The
Great Rebellion of
the Southern States was formally opened and war commenced by the attack of the
conspirators on Fort Sumter, in Charleston Harbor, in South Carolina, on the 12th day of
April, 1861. After resisting the terrific attack for two days, early on the morning of the
14th of April, the garrison of less than one hundred men, surrendered to an attacking army
of over two thousand strong. On the 15th day of the same month, the day following the fall
of Fort Sumter, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, issued a proclamation,
calling out seventy-five thousand militia from the several States in the Union, to serve
during a term of three months, in the war against the rebels. A requisition was made on
the State of Pennsylvania for fourteen regiments. These were promptly furnished, and, such
was the patriotic ardor of the people, that the number was increased to twenty-five
regiments fully organized; and as many more regiments, offered by the people, were not
accepted by the War Department.
Camp Curtin was formed at Harrisburg on
the 18th of April, and before the end of the month, the twenty-five regiments were
organized and in the field. The Legislature of the State of Pennsylvania was ordered by
the Governor of the Commonwealth to convene in extraordinary session on the 30th day of
April, to provide for the better establishment of the State militia, and to organize an
army for State defence.
In a message addressed to the members of
the Legislature on the first day of the extra session, Governor Andrew G. Curtin
recommended the immediate organization, disciplining and arming of at least fifteen
regiments of cavalry and infantry, exclusive of those already called into the service of
the United States. Warning had already been given to the people in the border counties of
approaching danger, and the long line of the southern boundary, lying on the borders of
States seriously disaffected, rendered the adoption of precautionary measures not only
politic, but necessary to the public safety. Such was the popular feeling throughout the
State, that public-spirited citizens, acting on the recommendation of the Governor,
maintained in complete organization the unaccepted companies, and others formed new
companies, to be in readiness when a call should be issued for additional troops. The
Legislature acted promptly, and on the 15th day of May, 1861, passed an Act providing for the organization of the
“Reserve Corps of the Commonwealth,” to consist of thirteen regiments of
infantry, one regiment of cavalry, and one regiment of artillery.
Two days after the passage by the
Legislature of the enabling act, Governor Curtin issued a proclamation, setting forth the
number of companies that would be required from each county in the State. The distribution
was made proportionate to the number of troop's already in service from each county, based
on assessments in proportion to population. The companies, by the same proclamation, were
ordered to convene in State camps formed at Easton, West Chester, Pittsburg and
Harrisburg, where, in conformity with the law, they were to be organized and to receive
military instruction, until such time as their services should be required for the defence
of the State.
Under previous calls,
hundreds of companies had formed and offered their services to the State, but could not be
received beyond the number assigned in the quota called for by the War Department at
Washington, which was but a tithe of the number offered by the patriotic citizens of the
Commonwealth. When, therefore, it was published that The Governor was about to issue a
call for fifteen thousand troops for purposes of State defence, so earnest was the desire
of men to be admitted into the service, that many rushed to Harrisburg with all possible
speed, from various districts in the State, and besought Governor Curtin to accept
companies that were already fully organized and desired to enter the service of the
country without delay.
In a few days the number of companies
offered was greatly in excess of the number required. The troops were speedily assembled
in the designated camps, and the Corps was promptly organized under the direction of Major
General George A. McCall. It was the intention of the
projectors of the Corps, that the troops should remain in the camps of instruction during
the autumn and winter, in order to become skilled in the manual of arms and thoroughly
familiar with regimental, brigade and division drills, before going into active service.
The fate of war, however, decreed otherwise. The invasion of Pennsylvania was threatened
from the direction of Cumberland and Harper's Ferry, through Maryland, whose citizens
would offer no resistance to the progress of a hostile army through that State into the
borders of Pennsylvania. The danger apprehended and foreseen by the Governor and members
of the Legislature, had come even before the swift vigilance of the men who presided over
the affairs of the State had completed the organization, arming and instructing the troops
that were to be relied on for the purposes of defence. But a little more than a month
after the Legislature had passed the Act providing for the organization of the Reserve
Corps, it became necessary to despatch troops to the southern border and into the State of
Maryland, in order to defend the State from invasion. Accordingly, on the 22d day of June,
1861, two regiments, the First Rifles, popularly known as the "Bucktails,"
commanded by Colonel Charles J. Biddle, and the Fifth regiment of infantry, commanded by
Colonel Seneca G. Simmons, and two companies of artillery, commanded by Captain C. T.
Campbell, were ordered to march to Cumberland, in the State of Maryland, to reinforce the
Eleventh regiment of Indiana Volunteers, commanded by Colonel Lew Wallace. While these
troops were rendering valuable services in Western Virginia, the battle of Bull Run was
fought by the Army of the Potomac, commanded by Major-General Irwin McDowell. The terrible
disaster that befell the national army in this battle, on the 21st day of July, created an
unexpected demand for reinforcements. No provision had been made for an emergency of this
nature, and hence no reinforcements were at the disposal of the General-in-Chief. It
became necessary, therefore, to summon to, the national capital, with all possible haste,
all the available forces in the country. A requisition was made on the State of
Pennsylvania on the 22d of July, for the immediate service of its Reserve Corps. In
response to this urgent demand of the national government, eleven thousand of these troops
were sent to Washington as rapidly as transportation could be furnished, and, within a few days, the entire Corps,
numbering fifteen thousand eight hundred and fifty-six officers and men, was mustered into
the service of the United States, and became a part of the Army of the
Potomac. On arriving at Washington, the troops went into camp at Tenallytown, five miles
northwest from Georgetown, and in October, crossed the Potomac river on Chain Bridge, and
five miles west from the bridge, formed Camp Pierpont, near the Leesburg pike; here they
remained during the winter.
While in Camp Pierpont, the organization
was perfected, and the troops instructed in drills, and by frequent foraging expeditions
and reconnoissances, made familiar with active service.
On the 20th of December, 1861, the Third
Brigade, commanded by Brigadier-General Edward 0. C. Ord, engaged the enemy near
Drainsville, and won the first victory gained by troops in the Army of the Potomac.
In the spring,of 1862, the Corps joined in
the movement of the army, under Major-General George B. McClellan, and marched to
Fredericksburg, constituting the Second Division of General McDowell's Corps. In June it
embarked on the Rappahannock river for the Peninsula, and on the 11th of June debarked at
the "White House," on the south bank of the Pain-unkey, and joined the right
wing of the army at Mechanicsville. These troops alone fought the battle of
Mechanicsville, they were, engaged at Gaines' Mills, Charles City Cross Roads and Malvern
Hill, through the seven days' battles before Richmond. They rendered distinguished
services at the second battle of Bull Run, at South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg,
and Gettysburg. Wherever the Army of the Potomac marched and fought, the Pennsylvania
Reserve Corps was present, enduring the severest toils of war.
Hundreds of the brave men, who volunteered
in defence of the State in case of invasion, have sacrificed their lives on their
country's altar, in battles fought far from the borders of their native State by the army
of the nation.
Both the living and the dead, who marched
and battled in this corps of brave men, have a history proper to be written. It is the
purpose of this work to supply a public demand, by preserving in proper form, a complete
record of the entire organization, containing the names of all the officers and privates,
their services, promotions and destinies, from the date of their enlistment into the State
service to the day of their muster out of the service of the United States; accounts of
the marches they endured, the camps they occupied, and the many battles in which a haughty
foe was made to recoil before the power of their arms. The, History the Reserve Corps has
made, the author has written, It commends itself to every Pennsylvanian on account of the
great merits and patriotic devotion of the men whose acts it records.
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