were three men from the committee in charge of procuring the colors.  Foremost among them was Lewis Haldy (bio), a fascinating man with a background in the freight and marble/tombstone business who tirelessly supported the Patriot Daughters of Lancaster and other aid operations in Lancaster during the war.  Over the past year, he had already made three other trips to the seat of war (to the Pennsylvania Reserves in summer 1862, 79th PA after Perryville, and the 122nd PA in February 1863), delivering car loads of goods on behalf of the Patriot Daughters, making connections with Lancaster's soldiers in hospitals, and arranging logistics for bringing dozens of soldiers' remains back to Lancaster.  Rounding out the committee were Andrew B. Meixell, a freight agent, and Robert A. Evans, a wealthy banker who later owned Rock Ford.

The flag presentation took place on March 1, 1863, delayed several days by rainy weather.  The whole brigade, its commander Col. John C. Starkweather, and the regiment's former brigade commander Gen. James A. Negley all witnessed the presentation.  Haldy "unwrapped and exposed to the eager gaze of every one the magnificent banner," and read an address to the regiment, which would be reprinted in Lancaster's newspapers (read it here).  Col. Hambright replied and accepted the flags, pledging "these splendid colors shall be borne by the stoutest arm to the thickest of the conflict, there to remind us of fond friends in our native county, to revive the most pleasing memories, and stimulate us to true, exalted, and patriotic duty."  Starkweather and Negley followed with addresses to the soldiers' delight.          

79th PA Monument
Featuring incident with
Lancaster flag at the
Battle of Chickamauga
(PA at Ch. & Ch.)

Following that, according to Company E soldier Elias H. Witmer, "Three hearty cheers were then given by the brigade--and thus closed one of the happiest days in the eventful history of the Seventy-Ninth."  (DEE, 3/12/1863)  Captain Morris D. Wickersham agreed writing, "Home, kindred, society--all were remembered.  The day was truly a happy one, and we returned to Camp uttering, 'Long live the good people of Lancaster.'"  (Intel, 3/17/1863)

The stand of flags replaced what I believe were more generic colors given by Gen. Negley in November 1861 and/or April 1862.  The situation is confusing given a controversy over regimental numbering between the 77th and 79th Pennsylvania in 1861 and I have found no evidence that the regiment carried what is listed as the "First State Color" was ever used.  The Lancaster flags were carried through the Battle of Chickamauga, where they were NOT captured*.  At Chickamauga, it was one of these flags that Corp. William F. Dostman was mortally wounded carrying in an incident that provided inspiration for regimental monument.  The flags were sent back to Lancaster after much use in 1864, and became a prized possession of GAR Post 84 in Lancaster to which many 79th PA veterans belonged.  Sadly, the post was destroyed by fire on February 10, 1910, and the flags were lost. 

* Reports of the capture of the 79th Pennsylvania's colors stem from an error in Confederate official reports of the Battle of Chickamauga (p. 154).   Various officers listed the 77th Indiana or Illinois and 79th Pennsylvania when they really meant 79th Illinois and 77th Pennsylvania.  Other Confederate reports correctly list the 77th Pennsylvania as having its flag captured.

Diary of Capt. E. D. Roath Published

Last summer I posted (link) about a series of auctions of that I missed related to Lancaster's Civil War history.  Immediately after posting that, I was pleasantly surprised to hear from John P. Mulcahy, a direct descendant of Capt. Emanuel D. Roath (bio) who had been able to purchase the items related to Capt. Roath to return to the family. 

John recently published an annotated version of the diary, which covers the year 1864 with the 107th Pennsylvania and Roath's experiences as a prisoner of war at Libby Prison.  John has done a great job, and I recommend the book, A Fine Day -- The Civil War Diary of Captain Emanual D. Roath, 107th PA Volunteers, especially to anyone interested in what was previously the Union Army First Corps or in the social network and duties of a Civil War captain from a small town. 

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 Lancaster County Regiment at Stones River

An overdue post on the 79th Pennsylvania at Stones River. Be sure to also read accounts of the battle on the "Battle Files" page.

Kurz and Allison illustration of the Battle of Stones River (Source)

After successfully checking the Confederate invasion of Kentucky at the Battle of Perryville, the Union army pursued the Confederates south and celebrated Christmas in Nashville, Tennessee.  Under pressure from Washington to create positive headlines after the disaster at Fredericksburg, Gen. William S. Rosecrans, the new commander of the Union army which was renamed the Army of the Cumberland, led his army out of its camps at Nashville on December 26, 1862.  The 79th Pennsylvania found itself towards the rear and center of the army as part of Col. John C. Starkweather's brigade of Maj. Gen. Lovell Rousseau's division of Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas's center wing.

The Lancaster County Regiment experienced its first excitement of the campaign on December 30 when Confederate Gen. Joseph Wheeler's cavalry brigade attacked the wagons of Starkweather's brigade.  The Fortunately for the Pennsylvanians, luck and Quartermaster Lewis Zecher's good management saved the regiment's wagons from capture, and Starkweather ordered a countermarch and formed his brigade to drive off the Confederate cavalrymen.

Starkweather then proceeded to the battlefield the next day--December 31, the first day of the Battle of Stones River--passing bands of Union soldiers retreating from the battlefield who spoke of disaster.  Sergt. Sigmund E. Wisner wrote that although the Lancasterians were skeptical that the battle was lost, the men marched silently and "despondency was depicted upon each countenance."  The brigade arrived on the battlefield in the evening, taking a position in woods in the center rear of the Union lines where they would spend the night without blankets or fire.

New Years Day passed without either army making a move.  Starkweather's position changed little, occupying wooded terrain between General Johnson's division and the Nashville and Murfreesboro turnpike.

Map of Battle of Stones River, Jan. 2, 1863
The 79th Pa was part of Thomas' Corps positioned
at the Union center near the Nashville Turnpike.

Shortly after dawn on January 2, Rousseau's artillery came under fire and Confederates began to stir across from the Union center.  Starkweather's brigade was ordered up to the front lines to support the artillery. While moving forward to this position, a rebel artillery shell tore through Company G, killing Corp. Mark Erb and wounding Pvts. Samuel Pickel and Isaac Quigley. 

The 79th Pennsylvania spent the rest of the day lying in deep mud behind Battery A, 1st Michigan Light Artillery.  Blankets and rations were scarce, and almost every account of the battle mentions how they survived the couple days on meat from the dead horses.  Several of the accounts even reviewed the meat as surprisingly good.  Elsewhere on the battlefield, Confederates attacked the Union left but were decisively repulsed by a line of artillery and Union counterattack.

Companies C, E, H, and I, 79th Pennsylvania, spent a quiet but nervous night on the picket line, enduring cold and rain without fires.  As dawn broke on January 3, the Lancasterians were surprised to find that Confederate infantry and artillery had advanced overnight, and began to open fire on the 79th Pa pickets at an uncomfortably close distance of 300 yards.  Three men from Company E were wounded in the retreat back to the main line, which now occupied (along with knee-deep mud) trenches dug by army engineers.  

Later that day, as one of the last actions of the battle, Starkweather's brigade supported an effort led by Rousseau to clear the woods to their front of annoying sharpshooters.  As the 79th Pa advanced toward one group of sharpshooters, Pvt. John Shroy of Company A was killed.

That night, Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg withdrew his Confederate army from the battlefield, fearing additional Union reinforcements and the threat of a rising river that could split his command.  Rosecrans moved his victorious army into Murfreesboro, where it camped for most of the rest of the winter and spring.

Nationally, the battle provided sorely needed good news after the Army of the Potomac's setbacks.  For the 79th Pennsylvania, it served as an introduction to the miseries of trench warfare, even if the regiment suffered much lighter casualties than it had at Stones River.  Several weeks after the battle, Lieut. W. Wilberforce Nevin (bio) documented this new type of warfare:

The space between the town [of Murfreesboro]and our lines was won inch by inch, crawling now, and now charging through a sheet of flame.  Many a brave men fell merely in gaining a few furrows.  All the area of strife was covered by sharpshooters, and in the din of conflict their rifles were unseen and noiseless messengers of death.  A convulsive plunge, and a stretched corpse with a little red spot in the forehead told the tale.  Somebody had fallen, as unconscious as his neighbors of the direction of the fatal ball.  All the fighting ground, for the most part ploughed fields, was ancle deep in mud, or worse.  Charging was no more an impetuous dash, but just a steady march into the jaws of death.  On this slippery, swimming ground, we had to eat and sleep.  In the centre the approaches were covered by trenches dug secretly, and occupied by night.  These, of course, under the rain became knee deep in a few  hours with cold and dirty water, but in them night and day lay our indomitable troops, relieving each other, regiment by regiment, in the night.  Too low to stand up in, to wet to sit down in, the wretched occupants had to remain bent and strained, or to kneel over thighs in water.  A single peep over the embankment was a signal for a dozen bullets.  In our eyes, scientific warfare is simply torture. 

79th Pennsylvania Casualties at Stones River

Alleged image of William K. Patton
Sold in 2007 by Heritage Auctions

Killed in Action

Corp. Mark Erb, Company G (1/2/1863)  Erb is listed in the 1860 census as a 19 year-old laborer on the farm of Emanuel Landis near Soudersburg, East Lampeter Township. 
Pvt. John Shroy, Company A (1/3/1863)  John F. Shroy is listed in the 1860 census as a 16 year-old plasterer living with Samuel and Elizabeth Shroy (presumably his parents) in Lancaster Township.

Mortally Wounded

Pvt. William K. Patton, Company H (1/3)--Died 1/13/1863
Pvt. Michael Brandt, Company E (1/3)--Died 1/20/1863

Wounded

Pvt. Samuel Pickel, Company G (1/2)
Pvt. Isaac Quigley, Company G (1/2)
Pvt. Benjamin Bones, Company E (1/3)
Sergt. J. H. Friday, Company E (1/3)
Corp. E. W. Hollinger, Company E (1/3)

Died of Disease

Pvt. William R. Kochel, Company E