D.B. Coulter
D. B. COULTER, a Civil war veteran, of Apollo, was born Sept. 22, 1833, at Elderton, in Armstrong county, Pa., and is now the oldest living native of that town. He is a son of William and Sarah (Sutton) Coulter.
William Coulter was born in Pennsylvania, as was his wife. His death occurred in 1871, hers in 1873. They had a family of nine children, of whom D. B. was the eighth in the order of birth.
D. B. Coulter attended public school until his sixteenth year, and then began clerking in a store, thus continuing until 1854. On Sept. 20, 1862, he responded to his country�s call enlisting in Company M, 14th Pennsylvania Cavalry, and entering the service as a private was promoted to sergeant, then to second lieutenant. Still later he was made first lieutenant, with which rank he was discharged. His regiment was recruited at Pittsburgh, under the command of Col. J. M. Schoonmaker, and became one of the famous regiments that went out from the Keystone State. It entered the field of war at Harper'� Ferry, and from there was sent to participate in the West Virginia campaign, under General Averill, 4th Separate Brigade, during 1863. Participating in the battles of Huttonville and Rocky Gap, the regiment was then placed in the 2d Brigade, 2d Division, Army of the Shenandoah, at Newmarket. Mr. Coulter's company then took a dismounted command at Remount Camp, Pleasant Valley, Md. Later they rejoined the regiment, which was under the command of General Hunter, and on June 5, 1864, participated in the battle of Piedmont, defeating the enemy there under General Jones. In that engagement the regiment showed exceptional bravery. In addition to the more important battles, it was active in a number of skirmishes in the Shenandoah valley. Later it fell back to Hagerstown, Md., and after Chambersburg was burned helped to drive General McCauslin to Virginia, where they defeated and captured him. The regiment then took part in the battle of Fisher�s Hill, Sept. 19, 1864, and on Oct. 19th was in the battle of Cedar Creek, and still later in the battle of Winchester, where it remained until the capture of Richmond. Following the final surrender the regiment was sent to Washington, where they participated in the grand review, the memory of which will live with those who formed part of it as long as life endures. The regiment was finally discharged July 31, 1865. No brief record such as this can do justice to the work of these brave men. Not only were they in many bloody engagements, but they took part in the forced marches, the weary waiting, the exposure to all kinds of weather, and more than once were insufficiently fed, owing to trouble with the source of supplies. That any lived to reach even middle age is a marvel, considering the privations and exposure to infection of all kinds, and the danger of southern fever to those not acclimated, to say nothing of the death that threatened with every discharge of the enemy�s guns. The soldiers of the sixties surely came of sturdy, healthy stock, to live through all this and be able to round out long and useful lives afterward.
Returning to his home in Armstrong county after his discharge, arriving Aug. 5, 1865, Mr. Coulter resumed farming operations, conducting his father�s property. Until 1882 he remained on this farm, then moving to Elderton, Pa., and still later to Apollo, where he has since remained, being now retired from business. He is a member of Charles Whitworth Post, No. 89, G. A. R., and served seventeen times as adjutant of the post.
Mr. Coulter was united in marriage with Rachel Smith, at Elderton, Pa., and ten children were born of this marriage, nine of whom survive: H. W., born Oct. 14, 1856; Sarah E., Sept. 10, 1857; William M., Dec. 5, 1861; Lida, May 8, 1866; John L., Aug. 31, 1867; Mary C., March 31, 1869; David A., Aug. 9, 1870; James E., May 24, 1872; Bruce E., Jan. 7, 1875.
Source: Pages 931-932, Armstrong County, Pa., Her People, Past and Present, J.H. Beers & Co., 1914
Transcribed October 1998 by Kathy Zagorac for the Armstrong County Beers Project
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