A few days later [mid-September 1862, after Antietam] we went into our “homesick camp,” near Hagerstown, Maryland for six weeks. Oh! The homesick boys! I was out on picket duty on the Potomac River, watching General Lee’s army which was in camp on the other side, so I had no time to get homesick. I’ll […]
Pittsburgh businessman William Semple, who was instrumental in the formation of four companies of the 139th, presented a national color to Company I, which was used as the regimental color from the time of the regiment’s muster September 1, 1862.1)Advance The Colors: Pennsylvania Civil War Battle Flags, Vol. 2, Richard Sauers, Capitol Preservation Committee, 1998 […]
After burying the dead at Bull Run, the 139th “…hastened forward after the army, coming up with it on the 17th of September, the day of the battle of Antietam, and was at once put in line but did not become engaged.”1)History of Pennsylvania Volunteers, Samuel P. Bates, page 378 […]
You may recognize the name Elisha Hunt Rhodes if you have seen the Ken Burns PBS series The Civil War. He kept a detailed journal during the war and wrote many letters home detailing what he was experiencing and how he felt about decisions made by commanding officers. These writings were published by his great-grandson […]
Hi all! I had a problem with my computer and had to have it wiped clean and completely reset. Thank God for Carbonite backup! All is well now and I will get on some new posts soon. 🙂
We laid in camp until September 13th1)probably September 11th because the battle was on September 14th., then we marched for three days and went into our first battle, South Mountain, near Sharpsburg, Maryland. It was one of the hot battles of the war. Our loss in the regiment was small, but there were over 14,000 […]
We arrived at Washington that evening, had some coffee and hard tack, crossed the Potomac River and went into camp for the first night at Arlington, Virginia. It was raining. Next morning President Lincoln came to the camp to ask us to do him a great favor; to go under a flag of truce to […]
The next morning, September first, I had my last meal with Mother; then came the time to part, that was hard. I told her that I would see her some time in the future, then I kissed her and put that fifty dollars in her hand.1)Allegheny County provided a $50 bounty for enlisting, see earlier […]
When the Civil War began, I was eighteen years old; I tried to enlist, but the Glass Company blocked my game, for I was their bound apprentice. But in 1862 came the call for 300,000 volunteers from President Lincoln and on August 6th I enlisted in the 139th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers. I took the pledge […]
Philip had been working in Milliner’s planing mill, learning the trad of patternmaker. John and I got jobs at the Dilworth Rolling Mill, packing railroad spikes. Our work was in a basement, near a large boiler which furnished steam for the large spike machines on the floor above. It was nice work and we each […]