Tag Archives: Battle of Pocotaligo

Red Octobers: Remembering Two of the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers’ Costliest Battles

“The Commencement of the Battle Near Pocotaligo River” (Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, October 1862, public domain; click to enlarge).

“The rebels here had every advantage of ground, being ensconced in a wood, with a deep swamp in front, passable only by a narrow causeway, on which the bridge had been destroyed, while, on our side of the swamp and along the entire front and flanks of the enemy (extending to the swamps), was an impervious thicket, intersected by a deep water ditch, and passable only by a narrow road. Into this road the rebels threw a most terrific fire of grape, shot, shell, canister, and musket balls, killing and wounding great numbers of my command.” — Brigadier-General John M. Brannan, commanding, Battle of Pocotaligo, South Carolina (October 22, 1864)

“This victory was, to us, of company C, dearly bought…. It is my painful duty to inform you of the news and I will now give you our loss in killed wounded and missing.” — Field Musician Henry D. Wharton, drummer, 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers, Battle of Cedar Creek, Virginia (October 19, 1864)

 

The month of October was often a confusing one for many veterans of the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, bringing with it the conflicting emotions of pride and profound grief, as memories of bloody battles bravely waged on distant fields long ago suddenly began reinserting themselves into their daytime thoughts and haunting their dreams.

For some, the “time machine” of memory transported them back to South Carolina in 1862 when nearly one hundred and fifty members of the regiment were seriously wounded or killed in action during the Battle of Pocotaligo — the first major combat experience for the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers. Others flashed back to 1864 — when the regiment lost the equivalent of nearly two full companies of men during the Battle of Cedar Creek, Virginia.

But as painful and frightening as those memories often were, the 47th Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers also knew that their service to the nation had genuinely mattered. Each, in his own way, had helped to save the United States of America from disunion.

So it will come as no surprise, then, to learn that many of the surviving members of the 47th Pennsylvania made a concerted effort to schedule their get-togethers in conjunction with the anniversaries of those two battles. More often than not, those annual reunions fell on the actual anniversary of the Battle of Pocotaligo — October 22.

The First Reunion

Newspaper headline regarding the first reunion of 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry veterans in Catasauqua, Pennsylvania on October 22, 1873 (The Newport News, Newport, Pennsylvania, November 8, 1873, public domain).

The first official gathering of 47th Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers took place in the Borough of Catasauqua in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania on October 22, 1873, and was attended by more than eighty of the regiment’s former officers and enlisted men who had been greeted by the “Committee of Arrangements” upon their arrival at Catasauqua’s train station shortly after noon that day, according to The Newport News. Dressed either in their old uniforms or the newer uniforms of the Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.), they lined up behind “the City Cornet Band of Allentown,” and “were conducted to the ‘Mansion House,’ (Captain Harte, proprietor), which was decorated with flags and evergreens, and had the words, “Welcome 47th,” on the front of the piazza, wreathed with evergreens.”

“Here a general hand-shaking took place, congratulations of a hearty character were given, and old friendships renewed which had not been formed under such pleasant circumstances. There were probably a hundred present from various places — Allentown, Easton, and Northumberland and Perry counties…. Among those of the 47th we noticed Cols. Gobin and Good, the former of Lebanon, and the latter of Allentown; Capts. Hart and Gilbert of Catasauqua; Capt. Yard and Lieutenants Bonstine and Wycker, of Easton; Capt. Beard, of Harrisburg; Lieuts. Balliet and Stuber, Captains Kleckner and Leisenring, of Allentown; Assistant Surgeon Scheetz of Pottstown, and Quartermaster F. Z. Heebner, of Allentown.”

Their business meeting then began at 2 p.m. in the town hall, which “was handsomely decorated with the Stars and Stripes, and hung with wreaths and festoons of evergreens and flowers,” according to The Newport News. An “address of welcome was made by M. H. Horn, Cashier of the Catasauqua National Bank,” who spoke of “the terrible and sanguinary conflicts, the sufferings on the battlefield, in prison pens, in the hospital — and the honored dead,” and observed that the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers had “shared in all [those] scenes.”

“You helped to save our honored institutions. Your share of this work has been recorded upon the pages of history, and has been read and re-read by thousands, and will be read by thousands yet unborn. Your object here to-day is to talk over the past, and to take steps towards securing a series of reunions. May your proceedings be harmonious and pleasant, and may your re-unions be continued until none of you survive, and may you all at last join in that re-union in a better land, where there is no war, but all is peace.”

The 47th Pennsylvanians then elected a temporary slate of officers and appointed a five-member committee to help guide them in the formation of their own, new veterans’ group. Their former commanding officer, John Peter Shindel Gobin, who had been appointed to serve as the chairman of their association’s first board of directors, then delivered his own address, during which he called to mind the highs and terrible lows of their long tenure of service. According to The Newport News, “His speech was well received.”

Allentown’s mayor, Theodore C. Yeager, M.D., then stepped up to the podium, “alluded to the trial and hardships … and paid a glowing tribute to the services of the gallant 47th.”

The Committee on Organization, which was chaired by the regiment’s founder and Allentown’s former mayor, Tilghman H. Good, followed with a report regarding the planning and costs related to that first reunion, after which a roll call was conducted to formally document the names of the 47th Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers who were present for that historic occasion.

Additional business matters were then debated — the result of which was the approval of the group’s official name — “Association of the 47th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers” — and of its mission statement — “to revive and cement friendship formed in the ranks, and promote the social feeling so desirable, and that should exist between the men whose names are found on the rolls of the 47th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers.” Vice presidents, who had just been elected by the group to represent the companies in which they had served during the war, were then charged with reaching out to their former comrades to urge them to join the regiment’s new association. “William Weiss was designated as Secretary on Membership, and instructed to prepare a record book” that would keep track of “the name and Post Office address of each member,” including the musicians of the former Regimental Band, who were expected to reunite under the baton of the 47th’s second bandmaster, Anthony B. Bush.

The date chosen for their next reunion was Thursday, October 22, 1874. Also scheduled to take place on the anniversary of the Battle of Pocotaligo, it would be held in Allentown — as would many subsequent gatherings of 47th Pennsylvanians. One, in particular, would prove to be the most memorable of all — for the veterans and for their families.

Making History Yet Again

Allentown Militia, Soldiers and Sailors Monument Dedication, Allentown, Pennsylvania, 1899 (public domain).

Without question, the most notable of the reunions held by the Association of the 47th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers was the one that was planned to coincide with the anniversary of the Battle of Cedar Creek in 1899 — a history-making year in which the Lehigh County Soldiers and Sailors Monument was scheduled to be unveiled and dedicated in the city of Allentown.

Designated as “Monument Day,” October 19, 1899 had officially been declared as a holiday for students and many workers across the city. According to the October 5 edition of The Allentown Leader that year, all schools were to be closed so that students and their families could participate in the parade and dedication ceremony, with as many as one thousand elementary school students expected to be on hand to “sing national anthems at the unveiling exercises.” As planning for the celebration continued to unfold, leaders of the Association of the 47th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers announced that veterans of the regiment would “carry their old tattered flag that was used in the war” when marching in the parade that would be held prior to the dedication ceremony.

And when that parade began? It was breathtaking. An estimated fifteen thousand marchers from one hundred twenty-five organizations, “representing the principal towns and cities in the eastern section of the state,” were stretched out along a two-mile line, according to various newspaper accounts that would later describe the procession as “the largest and grandest demonstration in the history of the city.” The parade’s chief marshal, Corporal Francis Daeufer, a veteran of the 47th Pennsylvania’s Company I, ensured that each of the divisions (Grand Army of the Republic, Union Veteran Legion, Sons of Veterans, Patriotic Order Sons of America, Knights of the Golden Eagle, Junior Order United American Mechanics, Improved Order of Red Men, the city’s fire department, Survivors of the Forty-seventh Regiment, Soldiers and Sailors of the Spanish-American War, Knights of Pythias, Knights of Friendship, Knights of the Mystic Chain, National Guard of Pennsylvania, and various other organizations) stepped off on time and kept the parade flowing with energy and efficiency.

In its follow-up coverage, The Allentown Leader estimated that the total crowd may have reached sixty thousand men, women and children, many of whom cheered and waved American flags as the aging veterans marched past them. Roughly fifteen thousand of those attendees then “massed on the Square” for the actual monument dedication, during which a group of daughters and granddaughters of Civil War veterans assisted with the monument’s unveiling while younger children sang the Star-Spangled Banner.

No other regimental reunion, no matter how well planned in years to come, would ever eclipse those inspiring events of Monument Day. Memories of long-forgotten sacrifices were rekindled and wounded hearts were healed as Americans put aside their differences to pay sincere tribute to the men who had given their all to save the United States of America.

 

Sources:

  1. “47th Reunion.” Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Allentown Leader, October 13, 1899.
  2. Bates, Samuel P. History of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-5, vol. 1. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: B. Singerly, State Printer, 1869.
  3. “Board of Control: Legislation for the Benefit of Allentown Schools: Monument Day Will Be a Holiday.” Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Allentown Leader, October 5, 1899.
  4. Gobin, John Peter Shindel. Personal Letters, 1861-1865. Northumberland, Pennsylvania: Personal Collection of John Deppen.
  5. Irwin, Richard Bache. History of the Nineteenth Army Corps. New York, New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1893.
  6. Lambert, James F. and Henry J. Reinhard. A History of Catasauqua in Lehigh County Pennsylvania. Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Searle & Dressler Co., Inc., 1914.
  7. “Program Adopted: Order of Exercises for Unveiling Decided Upon.” Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Allentown Leader, October 5, 1899.
  8. Reports of Colonel Tilghman H. Good, Forty-seventh Pennsylvania Infantry and acting commander, First Brigade, Tenth Army Corps, in The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Prepared Under the Direction of the Secretary of War, By Lieut. Col. Robert N. Scott, Third U.S. Artillery, and Published Pursuant to Act of Congress Approved June 16, 1880 (series I, vol. XIV). Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1885.
  9. “Reunion of the Forty-Seventh Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers: First Meeting at Catasauqua, Lehigh County, Pa., October 22d, 1873,” in “Military.” Newport, Pennsylvania: The Newport News, November 8, 1873.
  10. “Roster of the 47th P. V. Inf.” Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Morning Call, October 26, 1930.
  11. Schmidt, Lewis. A Civil War History of the 47th Regiment of Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers. Allentown, Pennsylvania: Self-published, 1986.
  12. 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.
  13. “The Forty-Seventh in Annual Reunion: Anniversary of Pocotaligo Was Celebrated by Veterans: Met at South Bethlehem.” Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Morning Call, October 23, 1908.
  14. “The History of the Forty-Seventh Regt. P. V.” Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Lehigh Register, July 20, 1870.
  15. Wharton, Henry D. Letters from the Sunbury Guards. Sunbury, Pennsylvania: Sunbury American, 1861-1868.

 

On Crutches, Convalescing in Carolina: The Fight by Pocotaligo’s Wounded to Recover

Captain John Peter Shindel Gobin, Company C, 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers, shown here circa 1863, went on to become Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania after the war (public domain).

Still ruminating about the carnage that he and his fellow 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantrymen had survived just weeks earlier during the Battle of Pocotaligo, C Company Captain John Peter Shindel Gobin sat down in his quarters at his regiment’s encampment in Beaufort, South Carolina in mid-November 1862 and began to pen an update to a letter that he had recently written to friends back home. Despite his belief that he had “nothing to write home about,” his letter proved to be an important historical artifact — a handwritten, dated and signed eyewitness account that detailed what happened to multiple Union Army soldiers who had been wounded in action at that 1862 battle in South Carolina.

Head Quarters Co. C 47 P.V.
Beaufort S.C. Nov. 13. 1862

Dear Friends

I have just learned that a mail leaves for the North tomorrow morning although I have nothing particular to write about, and there is no telling when you will get it, as I understand vessels from here are now quarantined ten days at New York. Still I suppose you will be anxious to hear from me.

I have not heard from Sergt. Haupt today. Yesterday he was still living and improving, and I now have hopes of his recovery. I was down on Saturday last and both nurses and doctor promised me to do everything in their power to save him. If money or attention can save him it must be done.

The rest of the wounded of my Company are doing very well. All will recover, I think, and lose no limbs, but how many will be unfit for service I cannot yet tell. Billington, Kiehl, Barlton [sic, “Bartlow”], Sergt. Haupt and Leffler are yet at Hilton Head. Billington is on crutches and attending to Haupt or helping. Barlton [sic, “Bartlow”] and Leffler are also on crutches. Kiehl is walking about, but his jaw is badly shattered. Corp S. Y. Haupt is on duty. Haas’ wound is healing up nicely. Corp. Finck is about on crutches. O’Rourke, Holman, Lothard, Rine [sic, “Rhine”], and Larkins are in camp, getting along finely. Those who were wounded in the body, face and legs all get along much better than Sergt. Haupt who was wounded in the foot. His jaws were tightly locked the last time I saw him.

The Yellow fever is pretty bad at the Head, and I do not like to send any body down. I am holding a Court Martial, and keep very busy. The fever creates no alarm whatever here. No cases at all have occurred save those brought from Hilton Head. We have had two frosts and all feel satisfied that will settle the fever. Some good men have fallen victims to it. Gen. Mitchell [sic, Major-General Ormsby Mitchel] is much regretted here.

Sixty of my men are on picket under Lieut. Oyster, Lieut. Rees [sic, “Reese”] having been on the sick list. However he is well again. The balance of the men are all getting along finely. Warren McEwen had been sick but is well again. My health is excellent. Spirits ditto. I suppose however by the looks of things I will be kept in Court Martials for a month longer, the trial list being very large. The men begin to look on me as a kind of executioner as it seems I must be upon every Court held in the Dep’t [Department of the South].

We are waiting patiently and anxiously for a mail, not having had any news from the North since the 24th of last month. Three weeks without news seems a terrible time, when you come to realize it.

I wrote home from the Head the last time I was down. Was my last received. Write soon and give me all the news. With love to all

I remain
Yours JPSG

What Ultimately Happened to the Men Identified in That Gobin Letter?

Captain Daniel Oyster, Company C, 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers, circa 1864 (public domain).

The “Rees” and “Oyster” mentioned by Captain J. P. S. Gobin were his immediate subordinates, First Lieutenant William Reese and Second Lieutenant Daniel Oyster, who both ended up surviving the war. Reese would later be accused of cowardice during the 1864 Red River Campaign but cleared of that false charge, while Oyster would rise through the regiment’s ranks to become captain of Company C before being wounded in two different battles of Sheridan’s 1864 Shenandoah Valley Campaign.

The “Billington” and “Barlow” who had sustained leg wounds were Privates Samuel Billington and John Bartlow. Although both ultimately recovered from those wounds, Private Billington would later be deemed unable to continue serving with the 47th Pennsylvania and would be honorably discharged on a surgeon’s certificate of disability on July 1, 1863, while Private Bartlow would go on to become a sergeant with the 47th’s C Company, effective September 1, 1864, only to be killed in action just over a month later, during the Battle of Cedar Creek, Virginia.

“Corp. Finck” was Corporal William F. Finck, who had also been wounded in the leg and who also subsequently recovered and returned to duty. Unlike Sergeant Bartlow, however, he would survive a second wound that he would later sustain during the Battle of Cedar Creek and would be promoted to the rank of sergeant on April 1, 1865.

“Haas” was Private Jeremiah Haas, who had been wounded in the breast and face. Known as “Jerry” to his friends and family, he also eventually recovered and returned to duty, but was then mortally wounded in action during the Battle of Sabine Cross Roads near Mansfield, Louisiana on April 8, 1864 and died “almost instantly,” according to a letter written by his Company C comrade, Henry Wharton.

The “Haupts” were Sergeant Peter Haupt and his brother, Private Samuel Y. Haupt. Sergeant Peter Haupt, whose foot and ankle had been wounded at Pocotaligo, later developed lockjaw and died after contracting tetanus from the lead in the canister shot that had struck him. His brother, Samuel, however, survived. Wounded in the face and chin, Samuel would later be cleared for active duty and then be promoted steadily up through the ranks to become a first sergeant.

“Holman” was Private Conrad P. Holman, who had also been wounded in the face and who also recovered and returned to duty, would later be captured by Confederate troops during the Battle of Pleasant Hill in Louisiana on April 9, 1864 and be held as a prisoner of war (POW) at Camp Ford near Tyler, Texas until he was released during a prisoner exchange on July 22 of that same year.

“Kiehl” was Private Theodore Kiehl, whose jaw had shattered when his mouth was struck by a rifle ball at Pocotaligo, also recovered and returned to active duty. Sadly, he would later be killed in action on the grounds of Cooley’s farm near Winchester, Virginia during the Battle of Cedar Creek in October 1864.

“Larkins” and “Leffler” were Privates Michael F. Larkin and Charles W. Lefler, who had sustained wounds to the hip and side and/or arm and stomach (Larkins) and leg (Lefler) at Pocotaligo. They also both recovered and returned to active duty. Unlike so many of their comrades, however, they both survived their respective tenures of service and were both honorably discharged.

“Lothard” was actually Charles L. Marshall — one of several “mystery men” of the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. A native of Virginia who had relocated to Luzerne County, Pennsylvania to work in a coal mine prior to the American Civil War, he had enlisted as a private with the 47th Pennsylvania under the assumed name of “Thomas Lothard.” Shot in the head and/or body at Pocotaligo, he would ultimately recover and return to active duty, only to be wounded again in his head (top), body (right side) and left shin left during the Battle of Sabine Cross Roads in Louisiana on April 8, 1864. Later mistakenly labeled as a deserter, his military records were subsequently clarified to reflect his honorable discharge on January 7, 1866, as well as his legal name and alias.

“Warren McEwen” was Private Warren C. McEwen, whose illness would later become so persistent that he would be honorably discharged on a surgeon’s certificate of disability on December 7, 1862.

“O’Rourke” and “Rine” were Privates Richard O’Rourke and James R. Rhine, who had also sustained wounds to the side (O’Rourke) and leg (Rhine) at Pocotaligo, and would also recover, return to active duty, serve out their respective terms of enlistment, and be honorably discharged.

Veteran Volunteers

Samuel Y. Haupt, Company C, 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers (circa 1863, public domain).

John Bartlow, William Finck, Samuel Haupt, Charles Marshall (as “Thomas Lothard”), Richard O’Rourke, and James Rhine were among multiple members of the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry who would go on to be awarded the coveted title of “Veteran Volunteer” when they chose to re-enlist for additional tours of duty and helped to bring an end to one of the darkest times in America’s history.

Remember their names. Honor the sacrifices that they made.

 

Sources:

  1. Bates, Samuel P. History of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-5, vol. 1. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: B. Singerly, State Printer, 1869.
  2. Gobin, John Peter Shindel. Personal Letters, 1861-1865. Northumberland, Pennsylvania: Personal Collection of John Deppen.
  3. MacConkey, Alfred. “Tetanus: Its Prevention and Treatment by Means of Antitetanic Serum.” London, England: The British Medical Journal, vol. 2, no. 2806, October 10, 1914, pp. 609-614.
  4. Schmidt, Lewis G. A Civil War History of the 47th Regiment of Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers. Allentown, Pennsylvania: Self-published, 1986.
  5. Wharton, Henry D. “Letters from the Sunbury Guards.” Sunbury, Pennsylvania: The Sunbury American, 1862.