This regiment was exclusively from Berks county, and was organized withthe following field officers:

• Charles A. Knoderer, Colonel
• Joseph De Puy Davis, Lieutenant Colonel
• Gustavus A. Worth, Major

Colonel Knodererwas a graduate of the Polytechnic School of Carlesruhe, and had served asCaptain in a regiment of the patriot Landwher, in the Baden struggle of 1849.He also served on the staff of General Sigel, in Fremont's campaign in Missouri,and was a learned and accomplished officer.

Soon after its organization, theregiment was ordered to Suffolk, Virginia, in the Department of the James,under command of General Dix. The forces at Suffolk, and vicinity, werecommanded by of General John J. Peck, who was charged with holding theline south of the James, covering the approaches to Portsmouth and Norfolk.In this service the regiment was actively engaged, being employed in fatigueduty upon the fortifications, in the planning of which Colonel Knoderer wasan adept, in reconnoitring and in out-post duty, and in drill, preparatory toactive campaigning.

Late on the evening of the 29th of January, 1863, GeneralCorcoran, who commanded a division under General Peck, moved with hiscolumn towards the Blackwater, and at Deserted Farm, seven miles out,encountered a strong force of the enemy, under General Roger A. Pryor.Corcoran immediately attacked, and a fierce night engagement ensued. Thefighting was principally with artillery, and the One Hundred and Sixty-seventhwas fearfully exposed to the enemy's fire. At the opening of the battle, ColonelKnoderer ordered his men to lie down, and fortunately few were injured;but the horses of the officers, with the exception of that of the Adjutant, wereall killed, and the Colonel himself received a mortal wound. The enemy wasfinally driven, and the command returned again to camp.

Lieutenant ColonelDavis succeeded to the command of the regiment, and was subsequentlycommissioned Colonel. It participated in the desultory operations, which werekept up until the beginning of April, when the right wing of the rebel army,under General Longstreet, numbering some forty thousand men, advancedupon the place, and attacked, but failed to carry it. He then laid siege to it,and constructed elaborate works for its reduction. For nearly a month theseoperations were vigorously pushed, and for many days, the bombardment ofthe fortifications was almost incessant. But so skillfully had they beenplanned, and so well constructed, that General Peck, with a force of onlyabout a third of the number of the investing army, successfully repelled everyattack, and finally compelled Longstreet to raise the siege.

The One Hundredand Sixty-seventh was actively employed in the defense throughout the entiresiege, and rendered efficient' service. General Peck says in his official report,

"Longstreet had been promised sixty thousand men for his spring work, andwas ready about the last of March to open the campaign for the recovery ofSouthern Virginia. He ordered Hill and Pettigrew to make a series ofdemonstrations at Newbern, Little Washington, and other points in NorthCarolina, with the design of causing troops to be sent from Norfolk, FortressMonroe, and other localities. In consequence I was ordered, on the 10th ofApril, to dispatch a considerable portion of my force to General Foster.Longstreet, advised of the order and success of his feints, crossed theBlackwater, and on the same clay advanced, with about twenty-eight thousandmen, upon Suffolk. On the 15th of April, Hill discontinued his feints uponLittle Washilngton, and sent those troops to Suffolk. He followed soon afterwith the remainder of his command. * * * In spite of the high hopesof the South, the siege was raised during the night of the 3d of May,(twenty-four days) after the construction of from eight to ten miles of coveredways, rifle-pits, field-works, and the loss of the celebrated Fauquier Battery,(six guns,) and some two thousand men. * * * The effectiveFederal force at the outset, was nearly fourteen thousand, with three smallwooden gun-boats. This was distributed on lines of about twelve miles inextent. No defeat was experienced by our arms." ¹

Towards the close of June, and during the time of Lee's invasion ofPennsylvania, the regiment formed part of the command which was sent todemonstrate in the direction of Richmond, and upon its return, was orderedto join the army of the Potomac, then in pursuit of Lee's army in Maryland.It formed junction on the 15th of July, the day after the escape of the enemyacross the Potomac, and was assigned to the First Brigade, First Division,of the First Corps. With that corps, it participated in the pursuit of Lee tobeyond the Rappahannock, when, its term of service being about to expire, itwas relieved at the front, and ordered to Reading, where, on the 12th ofAugust, it was mustered out.

The conduct of the regiment during its shortservice in the Potomac army, is shown by the following note addressed toColonel Davis, by General Cutler, division commander:

"As you are aboutleaving the service with your command, I desire to express to you, and throughyou to your command, my entire approval of the manner in which they havedischarged their duty as soldiers since they joined this division. The regimenthas been a patten a pattern of order and promptness on the fatiguing marches of thelast month. Wishing yon and them a safe and pleasant return to your homesand friends, I am, very truly, yours."

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¹ Moore's Rebellion Rccord, Vol. XI, page 126. Does, Source:  Bates, Samuel P. History of the Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-65, Harrisburg, 1868-1871.

Organization:

Organized at Reading November 10 to December 6, 1862.
Moved to Washington, D.C., thence to Newport News and Suffolk, Va., December 8-17.
Attached to Foster's Brigade, Division at Suffolk, Va., 7th Corps,
Dept. of Virginia, to April, 1863.
1st Brigade, 1st Division, 7th Corps, Dept. of Virginia, to July, 1863.
1st Brigade, 1st Division, 1st Army Corps, Army of the Potomac, to August, 1863.

Service:

Duty at Suffolk till May, 1863.
Action at Deserted House, Va., January 30.
Siege of Suffolk April 11-May 4.
Suffolk April 19.
Operations on Seaboard & Roanoke Railroad May 12-26.
Holland House, Carrsville, May 15-16.
Dix's Peninsula Campaign June 27-July 7.
Expedition from White House to Bottom's Bridge July 1-7.
Baltimore Cross Roads July 2.
Moved to Washington, D.C., July 8; thence into Maryland
and Joined 1st Army Corps, Army of the Potomac, July 15.
Pursuit of Lee beyond the Rappahannock July 15-24.
Mustered out August 12, 1863.

Losses:

Regiment lost:
1 Officer and 1 Enlisted man killed and
22 Enlisted men by disease.
Total: 25.

Dyer, Frederick H. A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion Compiled and Arranged from Official Records of the Federal and Confederate Armies, Reports of he Adjutant Generals of the Several States, the Army Registers, and Other Reliable Documents and Sources.Des Moines, Iowa: The Dyer Publishing Company, 1908

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