2
Regimental Growing Pains
25
Camp Curtin was destined to become
the most important "camp of instruction" in Pennsylvania. Before the war was
over, three hundred thousand Union soldiers would pass through its gates. Located at the
northwestern edge of Harrisburg (that part of the present city is still known as the Camp
Curtin section), in happier days the site had been used as a fair ground. With the
outbreak of war the state turned it into what in World War 11 terminology would be a
combination reception center and training camp. The Federal government later took it over
and operated it until the end of the war.
There were a few bleak buildings
which had been used for housing agricultural exhibits at fair time. That was about all in
the nature of permanent structures that greeted the raw recruit as he entered Camp Curtin
the spring of '61. Wooden shacks were being constructed, but rows of tents provided most
of the shelter for the volunteers. There was an ample parade ground and drill field. About
a thousand feet to the west was the Susquehanna River and just east was the Pennsylvania
Railroad which daily dumped contingents of eager recruits into the fast-growing camp.[1]
The first companies from the Wildcat
District to reach Camp Curtin were the twoTioga companies who arrived April 24. For the
next three weeks, every few days a group
26
from upstate
would arrive until there were about seven hundred men from the lumber area spread over the
hastily constructed camp. A new contingent from the northern part of the state was easily
recognized. One observer described them as: "ragged, undisciplined, ununiformed save
in the singular ornament that surmounts their head gear." Most of the upstaters wore
the only clothes they possessed. A lumber jack's garb consisted of high-topped boots,
pants tucked inside the boots, a woolen shirt usually red , a large black neckerchief
loosely tied, a loose blouse, and a soft felt hat often so misshapen that the crown was a
peaked. Such attire was comfortable enough in mid-April in the northern mountains. By June
the men would find it most uncomfortable in southern Pennsylvania. And it would be June
before they were reissued uniforms.
If the mountain men found their heavy
clothing disagreeable, they had less trouble than most of their downstate comrades in
getting used to the board huts and canvas tents which were the Camp Curtin barracks in
1861. The shacks which had been thrown together were pretty much like a lumber camp. The
board huts were few and most of the men slept in tents of which there were many north of
"Floral Hall." The name was a hangover from fair ground days. If the bedding was
scarce, there was an abundance of fresh straw. Neither was army food much of a problem to
the Bucktail boys. In civilian life they had had little opportunity to become fastidious
as to what they ate, and there were comparatively few complaints on the bread, beef or
pork, potatoes, beans, and rice diet. The scarcity of knives and forks did give them
concern. Even lumber camps furnished eating tools.[2]
The Wildcats were in Camp Curtin, but
they were still not in the Army. With the three-months quota filled and
27
contradictory
messages coming from Washington as to future calls, nothing was certain except that nobody
wanted to go home yet. Andrew Gregg Curtin had been inaugurated governor of Pennsylvania
exactly three months before Lincoln's call of April 15. This ex-militia officer of Irish
ancestry had not been sitting idly by as the war clouds gathered. In early April here had
urged the legislature, which was about to adjourn, to take steps to reorganize and improve
the condiUon of the state militia. The governor used restrained language wen he escribed
its condition as "practically defunct." On April 21 the legislature passed the
requested act and Curtin made the necessary appointments. On the 20th he issued a call for
a special session to convene on the last day of the month.[3]
Although twenty-three regiments had
already been mustered into Federal service from Pennsylvania, and there were sufficient
men in camp to fill any immediately anticipated calls, the governor knew more men would
be needed. On April 30, Andy Curtin sent a message to the newly-convened Assembly which
demonstrated that there was some clear and far-sighted thinking being done in Harrisburg.
He proposed the creation of the Pennsylvania Volunteer Reserve Corps to consist of
thirteen regiments of infantry , one each of cavalry and artillery Enlistments would be
three years in state service with the units subject to Federal call. It took two weeks to grind out the act authorizing
the Reserve Corps. The governor appointed, as commander, with rank of major general,
George A. McCall.[4]
George A. McCall may not have been
Curtin's first choice as commander of the Reserve Corps, but he turned out to be a capable
chief as long as his rather poor health permitted him to serve. By then the Army had
found, first one and then
28
a second
younger officer, unknown in military annals in 1861, to head the Reserves. McCall had two
successors whose names will be remembered as long as the Civil War itself.
Fifty-nine years old, the
Philadelphia-born McCall had been graduated from West Point at the age of twenty. He was
strictly "old army" and had fought Indians in Florida. His Mexican War record
had been good. McCall had visited military schools and installations in Europe and had
commanded infantry in the West. In 1853, having risen to the rank of colonel and having
served as inspector general, ill health forced his retirement.
Without hesitation the stiff and
proper McCall left the easy life of his Chester County farm when his state and country
needed him. No doubt the dark, pensive eyes of George A. McCall were even more so as he
contemplated the task of turning the rag-tag companies then assembling at the. various
camps into an army for Andy Curtin. If his long mustache drooped even more than usual
toward his neatly clipped goatee, it was understandable. McCall, erstwhile country
gentleman, was again a soldier. He had his work cut out for him.[5]
By the end of May all of the
companies at Camp Curtin were sworn into state service as potential units of the
Pennsylvania Reserve Corps. They were thus far only a group of companies from widely
scattered areas of the state. There was no regimental or brigade organization. Regimental
organization was in the making and it was being done pretty much on a basis of practical
politics. The members of the Reserve Corps were to elect their regimental as well as their
company officers.
The amusement and amazement which the
volunteers from the Wildcat District evoked about the camp in the first weeks gradually
gave way to a certain comradeship.
29
Fraternizing
with the Dutch, Welsh, and Irish companies from
other parts of the state developed mutual respect if not understanding. The officers of
the various companies had a special reason for making friends with each other. That
special reason was regimental politics. The seven upstate companies which had adopted
the bucktail as their insignia had Thomas L.
Kane as their mentor and leader. They were determined to be formed in the same regiment
They needed
three more companies Edward A Irvin's company of lumbermen from Clearfield County , a
Wildcat District outfit was anxious to join the Bucktails. This company consisted only of
single men. When they had found out that only one hundred men could be transported to camp
they had reduced their number to that figure by sending the married men home. So Irvin
joined the Bucktail captains in a petition to General McCall. The petition was couched in
diplomatic
language, but what it said was that they wanted to be organized into a rifle regiment and,
they wanted Kane as colonel. They added cogently that, with few exceptions,their recruits
were "men of extremely hardy habits, and trained from boyhood to the use of
arms."[6]
Two more companies were still needed
for a regiment and to make matters worse,
Julius Sherwood who had been elected captain of a Tioga County company, pulled out and
took his company many into another regiment. Sherwood
had had a wrangle with Kane whom he accused of being dictatorial.[7]
Kane and the other captains persisted in their efforts to have the Bucktails become a
rifle regiment which it was now definitely decided the Reserve Corps would have. The
Morgan Rifles, a Perry County company captained by Langhorne Wister, wanted to keep the
name "rifle" and they joined the Bucktail group.
The Wane Independent Rifles, from Chester County, under Captain Charles Frederick
30
Taylor, also
decided that joining the Bucktails would get them into a rifle regiment. A company from
Carbon County under Captain Dennis McGee joined too. Known as the Irish Infantry, the
roster of this company contained such names as Vogel, Wertz, and Zundel. It had started
out as an Irish company, but had merged with a Dutch company before leaving for camp when
it was not known how many companies would be accepted. The tails now had their ten
companies and assurance from headquarters that they would be a rifle regiment, designated
as the Thirteenth Pennsylvania Reserves. June 12 was set for election of regimental
officers. Kane's election as colonel was a foregone conclusion.[8]
Charles J. Biddle, a Philadelphia
lawyer, who had emerged from the Mexican War with a good record and the brevet rank of
major, was elected lieutenant colonel. Roy Stone, the captain of the Warren County
company, was elected major. Both of these men were hand-picked by Kane.
Although they had been issued neither
arms nor uniforms, the organization of the Bucktail Regiment was com12lete by June 13, and
in addition to the Thirteenth Pennsylvania Reserves, it was also officia y designated
First Pennsylvania Ri es. Pennsylvania Volunteer Reserve Corps: The company designations
and commanders were:
Co. A
Anderson Life
Tioga County Captain
Philip Holland
Guards
Co. B
Morgan Rifles
Perry County
Cptain Langhorne Wister
Co. C
Cameron Rifles
Cameron County
Captain John A. Eldred
Co. D
Raftsman Guards
Warren County
Captain Hugh, W. McNeil
31
Co. E
Tioga Rifles
Tioga County
Captain Alanson E. Niles
Co. F
Irish Infantry
Carbon County
Captain Dennis McGee
Co. G
Elk Rifles
Elk and Tioga
Captain Hugh McDonald
Counties
Co. H
Wayne Independ- Chester
County
Captain Charles F. Taylor
ent
rifles
Co. I
McKean Rifles
McKean County
Captain William I.
Blanchard
Co. K
Raftsmen's
Ranger Clearfield
Captain Edward A.Irvin[9]
County
Two
erstwhile Philadelphia lawyers held the top commands over a regiment of which seven
companies were largely composed of backwoods lumbermen. Attached to seven hundred men from
Pennsylvania's Wildcat District were a company of Dutchmen from Duncannon, an Irish (and
Dutch) outfit from Mauch Chunk, and nearly one hun-dred sons of one of Pennsylvania's
oldest counties: Possibly camp politics had had a hand in making strange
bed-fellows.However, the volunteers who formed the Bucktail Regiment seemed to have one
strong common desire. The words "rifle regiment" had a compelling appeal. The
Bucktails would be a rifle regiment. Probably most of the men were somewhat vague as to
just how a rifle regiment differed from any other infantry outfit. Probably none realized
that the term would turn out to be somewhat of a hangover from the day when a soldier with
a rifle and the ability to use it was a
specialist.[10]
Thomas Leiper Kane was no sooner
elected colonel of the regiment of which he had been the inspiration and organizer than he
resigned. With his resignation he asked the men to elect Biddle to the top command. Biddle
had had military
32
training and
experience and he had not, Kane told them. Another election was held and Kane and Biddle
exchanged rank. At the request of seven captains of Bucktail companies the name of the
regiment was officially changed to the Kane
Rifle
Regiment.[11]
