63d Regiment
Pennsylvania Volunteers
History of Company D
"The Pittsburgh Fire Zouaves"
Company D was recruited at the General Recruiting Headquarters, Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pa., August 3, 1861.Harry O. Ormsbee, B. F. Dunham, and James M'Anninch, having recruited its several sections, consolidated their respective interests, selecting Harry Ormsbee, Captain, due to his superior qualifications as a drillmaster; B. F. Dunham, First Lieutenant, and James M'Anninch, Second Lieutenant. J. Henry Miller was selected as First Sergeant.
The history of Company D is the history of the regiment, but some conspicuous instances of courage among even the bravest are worthy of note.
William Thompson, Third Sergeant, promoted to First Sergeant, commanded the company during the Seven Days' Battle, and was promoted to Captaincy by Colonel Alexander Hays, to date from June 26, 1862, for conspicuous bravery in the seven days' fight.
The number of casualties among the commissioned officers of the line often left non-commissioned officers in command at critical periods.
First Sergeant Davis Glass commanded the company through all its battles, from the Wilderness, May 5, 1864, until its discharge, August 1, 1864, in front of Petersburg.
Source: Gilbert Adams Hays, Captain. Under the Red Patch: Story of the Sixty-third Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-1864. Published by the 63d Pennsylvania Volunteer Regiment Association. Pittsburg: Market Review Publishing Company, 1908.
© Alice J. Gayley, all rights reserved
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