Pennsylvania Reserve Volunteer Corps
“round-up”…
June 24, 25, 1903, Harrisburg, Pa.
Together with a roster of comrades
present
Grand Rapids, Minn.
To His Honor the Mayor of the City of
Harrisburg, Pa.:
My Dear Sir:----I beg you will grant me a favor, trust- it will not
interfere with your duty or convenience.
I served three years in the so-named
P. R, V. C., Ninth and Fifth Corps, Army of the Potomac. While it is impossible for me to
attend the "Round-Up" of that famous division I will express a box of bucktalls
addressed to you and at the public reception, June 24, 1 trust you will present them to
the survivors of the "Bucktail" Regiment, once the greatest skirmishers and
fighters in the National army as a lasting memento of good will and friendship to the
officers and men of the Pennsylvania Reserves. Very respectfully,
WILLIAM WEITZEL, Late Twelfth Regiment.
It gives me great pleasure, Mr.
President, to act as the spokesman of your distant Comrade in presenting these well known
badges of a distinguished command.
In conclusion permit me to say, that
while you will find our city changed in many respects since you marched through its
streets more than forty years ago, the welcome extended you by its citizens is as warm and
hearty now as it was then, and we trust that you will enjoy )-our brief stay with us as
much as we shall enjoy having you.
To these addresses of welcome Gen. R.
M. Henderson, the President, responded as follows:
Governor of Pennsylvania, Mayor of
the City of Harrisburg,
Gentlemen:
In behalf of the Pennsylvania Reserves
gathered here today I thank you for these generous words of welcome. You
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have done honor to the Nation's dead heroes in this welcome to their surviving comrades. It seems to me fitting that I may recall the patriotic words of welcome in the greeting our old war Governor Curtin gave to President-elect Lincoln. These are
his words: "Sir, when conciliation has failed, read our history. Study our tradition.
Here are the people who will defend you, the Constitution and the integrity of the
Union."
This was on the 22d of February, 1861,
when Mr. Lincoln was on his way to Washington to be inaugurated President of the United
States, when suddenly the situation became alarming. Open rebellion had been proclaimed.
Treason was in the air, and the assassin did not hide his hand. Were these the words of
inspiration! They were prophetic words. That was the gauge of patriotism demanded by the
necessities of the hour, and the people gladly accepted it.
No time was to be lost. This city was to be a military camp. The Legislature was convened in extraordinary session to organize an army for State defense. The Pennsylvania Reserve Corps---Infantry, Artillery and Cavalry---was organized under the Act of May 15, 1861. This was quick work, but it was none too soon. In the madness of the hour the South fired on Sumpter, and Sumpter fell. It was the summons to the great North to defend the flag, the Constitution and the Union.
Standing on the vantage ground of the
present, we may look back on the early sixties The Reserves soon learned that the best
place to defend the borders of their own State and homes was in the front---in the face of
the enemy. After the First Bull Run, when Washington was a beleagured city, a retreating
army on its streets, the Pennsylvania Reserves were ready to make good the words of
promise---"here are the boys that can defend you, the Constitution, and the integrity
of the Union." And an Army Corps unique in itself stood ready, as if born in an hour,
fully equipped, to march to Washington.
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Let me say
here, that we lay claim to the proud distinction that the Seventh Pennsylvania Reserves,
if not the very first troops, were among the first to arrive
in imperiled Washington, after the great disaster at Bull Run. Never were troops
more sadly needed then or more welcome than then. Surely the freedom of the city was
theirs. And back of it all there was a mighty army---the Pennsylvania Reserve Volunteer
Corps marching on---hurrying to the defense of the Nation's Capital.
In less than three short months
comparative peace and security were enjoyed in and around Washington, and our entire
Division was ordered to cross the Chain Bridge and to take possession of the sacred soil
of Virginia. This order was received with wild huzzahs of the patriotic boys as they
marched into "Dixie's Land." In a little more than a month the battle of
Drainesville was fought by the Third Brigade, single-handed and alone, and a victory won
that gave prestige to the Army of the Potomac, and inspired new hope in Washington. While
this was the fight of the Third Brigade Reserves alone, McCall's entire division was in
support and clamorous to pursue the enemy to the very gates of Richmond.
Put we pass on. Come with me. I will
show you the Pennsylvania Reserves in the very front of MCClellan's Army---the Army of the
Potomac. In the seven days' battle on the Peninsula, in the swamps of the Chickahominy. On
the 26th of June, 1862, Thursday---a bright, beautiful day, and a warm, very warm---I have
reason to remember it---a general court martial was in session. It was brought to a close
by the simple announcement from General Reynolds---the president of the court---that each
officer would return at once, and without delay, to his command. Within an hour the last
tent of the Reserves was struck, and soon the first fight of the seven days' battle was
on. General McCall and his division of Pennsylvania Reserves were intrusted with the
defense of the right wing of the Army of the Potomac at Mechanicsville. And General McCall
proved himself the hero of Mechanicsville.
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These are the words of
General McClellan: "McCall had held his own
against heavy odds and his brave troops were within sight of the spires of Richmond." A
comfortable morning's walk in the distance. To the Confederates the attack on the Federal
lines at this point was a disastrous defeat. A rebel General, D. P. Hill, of no mean
reputation, and on in every way competent to judge, thus sums up the day's work: "The
result was a bloody and disastrous repulse. Nearly every field officer in the brigade was
killed or wounded. It was unfortunate the crossing was begun before Jackson got in the
rear of Mechanicsville. The loss of that position would have necessitated the abandonment
of the line of Beaver Dam Creek, as in fact it did the next day. We were lavish of blood
in those days, and it was thought to be a great thing to charge a battery, or an earthwork
lined with infantry." "It is magnificent, but it is not war, was the sarcastic
remark of the French General as he looked on at the British cavalry charge at Balaklava.
"The attacks on the Beaver Dam entrenchments, on the heights of Malvern Hill and
Gettysburg, were all grand, but exactly of. the kind of grandeur which the South could not
afford." I refer to this merely to assert the fact that the Pennsylvania Reserves
were in the very front of the Army of the Potomac--- nearest to Richmond---and that they
covered themselves with glory---their enemy being the judge.
It was with sad hearts that the
Reserves received orders to fall back, And yet the Reserves were equal to the occasion:
"In all the trade of war no feat
Is nobler than a brave retreat."
Whilst General McCall had so severely
punished the enemy and made it clear that he could hold his position against any attack
from the direction of Mechanicsville, it was evident to General McClellan that Jackson was
threatening the flank and rear of the right wing of his army. General McClellan, in his
report of the battle of Mechanicsville, justifies the order to withdraw in these words;
"The position on Beaver Dam Creek,
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although so successfully defended,
had its right flank too much in the air and was too far from the main army to make it
available to retain it longer. I therefore determined to send the heavy guns at Hogan's
and Gaines' houses over the Chickahominy during the night, with as many of the wagons of
the Fifth Corps as possible, and to withdraw the corps itself to a position stretching
around the bridges, where its flanks would be reasonably secure, and it would be within
supporting distance of the main army. General Porter carried out my orders to that
effect." Now just here---mark this from the same report: "It was not advisable
at that time even had it been practicable, to withdraw the Fifth Corps to the right bank
of the Chickahominy. Such a movement would have exposed, the rear of the army, placed us
within two fires, and enabled Jackson's fresh troops to intercept the movement to the
James River, by crossing the Chickahominy in the vicinity of Jones' Bridge, before we
could reach Malvern Hill with our trains."
Tell me---when Jackson with fresh
troops, 30,000 strong, was threatening our right flank and rear, where was McDowell with
an army of 40,000 soldiers, a promised part of the army of the Potomac, operating on the
Peninsula in front of Richmond ?
On Friday morning, June 27, as early as
the gray dawn broke in the Eastern sky, we began to withdraw from the sad scenes, although
silver-lined by success around Mechanicsville.
I confess, it did not occur to me that
we were taking up the line of retreat---so well and orderly did everything move, the dead
and wounded cared for, and the soldierly bearing of the men. It seemed like a march back
to our old camping ground after a hard-fought battle, to dream of victory won.
The order came---again for battle. A
new stand was to be taken before we crossed the Chickahominy.
The matchless skill of McClellan was
equal to the emergency, and baffled by its strategy one of the greatest and most
accomplished field generals of this or any other war---Robert
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E. Lee. This battle was to be fought
by General Porter, with the Fifth Corps, against terrible odds, and the line of battle was already formed when the Reserves arrived on the ground, and I am sure they marched into positions assigned
them as steadily as if on dress parade.
General Seymour, in his report of the
Seven Days' Battle, says: "The engagement commenced fiercely about 3 o'clock, and
such overpowering numbers were brought into action by the enemy that it was soon necessary
to send forward this Division (the Pennsylvania Reserves) in support of the line
already engaged. Regiment after regiment advanced, relieved regiments in front, in turn
withstood, checked, repelled or drove off the enemy, and retired, their ammunition being
exhausted, to breathe a few moments, to fill their cartridge boxes, again to return to the
contested woods. At times parts of the line would be driven from its ground, but only to
receive aid and to drive the enemy in his turn.
"The woods were strewn with heroic
dead of both sides, and multitudes of wounded and dying painfully sought every hollow
affording even momentary shelter from the incessant and pitiless fire."
Through such scenes upon such ground,
the Reserve Corps principally enacted its part. General Porter, who fought the fight at
Gaines' Mill, in speaking of the conduct of his troops, says: "Not less deserving of
praise were the divisions of McCall Morell and Slocum, in their stubborn resistance to the
oft-repeated and determined onslaught of their assailants, who vastly outnumbered
them." None the less we fell back.
I recall with some distinctness the
gentle slope reaching from our battle line to the Chickahominy. I can now see the little
log building just in the rear of where the brave Captain Easton fell with his shout
ringing in the ears of his brave soldier boys: "Pour in the double canister, boys;
this battery can never be taken but over my dead body."' The battery was taken
Easton's dead body was beneath it.
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The battle
had been fought and lost. The sun was hiding itself behind the horizon in the West. Who that was there does not remember the gallant
charge of Meagher's Brigade of fighting Irishmen? The day was saved. The capture of
General John F. Reynolds was keenly felt by his First Brigade, but the fact that he was a
prisoner in rebel hands fired the martial spirit of the Reserve Corps, and nerved every
arm to do and to dare to the end.
On the morning of Saturday, the 28th of
July, the rest of the army, the right wing, withdrew across the Chickahominy. By this time
we had learned that the army was heading for the James River, instead of going back to the
White House on the Pamunky River, where the Reserves had left the boats upon joining the
Army of the Potomac, and which had been our base of supplies. When on the retreat we
naturally concluded we were going back to our starting point.
"The line of retreat," says
Swinton, "to the James River passes across White Oak Swamp and the difficulty of the
passage for the retreating army with its enormous trains was, at least, partially
compensated by the barrier it opposed to reconnaisances and flank attacks by the pursuing
foe."
Keyes' Corps was in the advance. Then
followed the long train of 5000 wagons, with a herd of 2500 beef cattle, all of which had
to traverse the morass by one narrow defile. General McCall was ordered to guard Hunt's
Artillery from Trent's farm to the Quaker road south of White Oak Swamp. This train,
including guns, cannons, forges, battery wagons and ammunition trains, with McCall's
artillery and wagons, approximated a train seven miles in length. Jackson was pressing our
rear. Longstreet and Hill made a detour flanking the Swamp and moving on the New Market
Road. The Charles City Cross Road was a different road and perhaps only, at the point in
question, a short distance from the point at which the Quaker Road crosses the James
River. On these roads the army and trains were moving as rapidly as possible to the
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James River. The bridge that Jackson
expected to cross the Chickahominy was destroyed and the crossing in the swamp was
stubbornly held by General Franklin. Lee's object was to join Jackson's force with
Longstreet and Hill. In other words, Jackson was marching south and Longstreet and Hill
were marching southeast, both virtually on the New Market Road, or perhaps the Long Bridge
Road, having moved by several roads with a view of striking McClellan's line of retreat in
our flank.
Our army and trains had passed and were
passing on this road to the Quaker Road, where they turned off to the left and in perhaps
five miles would reach Malvern Hill. Now, then, whilst Generals Franklin and Sumner were
holding in check Jackson, Longstreet had reached within a mile of the intersection of
these roads. Do you see? Could Longstreet have made this point in time our army would have
been cut in two and Jackson within call, we need not speculate on the result.
Now, the Reserves approach, in my
opinion, the crucial point of their unique and masterful existence. For what were they
created, save for sacrifice? Here they were
offered to save the Army of the Potomac.
Now, keep in view the importance of our
position. It was to prevent Longstreet and Hill from cutting the Army in two--- capturing
our trains---uniting with Jackson and crushing McClellan’s Army in detail. This was
the primary object of our position---to hold in check the Rebel Army, till the Army of the
Potomac was in position at Malvern Hill, on the James River. The order of McClellan to
General McCall was to hold the enemy in check on the New Market Road until the trains had
passed the Cross Roads in his rear. Here then was General McCall alone, confronted by 20
or 30,000 of the flower of the enemy, with about 7000 to hold at bay this united force of
Longstreet and Hill. I say McCall alone, because General Porter says in his report that he
had understood McCall was withdrawn from his Corps and therefore did not send him orders.
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McCall made the following disposition
of the force at his command---Meade on the right, Seymour on the left,
and Simmons in the centre, and awaited the attack. I will let Swinton tell the
story. "The force at the point of contact was McCall's Division of Pennsylvania
Reserves formed at right angles across the New Market Road, in front of and parallel to
the Quaker Road. Sumner was at some distance to the left and somewhat retired; Hooker on
Sumner's left, and somewhat advanced; Kearney was to the right of McCall. The brunt of the
attack fell on McCall's Division."
This fight, although now overlooked,
will rank in history as one of the decisive battles of the war. Contrary to the
expectations of General Lee, McClellan again escaped and continued his retreat to Malvern
Hill. The battle of Charles City Cross Roads, or, as General McCall named it, the battle
of "Frazier's Farm"---he fought the fight and had the right to name it---this
field was distinguished by the presence of President Davis. Just before the battle of
Frazier's Farm, Mr. Davis, with his staff, arrived at the position then occupied by
General Lee. I only mention this to emphasize the importance of the field.
But we are not here to fight our
battles over again. I have taken the liberty to refer specially to Dranesville,
Mechanicsville, and New Market Cross Roads, or Charles City Cross Roads, because these
were distinctively battles of the Reserves, and upon them, and them alone, I would be
willing to rest the valor of the Pennsylvania Reserves. And because I believe that a
failure on their part on New Market Cross Roads would have been a disaster to the Army of
the Potomac.
I cannot linger longer with the
Reserves on many hardfought battlefields. We may pass over second Bull Run,
Chancellorsville, Fredericksburg, the running fights of Virginia, and of South Mountain,
and Antietam---on all of these the Reserves were conspicuous for their unity and their
bravery. They fought and fell-always in the line of duty. Their deeds have passed into
history.
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Comrades, come with me to Gettysburg.
The soil of Pennsylvania is invaded. The Capital of the nation is threatened again, and the Capital of the
Keystone State trembles within sound of the rebel guns. General George G.
Meade, of the Reserves, is called to the command of a shattered and disheartened army only
a few days before he was brought face to face with Lee's army flushed with victory and
full of fight. The Army of the Potomac wavering before an advancing foe and staggering
rearward had paused to take breath and fresh courage. It was under these circumstances
that Meade voiced the sentiment of the patriotic people of the North. "The country
looks to this army to relieve it from the devastation and disgrace of a hostile
invasion." In this, the hour of the country's extremity, the day of extreme peril to
the State of Pennsylvania, the eyes of the loyal people rested upon Meade. The pure and
loyal patriot, the brave soldier, the generous-hearted Meade fought on the field of
Gettysburg, and won. And the Reserves---my comrades---were there, pushing in to save
Little Round Top from the enemy. Bucktails, you mourn the loss of your gallant young
Colonel Taylor. I knew him only to love him. Reserves, a tear upon the grave of General
John F. Reynolds, who fell in the very front of the battle.
Meade, the hero of Gettvsburg won the
day and made Appomattox possible.
But the war is over. What of the
vanquished? We have no animosities. The boys in blue and the boys of the grey acknowledge
now but one flag---the flag of freedom; one---in the liberty won by Washington; one---in
the Union preserved by Lincoln.
The men who fought under Meade at
Gettysburg and saved the State---who fought under Grant and Meade to the final overthrow
and extinction of the power that assailed the constitution and the union, made up without
invidious distinction, the grandest army in the most virtuous cause the world has ever
known.
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And now---well nigh forty years have come and gone since the Reserves returned their standard to the
hands of Governor Curtin---the father of the Reserves. He received them with these words:
"I had the honor to commit to your care these standards, which, tattered and torn,
but covered with the evidence of lofty service you returned them in honor to the State
to-day.
"You have done your whole duty to
your country."
Comrades, the Pennsylvania Reserves
will ever honor the name and revere the memory of this noble man. He never lost sight of
his Reserves in the field or in camp---his fame will be safe in their keeping.
But to me and to you the most touching
welcome---the nearest and dearest to our hearts, the State can tender, is in this
whole-hearted welcome in the presence of these orphan children from your magnificent
schools. They may tell of sadness, but they are gladness to our hearts to-day. They are
the jewels of the State. Private griefs there may be there may be stricken hearts among
us. The unbidden tear may dim the manly eye---the dearest ties of affection have been
sundered. But remember, our heroic dead---dead through the strife of battle---shall live
through all time in the memory of a loving and patriotic people.
The sacrifice was costly, but it was
not in vain, for "no price is too dear to pay for that which humanity cannot afford
to lose."
Another musical selection was then
given by the band when Col. William Penn Lloyd, of the Cavalry, was introduced and
delivered the following address:
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Charge of the Pennsylvania Reserves
at Fredericksburg, Va.,
December 13th, 1862.
By Colonel William Penn Lloyd,
Adjutant of the First Pennsylvania
Reserve Cavalry, which formed the
advance skirmish line
on the battle front where the charge
was made.
Lieut. General Thomas J. Jackson's
report to General R. E. Lee, printed at page 630, Vol. 21, Series I, War of the Rebellion,
official records of the Union and Confederate Armies, gives the force against which the
Reserves charged, and the effect of their assault on his line of battle, as follows:
First line, General A. P. Hill's
Division; second line, General J. A. Early's Division and Jackson's own old Division;
third line, or reserve, General D. H. Hill's Division.
His report of the artillery engaged at
this point. all of which was brought to bear on the advancing Reserves, as it was
stationed in a semi-circle and wrapped them in a belt of fire, is as follows:
"Upon the eminence immediately to
the right fourteen guns. On the left of the line near the Bernard Cabins, twenty-one guns
To the right and two hundred yards in front of these and beyond the railroad, twelve
guns," making a total of forty-seven guns.
He further states that this line
“was supported on the left by Major General John B. Hood's Division of Longstreet's
Corps, and on the right by General J. E. B. Stewart's Cavalry Corps, with its artillery
thrown into such a position as to cross its fire with the forty-seven guns above
mentioned."
48
This triple line of battle consisting
of six divisions, and bristling on its front and flanks with a cordon of more
than sixty cannon, including the artillery, of Stewart's Cavalry Corps, was assaulted by a
column of a little more than two small Brigades of the Pennsylvania Reserves, numbering
scarcely 4300 men, its centre pierced, its first line of battle broken, camps captured and
held for thirty minutes-three times as long as Pickett held the Bloody Angle at
Gettysburg.
So gallant and impetuous was this
charge of the Reserves that Jackson supposed he had been attacked by nearly half of the
Army of the Potomac. These are the exact words of his report: "About one o'clock the
main attack was made by heavy and rapid discharges of artillery. 'Under the protection of
this warm and well-directed fire his infantry in heavy force advanced, seeking the
protection of a piece of woods extending beyond the railroad. Our batteries on the right
played on their ranks with destructive effect. The advancing force was visibly staggered
by our rapid and, well-directed artillery fire, but soon recovering from the shock, the
Federal troops, consisting of Franklin's Grand Division, supported by a portion of
Hooker's Grand Division continued to press forward. Advancing within point blank range of
our infantry, and thus exposed to the murderous fire of musketry and artillery, the
struggle became fierce and sanguinary. They continued, however, still to press forward,
and before General A. P. Hill closed the interval which he had left between Archer and
Lane, it was penetrated, and the enemy pressing forward in overwhelming numbers through
that interval turned Lane's right and Archer's left. Thus attacked in front and rear, the
14th Tennessee and 19th Georgia, of Archer's Brigade, and the entire Brigade of Lane fell
back, but not until after a brave and obstinate resistance.
"In the meantime a large force of
the enemy penetrated the wood in the rear of the position occupied by the Brigades of
Archer and Lane and came in contact with Gregg's Brigade. Taken by surprise, Orr's Rifles
were thrown into confusion,
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and General Gregg, in endeavoring to
rally them, was mortally wounded.
"But the enemy was not long
permitted to hold the advantage which he had gained. The second line came promptly to the
support of the first. Early's whole Division, with the 22nd and 47th Virginia Regiments,
were already rushing ,vith impetuous valor to the support of the first line."
This is the calm, dispassionate
official report of General Jackson, in which the effect of the attack of the Reserves upon
his own lines would certainly not be exaggerated. How transcendently sublime must have
been the defiant, resistless sweep of this handful of Pennsylvania boys to magnify to
Jackson's cool, experienced, soldierly eye, their meagre ranks into "overwhelming
numbers," "Franklin's Grand Division and a portion of Hooker's Grand
Division." This charge of the Reserves may not be accorded as conspicuous a place in
history as some others, as it was not the crowning act in the drama of a great battle, yet
by the cool, determined bravery and the dauntless valor displayed, it merits a place by
the side of Marshall MacDonnell's assault on the Austrian centre at the battle of Wogram,
and Pickett's charge at Gettysburg, and this report of “Stonewall" Jackson
places it there.
Occasions there are, veteran comrades,
when memory's glance pierces the gathering gloam of two-score years and reveals, in
thrilling vividness, scenes then photographed on our visions, and the present is one of
those occasions.
It is December 13th, 1862---the morning
of the disastrous day at Fredericksburg. Our army has all crossed the Rappahannock, and on
the left, stands in martial array on the broad, open plain which skirts the river bank.
Half a mile in our front, on those frowning heights, concealed by dense woods, are the
entrenched hosts of the enemy. On our right the battle has been raging all the morning.
Fierce assaults on Harye's Heights have followed each other in quick succession, but we
have thus far been idle spectators. Hour after hour of
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wearying suspense rolls by. It is
noon, and we have a hasty cup of coffee. This is scarcely finished when a commotion is
noted on the left of our line. Aids are galloping back and forth bearing orders.
Regimental commanders are dressing their ranks and wheeling their battalions into battle
line. Meade's Division---the Pennsylvania Reserves---is preparing the charge, to assult
the enemy's position. To do this they must advance over an open plain, half a mile broad,
and scale a steep wooded ascent in the face of a murderous fire from a concealed foe.
A heavy fog which had hung in dense,
massive clouds over the river and meadows all the morning, begins to break away and the
bright beams of the sun to struggle through as the Reserves commence their advance.
They are coming now! They sweep by the
light skirmish line of the 1st Pennsylvania Reserves Cavalry. We return our sabres and sit
there upon our horses, the living witnesses of their heroic valor.
In long straight lines of battle across
the lowlands they hurry steady and regular as if marching in review on parade day.
Winding over the undulating fields they
move on at a quick, elastic pace until they reach the base of the heights upon which the
enemy is posted. Then forward in sublime array they sweep until their long blue ranks
wrapped in mist and the smoke of battle appear from the plain below to be drifting up a
mountain's side and chasing the vapory clouds, as they roll along its frowning steeps..
Forward and up, still forward and up, press those intrepid battalions. On their right and
left battery after battery opens upon them as they advance, hurling shot and shell and
grape into their ranks---but on, still on, they go. They meet the enemy's infantry in
front. It crumbles before them. They break his first and second lines, and pursue his
flying columns into their camps. There now they stand on the top of those heights,
occupying the very position
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the enemy
held. But they are unsupported, and are struggling
against fearful odds.
Firing to the right, firing to the
left, firing to the front---how gallantly they fight! But their ammunition is nearly
exhausted and no reinforcements are coming to their aid.
The enemy has rallied. His swarming
legions, on both flanks are rushing forward and encircling that little band of brave men.
Their ranks are rapidly melting away before his withering fire. What was a double line of
battle is now scarcely a skirmish line. No living being can stay there longer! Minutes
seem hours to us who behold their struggle. They waver; their colors are going; they are
retreating! The noble Meade, "superb in the beauty of his valor" that day, is
galloping back and forth, everywhere in the thickest of the carnage, trying to stay the
retreat; but musketry in their rear and cannon on both their flanks are pouring streams of
iron death upon them, and, huddled together in little groups, they are fighting their way
back. One of their Brigade commanders, the gallant Jackson, is dead; the other desperately
wounded, and many of the regimental and line officers are dead or wounded: yet how
steadily they move back, stubbornly, step by step, contesting every inch of the ground
until ordered to seek shelter on the plain below; bringing back with them 300 prisoners
and a battle flag of the enemy. They rally and re-form their lines on the spot from which
they started less than two hours ago. How the dimensions of that gallant division have
shrunken! Forty-five hundred brave men, full of life and vigor, and burning with heroic
valor advanced in that charge, and but little more than twenty-six hundred returned.
Eighteen hundred and forty-two---forty per cent---answered not at the next roll call!
"Countless eyes have conned their
glory,
Countless hearts grown brave thereby,
Let us thank the God of glory
We had such to die."
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Colonel John S. McCalmont, of the Tenth Regiment, who is now 83 years of age, brought the exercises in the Court House to a close and the vast audience slowly made its way to the street.
After the adjournment of the meeting in
the Court House the battalion of the Boys' Orphan School gave a spectacular drill in
Market Square. This portion of the exercises was to have been held on the river bank where
the tents were pitched, but the dampness of the ground induced the managers to make a
change of base to the Square. The boys entertained a large crowd for nearly one hour, and
their manoeuvers were simply wonderful
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CAMP FIRE.
Early in the evening the crowd made
its way to the Opera House, where the Camp Fire was to be held and before eight o'clock
every seat was occupied and standing room was at a premium. The decorations here were
simply, on a grand scale, and with the vast audience was a sight that will never be
forgotten by those who were fortunate enough to hold a ticket for admission.
The novelty of having the curtain rise
on the girls of the Orphan School was something new to the attendants at the average Camp
Fires, and the calisthenics by these little ones showed the remarkable course of training
which constitute life at the institution to which they belong.
The following program was rendered to
the satisfaction of all present:
1 Music ............................................................................
Soldiers' Orphan Band
2 Address ........................................................................
James J. Creagh
3 Song---"The New Star Spangled Banner". . . .
………….S. 0. I. S.
4 Address ........................................................................
R. H. Holgate, 6th Reserves
5 Recitation---"The Veterans'
Reunion"……………………
Mary Kent
6 Music.
54
7 Address
………………………………………………Edwin
Walter, Dept. Com. G. A. R.
8 Calisthenics
……………………………………………Soldiers'
Orphan Industrial School
9 Address, Thos. J. Stewart, Commander-in-Chief, G. A. R.
10
Declamation---"PennsvIvania"……………………….. Philip Johnson
11 Address.
Soldiers' Orphan Band.
Comrade Creagh, in his address in
opening the camp fire, spoke as follows:
General Henderson and Comrades of the
Pennsylvania Reserves:
I am only before you for a few moments
to say how glad we all are to meet again ; to rehearse a little of the story of the
Division; to glance in the most general way at some of the features of the great struggle
for the Union, and to take my place again in the ranks. It is from the ranks and for the
ranks that I want to speak to you for a little while---not long. We cannot call the full
roll of the Pennsylvania Reserves today. There are now comparatively so few to answer. We
cannot mention the names of all who distinguished themselves. There are so many of them.
The Division as it lives in history is the record of their renown. It was a unique
organization; a complete army in itself ; infantry, cavalry, artillery; in number about
twenty thousand. There was nothing exactly like it elsewhere in the forces of the United
States. It was organized under an Act of Assembly by the heroic war Governor, Andrew Gregg
Curtin, first for the defense of the State, but liable to be mustered into the Federal
service upon a requisition by the President. The loss of the first battle of Bull Run and
the prospect of a long war made it necessary for the Government to summon large forces to
the field. And so the Reserves were soon ordered to the front. It preserved its peculiar
organization to the end of its service and its ranks were seldom, if ever, recruited.
55
Its first commander was General George
A. McCall, an accomplished, experienced, chivalric
and brave officer of the old regular
army: the perfect type of an educated soldier and gentleman. Then there were Reynolds,
Meade, Ord, Seymour, Crawford, also of the regular army, men of capacity and distinction;
each of whose names recalls some particular scene in the great drama of the war. In the
companies and regiments were men of standing and ability in civil life---lawyers,
physicians, ministers, teachers, students, sons of solid farmers, skillful mechanics,
bright young fellows just entering manhood. They were actuated by no sordid motive in
enlisting, by no particular taste for a soldier's career , but by a passionate love for
the flag, an intelligent understanding of the issues involved and a willingness to
sacrifice themselves for an endangered country. They knew what the overshadowing issue
was. It was the single question---Union or Disunion!
It was the central, dominating cause of
the Union which summoned them and their fellow-soldiers. summoned all parties, all
classes, all interests in the loyal States to its defense. There were other issues and
controversies involved in the war; but this was the great first thing to do; this was the
continuous thing to do to the very end: this was the duty that brought about the great
uprising of the people.
If the unity of government could not be
preserved all was lost. If that was preserved then the Government would have the power to
do whatever became necessary to make a more perfect Union and to secure the blessings of
liberty to ourselves and to our posterity. There was one supreme question to be considered
before all others; the central commanding question all the time---can the Union of the
States, the Federal Union, the unity of Government of which Washington spoke in his
Farewell Address, be preserved ?
Mr. Lincoln saw it instantly when in
his inaugural he said: “Plainlv, the central idea of secession is the essence of
anarchy." And we would have had anarchy---anarchy of States and an-
56
archy of
communities---if you had not stood between the Government and that impending calamity. If
it had not been. for you, and those who
battled with you, East and West, this
Government would have gone to pieces. Hence, it was not a sectional or partisan war
on our part. The geographical feature of the war was not its real historical meaning. It
was commenced by a section, a few States at first, to dissolve the American Union and to
establish a new and separate government; the war of a section against the unity and
existence of the old government of the fathers. And so, without distinction of party, the
loyal people came enthusiastically to the support of the Union. There was a non-partisan
army, to the surprise of the South. This was its first surprise; its first blow which was
felt to the end of the war.
In our own Division, as you remember, among its officers and men were those who had been politically divided at home; but in the field they were united without reference to the past. Side by side marched and fought members of the two great political parties, Republicans and Democrats, with never a word of controversy, never a complaint that either was responsible for the war. Wherever else party passion may in time have sprung up, there was never any of it among us. We were a national army fighting for a national history and a national existence.
I remember, as we came out of one of
the battles before Richmond, Colonel Roberts, of the First, said to me: There are about
thirteen holes in the regimental colors," and then adding: "It is the
constitutional number." It was singularly suggestive; a numerical coincidence which
amounted to an idenfication. It was as if the old thirteen States that formed the Union
and made the Constitution, the old flag of the thirteen States, had that day been struck
at and that day defended. So it was that from Drainsville to Bethesda Church you fought
for the old things of America and not for something new and strange; for the old Union,
the old flag; the old ark of the covenant with the blessing of the fathers upon it and
upon you
Drainsville and Bethesda Church!
Between those two
57
points you
may read the history of McCall's Division; a crowded, famous history; long marches, arduous campaigns, great battles---some
of the greatest in the world---defeats patiently and hopefully borne, victories brilliant with
heroism, frightful decimation of numbers in sick and wounded, dead and missing; but
through it all, in sacrifice and martyrdom, never a day when the Division was not willing
to suffer these things; never a day when it would not have immolated itself if only the
country and the flag could be saved. This generation little knows how deep down in the
hearts of the soldiers of the Union and the people burnt the fire of sacrifice, the sacred
ambition to suffer and to die, that not a star might be lost and not a stripe erased from
the flag of the Republic.
Run over the history of the Division
for a moment. Drainsville fought on the 20th of December, 1861, mainly by one brigade, was
not very much compared with future engagements: but at the time it was a victory needed to
cheer the army and the people---a little gleam of light in the darkness that was coming
across the Potomac. Then about this time of the year were the campaigns of McClellan on
the Peninsular, culminating in the bloody battles of the six days before Richmond---those
days of stubborn fighting, closing in a victory at Malvern Hill. As we stood that night on
the crest of the hill and saw the advancing flashes of our artillery, there was a feeling
among us that we were going into Richmond. It was the opinion of some of the ablest
generals in the United States army that it could have been taken. And it is on record that
General Philip Kearney an old and experienced officer, entered his protest against the
order to retreat to Harrison's Landing; declaring that "instead of retreating, we
ought to follow up the enemy and take Richmond.” But the time had not yet come for
that. It was postponed, wisely, let us now think, to a later day. The second Bull Run
might have been a victory. It was from no lack of fighting qualities in the army. The
trouble was elsewhere. The great disaster which we met there, like the first in that
vicinity brought alarm and fear to the capital and. the country.
58
At South Mountain, not long in its
duration, but of importance to future movements,
the Reserves under Meade won a striking success, and, to use his words, "upheld their
well-earned reputation for steadiness and gallantry." You helped to fight the
great battle of Antietam. Some of the ablest of our officers fell there and our total
loss in the Division was, I think, a little over five hundred. It was not, perhaps, as
complete a victory as the Government hoped for; but after the reverses we had met with and
the general alarm of the country, it brought new hope and resolution to the people. It
changed the face of things for a while. It was a great victory.
It would be an omission of a prominent
event which occurred soon after that battle not to notice the filial removal of General
McClellan from command. If distrusted elsewhere, he had the confidence and love of his
army. In justice and fairness. without controversy, without criticism, I simply quote to
you an impartial comment upon the subject from the very able and interesting book of
Professor Burgess. of Columbia !University, New York City, on the "Civil War and the
Constitution," and then pass on : "The only satisfactory explanation of the
order of removal must be that it was the filial outcome of the long course of
misunderstandings and heated controversy between McClellan and the Washington authorities,
and of the political jealousies existing between the Republicans and Democrats in regard
to the command of the army. . . . What McClellan would have done in the next few days, if
lie had been left in command, can, of course, never be known."
Then came Fredericksburg and
Chancellorsville, where you fought with all your old courage and determination. They were
reverses, but only reverses after splendid fighting. The new commanders, Burnside at
Fredericksburg and Hooker at Chancellorsville, of unsuspected fidelity and eager to fight,
notwithstanding the gallantry of their troops, failed to win the battles, and
disappointment and discouragement were felt throughout the North. The hour of triumph was
again postponed.
59
But at last there was a victory, great and brilliant and far-reaching in its
influence, awaiting the Army of the
Potomac; and there was a man to win it, who did not seek but was selected, for command.
Gettysburg was one of the historic battles of the world. Your part in it was referred to
in these glowing words of that commander: "At Gettysburg the Reserve Corps enacted
deeds worthy of their former reputation, showing that they had lost none of their daring
and could always be relied upon in the hour and post of danger." And when the
"muster-out" came Governor Curtin, speaking to you and of you, said so proudly:
"Once you came back to Pennsylvania and then we all heard of Round Top at Gettysburg.
When the rest gave way, we heard your shouts among the strongholds of the foe in that
devoted country, and to you-to the Reserves of Pennsylvania-belongs the honor of changing
the tide of battle there."
We are proud to remember that Meade,
the victorious commander; Reynolds, the chief martyr, bravest of the brave : Crawford, of
dashing spirit, and others not of our Division, like Hancock, Gregg and many more such
men, all great figures in that terrific battle, were Pennsylvanians; that some of the
soldiers of the Division were from Gettysburg and the adjoining counties, literallv
defending their own homes and towns against the invaders from the South.
The South never really recovered from
that defeat. It was only a matter of time until Appomattox was reached, where Grant, with
Meade by his side, closed the war. Your service with Grant in the campaigns of the
Wilderness, at Spottsylvania and Bethesda Church, brought your term of service to its end,
although many of you reinlisted. You closed your brilIlant history in the vicinity where
you fought your first great battles under McCall.
It is of Gettysburg that I want to
speak a moment longer. There were other battles in the East and in the West just as hard
fought; other victories just as important in their military value; but no battle quite so
full of all that the war meant to the
60
mind of the North and to the mind of the South. The battle of
Gettysburg was the concentration of the supreme
political meaning of the national conflict. In a high political sense it was prophetically
the end of the long struggle of many years of agitation and conspiracy against the Union.
The South never really recovered from its defeat. That was its most daringly aggressive
attempt to destroy the Union. For this it had to do before it could succeed. To make
secession successful it must first destroy. Politically it never was on the defensive. It
was always in the Cabinet and the Senate and. the House, and in the field at last, the
attacking, aggressive party. And so there at Gettysburg was revealed more clearly than
ever before the true historic purpose of its long struggle against the Union; the true
historic issue between the two armies. It was not only whether Meade or Lee should be
victorious on account of position. strategy numbers and fighting. It had a larger, more
enduring meaning. Through the fire and smoke of the awful conflict could be seen, even as
in an almost visible embodiment, the distressed and anxious presence of the Union, never
nearer to her children than when they fought for her on those three days in Pennsylvania;
days when her existence and sovereignty trembled in the balance. There "the Federal
'Union must be preserved." The South had been left behind; Virginia had been left
behind State rights had been left behind, and Lee had come with his legions to lay waste a
State : to destroy its capital and great cities and beautiful towns: to levy heavy burdens
of tribute upon its people; to defeat the national army, and dismember the National
Government, and build a new one of their own upon the ruins. For a defeated army, a
despoiled Commonwealth, an impoverished and disheartened people, meant nothing else at
that critical time than a surrendered government. a dissolved union of the States.
That purpose of Lee and his army you
helped to defeat. You helped to make it impossible ever to be attempted again on Northern
soil. You helped to drive the invader back to his almost conquered territory. Henceforth,
as General Meade terse-
61
ly said,
"it was only a question of time." All this was your great victory; his great
victory, that will make his name immortal in the history of his country. No criticism, no
neglect, no undue preference of others can ever rob George Gordon Meade of the glory of
that complete and splendid victory which he won with his Army of the East at Gettysburg.
He was the victorious soldier of the Union! The battlefield of Gettysburg in a high
political as well as in a military sense is consecrated ground; a place conspicuously
apart from all other prominent places of the country----a place specially consecrated. Let
it ever remain so; monumental of a victory won for the eternal principles of government;
the eternal, inseparable principles of Union and Liberty. Therefore, a memorial statue,
as was recently and strangely proposed, but happily defeated, to be erected there to the
commander of the invading army, would be an historical incongruity. a misrepresentation of
the historical significance of the battle and the victory. There, if nowhere else, let the
difference of purpose which divided Meade and Lee be kept clear and distinct before the
whole country, so that there shall be no confusion, no obscurity, about the real meaning
of the battle; the real meaning of the war. While both armies exhibited the highest
courage and skill, both were not equally heroic according to the highest standard. There
was only one true heroic side. Skill, courage, sacrifice are not the whole of heroism. As honesty is one thing, and honor a
little farther along, so courage and
conviction do not always reach the proportions of supreme heroism. The true hero. is more
than a brave, sincere soldier. The moral element of a conflict determines its character.
The truth and the right make the hero. The righteous cause made Meade and his soldiers the
true heroes of the battle. Tried according to the standard of the South, who loved and
followed him as never man was more loved and followed, Lee was a hero their hero. But
judged by the measure of country and government and liberty, he was not such a hero as
should be commemorated on the battlefield of Gettysburg. And, therefore, we say without
resentment, that
62
now and hereafter we must in the historic fitness of
things and for the historic truth of things reserve that hallowed ground for memorials to
the true heroes of the war--- the defenders of the Union.
Every nation has its prominent centres
of national achievement and experience. It was given to the statesmen and the soldiers of
the Revolutionary and Constitutional period to create and construct the Federal Union;
"to bring forth a new nation." It was given to us of the second era to preserve
it; to save the unity of government; "to give the nation a new birth of
freedom." It is given to the younger generation around us in this third era, with our
co-operation, to extend, to expand the territory and jurisdiction of the Union; to make it
"a government for all people." Construction! Preservation! Expansion. Each with
its perplexities and perils; each with its final triumph; each fulfilling a purpose of
God. But I must not keep you longer. Only another word. When we think of what our old
Division of the Reserves once was in strength and number; of what it is now of what it
soon will be, only a memory, something of sadness comes over us to-day. Glad as we are to
meet again in regimental and company fellowship, we cannot but remember some things lost
forever; cannot but remember those who are not with us; who are out of our sight. O! for
an hour of their presence now! O! that we could see them all again, those brave and
gallant men, standing here with us for a little while! O! that they could all be here to
share with us the joy of this reunion. to help us to feel that it is the old Division in
its full strength again, to salute once more the old colors, torn and tattered, but ever
glorious, and then our reunion would be complete in its joy. Ah! but in a sense they all
are here, as "a cloud of witnesses," as an invisible presence! The glory of the
Division is theirs and ours alike forever. Together we share the common history, the
common triumph, the common safety and progress of the land for which the Division fought
so bravely. And together comrades, living and dead, as the voice of one man, each for
himself, in this army of brothers, we can all say as
63
the glory
and pride of our life here, and, if it please God, hereafter also: I WAS A SOLDIER IN THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC; AND
MY DIVISION WAS THE PENNSYLVANIA RESERVES.
Col. E. A. Irvin, of the Bucktails,
and Secretary W. H. Rauch were loudly called for by the audience and made short addresses,
when the Orphan School sang "Taps" and the large audience scattered to their
various quarters and the curtain was officially rung down upon a most successful
"rounding-up" of the famous old PennsyIvania Reserve Volunteer Corps.
70
“ROUND-UPS.”
---Quite a number of the comrades
availed themselves of the cheap excursion to the battlefield of Gettysburg, arranged by
Major McCauley's transportation committee.
---Secretary Rauch has a few copies
of General McCall's report on the Seven Days' Fight, which he would be pleased to send to
such comrades who desire the pamphlet.
---It will be sad news to those who
attended the "round-up" to learn that Mrs. Beetem, the stenographer to the
secretary during the reunion, died at Harrisburg a few weeks after the meeting.
---Several regimental, company and
battery reunions were held during the festivities, but no detailed report of the
proceedings was furnished the secretary; hence no account can be given of these very
pleasant little gatherings.
----Comrade Bates Alexander, of the
Seventh Regiment, ignored the railroads and their two-cent rate in attending the
"round-up," as the following note, found on the secretary's desk, explains:
"Secretary Rauch-I respectfully
report my arrival in Harrisburg by bicycle from Philadelphia, with the Reserve colors
flying. Please mark me present.---Bates Alexander."
71
---The
words "final round-up"
seemed to grate upon the ears of the boys, and
the enthusiasm ran so high that many
would not listen to the word "final." Very well, let's have another by all means. Who
will be the first to step forward and take the lead for our next?
---One of the best features of the
"round-up" was the handsome manner in which the boys responded to the call of
the Finance Committee to meet the expenses incurred. Not only has every bill been paid in
full, but sufficient funds were left to pay for an edition of several thousand of this
pamphlet.
---The flag room in the executive
building on Capitol Hill was the Mecca for nearly all the comrades. It was a particularly
popular rendezvous for the boys, as all the old battle flags are stored there, and many
stories were exchanged. Comrade Enos Russell, of the First Regiment, is in charge and had
a hearty welcome for all.
---That was a nice point made by
Comrade G. Boyd Robinson, of the Tenth, in which he claimed that the Reserves were yet in
the service of the State, since they were never mustered out. His suggestion that the
Legislature furnish transportation to some camping ground, there to be mustered out, is a
matter for future consideration.
---The Executive Committee of the
"round-up" wish to thank the press of the entire State for their efforts in
making the meeting such a success. The Philadelphia and Harrisburg papers all printed very
correct reports of the gathering, many of these journals having special correspondents on
the ground, who kept the wires hot in chronicling the news from Harrisburg.
72
----The
-following comrades of the Pennsylvania Reserves were made honorary members of the famous Bucktail Association:
Colonel R. M. Henderson, Seventh Regiment; General S. M. Jackson, Eleventh Regiment; Major Levi G. Mc
Cauley, Seventh Regiment; Colonel
William Penn Lloyd, First Cavalry; Major H.
S. Lucas, Twelfth Regiment.
---The hand of the average old
Pennsylvania Reserve is not as steady as it used to be when on the firing line, over forty
years ago. This is notably so in his chirography, and considerable difficulty was
experienced in deciphering some of the names that appear on the roster in the last pages
of the book. No less than four proofs of the roster were read, and extra care taken to be,
as correct as possible. The compiler asks your kind indulgence if some few errors are
found.
---The rain prevented Secretary Rauch
from springing a surprise upon the boys that would undoubtedly have proved a great
sensation. After the adjournment of the camp fire at the Opera House it was intended to
invite the audience to pay an evening visit to the encampment on the river bank. Here
would have been found a drum and fife corps, as well as a German band, with fires brightly
burning and the "Bucktails" cooking coffee and singing the old camp songs.
Everything was prepared to carry out this novelty, but the rain interfered and many
visitors lost a good (tin) cupful of coffee with a hardtack for dessert.