148th Regiment

Pennsylvania Volunteers

Officers

James Addams Beaver, Commander

Colonel Beaver of Bellefonte commanded the 148^th Pennsylvania from itsorganization in September of 1862 until mustered out for wounds received onDecember 22, 1864. During that period he was wounded four times: on May 3,1863, at Chancellorsville, on June 3, 1863; at Cold Harbor, on June 16, 1864;in front of Petersburg,and on August 25, 1864, at Reams Station. The last wound resulted in thesurgeons amputating his right leg to the hip.

Prior to the war he served as Private, Sergeant and Second Lieutenantin the Bellefonte Fencibles; First Lieutenant, Company H, 2^ndPennsylvania, three months service April 21, 1861 to July 26, 1861; appointedLieutenant Colonel July 22, 1861; assigned to duty at Camp Curtin and musteredwith the 45^th Pennsylvania October 21, 1861. He resigned September4, 1862, to accept command of the 148^th Pennsylvania, reporting for duty September6, 1862.

Colonel Beaver was breveted to the rank of Brigadier General, U. S.Volunteers, for meritorious and distinguished service during the campaign of1864, especially in command of a brigade (4^th Brigade, 1^stDivision, 2^nd Army Corps) at the Battleof Cold Harbor, June 3, 1864. 

A lawyer, Colonel Beaver, who died in 1914, served as a superior courtjudge, Governor of Pennsylvania (1892-1890)²,and President of the Board of Trustees of the Pennsylvania State University. TheUniversity's Beaver stadium is named in his honor. Read the complete story of GovernorBeaver's life

LTColonel Robert McFarlane

LT Colonel McFarlane, Bellefonte, recruited and commanded Company G.Earlier, he served as Captain in Company H of the 7^th Pennsylvania,a three months regiment, April 22, 1861, to July 1861.

Colonel McFarlane contacted typhoid fever during the winter of1862-1863 and was sent to his home. He returned to the Regiment before he wasfit for service. He did not fully recover and was discharged on a surgeon'scertificate of disability on November 4, 1863. 

LTColonel George Ashbridge Fairlamb

LT Colonel Fairlamb of Bellefonte recruited and commandedCaptain of H Company, 148^th Pennsylvania Volunteers; elected Majorupon organization of the regiment; and promoted to Lieutenant Colonel November15, 1863.

 Colonel Fairlamb was wounded slightly at Chancellorsville, Virginia, and seriously during the Battleof Spotsylvania Court House where he wascaptured in advance of the Regiment on May 12, 1864. He was paroled onSeptember 22, 1864, and discharged on a surgeon's certificate of disability onFebruary 24, 1865.

LTColonel James Frederick Weaver

LT Colonel Weaver of Milesburg recruited Company B. He was appointedSecond Lieutenant to recruit the company. Promoted to Captain of Company B uponorganization of the 148^th Pennsylvania;to Major March 7, 1865; and to Lieutenant Colonel May 15 1865. CommissionedColonel June 1, 1865. Not mustered because Regiment was below minimum standard. 

Colonel Weaver was wounded at the Po River in Virginia on May 9, 1864. He was mustered outwith the Regiment June 1, 1865.

MajorRobert Henry Forster

Major Forster of Rebersburg recruited Company A and was electedCaptain of the company on September 1, 1862. Earlier, he served as Private, 2^ndPennsylvania,during the Mexican War. Promoted to Major November 15, 1863.

 Major Forster was wounded three times: At Chancellorsville, onMay 3, 1863; at Gettysburg on July 3, 1863; andat Petersburg, Virginia, in June 1864. He was discharged ona surgeon's certificate for these wounds.

LTColonel George Adams Bayard

LT Colonel Bayard of Bellefonte enlisted August 22, 1861.Appointed First Lieutenant of Company H when the company was organized;promoted to Captain September 8, 1862, and to Major March 17, 1865. CommissionedLieutenant Colonel June 1, 1865. Not mustered because Regiment was belowminimum.

Colonel Bayard was wounded during the Battleof Chancellorsville and captured at Strawberry Plains, Virginia, onJune 22, 1864, and held prisoner until March 1865. He was mustered out with the148^th Regiment on June 1, 1865.

CaptainSilas J. Marlin

A native of Brookville, Jefferson County, Captain Marlin recruited Company I, while on personal leave from Company I of the 105^th "Wildcat" Regiment of the Pennsylvania Volunteers. The 132 men of Captain Marlin's Jefferson County company were mustered into the 148^th Regiment at Camp Curtin outside Harrisburg, Pa. Pa. on August 28, 1862. Captain Marlin "..remained with his company until July 28, 1863, when he was detailed Acting Inspector General of the First Division of the the Second Corps, which position he held until the close of the war... on several occasions detailed as inspector of the Second Corps." During this time he also "..served on the staffs of Generals Caldwell, Barlow and Miles and was actively engaged in every engagement in which his division participated, either in command of his company or on staff duty."

Captain Marlin also served on the staff of First Division, Second Corps as Acting Assistant Adjutant General. He was brevetted to Major December 2, 1864 and to Lieutenant Colonel April 2, 1865. "May 26, 1865, he was ordered, by general order from the War Department, to report for duty at Fortress Monroe and was appointed by General Miles inspector during the first part of Jefferson Davis' imprisonment at the Fortress. He was commissioned Major of his Regiment June 1, 1865, but, being absent on detailed services, was not mustered as such, being at this time on duty at Fortress Monroe under General Miles, who had charge of the captured chief of the fallen Confederacy. On the 17^th of December Captain Marlin was brevetted a Major of Volunteers by President Lincoln for gallant services at the battle of Reams Station...to rank from December 2, 1864." "..January 15 1865, he was again brevetted Lieutenant Colonel of Volunteers for gallantry and valuable services. Colonel Beaver says of Colonel Marlin: 'He was most capable gallant and useful officer upon the staff and was well entitled to all the honor which he received for the service'." Captain Marlin died at his home in Brookville in 1888.

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