CHAPTER XI.

 

INVASION OF PENNSYLVANIA---MEADE'S CAMPAIGN--- GETTYSBURG---MINE RUN.

 

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Transfer of Reserve Corps to Alexandria---Guarding the railroad to retire the Reserves---Change of officers; resignations and promotions---Colonel Ent---Colonel S. M. Jackson---General Crawford---Lee's march northward---Hooker's march to Frederick---Advance of the Rebel army into Pennsylvania---Destruction of the Columbia bridge---The Reserves ask to be led against the invaders of their native State---General Meade assumes command of the army---Meade's plans--- Movements---Position---Advance on Gettysburg--- Movements of the enemy---Reynolds' corps at Gettysburg---Beginning of the battle---Death of Reynolds---General Howard falls back to Cemetery hill---Concentration of the army---Line of battle---Operations of the second day---Topography of the field---Position of the Third corps---The attack on the left---Charge of the Reserves---Capture of Round-top---The battle on the right---Close of the second day---Preparations for the third day---Desperate fight on Friday morning---The lull---The artillery fire and the charge in the evening---General Meade in the battle---Slaughter of the enemy---The second charge of the Reserves---End of the battle---The casualties---Surgeon Jackson---Colonel Taylor---General Reynolds Retreat of the enemy---The pursuit---Position of the enemy at FallingWater---The council of Generals---The escape of Lee's army---Pursuit into Virginia---End of the campaign---General Meade---Presentation of sword to Meade---Operations on the Rappahannock---The retrograde movement to Centreville---Battle of Bristoe station---Advance to the Rapidan---Battle on the Rappahannock---Mine run campaign---Marches and skirmishes of the Reserves---The withdrawal---Winter quarters.

 

ON the 6th of February, 1862, Colonel Sickel, who, at that time, commanded the division of Reserves, was ordered to move his troops from their camp near Bell Plain, to Alexandria, and to report to General Heintzelman commanding the defenses of Washington. The First brigade, commanded by Colonel McCandless, embarked on transports on the Potomac river- on the evening of the 6th. And

 

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on the following day, the Second brigade, commanded by Colonel Bolinger, and the Third, commanded by Colonel Fisher, also embarked, and were carried to Alexandria, where Colonel Sickel received orders to encamp at Upton's Hill. The Reserves relieved several new regiments from Pennsylvania and New York, who had been doing garrison duty about Alexandria, and on the line of the railroad. The new troops were sent to occupy the place of the Reserves, as the Third division of the First corps in the Army of the Potomac.
      The object of this transfer was, to afford an opportunity for rest to the veterans who still survived in the Corps, and to increase the strength of the regiments by the addition of new recruits. It was soon found, however, that the duties on the line of the railroad, and in front of Washington were more arduous than those in the camps of the army, in winter quarters at Bell Plain.
         The One hundred and Twenty-first, and the One hundred and Forty-second regiments, remained at Bell Plain and continued to form part of the Third division of the First corps. The division of Reserves, therefore, comprised only the original regiments with about one-third of the men, who bad marched with them from the State in 1861. Efforts were again made to withdraw the .regiments for recruitment. Just before General Meade left the division to take command of the Fifth corps, he addressed the following

 

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communication to General Franklin, commanding the left grand division:

 

“GENERAL:---I submit for your consideration a statement showing the present condition of the thirteen regiments of infantry constituting the Pennsylvania Reserve Corps, and forming, together with two new regiments, the One Hundred and Twenty-first and One Hundred and Forty-second Pennylvania volunteers, the Third division, First army corps. You will perceive there are present for duty one hundred and ninety-five officers and four thousand two hundred and forty-nine enlisted men. Absent, by authority, one hundred and fifty-nine officers and three thousand seven hundred and forty men. I have to observe, however, of the number reported as absent, a very large proportion are the wounded, most of whom are so maimed and disabled that no expectation need be formed of their returning to active duty. I should, therefore say, as an estimate, that to re-organize the command there would be required the appointment of over two hundred officers, and the enlistment of over seven thousand men. This paper is forwarded  to you on the eve of my giving up the command of the division, to call your attention to the necessity of some measure being immediately adopted to increase the efficiency of this command.

“The plan of sending officers into the State to recruit has been on three separate occasions attempted, and proved in each case a signal failure. There remains, then, two courses to adopt. One is to consolidate the existing force with a number of regiments equal to the number of officers and men for duty. The objection to this plan is that it destroys the organization and the prestige which the good conduct of the Corps has acquired for it. Another plan would be to withdraw the command temporarily from the field, say for a period of two or three months, and return them to Pennsylvania, where, it is believed from the great reputation the Corps has acquired, the pride the State takes in it, and the enthusiasm its return would create, that in a short time its ranks would be filled, after pruning them of all useless members. Soon after the battle of Antietam, his Excellency, the Governor of Pennsylvania, proposed to the general commanding the Army of the Potomac, to receive and re-organize the Corps; and it is believed the proposition was favorably received by the commanding general, but the exigencies of the movement prevented its execution,

"The further reduction of the Corps by the recent battle, where it lost over one thousand seven hundred officers and men, and the probability that its services might, at this moment be spared, together with the earnest desire I have that the organization which has contributed so largely to its success may be preserved, are the considerations which induce me to suggest this plan to you and recommend its adoption."

 

When Colonel Sickel assumed the command of the


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division, be addressed a communication of the same purport, and also enclosed a copy of General Meade's letter, to Governor Curtin. His Excellency, the Governor, immediately enclosed copies of these communications to the Secretary of War, and renewed his former request for the temporary retirement of the Reserve Corps. The Secretary, however, replied, that numerous similar applications were on file from other States, that all could not be granted without greatly reducing the strength of the army, and that therefore all must be refused.

This decision was accepted as final, and the only remaining course was, to maintain the remnants of companies, regiments, and brigades intact, and to fight on, bravely, till the end of the term of service would dissolve the. gallant corps.

A large number of sick and wounded men, who had been absent ever since the close of the Peninsular campaign, were discharged; many officers, who had been wounded in battle, despairing of again being able to lead their commands, resigned to give place for the promotion of their juniors, who had long performed the duties, without bearing the honors of .the commands. In the First regiment, Lieutenant-colonel McIntyre resigned in January, and subsequently died from the effects of a wound received at New Market cross-roads; Captain W. Warren Stewart of company K, was promoted to fill the vacancy; Adjutant John C. Harvey, a young man of great merit, and an accomplished soldier, resigned to accept the appointment of assistant adjutant-general of Pennsylvania; Lieutenant Charles B. Lamborne of company A, remained on the staff of General Reynolds and resigned his position in the regiment ; Captain Thomas B. Barton, who had long struggled against disease and disability, finally, resigned to give room for the promotion of his junior, Lieutenant William L. Bear, a man whose christian virtues and noble character rendered one of the most accomplished officers in the Corps; Captain Barton died in the summer of 1864,

 

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of disease contracted whilst in the service. Charles F. Hoyt, quarter-master of the Second regiment resigned in April, and was succeeded by William A. Hoyt. In the Third regiment, both of the surgeons, Samuel S. Orr and George J. Rice, resigned; their successors were Drs. Stanton g. Welch and John P. Buchfield. In the Fourth, Colonel Magilton resigned soon after the battle of Fredericksburg; Major Richard H. Woolworth, of the Third regiment, was promoted to fill the vacancy; Assistant Surgeon J. B. Griesemen resigned in April, and Dr. W. B. Brinton was appointed in his place. In the Fifth, Captain H. C. Ulman, of company A, and Captain Jonathan E. Wolf, of company G, were honorably discharged, and Lieutenants Fountain Wilson and Charles M. Hildebrand were promoted to the captaincies; Assistant Surgeon W. H. Davis was appointed surgeon of the Fourth regiment, and Dr. C. 0. Johnson was appointed to the vacancy; Lieutenant A. G. Mason resigned to accompany General Meade as a member of his staff. Colonel Sinclair resigned the command of the Sixth regiment to resume his rank in the regular army; Lieutenant-colonel Ent was promoted to the colonelcy ; Assistant Surgeon J. L. Bishop was promoted to surgeon of the Seventh regiment; Dr. Joseph K. Corson was appointed to the vacancy; Chaplain Thomas Stevenson, and Captain W. K. Manly, of company E, resigned; Lieutenant Charles Rickarts, of the same company, was promoted to the captaincy.

Wellington H. Ent, Colonel of the Sixth, was born on the 16th of August, 1834, in Columbia county, Pennsylvania. After receiving a primary education he entered Dickinson Seminary, at Williamsport, in August, 1855, and graduated from that institution in June, 1858. Soon after his graduation he became a student at law in the office of Robert F. Clark, Esq., at Bloomsburg. He prosecuted his professional studies with great zeal; entered the law department of the University of Albany, in September, 1859, graduated in

 

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the summer of 1860, and in the same year commenced the practice of his profession in his native county.

He was appointed inspector-general, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel, on the staff of Major-general Dana, commanding Ninth Division Pennsylvania Militia. Immediately after hearing that the rebels had attacked Fort Sumter, he reported to General Dana for duty, and on the 16th of April was directed to raise two companies of infantry in Columbia county. The companies were speedily organized, and reported for service, but owing to the great rush of volunteers at that time, but one of them was accepted. After securing the command of this company for his friend, Dr. W. W. Ricketts, Colonel Ent accepted the first lieutenantcy for himself. This company, called "The Iron Guards," was uniformed at the expense of the citizens, and was kept at Bloomsburg under daily drill, until it was accepted into the service and ordered to Harrisburg. Upon the organization of the Sixth Reserve regiment, it became company A; Captain Ricketts was elected colonel of the regiment, and Lieutenant Ent was promoted to fill the vacancy, and was commissioned to rank as captain from the 28th of April, 1861.

Soon after the regiment arrived at Washington, in July, 1861, Captain Ent was detailed in command of an escort and guard to Major Myers, Chief Signal Officer of the Army of the United States, and made a tour up the Potomac from Washington to the headquarters of General Banks, near Frederick. On his return lie was detailed, at the request of Major Myers, on duty with the signal corps, and assisted the major to establish the signal camp of instruction at Georgetown. Subsequently he was placed in command of this camp, which became one of the permanent institutions of the army. General McCall, however, was unwilling to part with an officer of so much promise, without a strong effort to retain him in the Reserve Corps. The general's repeated applications finally succeeded, and Captain Ent was ordered to return to his regiment. The

 

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progress he had made in acquiring a knowledge of the duties in the signal service had secured for him the command of the signal party, which accompanied Sherman's expedition to Port Royal; he therefore reluctantly obeyed the order that remanded him to the command of his company and forced him to relinquish a field in which he had already won the confidence of his superior officers.

Captain Ent resumed his duties with his company a few days before the division was moved across the Potomac, was detailed on the staff of Colonel McCalmont, commanding the Third brigade. But General McCall again ordered him to his regiment, which was greatly in need of his presence, many of the officers being absent sick.

The battle of Dranesville occurred shortly after his return, in which Captain Ent participated with distinction. He remained with his regiment, in the regular routine of his duties, until August 7th, 1862, when he was detailed on recruiting duty by General Seymour, then commanding the division, with the hope, also, that his health, which had been greatly impaired, might be restored.

He proceeded to Harrisburg just before the army was ordered to evacuate Harrison's Landing; he remained there on duty until Pope's army, was being driven from Bull Run to Washington. Hearing of this disaster, he determined to rejoin his old comrades at once, and participate in their glory and their suffering. Knowing the delay and difficulty attending a regular application, he sought, and obtained the charge of some recruits to be sent to Alexandria, whom he hurried to their destination, and turned them over to the officer in charge of Camp Distribution, then proceeded to the front. Captain Ent went to General Seymour and stated his desire to go on active duty with his regiment, and, with the assent of his commander joined his old command just after it had passed through Washington to enter upon the Maryland campaign.

At the battle of South Mountain he was placed in command of two companies, with orders to charge against the

 

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enemy holding the summit on the extreme right of the line. Whilst these two companies were rapidly as possible toiling up the mountain side under a most terrific fire, three other companies were ordered to join them. With these five companies Captain Ent completed the charge, routed. the enemy in his front, and, with the First regiment on his left, rose to the summit and opened a withering fire on the enemy's flank, which had the effect of assisting very materially in breaking the left flank of the rebel army. In this charge he lost one-third of his command, and received a slight bruise in the hip from a ball which 'had glanced from a rock..

At the battle of Antietam he fully maintained his reputation for skill and bravery, and was in a few days thereafter promoted to the majority of his regiment.

Late in November, 1862, when Colonel Sinclair was assigned to the command of a brigade, the lieutenant-colonel being ill and unfit for duty, Major Ent assumed the command of the regiment, and on the 2d of April, 1863, he was commissioned lieutenant-colonel, to rank from the 26th of November, 1862 ; on the 23d of July he was promoted to the colonelcy, to rank from May 23d, 1863.

In the Seventh, Lieutenant-colonel Roberts. Henderson was honorably discharged in April, and Major Chauncey A. Lyman was promoted; Surgeon Alfred W. Green was appointed assistant surgeon general of Pennsylvania; Captain John Jameson, of company B, had resigned in November, 1862 ; his successor, John Q. Snyder, was discharged on account of disability in April, and Lieutenant Henry Clay Snyder was promoted to the captaincy; Assistant Surgeons J. W. Rugh and G. II. Cline resigned early in the spring, and Dr. S. C. McCormick was appointed to one of the vacancies; Captain John Eichelberger was honorably discharged on the 30th of March. In the Ninth, Captain Samuel B. Dick, of company F, resigned, and Joshua F. Reynolds was promoted; Lieutenant George H. Bemus, of the same company, who had been adjutant on Jackson's

 

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staff, resigned soon after the death of his general. Captain Milo R. Adams, of company F, Tenth regiment, was so severely wounded at the battle of New Market cross-roads, that he could not resume his command; he therefore resigned at the end of the year, and was appointed commissioner of the draft in the Twenty-fourth district; Captain Joseph M. Reed, of the same company, resigned in May;  Captain Lemuel B. Norton, of company H, resigned in June. In the Eleventh, Colonel Gallagher resigned on account of  the wound received at South mountain, and Lieutenant­-Colonel Jackson was promoted.

Samuel McCartney Jackson, was born in Armstrong county, on the 24th of September, 1833 ; his early life was spent at school; at the age of seventeen years, he commenced teaching school, and continued in that profession five years. He then became a merchant in the village of Apollo. Mr. Jackson had been captain of a volunteer company called the " Independent Blues of Apollo," for three or four years  previous to the commencement of the war, and immediately after the publication of the President's call for seventy-five  thousand men to serve three months, he tendered the services of his company to Governor Curtin, and commenced  recruiting it up to the maximum number. This company,  like many others, was not accepted under the call of three months men, but the organization was maintained, and when  the Act for organizing the Reserve Corps became a law; it was ordered to Camp Wright, where it arrived on the 8th of June, 1861, and upon the organization of the Eleventh regiment, became company G.

Captain Jackson was elected major, and served in that position until the 28th of October, 1861, when he was promoted to the lieutenant-colonelcy, as the unanimous choice of the officers and men of the regiment, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of James R. Porter. When Colonel Gallagher resigned, on the 12th of December, 1862, Jackson was promoted to the colonelcy. Colonel Jackson served with his regiment through all the campaigns; commanded


 

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the First brigade in the battles at Spottsylvania court-house and was mustered out of service with his command on the 13th of June, 1864.

Major Peter A. Johns of the Eleventh regiment was honorably discharged on the 30th of March, and Adjutant Robert A. McCoy was promoted to the vacancy, and sub sequently was appointed assistant adjutant-general on the division staff: In the Twelfth regiment, Lieutenant-colone Peter Bald y, who, as major of the regiment, had com manded the left wing, and rendered distinguished service on the Peninsula and in Pope's campaign, finally broke down in health, and was honorably discharged on the 15t1 of February; Assistant-surgeon William Taylor, and Chap lain Obediah H. Miller, resigned; Dr. James M. Shearer eras appointed to the position of assistant-surgeon; Captain Thomas D. Horn of company D, was honorably discharge( in February, and Lieutenant Wi]iam H. Weaver was pro promoted to the vacancy. In the Bucktail regiment, change; were made necessary by the casualties that occurred in it: ranks in almost every skirmish and battle that took place be tween the Reserves and the enemy. Already the third Colo Colonel commanded the regiment, and he held life by but a narrow tenure; Lieutenant-colonel Edward A. Irvin, prostrated by a wound received at Fredericksburg, resigned on the 17th of March; Major Alanson E. Niles was promoted to the vacancy; Lieutenant William R. Hartshorn, a gallant soldier, was promoted to the majority, and on the 4th of May, Roger Sherman,* an accomplished young man and a

 

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* Adjutant Sherman kept a complete diary of the regiment, and wrote a full and complete history of the Bucktails. He presented his mane. script to the author of the History of the P. R. C., to whom it has beer, a constant and trustworthy source of information. Many of the thrill. in.- incidents recorded, are derived from this manuscript, and both the reader and the author are greatly indebted for many of the interesting facts contained in this volume, to the literary ability, and generous spirit of Roger Sherman, of Philadelphia. A statistical table compiled by this officer, shows that the Reserve Corps marched over twelve hundred miles, and that the Bucktails engaged the enemy in battle and skirmish twenty-nine times.

 

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brave soldier, who had long been performing the duties of  that office, was commissioned adjutant of the regiment; Captain John G. Hanower of company A, Captain John T. H. Jewett of company D, Captain Dennis McGee of company F, resigned in the spring of 1863. In the artillery,  Captain Fern had died of the wound received at Bull Run, and his successor Frank P. Amsden resigned in May. The gallant Bayard of the cavalry regiment, who left the Reserve corps at Fredericksburg in May, 1862, as a brigadier-general in command of a brigade of cavalry, after many brilliant and successful expeditions, rejoined the command at the same place in December, and on the 13th day of the month, was shot dead while leading a.charge on the left of the army. Colonel Owen Jones, who succeeded Bayard in the command of the cavalry regiment, resigned the colonelcy on the 29th of January, and on the following day lieutenant-colonel J. P. Taylor was promoted to the vacancy.

On the 3d of June, General S. W. Crawford, who had been assigned to the Pennsylvania Reserve Corp, arrived at Fairfax station, and assumed the command of the First and Third brigades. The Second brigade containing the Third, Fourth, Seventh and Eighth regiments, and commanded by Colonel Sickel, was detached from the division to guard  the Goverment property at Alexandria.

Samuel Wylie Crawford, was born in Franklin county,  Pennsylvania, on the 8th of November, 1829, and is the son of the late Dr. W. Crawford. of South Carolina, who removed to Pennsylvania and settled in Franklin county, where he resided but a short time, when he was called to Philadelphia to take charge of the academical department of the university. In this institution he educated his son, who graduated from the collegiate department in 1847. Soon after Samuel W. Crawford had completed his literary course, he entered upon the study of medicine and received the professional degree in April, 1850. He immediately reported to the Army Medical Board in New Fork, for examination; passed the Board at the head of his class, and

 

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received an appointment with orders to report to General Brooke, in the department of Teas. In January, 1851, Dr. Crawford sailed from New York for his post of duty, in charge of one hundred and sixty recruits for the Eighth regiment United States infantry, to which he had been assigned as surgeon; he remained on the southwestern border of Texas three years, during which period his regiment was frequently engaged in skirmishes with the Camanche Indians. In 1854, he accompanied a detachment of the regiment on an expedition to El Paso; in October, 1856, he left El Paso and traveled through Mexico in company with a train, going down to San Juan de los Sagos, to attend a great fair, held there in December of that year. Pr. Crawford, on this journey, passed through the beautiful province of Chihuahua del Trio, and reached the city of Mexico, on the 23d of October; he reported to Mr, Forsyth, the American minister, who, finding him familiar with the language and country of the Mexicans, detained him, with the permission of the War Department, as a member to the legation. Whilst in Mexico, he formed the acquaintance of a party of scientific gentlemen from Prussia, who were exploring the natural history of the country, and in January, joined them in a tour to the Popocatapetl volcano. The party started at dawn of day to ascend the mountain from Slamacos, a small ranche near its base; after climbing over great heaps of scoriae and wading through beds of ashes, the naturalists arrived at the snow line, where the ascent became more difficult; one after the other of the party wearied, broke down, and gave up the effort to gain the summit, and when Dr. Crawford reached the crater he was unattended except by the guide, who had led the way. At night the members of the party assembled at the ranche from which they had set out in the morning. Subsequently Dr. Crawford ascended the Iztachihault, and demonstrated the fact that no crater existed on its summit. He again ascended the Popocatapetl, spent a night in its crater, and in the morning descended into the cavity, about one hundred

 

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feet, where he procured specimens of sulphur, basalt end lava which he sent to the cabinet at West Point. He as chosen a member of the Geographical Society of Mexico, as a testimonial of respect for his ability as an explorer,

In February, 1857, he was sent to Washington as bearer of despatches to the State Department. Soon after his ;turn to the United States, he was ordered to Fort Adams, at Newport, in Rhode Island, and in the autumn of the same year, was sent to Kansas and became attached to the 'command of Captain Lyons, subsequently the lamented General Lyons, who fell at Wilson's creek. In the spring of 1858, he accompanied Major W. T. Sherman's expedition against the Indians on the Red River of the North; subsequently he was attached to another expedition that crossed the country to Fort Laramie, and in the following spring was ordered to the East. In August, 1860, he was ;assigned as surgeon to Fort Moultrie, in Charleston Harbor. Dr. Crawford remained on duty with the garrison at this point until it was surrendered in April, 1861 ; he rendered efficient services in transferring the command to Fort Sumter , and during the bombardment commanded a battery.

After the garrison from Fort Sumter reached New York, Crawford was promoted to a majority in the Third regiment United States Infantry, commanded by Colonel W. T. Sherman, and was ordered to report to General Rosecrans in Western Virginia, who made him inspector-general on his staff. In April,' 1862, he was promoted to a brigadier-generalship, and ordered to report to General Banks; he arrived at Strasburg the day before Bank's retreat down the valley, and when the corps reached Williamsport, ha was assigned to the command of the First brigade.

General Crawford marched up the valley in- pursuit of Jackson's forces, and subsequently became attached to the Army of Virginia, and rendered distinguished service in the battle of Cedar Mountain, where he received, on the

 

 

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field, the commendations of General Pope for conspicuous gallantry. In the retirement of Pope's army, Crawford commanded a division in Bank's corps, and hence was not again engaged with the enemy. He led his command in the Maryland campaign, and, in the battle of Antietam, was severely wounded while rallying his regiment to a charge. He was carried to Chambersburg and did not recover from his wound sufficiently to return to duty until February, 1863, when he was placed on a military commission in Washington, and in May was assigned to the command of the Pennsylvania Reserve Corps.

Captain R. T. Auchmuty was appointed assistant adjutant-general on the division staff; and Captain Louis Livingston accompanied the general as an aid-de-camp. Both these officers were from New York, and served with distinction in the campaigns of the Reserves.

About the 25th of May, General Lee, who had continued. to occupy the line of the Rappahannock, began to move his forces up the river. General Hooker kept a close watch on his movements, so as not to allow the Confederate general to steal a march, or outmanoeuvre him. It was soon apparent to the commander of the Army of the Potomac, that General Lee contemplated an offensive campaign northward. Early in June the army was put in motion towards Warrenton and Centreville, for the purpose of keeping the forces between the National Capital and the rebel army, until the intentions of the enemy should become more fully developed.

 General Lee had already gained the valley of the Shenandoah, had pushed forward Ewell's corps to Williamsport, had sent a division into Maryland, and, finding no opposition, had advanced into the borders of Pennsylvania. He had hoped by this movement to deceive General Hooker, and to induce him to hurry his whole army across the Potomac to meet the invading force, and whilst the army would be marching into Pennsylvania, he intended, by a rapid movement, to march through Ashby's and

 

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Snicker's gaps, and to attack Washington from the south. side before Hooker could recross the river to defend it. General Hooker, however, was not the man to be easilv deceived; he pushed forward his cavalry corps, which was more than a match for Stuart's rebel forces, and ordered the troops to penetrate the gaps of the Blue ridge, and watch the movements of the enemy. In the meantime, the whole army of the Potomac was massed near Fairfax court-house, to await the further movements of the rebel general. After numerous attempts to defeat Hooker by strategy, Lee finally advanced boldly with his whole army, crossed the Potomac at Williamsport, marched through Hagerstown, and thence into the borders of Pennsylvania. His scouts penetrated as far as the line of the Susquehannah, which was defended by General Couch, commanding the Pennsylvania militia, and several regiments from the states of New York and New Jersey. The rebels sent out strong foraging parties, and Ewell's corps occupied Carlisle, York and the intervening country. A brigade of cavalry captured Wrightsville, on the Susquehannah, and attempted to cross the river into Lancaster county. A sharp skirmish occurred for the possession of the bridge at that point, and when the militia were driven across the river, Robert Crane, superintendent of the Reading and Columbia Railroad, with a party of men selected for the purpose, attempted to sever the bridge and blow up the span on the Wrightsville side, but, being hard pressed by the enemy, who had gained possession of that end of the bridge, Mr. Crane -vas ordered to apply the torch and destroy the bridge; the structure was old and every beam had become thoroughly seasoned, the flames therefore, spread rapidly, and in a few moments the river was spanned by a bridge of fire. The rebels rushed forward with water to extinguish the flames, but failed. They then attempted to shell the town of Columbia, on the northeast bank of the river, but it was soon demonstrated that their guns were of too short range to carry across the stream, which at that point is about a mile and a half in width.

 

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As soon as General Hooker learned that Lee had crossed into Maryland with his whole force, he put his army in motion, and, on the 24th of June, crossed the Potomac at Point of Rocks and Edward's Ferry, and concentrated his troops in the vicinity of Frederick, in the state of Maryland.

When the Pennsylvania Reserves learned that their native state had been invaded, they requested to be led against the enemy. Some of the regiments petitioned their commanding officers praying them to procure orders from Washington to march with the army of the Potomac into Maryland. Colonel McCandless, commanding the First brigade, received the following petition

" COLONEL:--We, the undersigned, officers of the Second regiment P. R. C., having learned that our native state has been invaded by a rebel force, respectfully ask that you will, if it be in your power, have us ordered within the borders of our state for her defence.

" Under McCall, Reynolds, Meade, Seymour and yourself we have more than once met and fought, the enemy where he was at home; now we wish to meet him again when he threatens our homes, our families and our firesides. Could our wish in this be realized, we feel that we could do some service to the state that sent us to the field, and not diminish, if we could not increase, the lustre that already attaches to our name."

Both General Reynolds, commanding the First, and General Meade, commanding the Fifth corps, had already applied to the War Department to have the Reserves attached to their commands. In response to these urgent appeals an order was issued, and on the 25th of June, two brigades, the First, commanded by Colonel McCandless, anti the Third, Colonel Fisher, marched towards Leesburg, and on Saturday, the 27th, crossed the Potomac on a pontoon bridge near Edward's Ferry, and encamped on the Monocacy. The division, commanded by General Crawford, had been assigned to Meade's corps, and early on Sunday morning moved up to Frederick to join their comrades,

 

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under their former commander. Before the brigades arrived at the camp of the Fifth corps, the report reached them that General Meade had assumed command of the army; it was enthusiastically received by all the men, who had learned to love and cherish the general as one of their own command. General Crawford therefore reported to General Sykes, who succeeded Meade in command of the Fifth corps.

Colonel Hardin, of the Twelfth regiment, had not yet recovered from the severe wound he had received in the; battle of Bull run, but as soon as he learned that the Reserves were moving northward with the great army of the Potomac, he threw aside the garb of an invalid, abandoned the doctor and his medicines, put on his uniform and hurried away to the field; he rejoined his regiment and command'*A it in the battle of Gettysburg and through the sub. sequent campaign.

General Meade assumed the command of the army on the 28th of June, at Frederick. The several corps were then encamped in the country about that city, from the Monocacy on the east, to Middletown on the west. General Hooker left the camp a few hours after he had been relieved of the command, and without communicating to his successor any facts in relation to the whereabouts of the enemy, or submitting any plan for future operations. From information derived from newspaper reports, and from other sources, General Meade learned that General Lee had passed northward through Hagerstown, and was marching up the Cumberland valley, with an army estimated to number over one hundred thousand men; that large detachments had occupied Carlisle and York, and were threatening the Susquehanna's at Harrisburg and Columbia. The commanding general saw the necessity of at once forcing the enemy to loose his hold on the line of the Susquehannah. He therefore promptly moved his army on the direct line from Frederick toward Harrisburg, determined to march on that line until he either encountered the enemy, or had reason

 

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to believe that the enemy was about to attack him; to force the rebel army to retreat from the state of Pennsylvania, or to meet the army of the Potomac in battle. He advanced on parallel roads, so as to keep the forces well ill hand, and to be able to concentrate rapidly, either to resist, or to make an attack; for General Meade never for a moment departed from the resolution to give battle to the whole of the rebel army, or any portion of it, as soon as, and wherever he could find it. The army was put in motion on the 29th of June, and on the night of the 30th, after two days' marching, the headquarters of the army had arrived at Taneytown; the First corps was near Gettysburg, the Second at Taneytown, the Third at Emmettsburg, the Fifth at Hanover, the Sixth at Manchester, the Eleventh supporting the First near Gettysburg, and the Twelfth at the Two taverns. The cavalry was kept well to the front and on both flanks, where frequent encounters took place with the rebel cavalry, in all of which the National troops were successful.

Early on the morning of the 1st of .July, General Meade learned that the enemy had fallen back from the line the Susquehannah, and was concentrating his forces at soar; point on his front. General Reynolds, in command of his own and General Howard's corps, bad been sent forward on the evening of the 30th of June, with orders to occupy Gettysburg.

Up to that day, the main force of the rebel army was encamped near Chambersburg and Greencastle; but early on the morning of the 30th, Lee ordered General Hill's corps to march from Chambersburg through the South mountain, towards Gettysburg, by the Cashtown gap ; Longstreet's corps followed as soon as the road through the pass became cleared of Hill's troops. Lee's headquarters moved with Long street's corps. Ewell was called in from Carlisle, and somewhat later in the day General Early, who occupied York, was ordered to call in his detachments from Wrightsville and the line of the Northern Central

 

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railroad, and to march westward and join Ewell on the line of march towards Gettysburg.

General Reynolds moved forward at daylight on the morning of the 1st of July, and arriving near Gettysburg at eleven o'clock in the forenoon, found General Buford's cavalry division already skirmishing with the Confederate troops, who appeared two miles to the westward of the town. Reynolds, with his accustomed boldness to attack, did not hesitate as to his duty, or wait for instructions; he was an accomplished soldier, and knowing that it was Meade's determination to fight the enemy on the first advantageous ground in his front, immediately advanced to the support of Buford's cavalry, and engaged the enemy. The First corps pushed forward through the town to occupy a hill on the west side, near Pennsylvania College, where it encountered Heath's division of Hill's corps of Confederate troops. The battle opened with artillery, in which the enemy at first had the advantage. Reynolds rode forward to change the position of the batteries; the rebel infantry immediately advanced, pushing forward a heavy skirmish line, and charged upon the guns, expecting to capture them. General Reynolds ordered up Wadsworth's division to resist the charge, and rode at the head of the column to direct and encourage the troops ; but his gallantry made him a conspicuous mark for the deadly bullets of rebel skirmishers, and he was shot through the neck, and fell mortally wounded, dying before he could be removed from the field.

The loss of their brave leader, personally the most popular officer of his rank in the army, might well have seriously affected the behavior of the men ; but the spirit with which his presence had inspired them did not perish at his death; his corps led by the senior officer, General Doubleday, repulsed the enemy in a gallant charge, while the fighting, for a time, became a hand-to-hand struggle, during which the rebel General Archer and his whole brigade were captured and sent to the rear. Doubleday's success

 

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was however but momentary; for Hill had by this time arrived on the ground, and had deployed his whole command in front of the First corps. After a brief resistance to these overwhelming forces, Doubleday's troops fell back on General Howard's corps, which had come up and taken a position on the right and rear of the First corps, Here the troops made a stand against Hill, and completely checked his advance after a furious contest; but the fate of the day was most decidedly settled by the arrival of Ewell's corps. These troops approached on two country roads lying near each other, and leading directly on the right flank of Howard's corps; Rhode's division of Ewell's corps came rapidly forward, and vigorously engaged General Barlow's division of the Eleventh corps, and before these troops and General Shurz's division, which supported them, had time to face to the right, on a new line, Early's division came pressing forward on their front and turned the battle into a retreat. General Howard was now in command of all the troops in the front, and perceiving that his forces were greatly out-numbered, retired his troops in as good order as was possible with the haste that was necessary to save his command, and to secure the position held by General Von Steinwehr's division on Cemetery Hill, south of Gettysburg.

As soon as General Reynolds had arrived in the front and found the enemy, he despatched a messenger to General Meade, and instructed the officer going back to headquarters, to direct General Howard to move forward his corps to the field; he also sent word to corps commanders between Gettysburg and Meade's headquarters, informing them of his engagement, and requesting that they would come forward as rapidly as possible. When General Howard arrived on the hill on the Baltimore turnpike, east of the town, he was met by a courier who informed him that Reynolds had fallen, and that the enemy were collecting in great numbers in front of the First corps. Taking a survey of the surrounding country,

 

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Howard, with the quick and accurate judgment of a great soldier, saw that the point on which he then stood was the key to the position, and that the range of hills reaching to the right and left possessed great advantages as a line of defence; he therefore directed General Von Steinwehr to post the reserve artillery on the heights, and to place his division in position to hold the hill. This was a most fortunate precaution, for when the troops on the west of the town, later in the day, outflanked on both right and left, and hard pressed on the front, broke and were driven through the streets of Gettysburg in haste and confusion, they were easily formed in support of Steinwehr's division, and took up a strong position on both sides of the turnpike. General Lee now had fifty thousand troops on the field, but did not deem it prudent to attack Howard in his new position.

During the battle in the afternoon, when his troops were outnumbered and sorely pressed, General Howard sent to Slocum, who was within five miles, to come to his relief. He sent again and again, but received no reply; finally he sent his brother, Major Howard, to urge upon General Slocum to come up in person if he would not send troops. Slocum replied that he did not wish to take the responsibility of the fight. He continued his onward march so slowly, that he spent the whole afternoon on the five miles of wide turnpike road that intervened between himself and General Howard. He arrived in person just before dark, followed closely by the head of Sickles' column, whose corps, although at midday several miles further off than the Twelfth, had been hurried on by its more impetuous leader, and was arriving in advance of Slocum's; but all were too late to succor Howard, who had already fallen back to the cemetery, and the battle of the 1st of July was ended.

General Lee feared the consequences of an unsuccessful assault on Howard's line; the impetuosity of Reynolds' attack led him to suppose that the First corps was but the ad-

 

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vance column, acting not far from its supports. The rebel commander therefore determined to recall his troops, who were already advancing up the slopes, and to await the arri. val of the remainder of his army. Lee believed that he was confronted by the whole force of Meade's army, and hence committed the blunder so fatal to his cause, of not outflanking Howard's corps and driving it from its strong position.

Sickles' and Slocum's corps arriving at dusk, took up positions respectively on the left and right of Howard's command.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, General Meade received a report from the front that his advance had encountered the enemy, and that an engagement was then going on beyond Gettysburg. General Hancock was at this time at the headquarters of the army, and the commanding general had just communicated to him very fully his plans of operation, and therefore, as soon as he learned of the situation at Gettysburg, and of the death of Reynolds, he despatched, to the front, General Hancock, who thoroughly understood his intentions in reference to future movements; he directed him to examine the grounds, and if he found a good position to hold it, but if not, then to withdraw the troops to a position on Pipeclay creek, where the whole army could easily be concentrated. Hancock agreed with General Howard in the choice of position, and reported the facts to the commanding general.

As soon as General Meade received Hancock's report, he ordered the whole army to advance rapidly, and to concentrate in front of Gettysburg. He rode forward himself to Howard's headquarters, and with that officer carefully examined the position, and gave directions for the posting of troops, and before daylight on Thursday morning, the 2d of July, the whole army, with the exception of the Sixth corps, was in line of battle on the heights to the right and left of the Baltimore pike, with the centre held by Howard's corps, on Cemetery hill, the left resting on Roundtop mountain, and the right deflecting back-towards Rock creek; the line

 

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presented to the enemy was in the form of the sides of a horse-shoe, with the left wing longer than the right, and rested on the crest of an irregular ridge, whose slopes were broken by ravines, and in some places steep, rugged and rocky.

The morning of the 2d was spent in bringing up the artillery and in organizing for an attack, which General Meade had determined to make as soon as Sedgwick's corps, which had been marching all night, should arrive within supporting distance. When Sedgwick received the order to march to Gettysburg his corps was in camp thirty-two miles from that place, but General John Sedgwick was one of the greatest of soldiers, and when the report reached him that there was an engagement already begun, he promptly put his troops in motion, encouraged them and urged them forward, and without bivouac, almost without rest, this gallant officer brought his veteran heroes, who loved their general next to their country, most dearly, rapidly forward. At three o'clock in the afternoon General Meade received a report from Sedgwick that his corps was approaching the field; the army was now posted in line, with the Twelfth corps, commanded by General Slocum, on the right; the First, commanded by General Newton, on the right centre; the Eleventh, commanded by General Howard, in the centre; the Second, commanded by General Hancock on the left centre; the Third, commanded by General Sickles, on the left; the Fifth, commanded by General Sykes, was held in reserve, and the Sixth corps, commanded by General Sedgwick, was moving up towards the left.

During the night and morning, General Meade had directed his troops to erect such defensive works as were possible before the opening of the battle ; wherever, therefore, the ground was sufficiently open, musketry trenches and rifle pits were dug; cover for the artillery was thrown up wherever it was practicable; trees were felled, stones piled up, and every possible means of protection was provided. Before the hour of attack arrived, Meade's army held a position, by nature, extremely defensible, and by the addition

 

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of such works as the energetic citizen soldiery, directed by a. great engineer, could erect in a few hours of diligent labor it was made too strong to be carried by direct assault.

The original position taken up by General Howard on the 1st, on the steep hill southeast of Gettysburg, had now become the centre of the line of battle; the ridge on the right sweeps back in a horseshoe from towards the southeast and southwest, forming a curve about three miles long, Rising much more at some points than at others, it everywhere commands the valley around its north and west sides into which it falls, in many places too abruptly for artillery to sweep the plain at its base. About the cemetery there is much open ground, but the men occupying this part of the field had provided for themselves considerable cover by hastily constructed trenches. The right wing of the ridge, extending somewhat eastward from the cemetery, was high, and curved sharply to the south, in a line nearly perpendicular to the front and left wing; this flank, held by Slocum, was well protected by the nature of the slope, which was rocky and ended abruptly at Rock creek. On the left of the cemetery the slope was more gradual and the position less protected, but Hancock's men had greatly strengthened their front by the construction of earthworks; farther to the left there was more timber along the crest, and the men had employed their axes to good purpose by felling trees and erecting breastworks. On the extreme left, Roundtop was high, rocky, rough and rugged presenting an insurmountable obstacle to an attacking party, and, with artillery, commanded a sweep of the whole position. The valley in front of the centre and left, where the hill in its western bend becomes less sharply defined, was open cultivated land for a distance of three-quarters of a mile, and was effectually swept by the National batteries. The line of these hills had everywhere a good slope to the rear, which afforded excellent protection for the reserves, and secure cover for the ammunition and supply trains, close in the rear of the army. Though Meade's lines were

 

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about five miles in length, the opposite flanks were, in a direct line across the rear, separated by a distance of less an three miles. It was, therefore, easy to throw reforcements rapidly from every portion of the line to any point that was hard pressed.

General Meade, thoroughly understanding the strength end advantages of his position, and knowing that General

Lee could not afford to remain quietly in the midst of hostile troops, who would sever his communications and obstruct his line of retreat to the Confederate territory, determined to act wholly on the defensive.

General Lee had rapidly concentrated his army at Gettysburg, and spent the morning of the 2d of July in reconnoitring Meade's position, and in holding earnest consultation as to the course to be pursued. He formed his line on the crest of an outer parallel ridge, which enveloped the ridge occupied by the National army. Ewell was posted on the left, opposite Slocum; Hill took post in the centre, and  Longstreet on the right, opposite Sickles' position. After General Lee had carefully examined the position, he felt loath to attack; fearing the consequences of a defeat in the  enemy's country, he preferred rather to withdraw to the passes of South mountain or to the line of the. Antietam, where his communications would be more secure and his line of retreat open. But whilst Lee was doubtful as to the wisdom of attacking, the younger and more ardent Confederate officers were eager to be led forward, and in the council their impetuous spirits prevailed against the calmer and more prudent judgment of Lee and Longstreet. Lee, therefore, gave the orders to his corps commanders to prepare their troops for attack. The rebel chieftain has since deeply regretted that he thus yielded to the judgment of others, less responsible for the consequences that followed.

At four o'clock, the Confederate army was ready for the attack, all the troops were in position, the infantry standing

 

 

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in line and the gunners at their pieces, all in nervous anxiety waiting orders to begin the work of death.

On the opposite range of hills was an army equal to this in numbers, holding a strong position on their own soil, and in defence of their. homes, their families and their honor. On the left of the line, General Sickles fell into an error in posting his corps that well nigh proved disastrous to the whole army. He had been ordered to form on the left of Hancock's line, joining the right of the Third with the left of the Second corps. Sickles, however, most unfortunately took a position on a slight ridge three-quarters of a mile in advance of the prolongation of Hancock's line, and wholly disconnected, by an intervening ravine, from the proper line of the army. From reports received at headquarters General Meade was led to believe that Sickles may have made some mistake in posting his troops; he therefore mounted his horse and rode to the left to inspect the line; as soon as he arrived on the ground on which he had directed Sickles to post his corps he discovered the error of that officer, and that by his false position the line of his army was broken and untenable. General Meade sent forward for Sickles and pointed out the position he had expected the Third corps to occupy. General Sickles proposed immediately to withdraw his corps to the proper position; but General Meade bad already discovered, from the movements of the enemy, that he was about to advance to the attack, and therefore directed General Sickles to return quickly to his command, saying, " The enemy will not now allow you to withdraw." Whilst Meade was still speaking the enemy's batteries opened a furious fire on the Third corps, and Longstreet's troops began to emerge from the woods in massive columns and advanced against the front and right flank of Sickles' command. There was but one alternative, either the Third corps must be driven back to the ridge occupied by the main army, or Meade must order forward supports, abandon his strong position, and fight the enemy in the open valley.

 

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The calm judgment of the commanding general quickly and very properly adopted the former alternative; lie urged forward the Fifth corps, troops he had but a few days before commanded in person, among them the Pennsylvania Reserves, and the division of regulars; he directed General Sykes to form in line on the left of Hancock, and to resist the enemy now screaming and yelling in pursuit of Sickles'' corps.

General Sickles galloped across the valley at the first sound of battle, and exerted himself with conspicuous gallantry to preserve his lines, and steady his troops, as they fell back across the ravine; but early in the onset he was severely wounded in the thigh, and was carried from the field. General Humphreys, an eminent soldier, who commanded the advance division, made heroic efforts to retire the troops in order; every staff officer, even to his last orderly, was shot down at his side, his last horse fell under him; but still, at the head of his command, he encouraged his troops, and fell back steadily to the line of Sykes' corps, and took post in the rear. As Sickles' corps, commanded by General Birney, was pressed back, the rebel column came under the fire of Hancock's guns, which opened a terrific discharge of shell and canister, that was carrying dreadful havoc through the Confederate masses struggling up the bill; but defiant of death on they came to the very muzzles of the guns, driving the artillerymen from them at the point of the bayonet. In the instant of supposed victory, two reserve batteries, that had been posted by General Warren of Meade's staff, opened an enfilading fire at short range, with such accurate aim that it swept the Confederate troops from the hill with a destructiveness appalling to behold; at the same time the infantry of the Second corps plied all the power of their deadly volleys of musketry, recaptured their guns, which again opened a most vengeful raking fire that added to the fearful carnage. The right wing of the attacking columns, broken and disordered, fell back to the ravine beyond the range of the artillery.


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As soon as the retiring troops of Sickles' corps had cleared Sykes' front, he ordered a counter-charge upon the advancing enemy. The division of regulars led the charge on the right of the corps, joining Hancock's left. These sturdy warriors struck the advancing column, for a moment struggled fiercely with the foe, and then pressed him back on the centre; but on the left, the enemy being on the field in superior numbers, the regulars were outflanked, and were in the most imminent danger. The crisis had been reached, the enemy must be driven back, or the National army must abandon its line, and fight on less advantageous grounds. The fragments of regiments and companies, and disordered masses of troops, from the Third corps, rushing back, fleeing from the victorious enemy, covered the fields and filled till; roads in front. Fortunately, General Meade was present, and promptly ordered his old command, the Pennsylvania Reserves, to charge upon the enemy, and retrieve the day, by turning defeat into victory. The Third brigade of the division had previously been detailed to watch the movements of the enemy towards Roundtop. General Crawford immediately directed Colonel M'Candless, commanding the first brigade, to form his command and charge down the slope. The enemy's advance had already reached the foot of the ridge, and his heavy columns were rapidly pushing forward. M'Candless formed his brigade in two lines; the second massed on the first. The Sixth regiment, commanded by Colonel Ent, was placed on the right; the First, Colonel Tally, on the left; and the Eleventh, Colonel Jackson, in the centre; the Second regiment, Lieutenant-colonel Woodward, and the Bucktails, commanded by Colonel Taylor, formed the second line.

The line first delivered two well-directed volleys upon the advancing masses of the enemy, then rang out, loud and strong, the battle shout peculiar to the Reserves, and the whole column running swiftly down the slope, the men bringing their pieces to a charge as they ran, fell upon the enemy, swept him from the hill-side, and in a short, but

 

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determined struggle, routed him from the shelter of a stone wall on the plain. The rebels retired to a wheat field and the woods beyond it. Colonel M'Candless immediately deployed the second line to the left, the Bucktails gained the flank, and dashed upon the enemy, who endeavored, for a moment, to make a stand, but soon broke beneath the impetuous charge, and fled in disorder across the field, leaving his dead and wounded in the hands of the Reserves. Having once seized the position, Colonel M'Candless firmly held the line of the stone wall, and the woods on the right. The enemy had been repulsed only by the most desperate fighting, and the victory had been purchased at the price of the lives of many gallant heroes. Emboldened by their successful assault upon Sickles' corps, the rebels were advancing to seize the ridge on the left of the line. To repel this victorious column the Reserves bad been led to the charge. The onset was terrible. The rebel generals threw themselves at the head of their troops, and, with sword in hand, urged them to the conflict. They well knew the ground must be held, or the advantages gained must be lost. The Reserves, however, were fighting on their own soil, with their backs to their hones; it was a battle for the safety of their families, the defence of their State, the honor of their country, the glory of their unsullied banner, and the reputation of their most beloved commander. What motives these, for men to die bravely, or to survive an honorable death with an untarnished fame! No foe could withstand a charge impelled by hearts thus nerved to the combat. First, the officers cheering on their rebel hosts, fell beneath the unerring fire of the Bucktails, and the hostile column was speedily broken and hurled back by the bayonets of the First brigade.

It was now past six o'clock in the evening, and the enemy did not again renew the conflict on that part of the field; but at the same time that these heavy masses had been thrown upon the Third corps, a rebel brigade had been sent to occupy Roundtop, which was the key-point to the posi-

 

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tion of the left wing, and if seized and held by the enemy, Meade's line would become untenable. In the meantime, Colonel Fisher, commanding the Third brigade of the Reserves, had gained his position in support of Colonel Rice's brigade of the Fifth corps. The enemy had ceased firing, and retired before Colonel Fisher's regiments had time to become engaged. As it was growing dark, the colonel rode to Colonel Rice's headquarters, and asked him whether the fire of the enemy on Roundtop had not annoyed his command during the afternoon, and upon receiving an affirmative answer, he said, " I will take that hill to-night." Colonel Rice thought it might prove a hazardous enterprise; but, his ardor not in the least checked by the prospect of a fierce conflict with the enemy, Colonel Fisher replied, that " all active operations in warfare were more or less hazardous." Colonel Rice then proposed to aid him, and detached the Twentieth Maine regiment to join the Reserves in an effort to drive the rebels from the hill. Colonel Fisher immediately formed his line of the Fifth regiment, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Dare, and the Twelfth, Colonel Hardin; the Twentieth Maine was thrown forward as skirmishers. At the moment before advancing, Colonel Fisher saw General Crawford riding towards him; he waited his arrival, and explained to him the movement he was about to make against the mountain. The general approved of the project, and the dispositions for the attack, and directed Colonel Fisher to "go ahead and take it." The three regiments advanced rapidly and quietly up the hill, and suddenly fell upon the astonished rebels on its summit, and drove them in confusion down its south-eastern slope. From some of the prisoners taken, Colonel Fisher learned that a detachment of the enemy was moving round the base of the mountain for the purpose of cutting off his brigade from its supports; lie, therefore, hurried down the slope, and ordered the Ninth regiment, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Snodgrass, and the Tenth, Colonel Warner, to move forward and take a position to command the valley, and

 

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prevent a flank movement, if it should be attempted by the enemy. The Sixth corps, meanwhile, had come up, and had taken position behind the Fifth, and thus formed a line that was entirely secure. The Reserves -were not called into action again until three o'clock on the afternoon of the following day.

In this brief struggle General Sickles was wounded so severely in the leg, that it was afterwards amputated above the knee; Hancock and Gibbon, of the Second corps, were wounded, and Zook. commanding a brigade, and Colonel Taylor, of the Bucktails, were killed. On the side of the rebels, General Barksdale, of Mississippi, was killed; Hood, Semmes and Heth were wounded.

Just at dark Ewell, on the left, advanced Johnson's division to attack Slocum's line, which had been stripped of troops to reinforce the left, and the same time Rhodes and Early advanced their divisions against Cemetery hill, held by Howard's corps. The troops received the attack with great coolness, and from their secure position behind intrenchments and a stone wall, easily repelled the enemy, but suddenly the brigade of "Louisiana Tigers" sprung from its concealment in a deep ravine where it had lain protected from the artillery fire, waiting for an opportunity to charge upon Howard's right and sieze the batteries that were sweeping the slopes; these desperate fighters rushed forward, drove the artillerymen from their guns, and the infantry from their rifle pits, and were in the act of turning the batteries to enfilade the line of the right wing, when a brigade of Schurz's German troops fell upon the victorious Tigers with such impulsive fury, that, after a hand to hand encounter, in which the bayonet was freely used on both sides, and crashing blows from the clubbed muskets were given and taken, the enemy was driven from the crest, and the batteries, with murderous rounds of grape and canister, swept the broken columns from the hillside. At the time this desperate struggle was raging most fiercely, a portion of the First corps was forced back on

 

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the right ; General Howard, who was in the midst of the fight, directed Schurz to throw his remaining brigade into the breach. General Schurz, accompanied by his whole staff; led the brigade in person, and in the shadows of early night, with every regiment and company of his division closely engaged, maintained the fight until the enemy fell back from the hill exhausted, broken and defeated. Darkness alone, which covered the uniforms of General Schurz and his brigade commanders, saved them from the searching missiles of the rebels, otherwise they would doubtlessly have expiated their gallantry, which amounted to rashness, with their blood and their lives. Further to the right, the unsupported brigade that remained of Slocum's corps, was less fortunate. The enemy's sudden attack had driven it from its works before reinforcements could reach it. The battle closed at ten o'clock in the night, and the enemy held the intrenchments of the Twelfth corps, on the extreme right, but elsewhere the line was intact. Though Sickles had lost a large number of prisoners, Sykes and Hancock bad captured about an equal number from the enemy. The battle of the second day. therefore, closed without decided advantages to either army-.

Lee did not over-estimate the gain of his troops against the right, nor did he construe the results of the day as indicative of future success to his army. But he was Dow committed to the ground, and must fight to save his command ; the Confederate divisions were, therefore, posted fur an early and vigorous attack. On the National side the officers and men had already learned to confide in the calm judgment of General Meade. The prompt and rapid movements of troops on Thursday gave proof that the new commander could handle his army with great facility, and that the line would be reinforced, and troops would be supported at any point where the enemy might press with his heaviest columns. Slocum was directed to wrest his intrenchrnents from the grasp of his antagonist, and for that purpose his own corps was reinforced by the Sixth, and the

 

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promise of other troops if it should be found necessary to employ a greater force. The Reserves, on Roundtop, constructed defensive works, and the army, ready to receive the attack at any moment, on any point of the line, rested upon its arms and awaited the dawn of the morrow.

At daylight on Friday morning, General Geary, commanding the left division of the Twelfth corps, opened fire on the enemy. The rebels responded to the fire of Geary's men by a furious charge. In a few minutes the battle burst fiercely along the whole of Slocum's line; and at times extending towards the left, overlapping the First, and engaging the right of Howard's, corps on Cemetery hill.

The fighting on Thursday, on the left, where Longstreet and Hill had fought with great desperation for three hours, and the subsequent battle on the right by Ewell, were regarded by the oldest officers in the army as the most obstinate and deadly contests of the war. Officers and men lay dead in fearful numbers. But the enemy's charge in response to Slocum's fire was even more furious than these. With fiendish yell and mad contempt of death, during six full hours, the enemy hurled his solid masses against the well-defended lines. The National troops stood like await of fire, whose flaming tongues enwrapped in death whatever came near, and whose foundations were as firm as if riveted to the primitive rocks on which it rested.

Nothing during the war had equalled this six hours of carnage. In front of Geary's position were more rebel dead, than the number of the entire list of casualties in the Twelfth corps. The slain were lying literally in heaps, hit and mangled in all manner of degrees, from a single shot through the bead to bodies torn to pieces by exploding shells.

At ten o'clock. Slocum had repulsed the enemy at every point, and reoccupied his original position. The battle ceased before eleven, and for nearly three hours a pause like to the stillness of death rested on the living and dead.

During this interval of repose the enemy massed his ar-

 

 

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tillery, numbering one hundred and fifteen guns, on a ridge about a mile in front of Hancock's position, on the left ; the cemetery; beyond the woods and hills he formed Lon-. street's and Hill's corps in heavy columns, ready at a given signal to advance and charge upon the left centre of Meade's line. General Lee had determined to sweep the hills with the fire of his artillery, by which he expected to demolish the National batteries, and to demoralize and drive the infantry beyond the heights; then, by pushing forward his heavy columns of infantry, he hoped to seize upon the intrenchments of Meade's army before the troops could reoccupy them.

From his headquarters on the hillside, the commanding general calmly, but with earnest eye, surveyed the old, carefully and minutely noting every visible movement of the enemy. He soon discerned the intentions of the rebel chieftain, and thoroughly understood his tactics. The batteries on the hill and in the earthworks on the slope were ordered to respond promptly, vigorously, and with the full power of their metal to the expected cannonade from the rebel lines; the artillerists were directed, after a short time had elapsed, to gradually diminish their fire, to lass :their pieces deliberately, and to save their ammunition General Meade was prepared to meet Lee both with stratagy and with men. Suddenly, the report of a single gun broke the dead silence, that since half-past ten o'clock, had reigned undisturbedly over hillsides and valley. It was the signal gun. Immediately front a hundred and fifteen iron throats pealed forth the thunder of battle, and the air was filled with missiles of death, that whizzed Dial screamed in converging lines from the circle of Seminar a ridge to the left centre of Meade's line, held by Hancock's and the left of Howard's corps.

Up to this tune Lee had most signally failed; he had attempted to turn the left flank of Meade's position, but was defeated and driven from the field, with one of his generals mortally, and three severely wounded; he had assaulted the

 

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right wing, and was repulsed with great slaughter, some of his brigades retiring with less than half their numbers. Lee would gladly have withdrawn from the contest, anal returned into Virginia; but the situation of his army, and the waning fortunes of the Confederacy, prevented him from adopting the prudent course approved by his own judgment; he, therefore, rashly determined to mass his whole available force, and in a desperate and final effort attempt to pierce the centre of Meade"s line. The terrific artillery fire that swept for more than two hours across the valley, was but preliminary to the fiercer and more deadly work. The National batteries replied with but seventy guns; but it was subsequently ascertained that the deliberate fire of these well-served batteries, did far more execution upon the enemy than all his terrible fusilade upon the troops on Cemetery hill. The trees above them were riddled, the rocks on the hill-side were splintered, and the grounds around them were scored in chequed furrows but the men secure be. hind the sheltering ledges, escaped almost without hurt; the artillerymen and horses were less fortunate; a considerable number were killed and wounded, several caissons were exploded, and two batteries were completely demolished.*

 

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# Samuel Wilkeson, an eminent journalist, who witnessed the battle, thus describes the scene at headquarters of the army. "In the shadow cast by the tiny farm-house sixteen by twenty, which General Meade had made his headquarters, lay wearied staff officers and tired journalists. There was not wanting to the peacefulness of the scene the singing of a bird, which had a nest in a peach tree within the tiny yard of the whitewashed cottage. In the midst of its warbling, a shell screamed over the house, instantly followed by another, and another, and in a moment the air was full of the most complete artillery prelude to an infantry battle that was ever exhibited. Every size and form of shell known to British and to American gunnery shrieked, whirled, moaned, whistled and wrathfully fluttered over our ground. As many as six in a second, constantly two in a second, bursting and screaming over and around the headquarters, made a very hell of fire that amazed the oldest officers. They burst in the yard-burst next to the fence on both sides, garnished as usual with the hitched horses of aids and orderlies. The fastened animals reared and plunged with terror. Then one fell, then another-sixteen laid dead and mangled before the fire; ceased. Still fastened by their halters, which gave the expression W their being wickedly tied up to die painfully, these brute victims of a cruel war touched all hearts. Through the midst of the storm of screaming and exploding shells, an ambulance, driven by its frenzied conductor at full speed, presented to all of us the marvellous spectacle of a horse going rapidly on three legs. A hinder one had been soot off at the hock. A shell tore up the little step of the Headquarters Cottage, and ripped bags of oats as with a knife. Another soon carried oft' one of its two pillars. Soon a spherical case burst opposite the open dour-another ripped through the low garret. The remaining pillar went almost immediately to the howl of a fined shot that Whitworth must have made. During this fire the horses at twenty and thirty feet distant were receiving their death, and soldiers in Federal blue were torn to pieces in the road and died with the peculiar yells that blend the extorted cry of pain with horror and despair. Not an orderly -not an ambulance-not a straggler was to be seen upon the plain swept by this tempest of orchestral death thirty minutes after it commenced. Were not one hundred and twenty pieces of artillery, trying to cut iron x the field every battery we had in position to resist their purposed infantry attack, and to sweep away the slight defences behind which our infantry were waiting ! Forty minutes-fifty minutes-counted on watches that ran, oh so languidly ! Shells through the two lower rooms ! A shell into the chimney that fortunately did not explode. Shells in the yard. The air thicker and fuller and more deafening with the howling and whirling of these internal missiles. The chief of stair struck--Seth Williams, loved and respected through the army, separated from instant death by two inches of space vertically measured An vide bored with a fragment of iron through the hone of the arm. Another cut with an exploded piece of case shot. ' And the time measured on the sluggish watches was one hour and forty minutes.

 

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General Meade soon ordered his gunners to gradually cease firing, intending thus to deceive the enemy into the belie±' that the National artillery had been silenced, and the troops swept from the hill. The stratagem was successful. The enemy's artillery ceased firing, and his infantry, in three columns, emerged from the woods on Seminary hill, a nd descended into the valley; Pickett in the centre, Wilcox on the right, and Pettigrew on the left ; a force of fifteen.. thousand men, supported by Lee's whole army, advanced rapidly without firing a gun. A heavy line of skirmisher; in front crossed the Emmettsburg road, and drove the first

 

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line of skirmishers in front of Hancock's corps from behind a stone wall. The rebels leaped over the wall, opened fire along the whole line, and dashed forward, running at full speed as they approached the intrenchments on the hill. When the head of the column came within point.-plank range, suddenly, the seventy guns which Lee supposed h;; lad silenced, but which had saved their ammunition and their strength, opened with all the fury and death-dealing ardor of a well-trained artillery; straight from front to rear, diagonally from right to left, and from left to right, the double charges of grape and canister, the shrapnel and spherical case, swept and tore in fearful havoc through the columns. But the infuriated rebels rushed on, even to the cannon's mouth ; Pickett's division carried the intrenchments in the centre, and for a moment the hostile colors waved over Hancock's lines; but almost instantly his infantry drove back the rebels, who had already forced the artillerymen from their guns. Howard's batteries on the right had swept Pettigrew's column from the slope, and Sykes' artillery on the left had broken and disordered Wilcox's command. General Meade, with his army well in hand, had ordered up Doubleday's division of the First corps, to reinforce the Second, and putting in motion other troops to strengthen the line, at the auspicious moment ordered Hancock to advance; his divisions instantly fell vigorously upon Pickett's brigades, attaching them in front and on both flanks, with a fire and a charge that swept the field like a scythe of death. Of Pickett's three brigade commanders, Garnett was killed, Kemper was seriously wounded, and Armistead was mortally wounded and captured; his column was utterly destroyed, and his supports fled in dismay from the field; fourteen of his field officers were billed, and only one escaped unhurt; two-thirds of his men were billed, wounded, and captured, and of the thirteen standards his regiments had carried boldly to the charge, only two were allowed to return. Pettigrew and Wilcox also lost heavily ; Generals Trimble and Ponder were

 

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wounded, their columns were . disordered, and their troops demoralized by the havoc they witnessed in their ranks. Nor was M'Law's success any better in the operations against the extreme left, held by the Pennsylvania Reserves. General Meade, with his soul intent on the desperate work in his front, with the genius of a great soldier, had not neglected to feel, with the most delicate touch, the faintest pulsations of battle along his entire line. He quickly saw the movement developing against his left, and promptly directed Sykes to make the necessary dispositions to meet the enemy in that direction. General Crawford was ordered to move forward a brigade to check the advance of the enemy towards Little Roundtop. Colonel M'Candless immediately abandoned the position he had seized and fortified on the previous day, and pushed forward a line of skirmishers toward the right, in front of a battery the enemy had posted in the border of a wooded rid ,,e ; Bartlett's brigade of the Sixth corps supported the Reserves by moving into the position they had just vacated, and other troops were moved up on the right. The movement had hardly begun, before the enemy opened his battery on the Reserves with grape and canister; but the troops advanced rapidly, and soon gained the woods on the right, when the battery ceased firing and fled. The line was they formed, and, under the immediate direction of Colonel M'Candless, dashed across the wheat field, and into the upper end of the woods; the enemy's skirmishers were driven back, and the upper end of the woods was cleared. The command then changed front, faced towards Gettysburg, and charged through the lower end of the woods. It encountered General Anderson's brigade of Georgian, which had taken position behind a stone wall, extending through the woods north and south, and which the rebel; had made stronger by rails and logs. The Reserves, moving in a direction parallel to the wall, fell upon the flank of Anderson's troops, completely routing them, taking three hundred prisoners, one stand of colors, belonging to the

 

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Fifteenth Georgia regiment, and five thousand stand of arms. Another Rebel brigade, under General Benning, which lay concealed beyond the woods, and near the foot of the ridge, took the alarm and ran without firing a shot.

The three brigades of M'Law's division greatly outnumbered the Reserves; but the rapidity of the movement, and the gallant dash of the regiments, successfully surprised and routed them. They fell back nearly a mile, to a second  ridge; where, during the night, they intrenched themselves. By this charge of M'Candless' brigade, and the Eleventh regiment of Fisher's brigade, the whole of the ground lost the previous day was retaken, together with all of the wounded, who, mingled with those of the rebels, were lying uncared for, on the field. The dead of both sides lay in lines in every direction, and the large number of Union  men showed how fierce  had been the struggle, and how

faithfully and persistently the Third corps lead battled for the field against the superior masses of the enemy

General Lee hastily threw forward a division of Georgia troops, and opened fire with his artillery, to cover the retreat of his broken columns, hurled back from Hancock's  lines, and made hurried dispositions to repel an attack. As soon as General Meade saw that success had attended his  troops in the centre, he rode to the left to order an advance in support of the Reserves, who had moved so promptly in obedience to his instructions. It, was already near sunset  and before the forces could be sufficiently concentrated to make a charge on the right flank of the enemy, darkness ensued, and it was too late to follow up the victory.  M'Candless was therefore ordered to halt and hold his position. The battle ended with the day, resulting in a complete victory to the National army.

Two thousand eight hundred and thirty-four loyal soldiers lay dead on the field; thirteen thousand seven hundred and nine were wounded, and six thousand six  hundred and forty-three were missing. A loss of twenty-three thousand one hundred and eighty-six, of whom nearly

 

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twenty thousand were lost in the battles of the first and second days. The loss of the rebels was reported to be five thousand five hundred killed, twenty-one thousand wounded and thirteen thousand six hundred and twenty-one prisoners. A total loss of forty thousand one hundred find twenty-one men. In addition to this, the enemy lost by capture, three guns, forty-one standards and twenty-four thousand nine hundred and seventy-eight stands of small. arms.

The two brigades of the Pennsylvania Reserves that participated in this battle, and General Meade's campaigns that immediately followed, numbered about three thousand live hundred men. Their loss, proportionately much less than in previous engagements, was two hundred and ten; of those, twenty-six were killed, one hundred and eighty-one wounded, and three missing. In the First regiment eight enlisted men were killed; Adjutant Alfred Rupert, Captain John R. Dobson, Lieutenant Brinton J. Parke and thirty-five men were wounded. In the Second, three men were killed; Captain William D. Reitzel, Lieutenant James C. Manton and thirty-one men were wounded, and one was missing. In the charge made on the 2d of July, Sergeant Toomy, the color-bearer of the Second regiment, teas wounded in the arias; Captain 0. J. Smith seized the flag, carried it forward and planted it on the stone wall. This was but a reverse of the scene at the battle of Fredericksburg ; then, when the color-sergeant fell, Captain Smith raised the flag and led on the regiment, but was soon knocked down by a piece of shell, and the standard passed into the hands of Sergeant Toomy, who carried it to the crest of the hill.

Assistant Surgeon Jackson was prostrated by the exposure and toil to which the medical corps was subjected, and died on the 4th of August. Evan Owen Jackson, the son of E. 0. Jackson, Esq., of Philadelphia, was born in Columbia county, on the 3d of March, 1836 ; he was cousin to General Jackson, of the Reserves. After having received

 

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liberal education, Mr. Jackson graduated in the Philadelphia Medical College in 1858, and the same year commenced the practice of his profession in Philadelphia. In December, 1862, he was appointed Assistant Surgeon of the second regiment. Dr. Jackson entered the service with patriotic ardor, and was one of the most efficient young :ten in the medical corps of the army; but he soon fell a sacrifice to his own zeal. At Gettysburg, when thousands of wounded and dying men were lying around him, calling for help, he labored day and night until his strength failed; an attack of typhoid fever compelled him to relinquish his post of duty ; he was taken to the Providence hospital, in Washington, and tenderly cared for by the Sisters of Charity until he died.

In the Fifth, two men were wounded. In the Sixth, two men were killed; Lieutenant S. S. Rockwell and twenty-one enlisted men were wounded. In the Ninth, five enlisted men were wounded. In the Tenth, two enlisted men were killed and three were wounded. In the Eleventh,

`% Lieutenant John 0. H. Woods and two privates were killed, Lieutenant-colonel Daniel S. Porter, Lieutenants James A. t Fulton and Daniel D. Jones and thirty-five neon were ;wounded. In the Twelfth, one man was killed and one  wounded. In the Bucktail regiment, Colonel Charles F. Taylor and six of his men were killed; Lieutenant-colonel Alanson E. Niles, Captains Hugh McDonald, J. D. Yerkes, Frank Bell, and Lieutenants Thomas J. Roney, Joel R. Spahr and J. E. Kratzer and thirty-one enlisted men were wounded, and two were missing.

Charles Frederick Taylor, colonel of the Bucktail regiment, was born in West Chester, Pennsylvania, on the 6th of February, 1840. He was the youngest child of his parents, and spent the early part of his life on his father's farm, near Kennett-square, and was a pupil in the village school. Ire made rapid progress in the study of the classics and the French language, and in 1855, in the sixteenth year of his age entered the University at Ann Arbor, in the state of

 

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Michigan. In the following year he left the university to accompany his brother, Bayard Taylor, and his two sisters, on a tour through Europe. The party sailed from New York in July, 1856, and landed in England. After visiting places of note on the island the tourists crossed over to the continent and traveled through France, Germany, Switzer, land and Italy. The younger brother, with his sisters, then settled at Lausanne, on Lake Geneva, where he remained whilst Bayard Taylor made his celebrated journey to Sweden and Lapland. In the Spring of 1851`, Charles Frederick Taylor left Lausanne with his sisters, and proceeded to Gotha, for the purpose of studying the German language, and in June of the same year returned to America. Ira addition to having acquired the ability to speak the French and German languages with unusual facility, he experienced great improvement in his health, which, up to that time, had been feeble.

In the fall he returned to Ann Arbor to resume his studies, with the noble ambition of becoming a thorough scholar. Private reasons, however, induced him in the, following summer, to return to Kennett-square, to assume the management of his father's farm. He entered with great energy and enthusiasm upon his new occupation, adopting new and improved agricultural processes, with prospect of speedy success. Bat when the President's call for troops, immediately after the attack on Fort Sumter, roused the Nation, our young hero dropped all his plans on the very day the call reached him; he summoned the young men of the neighborhood to assemble at Kennett-square, drew up a volunteer pledge, and placed his name at the head of the list. He left the plow in the unfinished furrow, and the oxen unyoked in the field to enter the service of his country. In three days a. sufficient number had enrolled their names to form a company, and unanimously chose young Taylor to be their captain. Without waiting to correspond with the state authorities to ask acceptance for his company, Captain Taylor took the men to

 

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Harrisburg and had them incorporated into the Buctail regiment, which was the first that was organized for the three years' service. From that time forth his history was that of his regiment. He was captured at Harrisonburg whilst generously attempting to carry from the field his

superior officer; he was paroled in August, and returned to the command at Sharpsburg. After the battle of Antietam Captain Taylor was promoted to the colonelcy of the Bucktail regiment, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of Colonel McNeil. Colonel Taylor was the youngest  man holding a colonel's commission in the Army of the Potomac, and General Meade, a man from whom only the highest merit elicits praise, pronounced him one of the most promising young officers in the service. The conspicuous gallantry of the young colonel attracted the fire of the enemy, and he fell mortally wounded, whilst leading his regiment in the desperate charge made by the First brigad