Observing Pennsylvania German Day on June 28

This Pennsylvania German Flag, which was created by Peter V. Fritsch, was officially dedicated at the Allentown Court House in 1989 (public domain).

On June 29, 1976, the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania enacted P. L. 458, No. 113, directing that Pennsylvania German Day be observed annually on June 28, across the great Keystone State:

Section 1. In recognition of the cultural, educational and historical contributions from their heritage to this Commonwealth, June 28 of each year is set aside to commemorate the Pennsylvania German, commonly known as Pennsylvania Dutch, and is hereby designated to be “Pennsylvania German Day.”

The Governor is authorized and requested to issue a proclamation each year calling upon the people of the Commonwealth to commemorate the contributions of the German people to the history and culture of the Commonwealth, and to approve that day with appropriate honors and ceremonies.

Section 2. This act shall take effect immediately.

Copy of the 1862 Taufschein of Mary Elisabeth Herman, daughter of Private William Herman, 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers (U.S. Civil War Widows’ and Orphans’ Pension Files, U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, public domain; click to enlarge).

That act carries special meaning for all who are involved with 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers: One Civil War Regiment’s Story because a significant portion of the men who served with the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry during the American Civil War were men and boys of German heritage, including:

Major William Gausler, the regiment’s third-in-command;
Captains John Joseph Goebel, Richard A. Graeffe, Thomas B. Leisenring, Edwin G. Minnich, and George Junker, the latter of whom founded the 47th Pennsylvania’s “all-German company” (Company K);
Quartermasters William H. Ginkinger and Francis Z. Heebner;
Drum Major Daniel Dachrodt, the last surviving member of the regiment;
Drummer Boy Alfred Eisenbraun, the second member of the regiment to die and a son of noted Frakturist Johann Daniel Eisenbraun;
The Baltozer Brothers, two of whom were teachers, as was Second Lieutenant Alfred Swoyer;
Businessmen Samuel S. Auchumuty, Luther Peter Bernheisel and Augustus Eagle;
The Schwenzer brothers, one of whom became a renowned Frakturist and the other, a longtime member of the Allentown Band;
Inventors Daniel K. Reeder and Abraham N. Wolf;
Luzerne County government official Conrad Volkenand;
Photographers Jerome Bryner and William H. Burger; and
Surgeons William F. Reiber and Jacob Henry Scheetz.

Read their stories. Remember their names. Honor the sacrifices they made for the United States of America and the world.

Sources:

“Act No. 113 of 1976: Pennsylvania German Day — Observance.” Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania General Assembly, June 29, 1976 (retrieved online June 28, 2025).
Civil War Veterans’ Card File, 1861-1866 (47th Pennsylvania Infantry). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State Archives.
Moyer, Del-Louise. “John Daniel Eisenbrown: Fraktur Artist and Grave Monument Engraver.” Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: AlyssumArts, September 7, 2015.
U.S. Civil War Pension Files. Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.

Reconstruction and Provost Duties: The 47th Pennsylvania Heads for Georgia (Early to Late June 1865)

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U.S. President Andrew Johnson, circa 1865 (Matthew Brady, U.S. Library of Congress, public domain).

With the American Civil War officially over, and the shock of his assassinated predecessor beginning to ease, U.S. President Andrew Johnson was now in charge of healing a divided, battered nation. According to historian Eric Foner, President Johnson “inaugurated the period of Presidential Reconstruction (1865-67) in May of 1865.”

Johnson offered a pardon to all southern Whites except Confederate leaders and wealthy planters (although most of these subsequently received individual pardons), restoring their political rights and all property except for slaves. He also outlined how new state governments would be created.

In order to facilitate the rebuilding of those new local and state governments, President Johnson also made the decision to station federal troops in key locations throughout the nation’s southern and western states. Among the federal troops ordered to assist with the operations were members of the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry (who were known by this time as the 47th Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers).

Second State Colors, 47th Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers (presented to the regiment 7 March 1865).

A New Mission Begins

The Reconstruction Era for the 47th Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers effectively began with the regiment’s departure for America’s Deep South on June 3, 1865, according to Assistant Regimental Surgeon John Young Shindel, M.D., who wrote these words on that day in history:

At about 10 o’clock, went on board the U.S.S. North Star…. Some of the Reg. went on Board the “Haze”. Dr. S. [and] Some on board the “Metis” from W. [Washington]. Started down the Potomac. Passed Mt. Vernon….

Reaching Fortress Monroe the next morning circa 11:00 a.m., the North Star continued south through the Atlantic Ocean and on to the waters off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina around 10:00 p.m. on June 4, according to Dr. Young. Suffering from seasickness the following day, he noted that his ship had already reached Cape Fear in North Carolina.

U.S.S. North Star, circa 1863 (Harper’s Weekly, January 10, 1863, public domain).

By Tuesday, June 6, the North Star had steamed to the mouth of the Savannah River, where it stopped, briefly, in order to allow a pilot to board. That pilot then moved the ship along the river, past Fort Pulaski, across the bar, and toward the harbor in the city of Savannah, Georgia, where it finally then dropped its anchor. The ship’s passengers were then directed to effect their transfer to smaller troop transports — the General Grant and the Oneita, according to Private Luther Horn of Company E. Those smaller steamers then took the 47th Pennsylvanians directly into the city. Upon their arrival at their designated landing spots at 4:00 a.m. the next morning (June 7), they disembarked, setting their feet on the soil of Georgia for the first time in the regiment’s history.

War-damaged houses in Savannah, Georgia, 1865 (Sam Cooley, U.S. Army, U.S. Library of Congress, public domain).

Using the next three hours to unload their equipment, they then lined up, by company, and stepped forward into their new mission at 7:30 a.m. Marching through the streets of Savannah, they headed one mile south, toward the city’s southern section, where they began erecting their Sibley tents.

* Note: Meanwhile, the steamships carrying the remaining 47th Pennsylvanians (the Metis and the Haze) were still en route. The Metis arrived later that day (June 7); the Haze arrived during the afternoon of June 8 with the members of Companies A, D, H, and I.

As the reunited 47th Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers began settling in to their new routine, Regimental Orders, No. 67 directed members of Regimental Band No. 2 to practice between 9:00 and 10:00 every morning and perform every evening at 7:00 outside of the tent of the regiment’s commanding officer, Colonel John Peter Shindel Gobin.

On Friday, June 9, the entire regiment took part in a brigade parade. Five days later, Regimental Orders, No. 69 directed that “the first call for dress parade would be at 6 PM, and commanders were instructed to fall in their companies and drill them in the manual of arms until the second call at 6:30 PM,” according to regimental historian Lewis Schmidt. By mid-June the regiment was staffed by a total of eight hundred and sixty-three officers and enlisted men.

C Company’s Adam Maul and G Company’s Benjamin Neur, both privates, were subsequently detached to duties as clerks at the U.S. Department of the South’s headquarters. On June 21, Regimental Orders, No. 70 directed the captains of each company to “have their respective companies policed every morning and see that the tents and quarters of the men are properly ventilated and kept scrupulously clean, necessary for health,” adding that “one of the medical officers will inspect.”

Battling the elements once again, the 47th Pennsylvanians broke camp and relocated a short distance away — to drier ground — on Monday, June 26.

Confident in his regiment’s abilities to keep the peace, even as other Union Army regiments were receiving orders to depart from Georgia, leaving the 47th Pennsylvania with far less support, Colonel Gobin “requested permission from Maj. Wilkinson, AA Gen. of the District of Savannah, to turn in excess ordnance and ordnance stores” on June 27. The diplomacy phase of their new mission had begun.

Sources:

Bates, Samuel P. History of Pennsylvania VolunteersVolunteers, 1861-5, vol. 1. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: B. Singerly, State Printer, 1869.
Civil War Muster Rolls (47th Pennsylvania Infantry). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State Archives.
Civil War Veterans’ Card File, 1861-1866 (47th Pennsylvania Infantry). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State Archives.
Foner, Eric. “Reconstruction.” Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Park Service, retrieved online June 3, 2025.
“From Charleston and Savannah.” Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: The Pittsburgh Daily Gazette, July 13, 1865.
“From the South,” in “By Telegraph from Charleston.” Baraboo, Wisconsin: Baraboo Republic, July 19, 1865.
“Savannah Intelligence.” Charleston, South Carolina: Charleston Daily Courier, July 4, 1865.
Schmidt, Lewis. A Civil War History of the 47th Regiment of Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers. Allentown, Pennsylvania: Self-published, 1986.
Shindel, John Young. Diary and Personal Letters, 1865-1866. Allentown, Pennsylvania: Personal Collection of Lewis Schmidt.
“The History of the Forty-Seventh Regt. P. V.” Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Lehigh Register, July 20, 1870.

Camp Brightwood, Washington, D.C.: Medical Issues and Personnel Changes (April-Early June 1865)

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Spectators gather for the Grand Review of the Armies, 23-24 May 1865, beside the crepe-draped U.S. Capitol, flag at half-staff following the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln (U.S. Library of Congress, public domain).

Headquartered at Camp Brightwood in the Brightwood district of Washington, D.C.’s northwestern section since late April 1865, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers were attached to Dwight’s Division of the 2nd Brigade of the U.S. Department of Washington’s 22nd Corps. Their job was to prevent former Confederate States military troops and their sympathizers from reigniting the flames of civil war in the wake of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination.

Multiple members of the regiment had only recently completed their detached duties as guards at the military prison where the key conspirators in their commander-in-chief’s murder were being held during their historic trial, and the regiment as a whole had just marched in the Union’s Grand Review of the National Armies on May 23.

Unidentified Union infantry regiment, Camp Brightwood, Washington, D.C., circa 1865 (public domain).

Now, as the majority of Union Army soldiers were being granted honorable discharges from the military, the 47th Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers were hurriedly packing their belongings — but for transport to south, rather than back home. Meanwhile, as that frenzy of activity was unfolding, a “lucky few” of their comrades were being transferred to other federal military units, while others were receiving word that they would be honorably discharged via general orders that had been issued by the United States War Department — or by surgeons’ certificates of disability that had been approved by regimental or more senior ranking Union Army physicians.

Sergeant-Major William M. Hendricks, central regimental command, 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers, circa 1863 (public domain).

Among the more startling departures were those of First Lieutenant William M. Hendricks of Company C, Private William Kennedy of Company G, and Private Daniel Kochendarfer (alternate spellings: Kochenderfer, Kochendorfer) of Company H. First Lieutenant Hendricks had simply had his fill of military life and had resigned his commission on May 9, 1865 and Private Kennedy had died from phthisis at Mower General Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on May 25, but Private Kochendarfer was ordered to remain behind for an entirely different reason — an arrest and conviction (the details of which remain murky to this day).

* Note: Having distinguished himself earlier in his career by nursing his sick and wounded comrades during their final moments of life in 1862, Private Daniel Kochendarfer was convicted during a court martial trial and sent to a federal military prison on June 1, 1865. He remained imprisoned there even as the 47th Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteer Infantry was mustering out for the final time on Christmas Day in 1865. Dishonorably discharged on March 7, 1866, he was never able to clear his name, despite petitioning the U.S. War Department for redress during the 1890s.

Medical Discharges

Other discharges that were issued to 47th Pennsylvanians at Camp Brightwood that spring were granted for entirely different reasons — physical or mental fitness for new duties that would require both brains and brawn. Among those deemed no longer fit to serve were:

Private George W. Lightfoot of Company G, who was transferred to Company I in the 24th Regiment of the U.S. Army’s Veteran Reserve Corps, which was also known as the “Invalid Corps” (April 25, 1865);
Private Joseph H. Schwab of Company F, who was honorably discharged on a surgeon’s certificate of disability (April 25, 1865);
Private William Leinberger of Company C, who was transferred to the 1st Battalion of the 21st Regiment of the Veteran Reserve Corps (April 28, 1865);
Private William M. Michael of Company C, who had been wounded in action during the Battle of Cedar Creek, Virginia on October 19, 1864 and was honorably discharged per General Orders, No. 77, issued by the Office of the U.S. Adjutant General (May 3, 1865);
Private William H. Guptill of Company G, who was honorably discharged on a surgeon’s certificate of disability (May 15, 1865);
Private Josiah D. Rabenold of Company B, who had been wounded in action during the Battle of Opequan, Virginia, also known as “Third Winchester,” on 19 September 1864, was treated by Union Army physicians and was honorably discharged (May 15, 1865);
Private Joseph Young of Company G, who had been hospitalized at a Union Army facility in Cumberland, Maryland and was honorably discharged on a surgeon’s certificate (May 17, 1865);
Private Charles Acher of Company K, who was honorably discharged on a surgeon’s certificate (May 19, 1865);
Private George P. Blain of Company C, who had been wounded in action during the Battle of Cedar Creek and was honorably discharged per General Orders, No. 77, issued by the Office of the U.S. Adjutant General (May 19, 1865);
Private Adam Lyddick of Company H, who had been severely wounded above the knee during the Battle of Cedar Creek, Virginia on October 19, 1864 and was honorably discharged on a surgeon’s certificate (May 19, 1865);
Private George Turpin of Company H, who had been hospitalized at the Union’s Mower General Hospital in Philadelphia (May 19, 1865);
Private Charles Buss of Company F, who had endured captivity as a prisoner of war (POW) at the Confederate Army’s prison camp near Tyler, Texas (Camp Ford) until his release on January 1, 1865 and was honorably discharged on a surgeon’s certificate (May 25, 1865);
Private Joel Michael of Company F was honorably discharged on a surgeon’s certificate (May 25, 1865);
Private Allen L. Kramer of Company B, who was wounded in action during the Battle of Creek, was treated at a Union Army General Hospital in Philadelphia and was honorably discharged on a surgeon’s certificate (May 26, 1865);
Private Charles F. Stuart of Company C, who had endured captivity as a POW at a Confederate Army prisoner of war camp until his release on 4 March 1865 and was honorably discharged (May 29, 1865);
Private Daniel S. Crawford of Company A, whose leg had been amputated to save his life after being wounded during the Battle of Cedar Creek and was honorably discharged on a surgeon’s certificate (May 31, 1865);
Private Michael Fitzgibbon of Company I, who was initially alleged to have deserted from Camp Brightwood, but had, in reality, been receiving treatment for malaria from Union Army physicians and was honorably discharged (May 31, 1865);
Private Lewis Brong of Company B, who had developed a chronic medical condition during Sheridan’s 1864 Shenandoah Valley Campaign and was honorably discharged per General Orders, No. 53, issued by the U.S. War Department (June 1, 1865);
Regimental Quartermaster Francis Z. Heebner, who had endured captivity as a POW at a Confederate Army officers’ prison in Richmond or Danville, Virginia until his release in late February 1865 and was honorably discharged (June 1, 1865);
Private Jenkin J. Richards of Company E, who had been hospitalized at the Union’s Fairfax Seminary Hospital in Fairfax, Virginia and was honorably discharged on a surgeon’s certificate (June 3, 1865);
Private Augustus Deitz/Dietzof Company H, who had been hospitalized in Washington, D.C. and was honorably discharged on a surgeon’s certificate (June 6, 1865); and
Private Andrew Mehaffie of Company D, who had also been wounded during the Battle of Cedar Creek and was also honorably discharged on a surgeon’s certificate (June 9, 1865).

Honorable Discharge by General Orders

Per General Orders, No. 53 or General Orders, No. 272, the more able-bodied 47th Pennsylvanians mustering out at Camp Brightwood were:

Private Richard Ambrum (Company G, June 1, 1865);
Private George W. Baltozer (Company D, June 14, 1865);
Private William H. Barber (Company K, June 1, 1865);
Sergeant Samuel H. Barnes (Company E, June 1, 1865);
Private Alfred Biege (Company F, June 1, 1865);
Private David K. Bills (Company A, June 1, 1865);
Private Tilghman Boger (Company K, June 1, 1865);
Private David Buskirk (Company G, May 26, 1865);
Private William Christ (Company F, June 1, 1865);
Private Michael Deibert (Company F, June 1, 1865);
Private George Diehl (Company B, May 23, 1865);
Private William Earhart (Company D, June 1, 1865);
Corporal William H. Eichman (Company E, June 1, 1865);
Private Milton A. Engleman (Company G, June 1, 1865);
Private George Felger (Company E, June 1, 1865);
Private Isaac Fleishhower (Company A, May 19, 1865);
Private William Fowler (Company E, June 1, 1865);
Private Charles H. Frey (Company E, June 1, 1865);
Musician and Private James A. Gaumer (Regimental Band No. 2 and Company G, June 1, 1865);
Private Solomon Gildner (Company A, June 1, 1865);
Private Benedict Glichler (Company K, May 19, 1865);
Sergeant John W. Glick (Company G, June 1, 1865);
Private Solomon Gross (Company I, June 2, 1865);
Private Emanuel Guera (Company H, June 19, 1865);
Private James Hall (Company H, June 1, 1865);
Privates Adam and Jacob Hammaker (Company H, June 1, 1865);
Private William George Harper (Company D, June 1, 1865);
Private William P. Heller (Company K, June 1, 1865);
Private Henry Henn (Company G, May 15, 1865);
Corporal George K. Hepler (Company C, June 1, 1865);
Privates Levinus and Solomon Hillegass (Company G, June 1, 1865);
Regimental Quartermaster Sergeant Henry J. Hornbeck (June 1, 1865);
Private Ananias Horting (Company H, June 1, 1865);
Private Daniel Houser (Company E, June 1, 1865);
Private Joseph Hausman (Company B, June 1, 1865);
Corporal Benjamin Huntzberger/Hunsberger (Company I, June 2, 1865);
Private Abraham F. Keim (Company D, May 23 or 28, 1865);
Musician Simon P. Kieffer (Company F, June 1, 1865);
Private Charles King (Company F, June 1, 1865);
Private David F. Knerr (Company I, June 1, 1865);
Corporal Daniel J. Kramer (Company I, June 1, 1865);
Private William H. Kramer (Company G, June 1, 1865);
Private John J. Lawall (Company I, June 1, 1865);
Private James Lay (Company H, June 1, 1865);
Private William Leiby (Company G, June 1, 1865);
Private George W. Levers (Company E, June 1, 1865);
Private John F. Liddick (aka John Liddick 2 and John Liddick 3 per Bates’ History of Pennsylvania Volunteers, Company H, June 1, 1865);
Private William H. Liddick (Company H, June 1, 1865);
Private James T. Lilly (Company F, May 31, 1865);
Private August Loeffelman (Company A, June 1, 1865);
Private George Malick (Company C, June 1, 1865);
Private Jesse Moyer (Company I, June 1, 1865);
Private Aamon Myers (Company D, June 1, 1865);
Private William Noll (Company K, June 1, 1865);
Private Thomas H. O’Donald (Company A, May 5, 1865);
Private Andrew J. Osmun (Company B, June 1, 1865);
Private Abraham Osterstock (Company A, May 5, 1865);
Private Jacob Paulus (Company A, June 1, 1865);
Private Washington A. Power (Company D, June 1, 1865);
Private Israel Reinhard (Company G, June 1, 1865);
Private Edward Remaly (Company F, June 1, 1865);
Corporal Allen J. Reinhard (Company B, June 1, 1865);
Private Henry Rinek (Company E, June 1, 1865);
Private Charles Rohrbacher (Company F, June 1, 1865);
Private Steven Schechterly (Company I, June 1, 1865);
Private Lewis Schmohl (Company A, June 1, 1865);
Private Joseph Benson Shaver (Company D, June 1, 1865);
Private Peter Shireman (Company F, June 1, 1865);
Private Franklin Sieger (Company B, June 1, 1865);
Private Samuel H. Smith (Company I, June 1, 1865);
Private John G. Snyder (Company F, June 1, 1865);
Private Erwin S. Stahler (Company G, June 1, 1865);
Private H. Stoutsaberger (Company H, June 1, 1865);
George Stroop (Captain, Company D, June 2, 1865);
Private Charles Stump (Company A, May 15, 1865);
Private George Sweger (Company H, June 1, 1865);
Private Samuel Transue, (Company E, June 1, 1865);
Private Israel Troxell (Company I, June 1, 1865);
Private Oliver Van Billiard (Company B, May 26, 1865);
Corporal Walter H. Van Dyke (Company F, June 1, 1865);
Corporal William M. Wallace (Company H, June 1, 1865);
Private Daniel H. Wannamaker/Wannermaker (Company I, June 1, 1865);
Private Cornelius Wenrich/Wenrick (Company C, June 6, 1865);
Corporal Solomon Wieder (Company G, June 1, 1865);
Private Andrew J. Williams (Company D, June 1, 1865);
Private Franklin H. Wilson (Company F, June 1, 1865);
and Private Daniel S. Zook (Company D, May 17, 1865).

Peacekeeping and Reconstruction

War-damaged houses in Savannah, Georgia, 1865 (Sam Cooley, U.S. Army, U.S. Library of Congress, public domain).

As spring gave way to summer, the new mission of the 47th Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteer Infantry would be to keep the peace across the United States of America’s Deep South while helping to rebuild shattered communities and restore local government operations during what has since become known as the Reconstruction Era. They arrived at their first new duty station (Savannah, Georgia) during the first week of June in 1865. Promotions during the Camp Brightwood and Reconstruction periods of duty were awarded to:

Adams, William (Company E): From corporal to sergeant, May 1865;
Brown, Amos T. (Company H): From private to corporal, June 2, 1865;
Bush, James M. (Company F): From private to corporal, April 25, 1865;
Clay, George W. (Company D): From second lieutenant to first lieutenant, June 2, 1865);
Cunningham, Robert (Company F): From private to corporal, June 2, 1865;
Dennis, Henry T. (Company G): From sergeant to first sergeant, May 14, 1865;
Eisenhard, John H. (Company B): From private to corporal, April 21, 1865;
Haltiman, William H. (Company I): From first sergeant to second lieutenant, May 27, 1865;
Hartzell, Israel Frank (Company I): From private to corporal, June 2, 1865;
Hettinger, Stephen (Company I): From private to corporal, June 2, 1865;
Hinckle, Willam H. (Company K): From private to corporal April 21, 1865;
Jacoby, Moses (Company E): From private to corporal, June 2, 1865;
Jones, John L. (Company F): From corporal to sergeant, June 2, 1865);
Kosier, George (Company D: From first lieutenant to captain, June 1, 1865);
Kuder, Owen (Company I): From private to corporal, June 2, 1865;
Lawall, Allen D. (Company I): From second to first lieutenant, May 30, 1865;
Lilly, Joseph M. (Company F): From corporal to sergeant, April 21, 1865;
Mayers, William H. (Company I, alternate surname spellings: Mayer, Meyers, Moyers; listed in Bates’ History of Pennsylvania Volunteers as “William H. Moyers I”): From sergeant to first sergeant, May 27, 1865;
Mink, Theodore (Company I): From first lieutenant to captain, May 22, 1865;
Moser, Owen (Company E): From private to corporal, May 27, 1865;
O’Brien, Martin (Company F): From private to corporal, April 25, 1865;
Rader, Reuben E. (Company A): From private to corporal, May 14, 1865;
Rockafellow, William (Company E): From corporal to sergeant, June 2, 1865;
Seneff, Henry (Company C): From private to corporal, April 22 1865;
Small, Charles H. (Company H): From company private to regimental quartermaster sergeant, June 2, 1865;
Stuber, Levi (Company I): From company captain to regimental major and third-in-command, May 22, 1865;
Walton, John F. (Company E): From private to corporal, May 1, 1865; and
Weise, Henry C. (Company H): From private to corporal, June 2, 1865.

Sadly, while all of those advancements in rank were occurring, Private Allen Faber of Company A, was fighting a battle that he was destined to lose. Still hospitalized for treatment of rheumatic carditis at the Union’s Harewood General Hospital in Washingon, D.C, he finally succumbed there to complications from his condition on June 7, 1865, and was subsequently interred with military honors at the Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia.

Sources:

Bates, Samuel P. History of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-5, vol. 1. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: B. Singerly, State Printer, 1869.
“Battleground National Cemetery: Battleround to Community — Brightwood Heritage Trail,” “Fort Stevens” and “Mayor Emery and the Union Army.” United States: Historical Marker Database, retrieved online May 20, 2025.
“Battleground to Community: Brightwood Heritage Trail.” Washington, D.C.: Cultural Tourism DC, 2008.
Civil War Muster Rolls (47th Pennsylvania Infantry). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State Archives.
Civil War Veterans’ Card File, 1861-1866 (47th Pennsylvania Infantry). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State Archives.
“Our Returned Prisoners: Names of 500 Released Officers Sent to Annapolis.” New York, New York: The New York Times, February 28, 1865.
Schmidt, Lewis. A Civil War History of the 47th Regiment of Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers. Allentown, Pennsylvania: Self-published, 1986.
“The History of the Forty-Seventh Regt. P. V.” Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Lehigh Register, 20 July 1870.

“Propitious Weather and a Splendid Spectacle”: The United States of America’s Grand Review of the Armies (May 23, 1865)

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Lieutenant-General Ulysses S. Grant leans forward to have a better look at a Union regiment approaching the presidential reviewing stand, President Andrew Johnson to his left, Grand Review of the National Armies, Washington, D.C., May 23, 1865 (U.S. Library of Congress, public domain; click to enlarge).

It was a week to remember. The 47th Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers had survived the bloody Battle of Pocotaligo in South Carolina (October 1862) to make history as the only regiment from the Great Keystone State to participate in the Union’s 1864 Red River Campaign across Louisiana and help firmly, finally turn the tide of the American Civil War in the Union’s favor during Sheridan’s 1864 Shenandoah Valley Campaign — only to be brought to their knees in mourning, upon receiving the heartbreaking news that their beloved commander-in-chief had been assassinated — just as victory was at hand.

Now, they were joining more than one hundred and forty-five thousand other “boys in blue” in a triumphant march through the streets of Washington, D.C. that would subsequently be described by The New York Times as “The Grand Procession of Battle Stained Banners” and a “splendid spectacle” that was graced with “propitious weather.” The reporter penning those superlatives was describing the Union’s Grand Review of the National Armies, which took place from May 23 to 24.

The Army of the Potomac has passed in review. The first day’s pageant is over, and to the correspondent falls the duty of depicting a scene almost devoid of incident, save in its grand aspiration. Every circumstance has combined to make it a complete success. The weather has been magnificent; the air, delightfully tempered by the rains of the past week, is cool and fragrant, and dust, is for the time subdued….

Though the city is so crowded, it is yet gay and jovial with the good feeling that prevails, for the occasion is one of such grand import and true rejoicing, that small vexations sink out of sight. With many it is the greatest epoch of their lives; with the soldier it is the last act in the drama; with the nation it is the triumphant exhibition of the resources and valor which have saved it from disruption and placed it first upon earth.

So the scene of to-day (and that of to-morrow) will never be forgotten, and he who is privileged to be a witness will mark it as a white day in the calendar, from which to gather hope and courage for the future….

That Times reporter went on to describe the ways in which multiple Union Army regiments had made their way to the nation’s capital, where they had set up tents upon their respective arrivals and how they had assembled for the first day of the review, providing a list, line-by-line, of the long order of march — a list which included the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers. (Officially stationed at Camp Brightwood in the northwest corner of Washington, D.C. by early May 1865, the 47th Pennsylvanians had departed from that camp on Monday, May 22 to move closer to their assigned position for the Grand Review’s start, according to Private Henry Horn of Company G.)

19th Corps, Army of the United States, Grand Review of the National Armies, Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, D.C., May 23, 1865 (Matthew Brady, U.S. Library of Congress, public domain).

The 47th Pennsylvania was just one of the one hundred and eighteen infantry regiments, twenty-nine cavalry regiments and thirty-three artillery batteries that boldly stepped forth from Capitol Hill on that first day of the Grand Review (May 23, 1865). Marching with the precision they were known for, under the banners of the Army of the Potomac (Mr. Lincoln’s Army), they were participants in a thrilling, six-hour parade, passing in front of a review stand that sheltered U.S. President Andrew Johnson, Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, Lieutenant-General Ulysses S. Grant, and other high-ranking officials of the military and federal government. According to the Times, the 47th Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers were positioned behind the parade’s third division, as part of the Nineteenth Army Corps (XIX Corps) in Dwight’s Division:

Third Division.
Brevet Brig.-Gen. John G. Curtin commanding.

First Brigade, Col. A. B. McCalmon commanding — 51st Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers, Col. William J. Bolton; 208th Pennsylvania, Lieut.-Col. M. T. Heintzelman; 209th Pennsylvania, Col. T. B. Kaufman; 200th Pennsylvania, Maj. Jacob Rehm.

Second Brigade, Col. J. A. Mathews commanding — 207th Pennsylvania, Col. R. C. Cox; 211th Pennsylvania, Lieut.-Col. Coulter; 205th Pennsylvania, Lieut.-Col. W. F. Walter.

Dwight’s Division.
Nineteenth Army Corps, Brig.-Gen. William Dwight commanding.

First Brigade, Brig.-Gen. G. L. Beal commanding — 15th Maine, Col. Isaac Dyer; 114th New York, Col. S. R. Per Lee; 29th Maine, Col. George H. Nye; 30th Massachusetts, Lieut.-Col. N. Shardman; 1st Maine Battalion, Capt. C. S. Brown.

Second Brigade, Brevet Brig.-Gen. E. P. Davis commanding — 153rd New York, Lieut.-Col. J. A. McLaughlin; 8th Vermont, Col. J. B. Mead; 12th Connecticut, Lieut.-Col. G. W. Lewis; 26th Massachusetts, Lieut.-Col. W. H. Chapman; 47th Pennsylvania, Col. J. P. S. Gobin.

Third Brigade, Brig.-Gen. J. D. Fessenden commanding — 173rd New York, Col. L. M. Peck; 160th New York, Col. C. C. Dwight; 162nd New York, Col. J. W. Blanchard; 133rd New York, Col. L. D. Currie; 30th Maine, Col. T. H. Hubbard.

Artillery Brigade, Brevet Brig.-Gen. J. C. Tidball commanding — 34th New York Battery, Brevet Maj. J. Roemer; 7th Maine Battery, Capt. A. B. Twitchell; 19th New York Battery, Capt. E. W. Rogers; Battery D, 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Artillery; Capt. S. H. Rhoads; 11th Massachusetts Battery, Capt. E. J. Jones; 27th New York Battery, Capt. J. B. Eaton.

Second State Colors, 47th Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers (presented to the regiment 7 March 1865).

Lest one be tempted to think that the 47th Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers were placed further back in the line of march because they were being accorded less respect, one only need look at the rosters of the men who immediately followed the 47th. The division positioned directly behind them was composed of general staff of the Army of the United States and regiments led by American Civil War icon and Gettyburg hero Joshua L. Chamberlain. Observed U.S. Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, “You see in these armies, the foundation of the Republic: our future railroad managers, congressmen, bank presidents, senators, manufacturers, judges, governors and diplomats; yes and not less than half a dozen presidents.”

John Peter Shindel Gobin, 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers, shown here as a captain in 1863, went on to become lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania after the war (public domain).

Among the 47th Pennsylvanians who would continue to serve their communities, commonwealth and nation faithfully were future city councilmen, industrialists, inventors, judges, a three-time mayor, newspaper publishers, physicians, policemen, federal postmasters, local school board members, and a state senator who would be publicly elected as Pennsylvania’s seventh lieutenant governor. Each one had experienced the horrors of war. All were forever changed. So, please take time this Memorial Day weekend to read and share their stories with your family, friends and neighbors — and say their names as you offer a toast in tribute to their valor. We owe them at least that much for the sacrifices they made to save our nation.

Sources:

Bates, Samuel P. History of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-5, vol. 1. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: B. Singerly, State Printer, 1869.
“Grand Military Review: Streets Crowded with Spectators: Sherman Greeted with Deafening Cheers.” Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: The Daily Post, May 25, 1865.
“Our Heroes! The Grand Review at Washington. Honor to the Brave. Immense Outpouring of the People. The Troops Reviewed by Gen. Grant.” Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Daily Telegraph, May 23, 1865.
“Review of the Armies; Propitious Weather and a Splendid Spectacle. Nearly a Hundred Thousand Veterans in the Lines.” New York, New York: The New York Times, May 24, 1865, front page.
Rodrock, Rev. William D. C. Chaplain’s Reports (47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, 1865). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
Schmidt, Lewis. A Civil War History of the 47th Regiment of Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers. Allentown, Pennsylvania: Self-published, 1986.
“Serenade to General Grant” (performance for Lieutenant-General Ulysses S. Grant by the 47th Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers’ Regimental Band), in “Washington.” Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: The Inquirer, May 22, 1865.
“The Final March: Grand Review of the Armies.” Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Park Service, retrieved online May 20, 2025.
“The Grand Review: A Grand Spectacle Witnessed.” Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: The Daily Post, May 24, 1865.
“The Grand Review: Immense Crowds in Washington: Fine Appearance of the Troops: Their Enthusiastic Reception.” Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Daily Telegraph, May 24, 1865; and West Chester, Pennsylvania: The Record, May 17, 1865.
“The Grand Review: The City Crowded with Visitors: Order of Corps, Divisions, Brigades and Regiments.” Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Daily Constitutional Union, May 23, 1865.
“The History of the Forty-Seventh Regt. P. V.” Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Lehigh Register, 20 July 1870.

A Musical Tribute to Beloved Commanding Officers: The 47th Pennsylvania’s Regimental Band “Serenades” Generals Grant and Sheridan (May 22, 1865)

May22

Willard’s Hotel, Washington, D.C., circa 1860-1865 (public domain; click to enlarge).

On the eve of the headline-making Grand Review of the National Armies in the nation’s capital in late May 1865, members of the 47th Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers’ Regimental Band made their own small headlines in newspapers nationwide when they performed a selection of patriotic and popular musical numbers during an hour-long, impromptu concert for Union Lieutenant-General Ulysses S. Grant and Major-General Philip H. Sheridan, who were engaged in a meeting at Willard’s Hotel. Also joining in the musical tribute were musicians from one of Maine’s volunteer infantry regiments.

Lieutenant-General Ulysses S. Grant (public domain).

As the 47th Pennsylvanians performed, a crowd gathered nearby to listen. When the music ceased, calls of “Speech! Speech!” to Grant and Sheridan began to ripple through the crowd. Both men demurred, however, choosing instead to continue their “parting interview,” according to the Bangor Daily Whig and Courier — a decision which evidently did not disappoint the throng for long. Per The Philadelphia Inquirer, “The music was very fine, both bands rivaling each other in doing honor to the greatest General of the age” (General Grant).

Joseph Eugene Walter, Regimental Band, 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers, circa 1861.

Among the 47th Pennsylvanians who may very well have performed for Grant and Sheridan that evening were Private Joseph Eugene Walter and Principal Musician Daniel Dachrodt. (Walter, a private with Company E, had been a cornetist with Pomp’s Cornet Band in Easton, Northampton County, Pennsylvania prior to the start of the American Civil War and had previously served with the 47th Pennsylvania’s highly-regarded first Regimental Band, which had been led by Thomas Coates, the “Father of Band Music in America.” Dachrodt, who had been promoted to the rank of Drum Major and had then been placed in charge of all of the regiment’s field drummers, would ultimately survive the war — and all of his comrades — to become the last living member of the regiment in 1939.)

Major-General Philip Sheridan, U.S. Army (c. 1864, U.S. Library of Congress, public domain).

Standing on the balcony of Willard’s Hotel again the next morning (May 23), Major-General Sheridan was treated to another rousing tribute as members of his cavalry “passed before him to pay a farewell salute … while the bands played ‘Hail to the Chief!'” Those same units would take part, later that morning and afternoon, in the Army of the Potomac’s march down Pennsylvania Avenue during the parade on day one of the Grand Review. That evening, Sheridan would depart for the train depot in Baltimore, Maryland, for transportation to his new assignment — spearheading regional Reconstruction efforts as the military governor of Louisiana and Texas.

Sources:

“Discover Our History.” Washington, D.C.: Willard Intercontinental Hotel, retrieved online May 20, 1865.
“General Philip H. Sheridan.” Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Park Service, retrieved online, May 20, 2025.
“Grant” (television mini-series). New York, New York: History Channel Education, 2020.
“Our Heroes! The Grand Review at Washington. Honor to the Brave. Immense Outpouring of the People. The Troops Reviewed by Gen. Grant.” Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Daily Telegraph, May 23, 1865.
Regimental Band of the 47th Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers (report on the band’s performance for Lieutenant-General Ulysses S. Grant in Washington, D.C.), in “Special Dispatch to the Boston Journal.” Bangor, Maine: Bangor Daily Whig and Courier, May 23, 1865.
“Review of the Armies; Propitious Weather and a Splendid Spectacle. Nearly a Hundred Thousand Veterans in the Lines.” New York, New York: The New York Times, May 24, 1865, front page.
“Serenade to General Grant” (performance for Lieutenant-General Ulysses S. Grant by the 47th Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers’ Regimental Band), in “Washington.” Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: The Inquirer, May 22, 1865.
“The Final March: Grand Review of the Armies.” Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Park Service, retrieved online May 20, 2025.
“The Grand Review: The City Crowded with Visitors: Order of Corps, Divisions, Brigades and Regiments.” Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Daily Constitutional Union, May 23, 1865.

April 12th: This Date in 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry History

Apr13

April 12th would prove to be an important date for the men who served with the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry during the American Civil War and Reconstruction eras. This abridged timeline illustrates why:

1861

The bombardment of Fort Sumter 12-14 April 1861 (Currier & Ives, public domain).

At 4:30 a.m., on April 12, 1861, artillery batteries of the Confederate States Army open fire on United States Army troops stationed at Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina. A long and disastrous period of civil war begins in America.

The majority of Pennsylvanians and residents of other states throughout America who will ultimately serve with the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry are at home, asleep in their beds — or just rising and readying themselves for their work days on family farms, as canal boatmen, in iron foundries, silk mills, tanneries or tobacco factories, as quarrymen toiling away in the slate industry, or as miners tunneling deeper inside of the Earth in poorly-lighted coal mines, along with countless other blue collar laborers who are risking their own health and safety just to keep their families housed and fed.

The 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry isn’t even “a glimmer” in anyone’s eyes — yet. (It won’t be founded until August 5, 1861.)

1862

In 1862, The Gazette, one of two hometown newspapers read by the majority of men serving with the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry’s C Company, carries the following news in its April 12th edition:

Jeff. Davis is becoming desperate. He has issued an extraordinary Message ordering the enrollment of all citizens of the Confederate States between the ages of 18 and 35, for military service, the residue of the fighting population, above 35 to form a fighting force.

Although that particular edition of the newspaper has not yet reached the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers who are stationed in Florida, a warning about the Confederate Conscription Act’s pending passage has likely been telegraphed by the U.S. War Department to senior officers at the 47th Pennsylvania’s headquarters at Fort Taylor in Key West in order to prepare them for the increased threat they and their troops will face.

1864

On April 12, 1864, Captain Charles William Abbott, commanding officer of the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry’s K Company, pens a brief report from his regiment’s camp at Grand Ecore, Louisiana to his superior officers in the United States Army of the Gulf, which partially documents the losses in soldiers and supplies sustained by his regiment during the Battle of Pleasant Hill, Louisiana on April 9, 1864. That report also contains details about the regiment’s movements during this phase of duty.

Sergeant John Gross Helfrich then describes this same battle in a letter to his parents on May 5th, in which he notes:

I have learned additional news of the late fight of our boys of the “Nineteenth Corps”…. The casualties of our boys amounted to a great deal more than at first reported. The Lt. Col. of our Forty-seventh Regt. is missing, and supposed he is wounded or perhaps killed. Lt. Swoyer is dead.

1865

In a letter that he is writing to the Sunbury American on April 12, 1865 from the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry’s camp near Summit Point, Virginia, 47th Pennsylvanian Henry D. Wharton describes a celebration that took place following the surrender at Appomattox by Confederate General Robert E. Lee and his army on April 9, 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….

1866

On April 12, 1866, members of the 47th Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers who survived the American Civil War are three months into their post-war civilian lives. Many are back home in Pennsylvania, trying to regain some sense of their old selves with normal work and family routines. Others have already left their pre-war and war lives behind, choosing to migrate west in search of better opportunities — or a certain peace of mind they hope to find in knowing they will be far away from any decision-makers who might drag their communities and nation back down into another disastrous war in the future.

Sources:

Abbott, Charles W. Report from Captain Charles W. Abbott, Captain, Company K, 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, to Senior Officers of the U.S. Army of the Gulf’s XIX Corps (19th Corps), Grand Ecore, Louisiana, April 12, 1864. Nazareth, Pennsylvania: Personal Collection of Julian Burley.
“Agriculture and Rural Life,” in “Stories from PA History.” Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 2023.
“Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Park.” Washington, D.C.: National Park Foundation, retrieved online April 12, 2025.
Harris, Howard and Perry K. Blatz. Keystone of Democracy: A History of Pennsylvania Workers. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1999.
Helfrich, John Gross. Letter to His Parents, May 5, 1864. Mesa, Arizona: Personal Collection of the Colin Cofield Family Archives.
Miller, Randall M. and William A. Pencak. Pennsylvania: A History of the Commonwealth. University Park, Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2002.
“Mining Anthracite,” in “Stories from PA History.” Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 2023.
Montgomery, Morton L. Early Furnaces and Forges of Berks County, Pennsylvania, in The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, 1884. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1884.
News Regarding the Confederate States’ New Conscription Order. Sunbury, Pennsylvania: The Gazette, April 12, 1862.
Palladino, Grace. Another Civil War: Labor, Capital, and the State in the Anthracite Regions of Pennsylvania, 1840-1868. New York, New York: Fordham University Press, March 30, 2006.
Sacher, John M. Confederate Conscription and the Struggle for Southern Soldiers. Baton Rouge, Louisiana: LSU Press, 2021.
“The Industrial Age,” in “Stories from PA History: Science and Invention.” Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 2023.
“The Pennsylvania Iron Industry: Furnace and Forge of America,” in “Stories from PA History.” Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 2023.
“The Railroad in Pennsylvania,” in “Stories from PA History.” Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 2023.
“Timeline of Labor History in Pennsylvania.” Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Labor History Society, retrieved online April 12, 2025.

Women’s History Month: A Look Back at the Mothers, Wives, Widows, Daughters, and Granddaughters of the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers

Mar31

Leanna (Diehl) Hornbeck (1851-1934).

As Women’s History Month 2025 comes to a close, we take a look back at the mothers, wives, widows, daughters, and granddaughters of 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantrymen who helped to preserve America’s Union and rebuild their shattered nation following the end of the American Civil War.

The backbones of their respective families, they not only kept the home fires burning while their husbands were engaged in combat far from their loving arms, they each left their own marks on the communities where they lived, and deserve to be remembered and celebrated for their own courage and resilience. Learn more about these remarkable women by watching our YouTube video, “Faces of the 47th: Wives, Widows and Daughters of the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers,” and by reading the following biographies:

Nona Mae (Snyder) Albert (1900-1987);
Margaret Jane (Zinn) Breneman (1838-1930);
Catharine Rebecka (Snyder) Courtney (1906-1995);
Amanda Beatrice (Wright) French (1851-1901);
Catharine (Fleck) Fusselman (1828-1915);
Rachael (Richardson) Gethers (circa 1820-1898);
Leanna (Diehl) Hornbeck (1851-1934);
Mary Alice (Miller) John (1848-1937);
Anna (Gish) Jury (1841-1918);
Anna E. (Weiser) Leisenring (1851-1942);
Julia Ann (Kuehner Minnich) Magill (circa 1836-1904);
Mary Barbara (Nyhart) Moyer (1837-1901);
Julia Margaretta (Weldy) Rodrock (1832-1905);
H. Corrine Snyder (1901-1988);
Lillie May Snyder (1887-1956); and
So many more whose stories are just waiting to be told.

Remember their names. Be inspired by their strength. Honor the sacrifices they made for community and country.

Sources:

“Allen and Nona Albert’s Retirement a Loss to Long-Time Customers.” Tremont, Pennsylvania: The Press-Herald and The Pine Grove Herald, 12 February 1970.
“Allentown Woman on the Roll of Honor: Gov. Brumbaugh Retires Mrs. Anna S. Leisenring, Factory Inspector, with Half Pay.” Reading, Pennsylvania: Reading Eagle, 20 January 1918.
“Allentown Woman to Come to Reading to Inspect Bake Shops and Textile Establishments: Mrs. Annie Leisenring Is Lineal Descendant of Conrad Weiser, the Great Colonial Pioneer Who Lived Near Womelsdorf. Was First Appointed to Factory Inspection Service in 1893.” Reading, Pennsylvania: Reading Eagle, 20 May 1914.
Baptismal, marriage, military, death, and burial records of the Snyder family. Pennsylvania, California, Florida, Louisiana, Nevada, Ohio, etc.: Snyder Family Archives, 1650-present and Historic Pennsylvania Church and Town Records (baptismal, marriage, death, and burial records of various churches across Pennsylvania). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, 1905-1956; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1776-1956.
Beyerle, Emma; and Snyder, H. Corinne [sic, Corrine], Catharine R. and Lillian E., in U.S. Census (City of Reading, Fourteenth Ward, City of Reading, Berks County, Pennsylvania, 1930). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
Breneman, Christian K. and Margaret J., in U.S. Civil War Pension Index (application no.: 432815, certificate no.: 307318, filed by the widow from Pennsylvania on 7 July 1891). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
Breneman, Margaret A., Wm. L. Gardner, and Margaret J. Breneman; Victor L., Carrie I. Landis, Christian and Margaret J. Breneman, and R. M. Landis; Benj. C Breneman, Lena M. Rupley, Christian K. and Margaret J. Breneman, and Henry M. and Phoebe Rupley; Harry S. Breneman, Anna May Gebhard, C. K. and M. J. Breneman, and Jacob and Anna Gebhard, in Applications for Marriage Licenses. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Clerk of the Orphans’ Court of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, 21 December 1897; 21 November 1906; 17 June 1911; and 3 October 1914.
“Catharine Courtney, 89, Private Secretary” (obituary). Lancaster, Pennsylvania: Intelligencer Journal, 28 August 1995.
Catharine S. Courtney, in “Clubs: York Woman Heads State Secretaries.” Lancaster, Pennsylvania: New Era, 23 April 1956.
Chalkley John, in Portrait and Biographical Album of Whiteside County, Illinois, Containing Full-Page Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens of the County, Together with the Portraits and Biographies of All the Governors of Illinois, and the Presidents of the United States. Chicago, Illinois: Chapman Brothers, 1863.
Charles Magill and “Julian Ruston” [sic], in Certificate of Marriage. Camden, New Jersey: St. Paul’s Protestant Episcopal Church, 18 January 1887.
Courtney, Charles F. and Catharine R., in Polk’s Lancaster City Directory, 1950. Boston, Massachusetts: R. L. Polk & Co., Inc., Publishers, 1950.
Davis, William W. History of Whiteside County, Illinois from Its Earliest Settlement to 1908: Illustrated, with Biographical Sketches of Some Prominent Citizens of the County, vols. 1 and 2. Chicago, Illinois: Pioneer Publishing Co., 1908.
“Death of a Highly Esteemed Citizen.” Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Allentown Democrat, 5 October 1898.
Edwin Minnich, Juliann (Kuehner) Minnich, and George Minnich, in U.S. Civil War Widows’ Pension Files. Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, 1865-1901.
“Explaining Trends in the Gender Wage Gap: A Report by The Council of Economic Advisors.” Washington, D.C.: The White House, June 1998.
“Funeral of Mrs. Mary B. Moyer from Her Late Home on East Market Street,” in “Green Ridge Items.” Scranton, Pennsylvania: The Scranton Tribune, 9 December 1901.
Fusselman, Daniel, Catherine, Celistia [sic, Salista], Catherine, John W. R., Caroline, Mary E., and Sarah, in U.S. Census (East Waterford, Tuscarora Township, Juniata County, Pennsylvania, 1860). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
Fusselman, Daniel (father), Kate, John, Caroline, Emna Sarah, Daniel (son), Amanda, Rosa, and Josiah, in U.S. Census (McCullochs Mills, Tuscarora Township, Juniata County, Pennsylvania, 1870). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
Fusselman, Daniel and Catharine, in U.S. Civil War Pension Files (application no.: 254530, certificate no.: 315939, filed from Pennsylvania by the veteran, 8 May 1878; application no.: 250052, certificate no.: 347812, filed by the veteran’s widow, 20 August 1879). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
Gordon, Elizabeth Putnam. Women Torch-Bearers: The Story of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union. Evanston, Illinois: National Woman’s Christian Temperance Union Publishing House, 1924.
“Holland Farmer Passed Away Friday.” Abilene, Kansas: Abilene Daily Reflector, 29 August 1914.
“John Family Papers, 1775-1951” (RG5/077). Swarthmore, Pennsylvania: Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College.
John, Clark E. History and Family Record of the “John” Family, 1683 to 1964: The Descendants of John Phillips and Ellen, His Wife, from Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, Wales. Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of the Church of Latter Day Saints, 1967.
John, Don D. and Helen Doup John. “Eliza John Diary from 1839 to 1863: An Historical and Genealogical Record of the Quakers in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania and What Befell Them,” in Historical Collections of the John Family in America, 1950. Louisville, Kentucky: J. D. John, Self-published, 1951.
John, George D., Mary Alice John, Elida P. John, Sarah Hughes, and Sidney A. John, in Illinois Deaths and Stillbirths, 1916-1947 (database via Public Board of Health, Archives, Springfield, Illinois, Family History Library microfilm 1,614,419, 1,786,728 and 1,818,801; dates: 1928, 1937, 1938). Salt Lake City, Utah: Family History Library.
Leanna D. Hornbeck, in Illinois Deaths and Stillbirths, 1916–1947. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 1934.
Leanna D. Hornbeck, in U.S. Passport Applications (No. 5492 on Roll No. 184). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Citizenship and U.S. National Archives, 10 May 1913.
Lecture Presentation by Annie E. Leisenring, in “Addresses and Discussions: Fourth Annual Welfare and Efficiency Conference, Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, November 21, 22, 23, 1916.” Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Monthly Bulletin of the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, William Stanley Ray, State Printer, March 1917.
Leisenring, Annie, in U.S. Census of Union Veterans and Widows of the Civil War. Washington, D.C. and Pennsylvania: 1890.
Leisenring, Annie E., in United States Veterans Administration Pension Payment Cards (Certificate No.: 240043). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, 1887-1920.
“Letter from Key West” (from “W. D. C. R., Chaplain, Forty-seventh Regiment, P. V.”; dated 13 March 1862). Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: The Press, 31 March 1862, front page.
Lewis, Jim. “Not Forgotten: She Was Both Pediatrician and Pioneer” (obituary of Sandra Rowan, MD, one of the children cared for by Lillie May Snyder). Reading, Pennsylvania: Reading Eagle, 16 July 2016.
“Lillian Snyder, 92, Was Registered Nurse” (obituary of H. Corrine Snyder’s younger sister, Lillian Estelle Snyder). Lancaster, Pennsylvania: Intelligencer Journal, 9 June 2001.
“Local Group Returns from Tour of Orient” (photo with article about the travels of Catharine R. (Snyder) Courtney and friends). Lancaster, Pennsylvania: Intelligencer Journal, 2 April 1963.
“Many Attend Funeral of Stephen J. Moyer.” Scranton, Pennsylvania: The Scranton Tribune, 9 August 1915.
Maurer, Russ. “Lavelle Telegraph Telephone Company Charted in 1908,” in “Memories of Russ Maurer.” Hegins, Pennsylvania: The Citizen-Standard, circa 1990s.
“Minick, Julia A. (nee) Megill, Julia A.” [sic], in U.S. Civil War Pension General Index Cards, 1896. Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
Minnich, Capt. Edwin G. and Mrs. Julia (Kuehner) Minnich (images and military paperwork). Pennsylvania: Personal Collection of Chris Sapp.
“Miss Nona Snyder Is Married Today to Pine Grove Man” (article describing the wedding ceremony of Nona M. Snyder and Allen A. Albert). Lebanon, Pennsylvania: Lebanon Daily News, 23 September 1953.
Mrs. Julia Magill, in “Prominent Army Nurses,” in “The National Association of Army Nurses of the Civil War.” Washington, D.C.: The Evening Times, Wednesday, October 8, 1902.
“Mrs. Margaret J. Breneman” (obituary). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Harrisburg Telegraph, 20 March 1930.
“Nona Albert” (obituary). Lebanon, Pennsylvania: The Daily News, 3 June 1960.
Notice of Mrs. Henry Hornbeck’s Return from Chicago. Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Allentown Democrat, 23 September 1909.
Occupational Outlook Handbook, 1959 Edition, pp. 239-249, in Bulletin No. 1255. Washington, D.C.: United States Department of Labor, 1959.
Rodrock, William D. C. and Julia M. Rodrock, in U.S. Civil War Pension Index (application no.: 296549, certificate no.: 260499, filed by the veteran on 17 July 1879; application no.: 793449, certificate no.: 574458, filed by the veteran’s widow from New Jersey on 24 October 1903). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
“Shopping Nights Are Agreed Upon.” Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Allentown Leader, 17 December 1917.
Smalser, Robert. Letter of Mary Barbara (Nyhart) Moyer to her husband, Stephen J. Moyer, and photographs of Stephen J. and Mary Moyer and their children. Seabeck, Washington: Personal Collection of Col. Bob Smalser (used with permission).
Snyder, Catharine, John, Timothy, Lillie, and Salome, in A Directory of the Eleventh Census of the Population of Schuylkill County, Giving the Names and Ages of Males and Females, Published by Cities, Boroughs, Wards, Townships, Precincts or Towns, in Connection with a Business Directory of the Same for Advertising Purposes. Lebanon, Pennsylvania: E. A. Schartel, Publisher, 1891.
Snyder, Catharine R. and Courtney, Charles F., in “Massachusetts Vital Records Index to Marriages” (documentation of the marriage of H. Corrine Snyder’s younger sister, Catharine, in Boston in 1947). Boston, Massachusetts: New England Historic Genealogical Society.
Snyder, Catharine R. and Lillian, E., in The Boston Directory for the Year Commencing July 1, 1942 (Boston Massachusetts, 1942). Chicago, Illinois: R. L. Polk Publishers, 1942.
Snyder, Corrine and Catharine, in Reading City Directory, 1926. Reading, Pennsylvania: Boyd’s City Directories.
Snyder, Corrine, Lillian E. and Catharine R., in U.S. Census (City of Reading, Fourteenth Ward, Berks County, Pennsylvania, 1940). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
Snyder, H. Corrine, in U.S. Census (Allentown, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, 1950). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
Snyder, John H., Minnie R., Timothy P. and Nona M., in U.S. Census (Butler Township, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, 1900). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
Snyder, John H., Minnie R., Timothy P., Nona M., H. Corrine, John S., Catharine R., and Lillian E., in U.S. Census (Lavelle, Northwest Butler Township, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, 1910). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
Snyder, John H., Minnie, Nona M., John S., and Willard E. in U.S. Census (Butler Township, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, 1930). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
Snyder, John H., Minnie R., Nona, Corrine, John S., Catharine R., Lillian E., Chester H., and Willard E. in U.S. Census (Butler Township, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, 1920). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
Snyder, Lillie May, in Gibson & Sanders Funeral Home Records (1956). Reading, Pennsylvania: Sanders Funeral Home, retrieved in 2011.
Snyder, Miss Lillie (obituary and funeral notice). Reading, Pennsylvania: Reading Eagle, 16 and 18 May 1956.
“Stephen J. Moyer,” in “Deaths.” Scranton, Pennsylvania: The Scranton Tribune, 6 August 1915.
“Veterans Who Will Be at the G.A.R. Celebration Owe Their Lives to the Heroic Self-Sacrifice of These Wgomen Nurses.” Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: The Philadelphia Times, Sunday, 20 August 1899.
“Violate Child Labor Law: One Employer Heavily Fined and Others to Be Arrested. Special to The Telegraph.” Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Harrisburg Telegraph, 8 September 1911.
Wattenberg, Ben. “FMC Program Segments 1900-1930: Infant and Maternal Mortality,” in “The First Measured Century.” Washington, D.C.: PBS, 2000 (retrieved online 14 February 2025).
“W.C.T.U. Convention,” in “Frackville News.” Shenandoah, Pennsylvania: Evening Herald, 30 September 1950.
“Will of Henry J. Hornbeck.” Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Allentown Democrat, 19 October 1898.

Honoring President George Washington, Fort Taylor, Key West, Florida (February 22, 1862)

Feb17

Fort Taylor, Key West, Florida (Harper’s Weekly, 1864, public domain).

Letter from the Sunbury Guards
Camp Brannan. Key West, Fla., Feb. 27, 1862.

DEAR WILVERT:– Gen. Brannan and staff arrived here on Friday last, on the steamer Philadelphia. He made his first appearance, to us, on our parade ground, at dress parade, and seemed pleased at the improvement the men had made with their new arms, in the manual. After dress parade he rode passed [sic] the different streets of the regiment, and the enthusiastic cheers given him showed that he was liked, and that the men had perfect confidence in him.

Saturday last, the anniversary of the birth of “the Father of his Country,” WASHINGTON, was celebrated in a becoming manner. The whole Brigade was formed in Divisions, which made three sides of a square; the officers in the centre [sic]. A prayer was then offered to the Throne of Grace asking for success to our arms, that this wicked rebellion might be put down, and that we might hereafter celebrate the anniversary of Washington’s birthday in peace. The farewell ‘Address’ was then read….

Washington & Lincoln (Apotheosis), J. A. Arthur, 1865 (public domain).

When 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Henry D. Wharton penned those words from his duty station at Fort Taylor in Key West on February 27, he was referring to the final public address given by the first President of the United States, GeorgeWashington, as he prepared to retire from his life of public service. Written on September 19, 1796, Washington’s insightful words reminded Wharton and his fellow Union Army soldiers what they were fighting to preserve.

Picture them as they stood there, attired in their blue uniforms, the American flag wafting gently in the breeze under the brilliant blue sky of a sunny, Florida day, as a senior officer solemnly read Washington’s final guidance to his beloved fellow Americans–guidance that remains relevant even now.

Washington’s Final Address (Excerpt)

Friends and Fellow Citizens:

The period for a new election of a citizen to administer the executive government of the United States being not far distant, and the time actually arrived when your thoughts must be employed in designating the person who is to be clothed with that important trust, it appears to me proper, especially as it may conduce to a more distinct expression of the public voice, that I should now apprise you of the resolution I have formed, to decline being considered among the number of those out of whom a choice is to be made.

I beg you, at the same time, to do me the justice to be assured that this resolution has not been taken without a strict regard to all the considerations appertaining to the relation which binds a dutiful citizen to his country; and that in withdrawing the tender of service, which silence in my situation might imply, I am influenced by no diminution of zeal for your future interest, no deficiency of grateful respect for your past kindness, but am supported by a full conviction that the step is compatible with both.

The acceptance of, and continuance hitherto in, the office to which your suffrages have twice called me have been a uniform sacrifice of inclination to the opinion of duty and to a deference for what appeared to be your desire. I constantly hoped that it would have been much earlier in my power, consistently with motives which I was not at liberty to disregard, to return to that retirement from which I had been reluctantly drawn….

The unity of government which constitutes you one people is also now dear to you. It is justly so, for it is a main pillar in the edifice of your real independence, the support of your tranquility at home, your peace abroad; of your safety; of your prosperity; of that very liberty which you so highly prize. But as it is easy to foresee that, from different causes and from different quarters, much pains will be taken, many artifices employed to weaken in your minds the conviction of this truth; as this is the point in your political fortress against which the batteries of internal and external enemies will be most constantly and actively (though often covertly and insidiously) directed, it is of infinite moment that you should properly estimate the immense value of your national union to your collective and individual happiness; that you should cherish a cordial, habitual, and immovable attachment to it; accustoming yourselves to think and speak of it as of the palladium of your political safety and prosperity; watching for its preservation with jealous anxiety; discountenancing whatever may suggest even a suspicion that it can in any event be abandoned; and indignantly frowning upon the first dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion of our country from the rest, or to enfeeble the sacred ties which now link together the various parts.

For this you have every inducement of sympathy and interest. Citizens, by birth or choice, of a common country, that country has a right to concentrate your affections. The name of American, which belongs to you in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of patriotism more than any appellation derived from local discriminations.

With slight shades of difference, you have the same religion, manners, habits, and political principles. You have in a common cause fought and triumphed together; the independence and liberty you possess are the work of joint counsels, and joint efforts of common dangers, sufferings, and successes.

But these considerations, however powerfully they address themselves to your sensibility, are greatly outweighed by those which apply more immediately to your interest. Here every portion of our country finds the most commanding motives for carefully guarding and preserving the union of the whole….

In contemplating the causes which may disturb our Union, it occurs as matter of serious concern that any ground should have been furnished for characterizing parties by geographical discriminations, Northern and Southern, Atlantic and Western; whence designing men may endeavor to excite a belief that there is a real difference of local interests and views.

One of the expedients of party to acquire influence within particular districts is to misrepresent the opinions and aims of other districts. You cannot shield yourselves too much against the jealousies and heartburnings which spring from these misrepresentations; they tend to render alien to each other those who ought to be bound together by fraternal affection….

To the efficacy and permanency of your Union, a government for the whole is indispensable. No alliance, however strict, between the parts can be an adequate substitute; they must inevitably experience the infractions and interruptions which all alliances in all times have experienced. Sensible of this momentous truth, you have improved upon your first essay, by the adoption of a constitution of government better calculated than your former for an intimate union, and for the efficacious management of your common concerns. This government, the offspring of our own choice, uninfluenced and unawed, adopted upon full investigation and mature deliberation, completely free in its principles, in the distribution of its powers, uniting security with energy, and containing within itself a provision for its own amendment, has a just claim to your confidence and your support. Respect for its authority, compliance with its laws, acquiescence in its measures, are duties enjoined by the fundamental maxims of true liberty. The basis of our political systems is the right of the people to make and to alter their constitutions of government. But the Constitution which at any time exists, till changed by an explicit and authentic act of the whole people, is sacredly obligatory upon all. The very idea of the power and the right of the people to establish government presupposes the duty of every individual to obey the established government.

All obstructions to the execution of the laws, all combinations and associations, under whatever plausible character, with the real design to direct, control, counteract, or awe the regular deliberation and action of the constituted authorities, are destructive of this fundamental principle, and of fatal tendency. They serve to organize faction, to give it an artificial and extraordinary force; to put, in the place of the delegated will of the nation the will of a party, often a small but artful and enterprising minority of the community; and, according to the alternate triumphs of different parties, to make the public administration the mirror of the ill-concerted and incongruous projects of faction, rather than the organ of consistent and wholesome plans digested by common counsels and modified by mutual interests.

However combinations or associations of the above description may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely, in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion.

Towards the preservation of your government, and the permanency of your present happy state, it is requisite, not only that you steadily discountenance irregular oppositions to its acknowledged authority, but also that you resist with care the spirit of innovation upon its principles, however specious the pretexts. One method of assault may be to effect, in the forms of the Constitution, alterations which will impair the energy of the system, and thus to undermine what cannot be directly overthrown. In all the changes to which you may be invited, remember that time and habit are at least as necessary to fix the true character of governments as of other human institutions; that experience is the surest standard by which to test the real tendency of the existing constitution of a country; that facility in changes, upon the credit of mere hypothesis and opinion, exposes to perpetual change, from the endless variety of hypothesis and opinion; and remember, especially, that for the efficient management of your common interests, in a country so extensive as ours, a government of as much vigor as is consistent with the perfect security of liberty is indispensable. Liberty itself will find in such a government, with powers properly distributed and adjusted, its surest guardian. It is, indeed, little else than a name, where the government is too feeble to withstand the enterprises of faction, to confine each member of the society within the limits prescribed by the laws, and to maintain all in the secure and tranquil enjoyment of the rights of person and property.

I have already intimated to you the danger of parties in the State, with particular reference to the founding of them on geographical discriminations. Let me now take a more comprehensive view, and warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party generally.

This spirit, unfortunately, is inseparable from our nature, having its root in the strongest passions of the human mind. It exists under different shapes in all governments, more or less stifled, controlled, or repressed; but, in those of the popular form, it is seen in its greatest rankness, and is truly their worst enemy.

The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries which result gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual; and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of public liberty.

Without looking forward to an extremity of this kind (which nevertheless ought not to be entirely out of sight), the common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it.

It serves always to distract the public councils and enfeeble the public administration. It agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms, kindles the animosity of one part against another, foments occasionally riot and insurrection. It opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, which finds a facilitated access to the government itself through the channels of party passions. Thus the policy and the will of one country are subjected to the policy and will of another….

Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence (I conjure you to believe me, fellow-citizens) the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake, since history and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican government. But that jealousy to be useful must be impartial; else it becomes the instrument of the very influence to be avoided, instead of a defense against it. Excessive partiality for one foreign nation and excessive dislike of another cause those whom they actuate to see danger only on one side, and serve to veil and even second the arts of influence on the other. Real patriots who may resist the intrigues of the favorite are liable to become suspected and odious, while its tools and dupes usurp the applause and confidence of the people, to surrender their interests.

The great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations is in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connection as possible. So far as we have already formed engagements, let them be fulfilled with perfect good faith. Here let us stop. Europe has a set of primary interests which to us have none; or a very remote relation. Hence she must be engaged in frequent controversies, the causes of which are essentially foreign to our concerns. Hence, therefore, it must be unwise in us to implicate ourselves by artificial ties in the ordinary vicissitudes of her politics, or the ordinary combinations and collisions of her friendships or enmities.

Our detached and distant situation invites and enables us to pursue a different course. If we remain one people under an efficient government, the period is not far off when we may defy material injury from external annoyance; when we may take such an attitude as will cause the neutrality we may at any time resolve upon to be scrupulously respected; when belligerent nations, under the impossibility of making acquisitions upon us, will not lightly hazard the giving us provocation; when we may choose peace or war, as our interest, guided by justice, shall counsel.

Why forego the advantages of so peculiar a situation? Why quit our own to stand upon foreign ground? Why, by interweaving our destiny with that of any part of Europe, entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of European ambition, rivalship, interest, humor or caprice?

It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world; so far, I mean, as we are now at liberty to do it; for let me not be understood as capable of patronizing infidelity to existing engagements. I hold the maxim no less applicable to public than to private affairs, that honesty is always the best policy….

Harmony, liberal intercourse with all nations, are recommended by policy, hunanity, and interest. But even our commercial policy should hold an eual and impartial hand: neither seeking nor granting exclusive favors or preferences; consulting the natural course of things; diffusing and diversifying by gentle means the streams of commerce but forcing nothing; establishing with powers so disposed–in order to give to trade a stable course, to define the rights of our merchants, and to enable the government to support them, conventional rules of intercourse, the best that present circumstances and mutual opinion will permit … constantly keeping in view, that it is folly in one nation to look for disinterested favors from another….

Though in reviewing the incidents of my administration I am unconscious of intentional error, I am nevertheless too sensible of my defects not to think it probable that I have committed many errors. Whatever they may be, I beseech the Almighty to avert or mitigate the evils to which they may tend. I shall also carry with me the hope that my country will never cease to view them with indulgence….

The reading of Washington’s lengthy final address continued on. The full address is available online here. It is well worth reading–and re-reading, on an annual basis.

Sources:

“Farewell Address (1796).” Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: National Constitution Center, retrieved online February 17, 2025.
“George Washington’s Farewell Address.” Mount Vernon, Virginia: George Washington’s Mount Vernon, retrieved online February 17, 2025.
Wharton, Henry. “Letter from the Sunbury Guards: Camp Brannan, Key West, Florida, February 27, 1862.” Sunbury, Pennsylvania: Sunbury American, 15 March 1862.

Pardon Our Dust: Periodic Website Page Updates in 2025

Jan14

Scaffolding, mid-section of the Statue of Liberty, 1985 restoration (U.S. Library of Congress, public domain).

One of the proudest accomplishments of the staff and volunteers who are associated with 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers: One Civil War Regiment’s Story is the knowledge that our educational project celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2024.

That first decade passed quickly, as we kept our noses to the grindstone, researching, writing and posting new content about the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry and its members.

But, as so often happens with content that has been posted online for any serious length of time, some of the links that we added years ago to the first profiles we created for the regiment’s companies and our first soldiers’ biographies have broken and need to be updated. In addition, some of our older pages need to be updated to reflect the advancements in research that we’ve made since those web pages were first published.

So, we ask that you pardon our “dust” over the next several months. You’ll be seeing changes to our website’s older pages, as we take on several necessary “home improvement” projects, in between our efforts to research, write and publish brand new content.

Fear not. You will still be seeing new biographies and posts as we continue our march forward into our project’s second decade. We look forward to having you join us on our trek through time.

A New Year and Our Second Decade of Storytelling

Jan2

“New Year’s” (Thomas Nast, Harper’s Weekly, 8 January 1881, public domain).

Out with the old and in with the … old? Such are the lives of researchers and students of the American Civil War and Reconstruction eras as we move forward from 2024 into the New Year of 2025.

Unlike millions of other human beings across our pale blue dot (as Carl Sagan called our planet), we will continue to spend a significant portion of our lives looking back as 2025 progresses. We will do so not because we are backward in our ways of thinking, however, but because we’re hoping to better understand how our nation and world came to be what it is at present — as we also try to answer questions about our respective ancestors and the roles they played in shaping how we became who we are as individuals today.

My promise, as the founder and managing editor of 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers: One Civil War Regiment’s Story, is that our travels back in time, during what is now our second decade of operation, will continue to include adventures filled with fascinating twists and turns that will sometimes be sad, but more often than not, will be informative and positively energizing.

Our 2025 education program objectives are much the same as they’ve always been — to hunt for data that sheds light on the lives of the men who served with the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, to learn more about their immediate families and descendants, to find records, photographs and other memorabilia that will corroborate the data we uncover, to use those details, documents, photographs, and memorabilia to tell the stories of those men and their families as accurately and thoroughly as we possibly can, and to motivate learners of all ages across Pennsylvania, the United States and the world to study the history of this regiment and appreciate the impact that its members made, as individuals, on their communities, our nation and our beloved “pale blue dot.”

Welcome to 2025! Let the time travels begin!!

47th Pennsylvania Volunteers

ONE CIVIL WAR REGIMENT'S STORY

Tag Archives: 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers

Observing Pennsylvania German Day on June 28

Reconstruction and Provost Duties: The 47th Pennsylvania Heads for Georgia (Early to Late June 1865)

Camp Brightwood, Washington, D.C.: Medical Issues and Personnel Changes (April-Early June 1865)

“Propitious Weather and a Splendid Spectacle”: The United States of America’s Grand Review of the Armies (May 23, 1865)

A Musical Tribute to Beloved Commanding Officers: The 47th Pennsylvania’s Regimental Band “Serenades” Generals Grant and Sheridan (May 22, 1865)

April 12th: This Date in 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry History

Women’s History Month: A Look Back at the Mothers, Wives, Widows, Daughters, and Granddaughters of the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers

Honoring President George Washington, Fort Taylor, Key West, Florida (February 22, 1862)

Pardon Our Dust: Periodic Website Page Updates in 2025

A New Year and Our Second Decade of Storytelling