"The Bucktails. The Famous Rifle Regiment of Pennsylvania.  The History of One of the Best-Known Regiments in the Army of the Potomac.", Grand Army Scout and Soldiers Mail, January 6, 1883.  Part 1

While there were many regiments in the army that won particular fame by their deeds, it will, perhaps, be admitted by all, that no regiment in either army was better known than "The Bucktails." Few knew of the 43d Pennsylvania Regiment, of the 13th Pennsylvania Reserves, of the Kane rifles, all of which this renowned regiment was, but every soldier knew of the Bucktails. They were not sharpshooters with telescoped rifles, as is sometimes supposed, but they were skilled marksmen, carrying the rifles they had carried in the woods of their native State. Their aim was so ac­curate and their fire so deadly, that they became a terror to the enemy, and 'probably no regiment was so much dreaded as the Bucktails;  their presence always created nervousness and sometimes panic in the ranks of those exposed to their fire. .
      On the 13th of April, 1861, Thomas L. Kane, brother of Dr. Kane, the famous Arctic explorer, obtained per­mission from Governor Curtin to raise a company of riflemen from For­est, McKean and Elk counties. On the 24th of April, a hundred men as­sembled at the rafting place on the Sinnemahoning, where they at once commenced constructing their trans­ports. Two days later they embarked, three hundred and fifteen strong, upon three rafts, and with a green hickory pole, surmounted by a buck's tail, for a flag-staff, the stars and stripes flying, with martial strains of music they moved toward the camp of rendezvous at Harrisburg. They were all hardy men from the forest region, accustomed to the use or the rifle from boyhood, and, to live in the woods for months at a time without shelter, subsisting on game brought down by their rifles., They were quick of perception, and understood every snap of a twig or­ the rustle of a Ieaf, There was not a man among them who would not have, considered it a disgrace not to be able, to shoot a squirrel, off hand, from the top of the highest tree, or a running deer at the distance of four or five hundred yards.
        They assembled at the rendezvous clad in red shirts, and wearing in their hats bucktails, and each carrying his trusty rifle. As no order had been issued by the Governor for marching it was found at headquarters that a limited number would be accepted.  A telegram was dispatched directing them to turn back upon  their arrival at Lock Haven, but they refused to do this, and in due time arrived at Harrisburg and saluted  the city with  volley from their rifles.
        They at once became known as the “Bucktails”. Authority  was given to muster them into the service as the 17^th (three months) Regiment, with Thomas L. Kane as colonel. But a 17th Regiment had already been organized and mustered into service in Philadelphia, and a difficulty arising as to the acceptance of so large a num­ber from a district containing only a small population, the organization was not consummated.   Col. Kane declining his commission was mustered into service on the 13th or May, as a private.
        In  the meantime, other companies , had been recruited and had assembled in camps with like expectations, and were similarly disappointed. Roy Stone, a citizen of Warren county, had recruited, in April, a company of men similar in occupation and experience to those led by Kane. They, bore their own rifles and dwelt, prin­cipally, upon the headwaters of the Allegheny River.   They were encamped some time at the. court-house in Warren, and were fed by the citizens.  Governor Curtin, having no authority to provide for them, advised them to disband. Unwilling to-do this, and tired of inactivity,  they agreed, by, advice of their captain to move down the Allegheny upon flat-boats to Pittsburgh thence to join Gen. McClellan in West Virginia, as an independent corps of sharpshooters. They were five days in making the run, being entertained at,the towns along the river and receiving many recruits along the way. At Pittsburgh they were the guests of the city, and here Capt. Stone was summoned by Governor Curtin to Harrisburg, where the company was  assigned to the Reserve Corps. Another company was recruited in Chester county, one in Perry, one in Clearfield, one in Carbon, and two in Tioga, all of men of the same character and of the same skill as rifle­men.
        After some delay, the officers receiv­ed permission to effect a regimental organization, and did so by electing Thos. L. Kane colonel, Chas. J. Biddle lieut.-colonel and Roy Stone, major. Col. Kane received his commission as .colonel, but though the unanimous .choice of his regiment, never having had any military experience, be un­selfishly resigned as colonel, request­ing that Lieut-Col. Biddle, an experienced officer, should receive the col­onelcy. The request was acceded to at his solicitation, he becoming lieutenant-colonel, and, by resolution of the officers, the name of the regiment was changed to the Kane Rifle regiment in honor of his  magnanimous and patriotic action. The name was approved by general orders and made a record in the War Department; but though this was the official designation the name  of  Bucktail was the one by, which it was to be known throughout the army, and in fact throughout the world wherever a knowledge of our war exists. Each man wore a bucktail in his cap all through the service.
        On June 21st, the regiment, with the 5th reserves, Col. Simmons, and Barr's battery, were ordered to Cumberland, Md. It moved to Hopewell by rail,and then marched twenty-three miles to Bradford Springs, this being, its first march. The next day it marched forty miles, to the State line, where it established a camp, and remained there until July 7^th, when it marched  to Cumberland.
      On July 12th, a scouting party, of sixty men, under Col. Kane, having crossed into Virginia as far as New Creek village, was surrounded by McDonald's rebel cavalry. After a sharp skirmish the enemy was defeated and routed, with a loss or ten killed  and about thirty wounded;  the Buck­tails having suffered no loss by reason of the manner in which the command was handled. Col. Biddle, coming up with the regiment to the relief of the  scouting party, sent Col. Kane with two hundred men to follow McDon­ald's forces. He overtook them at Ridgeville nine miles from New Creek, and, after a severe skirmish, got possession of the village and held it until Col. Biddle arrived, when the advanced position was held until July 27th.  On August Ist it moved to Harper's Ferry, where it was temporarily assigned to a brigade composed of the 28th New York, 2d Massachusetts,­ 12th Massachusetts and 2d United States Cavalry, under command of Gen. George H. Thomas. In this command it served in all its marches until October, when it was  ordered to Tennallytown and joined the Pennsylvania reserve corps, to which it properly belonged.   It was he had been elected from Philadel­phia. December, 20th, the regiment, under Lt. Col. Kane, marched with Ord's brigade to Dranesville, where the enemy were met in force. At noon a large body of the enemy advanced upon the Centreville road. The Bucktails were posted in support of a battery, and during the artillery duel the infantry lay upon their arms. Col. Kane, when the cannonade had slackened, discovered a body of the enemy passing through an opening in the woods, in an effort to turn our flank. He sent a detachment toward an outlying house, where they kept up a deadly fire upon the advancing force of three regiments and a section of artillery. Lying upon the ground to load, they would rise and take de­liberate aim in firing, and then fall to the ground to load. Their fire was so deadly,that, the enemy commenced to fall back, and as the Bucktails advanced in pursuit a, ball crushed through the roof of the mouth of Col. Kane, but he continued to follow with his men. The enemy fled in con­fusion, leaving upon the field their dead and wounded, and barely saving one piece   of their artillery, which would have been captured but for the orders of Gen. Ord forbidding, a far­ther advance. The loss to the; regiment was ten killed and two officers and twenty-six men wounded.
      In January,Capt. McNeill, of Co. D was elected colonel, Lieut.Col. Kane. being in the hospital with his severe wound. Upon his recovery, Col. Kane addressed Gen. McClellan with refer­ence to a new skirmish drill, and his system was received with such favor that, by, direction of Gen, McClellan, four companies of the regiment were detailed to be specially drilled by Col. Kane, according to his system.
        In March the campaign opened, and ten days of severe weather, without shelter, were experienced in the march to Manassas and return to Alexandria. The Bucktails were now assigned to the Ist Brigade, commanded by Gen. Reynolds, and the division of Penn­sylvania reserves was attached to the lst Corps, commanded by Gen. ,McDowell. Col. Kane, with his four companies, was ordered to report to Gen. Bayard, commanding a brigade of cavalry. In the advance of Mc­Dowell, beyond the Rappahannock, to the assistance of McClellan around Richmond, Bayard's brigade in the advance had reached within six miles of' Hanover Court-house, when it was recalled and ordered to the support of Fremont in the Shenandoah Valley.
        The service of Kane’s battalion in this campaign was remarkably brilliant.  For twelve days they were constantly on the march through woods and over mountain creeks, marching an average of thirty miles a day being without shelter or blankets and receiving in the twelve days but two days of regular rations.
        During seven days of this time they were constantly engaged with the enemy, fighting according to their peculiar tactics.  On June 6^th, near Harrisonburg, the 1^st New Jersey cavalry ran into an ambush, and were compelled to fall back, leaving their wounded on the field. Kane’s battalion, now reduced to a little over 100 men, volunteered, and in fact, asked permission, to rescue the wounded.  Receiving permission to advance, these dare-devil riflemen darted into the dense woods, and at once ran against a rebel regiment.  The Bucktails opened their deadly fire, and the enemy in front broke before it, but other regiments closed in on them, and soon the gallant little band of one hundred was fighting the 1^st Maryland, 44^th and 58^th Virginia and a Louisiana regiment, under the command of Turner Ashby, with General Ewell present.  The 58^th Virginia was protected by the crest of a hill, and when the Bucktails were about to advance, Private Kelly said he would draw their fire, and stepping from behind a tree, received, without flinching, a volley, falling dead, pierced by more than a dozen balls.  The Bucktails, stationed behind trees, continued to fight against such terrible odds and refused to surrender.  Col. Kane, severely wounded in the leg, leaned against a tree and gave commands.  Each of the riflemen made every shot tell.  One of the regiments of the enemy began to break before the deadly fire, when an officer stepped in front to rally them and lead them on……………………………………………………the regiment, killed at Gettysburg, refused to leave his commander, and with him was captured.  The enemy in recognition of the courage of the men they had been fighting, offered them their parole, but they refused to accept it.  So well did the command obey the order to scatter,and so well did their tactics save them, that not a single unwounded prisoner was taken.  But there were fifty-two killed and wounded, just one-half the little battalion.  The enemy admitted a loss of nearly 600 from the rifles of the Bucktails.
        At Cross Keys, June 8^th  what was left of Kane's battalion was in the front line, and when Fremont  fell back it was thought they had been captured, but they fought their way out, bringing with them the gun they  had been ordered to support. Col. Pilsen, chief of artillery, shook each man by the hand and thanked them for sav­ing his battery. Gen. Fremont gave them rations from his own head­quarter. The battalion of five com­panies still remained Fremont’s corps now commanded by Siegel, and was next engaged at Cedar Moun­tain. On August 19th, Col. Kane,relieved from captivity, joined them, though still using a crutch.
        He immediately issued an order that each man should carry not less that one hundred rounds of ball cartridges, forty, in his cartridge-box and the, remainder in his haversack. On August 22d, Stuart, in his famous ride broke through the picket and charged over the camp of the Bucktails near Catlett's Station.
      Col. Kane rallied his men in a wood adjoining, sending, a few picked men to reconnoiter. They returned with the word that  the enemy was in force  but crowded and in disorder,and was forming in an open space above. Kane led his men quietly into the Manassas road and opened a fire almost in the face of the enemy, emptying many saddles and sending the horses galloping- around in wild fright. A stampede ensued, and the enemy fled for a mile, when it was stopped in the midst of McDowell's train which it commenced to plunder. Kane again approached in the dark and charged with his little band sending  the enemy fleeing in confusion from what they believed to be a large force, the Bucktails deceiving them by their tactics and splendid discipline and training.
      At Second Bull Run, Kane, not being under orders, endeavored to check the panic at the bridge over Cub Run, but his thinly-deployed line was swept away,. He then pressed forward with his little band until he met a Lieutenant with four small howitzers, which he turned back and formed a line at Bull Run bridge being joined  by Captain Matthews, with a rifled gun, and by, Captain Thompson and Lieutenant Twitchell, each with a brass howitzer. This line helped to diminish the haste and confusion of the retreat. This position was held until the morning of August 31st, when Colonel Kane received orders to destroy the bridge.
        In recognition of his great gallantry, Lieut.-Col. Kane was, on the 7^th of September, commissioned a brigadier-general, and the four companies which he commanded rejoined the other six amid loud cheers from the men of both commands.
        In our next issue, we will recount the services of the other companies while on the Peninsula, and then of the united regiment until the close of the war.

"The Bucktails. The Famous Rifle Regiment of Pennsylvania.  The History of One of the Best-Known Regiments in the Army of the Potomac.", Grand Army Scout and Soldiers Mail, January 6, 1883.  Part 3  (Part 2 is presently missing)

        On the 6th of February, 1863, the Reserves were ordered to the defenses of Washington, to rest and recruit. being transferred from the lst to the 22d Corps. The Bucktails, with the 1st Brigade, were now ordered to Fairfax Court-house, where a permanent camp was established. Here Lieut.Col. Irvin, on account of his wounds, resigned, and Major Niles was promoted to fill the vacancy. Adjutant Wm. R. Hartshorn was commissioned Major, and Sergeant Major Roger Sherman, adjutant. A large number of men who had been absent, sick or, wounded returned to the ranks, and Col. Taylor applied himself with tireless energy to the work of drilling and disciplining his command. The 1st Brigade, to which the regiment was attached, was commanded by Col. William McCandless, and the division by Brig.-Gen. S. W. Crawford. On the 25tb of June, the 1st and 3d Brigades were ordered to rejoin the 5th Corps, now on its march to meet an invading army in Pennsylvania. At noon on the 2d of July, the regiment reached the neighborhood of Gettysburg, where a great battle was in progress. After a short rest, the roll was called, and every man was found in his place, a force of five hundred strong. At 4 P.M. the division was ordered to the front, and moved over in the direction or Little Round Top, where the Union lines were being hard pressed, the artil­lerists ready to spike their guns. Col. McCandless hastily formed his brigade in two lines, the Bucktails on the left of the first line, and charged down the slope in the face of a heavy fire. At the foot of the hill was a deep swamp, thirty or forty yards in width, and upon reaching it, the regiment deployed to the left, and, wading across, drove the enemy into the woods beyond the stone wall which skirted it. The left, with Col. Taylor at its head, continued the pursuit through the woods to a wheat-field beyond, where, in the act of steadying his men, he fell, shot through the heart. Lieut-Col. Niles, having been wounded early in the engagement, the command devolved on Major Harts­horn, who, finding that his regiment was unsupported, fell back to the wall. This position was held by the 1st Brigade until 3 p.m. of the 3d, when Major Hartshorn was ordered by Col. McCandless to deploy a single company as skirmishers upon his left flank at right angles to his line, and to advance against the enemy. While this movement was being executed, the brigade was formed in column of regiments, closed in mass, the Buck­tails in front, and advanced, charging through the wheat-field and into the woods beyond. Here it was discov­ered by Col. McCandless that the en­emy was in large force upon his left flank. He accordingly halted, and changed direction by that flank, and ordered Major Hartshorn to charge, while he followed close with the bal­alice of the brigade. The Bucktails were soon engaged hand to hand with the enemy, and nearly the entire 15th Georgia Regiment, with its colors, was captured. The rebels were in a short time driven from the woods into the open country, where the brigade de­ployed in line, and a large number of prisoners was again secured. Night coming on, the brigade rested nearly a mile in advance of the position held in the morning. On the morning of the 4th, the brigade was relieved by a division of Regulars, and the regiment moved to the rear to replenish its am­munition, which was exhausted. Col. Taylor, a brave and accomplished officer, Lieut. Robert Hall and six men were killed; Lieut.-Col. Niles, Captains Hugh McDonald, J. D. Yer­kes, Neri B. Kinzey and Frank Bell, Lieuts, J. E. Kratzer, T. J. Roney, J, R. Sparr and thirty-one enlisted men were wounded.
      On the morning of the 5th, it having been discovered that the enemy was in full retreat, the army marched in pursuit. The regiment moved, with the 5th Corps, by the Emmetsburg road to Middletown, and thence by the Hagerstown road, until, on the 12th, it came up with the enemy, strongly posted, in the vicinity of Williamsport. Sharp skirmishing was kept up during the nights of the l2th and 13th, and on the morning of the 14th the troops moved forward to attack at daylight, when it was dis­covered that the enemy had fled.
        In the manoeuvers of the two hostile armies during the remaining months of 1863, the Bucktails were constantly upon the skirmish line, frequently engaging the enemy, rarely in a position to be secure from attack, and finally, at the close of the campaign, went into winter quarters at Bristoe Station, where they remained until the close of April, 1864.
        The campaign in the Wilderness opened on the 3d of May. The regiment broke camp on the 29th of April, and reached Culpepper on the 30th. On the 4th of May it crossed the Rap­idan and bivouacked that night near the Lacy House, near the battle-field. At daylight on the morning of the 5th, the Reserves, with the Bucktails in advance as skirmishers, moved for­ward in the direction of Parker's store. At 9 A. m., Major Hartshorn reported to Gen. Crawford that be had come upon the enemy’s skirmishers, and that their line extended con­siderably beyond both his flanks. Other regiments were at once dis­tributed upon the line, and Col. Mc­Candless, with the 1st Brigade, moved to his support. The Bucktails then advanced and attacked the enemy's skirmishers, pushing them back to their line of battle, and to a point in full view of Parker's store. The en­emy was in great force and the skirmish line held its position with diffi­culty. At 1 P.M., Major Hartshorn heard that the division was falling back, and that his command was being…………………………………………………...
        After proceeding a short distance, it was discovered that the enemy had possession of this road and was rap­idly extending; his line to the right. The woods being very dense, the major closed up his regiment, and cautiously moved on, as close as pos­sible to the rebel column, and, in a, favorable position, ordered a charge, by which he succeeded in breaking through the cordon that had been drawn around him, and in reaching the division with a loss of but fourteen men
        On the morning of 6th, the Re­serves were moved to the right of the 5th Corps, and formed in two lines, the Bucktails on the left of the 1st Brigade, when they advanced to the attack. The fighting was severe, and was kept up throughout the day with­out advantage to either side. At night the regiment moved with the division to the support of the 6th Corps, on the extreme right, suddenly attacked, but was relieved, and returned to the Lacy House before the morning of the 7th. At 1 P.M., Major Harts­horn was directed to deploy his regiment, to the front, and moved for­ward to ascertain the strength of the enemy’s works, which had been con­structed during the night. Col. Ent, of the 6th, was ordered to protect his flank, Approaching the rebel line of skirmishers, a charge was made, driving him back into his intrenchments, when his artillery opened with grape and canister. The object of the reconnoissance having been accomplished, Major Hartshorn fell back to his old position, carrying with him his killed and wounded, two of the former and twenty-one of the latter.
        During the night of the 7th, the march was commenced toward Spott­sylvania. At ten A.M. on the 8th, the enemy was encountered three Miles north of the town. When the Bucktails came upon the field, the 1st and 2d Divisions of the 5th Corps were hotly engaged. Forming in line under a severe fire, on the left of the road leading to the court-house, a charge was made by the division across an open field, driving the enemy out of a woods beyond, which position was held until about 3P.M., when, finding that the enemy was massing in great force in front, and was moving around on its unpro­tected flanks, the order was given to fall back to the position hold in the morning. During the evening the Reserves made three charges, and were as often repulsed, On the 9th, the regiment was sent to the right of the corps, and as skirmishers advanced to the Po river, taking up a position which it held until the 10th, when it was withdrawn and placed on the right of the division, in line, at Moun­tain Run. Here the regiment partici­pated in the two assaults made, on the enemy's works, in both of which our forces were repulsed. On the night of the l0th, it was again placed at the front, and kept up a constant fire throughout the night.
        On the llth, an assault was made by the entire array. The position of the Reserves was in front of a double line of works, which the enemy had thrown up during the previous night. Two attempts were made to carry them by assault, but in vain. The Bucktails were employed during the 12th in picking off rebel artillerymen and driving them from the guns in the works which they bad unsuccess­fully charged on the previous day. On the 13th, the regiment was, for the first time since the opening of the campaign, relieved from the front and allowed a day of rest. On the follow­ing day, together with the division, it marched several miles to the left, where it remained actively employed upon the skirmish line until the 20th, when the march was continued to Guinea Station, and from thence on the 22d, to Jericho Ford, on the North Anna river, which the men were forced to cross by wading, holding their cartridge boxes above their heads. After the division was safely across, Colonel Hardin, commanding the bri­gade, directed Major Hartshorn to ad­vance with his skirmishers and clear the woods in front. This movement was successfully accomplished, and upon the advance of the brigade took position on its right, where a deter­mined attack, made by. the enemy at 5 P.M. was handsomely repulsed. The interval between the 22d and 26th was occupied in skirmishing and in strengthening the position held. Dur­ing the night of the 26th, another move­ment to the left was commenced, and after a three days march the command reached the vicinity of Bethesda Church.
        On the morning of the 30th, Major………………………………………………………..yond both his flanks. Reporting the fact to Colonel Harden, he fell back slowly until he met the brigade com­ing, to his support. Forming line on the brigade, a charge was made upon the advancing enemy, driving him back to the shelter of some woods. Discovering that the line which he had driven was only the advance of a larger force, Colonel Hardin ordered his brigade to fall back to a position in line with the 3d Brigade, and immediately commenced throwing up rifle-pits. He ordered Major Harts­horn to bold the enemy in check with his skirmishers; to fall back slowly, and to take position oil the left of the brigade. This manoeuver was so successfully executed that ample time was given to complete a strong line of works. On the near approach to the lines, Major Hartshorn was so hard pressed that he was obliged to throw two companies to the right, upon the line occupied by the 3d Brigade. With the remaining eight companies he succeeded in reaching the position designated by Col. Hardin, in time to bear his full part in the, handsome. repulse given to the enemy as he advanced to the assault. Col. Fisher warmly commended the conduct of the two companies which had been driven into his lines, and which fought with his brigade. The Bucktails casualties during the cam­paign were two officers and twenty-six enlisted men killed, and six officers and one hundred and twelve enlisted men wounded. What remained of the Pennsylvania Reserve, division was now consolidated into two regiments, 190^th and 19lst Pennsylvania; of the former Major Hartshorn was appoint­ed colonel. The two regiments partic­ipated in all the remaining battles of the Army of the Potomac ,and with the 5th Corps were in front of the enemy at the surrender at Appomattox.
        Though no longer a distinct organ­ization, the few Bucktails left, forming part of the 190th, could be distin­guished by the bucktails which always were in their caps; and were always on the front line as skirmishers or sharpshooters until the day of the surrender.
        The red bunting which had floated on the rafts on which the original Bucktails were born down the Susque­hanna in April, 1861, and which had been carried by them in all their cam­paigns, was borne in procession in Philadelphia, on the 4th of July, 1866, by the scarred veterans who survived, and delivered up to the Governor of the State, amid the loud acclamations  of the multitude, as they recognized the familiar emblem (the deer's tail) which surmounted its staff.