History of Butler County Pennsylvania - 1883

Transcribed by Judy Lockwood. For an explanation and caution about this transcription, please read this page.

Because this chapter is an extensive roster of military personnel, the surnames have not been included at the front of the chapter. The following abbreviations have been made use of in compiling the several rosters:   e., enlisted; dis., discharged; disab., disability; m., mustered in service; m.o., mustered out, m.o.w.c., mustered out with company; m.o.w.b., mustered out with battery; wd., wounded; m.wd., mortally wounded; nat. cem., national cemetery; P.V., Pennsylvania Volunteers; pro., promoted; Surg. cert., Surgeon's certificate; tr., transferred; vet., veteran; V.C., Volunteer Cavalry; V.I., Volunteer Infantry; V.R.C., Veteran Reserve Corp.

[p. 121]
On the 18th of August, 1862, Lieut. James M. SCHOONMAKER, of the First Maryland Cavalry, but a citizen of Pittsburgh, Penn., was authorized by Secretary of War STANTON and Gov. CURTIN to recruit a battalion of cavalry of five companies. Recruits came in so rapidly that on the 29th the authority was extended to the recruiting of a full regiment of twelve companies. The companies were composed, chiefly, of men from Allegany, Armstrong, Butler, Erie, Fayette, Lawrence, Washington and Warren Counties. Company L was a Butler County organization and for that reason we here insert a brief account of the arduous services performed by the regiment.

"This regiment, the One Hundred and Fifty-ninth, rendezvoused first at Camp Howe and subsequently at Camp Montgomery, near Pittsburgh, where, on November 24, a regimental organization was effected, with the following officers: Colonel, James M. SCHOONMAKER; Lieutenant Colonel, William BLAKELEY; Majors, Thomas GIBSON, Shadrach FOLEY and John M. DAILY. On the same day, the regiment moved toward Hagerstown, Md., and from thense to Harper's Ferry, where it remained on picket duty, varied with an occasional skirmish with the guerrilla bands which infested that region, until May, 1863, when the regiment was sent to Grafton, on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, and attached to the mounted command of Gen. AVERILL. The service at this time consisted in holding the towns of Beverly, Phillipi and Webster against a body of the enemy's cavalry. The Fourteenth was held at Phillipi, and the remainder of the command at Webster and Beverly. The force at the latter place was surrounded by a brigade of the enemy. The Fourteenth marched to their relief, and after a toilsome march reached the town early in the morning. A short skirmish took place and the enemy was compelled to withdraw. After this time, Gen. AVERILL's command was engaged on the Upper Potomac during the Gettysburg campaign; also at Greenbrier White Sulphur Springs, where the Fourteenth distinguished itself by repulsing three determined charges of the enemy. It was in the Droop mountain raid and some smaller engagements. At Craig's Creek, where Gen. AVERILL and his command seemed doomed to certain capture, he skillfully eluded the enemy and no less than seven times in twenty-four hours the artillery was dragged by hand through the creek, which was deep and filled with floating ice. In November, 1863, the Fourteenth, by the destruction of the bridge over the Jackson River, was cut off from the main troops, and Gen. EARLY sent in a flag of truce demanding its surrender. Although surrounded by adverse circumstances, the men of the Fourteenth Regiment were not the kind to weakly yield, but setting fire to the train and fording the river, they made their escape and rejoined the command, which swam the Greenbrier that same night, crossed the Alleghanies by an old bridle-path, and finally, after a march of five days over almost impassable roads, where the men were compelled to walk, reached Beverly. From this point, the command went to Martinsburg and into winter quarters. In recognition of the great service which the command had performed, the War Department gave to each man a new suit of clothes as a gift from the Govern- [p.122]ment, the only instance of the kind during the war. The command was engaged on picket duty all of that winter, and arduous duty it was, too. In the spring of 1864, Gen. AVERILL's command undertook a movement through Virginia, which was successfully accomplished after great difficulty. While on this march, the soldiers of the Fourteenth, on one occasion, were without food for five days, and many died from hunger. The last portion of the service in which this regiment was engaged included the battle of Moorefield and those brilliant engagements under SHERIDAN, which have made his name famous. On the 20th of April, 1865, the regiment went to Washington, D.C., and on June 11, to Fort Leavenworth, Kan., where it was consolidated into a battalion of six companies. The date of the muster out was August 24, 1865, and the companies returned in a body to Pittsburgh, where they disbanded."

We add to the foregoing newspaper report of the services done by this regiment, that during all the campaigns in which it was engaged, it lost about eighty men killed, more than two hundred wounded, besides the many reported missing.

[End of Chapter 13d--Butler County During War of 1861-65, 169th Regiment: History of Butler County, Pennsylvania. With Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of some of its Prominent Men and Pioneers. Waterman, Watkins, & Co., Chicago, 1883.]

Chapter 13--Butler County During War of 1861-65, 137th Regiment
Chapter 13--Butler County During War of 1861-65, 169th Regiment
1883 Butler County History Contents
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Edited 28 Nov 1999, 17:07