Alternate Spellings of Surname: Danig, Dennig, Denning, Donnig. Alternate Spellings of Given Names: Adolph, Adolphus, Audolph

 

One of the many German immigrants who settled in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania during the mid-nineteenth century, Adolph Dennig (1837-1880) was also one of the many German immigrants who enlisted with the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry during the opening months of the American Civil War.

Formative Years

Born on 6 September 1837 in the village of Wilferdingen near Karlsruhe in the Grand Duchy of Baden (which was part of the German Confederation at the time of his birth and is now part of the municipality of Remchingen in the state of Baden-Württemberg in Germany), Adolph Dennig (1837-1880) was a son of Georg Adam Dennig (1805-1854) and Anna Maria (Daub) Dennig (1803-unknown).

* Note: Adolph Dennig’s father, Georg Adam Dennig (1805-1854; alternate birth year: 1804), was born in or near Wilferdingen on 21 January 1805, was a son of Jakob Dennig and Margaretha Barbara (Jahraus) Dennig (1763-1832) and was married to Anna Maria Daub on 27 January 1831 at the Evangelische Kirche Wilferdingen. Adolph Dennig’s mother, Anna Maria (Daub) Dennig (1803-unknown), who was born in Nöttingen (which is also now part of Remchingen), was a daughter of Johann Conrad Daub (1773-1817) and Magdalena (Benz/Lenz) Daub (1768-unknown).

Baptized on 10 September 1837 at the Evangelische Kirche Wilferdingen, Adolph Dennig was raised in Wilferdingen with his siblings: Wilhelm Christian Dennig (1829-1917), who had been born in Nöttingen on 2 February 1829, had been baptized there two days later and would later become known as “William”; Carolina Dennig (1832-1886; alternate spellings of given name: “Caroline” or “Karolina”; alternate year of birth: 1831), who had been born in Wilferdingen on 3 September 1832, had been baptized at the Evangelische Kirche Wilferdingen the next day and would later wed Barnet Brandt (1822-1895; alternate spellings: “Barnett Brandt” or “Bernhard Brand”) at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Easton, Northampton County, Pennsylvania on 9 October 1851; Margaretha Barbara Dennig (1833-1913), who had been born in Wilferdingen on 11 October 1833, had been baptized at the Evangelische Kirche Wilferdingen the next day and would later wed Prussia native Francis Heyder (1825-1902; alternate surname spelling: “Heider”), at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Easton, Pennsylvania on 11 October 1851; Frederike Dennig (1834-1857; alternate spelling of given name: “Fredericka”), who had been born in Wilferdingen on 13 November 1834 and had been baptized three days later at the Evangelische Kirche Wilferdingen on 16 November 1834; and Ferdinand Dennig (1836-1924), who had been born in Wilferdingen on 9 February 1836 and would later serve with Company G of the 15th Ohio Volunteer Infantry during the American Civil War.

After Adolph was born, more children soon followed for Georg and Anna Maria (Daub) Dennig: Jacob Friedrich Dennig (1838-1840), who was born in Wilferdingen on 23 December 1838 and was baptized at the Evangelische Kirche Wilferdingen two days later (on Christmas Day), but then died fourteen months later in Wilferdingen, on 22 February 1840; and an unnamed infant who was stillborn in Wilferdingen on 23 October 1840 and was buried two days later (on 25 October 1840) at the cemetery associated with the Evangelische Kirche Wilferdingen (now part of the municipality of Remchingen).

* Note: Adolph Dennig’s birth and those of his siblings occurred during one of the most turbulent periods in their nation’s history — the decade leading up to the German Revolution of 1848, which was “the last and … greatest of the middle-class revolutions which had convulsed Europe periodically since 1789,” according to Theodore S. Hamerow, late professor emeritus of history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and leading expert on the history of German Unification:

“It must have been exciting to be alive in the spring of 1848, that ‘springtime of nations,” when God smiled with favor upon every parliamentary subcommittee and the liberal millennium was just around the corner. Barricades were mushrooming in the capitals of Europe from the Seine to the Danube; angry mobs were stoning royal palaces; unpopular ministers were hastily signing resignations and hurrying into exile; exiled revolutionaries were hurrying home to a hero’s welcome. To liberals witnessing these events it appeared as if a new world were about to be born, as if a new reign of liberty and justice were beginning.”

But the specter of civil war troubled Adolph Dennig’s parents, who made the difficult decision to leave their homeland in search of safety and stability for their children. Packing up their belongings, twelve-year-old Adolph said goodbye to his friends, boarded a ship with his parents and siblings and emigrated from the Duchy of Baden in 1849 (the year after the German Revolution began).

After a long voyage, he and his family finally arrived in the United States of America and settled in Northampton County in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

One of the first actions by the Dennig family’s patriarch, Georg Adam Dennig, was to identify and join a church where he could worship with his wife and children. Records that were subsequently created for his family at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Easton, Northampton County were among the first to document the Dennig family’s residency in that borough. (Georg’s son, Ferdinand Dennig, was confirmed there on 29 March 1850, and Georg was then also accepted as a member of that church’s congregation, along with his wife, Anna Maria, and their children, William, Caroline, Margaret, and Fredericka, during ceremonies from 18-19 May of that same year.) The year of 1851 was then another eventful one with the marriage at St. John’s of two of Adolph Dennig’s older sisters: Carolina Dennig, who wed lace weaver and German immigrant Barnet Brandt/Brand (1822-1895) on 9 October, and Margaretha Barbara Dennig, who wed laborer and German immigrant Francis Heider/Heyder (1825-1902) on 11 October (her birthday).

Sadly, though, Adolph Dennig’s sense of stability would be shattered by the death of his father, Georg A. Dennig, who passed away at the age of forty-nine on 2 March 1854 and was laid to rest at the Easton Cemetery on 4 March. A week later Adolph’s sister, Fredericka Dennig, then also left their family circle — to marry boatman Diedrich Schmidt (alternate spelling of given name: “Dietrich”) at the St. John’s parsonage on 11 March 1854.

* Note: Fredericka (Dennig) Schmidt subsequently became the mother of George Dietrich Schmidt, who was born on 9 March 1855 and baptized at St. John’s on 25 March 1855. Ailing with consumption (tuberculosis), she died at the age of twenty-two in Northampton County on 22 July 1857, and was also buried in Easton.

A working adult who was in his twenties as the New Year of 1860 dawned, Adolph Dennig was employed as a joiner that summer, and was residing at the home of windmill maker William Younkin and his wife, Sarah Younkin, in Easton’s West Ward, according to that year’s federal census. Also residing with the Younkins that year were their daughter, Leonora Younkin, who was employed as a tailoress, and the Younkins’ younger children, Mary, Eliza, Charles, Edward, William, and Sarah, as well as Adolph’s fellow joiner, George Miller.

But their hopes and dreams — and those of their family, friends and neighbors — would be radically altered within a few short months as the United States of America descended into the darkness of a national secession crisis that would quickly devolve into a full-blown, disastrous civil war.

American Civil War — Three Months’ Service (9th Pennsylvania Infantry)

One of the first men to answer President Abraham Lincoln’s April 1861 call for 75,000 troops to help quell the South’s burgeoning rebellion following the fall of Fort Sumter to Confederate forces, Adolph Dennig enrolled for military service in Easton, Northampton County, Pennsylvania. He then mustered in for duty as a private with Company G of the 9th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry at Camp Curtin in Harrisburg, Dauphin County on 24 April 1861. He would go on to serve in that regiment with Martin Eppler, Francis Mildenberger, and John Henry Stein under Richard A. Graeffe (the man who would later become their commanding officer when they each re-enlisted with the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry later that same year).

From the time of their arrival at Camp Curtin until their regiment’s departure for West Chester on 4 May 1861, Private Adolph Dennig and his fellow 9th Pennsylvanians were armed, equipped, and drilled daily in infantry tactics. Stationed next at Camp Wayne in West Chester, they were joined there by the 11th Pennsylvania Infantry. (More than a few of the soldiers from the 11th Pennsylvania would also later become part of the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers.) On 26 May 1861, the members of the 9th Pennsylvania were transported by train to Philadelphia and then on to Wilmington, Delaware, where they remained until 6 June 1861 “to encourage and strengthen the local sentiment, and to prevent the sending of troops to the rebel army,” according to Samuel P. Bates in his History of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-5.

Joining Major-General Robert Patterson’s command in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania in early June as part of the 4th Brigade, 1st Division headed by U.S. Army Colonel Dixon S. Miles, the men of the 9th Pennsylvania next pitched their tents near Greencastle on 13 June 1864. Three days later, they forded the Potomac River on the right of the 4th Brigade — literally wading chest deep at some points en route to their encampment, which was situated between Williamsport and Martinsburg, Virginia. The next day, they were ordered back across the river where, still part of the 4th Brigade, they were now under the leadership of Brigade Commander, Colonel H. C. Longenecker and Division Commander, Major-General George Cadwalader. Stationed here through the end of the month, they were assigned to picket duty.

Following the Union’s battle with Rebel troops at Falling Waters, Virginia, the men of the 9th Pennsylvania (having not fought in that engagement) were ordered to head for Martinsburg, Virginia, where they remained from 3-15 July when they broke camp and marched toward Bunker Hill. (Although Major-General Patterson had initially planned to have his forces meet the Rebels head on at Bunker Hill and Winchester, officers directly under his command changed his mind during a Council of War on 9 July in Martinsburg. A confrontation there would be disastrous for the Union, they reasoned, because the enemy was not only heavily fortified and entrenched, it could be easily resupplied and bolstered by an infusion of troops brought in via the Confederate-controlled railroad.)

History has proven those officers correct. Having avoided a likely bloodbath, Captain Graeffe and the 9th Pennsylvania encamped with the 4th Brigade near Charlestown from 17-21 July, and then headed for Harper’s Ferry. After crossing the Potomac into Maryland, the 9th made camp roughly a mile away. The next day, not a single casualty among their ranks, Captain Richard A. Graeffe, Private Adolph Dennig and their fellow 9th Pennsylvanians headed home by way of Hagerstown and Harrisburg. Having completed their Three Months’ Service, they were then honorably mustered out with their regiment at Camp Curtin on 29 July 1861, and were sent home to their families.

But the nation’s great crisis persisted.

American Civil War — 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers (First Term of Service)

Worried about the future of his adopted homeland, Adolph Denning re-enlisted for a second tour of duty with the Army of the United States (also known as “the Union Army”). Following his re-enrollment in Easton on 15 August 1861, he then re-mustered for duty at Camp Curtin on 16 September 1861, and was commissioned as a second lieutenant with Company A of the newly-formed 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. Military records at the time described him as a twenty-four-year-old machinist who resided in Northampton County and was five feet, eight inches tall with auburn hair, blue eyes and a fair complexion.

* Note: According to historian Lewis Schmidt, “The Easton Express reported on August 14 that … 33 year old Capt. Richard A. Graeffe, a merchant from Easton who would command Company A of the 47th, was recruiting at Glantz’s’ [sic] in Easton.” That saloon was operated by Charles Frederick William Glanz, an 1845 emigrant from Germany who had gone into the brewery business in Easton with W. Kuebler in 1852, and had then also been appointed later that same decade as the captain of the Northampton County militia unit known as the “Easton Jaegers.” Having performed his Three Months’ Service with the 9th Pennsylvania Volunteers during the opening months of the American Civil War, Graeffe was then commissioned as a captain of the newly-formed 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry and placed in charge of that regiment’s Company A on 16 September 1861. The first ninety-three members of Graeffe’s company were then also officially mustered in that same day. Representatives for Graeffe then continued to recruit members for Company A, even after the 47th Pennsylvania was assigned to duties in Virginia.

Following a brief light infantry training period at Camp Curtain, the men of Company A and the 47th Pennsylvania headed for Washington, D.C. where they were stationed at “Camp Kalorama” on Kalorama Heights near Georgetown, beginning 21 September. Henry D. Wharton, a Musician with the regiment’s C Company, wrote to the Sunbury American newspaper the next day with the following update:

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 1861, Captain Richard Graeffe, First Lieutenant James F. Meyers, Second Lieutenant Adolph Dennig, and their men from Company A became members of the U.S. Army when they were officially mustered into federal service with the other members of the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. They were then 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 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, while attached to the 3rd Brigade, Second Lieutenant Adolph Dennig and his fellow 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers were moved to a site they called “Camp Big Chestnut” in reference to a large chestnut tree growing 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 marched in the Grand Review at Bailey’s Cross Roads. Also around that time, 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 Divisional Review, described by Schmidt as “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, Brannan], 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 a morning divisional headquarters review that was monitored by their regiment’s founder and most senior 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 — and in preparation for bigger things to come, Brannan obtained new Springfield rifles for every member of the 47th Pennsylvania.

While at Camp Griffin, the 47th PennsylvaniaVolunteers continued to receive training in light infantry tactics, but thought more and more about friends and family as Christmas Day and the New Year approached. Their days were brightened somewhat with a surprise delivery of sauerkraut by the 47th Pennsylvania’s regimental quartermaster.

1862

Ordered to move from their Virginia encampment back to Maryland, Second Lieutenant Adolph Dennig and his fellow 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, Virginia, where they boarded the steamship City of Richmond and sailed to the Washington Arsenal. While there, they were re-equipped with weapons and ammunition before being marched off for dinner and rest at the Soldiers’ Retreat in Washington, D.C.

The next afternoon, they 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.

During the afternoon of Monday, 27 January, they began lining up at the wharf for the final time. Ferried to the big steamship by smaller steamers, the enlisted men boarded the Oriental first, followed by the officers. Then, per the directive of Brigadier-General Brannan, they steamed away for the Deep South at 4 p.m. — headed for Florida which, despite its secession from the United States, remained strategically important to the Union due to the presence of Forts Taylor and Jefferson in Key West and the Dry Tortugas.

Arriving in Key West in early February 1862, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers initially made camp on the beach, re-erecting their Sibley tents. Assigned to garrison Fort Taylor, they introduced their presence to Key West residents by parading through the streets of the city during the weekend of Friday, 14 February.

That Sunday, a number of soldiers from the regiment attended local church services, where they met and mingled with residents from the area as part of the first of many community outreach efforts to build support for the army’s efforts to preserve the nation’s Union. Drilling daily in heavy artillery tactics, they also strengthened the fortifications at that federal installation, felled trees and built new roads.

Sometime during that phase of service, a number of 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantrymen began suffering problems with chronic diarrhea. Diagnosed with typhoid fever, several members of the regiment were confined to the post hospital at the fort.

Next ordered to Hilton Head, South Carolina from mid-June through July, they camped near Fort Walker before relocating to the Beaufort District in the U.S. Army’s Department of the South, roughly thirty-five miles away. Frequently assigned to hazardous picket detail north of their main camp, they were put at increased risk from enemy sniper fire when sent out on those special teams. According to historian Samuel P. Bates, during that phase of their service, the men of the 47th “received the highest commendation from Generals Hunter and Brannan” for their “attention to duty, discipline and soldierly bearing.”

Detachments from the regiment were also assigned to the Expedition to Fenwick Island (9 July) and the Demonstration against Pocotaligo (10 July).

During the second week of July, according to Schmidt, the regiment’s third-in-command — Major William H. Gausler — and F Company’s Captain Henry S. Harte returned home to Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley to resume the 47th Pennsylvania’s recruiting efforts. After arriving in Allentown on 15 July, they quickly re-established an efficient operation that they would keep running through early November 1862. During that time, Major Gausler was able to persuade fifty-four new recruits to join the 47th Pennsylvania while Harte rounded up an additional twelve.

Meanwhile, the remainder of the regiment continued to soldier on. From 20-31 August 1862, companies of the 47th Pennsylvania resumed picket duty, including at “Barnwells” (so labeled by Company C Captain J. P. S. Gobin) while other companies from the regiment performed picket duty in the areas around Point Royal Ferry.

On 12 September, the 47th Pennsylvania’s founder and commanding officer Colonel Tilghman H. Good and his adjutant, First Lieutenant Washington H. R. Hangen, issued Regimental Orders, No. 207 from the 47th Pennsylvania’s Headquarters in Beaufort, South Carolina:

I. The Colonel commanding desires to call the attention of all officers and men in the regiment to the paramount necessity of observing rules for the preservation of health. There is less to be apprehended from battle than disease. The records of all companies in climate like this show many more casualties by the neglect of sanitary post action then [sic] by the skill, ordnance and courage of the enemy. Anxious that the men in my command may be preserved in the full enjoyment of health to the service of the Union. And that only those who can leave behind the proud epitaph of having fallen on the field of battle in the defense of their country shall fail to return to their families and relations at the termination of this war.

II. All the tents will be struck at 7:30 a.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday of each week. The signal for this purpose will be given by the drum major by giving three taps on the drum. Every article of clothing and bedding will be taken out and aired; the flooring and bunks will be thoroughly cleaned. By the same signal at 11 a.m. the tents will be re-erected. On the days the tents are not struck the sides will be raised during the day for the purpose of ventilation.

III. The proper cooking of provisions is a matter of great importance more especially in this climate but have not yet received from a majority of officers of the regiment that attention that should be paid to it.

IV. Thereafter an officer of each company will be detailed by the commander of each company and have their names reported to these headquarters to superintend the cooking of provisions taking care that all food prepared for the soldiers is sufficiently cooked and that the meats are all boiled or seared (not fried). He will also have charge of the dress table and he is held responsible for the cleanliness of the kitchen cooking utensils and the preparation of the meals at the time appointed.

V. The following rules for the taking of meals and regulations in regard to the conducting of the company will be strictly followed. Every soldier will turn his plate, cup, knife and fork into the Quarter Master Sgt who will designate a permanent place or spot for each member of the company and there leave his plate & cup, knife and fork placed at each meal with the soldier’s rations on it. Nor will any soldier be permitted to go to the company kitchen and take away food therefrom.

VI. Until further orders the following times for taking meals will be followed Breakfast at six, dinner at twelve, supper at six. The drum major will beat a designated call fifteen minutes before the specified time which will be the signal to prepare the tables, and at the time specified for the taking of meals he will beat the dinner call. The soldier will be permitted to take his spot at the table before the last call.

VII. Commanders of companies will see that this order is entered in their company order book and that it is read forth with each day on the company parade. All commanding officers of companies will regulate daily their time by the time of this headquarters. They will send their 1st Sergeants to this headquarters daily at 8 a.m. for this purpose.

Great punctuality is enjoined in conforming to the stated hours prescribed by the roll calls, parades, drills, and taking of meals; review of army regulations while attending all roll calls to be suspended by a commissioned officer of the companies, and a Captain to report the alternate to the Colonel or the commanding officer.

At 5 a.m., Commanders of companies are imperatively instructed to have the company quarters washed and policed and secured immediately after breakfast.

At 6 a.m., morning reports of companies request [sic] by the Captains and 1st Sgts and all applications for special privileges of soldiers must be handed to the Adjutant before 8 a.m.

By Command of Col. T. H. Good
W. H. R. Hangen Adj

In addition, First Lieutenant and Regimental Adjutant Hangen clarified the regiment’s schedule as follows:

• Reveille (5:30 a.m.) and Breakfast (6:00 a.m.)
• First and Second Calls for Guard (6:10 a.m. and 6:15 a.m.)
• Surgeon’s Call (6:30 a.m.)
• First and Second Calls for Company Drill (6:45 a.m. and 7:00 a.m.)
• Recall from Company Drill (8:00 a.m.)
• First and Second Calls for Squad Drill (9:00 a.m. and 9:15 a.m.)
• Recall from Squad Drill (10:30 a.m.) and Dinner (12:00 noon)
• Call for Non-commissioned Officers (1:30 p.m.)
• Recall for Non-commissioned Officers (2:30 p.m.)
• First and Second Calls for Squad Drills (3:15 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.)
• Recall from Squad Drill (4:30 p.m.)
• First and Second Calls for Dress Parade (5:10 p.m. and 5:15 p.m.)
• Supper (6:10 p.m.)
• Tattoo (9:00 p.m.) and Taps (9:15 p.m.)

As the one-year anniversary of the 47th Pennsylvania’s departure from the Great Keystone State dawned on 20 September, thoughts turned to home and Divine Providence as Colonel Tilghman Good issued Special Orders, No. 60 from the 47th’s Regimental Headquarters in Beaufort, South Carolina:

The Colonel commanding takes great pleasure in complimenting the officers and men of the regiment on the favorable auspices of today.

Just one year ago today, the organization of the regiment was completed to enter into the service of our beloved country, to uphold the same flag under which our forefathers fought, bled, and died, and perpetuate the same free institutions which they handed down to us unimpaired.

It is becoming therefore for us to rejoice on this first anniversary of our regimental history and to show forth devout gratitude to God for this special guardianship over us.

Whilst many other regiments who swelled the ranks of the Union Army even at a later date than the 47th have since been greatly reduced by sickness or almost cut to pieces on the field of battle, we as yet have an entire regiment and have lost but comparatively few out of our ranks.

Certain it is we have never evaded or shrunk from duty or danger, on the contrary, we have been ever anxious and ready to occupy any fort, or assume any position assigned to us in the great battle for the constitution and the Union.

We have braved the danger of land and sea, climate and disease, for our glorious cause, and it is with no ordinary degree of pleasure that the Colonel compliments the officers of the regiment for the faithfulness at their respective posts of duty and their uniform and gentlemanly manner towards one another.

Whilst in numerous other regiments there has been more or less jammings and quarrelling [sic] among the officers who thus have brought reproach upon themselves and their regiments, we have had none of this, and everything has moved along smoothly and harmoniously. We also compliment the men in the ranks for their soldierly bearing, efficiency in drill, and tidy and cleanly appearance, and if at any time it has seemed to be harsh and rigid in discipline, let the men ponder for a moment and they will see for themselves that it has been for their own good.

To the enforcement of law and order and discipline it is due our far fame as a regiment and the reputation we have won throughout the land.

With you he has shared the same trials and encountered the same dangers. We have mutually suffered from the same cold in Virginia and burned by the same southern sun in Florida and South Carolina, and he assures the officers and men of the regiment that as long as the present war continues, and the service of the regiment is required, so long he stands by them through storm and sunshine, sharing the same danger and awaiting the same glory.

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

During a return expedition to Florida beginning 30 September, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers 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 twenty-five 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) that had been abandoned by Confederate forces during 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 that had enabled the Union to gain control over key southern towns and transportation hubs. In November 1861, the Union’s South Atlantic Blockading Squadron had established a base at Port Royal, South Carolina to facilitate Union expeditions in Georgia and Florida, during which 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, had ordered the placement of earthworks-fortified gun batteries atop Saint John’s Bluff and at nearby Yellow Bluff, hoping to disable the Union’s naval and ground force operations at Mayport Mills by deploying eighteen cannon, including three eight-inch siege howitzers and four eight-inch smoothbores and Columbiads (two of each).

After the U.S. gunboats Uncas and Patroon had exchanged shell fire with the Confederate battery at Saint John’s Bluff on 11 September, Rebel troops were initially driven away, but had then returned to the bluff. When a second, larger Union gunboat flotilla tried and failed to shake the Confederates loose six days later, Union military leaders had then ordered an army operation with naval support.

Backed by U.S. gunboats Cimarron, E. B. Hale, Paul Jones, Uncas, and Water Witch that were armed with twelve-pound boat howitzers, the fifteen-hundred-strong Union Army force of Brigadier-General Brannan moved up the Saint John’s River and further inland along the Pablo and Mt. Pleasant Creeks on 1 October 1862 before disembarking and marching for Saint John’s Bluff. But when the 47th Pennsylvanians reached Saint John’s Bluff with their fellow Union brigade members on 3 October 1862, they found the battery abandoned. (Other Union troops later discovered that the Yellow Bluff battery was also Rebel free.) 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 penning reports to his superiors while also planning the next move of his expeditionary force. That Saturday, Brannan ordered officers to direct their men 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.

According to Schmidt, the small force steamed upriver roughly one to two hundred miles “to Lake Beresford, where they then assisted in capturing the [68-ton] steamer Governor Milton,” which had been renamed in honor of Florida’s governor after having been “formerly known as the George M. Bird [under its previous owners] a New England family named ‘Swift’, who were timber cutters and used it as a tug boat to tow rafts loaded with live oak to the lumber market.”

In a subsequent report to his superiors, Brigadier-General Brannan noted that the Union party “returned on the morning of the 9th with a Rebel steamer, Governor Milton, which they captured in a creek about 230 miles up the river and about 27 miles north [and slightly west] from the town of Enterprise. Lt. Bacon, my aide-de-camp, accompanied the expedition… On the return of the successful expedition after the Rebel steamers… I proceeded with that portion of my command to St. John’s Bluff, awaiting the return of the Boston.”

That return trip did not happen without complications, however; in a letter penned to The New York Times on October 14, Wharton reported that:

Finding that the Cosmopolitan, which had been sent to Hilton Head for provisions, had struck heavily in crossing the bar, on her return to the St. John’s River, and was temporarily disabled for service, the Seventh Connecticut Regiment was sent to Hilton Head on the Boston, with the request that she should return for the remainder of the troops, and she got back on the 11th, when the command was reembarked, reaching this plane yesterday, excepting one company of the Forty-seventh Pennsylvania, which is left for the protection of the Cosmopolitan. The accident to this valuable steamer is severe. A large hole was made in her bottom and she filled, but she will not be a wreck, as was at first feared.

Integration of the Regiment

On 5 and 15 October 1862, respectively, the 47th Pennsylvania made history as it became an integrated regiment, adding to its muster rolls several Black men who had escaped from chattel enslavement on plantations near Beaufort, South Carolina. Among the formerly enslaved men who enlisted 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 T. H. Good and Lieutenant-Colonel George W. Alexander, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers next engaged the heavily protected Confederate forces in and around Pocotaligo, South Carolina — including at Frampton’s Plantation and the Pocotaligo Bridge — a key piece of southern railroad infrastructure that Union leaders had ordered to be destroyed in order to disrupt the flow of Confederate troops and supplies in the region.

Harried by snipers en route to the Pocotaligo Bridge, they met resistance from an 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. The Union soldiers grappled with Confederates where they found them, pursuing the Rebels for four miles as they retreated to the bridge. There, the 47th relieved the 7th Connecticut. But the enemy was just too well armed. After two hours of intense fighting in an attempt to take the ravine and bridge, depleted ammunition forced the 47th to withdraw to Mackay’s Point.

The next day — 23 October 1862 — the regiment returned to Hilton Head, South Carolina, where a significant number of men were admitted to the Union Army’s general hospital for treatment of the wounds they had sustained in combat. Shortly thereafter, a group of 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers were assigned to serve as the honor guard for the funeral of Union Major-General Ormsby Mitchel, who had succumbed to yellow fever on 30 October.

Having been ordered back to Key West on 15 November 1862, the 47th Pennsylvanians did not know it, yet, but much of 1863 for them would be spent garrisoning federal installations in Florida as part of the 10th Corps, U.S. Army, Department of the South. Companies A, B, C, E, G, and I would once again garrison Fort Taylor in Key West, but this time, the men from Companies D, F, H, and K would garrison Fort Jefferson, the Union’s remote outpost in the Dry Tortugas off the southern coast of Florida.

After packing their belongings at their Beaufort, South Carolina encampment and loading equipment onto the U.S. Steamer Cosmopolitan, the officers and enlisted members of the 47th Pennsylvania sailed for the mouth of the Broad River on 15 December 1862, and anchored briefly at Port Royal Harbor to allow the regiment’s medical director, Elisha W. Baily, M.D., and wounded 47th Pennsylvanians to rejoin the regiment.

At 5 p.m. that same evening, the regiment headed for Florida, during what was later described by several 47th Pennsylvanians as a treacherous, stressful voyage. According to Schmidt, the ship’s captain “steered a course along the coast of Florida for most of the voyage,” which made the voyage precarious “because of all the reefs.” On 16 December, “the ship was jarred as it ran aground … during a storm, but broke free, and finally steered a course further from shore, out in the Gulf Stream.” In a letter penned to the Sunbury American on 21 December, Henry Wharton explained that:

We had heavy sea all the time. I had often heard of ‘waves as big as a house,’ and thought it was a sailor’s yarn, but I have seen ‘em and am perfectly satisfied; so now, not having a nautical turn of mind, I prefer our movements being done on terra firma, and leave old neptune to those who have more desire for his better acquaintance. A nearer chance of a shipwreck never took place than ours, and it was only through Providence that we were saved. The Cosmopolitan is a good river boat, but to send her to sea, loadened [sic, loaded] with U.S. troops is a shame, and looks as though those in authority wish to get clear of soldiers in another way than that of battle. There was some sea sickness on our passage; several of the boys ‘casting up their accounts’ on the wrong side of the ledger.

According to Corporal George Nichols of Company E, “When we got to Key West the Steamer had Six foot of water in her hole [sic]. Waves Mountain High and nothing but an old river Steamer. With Eleven hundred Men on I looked for her to go to the Bottom Every Minute.”

Although they arrived at the Key West Harbor on Thursday, 18 December, the 47th Pennsylvanians did not set foot on Florida soil until noon the next day. The men from Companies C and I were immediately marched to Fort Taylor, where they were placed under the command of Major William Gausler, the regiment’s third-in-command. The men from Companies B and E were assigned to the older barracks that had been erected by the United States Army and were placed under the command of B Company Captain Emanuel P. Rhoads while the men from Companies A and G were placed under the command of A Company Captain Richard A. Graeffe and stationed at newer facilities known as the “Lighthouse Barracks” on “Lighthouse Key.”

On Saturday, 21 December, Lieutenant-Colonel Alexander, the regiment’s second-in-command, sailed away on the Cosmopolitan with the men from the regiment’s remaining companies — Companies D, F, H, and K — and headed south to Fort Jefferson, where they would assume garrison duties in the Dry Tortugas, roughly seventy miles off the coast of Florida (in the Gulf of Mexico). According to Henry Wharton:

We landed here on last Thursday at noon, and immediately marched to quarters. Company I. and C., in Fort Taylor, E. and B. in the old Barracks, and A. and G. in the new Barracks. Lieut. Col. Alexander, with the other four companies proceeded to Tortugas, Col. Good having command of all the forces in and around Key West. Our regiment relieves the 90th Regiment N.Y.S. Vols. Col. Joseph Morgan, who will proceed to Hilton Head to report to the General commanding. His actions have been severely criticized by the people, but, as it is in bad taste to say anything against ones [sic, one’s] superiors, I merely mention, judging from the expression of the citizens, they were very glad of the return of the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers….

Key West has improved very little since we left last June, but there is one improvement for which the 90th New York deserve a great deal of praise, and that is the beautifying of the ‘home’ of dec’d. soldiers. A neat and strong wall of stone encloses the yard, the ground is laid off in squares, all the graves are flat and are nicely put in proper shape by boards eight or ten inches high on the ends sides, covered with white sand, while a head and foot board, with the full name, company and regiment, marks the last resting place of the patriot who sacrificed himself for his country….

1863

Life for members of the 47th Pennsylvania then went on, the hours taken up by training, drilling and inspections that were scheduled regularly to keep them in a perpetual state of readiness for anything that the Confederate Army or Navy could throw at them. In addition, they were also sent out on skirmishes and received training in operating the light and heavy artillery defenses of Forts Taylor and Jefferson. (Companies A, B, C, E, G, and I were based at Fort Taylor, while Companies D, F, H, and K were stationed at Fort Jefferson.)

In May of 1863, however, Second Lieutenant Adolph Dennig was ordered to detached duty and assigned to guard prisoners who were being transported to New Orleans, Louisiana. By June, he was back on duty at Fort Taylor in Key West, where he remained until October and November of 1863, during which time he was away on an approved leave of absence. He then returned to Fort Taylor in December.

1864

In early January 1864, Company A underwent a major transformation in response to orders that the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry expand the Union’s reach by reclaim a federal installation at Fort Myers that had been abandoned in 1858 after the government’s third war with the Seminole Indians. So, Captain Graeffe and a detachment of his men traveled north by boat and foot, retook and refurbished that fort and then used it as a base from which they supported the Union’s Gulf Coast blockade, raided cattle herds to provide food for Union troops across Florida and created a safe haven for pro-Union supporters, Confederate Army deserters and children and adults escaping chattel slavery. According to Schmidt:

Capt. Richard A. Graeffe, accompanied by Assistant Surgeon William F. Reiber, commanded the main portion of Company A which boarded ship on Monday, January 4 and sailed the following day, Tuesday, for Fort Myers, on the Caloosahatchee River fifteen air miles southeast of Charlotte Harbor. The company was transported on board the Army quartermaster schooner Matchless, after having embarked the day before, and was accompanied by the steamer U.S.S. Honduras commanded by Lt. Harris, and with Gen. Woodbury aboard. Lt. Harris was directed to tow the Matchless if necessary.

Punta Rassa was probably the location where the troops disembarked, and was located on the tip of the southwest delta of the Caloosahatchee River … near what is now the mainland or eastern end of the Sanibel Causeway… Fort Myers was established further up the Caloosahatchee at a location less vulnerable to storms and hurricanes. In 1864, the Army built a long wharf and a barracks 100 feet long and 50 feet wide at Punta Rassa, and used it as an embarkation point for shipping north as many as 4400 Florida cattle….

Capt. Graeffe and company were disembarked on the evening of January 7, and Gen. Woodbury ordered the company to occupy Fort Myers on the south side of the Caloosahatchee, about 12 miles from its mouth and 150 miles from Key West. Shortly after, [a detachment of men from the 47th Pennsylvania’s A Company stationed on Useppa Island] was also ordered to proceed to Fort Myers and join the main body of Company A, the entire command under direct orders of the General who was in the area…. Gen. Woodbury returned to Key West on the Honduras prior to January 19, and the command was left in charge of Capt. Graeffe who dispatched various patrols in search of refugees for enlistment and for activities involving Confederate cattle shipments.

Company A’s muster roll provides the following account of the expedition under command of Capt. Graeffe: ‘The company left Key West Fla Jany 4. 64 enroute to Fort Meyers Coloosahatche River [sic] Fla. were joined by a detachment of the U.S. 2nd Fla Rangers at Punta Rossa Fla took possession of Fort Myers Jan 10. Captured a Rebel Indian Agent and two other men.’

Schmidt also noted that Graeffe’s hand drawings included depictions of roughly twelve buildings “primarily situated along the river, with a log palisade protecting those portions not bounded by the Caloosahatchee; the whole in a densely wooded area and entered through an opening on the southeast protected by the river on the west near the area of the wharf, and a log blockhouse on the east.”

An 1856 survey of the fort contained in the Federal Register “suggest[ed] that the fort’s wooden stockade ran from just east of Broadway to just east of Royal Palm, and from Main Street on the south to the river bank, which meandered along what is Bay Street today,” according to Tom Hall, creator of a website about the arts in Southwest Florida:

It consisted of as many as three dozen hewn pine buildings which included officers’ quarters … barracks, administration offices, a 2½-story hospital with plastered rooms, warehouses for the storage of munitions and general supplies, a guard house … blacksmith’s and carpenter’s shops, a kitchen, bakery, laundry, a sutler’s store, stables for horses and mules, a gardener’s shack, and even a bowling alley and bathing pier and pavilion.

It also boasted a pier nearly 700 feet long that had wide dock and rails that enabled the soldiers to bring in supplies by tram without having to lighter them ashore. The buildings were sided and topped by cedar shingles shipped in from Pensacola and Apalachicola, together with doors, windows and flooring. The interior featured parade grounds, a carefully-tended velvety lawn, two immense vegetable gardens, rock-rimmed river banks, shell walks, lush palms and even citrus trees.

Also according to Hall:

By the time Captain Richard A. Graeffe and his soldiers arrived at the fort, most of the wood stockade had disappeared, so he ordered his men to construct an earthen wall 15 feet wide by 7 feet tall. Three guard towers were also constructed: one where the hospital had been; a second by the garden and bowling alley; and the third between the stables and riverside warehouse. Then Captain Graeffe sent his troops across the river to begin rounding up the herds of scrub cows being raised by ranchers between Punta Gorda and Tampa. As they did, resistance began to grow. Captain Graeffe realized he needed reinforcements and Companies D and I of the [U.S. Colored Troop’s] 2nd Regiment were brought up from Fort Zachary Taylor in Key West.

A draft Environmental Impact Statement prepared in 2010 for the Everglades National Park also documented that period of Company A’s service:

A small contingent of 20 men and two officers from the Pennsylvania 47th Regiment, led by Captain Henry Crain of the 2nd Regiment of Florida, arrived at the fort on January 7, 1864. A short time later, the party was joined by another small detachment of the 47th under the command of Captain Richard A. Graeffe. Over a short period, increasing reinforcements of the fort led to increasing cattle raids throughout the region. A Union force so far into Confederate land did not go well with Confederate loyalists. The fact that so many men stationed at the post were black soldiers from the newly created U.S. Colored Troops was particularly aggravating. The raids were so antagonizing that the Confederates created a Cattle Guard Battalion called the “Cow Cavalry” to repulse Union raiders. The unit remained a primary threat to the Union soldiers carrying out raids and reconnaissance missions from Brooksville to as far south as Lake Okeechobee and Fort Myers.

According to Schmidt, Captain Graeffe sent the following report to Major-General Daniel Woodbury:

‘At my arrival hier [sic] I divided my forces in three detachment, viz one at the Hospital one into the old guardhouse and one into the Comissary [sic] building, the Florida Rangers I quartered into one of the old Company quarters, I set all parties to work after placing the proper pickets and guards at the Hospital i have build [sic] and now nearly finished a two story loghouse of hewn and square logs 12 inches through seventeen by twenty-two fifteen feet high with a cupola onto the roof of six feet high and at right angle with two lines of picket fences seven feet high. i shall throw up a half a bastion around it as soon as completed. around the old guardhouse i have thrown up a bastion seven feet through at the foot and three feet on the top nine feet high from the bottom of the ditch and five on the inside. I also build [sic] a loghouse sixteen by eighteen of two storys [sic] Southeast of the Commissary building with a bastion around it at right angles with a picket fence each bastion has the distance you recomandet [sic] from the loghouses 20 feet on the sides and 20 to the salient angle, i caused to be dug a well close to bl. houses and inside of the bastions at each Station inside they are all comfortable fitted up with stationary bunks for the men without interfering with the defence [sic] of the work outside of the Bastions and inside the picket fense i have erected small kitchens and messrooms for each station, i am building now a guardhouse build [sic] of square hewn logs sixteen by sixteen two storys high the lower room to be used for the guard and the upper one as a prison, the building to be used for defence [sic] (in case of attack) by the Rangers each work is within view and supporting distance from the other; Capt. Crane with a detachment of his men repaired the wharf, which is in good condition now and fit for use, the bakehouse i got repaired, and the fourth day hier [sic] we had already very good fresh bread; the parade ground is in a good condition had all the weeds mowed off being to [sic] green to burn. i intend to fit up a schoolroom and church as soon as possible.’

Muster rolls for Company A from that period noted that “a detachment of 25 men crossed over to the north west side of the river” on 16 January and “scoured the country till up to Fort Thompson a distance of 50 miles,” where they “encountered a Rebel Picket who retreated after exchanging shots.” Making their way back, they swam across the river, and reached the fort on 23 January. Meanwhile, while that group was still away, Captain Graeffe ordered a smaller detachment of eight men to head out on 17 January in search of cattle. Finding only a few, they instead took possession of four barrels of Confederate turpentine, which were later disposed of by other Union troops.

Graeffe’s men also captured three Confederate sympathizers at the fort, including a blockade runner and spy named Griffin and an Indian interpreter and agent named Lewis. Charged with multiple offenses against the United States, they were transported to Key West, where they were kept under guard by Major William Gausler, the officer who was third-in-command of the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry who was serving as the provost marshal of Key West at that time. That phase of duty lasted until sometime in February of 1864.

* Note: Captain Richard Graeffe’s detachment at Fort Myers became known as the “Florida Rangers,” according to The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, prepared by Lieutenant Colonel Robert N. Scott, et. al. (1891). His hand-drawn sketches of Fort Myers were later published in Images of America: Fort Myers by Gregg Tuner and Stan Mulford. Researchers for 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers: One Civil War Regiment’s Story have not yet determined if Second Lieutenant Adolph Dennig was one of the soldiers from Company A to be chosen by Captain Richard Graeffe for the Fort Myers assignment or not. If he was not selected by Graeffe for that mission, he most likely remained behind at Fort Taylor, where he continued to perform his duties as part of his regiment’s garrison function.

Red River Campaign

Meanwhile, all of the other companies of the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry had begun 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 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 (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 assigned to 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.

* Note: Due to that delay, Second Lieutenant Adolph Dennig and his fellow A Company soldiers missed the two bloodiest combat engagements that their regiment would endure during the Red River Campaign — the Battle of Sabine Cross Road (Mansfield) on 8 April and the Battle of Pleasant Hill on 9 April. According to Schmidt, Company A was so far away from the scene of those battles because its men had been ordered to return their Confederate prisoners to New Orleans, which kept them from rejoining their regiment until they reached Alexandria on 27 April. That timing meant that those A Company men also missed the Battle of Cane River (also known as “the Affair at Monett’s Ferry”), which took place on 23 April.

From late April through mid-May, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers helped to erect Bailey’s Dam on the Red River near Alexandria. In a letter penned from Morganza, Louisiana on 29 May, Henry Wharton described their mission and the weeks that followed:

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.

Afterward, Second Lieutenant Adolph Dennig and his fellow 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers made their way through Simmesport and into the Atchafalaya Basin, and then moved on to Morganza, where they made camp again. While there, the nine formerly enslaved Black men who had enlisted with the 47th Pennsylvania in Beaufort, South Carolina (October-November 1862) and Natchitoches, Louisiana (5 April 1864) were officially mustered into the regiment between 20-24 June 1864. But once again, disease was proving to be a formidable foe, sickening a significant number of 47th Pennsylvanians who had been weakened by the long, grueling marches across challenging terrain in difficult weather.

The regiment was then ordered to head for New Orleans — which they did. Given new orders on the Fourth of July to return to the Eastern Theater of the war, they packed up their gear and then climbed aboard the U.S. Steamer McClellan three days later and prepared to sail away from America’s Deep South. Joining the men from the 47th Pennsylvania’s A Company on that voyage were the men from Companies C, D, E, F, H, and I. (The remaining companies then followed later that month, transported by the Blackstone.)

Following their arrival in Virginia and a memorable encounter with President Abraham Lincoln on 12 July, Second Lieutenant Adolph Dennig and his fellow 47th Pennsylvanians joined up with Major-General David Hunter’s forces at Snicker’s Gap in mid-July 1864. Once there, they fought in the Battle of Cool Spring and assisted in defending Washington, D.C. while also helping to drive Confederate troops from Maryland.

Sheridan’s 1864 Shenandoah Valley Campaign

Attached to the Middle Military Division, U.S. Army of the Shenandoah from August through November of 1864, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers were assigned to defensive duties in and around Halltown, Virginia in early August 1864, and engaged in a series of back-and-forth movements between Halltown, Berryville, Middletown, Charlestown, and Winchester as part of a “mimic war” being waged by the Union forces commanded by Major-General Philip Sheridan with those commanded by Confederate Lieutenant-General Jubal Early.

From 3-4 September, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers fought in the Battle of Berryville and engaged in related post-battle skirmishes with the enemy over subsequent days.

Two weeks later, multiple members of the 47th Pennsylvania opted to leave, content that they had fulfilled their obligations to the nation by completing their original three-year terms of enlistment, including Company A’s three most senior officers — Captain Richard Graeffe, First Lieutenant James F. Meyers and Second Lieutenant Adolph Dennig, who were each honorably mustered out at Berryville, Virginia on 18 September 1864.

Following his second honorable discharge, twenty-seven-year-old Adolph Dennig returned home to his family in Easton, Pennsylvania, but his visit would prove to be a brief one. Still in contact with his former comrades, he learned that, although the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers had fought valiantly during Sheridan’s Shenandoah Valley Campaign, they had been battered badly during his absence. During the Battle of Cedar Creek alone, the regiment had lost the shocking equivalent of nearly two full companies of men who had been killed, wounded or captured.

So, when he was approached by senior leaders of the 47th Pennsylvania, and asked to return to duty to help fill the regiment’s leadership void (that had been caused by the recent honorable discharge of so many of the 47th’s officers on 18 September 1864), he agreed.

American Civil War — 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers (Second Term of Service)

Commissioned as a captain on 1 November 1864 at Cedar Creek, Virginia, Adolph Dennig was immediately placed in charge of the 47th Pennsylvania’s A Company. The regiment’s final muster-out roll (dated 25 December 1865) would later note that he “Joined by appointment as Captain from Civil Life,” adding that he was “Due Ten Dollars per Month for responsibility of arms for July First 1865 up to muster out.”

One of his direct superiors was Major John Peter Shindel Gobin, who was subsequently commissioned as a lieutenant-colonel on 4 November and officially placed in charge of the entire regiment. Four days later, the 47th Pennsylvanians who were physically able to do so cast their votes in that year’s presidential election (on 8 November 1864). The majority voted for the incumbent — President Abraham Lincoln.

Subsequently based at Camp Russell near Winchester from November through most of December 1864, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers received new orders as winter was beginning to take hold — to assume outpost and railroad guard duties at Camp Fairview in Charlestown, West Virginia. So, five days before Christmas, they trudged through a driving snowstorm in order to reach their new home.

1865 — 1866

Stationed at Camp Fairview since late December 1864, Captain Adolph Dennig and his fellow 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers were “on constant active duty, guarding the railroad and constructing works for defense against the incursions of guerrillas,” according to an 1870 edition of The Lehigh Register. The regiment also “participated in a number of reconnoissances [sic] and skirmishes during the winter.” By February 1865, they were attached to the Provisional Division of the 2nd Brigade of the U.S. Army of the Shenandoah. According to historians at the Pennsylvania State Archives, who had uncovered details about the 47th Pennsylvania’s time at Camp Fairview by reading the diaries of Jeremiah Siders of Company H, the 47th Pennsylvanians “were employed building blockhouses at all the railroad ‘posts’ (meaning loading stations)” during that phase of duty.

Then, as the end of March 1865 loomed, according to The Lehigh Register, “The command was ordered to proceed up the valley to intercept the enemy’s troops, should any succeed in making their escape in that direction.” By 4 April 1865, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers had made their way back to Winchester, Virginia and were headed for Kernstown. Five days later, they received word that General Robert E. Lee had surrendered the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia to Union General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox on 9 April 1865. The long war appeared to be over.

In a letter penned to the Sunbury American on 12 April, 47th Pennsylvanian Henry Wharton described the celebration that took place following Lee’s surrender, adding that Union Army operations in Virginia were still continuing in order to ensure that the Confederate surrender would hold:

Letter from the Sunbury Guards.
CAMP NEAR SUMMIT POINT, Va.,

April 12, 1865

Since yesterday a week we have been on the move, going as far as three miles beyond Winchester. There we halted for three days, waiting for the return or news from Torbett’s cavalry who had gone on a reconnoisance [sic] up to the valley. They returned, reporting they were as far up as Mt. Jackson, some sixty miles, and found nary an armed reb. The reason of our move was to be ready in case Lee moved against us, or to march on Lynchburg, if Lee reached that point, so that we could aid in surrounding him and [his] army, and with Sheridan and Mead capture the whole party. Grant’s gallant boys saved us that march and bagged the whole crowd. Last Sunday night our camp was aroused by the loud road of artillery. Hearing so much good news of late, I stuck to my blanket, not caring to get up, for I suspected a salute, which it really was for the ‘unconditional surrender of Lee.’ The boys got wild over the news, shouting till they were hoarse, the loud huzzas [sic, huzzahs] echoing through the Valley, songs of ‘rally round the flag,’ &c., were sung, and above the noise of the ‘cannons opening roar,’ and confusion of camp, could be heard ‘Hail Columbia’ and Yankee Doodle played by our band. Other bands took it up and soon the whole army let loose, making ‘confusion worse confounded.’

The next morning we packed up, struck tents, marched away, and now we are within a short distance of our old quarters. – The war is about played out, and peace is clearly seen through the bright cloud that has taken the place of those that darkened the sky for the last four years. The question now with us is whether the veterans after Old Abe has matters fixed to his satisfaction, will have to stay ‘till the expiration of the three years, or be discharged as per agreement, at the ‘end of the war.’ If we are not discharged when hostilities cease, great injustice will be done.

The members of Co. ‘C,’ wishing to do honor to Lieut. C. S. Beard, and show their appreciation of him as an officer and gentleman, presented him with a splendid sword, sash and belt. Lieut. Beard rose from the ranks, and as one of their number, the boys gave him this token of esteem.

A few nights ago, an aid [sic] on Gen. Torbett’s staff, with two more officers, attempted to pass a safe guard stationed at a house near Winchester. The guard halted the party, they rushed on, paying no attention to the challenge, when the sentinel charged bayonet, running the sharp steel through the abdomen of the aid [sic], wounding him so severely that he died in an hour. The guard did his duty as he was there for the protection of the inmates and their property, with instruction to let no one enter.

The boys are all well, and jubilant over the victories of Grant, and their own little Sheridan, and feel as though they would soon return to meet the loved ones at home, and receive a kind greeting from old friends, and do you believe me to be

Yours Fraternally,
H. D. W.

Two days later, that fragile peace was shattered when a Confederate loyalist fired the bullet that ended the life of President Abraham Lincoln.

By 19 April 1865, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers were responsible, once again, for helping to ensure that the nation’s capital was safe — but this time, they were doing so in the wake of a presidential assassination that threatened to reignite the civil war they had just helped to end. Making camp near Fort Stevens, they were issued new uniforms and additional ammunition.

Letters sent to friends and family back home during that period and newspaper interviews that were conducted, post-war, with survivors of the 47th Pennsylvania, confirm that at least one 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer was given the high honor of guarding President Lincoln’s funeral train while others may have guarded the Lincoln assassination conspirators during the early days of their imprisonment and trial, which began on 9 May 1865. During that phase of duty, the regiment was headquartered at Camp Brightwood.

Attached to Dwight’s Division of the 2nd Brigade, Department of Washington’s 22nd Corps, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry also participated in the Union’s Grand Review of the National Armies on 23 May.

Reconstruction

On their final swing through the South, Captain Adolph Dennig and his fellow 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers served in Savannah, Georgia in early June. Attached again to Dwight’s Division, this time they were assigned to the 3rd Brigade, U.S. Department of the South. Relieving the 165th New York in July, they were housed in a mansion formerly owned by the Confederate Secretary of the Treasury.

During the summer and fall of 1865, Captain Adolph Dennig’s name was repeatedly mentioned in Charleston’s Daily News as the president of a United States military commission that presided over civilian court cases. Among the matters adjudicated by Captain Dennig were allegations of assault and battery, breaking and entering, disloyalty, forgery, robbery, and violent threats made toward others (arson, murder).

Finally, on Christmas Day, 1865, Captain Adolph Dennig and his men joined the majority of their fellow 47th Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers in mustering out for the final time in Charleston, South Carolina — a process that continued through early January 1866. Following a stormy voyage north, they disembarked in New York City, and were then transported to Philadelphia by train, where the regiment was officially honorably discharged at Camp Cadwalader between 9-11 January 1866.

Return to Civilian Life

Even though he had been honorably discharged from the Union Army and had returned to civilian life, Captain Adolph Dennig’s sense of duty to his nation and compassion for his subordinates and their families never waivered. On 14 February 1866, he wrote an affidavit in support of a U.S. Civil War Widow’s Pension application that had been filed by Elizabeth (Goodyear) Hoffman (see affidavit image at right). Captain Dennig’s letter confirmed that her husband, Nicholas Hoffman (1830-1864), a native of Bavaria, had fallen ill with typhoid fever during the Union Army’s 1864 Red River Campaign, and had died while still in his early thirties on 30 June 1864, aboard the USS Laurel Hill as he was being transported to a Union Army hospital in Natchez, Mississippi.

Around that same time or shortly thereafter, Adolph Dennig married Louisa Miller (1846-1928), a native of Pennsylvania who had been born on 19 July 1846, and was a daughter of Fred Miller and Catharine (Rufe) Miller. After settling in the Borough of Easton, Adolph Dennig and his wife became the parents of Emma S. Dennig (born 1872-died before 1940), who was born on 23 February 1872, was baptized at the Zion Lutheran Church in Easton on 23 March of that same year and would later wed and be widowed by James Andrew Edelman (1845-1900).

During the summer of 1873, Adolph Dennig was awarded a payment of three hundred dollars by the Easton Borough Council “for grading Northampton street,” according to Easton’s Daily Free Press. More children soon followed: Margaret Anna Dennig (1874-1958), who was born in Easton on 5 June 1874, was baptized at the Zion Lutheran Church in Northampton County on 22 August 1874, would become known as “Maggie” to family and friends, and would later wed Delos D. Deck (1872-1967); Elizabeth Amelia Dennig (1878-1940), who was born in Easton on 3 May 1878, was also known as “Lizzie” to family and friends and would later wed Francis H. Roling (1872-1956); and an unnamed infant who was born and died in June 1880.

During that sad summer of 1880, Adolph Dennig was employed as a carpenter and resided at 18 Seventh Street in the North District of Easton’s Sixth Ward with his wife, Louisa, and their daughters, Emma, Maggie and Lizzie.

Illness, Death and Interment

Ailing with typhoid fever during the fall of 1880, Adolph Denning succumbed to disease-related complications at the age of forty-three years, one month and seventeen days in Northampton County, on 17 October 1880. Following funeral services, he was laid to rest at the same cemetery where his father had been interred — the Easton Cemetery in Easton.

Five days later, on 22 October, The Daily Free Press in Easton reported the following: “The will of Adolph Dennig, deceased, of Easton, was admitted to probate to-day. His property goes to his wife during her lifetime. His executor is George L. Transue.”

What Happened to Adolph Dennig’s Wife and Children?

Adolph Dennig’s widow, Louisa (Miller) Dennig (1846-1928), continued to raise her daughters to adulthood in Easton. On 12 October 1895, she witnessed the marriage of her daughter, Margaret, to Delos Deck (1872-1967) in Easton. On 25 April 1899, Louisa’s daughter, Emma, married widower James Andrew Edelman (1845-1900) at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Elizabeth, New Jersey. (James then widowed Emma the following year.) Louisa’s daughter, Elizabeth, then married Francis H. Roling (1872-1956) in New Jersey in 1905. By the spring of 1910, Louisa (Miller) Dennig was living alone in a home that she owned at 18 Pine Street in Easton’s Fourth Ward. Described as having her own income on that year’s federal census, she had given birth to five children during her lifetime, three of whom were still living. But she was not truly alone. Her married daughter, Elizabeth (Dennig) Roling, resided with her family just a few minutes away, at 813 Pine Street. Still residing alone in her own home at 18 North 7th Street in Easton’s Fourth Ward during the 1920s, Louisa (Miller) Dennig suffered a fatal cerebral hemorrhage there, at the age of eighty-one, on 29 January 1928. Found deceased later that same day, she was laid to rest beside her husband at the Easton Cemetery in Easton on 1 February. Her daughter, Margaret (Dennig) Deck, served as her death certficate informant.

Following her marriage to widower and traveling salesman James Andrew Edelman (1845-1900) at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Elizabeth, New Jersey on 25 April 1899, Adolph Dennig’s daughter, Emma S. (Dennig) Edelman (born 1872-died before 1940), settled with him in New Jersey. On 5 June 1900, they were documented by a federal census enumerator as renters at a boarding house operated by Lina Lynch at 528 Grove Street in the Second Ward of Jersey City in Hudson County. Also residing there were Lina’s five children and seven other roomers whose occupations included: advertising agent, blacksmith, decorator, railroad brakeman, and railroad fireman. Just weeks later, Emma was widowed when her husband died in his mid-fifties in Jersey City on 17 July 1900, and was then buried at the Easton Cemetery in Easton, Pennsylvania. Researchers have not yet determined what happened to Emma after her husband’s death, but currently believe that she died sometime before 1940 because her name was is not listed in the obituaries of her sisters, Elizabeth or Margaret, who died in 1940 and 1958, respectively.

Following her marriage to widower Frank H. Roling (1872-1956) in New Jersey in 1905, Adolph Dennig’s daughter, Elizabeth Amelia (Dennig) Roling (1878-1940), who was known to family and friends as “Lizzie,” settled with her husband in Easton, where they became the parents of Herbert Dennig Roling (1907-1993), who was born on 17 June 1907. By 1910, Lizzie (Dennig) Roling and her husband, Frank, a waterworks fireman, were living in a home that they owned at 813 Pine Street in Easton’s Fourth Ward. Residing with them were their son, Herbert, and Frances Edith Roling (1898-1981), Frank’s twelve-year-old daughter from his first marriage. Living just minutes away, at 18 North Seventh Street, was Lizzie’s widowed mother, Louisa (Miller) Dennig. More children soon followed: Floyd Roling (1910-1996), who was born on 10 May 1910 and would later serve with General George Patton’s 3rd U.S. Army in Europe during World War II and would become the husband of Flossie Rush (1899-1986); and Arlene L. Dennig (1913-2004), who was born on 30 October 1913 and would later wed William H. Clader (1911-1996). By 1920, Elizabeth (Dennig) Roling was residing with her husband and their three children on South 10th Street in Easton’s Eighth Ward. Residents of Easton’s Sixth Ward in 1930, Lizzie and Frank Roling headed a household that included just their children, Floyd and Arlene. By 1940, the only child still living with them in the Sixth Ward was their daughter, Arlene. Ailing with high blood pressure, diabetes and kidney disease, Elizabeth Amelia (Dennig) Roling died at the age of sixty-two in Easton, on 30 November 1940, and was also interred at the same cemetery where her parents were buried — the Easton Cemetery in Easton.

Following her marriage to Rehrersburg, Berks County, Pennsylvania native Delos D. Deck (1872-1967) in Easton on 12 October 1895, Adolph Dennig’s daughter, Margaret Anna (Dennig) Deck (1874-1958), who was known to family and friends as “Maggie,” settled with her husband in Easton, where they became the parents of Esther Deck (1896-1987), who was born on 4 May 1896 and would later wed World War I veteran Herbert S. Smith (1889-1966) and settle with him in Easton. By the summer of 1900, Margaret (Dennig) Deck was residing at 714 Northampton Street in Easton’s Fourth Ward with her daughter and husband, who supported their family on the wages of a stone cutter. By the summer of 1910, however, her husband was employed as a trolley conductor, and their family resided in Easton’s Sixth Ward. Residents of Easton’s Seventh Ward by 1930, Margaret resided with her husband, a grocery salesman, in a home they owned at 1001 Butler Street. Although their daughter Esther no longer resided with them, their household was not an empty one. Living with them were twenty-nine-year-old railroad agent Walter Naef/Nolf and his wife, Mattie — an arrangement that continued into the 1930s. Still residing in their own home on Butler Street in Easton’s Seventh Ward in 1940, Margaret (Dennig) Deck and her now-retired husband, Delos, lived there without their former boarders — but did have the company of their daughter Esther (Deck) Smith, and her husband, Herbert Smith. By 1950, however, Margaret and her husband were “empty nesters.” Ailing with heart disease during her final years, Margaret Anna (Dennig) Deck suffered a coronary occlusion on 24 January 1958 and died an hour later at Betts Hospital in Easton, at the age of eighty-three. Following funeral services, she was laid to rest at the same cemetery where her parents had been buried — the Easton Cemetery in Easton. She had recently celebrated her sixty-second wedding anniversary with her husband, and was survived by her him and by their daughter.

What Happened to Adolph Dennig’s Siblings?

After emigrating from the Grand Duchy of Baden with his parents in 1849, Adolph Dennig’s oldest brother, Wilhelm Christian Dennig (1829-1917), had initially settled with his parents in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, where he had then performed his apprenticeship as a stone cutter until reaching the age of fifteen. He had then worked as a professional stone cutter in Northampton County for roughly a decade before migrating west to Ohio, where he had also continued to work as a mason in Marion County. On 21 February 1854, he had married fellow Baden native Margaretha Beyer (1827-1915; alternate spelling of surname: “Boyer”) in the town of Marion in Marion County. Known within the business community as “W. C. Dennig” or “William Dennig,” Wilhelm Christian Dennig had become a member of the German Methodist Episcopal Church in Marion in 1857, and had gone on to serve his congregation as a Sunday school teacher, church trustee and trustee of the German Methodist Episcopal Church orphanage in Berea, Ohio. During that phase of his life, he and his wife had adopted a daughter, Kathrine Dennig (1864-1935), or “Kate” to friends and family, who would later wed William Sturmer (1854-1913). Widowed by his wife in 1915, William C. Dennig lived out his final years at the home of his daughter, Kathrine (Dennig) Sturmer, at 316 Bellefontaine Avenue in Marion, where he died at the age of eighty-eight on 23 August 1917. Following funeral services, he was then laid to rest at the Marion Cemetery in Marion.

After emigrating from the Grand Duchy of Baden with her parents in 1849, Carolina Dennig (1832-1886), had settled with her parents in Northampton County, Pennsylvania. Sometime around that same time, the spelling of her given name had changed to “Caroline.” Roughly two years after her arrival in the United States, she had married German immigrant and lace weaver Barnet Brandt (1822-1895) at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Easton, Northampton County on 9 October 1851. Two days after Caroline’s marriage, her sister, Margaretha Barbara Dennig (1833-1913), was married at the same church — to German immigrant and laborer Francis Heyder (1825-1902).

* Note: Barnet Brandt was also spelled as “Barnett Brandt” or “Bernhard Brand” in various historical records of that period, and would later be spelled as “Barnet Brandt” on his gravestone. His nickname was “Barney.” 

Initially settled with her husband in Adams County, Pennsylvania, Caroline (Dennig) Brandt and her husband had then become the parents of Mary Ann Brandt (1855-1942), who had been born in the Borough of Gettysburg in that county on 9 February 1855 and would later wed Charles Henry Fulmer (1852-1915). After their daughter’s birth, the Brandts had then returned with her to the Borough of Easton in Northampton County, where Caroline and her husband had then welcomed the births of: Edward Brandt (1850-1950), who had been born on 2 October 1855 (alternate birth year: 1856) and would later wed Henrietta E. Witzel (1863-1942); Charles Brandt (1858-1944), who had been born on 2 September 1858 and would later wed Minnie Seibold (born circa 1866-died 1937); and Sophia Brandt (1859-1950), who had been born in Easton on 15 December 1859 and would later wed William Wert Kolb (1857-1900). By 1860, Caroline (Dennig) Brandt was residing in Forks Township, Northampton County, where her husband worked as a day laborer. Also living with them were their children, Mary Ann, Edward, Charles, and Sophia, as well as Barney Brandt’s fifty-seven-year-old mother, Annie M. Brandt. More children then followed: Howard Brandt (born circa 1863-died before 1880), who likely died in childhood since his name did not appear as a member of his parents’ household on subsequent federal census records in 1870 or 1880; William H. Brandt (1865-1933), who was born on 4 November 1865, was baptized at the Trinity Episcopal Church in Easton on 16 May 1866 and would later wed Emma Claire Elizabeth Reilly (1869-1943); and Amelia Brandt (1868-1929), who was born on 19 September 1868 and would later wed Harry G. Rogers (1868-1951). Residents of Forks Township in 1870, the Brandt household included Caroline (Dennig) Brandt and her carpet weaver-husband, Barney Brandt, and their children: Mary Ann, Edward, Charles, Sophia, Howard, William, and Amelia. Another son, Frank Brandt (1872-1960), was then born in Easton on 9 August 1872; he would later go on to marry Laura Augusta Behrend (1875-1942). Residents of Schernertown/Sheonertown in Forks Township by 1880, Caroline (Dennig) Brandt and her husband resided there with their children: Edward, a brickyard laborer; Charles, a quarry laborer; Sophia, who was also employed; William, a brickyard laborer who suffered from “ague”; and Amelia and Frank, who were still too young to work. Still in her mid-fifties at the time of her passing in Forks Township in June 1886, Caroline (Dennig) Brandt was subsequently buried at the Easton Cemetery in Easton.

After emigrating from the Grand Duchy of Baden with her parents and siblings in 1849, Margaretha Barbara Dennig (1833-1913), had settled with her family in Northampton County, Pennsylvania. On 9 October 1851, her older sister, Caroline Dennig (1832-1886), had married German immigrant and lace weaver Barnet Brandt (1822-1895) at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Easton, Northampton County. Two days after that wedding Margaretha Barbara Dennig had then also married at the same church (on 11 October 1851) — to German immigrant and laborer Francis Heyder (1825-1902; alternate spellings of surname: “Heider,” “Hyder”), a native of the Kingdom of Prussia. Also known as “Margaret,” Margaretha Barbara (Dennig) Heyder settled with her new husband in Northampton County, where they became the parents of: William Heyder (1853-1936, alternate birth years: 1854, 1855), who had been born in December 1853 and would later wed Elizabeth Barrett (1868-1949); Emma Heyder (1856-1942), who had been born in Easton in May 1856 and would later wed Frank B. Ewald (1852-1940) in Sussex County, New Jersey on 25 May 1877; Henry Heyder (1860-1910, alternate birth year: 1861), who had been born in December 1860 and would later wed Florence Ella Crigar (1861-1923); and Franklin A. Heyder (1867-1924), who had been born in January 1867 and would later wed Agnes M. Sullivan (1869-1959). Sometime after the birth of that child, Margaret (Dennig) Heyder and her husband packed up their belongings and their children and relocated to New Jersey. By 1870, they were residing in Newton, Sussex County, New Jersey, where her husband and their son, William, were employed as slaters. Also living with their family that year was thirty-year-old slater and fellow German immigrant John Klut. Still residing in the Village of Newton during the summer of 1880, the Heyder household no longer included John Klut, but was now home to William Heyder’s wife, Catharine, and seven-month-old son, Charles Heyder. According to the 6 February 1884 edition of the New Jersey Herald, Margaretha Barbara (Dennig) Heyder died at the age of fifty-two years, three months and twenty days in Newton, New Jersey on 31 January 1884. Her husband, Francis Heyder, subsequently died in 1902, and was buried at the Newton Cemetery in Newton.

After emigrating from the Grand Duchy of Baden with his parents in 1849, Adolph Dennig’s older brother, Ferdinand Dennig (1836-1924), had initially settled with his family in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, where he had been confirmed at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Easton on 29 March 1850 and had then married fellow German immigrant Catherine Schickley (1837-1910) sometime during the early 1860s. After settling with her in that county, he had welcomed the births with her of: Maria Anna Dennig (circa 1861-1865), who had then died sometime in 1865; and George A. Dennig (1864-1936), who had been born on 20 February 1864 and would later wed Mary Cecile Gleespen (1880-1942).

Sometime after the birth of that son, Ferdinand Dennig made the decision to migrate west with his wife and child to Ohio. Shortly after beginning a new life with them in the town of Marion in Marion County, he enlisted as a private with Company G of the 15th Ohio Volunteer Infantry on 6 October of that same year, and subsequently took part in the Union’s Nashville Campaign in Tennessee from November to December, including the regiment’s engagement with Confederate troops at the Duck River near Columbia (24-27 November), the Battle of Franklin (30 November), the Battle of Nashville (15-16 December), and the pursuit of Confederate General John Bell Hood’s Army of Tennessee to the Tennessee River (17-28 December 1864). Subsequently encamped at Bird Springs, Alabama until March 1865, the 15th Ohio Volunteers engaged in operations in East Tennessee from 15 March to 22 April, and were then stationed in Nashville until June. Honorably discharged on 8 June 1865, Ferdinand Dennig returned home to his wife and children in Marion, Ohio, where he subsequently opened and operated a store. Born during that period of his life were the following children: Anna M. Dennig (1866-1947), who was born on 3 June 1866 and would never marry; Ellinor Dennig (1868-1938), who was born on 15 June 1868), was known to family and friends as “Ella” and would later wed William Richard Lawrence (1862-1947); Margaret Catherine Dennig (1870-1934), who was born on 5 September 1870 and would never marry; Adolphus William Dennig (1873-1950), who was born on 21 January 1873, was also known as “Adolph” and would later wed Rose May (Hubbard Childress) Snyder (1900-1994); an unnamed infant (1875-1875), who was born in July 1875 but died later that same month; and Martha Dennig (1876-1951), who was born on 15 December 1876 and would later wed Albert Noll (1880-1963). A member of the Cooper Post, No. 117, of the Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.), Ferdinand Dennig continued to operate his store in Marion until 1878 when he took up farming.

Still farming his land in Marion in 1910, Ferdinand Dennig resided with his wife and their children: George, a farm laborer; Anna, who was employed as a housekeeper with another family; Margaret, who was not working; and Adolph, who was employed as a factory worker. Widowed by his wife, Catherine (Schickley) Dennig, when she died at the age of seventy-two in Marion on 14 August 1910, Ferdinand Dennig continued to live in Marion for the remainder of his days. Retired by 1920, he was supported by his son, Adolph, who resided with him in Marion. Also living with them were Ferdinand’s unmarried daughters, Anna and Margaret. Ailing with gangrene during the final three months of his life, Ferdinand Dennig developed blood poisoning and died at the age of eighty-eight at his home on Madison Avenue in Marion on 12 October 1924 (alternate date of death: 13 October 1924). Following funeral services at the Prospect Street Methodist Episcopal Church in Marion, he was then buried at that city’s Marion Cemetery on 15 October 1924.

 

Sources:

1. Adolph Dennig (Easton borough council’s payment to him of three hundred dollars for grading Northampton Street), in “Town Council Proceedings.” Easton, Pennsylvania: The Daily Free Press, 17 July 1873.
2. Adolph Dennig (notice of the submission of his will to probate), in “Localisms.” Easton, Pennsylvania: The Daily Free Press, 22 October 1880.
3. Anna Maria Daub (the bride and future mother of Adolph Dennig), Konrad Daub and Magdelena (Benz/Lenz) Daub (the maternal grandparents of Adolph Dennig and the parents of Anna Maria Daub); and Georg Adam Dennig (the groom and future father of Adolph Dennig) and Jakob Dennig and Barbara (Jahraus) Dennig (the paternal grandparents of Adolph Dennig and the parents of Georg Adam Dennig), in Marriage Records (Evangelisch Kirche, Wilferdingen, Duchy of Baden, date of marriage: 27 January 1831). Remchingen, Germany: Evangelisch Kirche Wilferdingen.
4. Bates, Samuel P. History of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-5, vol. 1. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: B. Singerly, State Printer, 1869.
5. Brand [sic, “Brandt”], Barny, Caroline (an older sister of Adolph Dennig), Mary, Edward, Charles, Sophia, Howard, William, and Amilia, in U.S. Census (Forks Township, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, 1870). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
6. Brandt, Barney, Caroline (an older sister of Adolph Dennig), Mary A., Edward, Charles, Sophia, and Annie M., in U.S. Census (Forks Township, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, 1860). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
7. Caroline Dennig (the bride and a sister of Adolph Dennig) and Bernhard Brand (the groom), in Marriage Records (St. John’s Lutheran Church, Easton, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, date of marriage: 9 October 1851). Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
8. Carter, Susan B. et. al. (eds.) Historical Statistics of the United States (Millennial Edition). New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006.
9. Charles Brandt (a nephew of Adolph Dennig and a son of Caroline (Dennig) Brandt), in Death Certificates (file no.: 26148, registered no.: 186, date of death: 15 March 1944). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania: Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics.
10. Cohn, Raymond L., and Simone A. Wegge. “Overseas Passenger Fares and Emigration from Germany in the Mid-Nineteenth Century,” in Social Science History, vol. 41, no. 3, fall 2017, pp. 393-413. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 2017.
11. Condit A.M., Rev. Uzal. The History of Easton, Penn’a from the Earliest Times to the Present, 1739-1885. Washington, D.C.: West & Condit, 1885.
12. Dech [sic, “Deck”], Delos, Margaret (a daughter of Adolph Dennig) and Esther, in U.S. Census (Easton, Fourth Ward, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, 1900). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
13. Dech [sic, “Deck”], Delos D. and Margaret A. (a daughter of Adolph Dennig) and Esther; and Naef/Nolf, Walter and Mattie (boarders), in U.S. Census (Easton, Seventh Ward, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, 1920, 1930). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
14. Deck, Delos D. and Margaret A. (a daughter of Adolph Dennig); and Smith, Herbert S. and Esther (a granddaughter of Adolph Dennig and the daughter of Margaret (Dennig) Deck), in U.S. Census (Easton, Seventh Ward, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, 1940). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
15. Deck, Delos D. and Margaret A. (a daughter of Adolph Dennig), in U.S. Census (Easton, Seventh Ward, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, 1950). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
16. Dech [sic, “Deck”], Delos, Margaret (a daughter of Adolph Dennig) and Esther, in U.S. Census (Easton, Seventh Ward, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, 1900). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
17. Delos D. Deck (the groom) and Margaret Dennig (the bride, who was a daughter of Adolph Dennig), in Marriage Licenses (Easton, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, date of marriage: 12 October 1895). Easton, Pennsylvania: Clerk of the Orphans’ Court of Northampton County, Pennsylvania.
18. Denig [sic, “Dennig”], Ferdinand (an older brother of Adolph Dennig), Anna, Margaret, and Adolph, in U.S. Census (Marion, Marion County, Ohio, 1920). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
19. Denneig [sic, Dennig”], Ferdinand (an older brother of Adolph Dennig), Cathrena, George A., Anna M., Marguritte C., and Adolph W., in U.S. Census (Marion, Marion County, Ohio, 1910). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
20. Dennig, Adolph, in Civil War Muster Rolls (Company G, 9th Pennsylvania Infantry and Company A, 47th Pennsylvania Infantry). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State Archives.
21. Dennig, Adolphus, in Civil War Veterans’ Card File, 1861-1866 (Company G, 9th Pennsylvania Infantry and Company A, 47th Pennsylvania Infantry). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State Archives.
22. Dennig, Adolph (Adolphus), in Records of Burial Places of Veterans (Easton Cemetery, Easton, Northampton County, Pennsylvania: date of death: 17 October 1880). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Military Affairs.
23. Dennig, Adolphus, in “Registers of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-1865” (9th Regiment, Company G and 47th Regiment, Company A), in Records of the Department of Military and Veterans’ Affairs (Record Group 19, Series 19.65). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State Archives, retrieved online November 3, 2025.
24. Dennig, Adolph (infant); Dennig, Georg Adam (father); and Daub, Anna Maria and Dennig, Anna Maria (mother), in Birth and Baptismal Records (Wilferding, Karlsruhe, Baden and Remchingen, Preußen, Baden; date of birth: 6 September 1837, baptism: 10 September 1837), in “Baden and Hesse Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1502-1985” and “Germany, Select Births and Baptisms, 1558-1898.” Lehi, Utah: Ancestry.com, retrieved online 26 March 2026.
25. Dennig, Adolph and Louisa, in U.S. Civil War Pension General Index Cards (widow’s application no.: 445129, widow’s certificate no.: 308926, filed by the veteran’s widow, Louisa Dennig, from Pennsylvania, 29 July 1890). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
26. Dennig, Adolph, Louisa, Emma, Maggie, and Lizzie, in U.S. Census (Easton, North District, Sixth Ward, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, 1880). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
27. Dennig, Adolph, in West’s Guide to Easton, Phillipsburg, Bethlehem, South Bethlehem, South Easton, Glendon, Freemansburg, Bangor and Pen Argyl, Which Contains the Names of Inhabitants and Their Residences, Places of Business, etc., 1884, p. 28. Easton, Pennsylvania: G. W. West, 1884.
28. Dennig, Barbara or Dennig, Margaretha Barbara (infant); Dennig, Georg Adam (father); and Daub, Anna Maria and Dennig, Anna Maria (mother), in Birth and Baptismal Records (Evangelische Kirche Wilferding, Wilferding, Karlsruhe, Baden and Remchingen, Preußen, Baden; date of birth: 11 October 1832, baptism: 12 October 1832), in “Baden and Hesse Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1502-1985” and “Germany, Select Births and Baptisms, 1558-1898.” Lehi, Utah: Ancestry.com, retrieved online 26 March 2026.
29. Dennig, Carolina/Karolina (infant); Dennig, Georg Adam (father); and Daub, Anna Maria and Dennig, Anna Maria (mother), in Birth and Baptismal Records (Evangelische Kirche Wilferding, Wilferding, Karlsruhe, Baden; date of birth: 3 September 1832, baptism: 4 September 1832), in “Baden and Hesse Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1502-1985” and “Germany, Select Births and Baptisms, 1558-1898.” Lehi, Utah: Ancestry.com, retrieved online 26 March 2026.
30. Dennig, Emma S. (infant) and Adolph and Louisa (parents), in Birth and Baptism Records (Zion Lutheran Church, Easton, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, date of birth: 23 February 1872, baptism: 23 March 1872). Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
31. Dennig, Ferdinand (an older brother of Adolph Dennig), Catharine, George A., Anna M., Elnora, Margaret, Adolphus, and Martha W., in U.S. Census (Marion, Marion County, Ohio, 1880). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
32. Dennig, Frederike (infant); Dennig, Georg Adam (father); and Daub, Anna Maria and Dennig, Anna Maria (mother), in Birth and Baptismal Records (Evangelische Kirche Wilferding, Wilferding, Karlsruhe, Baden; date of birth: 13 November 1834, baptism: 16 November 1834), in “Baden and Hesse Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1502-1985” and “Germany, Select Births and Baptisms, 1558-1898.” Lehi, Utah: Ancestry.com, retrieved online 26 March 2026.
33. Dennig, Jacob Friedrich (infant); Dennig, Georg Adam (father); and Daub, Anna Maria and Dennig, Anna Maria (mother), in Birth and Baptismal Records (Evangelische Kirche Wilferding, Wilferding, Karlsruhe, Baden; date of birth: 23 December 1838, baptism: 25 December 1838), in “Baden and Hesse Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1502-1985” and “Germany, Select Births and Baptisms, 1558-1898.” Lehi, Utah: Ancestry.com, retrieved online 26 March 2026.
34. Dennig, Louisa (the widow of Adolph Dennig); and on the next consecutive census sheet: Rolling [sic, “Roling”], Francis, Elizabeth [sic, “Elizabeth (Dennig) Roling”] (the daughter of Adolph and Louisa Dennig), Herbert (Francis and Elizabeth Roling’s son), and Frances (Francis Roling’s daughter from his first marriage), in U.S. Census (Easton, Fourth Ward, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, 1910). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
35. Dennig, Louisa (the widow of Adolph Dennig), in U.S. Census (Easton, Fourth Ward, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, 1920). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
36. Dennig, Margaret Anna (infant) and Adolph and Louisa Dennig (parents), in Birth and Baptismal Records (Zion Lutheran Church, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, date of birth: 5 June 1874, baptism: 22 August 1874). Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
37. “Dennig or Donnig, Adolph,” in Wills and Probate Records (Easton, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, 1880-1881). Easton, Pennsylvania: Office of the Register of Wills, Northampton County, Pennsylvania.
38. Dennig, Unnamed Infant (“Totegeboren”/”Stillborn”); Dennig, Georg Adam (father); and Daub, Anna Maria and Dennig, Anna Maria (mother), in Birth and Baptismal Records (Evangelische Kirche Wilferding, Wilferding, Karlsruhe, Baden and (Remchingen, Baden-Württemberg, Preußen; dates of birth and death: 23 October 1840, burial: 25 October 1840), in “Baden and Hesse Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1502-1985” and “Germany, Select Births and Baptisms, 1558-1898.” Lehi, Utah: Ancestry.com, retrieved online 26 March 2026.
39. Dennig, Wilhelm Christian (infant); Dennig, Georg Adam (father); and Daub, Anna Maria and Dennig, Anna Maria (mother), in Birth and Baptismal Records (Wilferding, Karlsruhe, Baden and Nöttingen, Preußen, Baden; date of birth: 2 February 1829, baptism: 4 February 1829), in “Baden and Hesse Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1502-1985” and “Germany, Select Births and Baptisms, 1558-1898.” Lehi, Utah: Ancestry.com, retrieved online 26 March 2026.
40. Denning [sic, “Dennig”], Ferdinand (an older brother of Adolph Dennig), Catherine, George, Annie, and Ellen, in U.S. Census (Marion, Marion County, Ohio, 1870). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
41. Doyle, Don H. “The Civil War Was Won by Immigrant Soldiers.” New York, New York: Time, 29 June 2015.
42. “Edward Brandt” (obituary of a nephew of Adolph Dennig and a son of Caroline (Dennig) Brandt). Marion, Ohio: The Marion Star, 9 September 1950.
43. Elizabeth Amelia Roling (a daughter of Adolph Dennig), in Death Certificates (file no.: 103919, registered no.: 652, date of death: 30 November 1940). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania: Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics.
44. Ferdinand Dennig (an older brother of Adolph Dennig), in Ohio Soldiers’ Graves Registration Cards (Marion Cemetery, Marion, Marion County, Ohio, date of death: 12 October 1924, burial: 15 October 1924). Columbus, Ohio: Ohio History Connection.
45. Ferdinand Dennig (an older brother of Adolph Dennig), in Confirmation Records (St. John’s Lutheran Church, Easton, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, date of confirmation: 29 March 1850). Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
46. “Ferdinand Dennig” (report on the funeral of an older brother of Adolph Dennig). Marion, Ohio: The Marion Daily Star, 15 October 1924.
47. “Ferdinand Dennig, 88 War Veteran, Is Dead” (obituary of an older brother of Adolph Dennig). Marion, Ohio: The Marion Daily Star, 14 October 1924.
48. “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.
49. “Floyd ‘Tommy’ Roling; Had Funeral Supply Firm in Easton, 1945-77” (obituary of a grandson of Adolph Dennig and a son of Elizabeth (Dennig) Roling”). Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Morning Call, 9 July 1996.
50. Fredericka Dennig (the bride and a sister of Adolph Dennig) and George A. and Anna M. Dennig (parents of the bride); and Diedrich Schmidt (the groom) and Diedrich and Catharine Schmidt (parents of the groom), in Marriage Records (St. John’s Lutheran Church, Easton, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, date of marriage: 11 March 1854). Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
51. George Dietrich Schmidt (a nephew of Adolph Dennig) and Dietrich Schmidt (father) and Fredericka Schmidt (mother of the infant and a sister of Adolph Dennig), in Birth and Baptismal Records (St. John’s Lutheran Church, Easton, Northampton County, Pennsylvania; date of birth: 9 March 1855, baptism: 25 March 1855). Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
52. Gobin, John Peter Shindel. Personal Letters, 1861-1865. Northumberland, Pennsylvania: Personal Collection of John Deppen.
53. 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.
54. Hamerow, Theodore S. “History and the German Revolution of 1848,” in The American Historical Review, vol. 60, no. 1, October 1954, pp. 27-44. Oxford University Press, 1954.
55. Hayder [sic, “Heyder”], Francis, Margaretta [sic, “Margaretha Barbara (Dennig) Heyder”] (an older sister of Adolph Dennig), Henry, Frank, William (a nephew of Adolph Dennig and a son of Margaretta Barbara (Dennig) Heyder), Catharine (William Heyder’s wife) and Charles (William Heyder’s son), in U.S. Census (Newton, Sussex County, New Jersey, 1880). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
56. Hoffman, Nicholas and Elizabeth, in U.S. Civil War Pension General Index Cards and Pension File (widow’s application no.: 71937, filed by the widow on 14 November 1864; child guardian’s application no.: 150955, certificate no.: 110375, filed by the child’s guardian, Francis Goodyear, on 8 August 1867). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
57. Hyder [sic, “Heyder”], Francis, Margaret [sic, “Margaretha Barbara (Dennig) Heyder”] (an older sister of Adolph Dennig), William, Emma, Henry, and Frank; and Klut, John (boarder), in U.S. Census (Newton, Sussex County, New Jersey, 1870). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
58. “Immigrants in the Union Army.” Washington, D.C.: The American University, retrieved online 25 November 2023.
59. “Immigration Timeline.” New York, New York: The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, Inc., retrieved online 1 September 2017.
60. Irwin, Richard Bache. History of the Nineteenth Army Corps. New York, New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1893.
61. James A. Edelman (the groom) and Emma Dennig (the bride, who was a daughter of Adolph Dennig), in “Trauungs Register, 1899” (“Marriage Register,” St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, Elizabeth, Union County, New Jersey, bride’s date of birth: 23 February 1872, date of marriage: 25 April 1899), in “Lutheran Church Records of ELCA Region 7 to 1970.” Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Lutheran Archives Center at Philadelphia.
62. Kempton, Barbara Fretz. A History of St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Congregation of Easton, Pennsylvania, 1740-1940. Easton, Pennsylvania: The John S. Correll Co., Inc., Easter 1940.
63. Louisa Dennig (the widow of Adolph Dennig), in Death Certificates (file no.: 5937, registered no.: 64, date of death: 29 January 1928). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania: Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics.
64. Lynch, Lina (boarding house operator), Mammie, Rayfield, Jennie, Frank, and Margaret; Edelman, James and Emma (a daughter of Adolph Dennig who was a roomer with her husband); Miller, Orville, Ida and Edith (roomers); and Sexton, John, Kane, James, McArthur, Frank, and Adams, Samuel (roomers), in U.S. Census (Jersey City, Second Ward, Hudson County, New Jersey, 1900). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
65. Margaret Deck (a daughter of Adolph Dennig), in Death Certificates (file no.: 7092, registered no.: 58, date of death: 24 January 1958). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania: Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics.
66. Margaret Dennig (the bride and a sister of Adolph Dennig) and Francis Heider (the groom), in Marriage Records (St. John’s Lutheran Church, Easton, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, date of marriage: 11 October 1851). Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
67. Margaret Heyder [sic, “Margaretha Barbara (Dennig) Heyder”] (an older sister of Adolph Dennig), in “Heyder,” in “Died.” Newton, New Jersey: New Jersey Herald, 6 February 1884.
68. “Mrs. Delos D. Deck” (obituary of a daughter of Adolph Dennig). Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Morning Call, 26 January 1958.
69. “Mrs. Esther D. Smith” (obituary of a granddaughter of Adolph Dennig and a daughter of Margaret (Dennig) Deck). Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Morning Call, 11 February 1987.
70. “Mrs. Mary A. Fulmer” [sic, “Mary Ann (Brandt) Fulmer”] (obituary of a niece of Adolph Dennig and a daughter of Caroline (Dennig) Fulmer”). Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Morning Call, 13 April 1942.
71. “Obituary: Mrs. Christina Dennig” (obituary of Adolph Dennig’s widow). Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Morning Call, 8 September 1926.
72. Roling, Frank, Mrs. Herbert [sic, “Elizabeth (Dennig) Roling”] (a daughter of Adolph Dennig), Herbert, Floyd, and Arlene, in U.S. Census (Easton, Eighth Ward, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, 1920). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
73. Roling, Francis, Elizabeth [sic, “Elizabeth (Dennig) Roling”] (a daughter of Adolph Dennig), Floyd, and Arlene, in U.S. Census (Easton, Sixth Ward, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, 1930). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
74. Roling, Francis, Elizabeth [sic, “Elizabeth (Dennig) Roling”] (a daughter of Adolph Dennig) and Arlene, in U.S. Census (Easton, Sixth Ward, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, 1940). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
75. “Roster of the 47th P. V. Inf.” Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Morning Call, 26 October 1930.
76. Schmidt, Fredericka (decedent and a sister of Adolph Dennig) and George A. and Anna M. Dennig (parents), in Burial Records (St. John’s Lutheran Church, Easton, Northampton County, Pennsylvania; date of decedent’s birth: 13 November 1834; date of decedent’s death: 22 July 1857). Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
77. Schmidt, Lewis. A Civil War History of the 47th Regiment of Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers. Allentown, Pennsylvania: Self-published, 1986.
78. Scott, Robert N. The War of War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, series I, vol. XXXIV, part II: “Correspondence, etc.-Union,” Chapter XLVI: “Louisiana and the Trans-Mississippi,” p. 199. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1891.
79. 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.
80. Sophia B. Kolb (a niece of Adolph Dennig and a daughter of Caroline (Dennig) Brandt), in Death Certificates (file no.: 43064, registered no.: 685, date of death: 12 May 1950). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania: Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics.
81. Staubach, Lieutenant Colonel James C. “Miami During the Civil War: 1861-65,” in Tequesta: The Journal of the Historical Association of Southern Florida, vol. LIII, pp. 31-62. Miami: Historical Museum of Southern Florida, 1993.
82. “Tamiami Trail Modifications: Next Steps,” in Draft Environmental Impact Statement. Washington, D.C. and Everglades National Park, Florida: U.S. National Park Service, 2010.
83. “The History of the Forty-Seventh Regt. P. V.” Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Lehigh Register, 20 July 1870.
84. “W. C. Dennig Is Dead; Lived Here Since 1854” (obituary of the oldest brother of Adolph Dennig). Marion, Ohio: The Marion Daily Star, 23 August 1917.
85. Wharton, Henry D. Letters from the Sunbury Guards. Sunbury, Pennsylvania: Sunbury American, 1861-1868.
86. “Wilferdingen vor 200 Jahren,” in “Gesamtarchiv: Sammlung Kröner.” Remchingen, Germany: Heimatmuseum Remchingen, retrieved online 7 September 2026.
87. William Brandt (an infant who was a nephew of Adolph Dennig and a son of Caroline (Dennig) Brandt) and Barnard and Caroline Brandt (the parents), in Birth and Baptismal Records (Trinity Episcopal Church, Easton, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, date of birth: 4 November 1865, baptism: 16 May 1866). Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
88. Younkin, William, Sarah, Leonora, Mary A., Eliza, Charles W., Edward S., William, and Sarah E.; Denick [sic, “Dennig”], Adolph (joiner); and Miller, George (joiner), in U.S. Census (Easton, West Ward, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, 1860). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.