Alternate Spellings of Given Name: Laurence, Lawrence, Lorance. Alternate Spellings of Surname: Bonstein, Bonstine, Bunstein, Bunsteine, Bunstine

 

Lawrence Bonstine was a man who, during his mid-thirties, experienced and recovered from a dramatic reversal of fortune, ultimately becoming a respected leader of men in the Union Army. Initially known at the start of the American Civil War as a man of “good character” with a “zeal for duty,” he suddenly faced a crisis when his judgement and leadership were called into question as the first year of the war waned. Accused of inspiring insubordination within his ranks toward more senior military officials, he was eventually determined to be an officer of merit, during a court martial hearing, and placed in a position of trust just a year later at the United States Army post at Fort Taylor in Key West, Florida.

Formative Years

Born on 12 November 1824 in Pennsylvania, Lawrence Bonstine’s surname was spelled as “Bunstein” on the earliest records of his life’s history. He was a son of Jacob and Mary Bunstein, who were residents of Northampton County.

Little else is currently known about his formative years. What is known for certain is that, on 30 May 1846, Lawrence Bonstine wed Mary Ida Snyder (1835-1913), who was a daughter of Peter and Susan Snyder. They were married at the parson’s house at what is now St. John’s Lutheran Church in Easton.

By 1850, he was still employed as a tailor, and was still living in the Borough of Easton with his wife, Mary, and their sons, John J. Bonstine, who was born sometime around late 1846 or early 1847, and Theodore (1850-1928), who had been born in South Easton on 13 July 1850, and was baptized as a Methodist on 11 January 1874 (when he was an adult).

Still a tailor and Easton resident by mid-June 1860, Lawrence Bonstein’s household now included his wife, Mary, and their Pennsylvania-born children, John J.; Theodore; Mary Ida, who had been born circa 1853 and was known to family and friends as “Ida”; Susan, who had been born circa 1856; and William, who had been born in January 1860 and was just six months old.

Civil War Military Service—Three Months’ Service

Two days before President Abraham Lincoln issued his 15 April 1861 call for volunteer troops to help defend the nation’s capital (following the fall of Fort Sumter to Confederate forces), residents of the counties of Lehigh and Northampton in Pennsylvania “called a public meeting at Easton ‘to consider the posture of affairs and to take measures for the support of the National Government,’” according to Alfred Mathews and Austin N. Hungerford, authors of History of the Counties of Lehigh and Carbon, in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Worried about the worsening relations between America’s North and South, the citizens voted to establish and equip an entirely new military unit, one that would be readied for duty as quickly as possible—a decision which proved to be remarkably prescient.

Several of the men in attendance that evening, including Charles Heckman and Samuel Yohe, had already begun recruiting local militia members and other volunteers to fulfill this charge and protect the nation’s capital if needed. Yohe, the owner-operator of a local distillery, mill and store in Easton who had also served his community as an associate judge, county treasurer and prothonotary, was the commanding officer of the Washington Grays, an Easton-based militia unit.

The same day that President Lincoln called for volunteer troops, these same community leaders then contacted Pennsylvania Governor Andrew Curtin to volunteer the support of their local recruits to the Keystone State and nation. Three days later, these experienced militia members left hearth and home to enroll for military service and head for Dauphin County to muster into the Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry unit that had been formed by their county leaders.

Among those joining that group of would-be soldiers from Northampton County was Lawrence Bonstine. After enrolling for military service on 20 April 1861, he was mustered in at Camp Curtin, a military training camp on Agricultural Society land in northern Harrisburg as a first sergeant with Company C of the 1st Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. The rank that he was awarded at that time—first sergeant—indicates that he very likely already had significant military experience. A closer look at the C Company rosters documents that Yohe’s Washington Grays were actually designated as Company C of the 1st Pennsylvania Volunteers, signaling that Lawrence Bonstine likely had received military training prior to the Civil War as a member of the Washington Grays.

As the 1st Pennsylvania Volunteers began to take shape, Yohe was commissioned as the regiment’s new Colonel, and Thomas W. Lynn and Tilghman H. Good were awarded the ranks of major and lieutenant-colonel, respectively. George Warren Alexander and William H. Gausler, the captains of the Reading and Jordan Artillerists, were placed in charge of Companies G and I, respectively.

* Note: Bonstine would later serve under Tilghman Good, George W. Alexander and William Gausler when he re-enlisted for additional military service with the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, which would be formed by Good on 5 August 1861.

Transported by Northern Central Railway cars with their regiment to Cockeysville, Maryland, the 1st Pennsylvanians then spent time at Camp Scott near York, Pennsylvania before being ordered to railroad guard duties along the rail lines between Pennsylvania and Druid Park in Baltimore, Maryland from 14-25 May.

From there, the 1st Pennsylvanians were assigned to Catonsville (25 May) and Franklintown (29 May) before being ordered back across the border with their regiment and stationed at Chambersburg (3 June). There, they were attached to the 2nd Brigade (under Brigadier-General George Wynkoop), 2nd Division (under Major-General William High Keim), in the Union Army corps commanded by Major-General Robert Patterson.

Ordered on to Hagerstown, Maryland on 18 June and then to Funkstown, Goose Creek and Edward’s Ferry, the regiment remained in that vicinity until 22 June, when it was ordered to Frederick, Maryland.

Assigned with other Union regiments to occupy the town of Martinsburg, Virginia from 8-21 July (following the Battle of Falling Waters earlier that month), the 1st Pennsylvanians were ordered to Harpers Ferry on 21 July. Following the completion of his Three Months’ Service, First Sergeant Lawrence Bonstine honorably mustered out with his regiment on 24 July 1861.

Civil War Military Service—Three Years’ Service

Knowing that the fight to preserve America’s Union was far from over, First Sergeant Lawrence Bonstine opted to re-enlist for a second tour of duty. After re-enrolling for military service at Camp Curtin in Harrisburg on 25 August 1861, he mustered in there on 16 September with Company E of the newly-formed 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. That same day, he received an advancement in rank when he was commissioned as a First Lieutenant, making him second-in-command of Company E. His direct superior was E Company Captain Charles Hickman Yard, who had been a second lieutenant with Company C of the 1st Pennsylvania Volunteers and had been a superior officer of Bonstine during their initial period of Three Months’ Service at the beginning of the war.

According to Lewis Schmidt, author of A Civil War History of the 47th Regiment of Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers:

Capt. Yard had been enrolling men at Yard’s Saloon in Easton and took part of his company to Harrisburg on Friday, August 23, to be attached to Col. Good’s ‘Zouaves’ (a title that did not remain long with the 47th). The Captain had been recruiting men since August 13, and a number of men were still needed to fill the unit which would become Company E in the 47th. George R. Nichols was one who joined as he wrote on August 25 ‘going to war again and going to stay until it is settled.’ George had returned home sick during his Three Month enlistment, and did not complete his term of service…. By Monday the 26th, an additional 40 men were ready and another group left for Harrisburg. But the company was still not filled and the Captain planned to return to recruit the remaining members.

These groups were ‘sworn’ (probably enrolled) into the state service on the 28th, and placed in the hands of 1st Lt. [Lawrence] Bonstein [sic, Bonstine] for instruction in the drill, while the Captain returned to Easton to ‘shanghai’ some more recruits at Yard’s Saloon.

It was not until the following Monday, September 2 that an additional group of 24 men had been recruited and Capt. Yard left with these men in the morning, planning to return and complete the enrollment of the unit later. One of the men was Pvt. William Adams, a 19 year old boatman who could not have anticipated the wounds he would suffer in the coming years.

In addition to Captain Yard and First Lieutenant Bonstein, the men also served under Second Lieutenant William H. Wyker. Nine more men mustered into Company E on 19 September with another, James Huff, joining as a private on 1 November for a total of 93—a number that remained static until 1862. Also according to Schmidt, the men of E Company were issued:

1 light blue overcoat, 1 extra good blouse, 1 pair dark pantaloons, 2 white flannel shirts, 2 pair drawers, 2 pair socks, 1 pair shoes, 1 cap, 1 knapsack (suspended from shoulder), 1 haversack (suspended from waist), 1 canteen, and received 71 rifles on the 19th.

Military records at the time described First Lieutenant Lawrence Bonstine as being a 5’ 10-1/2” tall tailor from Easton who had black hair, gray eyes and a light complexion.

Following a brief training period in light infantry tactics at Camp Curtin, the men of Company E and their fellow 47th Pennsylvanians were transported by rail to Washington, D.C. Stationed roughly two miles from the White House, they pitched tents at “Camp Kalorama” on the Kalorama Heights near Georgetown beginning 21 September. Henry D. Wharton, a Musician with C Company, penned the following update to the Sunbury American on 22 September:

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 the 24th of that same month, the 47th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry finally became part of the U.S. Army when its men were officially mustered into federal service. The next day, 25 September, George Washington Hahn of E Company, David Huber and F. J. Scott described their early days via a letter from Camp Kalorama to the Easton Daily Evening Express:

[A]fter a ride of about twenty-four hours in those delightful cattle cars, we came in sight of the Capitol of the U.S. with colors flying and the band playing and everyone in the best of spirits…. We have one of the best camps in the Union; plenty of shade trees, water and food at present; we have had no ‘Hardees’ [hardtack] yet in this camp, but no doubt we will have them in abundance by and by. But we can cook them in so many different ways, they are better than beef. We soak them over night, fry them for breakfast, stew them for dinner, and warm them over for supper…. The way we pass our time in the evening is as follows: first, after supper, we have a good Union song, then we read, write, crack jokes and sing again. We are ‘gay and happy’ and always shall be while the stars and stripes float over us.

…. We have a noble Colonel and an excellent Band, and the company officers throughout are well drilled for their positions. Our boys are well and contented; satisfied with their clothing, satisfied with their rations, and more than all satisfied with their officers, from Captain to the 8th Corporal. Our boys will stand by the Captain till the last man falls….

This morning we … visited Georgetown Heights; we stood on top of the reservoir and from there had a fine view of the Federal forts and forces on the other side of the Potomac. It looks impossible for an enemy to enter Washington, so strongly fortified is every hill and the camps connect for miles along the river. We saw General McClellan and Professor Lowe taking a view of the Confederate army from the balloon. The rebels are now only four miles from here….

On 27 September—a rainy day, the 47th Pennsylvania was assigned to the 3rd Brigade of Union 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 (165 steps per minute using 33-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 General William Farrar Smith (nicknamed “Baldy”), and were now part of the Union’s 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 to the nation’s Deep 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 this phase of duty, as part of the 3rd Brigade, the 47th Pennsylvanians were moved to a site they initially christened “Camp Big Chestnut” for the large chestnut tree located within their lodging’s boundaries. 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 a Grand Review at Bailey’s Cross Roads. In a mid-October letter home, 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 morning, 22 October 1861, the 47th engaged in a Divisional Review, described by Schmidt as massing “about 10,000 infantry, 1000 cavalry, and twenty pieces of artillery all in one big open field.” Less than a month later, in his letter of 17 November, Henry Wharton revealed 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 20 November, First Lieutenant Lawrence Bonstein and his fellow 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers marched in The Grand Review of the Army of the Potomac at Bailey’s Crossroads, Virginia. According to National Portrait Gallery historian James Barber:

For three hours some 70,000 polished troops marched passed the reviewing stand, where the president, members of his cabinet, and Washington dignitaries were in attendance. It was the largest military assemblage up to that time in North America. ‘The Grand Review went off splendidly,’ wrote McClellan that night in a letter to his wife, ‘not a mistake was made, not a hitch. I never saw so large a Review in Europe so well done—I was completely satisfied & delighted beyond expression.’

Among the 20,000 spectators to witness the Grand Review was the poet and social activist Julia Ward Howe of Boston, Massachusetts, who was visiting the Washington area with her husband, Dr. Samuel Gridley Howe.

After leaving the review, during the carriage ride back to Washington, she heard troops singing the song ‘John Brown’s Body.’ A companion suggested that she should write new lyrics to the song, the melody of which lingered in her mind that night in her room at Willard’s Hotel in Washington. She awoke ‘in the gray of the morning twilight’ with the song still in her head and ‘the long lines of the desired poem began to twine themselves in my mind.’ She arose quickly and in the dimness of the early hour she began scribbling the verses on stationery ‘almost without looking at the paper.’

Her poem, The Battle Hymn of the Republic, was first published in The Atlantic Monthly in February 1862; the magazine paid her five dollars. Soon thereafter her verse was set to music and her inspirational song became a wartime favorite….

The next day, according to Schmidt, the regiment participated in a morning divisional headquarters review that was overseen by the regiment’s commanding officer, Colonel Tilghman H. Good, followed by brigade and division drills all 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—and in preparation for even bigger adventures and honors to come, Brannan obtained brand new Springfield rifles for every member of the 47th Pennsylvania.

As much success as the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers had together as a regiment, though, the end of 1861 and beginning of the New Year of 1862 did not go well for First Lieutenant Lawrence Bonstine.

Court Martial of First Lieutenant Lawrence Bonstine

Head-Quarters, Army of the Potomac,
Washington, January 18, 1862.

General Orders,     }
No. 15.

I. Before a General Court Martial, of which Brigadier General J. M. BRANNAN, Volunteer service, is President, convened at the camp of Smith’s Division, by virtue of Special Orders No. 192, from these Head-Quarters, of December 19, 1861, was arraigned and tried, 1st Lieutenant Laurence Bonstine, 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers, on the following charge and specification:

CHARGE – Violation of the 7th Article of War.

Specification – In this, that 1st Lieutenant Laurence Bonstine, of the 47th Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, being on duty as an officer of the picket guard, did, when certain members (privates) of said guard were ordered by the Field Officer of the Day of the picket, to relieve others who were on duty, make use of the following language in the presence of the picket guard, and in hearing of the men who were ordered on duty, viz: ‘It was not right; the men had been on six hours, and the men would not go;’ or words to that effect—thus causing certain of the men ordered to do the duty, to positively refuse to obey the order of the Officer of the Day, and thereby creating insubordination and sedition in the command. All this at or near ‘camp Griffin,’ Smith’s Division, Army of the Potomac, on or about the 7th Day of December, 1861. To which charge and specification the accused pleaded Guilty, and introduced witnesses who testified to his previous good character and zeal for duty.

After mature deliberation, the Court confirmed the plea of the accused, and did thereupon sentence him, the said 1st Lieutenant Laurence Bonstine, 47th Regiment, Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers, ‘To be suspended from rank and pay proper for the term of six months, and during that time to be confined to the limits of his regiment, wherever they may be.’

II. The Major General commanding confirms the proceedings of the Court Martial, but remits all the sentence pronounced against Lieutenant Bonstine, except suspension from pay proper for the first two months, in consideration of the recommendation of the members of the Court, and the testimony borne to his good character.

It is altogether incompatible with the interests of the service that an officer employed for six months should be borne on the rolls of any company. If the services of such an officer are worth nothing, his company would gain by his being dismissed. If he is an officer of any merit, it is out of the question to allow him to be idle for six months. Sentences of this nature, therefore, are very objectionable, and should never be pronounced. In the case of Lieutenant Bonstine, the hope is indulged that the lesson given by this trial will effectually prevent any repetition of the conduct of which he was guilty—that he will endeavor, by good behavior in the future, to efface the remembrance of past delinquencies; and that, in particular, he will be sedulous to give to those of his men whom his words tempted to insubordination, an example of cheerful, soldier-like alacrity in obeying every command of a superior officer.

First Lieutenant Laurence Bonstine will resume his sword and return to duty.

BY COMMAND OF MAJOR GENERAL MCCLELLAN:

S. WILLIAMS,
Assistant Adjutant General

In reality, the outcome of that court martial trial could have been far worse for First Lieutenant Lawrence Bonstine. He could have been dishonorably discharged or even confined to a military prison, but he was given a second chance thanks to his fellow 47th Pennsylvanians who had spoken up for him and attested to his good character and prior solid record of service to his regiment and the nation. So, he was allowed to continue to serve—and serve he did, receiving a promotion after first becoming battle-hardened.

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 rail to Alexandria, before sailing the Potomac River aboard the steamship City of Richmond to the Washington Arsenal. While there, 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 aboard 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.

According to Schmidt and letters home from members of the regiment, those preparations ceased on Monday, 27 January, at 10 a.m. when:

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. By that afternoon, when the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers commenced boarding the Oriental, they were ferried to the big steamship by smaller steamers. The officers boarded last and, 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 Forts Taylor and Jefferson in Key West and the Dry Tortugas.

Company E and their fellow 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers arrived in Key West by early 1862. There, they were assigned to garrison Fort Taylor. Drilling daily in heavy artillery tactics, they also strengthened the fortifications at this federal installation.

During the weekend of Friday, 14 February, they introduced their presence to Key West residents as the regiment paraded through the streets of the city. That Sunday, a number of soldiers from the regiment attended services at local churches, where they also met and mingled with residents from the area.

By April 1862, according to Schmidt, Captain Charles H. Yard had been placed in charge of three regiments that were charged with “clearing land and cutting roads” with a “fine military road … cut by the brigade from Fort Taylor directly through the island.”

Next ordered to Hilton Head, South Carolina from mid-June through July, First Lieutenant Lawrence Bonstine and his fellow 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers made camp near Fort Walker before relocating to the Beaufort District, 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 47th Pennsylvanians 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.

On 9 and 10 July, respectively, detachments from the regiment were assigned to the Expedition to Fenwick Island and the Demonstration against Pocotaligo.

During a return expedition to Florida beginning 30 September, the 47th Pennsylvania joined with 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 25 miles of dense swampland and forests after disembarking from ships at Mayport Mills on 1 October, the 47th captured artillery and ammunition stores (on 3 October), which had been abandoned by Confederate forces due to the bluff’s bombardment by Union gunboats.

* Note: The capture of Saint John’s Bluff followed a string of U.S. Army and Navy successes which enabled the Union to gain control over key southern towns and transportation hubs. In November 1861, the Union’s South Atlantic Blockading Squadron established a base at Port Royal, South Carolina, enabling the Union to mount expeditions to Georgia and Florida. During these forays, U.S. troops took possession of Fort Clinch and Fernandina, Florida (3-4 March 1862), secured the surrender of Fort Marion and Saint Augustine (11 March), and established a Union Navy base at Mayport Mills (mid-March). That summer, Brigadier-General Joseph Finnegan, commanding officer of the Confederate States of America’s Department of Middle and Eastern Florida, placed gun batteries atop Saint John’s Bluff overlooking the Saint John’s River and at Yellow Bluff nearby. Fortified with earthworks, the batteries were created to disable the Union’s naval and ground force operations at and beyond Mayport Mills, and were designed to house up to eighteen cannon, including three eight-inch siege howitzers and eight-inch smoothbores and Columbiads (two of each).

After an exchange of fire between U.S. gunboats Uncas and Patroon and the Rebel battery at Saint John’s Bluff on 11 September, Rebel troops returned after initially being driven away. When a second, larger Union gunboat flotilla also failed to shake the Rebels loose again six days later, Union military leaders ordered a more concerted operation combining ground troops with naval support.

Backed by the U.S. gunboats Cimarron, E.B. Hale, Paul Jones, Uncas, and Water Witch and their twelve-pound boat howitzers, the 1,500-strong Union Army force commanded by Brigadier-General Brannan advanced up the Saint John’s River and inland along the Pablo and Mt. Pleasant Creeks on 1 October 1862 before disembarking and marching for the battery atop Saint John’s Bluff. The next day, Union gunboats exchanged shellfire with the Rebel battery while the Union ground force continued on. When the 47th Pennsylvanians reached Saint John’s Bluff with their fellow brigade members on 3 October 1862, they found an abandoned battery. (Other Union troops discovered that the Yellow Bluff battery was also Rebel-free.)

Companies E and K of the 47th Pennsylvania were then led by Captain Yard on a special mission; E and K Company men joined with other Union Army soldiers in the reconnaissance and subsequent, second capture by the Union Army of Jacksonville, Florida on 5 October 1862.

A day later, sailing up river on board the Union gunboat Darlington (formerly a Confederate steamer)—with protection from the Union gunboat Hale, men from the 47th Pennsylvania’s Companies E and K traveled two hundred miles along the Saint John’s River in order to capture the Gov. Milton.

They had received an intelligence update that a different Confederate steamer, the Gov. Milton, was reported to be docked near Hawkinsville, and had been engaged in furnishing troops, ammunition and other supplies to Confederate Army units scattered throughout the region, including the batteries at Saint John’s Bluff and Yellow Bluff.

Identified as a thorn that needed to be plucked from the Union’s side, the Gov. Milton was seized by Companies E and K with support from other Union troops. Corporal George R. Nichols of E Company was one of the men involved in the steamer’s capture. According to Schmidt, Corporal Nichols later wrote about the incident:

At 9 PM … October 7, discovered the steamer Gov. Milton in a small creek, 2 miles above Hawkinsville; boarded her in a small boat, and found that she had been run in there but a short time before, as her fires were not yet out. Her engineer and mate, then in charge, were asleep on board at the time of her capture. They informed us that owing to the weakness of the steamer’s boiler we found her where we did….

I commanded one of the Small Boats that went in after her. I was Boatman and gave orders when the headman jumped on Bord [sic] take the Painter with him. That however Belongs to Wm. Adams or Jacob Kerkendall. It was So dark I could not tell witch [sic] Struck the deck first. But when I Struck the deck I demanded the Surrend [sic] of the Boat in the name of the U.S. after we had the boat an offercier [sic] off [sic] the Paul Jones, a Gun Boat was with us he ask me how Soon could I move her out in the Stream I said five minuts [sic]. So an Engineer one of coulered [sic] Men helped Me. and I will Say right hear [sic] he learned Me More than I ever knowed about Engineering. Where we started down the River we was one hundred and twenty five miles up the river. When we Stopped at Polatkey [Palatka] to get wood for the Steamer I went out and Borrowed a half of a deer that hung up in a [sic] out house and a bee hive for some honey for the Boys. I never forget the boys.

After the steamer was moved behind Union lines and sometime prior to the 47th’s return to Key West, Florida, Corporal George Nichols was finally permitted to return to service with Company E.

Integration of the Regiment

Meanwhile, back at its South Carolina base of operations, the 47th Pennsylvania was making history as it became an integrated regiment. On 5 and 15 October 1862, respectively, the regiment added to its muster rolls several young Black men who had endured plantation enslavement in the Beaufort vicinity, including sixteen-year-old Abraham Jassum, 22-year-old Edward Jassum and thirty-three-year-old Bristor Gethers—all of whom would go on to successfully complete their three-year periods of enlistment and be honorably discharged in October 1865.

Battle of Pocotaligo, South Carolina

From 21-23 October, under the brigade and regimental commands of Colonel Tilghman H. (“T. H.”) Good and Lieutenant-Colonel George Warren (“G. W.”) Alexander, members of the 47th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry joined with other Union regiments to engage the heavily protected Confederate forces in and around Pocotaligo, South Carolina—including at Frampton’s Plantation and the Pocotaligo Bridge—a key piece of the South’s railroad infrastructure which Union leaders felt should be destroyed.

Harried by snipers en route to the Pocotaligo Bridge, they met resistance from yet another entrenched, heavily fortified Confederate battery which opened fire on the Union troops as they entered an open cotton field.

Those headed toward higher ground at the Frampton Plantation fared no better as they encountered artillery and infantry fire from the surrounding forests. But the Union soldiers would not give in; grappling with the Confederates where they found them, they pursued the Rebels for four miles as the Confederate Army retreated to the bridge. There, the 47th relieved the 7th Connecticut. Unfortunately, the enemy was just too well armed. After two hours of intense fighting in an attempt to take the ravine and bridge, the 47th was forced by depleted ammunition supplies to withdraw to Mackay’s Point.

Losses for the 47th Pennsylvania were significant. Captain Charles Mickley of G Company was killed, and Captain George Junker of Company K was mortally wounded. Privates Henry A. Backman, Nathan George, Samuel Minnick, George B. Rose and fourteen other enlisted men died; a total of one hundred and fourteen had been wounded in action. Although Private John Lind initially survived, he died from his wounds two days later at the Union Army hospital at Hilton Head, South Carolina (on 24 October 1862).

First Lieutenant William Geety of H Company was grievously wounded, but survived, as did E Company’s Corporal Reuben Weiss, and Privates Nathan Derr, William A. Force and George Coult. Wounded in both legs (including a gunshot to the left leg), Corporal Weiss returned to action after convalescing, and served for another two years until being honorably discharged on a surgeon’s certificate of disability. Privates Nathan Derr, George Hahn and William Force were discharged on surgeons’ certificates on 2 February 1863, 25 February 1863, and 10 April 1863, respectively. Private George Coult was deemed too unfit to serve with the 47th Pennsylvania—but not so unfit that he was unable to serve at all. As a result, he was transferred to the Veteran Reserve Corps on 16 March 1864.

On 23 October, the surviving 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers returned to Hilton Head, where several members were appointed later that month to serve as the funeral Honor Guard for Major-General Ormsby M. Mitchel, the commander of the U.S. Army’s 10th Corps and Department of the South who succumbed to yellow fever on 30 October. The Mountains of Mitchel, a part of Mars’ South Pole discovered by Mitchel in 1846 while working as a University of Cincinnati astronomer, and Mitchelville, the first Freedmen’s town created after the Civil War, were both later named for him. The men selected from the 47th Pennsylvania for honor guard duty were given the honor of firing the salute over his grave.

On 20 November 1862, Private David W. Huber, the young man who had helped to pen an optimistic letter home from Camp Kalorama on 25 September 1861, was discharged on a surgeon’s certificate of disability.

* Note: After recuperating, Private David Huber would subsequently re-enlist (on 2 December 1863), but would be sent home again on a furlough. He then died from disease-related complications on 18 October 1864 while at home in Easton, Pennsylvania.

1863

Having been ordered back to Key West on 15 November 1862, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers then spent the entire year of 1863 garrisoning federal installations in Florida as part of the U.S. Army’s 10th Corps, Department of the South. Once again, the men of E Company joined with Companies A, B, C, G, and I in guarding Key West’s Fort Taylor while Companies D, F, H, and K garrisoned Fort Jefferson, the Union’s remote outpost in the Dry Tortugas off the coast of Florida.

Of note, by this point in time, First Lieutenant Lawrence Bonstine had restored his reputation as a responsible, dedicated and effective officer, as documented by the U.S. Army’s records collection known as “Returns from Military Posts.” According to these records, sometime shortly after returning to Key West, First Lieutenant Bonstine was assigned to special duty as Post Adjutant, a position he continued to hold from at least 10 January 1863 through the end of December 1863. Reporting directly to the regiment’s commanding officer, Colonel Tilghman Good, he was essentially Good’s right hand, ensuring that regimental records and reports to more senior military officials were kept up to date and performing other higher level administrative and leadership tasks.

As with the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers’ previous assignments, officers and enlisted members of the regiment soon came to realize that disease would again be their constant companion and foe—making it all the more remarkable that, during this phase of service, the majority of 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers chose to re-enlist when their three-year service terms were up. Many, who could have returned home with their heads held legitimately high after all they had endured, re-enlisted in order to preserve the Union of their beloved nation.

On 5 March 1863, Private William H. Eichman was promoted to the rank of Corporal, and exactly one month later, on 5 April 1863, Second Lieutenant W. Scott Johnston was promoted to the rank of First Lieutenant and also appointed as Adjutant with the central regimental staff.

1864

In early January 1864, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry was ordered to expand the Union Army’s reach by sending part of the regiment north to retake possession of, and rehabilitate, Fort Myers, which had been abandoned in 1858 following the U.S. government’s third war with the Seminole Indians. Per orders issued earlier in 1864 by 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 assigned to the duty of raiding cattle herds in northern Florida in order to provide food for the growing Union troop presence in the state. Graeffe and his men subsequently turned the fort into both their base of operations and a shelter for pro-Union supporters, men, women and children who were escaping slavery, Confederate Army deserters, and others fleeing Rebel troops.

Meanwhile, the men from E Company and the other members of the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry were preparing to embark on 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 of the 47th Pennsylvania 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, 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 245 Confederate prisoners, they were finally able to board the Ohio Belle on 7 April, and reached Alexandria 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 this 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 men encamped briefly at Pleasant Hill (now the Village of Pleasant Hill) the night of 7 April before continuing on the next day.

Marching until mid-afternoon on 8 April, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers were rushed into battle ahead of other regiments in the 2nd Division. Sixty members of the 47th were cut down that day during the back-and-forth volley of fire unleashed during the Battle of Sabine Cross Roads (also known as the Battle of Mansfield due to its proximity to the town of Mansfield). The fighting waned only when darkness fell. The exhausted, but uninjured collapsed beside the gravely wounded. After midnight, the surviving Union troops withdrew 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 who was the 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.

Casualties were severe. Private Richard Hahn was killed in action. The regiment’s second-in-command, Lieutenant-Colonel Alexander, was nearly killed, and the regiment’s two color-bearers, both from Company C, were also seriously wounded while preventing the American flag from falling into enemy hands.

Still others from the 47th were captured by Confederate troops, 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 until they were released during prisoner exchanges beginning 22 July and into November 1864. Corporal James Huff, who had been wounded in action during the Battle of Pleasant Hill on 9 April, was one of those POWs who were finally released (on 29 August 1864). Sadly, at least two members of the 47th Pennsylvania never made it out alive.

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 Pennsylvanians fell back to Grand Ecore to resupply and regroup. They remained at Grand Ecore for a total of eleven days (through 22 April 1864), where they engaged in the hard labor of strengthening regimental and brigade fortifications in a brutal climate. They then moved back to Natchitoches Parish, where they arrived in Cloutierville at 10 p.m. that night, after marching forty-five miles. En route, the Union forces were attacked again—this time in the rear, but they were able to end the encounter fairly quickly 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 Pennsylvania took on the Confederate cavalry of Brigadier-General Hamilton P. Bee during 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’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 Pennsylvanians supported Emory’s artillery.

Meanwhile, other troops under Emory found and worked their way across the Cane River, attacked Bee’s flank, and forced a Rebel retreat. That Union brigade then erected a series of pontoon bridges, enabling the 47th and other remaining Union units 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 Pennsylvania Volunteers 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—this time helping to erect “Bailey’s Dam,” a timber structure that enabled Union gunboats to more easily make their way back down the Red River. 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 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, Mansura], 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. According to Wharton, the members of Company C were sent on a special mission which took them on an intense 120-mile journey:

Company C, on last Saturday was detailed by the General in command of the Division to take one hundred and eighty-seven prisoners (rebs) to New Orleans. This they done [sic] satisfactorily and returned yesterday to their regiment, ready for duty. While in the City some of the boys made Captain Gobin quite a handsome present, to show their appreciation of him as an officer gentleman.

While encamped at Morganza, 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. During this same time, Corporal Francis A. Parks was promoted to the rank of sergeant (on 22 June).

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 survive and continue to defend their nation. On 7 July 1864, First Lieutenant Lawrence Bonstein and his fellow E Company men boarded yet another steamer, the U.S. McClellan, along with the 47th Pennsylvania’s Companies A, C, D, F, H, and I, and returned to the Washington, D.C. area.

Following their arrival and a memorable encounter with President Abraham Lincoln, they joined up with Major-General David Hunter’s forces at Snicker’s Gap, Virginia to fight in the Battle of Cool Spring, and then assisted in defending Washington, D.C. once again while also helping to drive Confederate troops from Maryland.

Sheridan’s 1864 Shenandoah Valley Campaign

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

From 3-4 September, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers also fought in the Battle of Berryville, but it would be the last fight for several key officers of the regiment because they and a number of enlisted men had completed their respective, original three-year terms of enlistment with the 47th and had decided not to re-enlist. Among those receiving honorable discharges at Berryville on 18 September were First Lieutenant Lawrence Bonstine and his longtime commanding officer, E Company Captain Charles H. Yard, both of whom returned home to Northampton County, Pennsylvania, where they tried to regain a sense of normalcy.

Return to Civilian Life

By 1870, Lawrence Bonstine was employed as a railroad clerk and was residing in South Easton with his wife, Mary, and their children: John, a twenty-three-year-old baggage master; Theodore, a twenty-year-old laborer; Ida (aged sixteen); Susan (aged fourteen); William (aged ten); and Abraham (aged seven). His personal estate was valued at $250 by that year’s census enumerator (approximately $5,860 in 2023 dollars). Ida, Susan, William, and Abraham were all documented as students who were enrolled in the local schools.

By 1880, he was employed again as a tailor and was now residing in Easton with his wife, Mary, and their twenty-nine-year-old son, Theodore, who was still employed as a laborer.

Illness, Death and Interment

Over time, Lawrence Bonstine developed the medical condition known as dropsy, a form of edema (fluid buildup in the body) and died in Easton from complications related to that condition on 12 August 1889. He was subsequently interred at the Easton Cemetery.

What Happened to His Family?

Lawrence Bonstein’s daughter, Sue, grew up and then met Clarence James Smith, whom she then married sometime during the 1870s. An Easton native who had performed his initial military service during the Spanish-American War and then had gone on to become commanding officer of the 213th Regiment during World War I, he had also become well known throughout northeastern Pennsylvania and beyond as the managing editor of Allentown’s Morning Call newspaper. By 1880, she and her husband were residing in Easton’s First Ward with their sons, Clarence (aged five) and Arthur (aged three).

Lawrence Bonstein’s daughter, Mary Ida, also grew up and subsequently married. Wed to a man with the surname of Moule,” she was ultimately widowed by him. Diagnosed with sarcoma, she died in Easton on 18 August 1906, and was interred at the Easton Cemetery on 21 August 1906.

Lawrence Bonstine’s widow, Mary, went on to survive him by more than a quarter of a century. On 15 July 1890, she filed for, and was later awarded, a U.S. Civil War Widow’s Pension. In 1900, she resided in Easton’s First Ward with her son, Theodore Bonstein, a laborer; her grandson, John J. Bonstein, Jr. (1875-1950), a twenty-seven-year-old laborer who was the son of her son, John J. Bonstein, Sr.; and her seven-year-old great-granddaughter, Maud Burns.

Still residing in Easton’s First Ward as of 1910, widow Mary (Snyder) Bonstine’s household now included son, Theodore; her married great-granddaughter, Maud (Burns) Davidge; and Maud’s husband, Harry W. Davidge. She subsequently died in Easton in December 1913, and was interred beside her husband, Lawrence Bonstine, at the Easton Cemetery.

* Note: Sometime around this time, members of the Bonstine family had apparently largely adopted the surname spelling of “Bonstein.”

Their son, Theodore, never married. A laborer for much of his life, he was employed as a brakeman for the local railroad in 1884. After residing with his mother for most of his life, he found himself without her companionship in 1913 when she passed away. He survived her by roughly fifteen years and died from endocarditis in Upper Nazareth Township, Northampton County on 23 October 1928. Two days later, he too was interred at the Easton Cemetery.

Researchers are continuing to search for details about the lives of the Bonstine’s other children and will post updates as they become available.

 

Sources:

1. Bates, Samuel P. History of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-5, vol. 1. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: B. Singerly, State Printer, 1869.
2. “Bonstein, John J.” (grandson of Lawrence and Mary Bonstein and son of John J. Bonstein), in “Death Certificates” (file no.: 61721, reg. no.: 349, 5 July 1950). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics.
3. “Bonstein, L.,” on U.S. Army Returns from Military Posts” (Fort Taylor, Key West, Florida: January, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, and December 1863). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Army and U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
4. “Bonstein, Lawrence,” in Civil War Muster Rolls (Company E, 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State Archives.
5. “Bonstein, Lawrence,” in Civil War Veterans’ Card File, 1861-1866 (Company C, 1st Pennsylvania Infantry and Company E, 47th Pennsylvania Infantry). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State Archives.
6. “Bonstein, Lawrence F.,” in “Records of Burial Places of Veterans” (1889). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Military Affairs.
7. “Bonstein, Lawrence, Mary (mother), John J., Theodore, Mary J. (daughter), Susan, and William (U.S. Census, Easton, West Ward, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, 22 June 1860). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
8. “Bonstein, Lawrence,” in Civil War Muster Rolls (47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, Company E). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State Archives.
9. “Bonstein, Lawrence” and “Bonstein, Mary,” in U.S. Civil War Widows’ Pension Files (application no.: 432804, certificate no.: 318745, filed from Pennsylvania by the widow, 15 July 1890). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
10. “Bonstein, Lorance” [sic], Mary and Theodore in U.S. Census (Easton, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, 1880). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
11. “Bonstein, Mary, Theodore and John, and Maud Burns” (Easton, Ward One, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, 1900). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
12. “Bonstein, Theodore,” in “Death Certificates” (file no.: 100819, reg. no.: 121, 23 October 1928). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics.
13. “Bunstein, Lawrence, Jacob and Mary” and “Snyder, Mary, Peter and Susan” in “Marriage Records” (30 May 1846). Easton, Pennsylvania: St. John’s Lutheran Church.
14. “Bunstein, Lawrence, Mary, Theodore, Ida, Susan, William, and Abraham” (U.S. Census, South Easton, 1870). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
15. “Bunsteine, Theodore F.,” in “Baptismal Records” (1874). Easton, Pennsylvania: Christ United Methodist Church.
16. “Bunstine, Lawrence, Mary, John, and Theodore” (U.S. Census, Easton, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, 1850). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
17. “Col. C. J. Smith, Retired First Commander 213th Regt. and Veteran Newspaperman Is Called by Death After Long Illness” (obituary that mentions Col. Smith’s father-in-law, “Lawrence F. Bonstein”). Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Morning Call, 29 August 1940, p. 3.
18. “Davidge, Harry W. and Maude,” “Bonstein, Mary” (great-grandmother), and “Bonstein, Theodore, uncle” (U.S. Census, Easton, War One, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, 1910). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
19. “General Orders No. 15, Head Quarters, Army of the Potomac, January 18, 1862,” in Index to General Orders of the Army of the Potomac, 1862. Washington, D.C.: Blanchard & Mohun, Stationers, 1863.
20. “Lincoln and McClellan: An Army Ready for War.” Washington, D.C.: National Portrait Gallery, retrieved online December 1, 2023.
21. “Moule, Mary Ida” (daughter of Lawrence Bonstein), in “Death Certificates” (file no.: 74615, registered no.: 356, 18 August 1906). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics.
22. Schmidt, Lewis G. A Civil War History of the 47th Regiment of Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers. Allentown, Pennsylvania: Self-published, 1986.
23. “Smith, Jack, Susan, (Lawrence Bonstein’s daughter), Clarence, and Arthur” (U.S. Census, Easton, Ward One, Northampton County, Pennsylvania). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
24.  “Spalls from the Keystone” (death announcement of “Lawrence V. Bonstein” [sic]). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Harrisburg Telegraph, 13 August 1889, front page.