1st Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment
1st Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry | |
---|---|
Active | April 20 – July 27, 1861 |
Country | United States |
Allegiance | Union |
Branch | United States Army Union Army |
Type | Infantry |
Engagements | American Civil War |
The 1st Pennsylvania Infantry was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War that served for three months at the beginning of the war.
History
On April 13, 1861,
On April 20, the 1st Pennsylvania Regiment was officially organized at the camp with Yohe commissioned as colonel and appointed commanding officer. The Washington Grays were designated as Company C while the men recruited by Heckman were assigned to company D. Commissioned as captain, Heckman was then placed in charge of that unit.[4]
Lehigh County native Tilghman H. Good, commanding officer of the Allen rifles, a highly regarded militia unit based in Allentown, was named lieutenant colonel and second in command of the regiment. During the summer of 1861, as the war intensified, Good went on to establish another new regiment, the 47th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment.[5][6] George Warren Alexander, the captain of the Reading Artillerists who later became Good's second in command with the 47th Pennsylvania,[7][8] and William H. Gausler, the captain of the Jordan Artillerists from Allentown, who also later joined the 47th Pennsylvania,[9] were placed in charge of their recruits as they were assigned, respectively, to the 1st Pennsylvania's Company G and I.[10] Also commissioned as officers on the regimental command staff were Thomas W. Lynn (major) and James W. Militmore (adjutant). The regimental band, composed of musicians from the city of Lancaster, was led by Daniel Clemens.[11]
That evening, after being equipped with muskets and twelve rounds of ball cartridge, haversacks and food rations (bacon and hard tack) and placed under the command of Brigadier General
Transported back to Pennsylvania on June 3, the regiment underwent additional training at
Yohe and his 1st Pennsylvanians were ordered to assume garrison duty in the vicinity of Martinsburg by army Assistant Adjutant General Fitz John Porter on July 8, in order to protect Union supplies and railroad lines. They remained there when the remainder of Patterson's army moved on to Bunker Hill on July 14. Two days later, they rejoined the army at Charlestown. Ordered to Harpers Ferry on July 21, the 1st Pennsylvania Volunteers marched to Sandy Hook, boarded train cars to return to Harrisburg on the evening of July 23, where they were honorably discharged. Many then promptly chose to re-enlist for three-year terms of service.[17]
According to official historian
Organization
Per historian Samuel P. Bates, based on information taken from muster rolls throughout the regiment's tenure of service, the officers serving with the 1st Pennsylvania's central command and in command of its individual companies were:[19]
- Field and Staff Officers: Samuel Yohe, colonel; Tilghman H. Good, lieutenant colonel; Thomas W. Lynn, major; James Miltimore, adjutant; Frederick S. Pyfer, quartermaster; Jacob R. Ludlow, surgeon; and W.H.H. Michler, surgeon.
- Company A: Recruited at Bethlehem, Northampton County; mustered in April 20, 1861; James L. Selfridge, captain;
- Company B: Recruited at Easton, Northampton County; mustered in April 20, 1861; Jacob Dachrodt, captain;
- Company C: Recruited at Easton, Northampton County; mustered in April 20, 1861; William H. Armstrong, captain;
- Company D: Recruited at Easton, Northampton County; mustered in April 20, 1861; Charles Heckman, captain;
- Company E: Recruited at Harrisburg, Dauphin County; mustered in April 18, 1861; Jacob M. Eyster, captain;
- Company F: Recruited at Lancaster, Lancaster County; mustered in April 20, 1861; Emlen Franklin, captain;
- Company G: Recruited at Reading, Berks County; mustered in April 20, 1861; George Warren Alexander, captain;
- Company H: Recruited at Easton, Northampton County; mustered in April 21, 1861; Ferdinand W. Bell, captain;
- Company I: Recruited at Allentown, Lehigh County; mustered in April 20, 1861; William H. Gausler, captain;
- Company K: Recruited at Lancaster, Lancaster County; mustered in April 20, 1861; Henry A. Hambright, captain; and
- Regimental Band: Recruited at Lancaster, Lancaster County; led by Daniel Clemens. Members: Adams, Benjamin F. and Jacob; Bruederly, George P. and Joseph A.; Chambers, John; Cogley, Joseph M.; Hepting, Charles; Myers, George G.; Newmyer, Herman; Norbeck, Jacob H.; Rote, George F.; Shenck, Henry; Shindle, John P.; Stretch, Charles; and Frederick Wettig.
See also
- List of Pennsylvania Civil War Units
References
Citations
- ^ Condit A.M., Rev. Uzal. The History of Easton, Penn'a from the Earliest Times to the Present, 1739-1885. Washington: West & Condit, 1885.
- ^ Schaadt, James L. Company I, First Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers: A Memoir of Its Service for the Union in 1861, in The Penn Germania: A Popular Journal of German History and Ideals in the United States, vol. 1, no. 1. Lititz and Cleona: Holzapfel Publishing Co., 1912.
- ^ Bates, History of Pennsylvania Volunteers.
- ^ Bates, History of Pennsylvania Volunteers.
- ^ "Good, Tilghman H., in "Registers of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-1865," vol. 1: 1st-25th Regiments (3 months' service, April–May 1861). Harrisburg: Pennsylvania State Archives.
- ^ "Colonel Tilghman H. Good" (biographical sketch), in 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers: One Civil War Regiment's Story.
- ^ "Alexander, G. W." and "Alexander, George W.", in "Civil War Veterans' Card File, 1861-1866." Harrisburg: Pennsylvania State Archives.
- ^ "Lieutenant Colonel George Warren Alexander" (biographical sketch), in 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers: One Civil War Regiment's Story
- ^ "Major William H. Gausler" (biographical sketch), in 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers: One Civil War Regiment's Story.
- ^ Bates, History of Pennsylvania Volunteers.
- ^ Bates, History of Pennsylvania Volunteers.
- ^ Condit, The History of Easton, Penn'a, p. 226.
- ^ Bates, History of Pennsylvania Volunteers.
- ^ Bates, History of Pennsylvania Volunteers.
- ^ Schaadt, Company I, First Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, p. 546.
- ^ Bates, History of Pennsylvania Volunteers.
- ^ Bates, History of Pennsylvania Volunteers.
- ^ Bates, History of Pennsylvania Volunteers.
- ^ Bates, History of Pennsylvania Volunteers.
Bibliography
- Bates, Samuel P. (1869). History of Pennsylvania volunteers, 1861-5. Vol. I. Harrisburg: State Printer.
External resources
- Civil War Veterans' Card File, 1861-1866. Harrisburg: Pennsylvania State Archives.
- "Colonel Samuel Yohe" (obituary). Easton, Pennsylvania: Easton Express, July 6, 1880.
- "Pennsylvania in the Civil War." PA-Roots, retrieved online July 1, 2018.
- Registers of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-1865, vol. 1: 1st-25th Regiments (3 months' service, April–May 1861). Harrisburg: Pennsylvania State Archives.
- Soldiers and Sailors Database. Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Park Service.