The Wild Cat Regiment - Battle of Fair Oaks - The First Blood of Jefferson County Soldiers Shed - Death of Captain Dowling - The Peninsular Campaign - Battles of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg - Death of Colonel McKnight - The Wilderness Campaign - Fall of Captain Clyde - Re-enlistment of the Regiment - Death of Major Conser - Seeing the End - Muster OutTHE "Wild Cat Regiment," so called from the old name of the Congressional district which embraced Jefferson county, from which it was principally recruited, was raised in accordance with authority granted by the War Department to Amor A. McKnight, esq., of Brookville, Pa. The regiment was organized at Pittsburgh, September 9, 1861, and proceeded immediately to Washington city, going into camp at Kalorama Heights on the 11th of September. Here a company from Westmoreland county, commanded by Captain M.M. Dick, seceded from Colonel Leasure’s Roundhead regiment and joined Colonel McKnight’s regiment. This, one of the best companies in the regiment, was afterwards known as Company E. In a few days the regiment was moved across the Potomac into Virginia and encamped upon the farm of Hon. George Mason, one of the most bitter rebels in the Old Dominion, and whose life during that winter was one season of discontent, caused by the presence of the hated blue coats encamped at his very door. This camp, situated on a slight eminence, about one and a half miles from Alexandria, was called Camp Jameson, after the gallant General Charles D. Jameson, of Maine, to whose brigade the regiment was assigned. This noble officer, who, while in command of his own tried regiment, the Second Maine, had won his stars at Bull Run, soon became a great favorite with the men of the Wild Cat Regiment. Himself a lumberman, he could appreciate the hardy stalwart sons of the forest. On one occasion some of the boys who had been detailed to cut firewood employed their time instead in gathering chestnuts and returned to camp bringing only a few fence rails. As a punishment for this breach of discipline Colonel McKnight ordered them to "walk the ring," each man carrying a rail. General Jameson passing by, the boys came to a halt and saluted him by bringing their rails to "present arms." The general returned the salute, seemingly much amused. An election for field officers was held soon after the regiment reached Camp Jameson, which resulted in the election of Amor A. McKnight, colonel; W.W. Corbet, lieutenant-colonel; M.M. Dick, Major. The regiment, which was now called the One Hundred and Fifth Pennsylvania Volunteers, was assigned to the First Brigade, First Division, Third Corps, which place it kept from that time until the glorious old Third was consolidated with the Second Corps, and, with the Sixty-third Pennsylvania Volunteers, were, I think, the only regiments that kept their original place in the same brigade. This brigade was at first composed of the Fifty-seventh, Sixty-third, and One Hundred and Fifth Pennsylvania Volunteers, and the Eighty-seventh New York.
General Charles K. Graham, under whom the One Hundred and Fifth did some of its most heroic fighting, gives me in a recent letter this unsolicited tribute to the regiment: "The One Hundred and Fifth was composed of unusually fine material. Young in years and strong in brawn, Colonel McKnight, too, was a very capable drill officer and fine disciplinarian and taught his men to excel in their maneuvers. Frequently, when I commanded the brigade, I visited the headquarters of the regiment to witness the bayonet drill, in which the regiment was particularly proficient."
On the 26th of January, 1862, Captains Rose and Altman and Lieutenants Brady, Worrall, J.G. and. C.J. Wilson resigned. Captain L.B. Duff of the Ninth Pennsylvania Reserves, was given the command of Company D. Captain James Hamilton, of the same regiment, was assigned to Company I, and Lieutenant A.C. Thompson, of Company B, to the command of Company K. This was for a time deeply resented by the men of these companies, but when they found how brave, capable, and honorable these officers were, they forgot their grievances and no officers in the regiment were more highly honored or more popular. January 5, 1862, the One Hundred and Fifth was presented by the State with an elegant stand of colors, General J.K. Moorhead, of Pittsburgh, making the presentation on behalf of Governor Curtin, and Colonel McKnight receiving the flag on behalf of his regiment.
On March 17th the One Hundred and Fifth embarked on the steamer Catskill, for Fortress Monroe, arriving there on the evening of the 19th. They disembarked in the midst of a fearful rain-storm, and in this were marched about a mile north of the fort and halted for the night. This was their first field experience, and not relishing the prospect of lying all night in the rain, the regiment, without orders, broke ranks and officers and men sought refuge from the storm in some cavalry stables of the Eleventh Pennsylvania Cavalry, who gave the drenched and suffering soldiers shelter, and with the Sixteenth Massachusetts Infantry, who were on guard near by, prepared hot coffee for both the One Hundred and Fifth and Sixty-third. They remained in the vicinity of Yorktown until the 5th of May, when the First Brigade, which had been detached from the division, was ordered to rejoin it and were hurried forward at a "double quick" past all obstruction through the rain and mud. As they neared Williamsburg General Heintzelman rode out to meet them, while the rest of the division received them with a cheer. The other brigades of the division were almost used up, but when they heard the enthusiastic cheers of Jameson’s brigade as it hastened to their relief it infused new life into their weary, bleeding ranks, and they, rallying, made charge after charge until the enemy gave way. Jameson’s brigade was hurried to the front, but the enemy did not venture to attack, and, our forces not caring to attack their works that night, the division was formed in line and lay there all night in the pouring rain without overcoats or blankets. The next morning the One Hundred and Fifth was deployed as skirmishers to enter the town, General Jameson and Colonel McKnight both with them. Company C, which occupied the center as the advance, was the first to enter the town, and the regimental flag was hoisted on the court-house by Sergeant McNutt of that company. As our troops entered the eastern end of the town the last of the Confederate infantry could be seen leaving from the west. The regiment was deployed in and about the town and captured several prisoners. Sergeant Joseph Craig, of Company C, captured a Confederate cavalryman with his horse and arms. Company K captured the sabre, sash and dress suit of Major-General Wilcox, of the Confederate army. Captain Thompson appropriated the sash, Lieutenant Lawson the sabre, while the boys "parted his raiment among them." The One Hundred and Fifth was detailed to guard Williamsburg, Lieutenant Colonel Corbet being appointed provost-marshal. They remained here until the 9th of May, when they left Williamsburg and until the 31st of May were employed on guard and picket duty between Williamsburg and the Chickahominy River.
On the morning of May 31 firing began in their front, which rapidly grew heavier, and at 4 o’clock P.M., the brigade was ordered to the front. The One Hundred and Fifth, with seven companies, leaving all baggage behind, marched at "double quick" down the railroad, past Savage Station about half a mile, where they were halted for a few minutes in the woods. To their right was an open field, across this a rifle-pit filled with our men, waiting the onset of the enemy. On their immediate front was a narrow "slashing" of fallen timber, beyond which was Casey’s camp, now in possession of the enemy. The One Hundred and Fifth turned to the right out of the woods in front of the rifle-pit, where they were brought to the front, and ordered by General Jameson to charge through the "slashing" upon the enemy. They relieved the Tenth Massachusetts, and, as they moved forward at double quick, found the Confederates about to attack them, and the two forces met almost on the edge of Casey’s camp. So impetuous and deadly was the charge that the enemy gave way and were driven across and out of Casey’s camp. Not being able to get their horses into the fallen timber, the officers, dismounting, turned them loose and went into the fight on foot. The One Hundred and Fifth pursued the flying foe until our entire right gave way, and the heroic little band was with difficulty withdrawn through a swamp on their left. The two companies, C and I, who could not join their regiment at the commencement of the fight, came up as soon as possible and were ordered by General Heintzelman to form on the right of the Fifty-seventh Pennsylvania Volunteers, and advance into the woods upon the enemy and hold the road, if possible. This they did until the Fifty-seventh being obliged to retire, they also fell back, loading and firing as they went. Four of Company C were wounded, but there were no casualties in Company I. During the night they were joined by the survivors of the other companies.
General Jameson, in his report of the battle of Fair Oaks, says: "I had disposed of all my command at different points, with the exception of three hundred and forty-eight men of the One Hundred and Fifth Pennsylvania Volunteers, under Colonel McKnight. All our men had fled from the abatis in the vicinity of the Richmond road. Our only alternative was to make the best possible stand with the handful of men under Colonel McKnight. We led them across the open field to the Richmond road and into the abatis, at double quick and under a most terrific fire, deploying one-half on either side of the road. For more than an hour, and a half this small force held every inch of the ground. At last the enemy broke and ran, and McKnight pursued them through Casey’s camp... No other evidence of the valor displayed by this heroic little band is necessary than the list of their killed and wounded. Every eighth man of their number has, since the fight, been buried on the field, and just one-half their number killed or wounded. Of the eighteen commissioned officers thirteen were killed or wounded. General Keamey’s horse and mine were killed. A parallel to this fighting does not exist in the two days’ battle, nor will it exist during the war."
Headly, in his "History of the Rebellion," says of the conduct of the One Hundred and Fifth at Fair Oaks: "Napoleon’s veterans never stood firmer under a devastating fire."
In this fight the One Hundred and Fifth lost two of its best officers, Captain John C. Dowling, of Company B, and Lieutenant J.P.R. Cummiskey, of Company D; forty-one enlisted men killed, one hundred and seventeen wounded, and seventeen missing. Colonel McKnight, Captains Duff; Greenawalt, Kirk, and Thompson, and Lieutenants Craig, Markle, Shipley, Geggie, and Baird, were wounded.
From the battle of Fair Oaks to the 25th of June the regiment remained quiet, doing picket duty. General Jameson, so beloved by the regiment, had been seriously injured by his horse falling upon him, which, added to sickness caused by exposure, etc., had caused him to resign, and the command of the brigade devolved upon General Robinson. On the 27th of June, while engaged as skirmishers, two men were killed and six wounded. On the 30th of June and 1st of July the One Hundred and Fifth was hotly engaged at Glendale and Malvern Hill, losing, during the two days, one hundred and three killed and wounded - more than half the entire force of the regiment - but their loss was not to be wondered at, for at Glendale the regiment was hotly engaged from two P.M. until dark, the enemy making desperate attempts to capture a battery which it was supporting. "The battle of Glendale," says the Compte de Paris, "is remarkable for its fierceness, among all those that have drenched the American forests with blood."
The night after this fight they retired to Malvern Hill, where they were sharply engaged next day, standing for over four hours under an incessant fire of musketry and artillery, with no protection but a rail fence. Each man was supplied with one hundred and fifty cartridges, and not a man left his post while he had a cartridge left. At times the Confederates came so close that our men could almost touch them with their bayonets, and they fought with desperation. Colonel C.A. Craig, in writing of this battle, says: "We are not a blowing regiment, or a blowing division, but if men can fight better than Kearney’s Division, it will be more than I have imagined in the art of war."
On August 23 the regiment embarked upon truck cars for Manassas Junction, the different companies being detailed to do guard duty at Manassas, Catletts, Bristow, and the, high bridge at Turkey Run. Companies E and K were relieved at Bristow on the 29th by part of the Eighty-seventh New York, and by sundown started down the railroad towards Catletts, picking up the men stationed on the road as they went along. This saved them from capture, as Stonewall Jackson’s column, 30,000 strong, struck Bristow a few minutes after they were relieved. They had barely reached the switch, when, hearing firing in the direction of Bristow, they started back, but finding the enemy in force, Captain Greenawalt, commanding the detachment, retired to Kettle Run bridge, which they were preparing to defend, when a detachment from Sickles’s Excelsior Brigade was sent to their relief. The officer in command ordered them to board a train coming north, which was ordered back towards Bristow. When they reached the brow of the hill overlooking Bristow, they beheld spread out before them the rebel camp. They moved back to Kettle Run, where they made a stand to save the brigade, but a battery and a large force of rebel infantry was sent after them, and not being able to cope with so large a force, they were again put aboard the train and run back to Catletts, to find their regiment in line, having been ordered to join Hooker, who, with the Third Corps, was moving back to meet Jackson. They found the bridge at Kettle Run destroyed, and had a brisk engagement. The One Hundred and Fifth supported a battery on the left of Hooker’s line, on the hill overlooking Bristow, and the Confederates made furious attempts to take it. General Hooker rode up and turned one of the guns upon the enemy himself. The next morning they marched to Manassas Junction, from which the enemy had retired during the night. Here Companies B and G had been left under command of Captain S.A. Craig, who had in addition about thirty-five men of the Eighty-seventh New York, and four or five pieces of artillery in charge of Lieutenant James. The heroic little force tried gallantly to defend and hold the place, but after a short resistance were obliged to yield to the large force opposed to them. This force was composed of the "Louisiana Tigers" and a North Carolina-Georgia battalion, and was commanded by the late General Gordon. About half of Captain Craig’s command was captured, the rest escaping in the darkness. Captain Craig was wounded and taken prisoner. Three men of Company B were killed.
On August 29 the regiment started for Bull Run, meeting on the way those of their comrades captured at Bristow and Manassas, whom Jackson, not wishing to be hampered with prisoners, had paroled. On reaching the battle-field the First Brigade was placed on the extreme right, facing Bull Run. Here they lay all day under a heavy artillery fire, but being protected by a rail fence and the woods in their front no casualties occurred in the One Hundred and Fifth. It was a great relief, however, when about five o’clock, P.M. General Kearney formed his column for attack, and led them into the fight. This column was formed of the Twentieth Indiana on the right, the Sixty-third Pennsylvania Volunteers on the left, the Third Michigan on the right, and the One Hundred and Fifth the left center. They charged through the woods, and drove the enemy from the embankment and some distance beyond, but he rallied in force, and, though they again and again repulsed him, they were at last obliged to give way, and lost all the ground they had gained. The One Hundred and Fifth was the last to leave the railroad, and held their position for some time after the balance of the brigade had left them. The Confederates, having crept up under cover of the embankment of the old railroad, suddenly delivered a heavy fire straight in their faces, causing the old regiment to reel and stagger like a drunken man. Captains Kirk and Thompson finding themselves in a crowd from all companies, at once began to form their lines as on dress parade, and soon had the regiment in order again. It was here that the regiment sustained its heaviest loss. Captain C.A. Craig, in command of the regiment, was shot through the ankle and his horse killed. Captains Hastings and Thompson were both severely wounded, and Lieutenant Gilbert, it is supposed, killed, as no trace was ever had of the brave young officer afterwards. Captain Duff and Lieutenant Clyde brought the regiment off the field. The loss sustained was twelve killed, forty-three wounded, and three missing. When the retreat began, the regiment was ordered to cover the road from Centreville, which they did, lying perfectly still until the army had all passed safely, when the brigade was ordered to march off the field without noise.
On the 1st of September the regiment was in the battle of Chantilly. Here they lost their beloved leader, the gallant Kearney, who, as he rode unwittingly to meet his death, received his last cheer from the One Hundred and Fifth as he passed their lines. In his report of the battle of Bull Run, made the day he fell, General Kearney says: "The One Hundred and Fifth Pennsylvania Volunteers was not wanting. They are Pennsylvanians - mountain men. Again have they been fearfully decimated. The desperate charges of these regiments sustain the past history of this division."
Colonel McKnight having regained his health, on the 20th of September was again commissioned colonel of the regiment. The government in thus keeping the position for him showed its appreciation of his value as an officer. The regiment remained quietly in camp until the 11th of October, when it was ordered to cross the Potomac to watch some Confederate cavalry raiding in Maryland. On the 28th they returned to Virginia, and were engaged in guard and picket duty and bridge building until Burnside began his movement against Fredericksburg, where they supported Randolph’s Battery in the fight of the 13th and 14th of December, losing three men killed, and Captain Hamilton, Lieutenants Clyde and Patterson, and eleven men wounded. General Charles
K. Graham, on taking charge of the First Brigade, noticed the proficiency of the One Hundred and Fifth in drill and discipline, and to satisfy himself that he was not mistaken in his estimate of it, with General D.B. Birney, commanding the division, selected the regiment acknowledged to be the best drilled in the division, the Thirty-eighth New York, to compete with the One Hundred and Fifth for the championship, General Birney to be the judge, who, after witnessing the drill, pronounced the One Hundred and Fifth the victor in the contest. General Sickles, who came over on the invitation of General Birney to see the One Hundred and Fifth on dress parade, also warmly eulogized them on their excellence in drill, and complimented Colonel McKnight for the pains he had taken in drilling and disciplining them.
On the 28th of April the gallant Third Corps commenced its march towards Chancellorsville. On the 2d of May the brigade was moved to the center near the Chancellorsville brick house, the One Hundred and Fifth being deployed as skirmishers and to make a road across a swamp. Just as the work was finished several of the men were wounded by a heavy artillery fire from the enemy. On the morning of the third their line was formed in the rear of the house, the One Hundred and Fourteenth Pennsylvania Volunteers on the right and the One Hundred and Fifth on the extreme left of the brigade. The regiment charged through the woods immediately in front of the Confederate batteries, where they were hotly engaged for two hours. Colonel McKnight and Lieutenant-Colonel Craig were continually passing along the line, encouraging the men by their example and coolness. Just as the regiment was gaining position at the entrance of the woods, Colonel McKnight was shot through the head and killed. With his hat in his hand he had just given the command, "Forward, double quick, march!" With shouts his men pressed on to fulfill his last command, and advancing on a double quick drove the enemy from the breast-works that they had taken from the Eleventh Corps the day before.
Upon the fall of Colonel McKnight, the command of the regiment devolved upon Colonel Craig, who drove the enemy from the first line of entrenchments, which they held until, their ammunition being exhausted, the regiment, with the rest of the brigade, fell back, the enemy following to the brow of the hill, when the One Hundred and Fifth made a stand and would have charged had the enemy continued to advance. A new line being formed, the regiment retired again to the rear of the Chancellor house. While here Colonel Craig rode up to General Graham and asked him whether he was aware that the regiment was without ammunition. The general turned his horse and coolly surveying them, replied that it was all right, for said he: "They have their bayonets yet." They had fired every cartridge before falling back, even searching the dead and wounded for them. The One Hundred and Fifth took into this fight twenty-seven officers and three hundred and twenty men, and lost Colonel McKnight, Captain Kirk, Lieutenant Powers and eight men killed, and Captain Clyde, Lieutenants Shipley, Platt, Hewett, McHenry, and sixty enlisted men wounded and seven missing.
On May 21st Lieutenant-Colonel Craig was commissioned colonel; Major J.W. Greenawalt, lieutenant colonel; Captain Levi B. Duff, major. On the 27th those non-commissioned officers and privates, who, by their bravery and good conduct as soldiers, had merited the gift, were presented by General Sickles with the Kearney badge of honor. The following members of the One Hundred and Fifth received the cross: Sergeants A.H. Mitchel, A.D. McPherson, Samuel T. Hadden, Company A; Sergeants Joseph C. Kelso, George Heiges, Charles C. McCauley, B; Corporal A.A. Harley, Privates Charles C. Weaver, Samuel H. Mays, C; Sergeant James Sylvis, Corporal Milton Craven, D; Sergeant Joseph E. Geiger, Corporals George Weddell, James M. Shoaf, E; Sergeant Robert Doty, Corporal Henry McKillip, Private Perry Cupler, F; Sergeant George W. Hawthorn, Private William D. Kane, G; Privates Thomas M. Rea, Robert Feverly, H; Sergeant Oliver C. Redic, Joseph Kinnear, I; Sergeants James Miller, George S. Reed, K.
It was a very difficult matter to thus select out particular individuals, where all had been so brave, and had on so many hard fought battle fields shown their valor, and it was a double honor to be thus singled out to receive this mark of distinction - this memento of their brave old commander, the lamented Kearney. In his order announcing the names of those entitled to receive the "cross," General Birney says:
"Many deserving soldiers may have escaped the notice of their commanding officers, but in the selection after the next battle, they will doubtless receive the honorable distinction. The cross is in honor of our old leader, and the wearers of it will always remember the high standard of a true and brave soldier, and will never disgrace it."
Nobly did those brave fellows deserve the honor bestowed, as their subsequent history shows. Miller was promoted colonel and Redic lieutenant-colonel of the regiment, Mitchel and Kelso to captain, Sylvis, Shoaf, and McKillip to lieutenants; Hadden, McCauley, Doty, Hawthorn, and Kinnear were killed; Heiges and Reed died of wounds; Craven lost his right arm in the Wilderness; McPherson, a leg at Gettysburg, while every one of the others received one or more wounds ere their term of service expired.
From the battle of Chancellorsville until the march into Pennsylvania began the One Hundred and Fifth did picket and guard duty along the Potomac. Monday, June 29, the regiment marched through Taneytown and encamped for the night within five miles of the Pennsylvania State line. Tuesday they marched to the Emmittsburg road, the Third Corps being ordered to hold Emmittsburg. General Sickles, in response to General Reynolds’s order, hurried his corps, which was ten miles away, to Gettysburg. The roads were exceedingly heavy, as it had been raining hard, and the long march of the preceding days had told upon the troops, so that it was after 5 P.M. on Wednesday when they reached Gettysburg. Birney’s division came up on the Emmittsburg road, passed Sherfy’s house, where it turned to the right and halted just north of Little Round Top, where they lay all night. The next morning at daybreak they formed in line of battle, Ward’s Brigade on the left, with his left resting on the Devil’s Den; De Trobriand in the center, and Graham on the right in the peach orchard, with his right resting on the Emmittsburg road. This line was gradually moved forward until the left of the division rested on Little Round Top and the right at Sherfy’s house, where the One Hundred and Fifth was moved to the right of the road, and a little before noon was marched to the front, where Companies A, C, F, and I were deployed as skirmishers to support the Sixty-third Pennsylvania Volunteers, already engaged in their front and keeping up a brisk fire upon the skirmishers of the enemy, who could be seen watching them through the trees. Soon after these companies were called in and the regiment took its place on the extreme right of the brigade, where it remained quiet until 3 P.M., when the battle opened in earnest, and the One Hundred and Fifth was moved up to the brow of the hill along the Emmittsburg road. Here, for an hour, they stood unflinchingly under a heavy fire of shot and shell from front and flank, losing some ten or twelve men.
Just at this juncture, the enemy moving up in force, the regiment advanced to receive them, and formed in the road a little in advance of our batteries. The fighting was now desperate, the enemy steadily advancing, but the brigade held its ground until the line on its left giving way, the enemy poured into its flank and rear a most murderous fire, forcing it to fall back for an instant. But they rallied again and again and drove the enemy back to Sherfy’s house, but the force opposed to them was too heavy and they were forced to retire. It was when engaged in this hand-to-hand conflict, with an overwhelming force of the enemy, and just as the shattered line of Graham was yielding to the overwhelming force of Barksdale’s Mississippians, that the gallant troops of the First Division of the Second Corps, in which was the One Hundred and Forty-eighth Pennsylvania, came rushing to their relief. The regiment then took position with the new line that had been formed in the rear, connecting Cemetery Ridge with Round Top, where they remained until the close of the day’s fighting. During the 3d and 4th they lay quiet on the second line, doing no further fighting. The regiment took into the battle of Gettysburg two hundred and forty-seven men, and lost Lieutenant George W. Crossly, and fourteen men killed, thirteen officers and one hundred and eleven men wounded and nine missing. Lieutenant Isaac A. Dunston, who was mortally wounded, died soon after. Out of the seventeen officers who went into the fight only four escaped uninjured. Colonel Craig lost three horses and Adjutant Joseph Craig two.
On the 5th the regiment left Gettysburg, and July 24 went into camp at White Sulphur Springs, Virginia. In this beautiful place they remained until September 15th, recruiting their exhausted strength and depleted ranks. On the 15th they left the Springs. The regiment leading the advance encountered the skirmishers of the enemy at Auburn, who opened a heavy fire upon them, but the One Hundred and Fifth steadily advanced, loading and firing, until the First Division formed in line, and General Birney ordered a charge to protect them. In this fight the regiment lost one killed and five wounded. The next morning they were again on the move, and until the 27th, when they were engaged at Kelly’s Ford, where they sustained no loss, the regiment acted for the most part as advance guard for the division. It had become a great favorite with General Birney, who frequently selected it for important positions, and on one occasion, when the enemy was reported near, he ordered General Collis, who since the wounding of General Graham at Gettysburg commanded the brigade, to send the One Hundred and Fifth Regiment as an advance guard, as he "wanted a regiment he could depend upon." From here they went into camp at Brandy Station, remaining there until November 27, when they took part in the battle of Locust Grove, where seven men were wounded. The next day, after remaining in line of battle all night, they marched through mud almost knee deep to a point near Mine Run, and that night supported a battery, having one man wounded. On the 1st of December, 1863, they returned to their old camp at Brandy Station and on the 28th, the regiment was re-enlisted by Colonel Craig, according to orders from the War Department. Two hundred and forty men - almost the entire force of the regiment - re-enlisted and went home on veteran furlough, where, after being feted and feasted by their friends, they returned to their old quarters at Brandy Station, on the 21st of February, 1864, bringing with them some fifty recruits. p>
On the 26th of March, 1864, the Third Corps was consolidated with the Second Corps, and the remnants of Kearney’s famous Red Diamond Division was consolidated into two brigades. The old First Brigade, now known as the Third Brigade, Third Division of the Second Corps, was put under command of the brave Alexander Hays, the dashing colonel of the Sixty-third Pennsylvania. This brigade was composed of the Fifty-seventh, Sixty-third, Sixty-eighth and One Hundred and Fifth Pennsylvania, Third and Fifth Michigan, Fourth and Seventeenth Maine, and First Regiment U.S. Sharpshooters.
It was a sad day for the men who had followed Kearney, Hooker and Sickles on many hotly contested fields to see their beloved Third Corps obliterated from the Army of the Potomac. The wound yet rankles in the breasts of many who wore the diamond; and their hearts are yet sore over this dismemberment of the organization they held so sacred., But as the fiat had gone forth that was the death knell of the old Third, the brave men of the Diamond Division could not have been assigned to any other organization where they would have been so cordially received, or with whom they could so easily assimilate as with the gallant Second Corps. General Walker, in his excellent history of the Second Corps, says of this transferring of the Third Corps:
"Hereafter the names of Birney and Mott, Egan and McCallister, Pierce and Madill, Brewster and De Trobriand, were to be borne on the rolls of the Second Corps in equal honor with Barlow and Gibbon, Hays and Miles, Carroll and Brooke, Webb and Smyth; the deeds of these new-comers were to be an undistinguishable part of the common glory; their sufferings and losses were to be felt in every nerve of the common frame; the blood of the men of Hooker and Kearney, the men of Richardson and Sedgwick, was to drench the same fields from the Rapidan to the Appomattox."
On the night of May 3d the One Hundred and Fifth encamped on the battle-field of Chancellorsville, the anniversary of their hard-fought fight the year before, where they found the bones of their gallant comrades bleaching on the field. On the next day Birney’s Division was selected to make the attack or receive that of the enemy, as the case might be, in the Wilderness. The One Hundred and Fifth advanced about half a mile through the dense wood, when they suddenly came upon the enemy, and were at once fiercely engaged. They at first took position in the rear of the Sixty-third Pennsylvania Volunteers, which occupied the front line. Here several were wounded. About four P.M. they relieved the Sixty-third and then their hardest fighting began. Every step of ground was hotly contested, neither side giving an inch. The dead was piled up in rows. Here Captain Hamilton was killed, and Lieutenant-Colonel Greenawalt mortally wounded; Lieutenants Kimple, Sylvis, Redic and Miller were all severely wounded, and fully one-half of the men killed and wounded. Colonel Craig, while riding near the right of the regiment, about dark, was shot in the head and seriously wounded. Their colonel badly wounded, their brave lieutenant-colonel borne from the field dying, the command devolved upon Major Duff, who gallantly led them through the balance of the fight, which still raged hotly.
Here, while holding his ground against heavy odds, the gallant Hays was killed. When night closed upon the fearful scene the One Hundred and Fifth held its original position, but during the night it was relieved and went to the rear. The next morning, however, Birney’s Division again took the initiative, charging the enemy’s lines and forcing him back almost a mile, until their ammunition being exhausted they had to fall back to a temporary line of breastworks, which the enemy tried several times to take, but were repulsed each time. The One Hundred and Fifth here charged forward and occupied a position on the front line. Captain Clyde, who, with several others, mounted the front line of breastworks, urging the men forward, fell dead, almost touching the enemy. On the 10th the brigade marched up the Po River to support the First Division, engaged with the enemy on the south side of the river. Colonel Crocker, who was temporarily commanding the brigade, marched it up almost against a Confederate battery, which opened fire at short range. The regiment suffered terribly for a few minutes. The first shot struck Private Enos Shirts, of Company I, and blew him literally to pieces, the men near him being sprinkled with his blood and flesh. The regiment held its ground until ordered to fall back into a little ravine, where they held position until the First Division had crossed the river, when they retired to the rear of the Fifth Corps. Here the Sixty-third Pennsylvania Volunteers was added to Major Duff’s command, and the two regiments reduced to five companies. At dawn on the 12th they were at Spottsylvania, where Major Duff’s gallant little command struck the Confederate line at the angle near the Sandrum house, where, before the enemy had time to fire a gun, our boys, with loud cheers, were leaping over his entrenchments. They captured a large number of prisoners, among them Brigadier-General Stewart. On the left of the point where Major Duff struck the enemy’s line was a battery, which was immediately brought to bear upon them, but our men rushed upon and captured it, some of the enemy standing to their guns until killed on the spot. They then crossed the swamp, capturing two rifled guns and the Eighteenth North Carolina Regiment, which was in support of these guns. Lieutenant A.H. Mitchell, of the One Hundred and Fifth, captured the flag of this regiment, and Corporal John Kendig, of the Sixty-third, that of the Twenty-fourth North Carolina. Lieutenant Mitchell was wounded, and Lieutenant Hewitt wounded and taken prisoner. The Confederates, rallying in force, drove them across the swamp, where they made a stand. They lay for the balance of the day and night under a severe fire, forming the left support of the "death angle." This was one of the regiment’s hardest fights, and the loss from the 5th to the 15th, inclusive was three officers and forty-six men killed, ten officers and one hundred and thirty men wounded, one officer and eight men missing, a total of two hundred and four.
On the 20th the regiments started on the march to the North Anna River, one of the hardest marches they ever made, yet at roll-call only one man from the One Hundred and Fifth and two from the Sixty-third failed to answer to their names. On this march Lieutenant Kelso was severely wounded on the shoulder by a rebel sharpshooter. On the 23d the regiments halted on the north bank of the North Anna, the Confederates being on the other side. They were formed in the thick woods and ordered to charge without firing a gun, which was done, driving the enemy from his fortifications. They held this position until after dark. In this charge Captain Daniel Dougherty, a brave officer of the Sixty-third, was killed. On June 2d they were slightly engaged at Cold Harbor. The 15th found them in front of Petersburg, where in the various engagements they lost eleven men killed, and three officers and eighteen men wounded, among the number being Lieutenant-Colonel Duff, who lost a leg while gallantly leading his small force in the "Hare’s House slaughter." On the 16th of July the regiment, with the balance of the brigade, which was under command of Colonel Craig, drove the enemy into his works at Deep Bottom and then charged and captured them, with two commissioned officers and seventy-five men; but while flushed with victory and driving the enemy before them, a heavy force fell upon the left flank of the brigade with such fury that it was compelled to fall back. Here a heavy loss fell on the One Hundred and Fifth, for while leading the charge, their beloved young leader, Colonel C.A. Craig, was mortally wounded, dying the next day, and no one whom death claimed from their ranks was ever mourned more sincerely. Seventeen men were killed, and Captain Barr and twenty-three men wounded. The regiment remained in front of Petersburg doing picket and fatigue duty until September 1st, when those who had not re-enlisted were mustered out and one hundred and sixty-two men and two officers of the Sixty-third were transferred to the One Hundred and Fifth. The veterans of the Sixty-third were at first put in the Ninety-ninth Pennsylvania Volunteers, but they rebelled at this and petitioned Governor Curtin to have them put in the One Hundred and Fifth, with which regiment they had served from their first enlistment, which request was granted.
After the death of Colonel Craig, Captain Conser, who that day rejoined the regiment, took command. On the 1st of October the regiment was transferred to the Weldon Railroad and the next day took part in the fight at Poplar Grove Church, having one man killed and eleven wounded. On the 5th they were back in front of Petersburg, remaining there until the 24th, when they were moved to the Southside Railroad, and on the 27th took part in the battle of Boydton plank road. Here General Pierce, who commanded the brigade, ordered the One Hundred and Fifth into a dense wood, to hold that part of the line, connecting with the Ninety-first New York on the left. The Confederates with a yell charged through these woods, but the One Hundred and Fifth kept them at bay until, unknown to them, our cavalry on their right gave way, allowing a heavy force of the enemy on their left flank and they were driven back. The conflict was terrible, one of the most desperate hand-to-hand fights of the war. Major Conser and Captain Patton, the two senior and two of the most meritorious officers of the regiment, and four men were killed, eighteen wounded and forty missing. The latter were, however, nearly all recaptured that evening. The balance of the devoted little band was with difficulty brought off the field. Captain Redic, with several of the men, barely escaped capture while vainly trying to bring off the bodies of their dead comrades. The regiment for the first time in its history, lost its colors. After the fall of the two senior officers Captain Miller was ordered by General Pierce to assume command of the regiment, and was afterward commissioned colonel. On the 27th the regiment went into quarters at Fort Davis, on the front line of works, where officers were appointed by Governor Curtin to fill the vacancies in nearly every company. All the new officers, from Colonel Miller and Lieutenant-Colonel Redic down, had risen by their own merit and bravery from the ranks. While here the regiment lost one killed and four wounded while driving the enemy from his rifle pits. On the 30th Lieutenant-Colonel Redic, while engaged in a reconnoissance, had one man killed and two wounded, and on the 2d of April one man was killed and one wounded. On the 6th, near Farmville, the regiment charged upon the enemy’s works, repulsed him and captured two hundred and thirty-nine men and nineteen commissioned officers, and in the evening of the same day assisted in capturing part of the enemy’s train. The loss was one killed and fifteen wounded, Colonel Miller losing his horse. April 9th one man was wounded, the last to feel Confederate lead, as on that day the enemy at Appomattox laid down their arms and surrendered to General Grant.
May 2, 1865, the regiment took up its line of march for Washington, reaching Bailey’s Cross Roads on the 15th, and on the 11th of July reached Pittsburgh, where the men were paid off and discharged. But alas! how small a remnant of the gallant regiment which went to the front almost four years before returned to their homes. The official record gives the entire list of casualties as 1,089. The regiment from April 11, 1862, until April 9, 1865, took part in thirty-eight engagements, and of its almost four years of service giving just three years’ active service in the field. Its aggregate force, as given by the rolls, was 2,040. This number, however, comprised the veterans from the Sixty-third Pennsylvania Volunteers and 588 drafted men and substitutes put into the regiment in March, 1865, leaving the entire force of the original regiment, with its recruits, 1,288. It is a noteworthy fact that never once in its history did the One Hundred and Fifth fail to respond when ordered to face the enemy. Not once did it hesitate when ordered to charge, even though against overwhelming odds.
To show the estimation in which the One Hundred and Fifth was held by the soldiers of other organizations, and the material composing its rank and file, we quote a few tributes to their valor. General Charles H.T. Collis, formerly colonel of the One Hundred and Fourteenth Pennsylvania, and who commanded the brigade for some time after the battle of Gettysburg, says:
"Since we parted on the field I have seen all the armies of European countries, but I have never seen a body of men out of whom more solid and effective work could be obtained, than those who fought under the heroic Craig, and the intrepid, genial Greenawalt."
General Walker, in his history of the Second Corps, says of the battle of Fair Oaks:
"The last brigade to arrive was Jameson’s, which had been far to the rear, near Bottom Bridge, at the opening of the action. Two of Jameson’s regiments were sent to the right, and two to the left. All of Kearney’s men, who became engaged, fought heroically."
Colonel A.S.M. Morgan, of the Sixty-third Pennsylvania, now captain in the United States Army, says:
"I have one vivid recollection of the One Hundred and Fifth that can never be obliterated from my memory. At the battle of Fair Oaks the right of the Sixty-third did not reach the Williamsburg road, and a column of rebel infantry came marching down the road, and had reached opposite our line, when the One Hundred and Fifth came up and extended the line across the road. At that moment I was badly wounded, but my last recollection ere I lost consciousness, was of seeing that gallant regiment coming up at a full run on our right, in the face of the rebel infantry and the battery that was playing on us both from across the road."
The following incident was related to the writer by Dr Adam Wenger, surgeon of the regiment: "There is one incident that is always pleasant for me to recall. It is of one of the men whose bravery and patriotism stand forth in bold relief. After being several times severely wounded, and returning each time promptly, to again share the dangers of battle, he was at last so disabled as to be totally unfitted for duty, and was informed that his discharge from the service would be necessary. He begged to remain, and asked me if he could not be permitted to ride in the ambulance on the marches, which request I granted; but he never availed himself of this privilege when there was a prospect of a fight; and in case he was in the ambulance and firing was heard in the front, he at once left his comfortable berth, and hurried to his place in the ranks - musket in hand - with all the speed he was capable of. It must be borne in mind that a pass to ride in the ambulance excused the soldier from all duty. There were of course others just as brave and patriotic as this man, but for certain reasons his actions greatly impressed me, for he was reared in poverty, and without an education."
The soldier mentioned above was mustered out with the regiment, was several times promoted, and is yet living.
Jefferson county lost among other brave soldiers the following officers of the One Hundred and Fifth:
Colonel Amor Archer McKnight. - Amor Archer McKnight had, from his youth, been an admirer of all things pertaining to the military, and we find him at an early age a member of the "Brookville Guards" and "Brookville Rifles," which company he commanded when the war broke out. When the summons came it found him ready to respond, and with his gallant command he was soon in the field. After the three months’ term of service had expired, and he had received authority to recruit a regiment for three years, he went to work, and with an energy that never flagged, soon had the regiment, whose deeds of glory and renown we have but feebly portrayed, in the field.
As soon as his regiment went into camp, Colonel McKnight began to rigidly drill and discipline it, and so severe and exacting was he in this work that, for a time, he was severely censured and criticised by the officers and men under him; but he had set himself to the task of making the One Hundred and Fifth a regiment that could not be excelled, and he let nothing deter him from the end in view; that he accomplished his desire the history of his gallant regiment nobly proves, for by all who have any knowledge of its prowess and valor it has been pronounced without a peer; and to the stern and ofttimes merciless discipline enforced by Colonel McKnight, was this state of perfection due.
While thus strict with his officers and men, he was no less strict with himself. He studied and worked unceasingly to perfect himself in the art of warfare; for, like his men, he had come from the civil walks of life, and like them he had to learn. With all this sternness, for which so many have censured him, Colonel McKnight had the welfare and comfort of his men at heart, and we have known him to give up the last dainty his camp chest afforded, and share his last dollar with the sick soldier, and we never appealed to him in vain when he could add to the comfort of the men in the hospital, or enhance the efficiency of the hospital force.
It was his unremitting labor to make his regiment excel, that caused him at last, after fifteen months hard service, to yield to the inroads of disease, that obliged him to resign his command; but after two months he was again in the field, as the war department, knowing his worth in the service, had not filled the vacancy caused by his resignation.
After rejoining the regiment, Colonel McKnight shared all its fortunes, leading it into all its hard-fought engagements, until the battle of Chancellorsville, May 3, 1863, when he was killed by a rebel sharpshooter, while leading his men against the veterans of Stonewall Jackson. Colonel Craig, in a letter giving us the intelligence of Colonel McKnight’s fall, written May 11, 1863, says:
"Colonel McKnight was in the act of cheering his men on when he was shot, and was swinging his sword. The ball passed through his right arm, almost tearing it off, and passed on, entering his head about the right temple. I saw him fall, and riding up to him, dismounted and kneeled beside him. He looked up once, so beseechingly, before he died, as if he wanted to say something, but could not speak. I ordered four of the men to carry him to the rear, and rode after the regiment; but they were unable to get him back on account of the heavy fire, and had to leave him on the field. Everything of value was got off his person, except his pocket-book, which could not be found. After the fight, I made application to General Hooker for permission to take out a flag of truce for his remains, which he granted, but General Lee would not permit us to enter his lines, so we had to be content. No man ever acted braver than he did, and believe me, there are few such men, either in the army or at home."
The rebel papers claimed that he was buried with the honors due his rank, out of respect for the "Kearney Cross," which he wore, and it was asserted that "whenever our men were found to have upon them the Kearney red patch, if wounded they were kindly cared for; and if dead were buried with the honors of war, and their graves so marked as to be readily recognized."
It was claimed that Colonel McKnight was so honored, that "a band played a funeral dirge, while over his remains was fired the usual salute due to an officer of his rank."
This may have been the case, but when the One Hundred and Fifth, on the anniversary of his death, on the 3d of May, 1864, bivouacked on the field where he fell, no trace of his grave could be found, nor have his brothers, who wished his remains to lie with the dust of his kindred, ever been able to find the spot where he was buried.
Had Colonel McKnight lived he would soon have been promoted to brigadier-general, as steps to that effect had already been taken, and the late Hon. John Covode, in his letter of condolence to the colonel’s brother, Dr. W.J. McKnight, says:
"Had your brother survived the last terrible struggle, he would have been promoted, as I had a conversation with the president in regard to him."
The field officers of the First Division, Third Army Corps, had sent in a petition to President Lincoln asking for his promotion, in which they say:
"Colonel McKnight is a brave, gallant, and efficient officer; the regiment which he now commands, for drill and discipline, is second to none in the service. His experience as a field officer during the Peninsula Campaign, and in other places, also his ability as a thorough tactician, eminently fit him for such promotion."
At the meeting held by the field officers of the First Brigade, First Division, Third Corps, to take action on the death of their fellow-officers who fell at Chancellorsville, the following resolutions in regard to Colonel McKnight were passed:
"Resolved, That in the death of Colonel A.A. McKnight, of the One Hundred and Fifth Pennsylvania Volunteers, the country has lost a brave, efficient, and patriotic officer, whose untiring energies were given to promoting the efficiency of his regiment, who sealed his devotion to the cause in which he was engaged with his life-blood, at the head of his command, on the battlefield of Chancellorsville, Va., May 3, 1863.
"Resolved, That we condole with the relatives and friends of the deceased in their loss of a companion, endeared to them by his many amiable virtues, and that we lament the loss the country has sustained by his untimely death, in the hour of her greatest need."
Major John C. Conser. - John C. Conser was born in Centre county, Pa., in the year 1826, and the same year his parents, who were respectable, worthy people, removed to Clarion county, settling near the present town of Clarion. Here the subject of this sketch spent his early days. He was a studious, and conscientious boy. At an early age he evinced a great admiration for military matters, and with his elder brothers would attend the reviews of the militia.
In 1851 he removed to Jefferson county, and soon afterwards married and settled in Reynoldsville, where he was known and respected as one of the best citizens of that place, until the war called into action the patriotism that had been slumbering in his soul from childhood, and he was one of the first to enlist from his neighborhood. He was chosen first lieutenant of Company H, One Hundred and Fifth, and upon the resignation of Captain Tracy was promoted to captain, April 20, 1863. He was commissioned major, May 6, 1864, but was never mustered as such.
At the battle of Fair Oaks, Captain Conser received his first wound; while crawling on his hands and knees reconnoitering the enemy, a ball struck him on the head, inflicting a slight wound, and stunning him for a time. Afterwards in the retreat through White Oak Swamp, he almost lost his life in those dismal recesses, and writing of it said, "It was the most horrible night I ever experienced." At Fredericksburg a minnie ball struck his shoulder, and glancing off along the blade of his sword, entered the fleshy part of his arm, inflicting a severe wound. At Bristow Station, he, with his little command, was taken prisoner, and taken to Richmond, where he was consigned to the tender mercies of Libby prison. Here he was much annoyed by one of the rebel guards, who delighted in telling the prisoners that the Union side was "clean licked out," and that when he got out of Libby he would find "the north not worth shooks." The brave officer replied that when he got "out of Libby and came again to Richmond, it would be when it was taken by the Union troops, and the Confederacy smashed." After this, his most ardent desire was to be with the army at the taking of Richmond; but when that day dawned upon the Union arms the brave officer had entered the eternal city, dying on the very threshold of victory.
At Gettysburg he was again wounded, being shot in the head, just above the left temple, and carried off the field for dead. When, after a short stay at home, he had recovered from this wound he rejoined his regiment in time to receive another wound at Auburn. At the battle of the Wilderness he was severely wounded in the thigh by a sabre cut, from the effects of which he was still lame at the time of his death. Again he was severely wounded at Petersburg, June 18, 1864, and while on his way to rejoin his regiment, after recovering from this wound, he met at Fortress Monroe those having in charge the body of Colonel Craig, who had fallen at Deep Bottom. Stopping just long enough to assist in forwarding to his home the remains of his brave friend and gallant commander, he hurried on to his regiment, and was in all the subsequent skirmishes and marches up to the battle of Boydton Plank Road, where, on the 27th of October, 1864, he fell, while battling against an overwhelming force of the enemy. An eye-witness of this sanguinary struggle, says: "We were surrounded when I heard Conser say, ‘Men, we are surrounded. Will you surrender? Won’t you fight it out?’ Three rebels attacked him, and while fighting them with pistols and sword, another came up and placing his gun almost against his body, blew the contents of the piece into his side and he fell dead."
The enemy being repulsed after this, Captain Redic and others of the regiment attempted to bring off Major Conser’s body, but the enemy rallying in force, they were obliged to leave him on the field where he fell, and thus died one of the bravest soldiers the war produced - his last words being, "Fight it out."
Major Conser, when he first entered the service, was urged to remain at home with his family, and again when he re-enlisted, the duty to his wife and little children was urged upon him, and though no man loved his family more dearly, his duty to his imperiled country was paramount to all else. His wife has since joined the dead hero, and his four children yet reside in Reynoldsville.
Captain John Calvin Dowling. - When the civil war broke out, Captain Dowling, whose previous record is given in the chapter devoted to the medical profession, at once enlisted in the three months campaign, and served as first lieutenant of Company K, Eighth Regiment, taking command of that company on Captain Wise’s promotion. At the expiration of this term of service he returned home and recruited Company B, of the One Hundred and Fifth, which he labored unceasingly to make one of the best companies in the service. He remained constantly with his men, with the exception of a ten days’ leave of absence in February, 1862, until he fell at Fair Oaks, May 31st, while gallantly leading his men in the charge where the regiment won its first laurels, and he with many others of Jefferson county’s bravest and best soldiers won victors’ crowns. He was shot through the neck, killing him instantly. His body was borne off the field by his sorrowing men, and the chaplain of the regiment, Rev. D.S. Steadman, in a letter written just after the battle says:
"We buried our dear Captain Dowling last evening, June 1st, at sunset, in a beautiful grove. Bowdish, one of his men, had made a good coffin. There was no lack of mourners; we were all mourners."
His remains were subsequently reinterred in the soldiers’ cemetery at "Seven Pines," where his grave has been visited by some of his friends, who found it nicely kept, and plainly marked with his name, rank, and regiment.
Captain Dowling’s death was a great loss to his regiment, by whom his death was deeply mourned. Colonel McKnight in writing of his death says: "There could be no better officer than Captain Dowling; always prompt in contributing to the every act calculated to promote the efficiency of the regiment, he never retarded or embarrassed the action of the commanding officer; a strict disciplinarian, he was also attentive to the wants of his company, and always preserved the warm regard of his men. I had become very much attached to him, and his decease struck me very painfully."
Captain Dowling was of a genial disposition, and possessing an excellent education, his social qualities and gentlemanly bearing had endeared him to a large circle of acquaintances and friends, and the news of his death carried gloom to the hearts of all who knew him. When the sad news of the death of this gallant young officer, and of those who fell with him on that fatal field, Jefferson county’s first offerings for the cause of freedom, was received in Brookville, the flags were draped in mourning, and suspended at half mast, and sorrow pervaded the entire community.
Captain Dowling’s health being far from robust when he was at home, a short time before his death, his friends tried to persuade him to leave the army, but he replied to their entreaties that he knew that his life would be a short one, saying: "If I die in battle, my death will be a glorious one."
He hastened back to his regiment, on hearing rumors of an expected battle, and on being asked why he returned before his leave expired, replied, " I did not want the boys to go into battle without me." No nobler sacrifice was given to save the Union than John C. Dowling.
Captain William J. Clyde. - William Johnston Clyde, son of William and Jane Clyde, nee Malbon, was born in Perry, now Oliver, township in the year 1838. His father dying, he was at an early age thrown upon his own resources, and when about thirteen years old he went to Brookville, and commenced to learn the carpenter and joiner’s trade, with Messrs. William Reed and David S. Johnston, both of whom are now dead. After finishing his apprenticeship, he remained in Brookville working at his trade until the breaking out of the war, when he enlisted in Company I, Eighth Regiment, of three months men, and served as first sergeant of his company. On returning home after the expiration of this term of service, he threw himself heartily into the work of recruiting for Colonel McKnight’s three years regiment, and on the organization of that regiment he was appointed first sergeant of Company A, and November 8, 1861, was promoted to second lieutenant; to first lieutenant, September 27, 1862, and to captain February 9, 1863. He was wounded in the battles of Second Bull Run, Fredericksburg, and Gettysburg, in all of which he was conspicuous for his daring and courage. He fought with the most desperate bravery at the battle of the Wilderness, until near the close of the fighting on the 6th of May, 1863, when the One Hundred and Fifth was occupying the second line of breastworks, and charged forward, carrying a part of the front line, when Captain Clyde with several others of the regiment, mounted the rebel redoubts on the front line, and while gallantly urging his men on, he was shot by one of the enemy’s sharpshooters, and fell mortally wounded, only living long enough to ask his men to bury him decently, and write to his mother. When he fell, he was so close to the enemy that he could almost touch them. His body was afterwards recovered and removed to the soldier’s cemetery at Fredericksburg.
Captain Clyde possessed a good practical education, a sterling integrity of character, and was in the true sense of the word, a self-made man. In his death his regiment lost one of its bravest officers, for he was brave almost to rashness. His younger brother, Corporal James L. Craig, of the same company, wounded at Glendale, Va., died of his wounds while on his way home, at the house of a relative at Indiana, Pa. The widowed mother of these brave soldiers removed with her only daughter, Miss Maggie Clyde, after the war, to Pickaway county, Ohio, where she has since died.
Captain John Michael Steck. - Among those of our brave soldiers who have, since the war closed, been "mustered into that great company, which no man can number," was Captain John M. Steck, who died at his home in Brookville, March 13, 1875. He was the eldest son of the late Jacob and Christiana Steck, and was born in Greensburg, Pa., on the 17th day of December, 1832. In the year 1848 he removed with his parents to Brookville, where he ever after resided. He took an active part when the war broke out in recruiting for the volunteer service, and enlisted in Company I, Sixty-second Pennsylvania Volunteers, July 20, 1861, and was promoted to first sergeant. In September, 1861, he procured his discharge from that company, and February 20, 1862, was commissioned captain of Company G, One Hundred and Fifth regiment, where he made an excellent and popular officer, sharing all the battles and dangers of his men, until, his health becoming impaired, he was obliged to resign, and was discharged on surgeon’s certificate August 12, 1863.
Returning to his home, he was in 1866 elected prothonotary for Jefferson county, and at the expiration of his term of office was re-elected. Captain Steck was one of the most prominent and best known citizens of the county. The Brookville Republican’s notice of his death was a just tribute to his worth:
"He was an energetic, live business man, aiding in every improvement to build up and benefit our town, and some of our best improvements are due to his energy and taste. In every position of public life he discharged his duties ably and honestly, and there are few persons who will not be able to recall some act of official courtesy and kindness received at his hands. To the poor he was liberal; he was a true friend, and one distinguishing trait in his character was, that he never spoke harshly or disparagingly of others. If he could not say a word of commendation he kept silent. Captain Steck was an earnest and consistent member of the Presbyterian Church, where his loss will be much felt, but above all will he be missed in the Sunday-school, of which, at the time of his death, he was assistant superintendent, and of which he was the ruling spirit. His heart was in the work. During three years he was absent but three Sundays, and then he was away from home. He knew every child in the school, and every one will miss him, as one whom they looked up to with honor. On Sunday, the day preceding his funeral, the entire school went in a body to take a last look at his remains, and the most touching tribute that could have been paid to his memory, was the tears of these little ones."
Captain Steck was married to Miss Rachel McCreight, who survived him, and has since married Dr. Robert S. Hunt, of Brookville.
Robert J. Nicholson, quartermaster of the One Hundred and Fifth, is another who, since the war closed, has laid down the burden of life. He enlisted in this regiment, which he had aided very materially to raise, as first lieutenant of Company B, but was promoted to quartermaster October 1, 1861. He made a very popular officer, as he was always kind and genial to the men.
He resigned on account of his presence being needed in his business at home, September 16, 1862. While in service his brother, James Nicholson, of Company I, died at Camp Jameson, and he had his remains sent to his home in Brookville. After having nursed him affectionately at his own quarters, with the fond hope of seeing him rally from the dread disease that had claimed him for a victim, he sent his remains home for burial. Quartermaster Nicholson was again called to make a heavy sacrifice to his country’s cause, in the death of his eldest son, Barton, a promising young man, a member of Company B, who fell at the battle of Second Bull Run, August 29, 1863.
Mr. Nicholson was one of Jefferson county’s most enterprising citizens, as his business career given elsewhere proves. He died suddenly while on a business trip to the South, at Day’s Gap, North Carolina.
Field and Staff Officers of the One Hundred and Fifth Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, from Jefferson County. - Colonels, Amor A. McKnight, James Miller; lieutenant-colonel, W.W. Corbet; adjutant, Orlando Gray; quartermasters, Robert Nicholson, Harrison Coon; surgeon, A.P. Heichhold; chaplains, Darius S. Steadman, John C. Truesdale; sergeant-majors, W.H. McLaughlin, George Vanvliet, Robert J. Boyington; quartermaster-sergeants, Fleming Y. Caldwell, Benjamin F. Stauffer; commissary-sergeant, John Coon; hospital stewards, D. Ramsey Crawford, Charles D. Shrieves; musicians, Andrew J. McKown, Eli B. Clemson.
Members of the Brass Band of the One Hundred and Fifth Regiment from Jefferson County. - Calvin B. Clark, John S. Gallagher, John A. Guffey, James A. McClelland, T.C. Spottswood, Charles Sitz, Alexander Ross Taylor, James A. Thompson.
COMPANY A, ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH REGIMENT, P.V.
Company A was recruited in the southern part of Jefferson county, principally from Punxsutawney, and Perry and Oliver townships. The company was raised in three days, chiefly through the exertion of Captain John Hastings, assisted by Lieutenants Neel and Morris. Captain Hastings, while gallantly leading his company in the desperate charge at Second Bull Run, was severely wounded in the leg, and after months of suffering, was disabled for life by the wound, and obliged to resign, when the command devolved upon Captian W.J. Clyde, who fell while charging at the head of the company in the battle of the Wilderness. Lieutenant A.H. Mitchell was then promoted to captain, but before he received his commission, was discharged on account of wounds received in front of Petersburg, and then Lieutenant John H. McKee was promoted captain.
Captains, John Hastings, W.J. Clyde, John H. McKee; first lieutenants, William Neel, Alexander H. Mitchell, James W. Wachob; second lieutenants, Moses A. Morris, Daniel Brewer, William M. Blose; first sergeants, Albert C. Little, Samuel T. Hadden, Joseph Cummisky, John Blair, Joseph Wickline, Wesley P. Hoover, A.D. McPherson, John G. Myers, Allen H. Naylor, Arthur H. Murray, Samuel Hibler; corporals, Samuel Kesslar, John McHendry, Henry Weaver, James M. Keck, Smith M. McHendry, James B. Jordan, Benjamin F. Rolls, Joseph F. Bell, Isaac M. Depp, David W. Logan, William J. Mogle, David Y. Salsgiver, John E. Sadler, William C. McKee, Levi P. Frampton, James L. Clyde; privates, Henry All, Thomas T. Adams, Harding Allabrand, John I. Barr, Samuel Brillhart, L.H. Bolinger, Samuel W. Brewer, John Blose, Boaz D. Blose, Adolphus Bhoy, Charles S. Bender, Isaac Bowersock, James W. Brooks, John Beck, William F. Campbell, W.W. Crissman, David Cochran, John Chambers, Byron Cowan, John Campbell, Oliver Croasman, H.C. Campbell, Flem. Y. Caldwell, Michael L. Coon, Hugh Crawford, Jonathan Chambers, William P. Christ, John W. Corey, George W. Davis, John O. Dean, George W. Davis, John G. Depp, John A. De Havens, Robert Fleming, David W. Goheen, David G. Gray, James A. Grove, Thomas M. Gibson, Thomas Glass, Benjamin Gaskill, George W. Ginter, George Goheen, Francis W. Grove, Henry Grant, Charles H. Haskins, John Hennigh, James Henry, Joseph W. Hickox, William Hutchinson, John P. Imler, John M. Irwin, Robert A. Jordan, George M. Johnston, Robert Jordan, John Jordan, Benjamin F. Johnston, H. Kirkpatrick, Christopher Kesslar, John C. Kelly, Jonathan R. Leitzall, David W. Leech, John H. London, William Leech, James G. Mitchell, Jeremiah C. Miles, William F. Means, Joseph Means, John Means, jr., John L. Mabon, John Means, sr., James Mogle, William Meitz, Robert S. Michaels, Thomas Means, Robert Marsh, John Marsh, J.L. McHendy, John B. McGinnis, Cassius E. McCrea, James C. McQuown, Samuel McHendry, John McGraw, Charles McConkey, Edwin McCafferty, R. McAdams, William McHendry, Scott Neel, Augustus C. Nolf, William Painter, William S. Pery, P.S. Rudolph, John K. Rupert, George W. Rhodes, Nicholas Robbins, Fred. Rhinehart, Benjamin C. Smith, Joseph M. Swisher, Dan. J. Smyers, George Smith, James Smith, Washington Sunderland, Joseph B. Sowers, Christopher Sutter, William H. Swisher, Henry Sutter, John R. Stewart, Elias S. Simpson, Jacob Sutter, George W. Shawl, James C. Trimble, Thomas L. Templeton, Peter Walker, David W. Wilson, Philip Wyning, Daniel Zimmer.
In the numerous battles in which it took part, and from disease, Company A lost the following:
Killed, captain, W.J. Clyde; sergeant, Samuel T. Hadden; corporals, Daniel Y. Salsgiver, John H. Sadler, William C. McKee; privates, Charles S. Bender, Isaac Bowersock, James W. Brooks, Hugh Crawford, Jonathan Chambers, John G. Depp, John P. Imler, Robert S. Michaels, William McHenry, William H. Swisher, Henry Sutter, Daniel Zimmer; died, sergeant, Allen Naylor; corporals, Levi P. Frampton, James L. Clyde; privates, John Beck, William P. Crist, John W. Corey, James Henry, Joseph W. Hickox, William Hutchison, George M. Johnston, William Leech, Thomas Means, Robert H. Marsh, John Marsh, William S. Perry, John R. Stewart, E.S. Simpson, Jacob Sutter, Fred. Rhinehart; transferred to Veteran Reserve Corps, John Henry, Christopher Sutter, David W. Wilson.
MUSTER ROLL OF COMPANY B, ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH P.V.
Company B was recruited chiefly in Brookville and vicinity, mainly by Captain John C. Dowling who commanded it until he fell at Fair Oaks, when he was succeeded by Captain S.A. Craig, who on account of wounds had to give up the command to Captain W.S. Barr, who in turn for the same cause had to yield it to Captain Joseph C. Kelso, who led it through the subsequent hard fights until the final muster out:
Captains, John C. Dowling, S.A. Craig, W.S. Barr, Joseph C. Kelso. First lieutenants, R.J. Nicholson, Richard J. Espy, John A. McLain. Second lieutenant, Judson J. Parsons. First sergeants, William Fox, William N. Pearce, Samuel H. Mitchell. Sergeants, John E. Barr, Hiram Wing, William Lucas, Anthony Kreis, George Heiges, James C. Dowling, John J. Geary, William English, Robert Miller. Corporals, John J. Champion, McCurdy Hunter, Samuel Hunter, Joseph Baughman, Wellington Johnston, Nathan D. Carrier, Andrew J. Cochran, David R. Porter, Robert G. Wilson, Benjamin Ramsey, J.M. Thompson, Philo Winsor. Musician, M.L. Spottswood. Privates, Benjamin Arthurs, Peter Allwell, Charles G. Anderson, William Anderson, William D. Black, Liberty Burns, Sibley Bennett, Joseph Booth, Joseph B. Bowdish, William Bish, Lafayette Burge, Samuel Cable, Alfred Cable, William Covert, Joseph Coon, Thomas J. Champion, David D. Demott, Jonathan Dixon, M.G. De Vallance, M.L. De Vallance, Mathew M. Dowling, John Dunkleburg, Joseph A. Geer, Amos Goup, John W. Guthrie, Cyrus Geer, Robert Gilmore, Michael D. Grinder, Jackson Gearheart, Jacob M. Haugh, James L. Holliday, Adam W. Haugh, Thomas Hildreth, Emanuel Haugh, James Hopkins, Edward Hartman, Joseph Harriger, Augustus Haugh, John Hawthorn, William H. Jackson, John Jacox, Frederick Jackson, William Kelly, Solomon C. Kelso, George Keyser, Winfield S. Lucas, Joseph Lawhart, Lewis Leitzell, John Love, David Lanker, Frederick Miller, William Milligan, Courson Miller, William C. Miller, Michael Miller, Solomon McManingle, Charles S. McCauley, Joseph E.H. McGary, William McCutcheon, William McCaskey, Jesse McElhose, Barton A. Nicholson, John Ossewandle, Asa M. Preston, Jesse Penrose, Benjamin F. Rhodes, James A. Robinson, William Riddle, Edward Reigle, Philip Rockwell, William Reede, Daniel C. Rockwell, Lewis Rhodes, John Shreckengost, John Shirey, Joseph S. Stine, George Shick, William K. Stevenson, Chauncey Shaffer, Jacob Siverling, George W. Smith, Samuel Stormer, George W. Saxton, Samuel Shaffer, Philip Taylor, John Taylor, James Taylor, B.D. Vasbinder, Gustavus Verbeck, Joseph Williams, John B. Wensel, Oliver Woods, Francis Winters, John Webster, Philip Young.
The following members of Company B were killed in battle, died of wounds and disease, or were transferred to the Veteran Reserve Corps, on account of wounds, or to other organizations.
Killed - Captain John C. Dowling. Sergeants, Samuel H. Mitchell, Anthony Kreis, James C. Dowling, George Heiges. Corporals, Wellington Johnston, Nathan D. Carrier, Andrew J. Cochran. Privates, Benjamin Arthurs, Peter Allwell, Amos Goup, John W. Guthrie, Thomas Hildreth, William H. Jackson, Courson Miller, Charles S. McCauley, B.A. Nicholson, Asa M. Preston, William Reed, John Taylor, Joseph Williams.
Died. - Sergeant, John J. Geasy. Privates, Liberty Burns, Joseph Bouch, Adam W. Haugh, Emanuel Haugh, William C. Miller, Joseph E.H. McGeary, Dan C. Rockwell, John Shirey, Joseph F. Stine. Died in rebel prisons, Sibley Bennett, Jonathan Dixon.
Transferred to V.R.C., Captain S.A. Craig, Benjamin Ramsey, Thomas J. Champion, David Lanker, John Webster. To Eighteenth U.S.I., David R. Porter, Robert G. Wilson, Samuel Shaffer.
COMPANY C, ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH P.V.
Company C was raised in Clarion county; only the following men from Jefferson county were in its ranks:
Sergeants, Samuel Lattimer, John H. Pearsall; corporals, Eli H. Chilson, Isaac Lyle, James W. Spears, William Hipple; privates, E.P. Cochran, M.G. De Vallance, Perry C. Fox, John C. Johnston, Ami Sibley, Francis Smith, James Woods; William Hipple, killed.
COMPANY D, ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH P.V.
Company D was recruited in Jefferson and Clearfield counties. The only officers from Jefferson county were Lieutenant Charles J. Wilson and Captain William Kelly. Captain Kelly, who rose from the ranks, being promoted captain November 26, 1864. He shared all their battles and dangers with the company, and finally brought them home.
The following list comprises the men from Jefferson county, with those who were killed in battle, died of wounds and disease, or were transferred to other organizations:
Captain, William Kelly; second lieutenant, Charles J. Wilson; sergeants, George O. Riggs, William C. McGarvy, Milton Craven, Ebenezer Bullers, John C. Johnston, Isaac M. Temple; corporals, John R. Shaffer, Daniel R: Snyder, James H. Green, Gilbraith Patterson, Darius Vasbinder, D.H. Paulhamus, Andrew J. McKown, Milton J. Adams, Benj. F. Alexander, Amos Ashkettle; privates, Eben O. Bartlett, Philip Black, Daniel Bowers, David Bell, Richard Bedell, Silas Boose, Asa Bowdish, Byron H. Bryant, John S. Christie, Isaiah Corbet, James R. Corbet, Samuel Criswell, Andrew Christie, Joel Clark, Eli B. Clemson, William Dunn, Charles Graham, William Griffith, Andrew Henderson, John Hilliard, Lyman Higby, Nathan B. Hipple, James Kelly, John Knarr, Henry Keys, John Klinger, Edward Knapp, James Murphy, Malvin Munger, Arch. F. Mason, James McAtee, Samuel McFadden, William McKelvy, Reid McFadden, Samuel McLaughlin, John McLaughlin, Irwin McCutcheon, Benjamin Newcom, William Pennington, George Plotner, Josiah V. Reppard, William Riddle, Charles B. Ross, Joseph Rensell, John Robinson, Solomon B. Riggs, William M. Riggs, Andrew Sites, George Smith, Gershon Saxton, William Shaffer, William Smith, Henry Shaffner, Perry Smith, W.H. Saxton, Isaac Solly, Almon Spencer, James Thompson, Gabriel Vasbinder, William Wilson, Henry C. Wycoff, George Wilson, Ellis Wilson.
Killed, Samuel Crisswell, William Pennington, George Plottner, William Riddle, Charles B. Ross, Gershon Saxton, William Shaffer, John Wilson; died, Corporal Daniel R. Snyder; privates, David Bell, Andrew Christie, John Hilliard, Henry Shaffner, Joseph Rensell; died in rebel prison, William Smith.
Transferred to V.R.C., Silas Bouse, Lyman Higby, W.N. Riggs; W.H. Saxton, to Tenth Regiment, U.S.I.
COMPANY F, ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH P.V.
Company F was principally recruited in Indiana and Clearfield counties by the gallant and lamented Captain Robert Kirk, who fell at Chancellorsville. The only officer from Jefferson county was Lieutenant Henry P. McKillip.
The following list comprises the men from Jefferson county, with deaths, transfers, etc.:
First lieutenant, Henry P. McKillip; second lieutenant, Ogg Neel; sergeants, John M. Brewer, Robert Doty, John W. Smith, John Hendricks, Elijah Pantall, Jonathan Brindle, Joshua Pearce; corporals, John N. Means, Thomas Neil; privates, William H.H. Anthony, James D. Anthony, John W. Bryant, John H. Bush, John W. Brooks, Charles Berry, William A. Chambers, Peter Depp, Henry H. Depp, Philip B. Depp, John P. Dunn, James Dunn, Samuel Edwards, Henry A.L. Girts, Jonathan Himes, William S. Hendricks, Isaac Hendricks, James Hopkins, Thomas M. Hauck, Samuel Hannah, Charles Klepfer, John Kelly, Charles Lyle, Scott Mitchell, William C. Martin, George Moore, John Miller, James A. Minish, James McCarthy, Robert McMannes, Samuel A. McGhee, William T. Neil, Thomas Orr, Jackson Piper, David R. Porter, Adam Reitz, Irwin Robinson, James W. Shaffer, Isaac Smith, David Simpson, Charles Smouse, Henry Shaffer, Peter C. Spencer, William H. Wilson, David Williard, George W. Young.
Killed, Jacob L. Smith, Robert Doty, John W. Smith, W.H.H. Anthony, Peter Depp, Joseph Hill, Charles Lyle, Charles Smouse, David L. Simpson, Wm. H. Wilson, David Williard, Thomas Orr; died, Henry H. Depp, Charles Klepper, Robert M. Mannes, David R. Porter, George W. Young, William C. Martin; died in rebel prison, John Kelly.
Transferred to Veteran Reserve Corps, Elijah Pantal, Jonathan Brindle, James Aul, William A. Chambers; to First United States Cavalry, H.A.L. Girtz.
COMPANY G, ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH P.V.
Company G was recruited principally from the southwestern townships, from the sturdy, honest German yeomanry of the county, and on the day of their departure for the front rendezvoused at Ringgold, where a large crowd had assembled to see them off; and from which point the farmers took them in wagons to Kittanning, where they took the cars.
Captain John A. Freas, who first commanded the company resigned December 24, 1861, and Lieutenant John M. Steck was promoted captain, and commanded it until he was obliged, on account of ill health, to resign, April 12, 1863, when Captain Woodward succeeded him until October 8, 1864, when, his time having expired, Captain Jacob H. Freas took charge of the company and was mustered out with it.
Captains, John A. Freas, John M. Steck, Jacob H. Freas; first lieutenants, Charles B. Coon, Benjamin M. Stauffer; second lieutenants, Harvey McAninch, E.H. McAninch, Edward P. Shaw; first sergeant, Peter Slagle; sergeants, Jackson Hettrick, Jacob Swab, Philip H. Freas, George W. Taylor, George W. Hawthorn, Adam Himes, James W. Walker, Henry Crooks, Andrew J. Monks, John Startzell; corporals, David Kellar, Hiram J. Milliron, William H. Lucas, John M. Fike, Daniel Parsons, William H. Smith, James F. Miller, William Aikens, George Saucerman, John A. Swartz, David C. Swineford, William F. Green, Isaac Hughes; privates, George Blystene, Samuel D. Barnett, Robert Baughman, Perry Brink, George Beer, Daniel Blose, Jacob Campbell, William Cobb, Robert Davidson, Jacob Dibler, John Doverspike, Emanuel Eisenhart, Adam Fike, Jacob Freedline, George W. Geist, Samuel Geist, I.N. Hinderliter, William E. Hawthorn, William Hartman, Francis F. Hawthorn, David Harp, Jacob Harp, Joseph K. Hawthorn, John Harwick, William A. Hadden, Jacob Harshberger, Samuel Henderson, William A. Haines, David Haugh, Jacob Hilliard, Frank P. Hettrick, William Jenkins, Michael Kellar, William D. Kane, Elijah Kellar, George W. Kinsel, Henry H. Kiehl, Henry N. Milliron, William Means, Jacob Neece, James Orr, William D. Orts, Joseph Plyter, Richard J. Parsons, William Plyter, Robert Patterson, Anthony Peters, John Richards, Daniel Ritchards, Isaac Reitz, Joseph Reed, Harvey Rowan, Henry Raybuck, Adam Raybuck, John D. Rhodes, Caleb E. Stewart, John P. Smith, Daniel Shaffer, Michael Strawcutter, Philip Shrauger, John Snyder, Conrad Shorfstall, Peter Snepp, Garrett B. Shrauger, William Slagle, David Snowden, Samuel Smith, John Smith, Nathan P. Sprankle, Frederick B. Sprankle, Martin V. Shaffer, James L. Shaffer, Andrew J. Timblin, Daniel Undercoffer, Thomas M. Watson, Alexander Wiley, Watson Young, Edward W. Young.
Killed. - Sergeant G.W. Hawthorn. Corporals, Daniel Parsons, William H. Smith, George W. Geist, Daniel Richards, Isaac Reitz, Joseph Reed, Philip Shrauger, John Snyder, Conrad Shoafstall.
Died. - Sergeants, Adam Himes, James W. Walker, Henry Crooks. Corporals, John A. Swartz, William Aiken, George Saucerman, David C. Simpson. Privates, Jacob Campbell, William Cobb, Samuel Geist, William Hartman, David Harp, Francis F. Hawthorne, Jacob Harp, Joseph K. Hawthorne, William Jenkins, Richard J. Parsons, Thomas M. Watson, Watson Young. Died in rebel prisons. - James F. Millen, Michael Keller, James Orr.
Transferred to Veteran Reserve Corps. - Lieutenant A.J. Monks; John Doverspike, Jacob Friedline, David Haugh, Jacob Hilliard, John D. Rhodes, James L. Shaffer.
COMPANY H, ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH REGIMENT, P.V.
Company H was recruited principally in the townships of Winslow, Washington, and Snyder. Captain Tracy, of Rockdale Mills, who had assisted largely in recruiting the company soon resigning, the command devolved upon Captain John C. Conser, who bravely commanded them until he fell at Boydton, when he was succeeded by Captain Tilton C. Reynolds, who shared their fortunes until the final muster out:
Captains, Artemas H. Tracy, John C. Conser, Tilton C. Reynolds; first lieutenants, Thomas K. Hastings, George Van Vliet, Samuel Jones; second lieutenants, George W. Crosley, Josiah E. Miller; first sergeant, Mathias Bankert; sergeants, George Sharp, Adam Miller, George D. Mosier, E.L. Evans, Benjamin L. Johnson, Mathew Miller, Joseph F. Green, James Millen, Forbes Kilgore, Irvin R. Long; corporals, James Penfield, Samuel G. Moorhead, Henry Grant, James Truhy, John K. Moore, Philip N. Tapper, Samuel Preston, E.S. Holloway, John Neil, John St. Clair; privates, Jesse N. Atwell, Jas. Bailly, Lewis Boyington, Hamilton F. Burris, Stephen S. Briggs, John Buchanon, George Britton, William Blystone, Jesse Cole, Peter Cox, Joseph L. Conn, Charles H. Clinton, George A. Clark, Daniel G. Carl, Hugh Conn, Jacob Dickey, Ebenezer Dailey, Samuel C. Dewoody, John Denberger, John Foust, Jacob Foust, Robert Feverly, Robert Fleming, William H. Farren, William Foust, Casper Gillnet, Harvey Groves, William Green, John L. Groves, George W. Harding, Thomas Hutchinson, William J. Heckman, Benjamin F. Haymaker, James Harbenger, George Howlett, George P. Hartzell, William J. Henderson, Andrew Hoak, Moses Ishman, Archie Jones, George W. Keck, Sampson Kirker, William Kerp, Thomas Kessner, John Kerker, Edward Lewis, James R. London, George W. Luke, Henry L. Lindsey, George Montgomery, David B. Moore, W.S. Mattock, Henry C. Moore, James Mulkins, James Moore, William Menser, Nelson Munger, Joseph F. Millen, Michael Miller, Robert Morrison, William Mulkins, James McCutcheon, James McGeary, John McDonald, R. McAdams, sr., David McKibbin, John McKean, William McKean, James McGhee, W.H. McLaughlin, William McClelland, Noble McClure, John Nelson, John Osborne, George G. Rickard, Washington Rhoades, Albert Reynolds, Robert Rager, Gilbert P. Rea, Thomas W. Rea, Joseph Rutter, James H. Reed, John W. Rea, George Shick, William C. Smith, Daniel Sharp, John Soliday, Oliver Smith, Ami Sibley, H.H. Sparks, Robert Spur, Andrew S. Smith, Henry Stevenson, Hiram P. Sprague, Peter Sharp, William Smith, Joseph Tedlie, Anthony Tory, John Thomas, William S. Whiteman, George Winklebauch, George Walch, George W. Warnock, William Walch, Peter B. Wensell, Adam Wensell, Dexter F. Wilson, George Yount, Edward W. Young.
Killed. - Captain John C. Conser; lieutenant, George W. Crosley; sergeant, James Millen; corporal, John Neil; privates, George A. Clark, Daniel G. Carl, William Foust, John L. Groves, George Howlett, Robert Morrison, John Nelson, Joseph Rutter, Hiram P. Sprague, Peter Sharp, George Yount.
Died. - Sergeants, Forbes Kilgore, Irvin R. Long; privates, William Blistone, Hugh Conn, William J. Henderson, Archie Jones, John Kerker, William Mulkins, William McClelland, James H. Reed, John W. Rea, Joseph Tedley, George Winklebauch, Edward W. Young; died in rebel prisons, sergeants Joseph F. Green, Michael Miller.
Transferred to Veteran Reserve Corps. - Thomas W. Rea, Dexter F. Wilson, E.S. Holloway, John Crossman, R.C. McAdams.
COMPANY I, ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH P.V.
Company I was composed principally of men from Brookville, and the adjacent townships, and was mainly recruited by Captain Silas J. Martin, who, on account of sickness in his family, was obliged to resign March 10, 1862. Upon his resignation Captain James Hamilton was selected from the Thirty-eighth Pennsylvania (Ninth Reserves), to command the company, and when he gloriously fell at the Wilderness, the command devolved upon Captain Oliver C. Redic, of Clarion county, and upon his promotion to lieutenant-colonel Captain Henry Galbraith succeeded him, and remained with the company, sharing all its battles and dangers, until its final muster out. The muster rolls below give all the men from Jefferson county with a list of those killed, died of wounds, or disease, and those transferred to other organizations:
Captains, Silas J. Martin, Henry Galbraith; first lieutenant, Isaac N. Tuller; second lieutenants, Hugh Brady, Robert I. Boyington, John H. Kennedy; first sergeants, John Magiffin, George VanVliet; sergeants, John Douglass, James L. Paul, Benjamin Pollyard, James C. Quinter, Isaiah E. Davis, Joseph Kinnear, Mathias Manner, James Nicholson; corporals, Henry Shaffer, Daniel A. Friedline, Frederick Trapp, David Criswell, Andrew Edinger, James C. Gilson, Henry Rhoads, James Moorhead, Stephen Sartwell, Henry K. Mitchell, William Toye, John W. Manners; privates, Isaac Allen, Ethan Allen, William Armstrong, Daniel A. Brown, Edwin Black, Jesse Bump, John Blosser, George Boyer, James R. Bennett, John Burgess, William Burford, Emery E. Brown, Andrew Campbell, Mathew L. Cochran, William Campbell, William A. Crawford, Simeon Chapman, William Christie, Nathaniel Carbaugh, William Cowan, William Chapman, William Courtney, George W. Christie, H.A. Davis, Aaron Douglass, Samuel C. Davis, James Doyle, Jacob Edwards, Peter Fye, Oliver Graham, William H. Gray, George Graham, James F. Hawthorn, George Howard, Abram F. Hunter, Samuel S. Howser, Samuel Hogue, William E. Hawthorn, David Hawthorn, John Hillman, Joel Horn, George C. Hopkins, James R. Hoover, George W. Hettrick, Henry J. Hawthorn, Samuel A. Hunter, Harrison Hogue, Silas Irwin, Harry Ickes, John R. Johnson, Thomas Jolly, Henry Kennedy, Levi Knight, John Koch, Benjamin F. Lerch, John C. Moorhead, Robert C. Millen, David R. Matson, R.S. Montgomery, William Miller, Jacob J. Mauk, William A. Millen, John A. Mikle, Jacob Moore, William H. Manners, Edward I. Miller, Eli C. McLaughlin, William McDonald, Alexander McDonald, William O’Donnel, James O’Neal, John Royer, Chapman Rose, Eli Roll, Joseph Ronke, John S. Smith, James Stroup, Jacob Snowden, Riley Siverly, Fred L. Swentzell, Enos Shirts, Henry Smith, John O. Spencer, Samuel Stroup, Henry Shirley, Joseph Stumph, James W. Shields, John J. Sherman, Hugh M. Steel, James K. Shaffer, George J. Shultz, George Thomas, Mathias Thompson, Henry Toye, Samuel Tingley, William Vandevort, James Warey, Thomas Woodward, Henry Yount, Isaac Yount.
Killed. - Sergeants, Isaiah E. Davis, Joseph Kinnear, Mathias Manner; corporals, James Moorhead, Stephen Sartwell, James R. Bennett. John Burgiss, William Chapman, William Courtney, James R. Hoover, George W. Hettrick, H.J. Hawthorne, Samuel A. Hunter, Silas Irvin, John R. Johnson, D.R. Matson, R.S. Montgomery, Philip Ritchie, Enos Shirts, Mathew Thompson, Isaac Yount.
Died. - Sergeant, James Nicholson; corporals, H.K. Mitchell, William Toye, John W. Manners; William Burford, George W. Christie, Samuel Hogue, Harrison Hogue, Levi Knight, John Koch, Benjamin F. Lerch, William Miller, Jacob Mauk, William A. Millen, William McDonald, James O’Neil, Henry Smith, John O. Spencer, Samuel Stroup, Thomas Woodward.
Transferred to V.R.C. - Sergeants, James C. Quinter, John Hillman, Joel Horn, George J. Shultz, James R. Shaffer; transferred to U.S. Army, George C. Hopkins.
COMPANY K, ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH P.V.
Company K was recruited in Indiana county, but Jefferson county furnished some of its most gallant officers. Captain A.C. Thompson, who was disabled at second battle of Bull Run, and Captain James Miller, who afterwards rose to be colonel of the regiment. The only Jefferson county men in this company were:
Captains, Albert C. Thompson, James Miller; first lieutenant, John G. Wilson; first sergeants, John Gold, Thomas K. Hastings; sergeants, Robert T. Pattison, John T. Swisher, James H. May; corporal, James M. Torrence; privates, George M. Bouch, John Baker, Samuel Benner, Hugh C. Craven, Z.T. Chambers, Alpheus B. Clark, James D. Frampton, Samuel McAdoo, Samuel Rhoads, John Stiver, Jesse J. Templeton, Henry Wyning.
Killed. - Sergeants, Robert T. Pattison, John T. Swisher.
Died. - Hugh C. Craven, James D. Frampton, Jesse J. Templeton.
ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH REGIMENT ASSOCIATION
On the 7th of October, 1879, the veterans of the One Hundred and Fifth Regiment held their first reunion since the war, at Brookville. About two hundred and fifty were present, every company being represented.
A regimental association was effected, with the following officers: President, Lieutenant Colonel Levi B. Duff; vice-president, Captain John Hastings; secretary, Captain S.A. Craig; corresponding secretary, Miss Kate M. Scott; treasurer, M.V. Shaffer; executive committee, Major M.M. Dick, Lieutenant Colonel Oliver C. Redic, Captain Joseph C. Kelso, Lieutenant Thomas K. Hastings, Captain A.H. Tracy, James G. Mitchell, D.W. Goheen.
The intention of the society was to hold a reunion each year; and the two following years the regiment met respectively at Punxsutawney and Reynoldsville, and October 2, 1882, held a joint reunion with the Sixty-third Pennsylvania at Pittsburgh, since which time there has been no reunion. The organization is still in force, however, the officers elected at the last meeting of the association holding over, Major M.M. Dick, of West Newton, Pa., president, and John McGaughey, of Indiana, Pa., secretary.
In April, 1886, a meeting was held at Brookville, of the members of the regiment, to take action in regard to the erection of a monumental tablet on the battlefield at Gettysburg, and a permanent organization was effected, to be known as the Monumental Association of the One Hundred and Fifth Pennsylvania Volunteers, and the following officers elected: President, O.C. Redick; vice-president, S.A. Craig; secretary, J.C. Kelso; corresponding secretary, Miss Kate M. Scott; treasurer, W.H. Gray. The following committee on finance, to procure the necessary funds for the erection of a monument was appointed: D.W. Goheen, W.W. Corbett, S.J. Marlin, John McGaughey, W.H. Hewitt, Joseph Craig, T.K. Hastings, John M. Brewer, Joseph H. Gray, J.M. Shoaf, James E. Mitchell, William Neal, W.D. Kane, Jesse Atwell, Albert Reynolds, Ebenezer Bartlett, Harvey Craig, David C. Kyphert, William Keys, Milton Craven, Peter Slagle, J.H. Rowan, John Hastings, O.C. Redick. The president announced the following executive committee: L.B. Duff, O.C. Redick, George VanVliet, S.A. Craig, W.H. Gray, T.K. Hastings, and J.H. Kennedy. Of the latter committee, Messrs. Duff, Redic, and VanVliet subsequently visited the battlefield, and in conjunction with the Battlefield Association located and marked the spot on which the monument is to be placed. It is in the field to the right of the Emmittsburg road, where the regiment did its hardest fighting.
On the occasion of the reunion of the Third Corps at Gettysburg, July 2, 1886, an informal meeting was held of the members of the One Hundred and Fifth present, who concurred in the work of the association, and subscribed liberally to the monumental fund. The monument, which will be in every respect worthy of the regiment which it will represent, and a fitting memorial to the brave men who fell from its ranks on that and other hard fought fields, will be placed in position in the near future.
Source: Page(s) 134-166, History of Jefferson County by Kate M. Scott. Syracuse, N.Y., D. Mason & Co., 1888.
Contributed by Nathan Zipfel for use by the Jefferson County Genealogy Project (http://www.pa-roots.com/jefferson/)
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