Preface

 

The collection and publication of the records of a thousand men, who banded together, placed both their services and lives at the disposal of the Government, in support of a cause, in the justness of which both they and the nation believed, apparently requires no further justification than the simple statement of their heroism.

Yet the issuance of a history of the Bucktails has perhaps a greater significance, than would the publication of histories of many other regiments.

In the suppression of the Southern rebellion no army was given a harder task than the Army of the Potomac. In addition to being entrusted with the defense of the National capital, another, and that a two-fold labor, was laid upon its shoulders the reduction of the capital set up by the seceding States and the destruction of the Army of Northern Virginia. That the successful accomplishment of these tasks would entail the col­lapse of the rebellion was believed, a judgment that was proven correct when with the evacuation of Richmond and surrender of General Lee, in 1865, internecine conflict gave way to peace.

    To this army the Bucktails belonged. More than that, they were one of the thirteen regiments in the Pennsylvania Reserve Corps, an organization that through the far-sighted­ness of Governor Curtin, had the unique distinction of being accepted by the Government as a division, instead of as a number of individual regiments, It was to be expected that

 

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thirteen regiments, enjoying the initial advantage of being composed of picked men, fighting together throughout their term of service, should through the mutual understanding and confidence thus engendered, make for themselves a record more easily deciphered, than they would had they been transferred from division to division or from one army to another. Nor were the expectations entertained in regard to the division dis­appointed. It won for the Union army at Dranesville the first victory on the Potomac. It opened the Seven Days' battles upon the Peninsula, fighting unaided against tremendous odds at Mechanicsville, and holding its position without losing one inch of ground. At Gaines' Mill its several regiments were ordered, one after another, to strengthen the Union lines in whatever place they showed signs of giving way. A few days later, standing astride the New Market Cross Road, it beat back the attack of Lee, who strove to break through upon the Union flank. Its regiments were the first to reach Pope when he called for help, and seizing the height commanding the Warrenton pike retained for the army its line of retreat. It scaled the heights of South Mountain and opened the battle of Antietam; while at Fredericksburg it penetrated the Confeder­ate line farther than any other troops. At Gettysburg, when Sickles' corps gave way and the Union troops came flying up the slopes of Little Round Top, closely pursued by the Confed­erates, it, by a brilliant charge, drove back the enemy and secured the possession of the key of the battle-field to the Union army. It fought through the bloody campaigns of the Wilderness and Spottsylvania, rounding out its term of service by bloodily repulsing Ewell's corps at Bethesda Church. And to the other twelve regiments of this division that achieved so much, the Bucktails held a peculiar relationship. They were infantry regiments, the Bucktails a rifle regiment. Composed

 

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of men for the most part from the mountainous districts of the State, and used to the handling of fire-arms from their boy­hood, skirmish duty fell to their lot, either for the whole division or the brigade to which they were attached.

It has become a truism that the study of a nation can best be pursued by the study of the individuals composing it; and also on the other hand, that the history of an individual is unintelligible unless his relationship to his tribe or clan is under­stood, and the effect of the activities of this tribe or clan upon the achievements of the nation appreciated. It might not be amiss to regard the army as the nation, the division as the tribe or clan, and the regiment as the individual. If we do this, not only does the history of a regiment acquire much greater justi­fication than regimental glorification; but the acceptance of the parallel involves the recognition of the fact that such a history must detail, not only the movements of the regiment itself, but also those of the division and army to which it was attached.

In the preparation of this history, it has been borne in mind that a regiment is primarily a military organization, called into being for military purposes and given military tasks to perform. Hence while the fact that it has also a social life and existence cannot be denied, and while the propriety of portraying that side of its life cannot be questioned, it appears incontestable that the inclusion of a too great amount of anecdotal matter can only result in obscuring, if not obliterating, its military achieve­ments. To a regiment which participated in the number of campaigns, skirmishes and battles that the Bucktails did, this view applies with even greater force than to regiments with a less extensive military history.

The authors have received much kind help in the shape of letters, diaries, clippings, &c. Two newspaper histories, one pub­lished by the late Captain John P. Bard in the "Curwensville

 

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"Herald," and one by Comrade William A. Holland, in the "Newport News," have been of great service, as has also the "History of the Pennsylvania Reserve Corps," in the compila­tion of which Mr. Justin R. Sypher had the assistance of a manuscript history of the Bucktails, written by the late Adju­tant Roger Sherman. The frequent references to the Bucktails in the records published by the United States Government under the title "The War of the Rebellion: a compilation of the "official records of the Union and Confederate Armies," have enabled the authors to place their main reliance upon an authoritative source.

The kindness of the following, who have especially assisted by answering inquiries and in other ways, is acknowledged

Lieutenant-Colonel Edward A. Irvin, Mrs. Thomas L. Kane, Mrs. Roy Stone, Major Neri B. Kinsey, Captain William T. Blanchard, Captain Thomas B. Lewis, Lieutenant R. D. Hall, Lieutenant James Dixon West, Chaplain William H. D. Hatton, Honorable W. W. Brown, Sergeant Jonathan V. Morgan, Sergeant A. A. Van Orsdale, Corporal Thomas H. Ryan, Corporal Wallace M. Moore, Corporal E. L. Brookins, Cor­poral C. J. Smith, Comrade Firmin F. Kirk, Comrade J. A. Roman, Comrade William A. Holland, Comrade A. D. Baker, Comrade Henry C. White, Comrade Thomas Furlong.

Thanks are also particularly due to Miss Marion V. Smith for her help in the tedious work of preparing the muster rolls, and to John Thomson, Esq., for reading the final proofs.

A list of the principal works consulted will be found in the appendix.

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