They were two brothers who were part of a large family of native Pennsylvanians of German descent that sent multiple sons into battle to defend their beloved commonwealth as their nation headed into a fiery future, sparked by the secession of South Carolina from the United States of America on 20 December 1860.

Assigned to different companies within the same regiment, they would both go on to survive the American Civil War, but would be forever changed by all that they saw and heard during those terrible years. Their names were Lafayette and James Knerr.

Formative Years

Born as Levinus Lafayette Knerr (1830-1905) and James Henry Knerr (1839-1886) in Longswamp Township in Pennsylvania’s bucolic Lehigh Valley on 7 May 1830 and 24 March 1839, respectively, Lafayette and James Knerr were sons of Northampton County, Pennsylvania native Nathan Knerr (circa 1808-1863) and Judith (Oettinger) Knerr (circa 1806-1851), a native of Lehigh County who had been born on 10 December 1806 and was a daughter of Christian and Margaretha Oettinger (spelling variant: “Ettinger”).

The older of the two brothers, Levinus, would later be known to family and friends as “Levi” or “Lafayette.” Both of the brothers were raised and educated in the Lehigh Valley with their siblings: John Solomon Knerr (1828-1908), who had been born in Longswamp Township on 3 December 1828 (alternate birth dates: 3 September 1828, 2 December 1828), would become a canal boatman by the time he was twenty-two and would later wed Dianna Fisher (1832-1904); Caroline Knerr (1832-1915), who was born on 26 March 1832 (alternate birth year: 1831) and would later wed Peter Kleckner (1826-1898) and settle with him in the city of Easton in Northampton County, Pennsylvania; Daniel Knerr (1834-1905), who was born on 29 March 1834 (alternate birth years: 1836, 1838) and would later wed Lovina Ditterline (1836-1908) and settle with her in Weissport, Carbon County, Pennsylvania; Charles Knerr (1837-unknown), who was born circa 1837 (alternate birth year: 1835); Anna Maria Angelina Knerr (1844-1924), who was born on 2 March 1844 (alternate birth years: 1841, 1842) and would later wed Jacob Reichard (1841-1925); and Elizabeth Ann Knerr (1847-1925), who was born on 18 March 1847, was known to family and friends as “Eliza” and would later wed Jacob Franklin Diehl (1838-1916).

* Note: Various historical documents pertaining to the life of James Henry Knerr recorded his year of birth as 1834, 1839 or 1840.

During the mid to late 1840s and early 1850s, the oldest of the Knerr siblings began to marry and begin their own family lines, including Levinus Lafayette Knerr, who wed Matilda (Hilliard/Hilyard) Ginkinger (1832-1920). An older sister of Reuben Andrew Hilyard (1838-1903) and William H. Hilyard (1843-1913), who would both later serve with Lafayette and James Knerr in the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry during the American Civil War, Matilda Ginkinger had been widowed by Thomas/Tilghman Ginkinger and brought four children from her first marriage into that new, blended Knerr-Ginkinger household in Allentown: John Thomas Ginkinger (1853-1897), who had been born on 15 June 1853, would become a working tinsmith while still a teenager and would later wed Emma M. Hillegas (1858-1916); Tilghman H. Ginkinger (1855-1926), who had been born near Catasauqua, Lehigh County in 1855 and would later wed Sarah A. Haines (1850-1932), before serving as a private in Company B of the 4th Pennsylvania Volunteers during the Spanish-American War; and George and Mary Ginkinger, who had been born circa 1857 and 1859, respectively.

By the time that the federal census was enumerated in Lehigh County in early June of 1860, Lafayette Knerr and his new wife, Matilda, had moved into their own home — which was located next door to or near the home of Matilda’s parents in the Borough of Allentown’s Fourth Ward, according to two consecutive pages of the federal census for Lehigh County (the first of which listed Lafayette’s household at the bottom of that page and the second which listed the household of John and Sarah Hilliard/Hilyard at the top of that page). Residing with Lafayette and Matilda were Matilda’s four children from her first marriage: John, Tilghman, George, and Mary Ginkinger.

Employed as a day laborer that year, Lafayette had already managed to build up a personal estate that was valued at one hundred and fifty dollars (the equivalent of roughly six thousand U.S. dollars in 2026). Meanwhile, the neighboring home of Matilda’s parents, John and Sarah Hilyard, housed Matilda’s siblings, William and Emma, and was also home to six-year-old Harry Burcaw — and to Lafayette Knerr’s twenty-one-year-old, unmarried brother, James Henry Knerr, who was employed as a coachmaker.

Then, later that same year, James Henry Knerr also began his own family line by marrying Allentown native Sarah Ritter (1841-1891), who was a daughter of Henry Ritter (1812-1866) and Allentown native Henrietta (Ruhe) Ritter (1816-1901). James and Sarah then also settled in Allentown, where they welcomed their first-born son, James Robert Knerr (1860-1953), on 16 November 1860. Known to family and friends as “Robert,” James R. Knerr would later go on to marry Amelia J. Butler.

Around that same time (in late 1860), Lafayette and Matilda Knerr welcomed the birth of their own first-born son: Walter P. Knerr (circa 1860-1926), who was born in Allentown circa 1860 (alternate birth years: 1853, 1854) and would later migrate west to Ohio, where he would marry Akron native Lillian E. Schwendermann (1865-1931; variants: “Lizzie Schwendemann” and “Lillian Swinman”) in Akron, Summit County.

American Civil War

On 20 August 1861, Lafayette Knerr became one of the early responders to President Abraham Lincoln’s call for volunteers to end the nation’s growing civil war when he enrolled for military service in Allentown. He then officially mustered in for duty as “Levi Knerr” at Camp Curtin in Dauphin County on 30 August 1861 as a private with Company B of the newly-formed 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. Military records at that time described him as a thirty-year-old laborer and resident of Allentown who was five feet, six inches tall with red hair, gray eyes and a light complexion.

Also mustering in that same day as a private with Company B was Reuben Andrew Hilyard, a brother-in-law of Lafayette and James Knerr. Military records described Reuben as a cigar maker and Lehigh County resident who was five feet, eleven inches tall with light hair, dark eyes and a light complexion.

Less than a week later, Private Lafayette Knerr’s younger brother, James Henry Knerr, also left home to enlist in the military. Following his enrollment in Allentown on 4 September 1861, James then also officially mustered in for duty at Camp Curtin with the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers. Unlike Lafayette, however, James was assigned to Company G at the rank of corporal at his muster-in on 18 September. Military records at the time described Private James H. Knerr as a twenty-three-year-old painter and resident of Lehigh County who was five feet, seven inches tall with dark hair, gray eyes and a light complexion.

Following a brief light infantry training period, the Knerr brothers, Reuben Hilyard and their respective companies were sent by train with the 47th Pennsylvania to Washington, D.C., where they were stationed at “Camp Kalorama” on the Kalorama Heights near Georgetown, about two miles from the White House, beginning 21 September. Henry Wharton, a musician with the regiment’s C Company, penned the following update the next day to his hometown newspaper, the Sunbury American:

After a tedious ride we have, at last, safely arrived at the City of ‘magnificent distances.’ We left Harrisburg on Friday last at 1 o’clock A.M. and reached this camp yesterday (Saturday) at 4 P.M., as tired and worn out a sett [sic] of mortals as can possibly exist. On arriving at Washington we were marched to the ‘Soldiers Retreat,’ a building purposely erected for the benefit of the soldier, where every comfort is extended to him and the wants of the ‘inner man’ supplied.

After partaking of refreshments we were ordered into line and marched, about three miles, to this camp. So tired were the men, that on marching out, some gave out, and had to leave the ranks, but J. Boulton Young, our ‘little Zouave,’ stood it bravely, and acted like a veteran. So small a drummer is scarcely seen in the army, and on the march through Washington he was twice the recipient of three cheers.

We were reviewed by Gen. McClellan yesterday [21 September 1861] without our knowing it. All along the march we noticed a considerable number of officers, both mounted and on foot; the horse of one of the officers was so beautiful that he was noticed by the whole regiment, in fact, so wrapt [sic] up were they in the horse, the rider wasn’t noticed, and the boys were considerably mortified this morning on dis-covering they had missed the sight of, and the neglect of not saluting the soldier next in command to Gen. Scott.

Col. Good, who has command of our regiment, is an excellent man and a splendid soldier. He is a man of very few words, and is continually attending to his duties and the wants of the Regiment.

…. Our Regiment will now be put to hard work; such as drilling and the usual business of camp life, and the boys expect and hope an occasional ‘pop’ at the enemy.

On 24 September, the Knerr brothers, Reuben Hilyard and their fellow 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers became part of the federal service when the regiment officially mustered into the U.S. Army. On 27 September, the 47th Pennsylvania was assigned to the 3rd Brigade of Brigadier-General Isaac Ingalls Stevens, which also included the 33rd, 49th and 79th New York regiments. By that afternoon, the 47th Pennsylvania was on the move again. Ordered onward by Brigadier-General Silas Casey, the Mississippi rifle-armed 47th Pennsylvania infantrymen marched behind their regimental band until reaching Camp Lyon, Maryland on the Potomac River’s eastern shore. At 5 p.m., they joined the 46th Pennsylvania in moving double-quick (one hundred and sixty-five steps per minute using thirty-three-inch steps) across the “Chain Bridge” marked on federal maps, and continued on for roughly another mile before being ordered to make camp.

The next morning, they broke camp and moved again. Marching toward Falls Church, Virginia, they arrived at Camp Advance around dusk. There, about two miles from the bridge they had crossed a day earlier, they re-pitched their tents in a deep ravine near a new federal fort under construction (Fort Ethan Allen). They had completed a roughly eight-mile trek, were situated fairly close to the headquarters of Brigadier-General William Farrar Smith (also known as “Baldy”) and were now part of the massive Army of the Potomac (“Mr. Lincoln’s Army”). Under Smith’s leadership, their regiment and brigade would help to defend the nation’s capital from the time of their September arrival through late January when the men of the 47th Pennsylvania would be shipped south.

Once again, Company C Musician Henry Wharton recapped the regiment’s activities, noting, via his 29 September letter home to the Sunbury American, that the 47th had changed camps three times in three days:

On Friday last we left Camp Kalorama, and the same night encamped about one mile from the Chain Bridge on the opposite side of the Potomac from Washington. The next morning, Saturday, we were ordered to this Camp [Camp Advance near Fort Ethan Allen, Virginia], one and a half miles from the one we occupied the night previous. I should have mentioned that we halted on a high hill (on our march here) at the Chain Bridge, called Camp Lyon, but were immediately ordered on this side of the river. On the route from Kalorama we were for two hours exposed to the hardest rain I ever experienced. Whew, it was a whopper; but the fellows stood it well – not a murmur – and they waited in their wet clothes until nine o’clock at night for their supper. Our Camp adjoins that of the N.Y. 79th (Highlanders.)….

We had not been in this Camp more than six hours before our boys were supplied with twenty rounds of ball and cartridge, and ordered to march and meet the enemy; they were out all night and got back to Camp at nine o’clock this morning, without having a fight. They are now in their tents taking a snooze preparatory to another march this morning…. I don’t know how long the boys will be gone, but the orders are to cook two days’ rations and take it with them in their haversacks….

There was a nice little affair came off at Lavensville [sic, Lewinsville], a few miles from here on Wednesday last; our troops surprised a party of rebels (much larger than our own.) killing ten, took a Major prisoner, and captured a large number of horses, sheep and cattle, besides a large quantity of corn and potatoes, and about ninety six tons of hay. A very nice day’s work. The boys are well, in fact, there is no sickness of any consequence at all in our Regiment….

Sometime during that phase of duty, as part of the 3rd Brigade, the 47th Pennsylvanians were moved to a site they initially christened “Camp Big Chestnut” in reference to a large chestnut tree located nearby. The site would eventually become known to the Keystone Staters as “Camp Griffin,” and was located roughly ten miles from Washington, D.C.

On 11 October, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers marched in the Grand Review at Bailey’s Cross Roads. In a letter home in mid-October, Captain John Peter Shindel Gobin (the leader of C Company who would be promoted in 1864 to lead the entire 47th Regiment) reported that companies D, A, C, F and I (the 47th Pennsylvania’s right wing) were ordered to picket duty after the left-wing companies (B, G, K, E, and H) had been forced to return to camp by Confederate troops. In his letter of 13 October, Henry Wharton described their duties, as well as their new home:

The location of our camp is fine and the scenery would be splendid if the view was not obstructed by heavy thickets of pine and innumerable chesnut [sic] trees. The country around us is excellent for the Rebel scouts to display their bravery; that is, to lurk in the dense woods and pick off one of our unsuspecting pickets. Last night, however, they (the Rebels) calculated wide of their mark; some of the New York 33d boys were out on picket; some fourteen or fifteen shots were exchanged, when our side succeeded in bringing to the dust, (or rather mud,) an officer and two privates of the enemy’s mounted pickets. The officer was shot by a Lieutenant in Company H [?], of the 33d.

Our own boys have seen hard service since we have been on the ‘sacred soil.’ One day and night on picket, next day working on entrenchments at the Fort, (Ethan Allen.) another on guard, next on march and so on continually, but the hardest was on picket from last Thursday morning ‘till Saturday morning – all the time four miles from camp, and both of the nights the rain poured in torrents, so much so that their clothes were completely saturated with the rain. They stood it nobly – not one complaining; but from the size of their haversacks on their return, it is no wonder that they were satisfied and are so eager to go again tomorrow. I heard one of them say ‘there was such nice cabbage, sweet and Irish potatoes, turnips, &c., out where their duty called them, and then there was a likelihood of a Rebel sheep or young porker advancing over our lines and then he could take them as ‘contraband’ and have them for his own use.’ When they were out they saw about a dozen of the Rebel cavalry and would have had a bout with them, had it not been for…unlucky circumstance – one of the men caught the hammer of his rifle in the strap of his knapsack and caused his gun to fire; the Rebels heard the report and scampered in quick time….

On Friday, 22 October, the 47th engaged in a morning divisional review, described by historian Lewis Schmidt as massing “about 10,000 infantry, 1000 cavalry, and twenty pieces of artillery all in one big open field.”

In his letter of 17 November, Henry Wharton revealed still more details about life at Camp Griffin:

This morning our brigade was out for inspection; arms, accoutrements [sic], clothing, knapsacks, etc, all were out through a thorough examination, and if I must say it myself, our company stood best, A No. 1, for cleanliness. We have a new commander to our Brigade, Brigadier General Brannen [sic], of the U.S. Army, and if looks are any criterion, I think he is a strict disciplinarian and one who will be as able to get his men out of danger as he is willing to lead them to battle….

The boys have plenty of work to do, such as piquet [sic] duty, standing guard, wood-chopping, police duty and day drill; but then they have the most substantial food; our rations consist of fresh beef (three times a week) pickled pork, pickled beef, smoked pork, fresh bread, daily, which is baked by our own bakers, the Quartermaster having procured portable ovens for that purpose, potatoes, split peas, beans, occasionally molasses and plenty of good coffee, so you see Uncle Sam supplies us plentifully….

A few nights ago our Company was out on piquet [sic]; it was a terrible night, raining very hard the whole night, and what made it worse, the boys had to stand well to their work and dare not leave to look for shelter. Some of them consider they are well paid for their exposure, as they captured two ancient muskets belonging to Secessia. One of them is of English manufacture, and the other has the Virginia militia mark on it. They are both in a dilapidated condition, but the boys hold them in high estimation as they are trophies from the enemy, and besides they were taken from the house of Mrs. Stewart, sister to the rebel Jackson who assassinated the lamented Ellsworth at Alexandria. The honorable lady, Mrs. Stewart, is now a prisoner at Washington and her house is the headquarters of the command of the piquets [sic]….

Since the success of the secret expedition, we have all kinds of rumors in camp. One is that our Brigade will be sent to the relief of Gen. Sherman, in South Carolina. The boys all desire it and the news in the ‘Press’ is correct, that a large force is to be sent there, I think their wish will be gratified….

On 21 November, the 47th participated in another morning divisional review, which was monitored by the regiment’s founder, Colonel Tilghman H. Good. Brigade and division drills were then held that afternoon. According to Schmidt, “each man was supplied with ten blank cartridges.” Afterward, “Gen. Smith requested Gen. Brannan to inform Col. Good that the 47th was the best regiment in the whole division. As a reward for their performance that day — and in preparation for the even bigger events which were yet to come, Brigadier-General John Milton Brannan ordered that brand new Springfield rifles be obtained for every member of the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers.

But those frequent marches and their guard duties in rainy weather gradually began to wear the men down; more and more members of the regiment fell ill with fever and other ailments. Entirely too many died.

1862

Next ordered to move from their Virginia encampment back to Maryland, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers left Camp Griffin at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, 22 January 1862. Marching through deep mud with their equipment for three miles in order to reach the railroad station at Falls Church, they were then transported by train to Alexandria, where they boarded the steamship City of Richmond, and sailed the Potomac to the Washington Arsenal, where they were reequipped before being marched off for dinner and rest at the Soldiers’ Retreat in Washington, D.C.

The next afternoon, the 47th Pennsylvanians hopped cars on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad and headed for Annapolis, Maryland. Arriving around 10 p.m., they were assigned quarters in barracks at the United States Naval Academy. They then spent that Friday through Monday (24-27 January 1862) loading their equipment and other supplies onto the steamship Oriental.

Those preparations ceased on Monday, 27 January, at 10 a.m. for a very public dismissal of one member of the regiment — I Company’s Private James C. Robinson who was dishonorably discharged from the 47th Pennsylvania (effective 27 January 1862). According to Schmidt and letters home from members of the regiment:

The regiment was formed and instructed by Lt. Col. Alexander ‘that we were about drumming out a member who had behaved himself unlike a soldier.’ …. The prisoner, Pvt. James C. Robinson of Company I, was a 36 year old miner from Allentown who had been ‘disgracefully discharged’ by order of the War Department. Pvt. Robinson was marched out with martial music playing and a guard of nine men, two men on each side and five behind him at charge bayonets. The music then struck up with ‘Robinson Crusoe’ as the procession was marched up and down in front of the regiment, and Pvt. Robinson was marched out of the yard.

Reloading then resumed. Ferried to the big steamship by smaller steamers on 27 January, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers commenced boarding the Oriental with the officers boarding last. Then, per the directive of Brigadier-General John Milton Brannan, they steamed away for the Deep South at 4 p.m. They were headed for Florida which, despite its secession from the Union, remained strategically important to the Union due to the presence of Fort Taylor (Key West) and Fort Jefferson (Dry Tortugas).

In February 1862, the Knerr brothers and Reuben Hilyard arrived in Key West with their fellow 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers in order to garrison Fort Taylor. They initially pitched their Sibley tents on the beach after disembarking, but were gradually reassigned to improved quarters. During that phase of duty, they drilled daily in heavy artillery tactics and other military strategies, felled trees, helped to build new roads, and strengthened the fortifications in and around the Union Army’s presence at Key West and began to introduce themselves to locals by parading through the town’s streets during the weekend of Friday, 14 February. They also attended area church services that Sunday — a community outreach activity they would continue to perform on and off for the duration of their Key West service.

According to a letter penned by Henry Wharton on 27 February 1862, the regiment commemorated the birthday of former U.S. President George Washington with a parade, a special ceremony involving the reading of Washington’s farewell address to the nation (first delivered in 1796), the firing of cannon at the fort, and a sack race and other games on 22 February. The festivities resumed two days later when the 47th Pennsylvania’s Regimental Band hosted an officers’ ball at which “all parties enjoyed themselves, for three o’clock of the morning sounded on their ears before any motion was made to move homewards.” That was then followed by a concert by the Regimental Band on Wednesday evening, 26 February.

As the 47th Pennsylvanians soldiered on in Florida, though, many were realizing that they were operating in an environment that was far more challenging than what they had experienced to date — and in an area where the water quality was frequently poor. Disease would now be their constant companion — an unseen foe that would continue to claim the lives of multiple members of the regiment if they weren’t careful.

Next ordered to Hilton Head, South Carolina from mid-June through July, the Knerr brothers and their fellow 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers camped near Fort Walker before relocating to the Beaufort District, U.S. Department of the South, roughly thirty-five miles away. Frequently assigned to hazardous picket detail north of their main camp, which put them at increased risk from enemy sniper fire, the members of the 47th Pennsylvania became known for their “attention to duty, discipline and soldierly bearing,” and “received the highest commendation from Generals Hunter and Brannan,” according to historian Samuel P. Bates.

Detachments from the regiment were also assigned to the Expedition to Fenwick Island (9 July) and the Demonstration against Pocotaligo (10 July), while men from Companies B and H “crossed the Coosaw River at the Port Royal Ferry and drove off the Rebel pickets before returning ‘home’ without a loss,” according to Schmidt. The actions were the Union’s response to the burning by Confederate troops of the ferry house at Port Royal.

Saint John’s Bluff and the Capture of a Confederate Steamer

During a return expedition to Florida beginning 30 September, members of the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry joined with members of the 1st Connecticut Battery, 7th Connecticut Infantry, and part of the 1st Massachusetts Cavalry in assaulting Confederate forces at their heavily protected camp at Saint John’s Bluff, overlooking the Saint John’s River area. Trekking and skirmishing through roughly twenty-five miles of dense swampland and forests after disembarking from ships at Mayport Mills on 1 October, they subsequently captured artillery and ammunition stores (on 3 October) that had been abandoned by Confederate forces during a bombardment of the bluff by Union gunboats.

According to Henry Wharton, “On the day following our occupation of these works the guns were dismounted and removed on board the steamer Neptune, together with the shot and shell, and removed to Hilton Head. The powder was all used in destroying the batteries.”

Meanwhile that same weekend (Friday and Saturday, 3-4 October 1862), Brigadier-General Brannan, who was quartered on board the Ben Deford as the Union expedition’s commanding officer, was busy planning the next move of his expeditionary force. That Saturday, Brannan chose several officers to direct their subordinates to prepare rations and ammunition for a new foray that would take them roughly twenty miles upriver to Jacksonville. (A sophisticated hub of cultural and commercial activities with a racially diverse population of more than two thousand residents, the city had repeatedly changed hands between the Union and Confederacy until its occupation by Union forces on 12 March 1862.) Among the Union soldiers selected for that mission were 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers from Company C, Company E and Company K.

Boarding the Union gunboat Darlington (formerly a Confederate steamer), they moved upriver, along the Saint John’s, with protection from the Union gunboat Hale, ultimately traveling a distance of two hundred miles. Directed to locate and capture ships that were furnishing troops, ammunition and other supplies to Confederate Army units scattered throughout the region, the members of Company C were also ordered to set fire to the office of the Southern Rights newspaper, due to its repeated publication of pro-Confederacy propaganda, while the members of Companies E and K played a key role in capturing the Governor Milton, a Confederate steamer that had been transporting Confederate troops and military supplies throughout the region. Docked near Hawkinsville when captured, the Milton was subsequently moved back down the river and behind Union lines by members of the 47th Pennsylvania.

Integration of the Regiment

The 47th Pennsylvania also made history during the month of October 1862 as it became an integrated regiment, adding to its muster rolls several Black men who had escaped chattel enslavement from plantations near Beaufort, South Carolina. Among the formerly enslaved men who enlisted at that time were Bristor Gethers, Abraham Jassum and Edward Jassum.

Battle of Pocotaligo, South Carolina

From 21-23 October 1862, under the brigade and regimental commands of Colonel Tilghman Good and Lieutenant-Colonel George Warren Alexander, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers joined with other Union troops in engaging heavily protected Confederate forces in and around Pocotaligo, South Carolina, including at the Frampton Plantation and the Pocotaligo Bridge, a key piece of railroad infrastructure that senior Union military leaders felt should be eliminated.

Harried by snipers while en route to destroy the bridge, they also met resistance from Confederate artillerymen who opened fire as they entered an open cotton field. Those headed toward higher ground at the Frampton Plantation fared no better as they encountered rifle and cannon fire from the surrounding forests. But the Union soldiers would not give in. Grappling with Rebel troops wherever they found them, they pursued them for four miles as the Confederate Army retreated to the bridge. Once there, the 47th Pennsylvania relieved the 7th Connecticut.

The engagement proved to be a costly one for the 47th Pennsylvania, however, with multiple members of the regiment killed instantly or so grievously wounded that they died the next day or within weeks of the battle. Among those killed in action was Captain Charles Mickley of Company G; one of the mortally wounded was K Company Captain George Junker.

In a letter penned to friends back home in Sunbury on 27 October 1862, C Company Captain John Peter Shindel Gobin provided details about the Battle of Pocotaligo and about members of his company who had been killed or wounded:

For the first time since our terrible engagement on the main land, I find time to write you an account of the affair…. On Tuesday morning [21 October 1862] our regiment received orders for six hundred men to embark on a Transport, with two days’ rations, at 1 o’clock P.M. I selected sixty men, and embarked. Our destination was unknown, although it was the general opinion that it was the Charleston and Savannah Railroad bridges. We steamed down the river, and were all advised by. Gen. Brannan, who was on the boat with our regiment, to get as much sleep as possible. I sought my berth, and when I awoke next morning, found we were in the Broad River, opposite Mackay’s Point. A detachment of the 4th New Hampshire, sent on shore to capture the enemy’s pickets, having failed, we were ordered to disembark immediately. Eight Companies of our regiment, (the other two being on another Transport) were gotten [illegible word], and at once took up the line of march. After about three miles, we came in sight of the pickets, when we halted until joined by the 55th Pennsylvania, 6th Connecticut, and one section of the 1st U.S. Artillery. We were again ordered forward — a few of the enemy’s cavalry slowly retiring before us, until we reached a place known as Caston, where two pieces of artillery, supported by cavalry, were discovered in position in the road. — They fired two shells at us, which went wide. While our artillery ran to the front and unlimbered, our regiment was ordered forward at double quick. The enemy however left after receiving one round from our artillery, which killed one of their men. We followed them closely for about two miles, when we found their battery of six pieces, posted in a strong position at the edge of a wood, supported by infantry and cavalry.

They opened upon us immediately, which was replied to by our artillery, posted in the road. This road ran through a sweet potato field, covered with vines and brush. Our regiment was thrown in mass and deployed on my company [Company C, the flag-bearer unit], which brought my right in the road. We were ordered to charge, and with a yell the men went in. We had scarcely taken a dozen steps before we were greeted with a shower of round shot and shell from the enemy’s artillery. A round shot struck the ground fairly in front of me, covering me with sand, bounding to the right and killing the third man in the company to my right. It was followed by a shell, that gave us another shower of sand, and flew between the legs of Corporal Keefer, the man on my left, tearing his pantaloons, striking his file coverer, Billington [Samuel Billington], on the knee, and glancing and striking a man named Gensemer on Billington’s left, and bringing them to the ground, but fortunately failing to explode. Almost at the same instant Jeremiah Haas and Jno. Bartlow were struck, the former in the face and breast by a piece of shell, the latter through the leg by a cannister shot. The shower we received here was terrific. Nothing daunted, on they rushed for the battery, but it was almost impossible to get through the weeds and vines. When within a hundred yards the enemy limbered up, and retreated through the woods. We followed as rapidly as possible, but we had scarcely entered the woods, when we were again greeted with a terrific storm of shell, grape and cannister from a new position, on the other side of the woods.

Ordering my men to keep to the right of the road, we pushed forward through a wood almost impenetrable. We were at times obliged to crawl on our hands and knees. — In the meantime the enemy’s infantry opened upon us, and assisted in raking the woods. Sergeant Haupt [Peter Haupt] here received his wound. When at length we pushed through, we found ourselves separated from the enemy by an impassable swamp, about one hundred yards in width. The only means of getting over was by a narrow causeway of about twelve feet in width. Seeing this, our regiment fell back to the edge of the woods, lay down and engaged the enemy’s infantry opposite us. In the meantime two howitzers from the Wabash, [which] had been placed in position in the rear of the woods, commenced shelling the enemy, whose artillery was on the right of the road on the opposite side of the swamp. The latter replied, the shells of both parties passing over us. Our situation here was extremely critical. Exposed to the cross-fire of the contending artillery and the infantry in the front, with the limbs and tops of trees falling on and around us, it was indeed a position I never want to be placed in again. — Here, Peter Wolf, while endeavoring in company with Sergeant Brosious, Corp S. Y. Haupt and Isaac Kembel, to pick off some artillerymen, received two balls and fell dead. I had him carried five miles and buried by the side of the road. Corporal S. Y. Haupt, had the stock of his rifle shattered by a rifle ball, that embedded itself.

In about twenty minutes the fire became too hot for them, and they again “skedaddled” just as Gen. Terry’s Brigade, 75th Pennsylvania in advance, were ordered up to relieve us. They followed them up rapidly until they arrived at Pocotaligo creek, over which the rebels crossed, and tore up the bridge, and ensconced themselves behind their breastworks and in their rifle pits. — We were again ordered forward, deployed to the right, and advanced to the bank of the creek, or marsh, which was fringed by woods. We lay a short time supporting the 7th Connecticut, when their ammunition became expended, and we took the front. Here occurred the most desperate fighting of the day. The enemy were reinforced by the 26th South Carolina, which came upon the breastworks with a rush. We gave them a volley that sent them staggering, but they formed in the rear of the first line, and the two poured into us one of the most scathing, withering fires ever endured. Added to it, their artillery commenced throwing grape and cannister amongst us, but we soon drove the artillerymen from their guns, and silenced them. The colors on the left of my company attracting a very heavy fire, I ordered the Sergeant to wrap them up. — This caused quite a yell among the Confederates, but we soon changed their tune. — We fired until our ammunition was nearly expended, when we ceased. This caused the enemy’s artillery to open upon us, while the musketry continued with redoubled energy. Eight men of my company fell at this last fight. We held our position, unsupported, until dark, when we were ordered to fall back. We did so and covered the retreat. We were the first regiment in the fight, and last out of it. Our men fought like veterans, and did fearful execution among the enemy. Our loss was very heavy, losing one hundred and twelve men out of six hundred. I detailed my entire company to carry their dead and wounded comrades to the boat, which I did not reach until 4 o’clock A.M., bringing with me the last man, Billington. In consequence of having no stretchers or ambulances, we were compelled to carry our wounded in blankets. They were, however, all taken good care of.

My men fought as men accustomed to it all their life. Nothing could exceed their valor. In addition to the loss in my own company, of the color guard, composed of Corporals from other companies attached to it, all but two were struck. Every man seemed determined to win….

On 23 October, the 47th Pennsylvania headed back to Hilton Head. Just over a week later, members of the regiment were assigned to serve on the honor guard during the funeral of Major-General Ormsby M. Mitchel, commander of the U.S. Army’s 10th Corps and Department of the South. Mitchel, who had died from yellow fever at the Union Army’s hospital at Hilton Head on 30 October, had initially gained fame in 1846 as an astronomer at the University of Cincinnati, following his discovery of The Mountains of Mitchel on Mars. The town of Mitchelville, the first Freedmen’s self-governed community created after the Civil War, was also named for him.

1863

Having been ordered back to Key West on 15 November 1862, the Knerr brothers, Reuben Hilyard and their fellow 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers spent the year of 1863 and first two months of 1864 guarding federal installations in Florida as part of the U.S. Army’s 10th Corps (X Corps) and Department of the South. Companies A, B, C, E, G, and I were assigned to garrison Fort Taylor in Key West, under the command of Colonel Good, while Companies D, F, H, and K were placed under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Alexander and assigned to garrison Fort Jefferson in Florida’s Dry Tortugas.

Far from being a punishment for the regiment’s recent combat performance, though, as several historians have claimed over the years, the return to Florida of the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers was viewed by senior Union military officers as a critically important assignment because both forts were at continuing risk of attack and capture by foreign powers, as well as by Confederate States Army troops. The 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers were specifically chosen for the mission because of their “bravery and praiseworthy conduct” during the Battle of Pocotaligo,” as well as for their “attention to duty, discipline and soldierly bearing.”

Directed to weaken Florida’s abilities to supply and transport food and troops throughout the area to the Confederate States by conducting raids on cattle ranches and salt production facilities, they also prevented foreign powers from assisting the Confederate Army and Navy in gaining control key points of entry in the Deep South. Once again, though, water quality was a challenge; as a result, disease became their constant companion and most dangerous foe. During that phase of duty, Corporal James H. Knerr was disciplined for some type of infraction that was serious enough that he was reduced in rank, becoming Private Knerr on 8 May 1863.

Despite the hardships they faced, though, more than half of the officers and enlisted members of the 47th Pennsylvania still opted to re-enroll that year for additional tours of duty, including the Knerrs’ brother-in-law, Reuben Hilyard, a decision that earned Reuben the coveted title of “Veteran Volunteer,” and set him apart from Lafayette and James Knerr, who chose not to re-enlist. Even so, Private Lafayette Knerr was evidently allowed to return home to Pennsylvania on a short furlough because his wife became pregnant circa October 1863.

* Note: The child conceived by Lafayette Knerr and his wife circa October 1863 was Mary J. Knerr (1864-1957), who was subsequently born in Allentown on 2 July 1864. She would later go on to mary Addison James Leaser.

1864

In early January 1864, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry was ordered to expand the Union’s reach by sending part of the regiment north to retake possession of Fort Myers, a federal installation that had been abandoned in 1858 following the U.S. government’s third war with the Seminole Indians. Per orders issued earlier in 1864 by Major-General D. P. Woodbury, Commanding Officer, U.S. Department of the Gulf, District of Key West and the Tortugas, that the fort be reclaimed to facilitate the Union’s Gulf Coast blockade, Captain Richard Graeffe and a group of men from Company A were charged with expanding the fort and conducting raids on area cattle herds to provide food for the growing Union troop presence across Florida. Graeffe and his men subsequently turned the fort into both their base of operations and a shelter for pro-Union supporters, escaped slaves, Confederate Army deserters, and others fleeing Rebel troops.

Meanwhile, all of the other companies of the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry were preparing for the regiment’s history-making journey to Louisiana. Boarding yet another steamer — the Charles Thomas — on 25 February 1864, the men from Companies B, C, D, I, and K headed for Algiers, Louisiana (across the river from New Orleans), followed on 1 March by other members of the regiment from Companies E, F, G, and H who had been stationed at Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas.

Upon the second group’s arrival, the now almost-fully-reunited regiment moved by train on 28 February to Brashear City (now Morgan City, Louisiana) before heading to Franklin by steamer through the Bayou Teche. There, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry joined the 2nd Brigade, 1st Division of the Department of the Gulf’s 19th Army Corps (XIX Corps), and became the only Pennsylvania regiment to serve in the Red River Campaign of Union Major-General Nathaniel P. Banks. (Unable to reach Louisiana until 23 March, the men from Company A were effectively placed on a different type of detached duty in New Orleans while they awaited transport to enable them to catch up with the main part of their regiment. Charged with guarding and overseeing the transport of two hundred and forty-five Confederate prisoners, they were finally able to board the Ohio Belle on 7 April, and reached Alexandria, Louisiana with those prisoners on 9 April.)

Red River Campaign

The early days on the ground in Louisiana quickly woke the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers up to just how grueling their new phase of duty would be. From 14-26 March, most members of the regiment marched for Alexandria and Natchitoches, Louisiana, by way of New Iberia, Vermilionville (now part of Lafayette), Opelousas, and Washington.

From 4-5 April 1864, the regiment added to its roster of young Black soldiers when Aaron Bullard (later known as Aaron French), James Bullard, John Bullard, Samuel Jones, and Hamilton Blanchard (also known as John Hamilton) enrolled for military service with the 47th Pennsylvania at Natchitoches. According to their respective entries in the Civil War Veterans’ Card File at the Pennsylvania State Archives and on regimental muster rolls, the men were then officially mustered in for duty on 22 June at Morganza. Several of their entries noted that they were assigned the rank of “(Colored) Cook” while others were given the rank of “Under-Cook.”

Often short on food and water throughout their long harsh-climate trek through enemy territory, the 47th Pennsylvania encamped briefly at Pleasant Hill (now the Village of Pleasant Hill) the night of 7 April before continuing on the next day.

Rushed into battle ahead of other regiments in the 2nd Division, sixty members of the 47th were cut down on 8 April during the volley of fire unleashed in the Battle of Sabine Cross Roads (also known as the Battle of Mansfield). The fighting waned only when darkness fell as those who were uninjured collapsed beside the gravely wounded and the dead. Finally, after midnight, the surviving Union troops were ordered to withdraw to Pleasant Hill.

The next day, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers were ordered into a critically important defensive position at the far right of the Union lines, their right flank spreading up onto a high bluff. By 3 p.m., after enduring a midday charge by the troops of Confederate Major-General Richard Taylor (a plantation owner and son of Zachary Taylor, former president of the United States), the brutal fighting still showed no signs of ending. Suddenly, just as the 47th was shifting to the left side of the massed Union forces, the men of the 47th Pennsylvania were forced to bolster the 165th New York’s buckling lines by blocking another Confederate assault, during what has since become known as the Battle of Pleasant Hill.

Casualties were once again high. Lieutenant-Colonel Alexander was severely wounded in both legs, and the regiment’s two color-bearers, both from Company C, were also wounded while preventing the American flag from falling into enemy hands. Still others from the 47th were captured, marched roughly one hundred and twenty-five miles to Camp Ford, a Confederate Army prison camp near Tyler, Texas, and held there as prisoners of war (POWs) until released during prisoner exchanges beginning 22 July 1864. At least two men from the 47th never made it out of that camp alive; another member of the regiment died while being treated at the Confederate Army hospital in Shreveport, Louisiana.

Following what some historians have called a rout by Confederates at Pleasant Hill and others have labeled a technical victory for the Union or a draw for both sides, the 47th fell back to Grand Ecore, where the men engaged in the hard labor of strengthening regimental and brigade fortifications. After eleven days at Grand Ecore, they then moved back to Natchitoches Parish on 22 April. Marching forty-five miles that day, they arrived in Cloutierville at 10 p.m. While en route, they were attacked again — at the rear of their brigade — but were able to quickly end the encounter and continue on.

The next morning (23 April 1864), episodic skirmishing quickly roared into the flames of a robust fight. As part of the advance party led by Union Brigadier-General William Emory, the 47th Pennsylvanians took on the Confederate cavalry of Brigadier-General Hamilton P. Bee in the Battle of Cane River (also known as “the Affair at Monett’s Ferry” or the “Cane River Crossing”).

Responding to a barrage from the Confederate artillery’s twenty-pound Parrott guns and raking fire from enemy troops situated near a bayou and on a bluff, Brigadier-General Emory directed one of his brigades to keep Bee’s Confederates busy while sending the other two brigades to find a safe spot where his Union troops could ford the Cane River. As part of the “beekeepers,” the 47th Pennsylvania supported Emory’s artillery.

Meanwhile, other troops in Emory’s command worked their way across the Cane River, attacked Bee’s flank, forced a Rebel retreat, and erected a series of pontoon bridges, enabling the 47th and other remaining Union troops to make the Cane River Crossing by the next day. As the Confederates retreated, they torched their own food stores, as well as the cotton supplies of their fellow southerners. In a letter penned from Morganza, Louisiana on 29 May, Henry Wharton described what had happened to the 47th Pennsylvanians during and immediately after making camp at Grand Ecore:

Our sojourn at Grand Ecore was for eleven days, during which time our position was well fortified by entrenchments for a length of five miles, made of heavy logs, five feet high and six feet wide, filled in with dirt. In front of this, trees were felled for a distance of two hundred yards, so that if the enemy attacked we had an open space before us which would enable our forces to repel them and follow if necessary. But our labor seemed to the men as useless, for on the morning of 22d April, the army abandoned these works and started for Alexandria. From our scouts it was ascertained that the enemy had passed some miles to our left with the intention of making a stand against our right at Bayou Cane, where there is a high bluff and dense woods, and at the same attack Smith’s forces who were bringing up the rear. This first day was a hard one on the boys, for by ten o’clock at night they made Cloutierville, a distance of forty-five miles. On that day the rear was attacked which caused our forces to reverse their front and form in line of battle, expecting too, to go back to the relief of Smith, but he needed no assistance, sending word to the front that he had ‘whipped them, and could do it again.’ It was well that Banks made so long a march on that day, for on the next we found the enemy prepared to carry out their design of attacking us front and rear. Skirmishing commenced early in the morning and as our columns advanced he fell back towards the bayou, when we soon discovered the position of their batteries on the bluff. There was then an artillery duel by the smaller pieces, and some sharp fighting by the cavalry, when the ‘mule battery,’ twenty pound Parrott guns, opened a heavy fire, which soon dislodged them, forcing the chivalry to flee in a manner not at all suitable to their boasted courage. Before this one cavalry, the 3d Brigade of the 1st Div., and Birges’ brigade of the second, had crossed the bayou and were doing good service, which, with the other work, made the enemy show their heels. The 3d brigade done some daring deeds in this fight, as also did the cavalry. In one instance the 3d charged up a hill almost perpendicular, driving the enemy back by the bayonet without firing a gun. The woods on this bluff was so thick that the cavalry had to dismount and fight on foot. During the whole of the day, our brigade, the 2d was supporting artillery, under fire all the time, and could not give Mr. Reb a return shot.

While we were fighting in front, Smith was engaged some miles in the rear, but he done his part well and drove them back. The rebel commanders thought by attacking us in the rear, and having a large face on the bluffs, they would be able to capture our train and take us all prisoners, but in this they were mistaken, for our march was so rapid that we were on them before they had thrown up the necessary earthworks. Besides they underrated the amount of our artillery, calculating from the number engaged at Pleasant Hill. The rebel prisoners say it ‘seems as though the Yankees manufacture, on short notice, artillery to order, and the men are furnished with wings when they wish to make a certain point.

The damage done to the Confederate cause by the burning of cotton was immense. On the night of the 22d our route was lighted up for miles and millions of dollars worth of this production was destroyed. This loss will be felt more by Davis & Co., than several defeats in this region, for the basis of the loan in England was on the cotton of Western Louisiana.

After the rebels had fled from the bluff the negro troops put down the pontoons, and by ten that night we were six miles beyond the bayou safely encamped. The next morning we moved forward and in two days were in Alexandria. Johnnys followed Smith’s forces, keeping out of range of his guns, except when he had gained the eminence across the bayou, when he punished them (the rebs) severely.

Having finally reached Alexandria on 26 April, the 47th Pennsylvanians learned they would remain at their latest new camp for at least two weeks. Placed temporarily under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph Bailey, they were assigned yet again to the hard labor of fortification work, helping to erect “Bailey’s Dam,” a timber structure that enabled Union gunboats to more easily make their way back down the Red River. While stationed in Rapides Parish in late April and early May, according to Wharton:

We were at Alexandria seventeen days, during which time the men were kept busy at throwing up earthworks, foraging and three times went out some distance to meet the enemy, but they did not make their appearance in numbers large enough for an engagement. The water in the Red river had fallen so much that it prevented the gunboats from operating with us, and kept our transports from supplying the troops with rations, (and you know soldiers, like other people, will eat) so Banks was compelled to relinquish his designs on Shreveport and fall back to the Mississippi. To do this a large dam had to be built on the falls at Alexandria to get the ironclads down the river. After a great deal of labor this was accomplished and by the morning of May 13th the last one was through the shute [sic], when we bade adieu to Alexandria, marching through the town with banners flying and keeping step to the music of ‘Rally around the flag,’ and ‘When this cruel war is over.’ The next morning, at our camping place, the fleet of boats passed us, when we were informed that Alexandria had been destroyed by fire – the act of a dissatisfied citizen and several negroes. Incendiary acts were strictly forbidden in a general order the day before we left the place, and a cavalry guard was left in the rear to see the order enforced. After marching a few miles skirmishing commenced in front between the cavalry and the enemy in riflepits [sic] on the bank of the river, but they were easily driven away. When we came up we discovered their pits and places where there had been batteries planted. At this point the John Warren, an unarmed transport, on which were sick soldiers and women, was fired into and sunk, killing many and those that were not drowned taken prisoners. A tin-clad gunboat was destroyed at the same place, by which we lost a large mail. Many letters and directed envelopes were found on the bank – thrown there after the contents had been read by the unprincipled scoundrels. The inhumanity of Guerrilla bands in this department is beyond belief, and if one did not know the truth of it or saw some of their barbarities, he would write it down as the story of a ‘reliable gentleman’ or as told by an ‘intelligent contraband.’ Not satisfied with his murderous intent on unarmed transports he fires into the Hospital steamer Laurel Hill, with four hundred sick on board. This boat had the usual hospital signal floating fore and aft, yet, notwithstanding all this, and the customs of war, they fired on them, proving by this act that they are more hardened than the Indians on the frontier.

On Sunday, May 15, we left the river road and took a short route through the woods, saving considerable distance. The windings of Red river are so numerous that it resembles the tape-worm railroad wherewith the politicians frightened the dear people during the administration of Ritner and Stevens. – We stopped several hours in the woods to leave cavalry pass, when we moved forward and by four o’clock emerged into a large open plain where we formed in line of battle, expecting a regular engagement. The enemy, however, retired and we advanced ‘till dark, when the forces halted for the night, with orders to rest on their arms. – ‘Twas here that Banks rode through our regiment, amidst the cheers of the boys, and gave the pleasant news that Grant had defeated Lee.

Having entered Avoyelles Parish, they “rested on their arms” for the night, half-dozing without pitching their tents, but with their rifles right beside them. They were now positioned just outside of Marksville, Louisiana on the eve of the 16 May 1864 Battle of Mansura, which unfolded as follows, according to Wharton:

Early next morning we marched through Marksville into a prairie nine miles long and six wide where every preparation was made for a fight. The whole of our force was formed in line, in support of artillery in front, who commenced operations on the enemy driving him gradually from the prairie into the woods. As the enemy retreated before the heavy fire of our artillery, the infantry advanced in line until they reached Mousoula [sic], where they formed in column, taking the whole field in an attempt to flank the enemy, but their running qualities were so good that we were foiled. The maneuvring [sic] of the troops was handsomely done, and the movements was [sic] one of the finest things of the war. The fight of artillery was a steady one of five miles. The enemy merely stood that they might cover the retreat of their infantry and train under cover of their artillery. Our loss was slight. Of the rebels we could not ascertain correctly, but learned from citizens who had secreted themselves during the fight, that they had many killed and wounded, who threw them into wagons, promiscuously, and drove them off so that we could not learn their casualties. The next day we moved to Simmsport [sic, Simmesport] on the Achafalaya [sic, Atchafalaya] river, where a bridge was made by putting the transports side by side, which enabled the troops and train to pass safely over. – The day before we crossed the rebels attacked Smith, thinking it was but the rear guard, in which they, the graybacks, were awfully cut up, and four hundred prisoners fell into our hands. Our loss in killed and wounded was ninety. This fight was the last one of the expedition. The whole of the force is safe on the Mississippi, gunboats, transports and trains. The 16th and 17th have gone to their old commands.

It is amusing to read the statements of correspondents to papers North, concerning our movements and the losses of our army. I have it from the best source that the Federal loss from Franklin to Mansfield, and from their [sic] to this point does not exceed thirty-five hundred in killed, wounded and missing, while that of the rebels is over eight thousand.

Continuing on, the surviving members of the 47th marched for Simmesport and then Morganza, where they made camp again. While encamped there, the nine formerly enslaved Black men who had enlisted with the 47th Pennsylvania in Beaufort, South Carolina (1862) and Natchitoches, Louisiana (April 1864) were officially mustered into the regiment between 20-24 June 1864. The regiment then moved on once again, and arrived in New Orleans in late June.

As they did during their tour through the Carolinas and Florida, the men of the 47th had battled the elements and disease, as well as the Confederate Army, in order to continue to defend their nation. One of those who survived the Red River experience, after being struck down early on in combat, was Sergeant William Haltiman, who was able to return to duty with the 47th Pennsylvania after receiving medical treatment for his wounds.

Ironically, on the Fourth of July — “Independence Day” — the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers learned from their superior officers that their independence from military life would not be happening anytime soon. The regiment had received new orders to return to the Eastern Theater of the war.

The first to depart Bayou Country were the members of Companies A, C, D, E, F, H, and I, who boarded the U.S. Steamer McClellan and sailed out of the harbor at New Orleans on 7 July. As they watched their comrades steam away, the members of Companies B, G and K cooled their heels. Finally departing later that month aboard the Blackstone, the Knerr brothers and their brother-in-law, Reuben Hilyard, would learn, upon disembarkation back east, that they had missed out on an opportunity to see President Abraham Lincoln in person and had also missed the Battle of Cool Spring at Snicker’s Gap in Virginia.

Sheridan’s 1864 Shenandoah Valley Campaign

Attached to the Middle Military Division, U.S. Army of the Shenandoah in Virginia, beginning in August 1864, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry was initially assigned to defensive duties in and around Halltown during the opening days of that month before engaging in a series of back-and-forth movements over the next several weeks between Halltown, Berryville and other locations within that vicinity (Middletown, Charlestown and Winchester) as part of a “mimic war” being waged by the Union forces of Major-General Philip H. Sheridan with those commanded by Confederate Lieutenant-General Jubal Early.

After the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers fought in the Battle of Berryville, Virginia from 3-4 December, clean-up skirmishes were waged with Confederate stragglers over the next several days. Then, over the next several weeks, multiple members of the regiment would be honorably discharged at Berryville, upon expiration of their respective terms of enlistment, including the Knerr brothers, who were honorably discharged on 18 September. Both then returned home to the arms of their loved ones in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley.

Meanwhile, Reuben Hilyard continued to fight on with the 47th Pennsylvania and would be promoted to the rank of first sergeant the next day (the same day as the Battle of Opequan, Virginia).

The Civilian Life of James Henry Knerr

Following his honorable discharge from the Union Army in mid-September 1864, James Henry Knerr returned home to his wife and son in Allentown, where he resumed his trade as a coachmaker and painter. Sometime around 1867 or early 1868, he moved his wife and son to the city of Reading in Berks County, where he began to practice his trade as a journeyman.

More children soon followed with the Reading arrivals of: Harry Daniel Knerr (1868-1922), who was born on 8 February 1868 and baptized at the Methodist Church in Reading on 24 February of that same year, and would later wed Emma Ida Burkhart (1875-1939); and Ralph Garfield Knerr (1880-1915), who was born on 24 September 1880 and would later wed Amelia Jane Murray (1879-1927). Acording to the 1877 Reading city directory, the Knerrs’ home was located at 702 Court Street.

The Death and Interment of James Henry Knerr

Sadly, the life of James Henry Knerr would prove to be an all-too-short one. He died at the age of forty-seven in Reading on 5 April 1886. Following funeral services, he was laid to rest at the Charles Evans Cemetery in Reading, Berks County. His grave had still not been marked with a gravestone as of 2015.

The Civilian Life of Lafayette Knerr

Following his own honorable discharge from the Union Army in mid-September 1864, Lafayette Knerr returned home to his family in Allentown, where he secured employment as an engineer with a rolling mill and where he met his infant, Mary J. Knerr, who had just been born on 2 July. Still working as an engineer by the time that the federal census of 1870 was enumerated in Allentown in mid-July of that year, he was residing in Allentown’s Fifth Ward with his wife, Matilda, and their children, Walter P. Knerr (aged ten), who was enrolled in a local, public elementary school, and Mary (aged five). Also residing with the Knerrs were Matilda’s sons from her first marriage: John Ginkinger, a seventeen-year-old tinsmith; and Tilghman Ginkinger, a fifteen-year-old cigarmaker. All of the children and adults in the household were described by that year’s census enumerator as being unable to read or write — an indicator that they may have been Pennsylvania Dutch who either spoke and wrote Pennsylvania Dutch or German.

Then, sometime before the federal census of 1880, Lafayette and Matilda’s son, Walter P. Knerr, migrated west to Ohio and settled in the city of Akron in Summit County, where he was employed as a laborer and resided at the boarding house of James and Elisabeth Fitzwilliams. While in Akron, Walter met Akron native Lizzie Schwendemann (1865-1931; variant: “Lillian Swinman”) and asked her to marry him in early September of 1882. They then settled in Akron and began their own branch of the Knerr family.

Meanwhile, back in Pennsylvania, Lafayette Knerr continued his work as an engineer for a rolling mill. In 1880, he and his wife and daughter, Mary, resided in a home on Liberty Street in Allentown. By 1885, he was residing with his wife at 520 Mohr Street; their daughter, Mary, had moved on to begin her own new family line with Addison Leaser. Three years later, Lafayette filed for a U.S. Civil War Pension on 27 December 1889, which was subsequently approved by federal officials.

The 1890s also proved to be a memorable decade for the Knerrs. As their nation headed toward a new century, it was powered by the advancements of the Second Industrial Revolution. Their city continued to grow and their streets became busier, as the Lehigh Valley became less and less bucolic. Their lives were being “modernized” in ways they could never have imagined just five or ten years ago.

Even so, the darkest period in America’s past was still visible nearly everywhere they turned — in the increasingly wizened faces of the American Civil War veterans who still worked or attended church in Allentown. Largely revered by the public for their prior service to the nation, those sturdy survivors would ultimately be fêted during an event so grand that its date would be marked forever in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s historical record. Known as “Dedication Day,” it unfolded on 19 October 1899 and involved the unveiling of the Lehigh County Soldiers and Sailors Monument — a monument that still proudly stands at the heart of Allentown in the twenty-first century.

Newspapers published multiple reports that recorded the spectacle as hundreds of dignitaries and American Civil War veterans streamed into the city. All of the schools were closed so that the city’s children could either participate in the monument’s dedication ceremony or watch in awe as aging veterans marched or rode horses majestically through the streets of Allentown, cheered by tens of thousands of men, women and children, many of whom then listened attentively as one orator after another addressed the proud crowd that surrounded the draped monument. Hearts were stirred and future civic leaders were inspired. Long after after the echoes of the final drum beats had faded, the day’s sights and sounds would be spoken of in homes across the Lehigh Valley and beyond.

By the early 1900s, Lafayette Knerr and his wife were living at 529 Liberty Street in Allentown. In 1902, Lafayette attended the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers’ thirtieth annual reunion at the Duck Farm Hotel in Allentown on 22 October (the anniversary of the Battle of Pocotaligo, South Carolina).

The Illness, Death and Interment of Lafayette Knerr

Sadly, tragedy struck the Knerr family when Lafayette Knerr suffered an episode of apoplexy sometime in 1904 or early 1905 and died from the effects of that stroke at the age of seventy-four in Allentown on 15 February 1905. Following funeral services, he was laid to rest at the Union-West End Cemetery in Allentown.

He had witnessed dramatic changes to his community, commonwealth and nation during his lifetime — and had become “a living bridge” between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Curious About What Happened to the Knerr Brothers’ Siblings, Wives and Children? 

If you want to learn more about the siblings, wives and children of 47th Pennsylvania veterans Levinus Lafayette Knerr and James Henry Knerr, read the following in our series of biographies about the Knerr family:

• What Happened to the Siblings of Levinus Lafayette Knerr and James Henry Knerr?
• What Happened to the Wife and Children of James Henry Knerr?
• What Happened to the Wife, Children and Stepchildren of Levinus Lafayette Knerr?

 

Sources:

1. “A Smallpox Victim” (death notice of Frank H. Knerr, who was a nephew of Lafayette and James Henry Knerr and a son of Daniel Knerr). Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Allentown Leader, 18 September 1902.
2. Addison Leaser (groom) and Miss Mary J. Knerr (bride and a daughter of Lafayette Knerr), in Marriage Records (Allentown, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, 7 November 1885). Allentown, Pennsylvania: Clerk of the Orphans’ Court of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania.
3. Addison J. Leaser, Jr. (a grandson of Lafayette Knerr and a son of Mary J. (Knerr) Leaser), in Death Certificates (file no.: 36945, registered no.: 446, date of death: 20 March 1929). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics.
4. “Aged Veteran Takes His Life” (obituary of Lafayette and James Henry Knerr’s older brother, John Solomon Knerr). Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Allentown Leader, 20 January 1908.
5. Alice Marie Reichard (bride and a niece of Lafayette Knerr and a daughter of Anna Maria Angelina (Knerr) Reichard); and Ralph Alexander Miller (groom), in Marriage Records (Northampton County, Pennsylvania, date of marriage: 4 September 1901). Easton, Pennsylvania: Clerk of the Orphans’ Court of Northampton County, Pennsylvania.
6. Amanda E. Garis (a niece of Lafayette Knerr and a daughter of Anna Maria Angelina (Knerr) Reichard), in Death Certificates (file no.: 14123, registered no.: 223, date of death: 12 February 1955). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics.
7. Anna Ginkinger (a step-grandaughter of Lafayette Knerr and a daughter of Tilghman H. Ginkinger), in Death Certificates (file no.: 59841, registered no.: 14379, date of death: 7 June 1911). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics.
8. Bates, Samuel P. History of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-5, vol. 1. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: B. Singerly, State Printer, 1869.
9. Caroline Kleckner (a sister of Lafayette and James Henry Knerr), in Death Certificates (file no.: 94763, registered no.: 486, date of death: 26 October 1915). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics.
10. Daniel Knerr (mention of the illness of a brother of Lafayette and James Henry Knerr), in “Lehighton.” Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Allentown Leader, 11 January 1905.
11. “Death of a Former Allentown Lady” (obituary of Sarah (Ritter) Knerr, the widow of James Henry Knerr). Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Allentown Democrat, 2 September 1891.
12. “Death of Lieut. Reuben A. Hilyard” (obituary of a brother-in-law and former 47th Pennsylvania B Company comrade of Lafayette and James Henry Knerr). Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Allentown Democrat, 16 September 1903.
13. “Decree Is Entered” (notice of the divorce of Lafayette Knerr’s son, Walter P. Knerr). Akron, Ohio: Akron Beacon Journal, 12 August 1922.
14. Esterly, James (hotel operator), Clara H., William, and James M.; Knerr, Harry B. [sic, “Harry Daniel Knerr”] (a coach painter and son of James Henry Knerr); and thirty other boarders, in U.S. Census (Reading, Eighth Ward, Berks County, Pennsylvania, 1900). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
15. Fitzwilliams, James (head of household, laborer and boarding house operator), Elisabeth, Margaret, John, Elisabeth, Mary, and Catherine; Emory, Charles and Frank (boarders and moulders); and Knerr, Walter (a laborer and boarder who was a son of Lafayette Knerr), et. al. (six other boarders, several of whom were iron moulders), in U.S. Census (Akron, Summit County, Ohio, 1880). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
16. “Florida’s Role in the Civil War: Supplier of the Confederacy.” Tampa, Florida: Florida Center for Instructional Technology, University of South Florida (College of Education), retrieved online, 15 January 2020.
17. Ginkinger, Tilghman (a stepson of Lafayette Knerr), Sallie, Annie, Margaret, and Frederick, in U.S. Census (Allentown, Tenth Ward, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, 1900). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
18. Gobin, John Peter Shindel. Personal Letters, 1861-1865. Northumberland, Pennsylvania: Personal Collection of John Deppen.
19. Grant, Ulysses S. Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant. New York, New York: Charles L. Webster & Company, 1885.
20. Grodzins, Dean and David Moss. “The U.S. Secession Crisis as a Breakdown of Democracy,” in When Democracy Breaks: Studies in Democratic Erosion and Collapse, from Ancient Athens to the Present Day (chapter 3). New York, New York: Oxford University Press, 2024.
21. Harry D. Knerr (groom and a son of James Henry Knerr) and James and Sarah Knerr (parents of the groom); and Ida Burkart (bride) and Jacob Burkhart (father of the bride), in Marriage Records (Berks County, Pennsylvania, vol. 26, no.: 1436). Reading, Pennsylvania: Clerk of the Orphans’ Court of Berks County, Pennsylvania.
22. Harry D. Knerr (a son of James Henry Knerr), in Death Certificates (file no.: 117941, registered no.: 850, date of death: 18 December 1922). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics.
23. “Her Eighty-Third Birthday” (eighty-third birthday celebration for Matilda (Hilyard Ginkinger) Knerr, the widow of Lafayette Knerr and a sister of Reuben Andrew Hilyard and William H. Hilyard). Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Morning Call, 23 October 1915.
24. Hilliard [sic, “Hilyard”], Reuben, Emaline, Alice, and Reuben A., in U.S. Census (Allentown, Fifth Ward, Pennsylvania, 1860). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
25. “Important From Port Royal.; The Expedition to Jacksonville, Destruction of the Rebel Batteries. Capture of a STEAMBOAT. Another Speech from Gen. Mitchell. His Policy and Sentiments on the Negro Question.” New York, New York: The New York Times, 20 October 1862.
26. Irwin, Richard Bache. History of the Nineteenth Army Corps. New York, New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1893.
27. James R. Knerr (a son of James Henry Knerr), in Death Certificates (file no.: 59782, registered no.: 1227, date of death: 14 July 1953). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics.
28. John Solomon Knerr (the older brother of Lafayette and James Henry Knerr), in Death Certificates (file no.: 356, registered no.: 60, date of death: 20 January 1908). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics.
29. “Knerr” (obituary of James Henry Knerr’s son, Harry Daniel Knerr). Reading, Pennsylvania: The Reading News-Times, 20 December 1922.
30. Knerr, Daniel (a brother of Lafayette and James Henry Knerr), in U.S. Civil War Draft Registration Records (Franklin Township, Carbon County, Pennsylvania, 1 July 1863). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
31. Knerr, Daniel (a brother of Lafayette and James Henry Knerr), Lovinia, Emma, Ellen, Harrison, and Anna B., in U.S. Census (Weissport, Franklin Township, Carbon County, Pennsylvania, 1870). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
32. Knerr, Daniel (a brother of Lafayette and James Henry Knerr), Livina, Harry, George, Ellen, and Frank, in U.S. Census (Franklin Township, Carbon County, Pennsylvania, 1880). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
33. Knerr, Daniel (a brother of Lafayette and James Henry Knerr), Lavina, Ella, and Frank, in U.S. Census (Franklin Township, Carbon County, Pennsylvania, 1900). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
34. Knerr, Harry (a son of James Henry Knerr) and Emma, in U.S. Census (Reading, Eighth Ward, Berks County, Pennsylvania, 1910). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
35. Knerr, Harry Daniel (infant) and James and Sarah Knerr (parents), in Birth and Baptismal Records (Methodist Church, Reading, Berks County, Pennsylvania, date of birth: 8 February 1868, baptism: 24 February 1868). Reading, Pennsylvania: Central Methodist Church.
36. Knerr, J. Robert (a son of James Henry Knerr), Minnie and William E., in U.S. Census (Reading, Third Ward, Berks County, Pennsylvania, 1900). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
37. Knerr, J. Robert (a son of James Henry Knerr) and Minnie, in U.S. Census (Reading, Third Ward, Berks County, Pennsylvania, 1920). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
38. Knerr, James H., in Civil War Muster Rolls (Company G, 47th Pennsylvania Infantry). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State Archives.
39. Knerr, James H., in Civil War Veterans’ Card File, 1861-1866 (Company G, 47th Pennsylvania Infantry). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State Archives.
40. Knerr, James H., in Records of Burial Places of Veterans (Charles Evans Cemetery, Reading, Berks County, Pennsylvania, date of death: 5 April 1886). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Military Affairs.
41. Knerr, James, Sarah, Robert, and Harry, in U.S. Census (Reading, Second Ward, Berks County, Pennsylvania, 1870). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
42. Knerr, James H., Sarah H. (widow) and James R. (guardian), in U.S. Civil War Pension (widow’s application no.: 389392, filed from Pennsylvania by the veteran’s widow, 21 February 1889; application by guardian on behalf of veteran’s minor child: 530471, minor child’s certificate no.: 326902, filed by the minor child’s guardian, 27 October 1891). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
43. Knerr, John S. (the older brother of Lafayette and James Henry Knerr), Dianna and Charles H., in U.S. Census (Allentown, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, 1880). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
44. Knerr, John S. (the older brother of Lafayette and James Henry Knerr), Diana and Charles, in U.S. Census (Allentown, First Ward, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, 1900). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
45. Knerr, Lafayette, in Ferris Bros.’ Allentown City and Lehigh County Directory for 1885, p. 130. Wilmington, Delaware: Ferris Brothers Printers and Binders, 1885.
46. Knerr, Lafayette, in Records of Burial Places of Veterans (Union-West End Cemetery, Allentown, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Military Affairs.
47. Knerr, Lafayette (alias “Knerr, Levi”) and Knerr, Matilda, in U.S. Civil War Pension General Index Cards (veteran’s application no.: 745751, veteran’s certificate no.: 644080, filed by the veteran from Pennsylvania, 27 December 1889; widow’s application no.: 822362, widow’s certificate no.: 592375, filed by the veteran’s widow from Pennsylvania, 20 February 1905). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
48. Knerr, Lafayette, Matilda and Mary, in U.S. Census (Allentown, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, 1880). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
49. Knerr, Lafayette and Matilda; and Leaser, Addison J. (senior), Mary J. (a daughter of Lafayette Knerr) and Addison J. (junior); Morris, Marie S. (boarder); and Kunkle, Elsie C. (boarder), in U.S. Census (Allentown, Tenth Ward, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, 1900). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
50. Knerr, Lafinus [sic, “Lavinus Lafayette Knerr”] and Matilda, and Gingkinger [sic, “Ginkinger”], John, Tilghman, George, and Mary (all of whom were listed on page 29 of that group of census records; the Ginkingers were children from Matilda’s first marriage to Thomas/Tilghman Ginkinger); and Hilliard [sic, “Hilyard”], John, Sarah, William, and Emma (the parents and siblings of Matilda (Hilliard) Knerr, and Knerr, James (a brother of Lafayette Knerr), and Burcaw, Harry, aged six (all of whom were listed on page 30 of that group of census records), in U.S. Census (Allentown, Fourth Ward, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, 1860). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
51. Knerr, Levi and Hilyard, Reuben A., in Civil War Muster Rolls (Company B, 47th Pennsylvania Infantry). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State Archives.
52. Knerr, Levi and Hilyard, Reuben A., in Civil War Veterans’ Card File, 1861-1866 (Company B, 47th Pennsylvania Infantry). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State Archives.
53. Knerr, Levi [sic, “Levinus Lafayette Knerr”], Matilda, Walter, and Mary; and Ginkinger, John and Tilghman (Matilda’s sons from her first marriage), in U.S. Census (Allentown, Fifth Ward, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, 1870). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
54. Knerr, Nathan, Judith, John, Levina [sic, “Levinus Lafayette Knerr”], Daniel, Charles, James, Angelina, and Elizabeth, in U.S. Census (East Allentown, Northampton Township, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, 1850). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
55. Knerr, Robert J. [sic, “James Robert Knerr”) (a son of James Henry Knerr) and Amelia, in U.S. Census (West Reading, Berks County, Pennsylvania, 1940, 1950). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
56. Knerr, Walter P. (a son of Lafayette Knerr), Lillian, Walter E., and Mabel, in U.S. Census (Cleveland, Eighteenth Ward, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, 1900). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
57. Lafayette Knerr (birth and death dates), in Death Records (Salem United Church of Christ, Allentown, Pennsylvania, date of death: 15 February 1905). Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
58. “Lafayette Knerr” (obituary). Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Morning Call, 17 February 1905.
59. Leaser, Addison J. (head of household), Mary J. (a daughter of Lafayette Knerr), Addison J. Jr. (son), Ethel (Addison Jr.’s wife), and Bernice (Addison Jr.’s daughter); and Knerr, Matilda (the mother of Mary J. (Knerr) Leaser and the widow of Lafayette Knerr), in U.S. Census (Allentown, Tenth Ward, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, 1910). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
60. Leaser, Addison J. (head of household), Mary J. (a daughter of Lafayette Knerr), Addison J. Jr. (son), and Knerr, Matilda (the mother of Mary J. (Knerr) Leaser and the widow of Lafayette Knerr), in U.S. Census (Allentown, Tenth Ward, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, 1920). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
61. Leaser, Addison J. (head of household) and Mary J. (a daughter of Lafayette Knerr), in U.S. Census (Allentown, Tenth Ward, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, 1930). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
62. “Long Suffering Ended by Death” (obituary of Miss Annie M. Ginkinger, a step-grandaughter of Lafayette Knerr and a daughter of Tilghman H. Ginkinger). Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Allentown Democrat, 8 June 1911.
63. Mary J. Leaser (a daughter of Lafayette Knerr), in Death Certificates (file no.: 63785, registered no.: 1056, date of death: 13 July 1957). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics.
64. Matilda Knerr (an older sister of Reuben Andrew Hilyard and the widow of Lafayette Knerr), in Death Certificates (file no.: 3857, registered no.: 9, date of death: 31 January 1920). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics.
65. “Mrs. Ann Knerr” (a sister of Lafayette and James Henry Knerr), in Death Certificates (file no.: 94694, registered no.: 44, date of death: 3 October 1924). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics.
66. Mrs. Ethel May Leaser Voorhees (the former wife of Addison James Leaser, Jr., who was a son of Lafayette Knerr’s daughter, Mary J. (Knerr) Leaser), in Death Certificates (file no.: 104763-60, local reg. no.:1802, date of death: 16 November 1960). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics.
67. “Mrs. Jacob F. Diehl” (obituary of Elizabeth (Knerr) Diehl, a sister of Lafayette and James Henry Knerr). Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Morning Call, 16 April 1925.
68. “Mrs. Jacob Reichard” (obituary of Anna Maria Angelina (Knerr) Reichard, a sister of Lafayette and James Henry Knerr). Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Morning Call, 5 October 1924.
69. “Mrs. Mary J. Leaser” (obituary of a daughter of Lafayette Knerr). Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Morning Call, 14 July 1957.
70. “Mrs. Matilda Knerr” (obituary of an older sister of Reuben Andrew Hilyard and William H. Hilyard and the widow of Lafayette Knerr). Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Morning Call, 2 February 1920.
71. “Obituary: John T. Ginkinger” (obituary of Lafayette Knerr’s oldest stepson). Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Morning Call, 13 February 1897.
72. “Obituary: Mrs. Caroline Kleckner” (a sister of Lafayette and James Henry Knerr). Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Allentown Democrat, 28 October 1915.
73. “Obituary: Ralph G. Knerr” (a son of James Henry Knerr). Reading, Pennsylvania: The Reading News-Times, 30 July 1915.
74. “Octogenarian Victim of Automobile Accident” (report on the death of Jacob Franklin Diehl, a brother-in-law of Lafayette and James Henry Knerr and the husband of Elizabeth (Knerr) Diehl). Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Allentown Democrat, 24 November 1916.
75. Oettinger, Judith (infant and the future mother of Lafayette and James Henry Knerr), and Christian and Margaretha (parents of Judith), in Birth and Baptismal Records (Zion Lehigh Evangelical Lutheran Church, Alburtis, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, birth date: 10 December 1806, baptism date: 9 May 1907). Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
76. Proctor, Samuel. “Jacksonville During the Civil War,” in Florida Historical Quarterly, vol. 41, no. 4, 1962, pp. 343-355. Orlando, Florida STARS (Showcase of Text, Archives, Research & Scholarship), University of Central, Florida.
77. “Regional Deaths: Mrs. Ethel May Voorhees” (obituary of the former wife of Addison James Leaser, Jr., who was a son of Lafayette Knerr’s daughter, Mary J. (Knerr) Leaser). Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania: Jim Thorpe Times, 17 November 1960.
78. Reichard, Jacob, Anna (a sister of Lafayette and James Henry Knerr), Henry, William, Alice, and Amanda, in U.S. Census (Upper Saucon Township, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, 1880). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
79. Reichard, Jacob, Anna (a sister of Lafayette and James Henry Knerr) and Henry, in U.S. Census (Easton, Twelfth Ward, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, 1900). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
80. Reichard, Jacob and Anna (a sister of Lafayette and James Henry Knerr), in U.S. Census (Upper Saucon Township, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, 1910). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
81. “Roster of the 47th P. V. Inf.” Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Morning Call, 26 October 1930.
82. Schmidt, Lewis G. A Civil War History of the 47th Regiment of Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers. Allentown, Pennsylvania: Self-published, 1986.
83. Sheridan, Philip Henry. Personal Memoirs of P. H. Sheridan, General, United States Army in Two Volumes. New York, New York: Charles L. Webster & Company, 1888.
84. “The 47th Regiment in Battle” (mentions 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers who were wounded during the Battle of Pocotaligo, South Carolina). Sunbury, Pennsylvania: The Sunbury Gazette, 1 November 1862.
85. “The History of the Forty-Seventh Regt. P. V.” Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Lehigh Register, 20 July 1870.
86. “Tilghman H. Ginkinger” (obituary of a stepson of Lafayette Knerr). Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Morning Call, 19 January 1926.
87. “Veterans’ Reunion: Heroes of the 47th Assembled at the Duck Farm: Their Old Commander Present: Large Gathering of Old Soldiers in Whom Martial Spirit Is Still Strong.” Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Allentown Leader, 22 October 1902.
88. Walter E. Knerr (a grandson of Lafayette Knerr and a son of Walter P. Knerr), in Death Certificates (file no.: 22834, registered no.: 109, date of death: 11 April 1940). Columbus, Ohio: State of Ohio, Department of Health.
89. Walter P. Knerr (groom and a son of Lafayette Knerr) and Lizzie Schwendemann (bride), in “Marriage Licenses.” Akron, Ohio: The Summit County Beacon, 6 September 1882.
90. Walter P. Knerr (a son of Lafayette Knerr), in Death Records (Cuyahoga County, Ohio, date of death: 9 July 1926). Columbus, Ohio: State of Ohio, Department of Health.
91. Wharton, Henry D. “Letters from the Sunbury Guards.” Sunbury, Pennsylvania: The Sunbury American, 1861-1864.
92. William Charles Reichard (groom and a nephew of Lafayette and James Henry Knerr and a son of Anna Maria Angelina (Knerr) Reichard); and Elizabeth Mae Hatch (bride), in Marriage Records (Northampton County, Pennsylvania, date of marriage: 26 April 1900). Easton, Pennsylvania: Clerk of the Orphans’ Court of Northampton County, Pennsylvania.